So you've decided to travel around the world. This is an excellent
thing to do. It's a precious place, this planet. We should see it.
Forthwith are seven tips for turning your dream into reality.
1) Go to school in Canada. Let's deal with the
elephant in the room right here at the top - money, or the lack thereof.
For the last 10 years or so, I've been wondering where, exactly, did
all the young American backpackers go? Back in ye olden days - the
Nineties - they were everywhere, whether teaching English in Bratislava,
obtaining onward visas in Istanbul, or trekking in the Himalayas.
Today, sadly, the American backpacker is about as rare as a Snow
Leopard. For a long time, I assumed that was simply an unfortunate
consequence of 9/11.
The world suddenly seemed scary to many. Best to stick close to home. I thought this because, from time to time, I'm kind of a moron. As any twenty-something will tell you, it's not fear that keeps them tethered to the homeland. It's debt. No other country in the world asks its young people to begin their march into adulthood with tens, even hundreds, of thousands in student loans.
The world suddenly seemed scary to many. Best to stick close to home. I thought this because, from time to time, I'm kind of a moron. As any twenty-something will tell you, it's not fear that keeps them tethered to the homeland. It's debt. No other country in the world asks its young people to begin their march into adulthood with tens, even hundreds, of thousands in student loans.
This is madness, and until this changes you should get your degree in
Canada. Or Australia. Or New Zealand. Or somewhere in Asia. Anywhere
really. There's a reason that there are oodles of young Aussies,
Germans, Japanese, even Chinese backpackers traipsing around the world.
They are unencumbered by debilitating student loans. No such luck for
the American Theater Arts major with $120,000 in loans. Let's be blunt:
This person is not going anywhere for a long, long time. Don't let this
be you.
2) Take the time to do it right. I was in the South
Pacific recently, following in the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson,
and while I was in Samoa I met an Argentinean woman, a student of
anthropology, who was in the midst of a round-the-world voyage. She had
spent three months working as a hotel maid in New Zealand to finance
nine months of travel. "My plan is to go to five countries," she said.
"Maybe I will even visit the northern hemisphere."
I admired both the ambition and the modesty of her plan. Some people
travel as if they're merely checking off items on a to-do list. Malta,
Maldives, Morocco, Monaco. Been there, done that, they'll say. When
prodded a little, they'll concede that they've never lingered anywhere
for longer than a week or two, before launching into a diatribe about
how filthy India is. When asked where in India they went, they'll
mention Delhi and Agra and then speak of the joy they felt when their
plane departed after a 10-day jaunt. 10 days? It took me 10 days to
figure out how to buy a train ticket in India. It took me another two
months before I could do a competent Indian head bobble. These things
take time. The goal should never be about collecting passport stamps; it
should be about collecting experiences. If you want something more than
a bewildering array of first impressions, count on dillydallying.
3) Make a plan, and then deviate. Having a plan is
good. It concentrates the mind and gives the journey purpose. Few things
are more enjoyable than lingering over the atlas and plotting a trip.
But then situations arise, circumstances change, and we have to adapt.
Let's say it's been your dream to travel around the world. You've given
yourself six months to do the journey before starting a new position at
corporate HQ. You're in Cambodia. You become interested in Buddhism. And
food. You really, really want to become a Buddhist food blogger in
Southeast Asia. Should you do it? Should plans be upended? Yes they
should.
4) Leave the laptop and the tablet at home. I know.
This. Is. So. Hard. What about Instagram? And Facebook? How will you
cope? A smartphone will do just fine. With a wireless connection, most
likely found in a café somewhere, you'll be able to stay connected just enough
to let people know where you are and to check out pertinent online
info. Anything more than a smartphone, however, and you'll find that it
is your tech gear and all that it entails - security, usability, access -
that dictates the pace of the trip. And that is wrong. It misses the
point of the big, life-changing circumnavigation of the world, which is
to experience life on the far side of the world. And if you do
ultimately decide to become a Buddhist food blogger in Phnom Penh you
can have a buddy mail you your precious laptop.
5) Get vaccinated. Really. I know. Duh. But even professional travel writers have been known to forget. Occasionally, they subsequently come down with, oh, I don't know, typhoid. Ahem. We don't need to draw this out, but do yourself a favor and check out all the vaccinations you'll need. Get them. All of them. Nothing spoils a trip like a bout of yellow fever and diphtheria.
5) Get vaccinated. Really. I know. Duh. But even professional travel writers have been known to forget. Occasionally, they subsequently come down with, oh, I don't know, typhoid. Ahem. We don't need to draw this out, but do yourself a favor and check out all the vaccinations you'll need. Get them. All of them. Nothing spoils a trip like a bout of yellow fever and diphtheria.
6) Don't be a travel snoot. There's a reason some
paths are well-trodden. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Forbidden City in
Beijing, the Pyramids in Giza, Machu Picchu near Cusco; everyone wants
to see these places. They're special. They speak to all of humanity. And
very often, while visiting, you will feel as if you are surrounded by
all of humanity. Just roll with it. You'll have plenty of time to visit
the more obscure, out-of-the-way places, but you won't forgive yourself
for missing the Great Wall of China.
7) Write it down. At the end of the day, take some
time to write about your experiences in a journal. The simple act of
recording the day's events focuses the mind, etches the memory deeper
into the brain, and forces you to mull and think and reflect about the
sights and sounds of our great, blue planet. Later, when you're back
home, you can flip through your jottings and recall just how varied life
on earth really is. And if you're feeling bitter and twisted about
returning to work, just scroll down to the page where you wrote about
the dodgy red snapper you ate in Kiribati.
Source : Here