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Now Ye're Talking - To a World Traveller
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Well, if you insist!
I haven't been in India since I was 11, and I've only been in New Delhi. I'm a quarter Goan and would love to visit relatives there when I eventually make it back.
Have you been anywhere near, or to Goa, and how safe is it for western travellers?
I've been to Goa, and it's a very popular and very safe destination for western travellers - in fact it's probably one of the safer parts of India for travellers. AS for most places, common sense applies, so exercise the usual precautions - don't wander around on your own after dark, and trust your gut. If you are getting taxis from place to place (and they are cheap), if you find a driver you trust, then get his card and use him while you are there. I never had any issues there, and have met plenty of solo female travellers who were perfectly comfortable there.
One thing I learned about india, both living and working there, is that as a female, the closer you look to local Indians in terms of hair colour and such, the less hassle you get. The more different you are, the more fascinated people seem to be at times. I've had blond, blue eyed friends while there, who would have their hair touched on the street by men and women out of sheer curiosity more than anything else because they hadn't seen it before. Dark haired girls, no interest
But in general, the sense of personal space in India in general is non existent. Don't be surprised if you're buying a train or bus ticket, and 20 people are huddled around you at the ticket booth, curious to see where you are going, or just to hear what you are saying to the ticket seller. One of the many things that are a deciding factor in peoples love/hate relationship with India, as mentioned earlier. But if you are asking if you should go - definitely!Also, have you been to Cairo and if so what are your impressions of the city and the general attitude to Western women?
I've been to Cairo briefly and I found it to be a very interesting place - there is certainly a lot to do there in terms of museums, and of course, getting out to the pyramids, and there are plenty of tours in operation there.
As a guy, it's hard for me to describe what it would be like there for a western woman, and it would be somewhat presumptuous of me to do so as it's something I can never experience. But women alone in that side of the world do have a harder time of it than men, there's no doubt about that. Overall, Cairo is a safe place for women, but foreign women alone can get hassled on the street, particularly the blonde haired, blue eyed variety, but usually it's of the verbal variety rather than anything physical. There are a few things you can do to offset it - dress as appropriately as you can - it is courting trouble to go wandering around the bazaars with shorts and a belly-top, but tourists still do it. If you do feel uncomfortable there, there are plenty of organised tours that you can take part in, that gives you the safety net of being in a group.0 -
I've travelled the world, AMA wrote: »
One thing I learned about india, both living and working there, is that as a female, the closer you look to local Indians in terms of hair colour and such, the less hassle you get.
I've fairly dark colouring so I'll have no curiosity value, and I remember vividly the space issue from living in Delhi.There are a few things you can do to offset it - dress as appropriately as you can - it is courting trouble to go wandering around the bazaars with shorts and a belly-top, but tourists still do it. If you do feel uncomfortable there, there are plenty of organised tours that you can take part in, that gives you the safety net of being in a group.
Well I won't be a tourist but it's hard to believe anyone bellytops in an Islamic country outside of a beach or beach club
. I'll be getting advice from a conservative muslim friend on what clothes to bring, but was warned about hostility to western women. It's unlikely I'll be out alone too much, I think. 0 -
How did your family feel about your trip? Was it difficult to stay in contact?
I know I could never do it, but God your trip sounds amazing! So loving this ama
It came as a shock to my parents - they didn't know about it until five days before I left - as I mentioned, I had been working in South Africa. They are well used to me travelling, but I think it was (a) the short notice and (b) the unknown everything that got to them this time. My dad in particular pretty much went through the five stages of grief:- Denial - laughed it off and figured I'd change my mind as soon as I was settled in Ireland.
- Anger - called me every name under the sun when he saw that I wasn't going to change my mind.
- Bargaining - offered me pretty much every parcel of land we own, if I'd stay and take it over.
- Depression - wouldn't talk to anybody for a couple of days.
- Acceptance - came for a few pints with me the night before I left, to bid me farewell.
Keeping in touch was difficult at times, particularly in the beginning - as I've mentioned, communications and technology have changed enormously in the last decade, and its easy to forget nowadays when the ability to communicate is - literally - at our fingertips 24 hour a day, that it wasn't always so. There were countries where there was one internet point in the city, and other countries where it barely existed at all. The range of medium was limited too - facebook had only just opened up access to countries outside of the USA, so it was that and email. Skype was available back then too, but my parents weren't too tech savvy at the time.
There were long gaps at times, and times of genuine worry for them, I know that. In one instance I was in Pakistan, camped with sight of K2, when the Irish climber Gerard McDonnell tragically lost his life there in an avalanche with ten other climbers. Of course, family and friends back home heard that a climber had been killed, knew of my love of climbing and the fact that I was around K2 somewhere, and imagined the worst, until names were eventually released. So yes, it certainly took its toll.Continuing on that vein, did you live off the land at all? Hunting, foraging etc. I guess from your stories that you did, so any stories, tips, challenges?
I did in places, particularly in Australia. Almost everywhere I camped that was near water, I fished, sometimes got lucky and sometimes not so much. In Australia, when I travelled out bush, I used to shoot or snare when the opportunity arose. Rabbits are a plague out there, and as such, station owners were more than happy for you to pick a few off. I'd either shoot them, or less frequently, snare them, and skin and clean them for stew. Ducks were also something I would shoot, particularly on the cattle stations along the Murray River. Many of the station owners have dams on their property to hold water for cattle, and it was easy enough to scare up a few ducks now and again. I preferred shooting them over the dams than over the river, because it was much easier to swim in and retrieve them if they came down over water. Pluck and clean them there and then, and cook them that day.
When I was on my own I didn't really hunt anything bigger as there was no point - 50kg of meat isn't much good to anybody travelling alone - but further up north, when I worked on some of the cattle stations, we would pick off kangaroo now and again and butcher it. Up north further still in northern Queensland on the farms, we would hunt feral pigs and butcher them.
I realise that what I have just written might upset some people, but I have a very healthy respect for wildlife, and I have never trapped or hunted anything that hasn't been eaten - I have no time for anybody who hunts for the sake of killing something. It's just my opinion, but I think it's far better and more respectful to the animal for people to know where their dinner comes from, than to not think past the plastic wrapped hunk of meat in the supermarket freezer.0 -
Firstly I need to post to say Thank You. I always found my confidence grew the more I travelled solo & especially so when relying on a dictionary/phrase-book and no-one to translate for me Giving me some serious food for thought and you've certainly put me eyeing up google maps since I know I have some serious time out coming up before I commence my H-Dip this October.
