Over one year ago, I quit my job and decided to travel the world. It was a dream of two 10 years in the making and one of the best decisions I ever made [photo: night train between Belgrade and Sofia].
In the last 12 months I learned a lot about the long-term journey, what I need to be happy and how to survive outside the United States. Many of these things can not be learned at home or in a book, and while reading about them on the internet can get you only so far, many people have asked me to explain how I 'have done.
My trip was not about tourism (although I did that) as much as we have to be somewhere. The simple daily routine challenges can be overwhelming: try to eat, drink and sleep in a place where nothing makes sense, you do not speak the language, and where none of the basic comforts of home are available. It is not easy, but if you want an accelerated personal development, get on a plane.
When I was young my father often said "the hardest part is just out the door. "And that is perhaps the most important lesson of all: it's too easy to be complacent at home and if you are not at least a little uncomfortable, you probably are not d learn something.
If you have already traveled, you can get a kick it. If you do not, here are some thoughts, tips and advice on the long-term travel for my birthday one year of life on the road:
Some stereotypes not stand really, but on average, most people I've met around the world is extremely polite, friendly and helpful. They are generally interested, why I chose to visit their home. They are willing to help if it is obvious that I am lost or in trouble. They will do their best to try to ensure that I have a good stay in their country. And, contrary to what most Americans tend to think (see # 3 below), they often do not know much about the US
I remember my mother confessed recently that I had a great evening in Budapest and stumbled to my apartment at dawn. His reaction was: "But do not worry about being drunk in a foreign country? "
Ha ha, not mom! I have never felt so safe!
The only place where I was violently assaulted was in my home city of San Francisco. Many people I know were robbed under threat, and more than once there were shootings in my neighborhood.
In one incident just a block from my apartment (Dolores Park), a man was shot 5 times and somehow escaped, only for the collapse of about 10 meters from our door. You can still see the bloodstains on the sidewalk.
Obviously, some places are cheaper than others, such as Guatemala, where you can get a room for $ 4 / night. We must be much more careful in Western Europe, where I got a little loose with my budget and spent $ 2,000 / month for two months. But I also spent less than $ 900 in the month I cycled (pushbike) throughout France.
You might be amazed by how cheap some places "dear" can be. The second cheapest hostel I stayed (after Guatemala) was in Berlin (Germany) to € 6 / night (~ $ 7.43 USD). Beer in Prague was cheap or cheaper than any other country, I went to (it was $ 1.43 for 0.5L ultra tourist center of Prague). You can rent a decent apartment in central Budapest for $ 200 / month.
In most places, you can get anywhere pretty much anywhere else, and most of the time it does not take more than a few minutes to understand. Generally (outside the middle of the tourist season in popular locations) I did not bother with reservations or pre-planning transportation routes. I just show the bus or train station and go.
I rode buses for hours in the middle of the jungle of Costa Rica, as well as through BFE in the northern Chilean Andes. There is almost always a group of locals who need to get to where you're going too. And if there is no bus you can still make hitchhiking (this only happened once or twice in my entire trip).
It is revealing to see how some of the poorest countries on earth can still provide the best public transportation in San Francisco.
In places like Europe and Southeast Asia, also have the opportunity to take advantage of the discount airlines like RyanAir and EasyJet. I flew throughout Europe 7 times in two months for less than $ 120 that way.
Law. I guess you missed the 22-hour bus ride where we relayed vomit in the back due to altitude sickness and hangover-induced pisco. Or maybe you did not allow the last 15 hostels to sleep before being blackout drunk is simply not an option. (Sounds glamorous, is not it!)
Planning and logistics also take an incredible amount of time and effort. Most downtime spent in a place where no visits is generally drawn into the search for the next destination, make reservations, logistics planning and through the process of "time budgeting" feared you decide what you can reasonably see in the allotted time (and what to cut).
Overall, it's exhausting, and a great reason to consider traveling slowly (more on that later).
If you move quickly, have no illusions about all the things you're going to "do" in your downtime. Take a good book and a few trips, that's all.
Although I am a solo traveler, I did not spend much more than a handful of days on the only road. This is because you meet people everywhere: in hostels, on buses, trains, airplanes, restaurants, trail-heads, monuments, etc .. If you make a circuit standard trip you will see over and over again the same people (most people do not leave the Lonely Planet itinerary), and it is not uncommon to come in with a large group of people who all go the same way.
It is so easy to meet people that I am often stuck with the opposite problem: trying to get away from everyone. So I love all my new friends I need time to time some service interruptions.
Most travelers are rarely interested in meeting new people. This is one of the major reasons they are on the road. A simple "where you go" has often become a new travel partner for weeks. And when it stops working you simply leave on your own.
This may mean spending too quickly or skip places just for fun ecstasy of arrival again. The results are obvious: less time in places you thought you wanted to see and ultimately burnout. The tendency to try to cram more places in a CARDBOARD REINFORCEMENT planning is often difficult to control.
One thing I have found to deal with this is to have a minimum length of stay: 3 nights in each destination. This is enough time to see the place, relax and get sorted before the next stop. This also means you have to cut some places if you are tight on time. While I had the big night stops before (I'm looking for you, Belgrade) it is neither sustainable nor desirable to make too much of it.
Sure, some places are not what you expected either. If this is the case, Get out there and spend more time in a place that where you want to be.
source:spartantraveler.com
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