So Thank You, Sincerely.
Another question though if I might:
~ One piece of equipment you recommend any/all solo-travellers to have on their possession aside from passports/monies etc etc? What did you use for security or what made you more confident knowing you had on your possession for security/safety?
Many Thanks,
kerry4sam
Honestly, and this is not a deflection, common sense is the best weapon you can have in terms of maintaining your own security and safety. Anything you carry as a weapon for self defense, be it a knife or a kubotan or whatever is all too likely going to end up being used against you. Internet tough guys the world over will tell you that if anything were to happen to them they would take everybody on, but the reality is that if they call over a couple of their friends, you're not going to come out the better side of it. I've stood my ground on a few occasions - one, when someone tried to rape a friend of mine in Georgia, another time in South Africa when two teenagers pulled a knife on me in Cape Town to rob me and I laid into them on a purely reactionary basis (the local saying there is 'you haven't really lived in Cape Town until you've been robbed in Cape Town'), but they could easily have ended badly. The best defense is not to make yourself a target in the first place - only carry the money you need, trust your gut instinct if something feels off. I'm not a small guy and I'm well able to handle myself, and if I had no choice I'd use everything at my disposal. But I'd still happily lose a few dollars and walk away from a situation rather than engage and suffer the consequences if given the chance, or better still, not get in the situation in the first place. You know that you are alone. You have no idea if they are.
But to reiterate - that's all worst case scenario stuff. Most people never have any issues because they just take basic precautions.Balmed Out wrote: »Something you mentioned earlier is bugging me - Americans. Ive met plenty traveling under the maple leaf too but for the most part most Americans ive met have been sound, however I have met more idiotic Americans then any other nationality.
Ive put this down to the undeniable fact that in the majority of countries you will meet more Americans then any other nationality -
would you disagree with this?
I'd disagree with your statement that "in the majority of countries you will meet more Americans then any other nationality" - I think that Europeans travel far more, and that's been my experience in most countries I've been to.
It would be easy for this to spiral into a nationality bashing rant, so I'll try not to let that happen. My opinion for what it's worth is that Americans in general tend to be a very boisterous people, not very culturally sensitive, and as such are often the loudest voices in a room or on a street, so stick out more. Other nationalities tend to be more respectful, or at least aware of other countries customs and cultures. In short, when you're abroad, you'll notice every American on a street because they make no effort to rein it in. You won't notice every European in the same way.
I appreciate that's a fairly broad sweep of the brush, but in my experience at least, it holds true.Balmed Out wrote: »Another odd nationality ive found is the Israelis. They travel far more then most but will often not mix. Coincidentally ive hung out quite a bit with some but found many others to be very unfriendly. When with those Ive been mates with I have often seen travelers immediately become argumentative / hostile due to politics when meeting them which makes me quite forgiving to the unfriendly ones. How have you gotten on with them?
I can't speak for all Israelis, but the ones I have met, I've never really had any problems with them. On one notable occasion I was in Darjeeling with the German guy I had met while travelling, when we ran into an Israeli girl in a bar who was travelling alone. She was one of the toughest women I have ever met - had done her mandatory military service as a tank driver, signed up afterwards for another two years to further her career, and then worked for Mossad. And obviously German-Israeli relations are still not the best. But she was fine - a very interesting girl to chat to, and I was sorry to see her leave a few days later.Balmed Out wrote: »My first couple of trips hadn't really heard of lonely planet etc and while I normally read before going I try to either not bring or at the very least I don't take their suggestions as infallible. Anyone with a lot of experience travelling in Ireland etc and having read the book after would, I think be often shocked at where may and may not be recommended. I think most countries seem to now have a lonely planet trek where 95% of travellers spend 95% of their time.
So my question where have they gotten most wrong? What amazing place is dismissed etc
I don't like the Lonely Planet type books for a few reasons. I agree that they are great as a guideline of what a country is like, the problem is, the majority of people follow them to the letter like they are the bible for that particular country. And as such that can, and does, destroy local economy. I've been to so many towns where the guesthouse listed as 'Authors Choice' is crammed to the rafters with tourists, and every other guesthouse in town sitting empty, suffering as a result. It also has the effect of reducing the quality of the 'Authors Choice' guesthouse, because they no longer have to make the effort to get customers in, and maintaining the standards that made them the most popular choice in the first place. The same can be said for restaurants, events, sights, etc.
I do know of one country where they most definitely got it wrong, though I'm not going to mention it by name, for fear of getting myself into trouble. The ethos of the lonely planet is that their authors travel the country as backpackers themselves, and are not allowed to use their position with the lonely planet to get special treatment. In this country's case, that -allegedly- didn't happen at all, according to multiple business owners I spoke to.I've fairly dark colouring so I'll have no curiosity value, and I remember vividly the space issue from living in Delhi.
Yeah, they won't look twice at youWell I won't be a tourist but it's hard to believe anyone bellytops in an Islamic country outside of a beach or beach club. I'll be getting advice from a conservative muslim friend on what clothes to bring, but was warned about hostility to western women. It's unlikely I'll be out alone too much, I think.
Oh it happens, all too regularly at times. The vast majority of people will be respectful of local tradition and attire, and will dress conservatively. But there are always one or two who will demand that the rights accorded to them in their home country to dress as they wish, be accorded to them in their host country. Which is fine in theory and perhaps a great topic for debate some time, but doesn't work well in practice. I've seen it on quite a few occasions, sad to say - on one instance I encountered a young women kicking and screaming abuse because she had just been denied entry into a mosque, in her belly top and denim shorts. There will never be a shortage of idiotic people.0 -
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Can you lick your elbow?
Nope!Did you just try lick your elbow?
....maybe!
csallmighty wrote: »Have you experienced people treating you differently when they find out your Irish and not British or American?
My cousin said he was refused at a hotel(somewhere in Africa) because the owner didn't want any English. He had to explain he was Irish and the owner was pleased to hear that.
Has anything like that happened to you on your travels?
I've never really had anybody outright assume that I was American or British until proven otherwise, though considering the percentage of my life I've spent overseas to the point where my accent has neutralized and my vocabulary has become of a hodgepodge of colloquialisms from across the world, most people won't necessarily pick out straight away that I'm Irish, specifically.
There have been plenty of occasions where being Irish has stood to me though - I spoke earlier about travelling in former British colonies, where the reaction upon seeing my passport often was "Ah you're Irish! So you hate the English too! Come with me my friend...." So your cousin's experience in Africa may very well be true.
Being Irish also means free entry into a lot of countries, or at least visa on arrival, whereas somebody travelling under a British passport would have to pay $50, or have to have their visa in advance. I have dual citizenship, and my second passport is British - I have yet to use it to enter a country.WallsToTheBall wrote: »Thanks for sharing your tales! I consider myself a traveller, 24 countries visited in the last decade but yet to leave Europe, I consider travelling farther afield but end up camping in the Ardennes or in Germany for the dozenth time instead as there is always more to see! I like hearing about travellers like yourself that don't have the insane 'box-ticking' mentality that many "travellers" do, where they say I have "done" x country, like that is all there is to it, it is "done", saw the sights,stamped the passport, bought the t-shirt, box=ticked.
Yes - I'm a firm believer in spending more time in less countries, and actually experiencing the country rather than passing through it, as I may have mentioned earlier. But again, to each their own. I've certainly met the box-ticking variety of traveller, the worst of which was Irish as it happens. On my first day in Ulaan Baatar I stayed in a guesthouse to shower and get my bearings, where an Irish guy who had obviously established himself there as a guest for a while at that stage, was demanding to see the passports of anyone staying at the guesthouse, including mine, so that he could compare it to his own and point out all of the places that he had been that the other person hadn't, and putting down as much as possible any country travelled by others, that he hadn't yet been to. He was a showoff and a pain of the highest order, and a prime example of the reasons why for some people, possessing a passport should be a privilege, not a right. I left after one night there, simply because I couldn't stand to be around him.WallsToTheBall wrote: »I would like to ask you, which country/region that you visited has the best costs to quality-of-living standards? By this I mean if you were to choose somewhere perhaps to raise a family while working from home or freelancing, which places would you consider?
It's a hard one to give a definitive answer to - there are plenty of countries where the cost of living is low compared to say, here. But it would all depend on what you are doing, I guess. If you were working online for a European or American country, you could probably save 70% of your income and still live like a king. However if you're making a local wage, then things will be substantially different.
The place to go to save money, while still maintaining a good quality of life seems to be the Middle East - Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are high on that list. In Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore seem to be the places to be, as evidenced by the number of ex-pats working and living there. From the point of view of raising a family, you can have an income far higher than the national average, while still having immediate access to the benefits of the western world such as top of the range medical treatment.
If on the other hand, you are living abroad off, say, your pension back home (which many people do), then South East Asia or South America seems to be popular for this in terms of making your money go furthest - Thailand in particular has a number of ex-pats living comfortably off what would be considered a meager income back home.0 -
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:- During your 7 years where you ever close to packing it all in and coming home...For either an event such as funerals / weddings etc or just through exhaustion from the road.. and If so what changed your mind
I never got to the point where I was about to say "Ah screw it - I'm done - I'm buying a ticket home", though I did see it happen to others reasonably often. But there were certainly tough days, for sure. In one instance, three friends of mine were killed in a pretty horrific car accident back home, and I carried the guilt of not being there for quite a while afterwards. Weddings and life events, less so, but the awareness that your friends lives are moving on without you is certainly in your thoughts from time to time. As is the possibility of something happening to loved ones - I mentioned earlier that the more elderly members of my family had passed away shortly before I left, and the remainder of my family are still pretty young. But accidents and illness do happen, and that worry and feeling of helplessness if something does happen does cross your mind from time to time, and in the end, part of the reason I came home was because of terminal illness in the family and I wanted to spend a little time with them before they passed away.
While I can't say that anything changed my mind, I guess that what kept me going is knowing inside me that it was something I needed to do.:- What was the best moment of the entire trip? I'm guessing it was one of your times around Nepal / Himalayas
There were many great moments, and it really is hard to pick just one. I've listed some of the ones that did stand out in post #74. But from a fulfilling a life's dream point of view, probably getting to see Everest up close from Base Camp for the first time.:- You mentioned a few places you could happily live in... what place / country could you never live in and why?
Probably Papua New Guinea. Westerners that do live there seem to live very insulated lives from the local people - they're either embassy staff, or missionaries living in villages out in the mountains. But life is cheap there, there's no two ways about it - the levels of serious crimes committed there are quite high, and if you were to try and live there in any way immersed in the local environment, you'd have to exercise a high degree of caution every single day.North of 32 wrote: »How difficult was it really from a practical and logistical standpoint? Do you think the average person could do what you have done in terms of traveling for such a prolonged period? Is your personality just well disposed to traveling?
Hm...
Questions like this are always difficult to answer, because it can quite easily come across as singing ones own praises. I can say that doing something like this takes a fair amount of determination, both physically and mentally, often ignoring what seems like common sense, and some people are able to do that, others not so much. I've seen plenty of people break down while travelling, where it just got too much - my own friend just ran out of steam shortly after China. I've seen other people who just didn't know what they were getting themselves into - I mentioned a Norwegian group of friends in my earlier posts, who set out to travel for a year? One of the guys turned back halfway across Russia, and headed back home, three weeks into the journey. One of the girls made it through Russia and as far as China but was having withdrawal from World of Warcraft of all things, and missed her character so much that she ended the trip and flew down to her dad's holiday home in Thailand to spend the next nine months on beach, and playing WoW. My second time hiking up to Everest base camp, I met a Japanese guy and girl who seemed to be getting by on luck more than anything else - they were hiking up too with their Nepalese guide, but he was from the city and it was his first time on the mountain. They were all inexperienced to the point of getting themselves into serious trouble and for that reason I stayed with them from Lukla to base camp. Even at that, their guide got serious altitude sickness, and we ended up treating him at base camp before he was helicoptered off. The Japanese girl in question had travelled around the world for three years on her own, but she was doing so with the huge safety net of her father's money back home, and as such never had to make compromises, or worry about where to stay next or how to get there. I can say that the way I went about this trip and the obstacles I put in my path rather than circumventing was probably on the more difficult end of the spectrum, and probably wouldn't suit a lot of people.
As to whether my personality is predisposed to travelling, I don't know. I'm stubborn, and I don't give up on things like this easily. I guess I can push through where others might not.North of 32 wrote: »You've mentioned in your earlier answers that your upbringing equipped you with a lot of skills for the outdoors. You also have language skills I'd describe as above average judging by your posts, as well as first aid training. You simply seem to be good at traveling.
"I don't know what you want. I can tell you I don't have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you." - Liam Neeson, Taken
It sounds very dramatic when you put it like that But I guess in some ways you have a point. There have been a few factors in life that have stood to my advantage over the years. The first, simply being my upbringing - I grew up in a quite poor rural family, even by 1980's Ireland standards, an environment that lends itself well towards being very practically minded, and having to turn your hand to most things yourself out of sheer necessity. It also means that it's not a huge demand to step back away from home comforts - there were times while travelling that if I couldn't find a place to camp, I'd throw down my roll mat and sleeping bad in an abandoned building (former Soviet countries are full of them) for the night, and settle in. Other skills such as first aid I garnered over the years, and the good people in the rescue services gave me the opportunity to hone them even more. But a lot of it comes down to just making an effort too - my language skills are reasonably good, but are so because I placed myself in environments where I really had no choice but to learn and to get along and was willing to fail along the way, where others might not be willing to put themselves out there as much. Most of what I've done, other people can do, if they are willing to make the same effort, and I guess, the same compromises.
I'm not sure how to sum it up really. But if the zombie apocalypse were to ever hit, I'd be a good guy to have around I suppose.Gowlasauras Rex wrote: »How do you like to drink shots?
From a glass, usually
Gowlasauras Rex wrote: »Would you rather a baby guiness or a double whiskey in a glass like how men of the whest drink shots
A nice double whiskey, no ice. Just like the good men of the wesht.0 -
I'll echo what several others have said so far, and agree that this is a great thread I love love hearing stories of other people's travels, especially involving non-western cultures.
FWIW to you and the others reading, I'm American and I'm definitely not offended by the generalizations of most American travelers and will tend to agree with you. I try my best not to be "that one" and to blend in with locals to the best of my ability, but I have been remined to try and use my "indoor voice" on a couple occasions..
Onto my question. A female friend of mine (American) is meeting her female friend (English), both in their late 20s, for a three week holiday backpacking through Australia this June. She's flying in and out of Sydney, then onto a week in Bali after that. Their itinerary is pretty loose so far, from what I can gather. Any tips for them on what to see or where to go? Places to avoid either that are over-hyped or unsafe? These are not, shall we say, super outdoorsy girls, so not so much living off the land in the outback, but they're also not going to be staying at Marriotts either.
TIA 0 -
glassdaisies wrote: »I'll echo what several others have said so far, and agree that this is a great thread I love love hearing stories of other people's travels, especially involving non-western cultures.
FWIW to you and the others reading, I'm American and I'm definitely not offended by the generalizations of most American travelers and will tend to agree with you. I try my best not to be "that one" and to blend in with locals to the best of my ability, but I have been remined to try and use my "indoor voice" on a couple occasions..
Onto my question. A female friend of mine (American) is meeting her female friend (English), both in their late 20s, for a three week holiday backpacking through Australia this June. She's flying in and out of Sydney, then onto a week in Bali after that. Their itinerary is pretty loose so far, from what I can gather. Any tips for them on what to see or where to go? Places to avoid either that are over-hyped or unsafe? These are not, shall we say, super outdoorsy girls, so not so much living off the land in the outback, but they're also not going to be staying at Marriotts either.
TIA
If they just have three weeks in Australia, then they aren't going to be backpacking anywhere, not in the traditional sense of the word at least. Australia is a vast country - far moreso than most people think. To put it in perspective it has roughly the same surface area as the United States, but with vast distances between attractions and huge amounts of empty space in between. Most backpackers will stay for months if not a year, and will buy an old van, usually from an outgoing backpacker, and will live and travel out of it during their time in AU. Obviously that's not an option that is available to your friends, so realistically the only way they are going to see anything is to avail of internal flights.
It really all depends on their budget, but my recommendation, based on time available, would be to stick to the triangle of Sydney > Alice Springs > Cairns, and back down the coast to Sydney, and to avail of tours wherever possible. Sydney is a lovely city, and it's worth spending a day or two just wandering around, particularly by the waterfront. The obvious attractions of course are the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House - there's a bridge climb tour which takes groups up over the main span of the bridge if the weather allows for it and is well worth doing. To the west of the city are the Blue Mountains, and are well worth a day trip. The fact that one of your party is from the UK means that renting a car and driving on the left won't be an issue.
From Sydney take an internal flight to Alice Springs. Alice Springs is a former cattle market and doesn't have anything particularly worth seeing - (I once got stranded there and had to rebuild an 4WD engine in the Red Rooster car park) - but you can either rent a car or take a short flight from there out to Uluru (Ayers Rock). They close off the route to the top if there is a hint of a breeze, but if you are lucky, you can hike to the top on a calm day. Either way, it's a beautiful place, and definitely worth going there to hike or drive around it, or just to watch the sun go down over the site.
From there, fly to Cairns. It really all depends on time, but Cairns is a great hub to arrange tours from - the Great Barrier Reef, Fraser Island (a large Island just offshore between Cairns and Brisbane that can only be travelled by 4WD and I highly recommend it - have another 4WD repair story from there, but that's for another day), further south again to Surfers Paradise... the entire coast between Cairns and Sydney is quite beautiful. Again it depends on time, but there are package tours that run from Cairns to Sydney, taking in all of these sights on the way, and they may well be worth considering.
A quick word on Bali - your friends will be flying into Kuta. It depends on the kind of holiday they are there for (parties and beaches or not) but if not, then my advice would be to leave as soon as they arrive, and head an hour or so north to Ubud. Kuta is full of Australian schoolkids over on after exam parties and such - Ubud on the other hand is far more laid back - accommodation can be as cheap as a few dollars per day, there are beautiful restaurants overlooking the rice paddies, and you can easily travel to other parts of the island from there.0 -
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Pippi Longstocking wrote: »Did you find it hard to settle down once you came home? Would you go travelling again for such an extended period?
Yes I did, more than I thought I would - after seven years of travelling, that is to be expected as certain things just become the norm. As I mentioned earlier, just having instant access to amenities such as a hot shower, electricity or internet access without having to plan them into my day took quite a bit of getting used to again. Psychologically it also took a while to readjust - for the first month or so after I returned, I still slept in my sleeping bag on top of the bed because anything else felt stifling (it sounds ridiculous, I know), and in general, life just felt more constricted and restrained, if that makes sense.
Would I do it again? Who knows, but I wouldn't rule it out. I'm older now and that does change things - it can be difficult being the 35 year old in a hostel full of twenty-somethings for one. And most of my friends are well and truly settled now, some with families - things I haven't considered yet. But I'm by no means finished seeing what the world has to offer, and taking off again for six months to a year could easily develop into something longer. After all, that's what happened last time.Hey! First off, thanks for your detailed and informative posts. I plan to travel the world at some stage, so have gotten a lot of things to think about.
Just a few questions:
1. Do you think travelling helped you improve and grow as a person, and if so, how? Maybe this is difficult to answer since you say you have traveled from a young age, so you may have not noticed any significant improvements in areas like confidence, patience, etc in your 7 year trip.
At risk of spieling off a list of clichés, yes, I think so - I believe that travelling allows the opportunity for personal development, and I'd like to think that it has had a positive effect on me too. The very act of going to new and unknown places puts you outside of your comfort zone, and you have no choice but to adapt to your surroundings - a new language, new culture, new customs - and those who don't bend to that generally don't last very long. I've certainly become more patient for various reasons - taking care of day to day problems with people I didn't share a common language with being a prime example, or just having to bend completely to the whims and schedule of another country. I've seen other people quite literally kick and scream when things didn't go their way, but it didn't change the situation they were in.
I also end up being exposed to a lot of humbling stuff - the depths of poverty, death due to illness that would easily be treated back home, in a couple of instances, mass death due to natural disaster, and it certainly puts your life in perspective. But with that I also witnessed many inspirational things, such as people making the best of the little they had, helping others, or picking themselves up and regaining control over their lives after losing everything and it's hard to imagine that ones perspective on life wouldn't be shaped by that.
From a practical point of view, you do end up reconsidering your attachment to things in terms of want vs need, when you have to carry them on your back every step of the way. I started out light this time around after years of trial and error, but there have been trips in the past where that thing I needed to bring with me didn't seem so important after I'd had its weight cutting into my shoulders for a few weeks but had never used it. Conversely, you appreciate more the things you have that you do need, and take better care of them accordingly.
I haven't transformed into an entirely different person by any manner or means, but I have grown, definitely. I'm still an ass at times, but I learned a lot about myself along the way, and am (hopefully) a better person as a result of that.2. What is Pakistan like?
Pakistan is similar to India in that some people love it, others hate it. A few people I met there hated it - they found the cities to be dirty, local customs off-putting and the heat unbearable - and to a certain extent they are valid observations.
Personally, I liked it a lot, particularly northern Pakistan, in the mountainous regions bordering China and Afghanistan. The foothills and mountains in the north are quite rugged and sparsely vegetated in spots, and in many ways it's like stepping back in time a thousand years when you encounter some of the villages there. I met wonderful people all over - I met an off duty police officer while out walking one day who was walking back to his village in the mountains. He had no English, but beckoned me to follow him through the hills, which I did, for an entire day, before we eventually came to his village where he invited me to eat with his family and stay for the night. By the time I woke next morning, he had sent for his son from another village, who could speak English, and they spent the day telling me about their family and region, going back generations.
On another occasion in the town of Gilgrit, I met a young man who was starting up his own business guiding tourists around the area. He spent the entire day showing me every sight there was to see, brought me for tea and samosa, and while I was waiting for the other shoe to drop at the end of the day, wondering what this was going to cost, he wouldn't entertain the notion of being paid - he just wanted foreigners to see that people from his part of the world were good and generous people, despite what the American media had portrayed. That kind of hospitality speaks values about a people and about a country, in my opinion.3. Where have you come across the most beautiful women? I realize beauty is subjective, but what's your opinion?
Probably Venezuela - they are just naturally very beautiful people. Of course the first time I was there, I was 21 and more than likely wandered around in a constant state of infatuation, but yes, very beautiful women there.4. Is it easy to enter most countries around the world with an Irish Passport?
It's by no means a guaranteed entry into every country, but given the choice, I'd have an Irish passport over most others, in terms of ease of entering countries. In a lot of ways the Irish passport seems to sit in that perfect middle ground - we haven't pissed off a lot of the world in the way America has, we're automatically allied with any former British colony, who sees us as being as downtrodden by the English as they have been, and as such are more than likely to allow us to enter freely, yet we're a wealthy enough country that we don't pose an asylum risk to any country with such concerns. I can't imagine travelling any easier with another passport, than I have with an Irish one.5. Can I have your e-mail address? :P
Sure, but then I'd have to kill you But if you do want more information that you don't want to post here, you can drop me a PM. 0 -
Absolutely wonderful thread. I'm loving to hear the world through your real experiences. Your style of writing is more grounded than any blogs I've come across and I genuinely hope you find your dream job in getting paid to travel and write guides. You've a gift for it.
Can I be cheeky and ask you to PM me the country where Lonely Planet may have been naughty with their methods of writing the guide? Curiosity has me dying to know
Being the outdoorsy type that you are. Have you been to Scotland and done many of the hiking trails around there. It's something I'm considering this year and have got a DK Eyewitness book as a rough guide. I still have to sit down and research it more adequately. I'd like a mix of camping and hostel jumping if possible. Would like to see all of Scotland whilst there too.
When in China, did you sleep on the Wall? Did you hike more of it than other tourists? Did you get work in the rice paddies?
In the western world, we view the dog as a family member and asset to work. Did you find it difficult to see them used as a meat source or viewed as a pest in other countries?
In relation to animal welfare in farming systems, did you also find it shocking how livestock was treated in comparison to Ireland. I know I found it difficult myself when working on a 1600 head dairy farm in New Zealand, animals literally starved through winter in some parts.
Some counties in Ireland are renowned for penny pinching (generalisation I know ), where did you find people to be less likely to help you or hold back from offering assistance when you may have been in a predicament? Similarly, as technology advanced throughout your travels, did you notice more people living their travels through a lens? What nationality did you find to be the worst for this?
You've mentioned it hard keeping in touch with family due to facebook, internet, skype, etc. , not being as advanced back then or being non existent. Did you use mail service to send a postcard back home as a quick "hello, I'm doing fine". If so, was it difficult asking for what you needed from there?
I'll think of more questions, the rat race is limiting me to time here right now 0 -
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Absolutely wonderful thread. I'm loving to hear the world through your real experiences. Your style of writing is more grounded than any blogs I've come across and I genuinely hope you find your dream job in getting paid to travel and write guides. You've a gift for it.
I appreciate that - thank you!Can I be cheeky and ask you to PM me the country where Lonely Planet may have been naughty with their methods of writing the guide? Curiosity has me dying to know
You can always ask..... But the point I was trying to make wasn't so much that there was one country out there where I heard the advice was skewed, but rather that they are called guide books for a reason. They are a useful resource if people treat them as such - a guide - it's more problematic though when people follow them religiously - only go to the spots marked on the 'suggested itinerary', only stay at the 'author's choice' guesthouse, so on and so forth, and both the country and the spirit of adventure suffer as a result. And to be fair, I don't think the authors ever envisaged it being used that way.
Regarding the particular edition in question which -allegedly- contained discrepancies - I'm pretty sure that there's been at least one more recent edition of the book since I read it, which may have gotten a complete overhaul, but I haven't checked.Being the outdoorsy type that you are. Have you been to Scotland and done many of the hiking trails around there. It's something I'm considering this year and have got a DK Eyewitness book as a rough guide. I still have to sit down and research it more adequately. I'd like a mix of camping and hostel ajumping if possible. Would like to see all of Scotland whilst there too.
Yeah, I have definitely been to Scotland quite a few times - it's only a stones throw away in the greater scheme of things. My favourite area for hiking is around Glencoe - there are some beautiful hikes and climbs over there, and winter is definitely worth a visit if you are into hiking in the snow, or ice climbing, as they get far more severe winter weather than we do. But all of the highlands are beautiful, and Scotland is far better geared towards multi-day hikes than we are, in terms of access to routes, bothies along the way, etc.When in China, did you sleep on the Wall? Did you hike more of it than other tourists? Did you get work in the rice paddies?
I didn't sleep on the wall, but I probably did hike more of it than other tourists in that I did multiple day hikes there. When I was along the Great Wall it happened to be one of the most severe winters that China had experienced in recent years, and transportation was often cut off due to snowfall, so accessing the wall outside of Beijing was difficult.
I have in the past looked into what it would take to hike the Great Wall, to satisfy my own idle curiosity more than anything else. The main section of wall, which stretches from the Gobi Desert to the Yellow Sea is about 1,800 miles (2,896 km) long give or take. Compare that to something like the Appalachian Trail which is 2,185 miles (3,516 km) long, it's definitely achievable over the course of a few months. The length of the entire wall sits somewhere in between 4,800 km and 6,000 km depending on who you ask, though I believe that a few people have actually done it. Either would be some undertaking....In the western world, we view the dog as a family member and asset to work. Did you find it difficult to see them used as a meat source or viewed as a pest in other countries?
Not really, any more than I thought it was odd to see sacred cows wandering into shops in India and being revered rather than being shooed out the door. But I tend to be fairly practically minded in that regard. Some animals are treated as pets, others are treated as meat, and that line just shifts in certain cultures. And it's worth mentioning that in the couple of countries I've been in that consider dog to be a source of meat, people also keep dogs as pets. I ate it, but not too often. Not because of any moral or ethical objection, but simply because it didn't taste very good.In relation to animal welfare in farming systems, did you also find it shocking how livestock was treated in comparison to Ireland. I know I found it difficult myself when working on a 1600 head dairy farm in New Zealand, animals literally starved through winter in some parts.
Again, related to the above, practicality kicks in, and I appreciate that other countries may not have the same standards as we do, but most places I've been, there was always a base level of respect for livestock. From a purely practical point of view they are a valuable commodity, and particularly in poorer countries, often mean the difference between the family having an easy or a lean winter ahead of them, and as such they tend to be minded. And it's worth bearing in mind that not that long ago, it was exactly the same here in Ireland - even in my living memory.
That being said, I have experienced more of an emotional disconnection from the animals on the large cattle stations, such as the ones I worked on in Australia, or New Zealand as you have mentioned. Particularly when cattle were being transported by truck for resale or slaughter, it was just accepted that X number of animals would die in transit due to heat or injury, and you just insured against it. I'm not saying that I liked it, but whether that's something you just have to accept when dealing with animals that number in the thousands at a time, I'm not sure.Some counties in Ireland are renowned for penny pinching (generalisation I know ), where did you find people to be less likely to help you or hold back from offering assistance when you may have been in a predicament? Similarly, as technology advanced throughout your travels, did you notice more people living their travels through a lens? What nationality did you find to be the worst for this?
As a rule of thumb, the wealthier the country, the less likely you are to get assistance from a random stranger, though obviously that's a sweep of a very broad brush, and there have been exceptions on either side of the spectrum. But it's very hard to label a particular country like that, because it is a lazy stereotype which is unfair to the individuals living there. There have been parts of the USA where people would quite literally walk by you if you were lying dead in the street - I got the crap beaten out of me in one of the bible belt states for talking to a black girl in a bar many years ago, and people walked by while I was bleeding all over the car park. That being said, I was hitchhiking weeks later, trying to track down friends who lived in the very same same state - I only had a very rough idea of where they lived - when a 20-something year old über Christian guy pulled over, and spent the next three hours driving me around and asking strangers for help, until he had figured out where they lived. So experiences can vary wildly.You've mentioned it hard keeping in touch with family due to facebook, internet, skype, etc. , not being as advanced back then or being non existent. Did you use mail service to send a postcard back home as a quick "hello, I'm doing fine". If so, was it difficult asking for what you needed from there?
Yeah, to varying degrees of success I mailed postcards to family and friends back home, though it can be surprisingly expensive in certain countries if you have a few people expecting a card in the post. I didn't really have any trouble to be honest - postcards are something you'd pick out yourself from the shelf or display anyways, and stamps are easy to buy when you're pointing at the postcards in your hand.
Sending anything bigger than a postcard can be a different story though, particularly in India. Bureaucracy in India is an art form in itself, and every official act - even something as simple as sending a parcel - has five more stages to it than anywhere else in the world. The first thing to be aware of is that parcels in India aren't sent in cardboard boxes - the contents are placed into cloth sacks and stitched up tight. the process of which I wasn't very clued in on the first time I tried it.- Queue for 40 minutes at the post office.
- Get to the counter to be told that it's the wrong window (it's always the wrong window), and that you need to queue somewhere else.
- Queue for another 40 minutes at the other window in the post office while half the population of the post office crowds around you, trying to figure out what you are sending and where it's going to.
- Post office employee informs you that you need to get the contents of your parcel sewn into a bag and points in the general direction of the street.
- Spend an hour wandering round before you find a tailor who will sew your parcel into a cloth bag.
- Return to the post office, queue for 40 minutes until you get to the counter.
- Person behind the counter hands you a form to fill out.
- Fill out form, only to be told that it needs to be xeroxed. Xeroxing is another essential service only provided by somebody out in the street.
- Go back out into the street, find the xerox man, or more often than not, the xerox street, which is full of little shopfronts containing men with photocopiers. Get the form xeroxed.
- Return to the post office, queue for 40 minutes until you get to the counter.
- Finally hand your parcel and forms over to the person behind the counter, who weighs it and charges you the going rate.
Me too, please, please, please!
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I've travelled the world, AMA wrote: »And it's worth bearing in mind that not that long ago, it was exactly the same here in Ireland - even in my living memory.
This is very true. Fair to say Ireland has only looked at animal welfare in livestock in the last 15 years. It was a tough lesson to get through to many farmers, and still is in some parts or those who have an older generation viewpoint to farming - "Well that's how my father did it, and his father before him".I've travelled the world, AMA wrote: »That being said, I have experienced more of an emotional disconnection from the animals on the large cattle stations, such as the ones I worked on in Australia, or New Zealand as you have mentioned. Particularly when cattle were being transported by truck for resale or slaughter, it was just accepted that X number of animals would die in transit due to heat or injury, and you just insured against it. I'm not saying that I liked it, but whether that's something you just have to accept when dealing with animals that number in the thousands at a time, I'm not sure.
This. I discovered the hard way that I do NOT like intensive farming. The casual hand they gave the calves from birth until they were driven away. They weren't fed most days if I wasn't on the farm
It disappointed me as it only took ten minutes to get a trailer of milk into them 0 -
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With your experiences of the seven years in so many different cultures, where does Ireland rate to you now on the world platform? Where are our successes as you see it Where could we open our eyes a little to progress further be it intellectually, economically or culturally? Does our government look less like a sty of lying swine now that you've encountered more corrupt forces such as the Russian police?
That's a pretty extensive question, and not sure it's one that I'm remotely qualified to answer. But my own opinion is that for all we might complain at times, there are certainly worse places to live in the world than Ireland. It's easy to forget how far we've come economically speaking, unless for some reason you have to take a step backward into 1980's Ireland - we effectively went from being Europe's worst economic performer to its best in the space of 15 or so years. The eye-opener for me was Georgia - a country roughly the same land mass in size, almost the same population, mostly rural and grounded in agriculture, it wasn't a huge step above subsistence living, and was a huge throwback to the Ireland of my childhood. While it may not be a perfect system, we do have healthcare, social welfare, ecucation and such, which are far from guaranteed amenities in other parts of the world.
I think that as a whole, we sell ourselves well - other countries see us as having a highly educated workforce and as an attractive location for inward investment, compared to the rural backwater of Europe we used to be, and yes you are right - certainly compared to some of the more corrupt governments I've encountered, Ireland's seems tame by comparison, though every time something changes, it just seems to be a case of it being the same circus, but different clowns, and that perception does travel abroad, particularly to the English speaking world.
Culturally we are certainly well recognised overseas in terms of music and the arts, though in my opinion I think we are beginning to suffer compared to other countries, which is sad to see. In many ways we seem to perceive our own culture as somewhat antiquated, and holding us back - it's obvious from some of the responses even here on Boards at times that the Irish language for example, is a useless language, should just be let die out. While I agree that the Irish language needs a revival in how it's taught, it still saddens me to see that it's something that many of us are actively pushing away.
In a lot of ways our cultural identity it's something we like to trot out when it's a popular time to be Irish, and then shove it back in the drawer again once we don't need it. Other countries seem to be able to strike a far better balance between holding onto their culture and having a genuine love for it, while still living in the modern world. It's something we could definitely improve upon considering that it's a serious marketable asset.Are people in other countries TRULY shocked at how many taxes we have here property, water, refuse collection, etc) or is this just an Irish attitude that other EU countries are laughing at us :P
To be honest, for the most part other people don't really care - they are too busy worrying how their own taxes are affecting them. Though I have heard surprise being expressed on more than one occasion that we just seem to ay down and take what's dished out, and I have to say that I agree.After experiencing so many cultures, has your sense of style/fashion changed since you've come back?
Sense of style hasn't been an issue, because I never really had one to begin with I'm certainly more appreciative of being comfortable rather than just wearing something for appearances sake, and I find it hard to justify spending crazy money on clothes unless there is a good reason to, considering that the price of a pair of Levis might be a month's income or more in some countries I've been to. One thing I have a far greater appreciation for now is traditional attire - some of the national costumes from various countries truly are beautiful, and by virtue of actually being in that country you get not only a sense of the appearance of traditional costumes, but also the story behind how they evolved, be it for dance, for battle, or for some other reason.Are you a little more flummoxed at the westerns view that money is important in comparison to those you've met who were happier with less?
I wouldn't say flummoxed, but I do think that we place too much importance on having money, and making more of it. Don't get me wrong, it's great that families can live in comfort, and can have disposable income that we couldn't even imagine twenty years ago. But the sense of one-upmanship in terms of material wealth has really gotten out of hand, even since I left. I barely recognised some of the country roads in my area when I came back home - mansions of houses being built, each one having to be a little bigger and better than the neighbours mansion which was built a few months before. I'm not saying that we all need to go back to living in thatched cottages, but for a while I think we lost sight of how to live within our means, and in many ways have lost sight of what's actually important in life too.What was the most interesting animal, insect and plant you came across that you've never heard of or experienced before your travels?
It's hard to pick just one - there are a lot of crazy and unusual things out there. One that comes to mind though is the Vietnamese Centipede - as the name suggests, it's a centipede, though not limited to Vietnam. It's about 6-8" long, but the fun fact about them is that they have a venomous bite, and although it's not usually toxic, there have been cases where the pain has been so bad, that people have cut off the bitten limb in an attempt to lessen it, or have committed suicide because they couldn't take it anymore. And you can encounter them reasonably often. Definitely something to stay away from.0 -
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J Mysterio wrote: »Great thread. Well considered responses and artfully delivered, a joy to read. My views on much of what you said would align quite closely.
I did find your tactful description of Americans hilarious. Your reference to the bible belt girl though... What was that about? Also, what state was it? etc.
That was quite a few years ago at this stage - I was 20 years old and had just finished college and decided to backpack around the southern US. The state in question was Georgia - I had just hitchhiked my way up from Florida, and found myself firmly entrenched in the bible belt, where the teaching of evolution is a big no-no, and if you dig down, you'll encounter hell before you find a fossil. The undercurrents of racism still run strong there at times, and by unfortunate coincidence, the state was trying to ban the confederate flag at the time, meaning that tensions were running higher than usual.
Georgia, being a very wooded and mountainous state, was great for camping, and sometimes if I arrived somewhere early, I'd grab a beer or something to eat at a local country bar, before setting up camp for the night. And my accent standing out like a sore thumb, I'd often have people come up to me, ask me where I was from and so on, and this time was no different. I was at the bar, ordering a beer, when a black girl who happened to be drinking close by overheard me ordering, came up, and asked the usual questions - where I was from, what I was doing in that part of the world, and being that I was travelling on my own, I was happy to sit and chat. An hour later, I'd finished my food and beer, we said our goodbyes, and I headed on out with my backpack to head a little bit out of town. I made it about halfway across the car park - three guys followed me out and beat me almost unconscious for "making eyes at a n****r". I didn't stand much of a chance. That was obviously an extreme, but there was still a lot of racial tension in backwater Georgia at that time.J Mysterio wrote: »So... A question... 7 years is a very, very long time... Where did you stay the longest?
I would imagine you would have stayed in one place or another for at least 6 months or so given you were gone so long.
Australia would be the country I stayed the longest, but the again you are dealing with a country that is also a continent, and to see it, you really do need to travel it at your leisure. I spent over a year and a half there, but in that time I got to see most of the country, including living in the outback for extended periods of time. Other than that, Georgia was a place that I fell in love with, the people, culture and the language, and I returned there repeatedly for those reasons. There are a couple of pages of stamps in my passport dedicated to Georgia alone.J Mysterio wrote: »And, why not, what would be your last meal?
An authentic green Thai curry, cooked in front of me, washed down with a bottle of Tiger beerOscars Well. wrote: »Did you have to renew your passport while abroad?
And if so, was the process difficult and did it take long?
No I didn't. As it happened, my previous passport was about to expire just before I moved to South Africa, and I paid extra to get the large version which contains 65 visa pages. I also carry a British passport, which I could fall back on if necessary, though I mostly carry that in case I ever need an embassy in an emergency. You can find a British embassy or consulate in almost every country. An Irish one, not so much. The last time I met an Irish consulate, it was to get drunk with him in a bar in Armenia.0 -
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Have you ever watched the TV series Departures? 3 Canadian guys travelling the world, 1 of which is the camera man and an amazing one at that. Ironically 1 was a well seasoned traveler before they started the show and they were all 27 too. They've been to a lot of places you've been so I'm wondering if you've watched it, if not, it might be interesting to see their route through countries you've been in. (They've been to Antartica ) Couple the fact that I've watched 2 seasons of that in 2 weeks and read this thread, the travel bug in me is eager to get going.
Really is a fantastic thread, my favourite on boards and thank you so much for all the answers and insights into various countries, you've lived the life I can only dream of living, hopefully in 7 years I'll be following in your footsteps.0 -
Whatsisname wrote: »Have you ever watched the TV series Departures? 3 Canadian guys travelling the world, 1 of which is the camera man and an amazing one at that. Ironically 1 was a well seasoned traveler before they started the show and they were all 27 too. They've been to a lot of places you've been so I'm wondering if you've watched it, if not, it might be interesting to see their route through countries you've been in. (They've been to Antartica ) Couple the fact that I've watched 2 seasons of that in 2 weeks and read this thread, the travel bug in me is eager to get going.
I haven't been a huge TV watcher for many years - travelling obviously didn't agree with it, though that's changed somewhat since I've gotten back, and I've binged watched a few shows that I'd missed while I was away. I have heard that there have been quite a few travel/adventure shows like the one you've mentioned though broadcast over the last few years - I constantly have people trying to get me to watch 'Utopia' or 'The Long Way Round' or 'The Amazing Race' or similar, trying to see how it measures up to the places I've been. I haven't seen 'Departures', though just reading the blurb on it, it does read to be on the better end of the spectrum of what these shows are all about, and I may stream a few episodes of it later on tonight.
It would be up there as one of my ideal jobs really - being paid to circumnavigate the world and have a series of adventures along the way. So if there's an I AMA TV Producer looking for a project out there.... Though I have a face more suited to radio, or writing on the internet
TV related travel travel story. When I was in Mongolia, public places such as bus stations would always have a battered old black and white TV up on a shelf somewhere, showing the latest Mongolian and Chinese soaps, which Mongolian people love - TV is a relatively new thing there and they have latched onto it with gusto. But I couldn't figure out why, every couple of hours, the TV would turn to static - it seemed oddly specific to just be lousy reception, so I asked around to find out what the issue was.
Apparently when Mongolia first started broadcasting TV, people became so hooked on it, that their animals were dropping dead on the Steppe, because their owners were too engrossed in the latest goings on in the popular Mongolian soaps to pull themselves away from the TV to check on their livestock. As a counter to this, the Mongolian government mandated that the TV station stop broadcasting for 15 minute chunks throughout the day, forcing their owners to tend to their livestock throughout the day.Whatsisname wrote: »Really is a fantastic thread, my favourite on boards and thank you so much for all the answers and insights into various countries, you've lived the life I can only dream of living, hopefully in 7 years I'll be following in your footsteps.
Thank you - I'm glad that you are being entertained by it. And I hope to see a travel thread up here from you sometime in the next few years 0 -
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What an excellent thread.
I've done a tiny bit of travelling/backpacking. Whenever we sat out at night drinking a few beers there was always an arsehole someone who pulled out a guitar.
Are you that person? If not, how did you make your excuse to leave!!:pac:
I'm afraid that I was the arsehole wonderful person who played the guitar, but I tried to limit it to rare occasions.
But I understand where you are coming from - every hostel seems to have that guy who pulls out the guitar at a fixed time every evening, playing the same 4-chord songs, in the hope of getting a sing-song going and meeting a bunch of new people to get drunk with.
That being said, if you can play an instrument, it is a great way of meeting new people, and not just other backpackers. I had great sessions on what would have been long and tedious train rides in Siberia and China, and despite not having a common language, everybody from eight years old to eighty found a way of joining in. And of course, once you pick up the guitar and play a song, someone else always decides that they can do better in their language, and the process repeats itself.0 -
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This thread just gets better and better.. the police and the beach story are some of the greatest anecdotes of all time... Any other poster and id call bull$hit but I 100% believe these!
Believe me when I say that I wish that the beach story had ended in a very different mannerGloomtastic! wrote: »Boards has a new legend!
From what I have read I'm thinking no, but do you have any brothers or sisters? If yes, do they have the travel bug?
I do have siblings - one brother and one sister, and no, they don't travel to the same degree as I do. Neither have much interest in the outdoors in general - my brother is rarely inclined to leave the country, with the exception perhaps of a lads weekend away somewhere. My sister has trvelled a little more - she took 9 months off to stay in Australia, stopping over in Thailand along the way, but her idea of a holiday is more along the lines of skiing fro a week with her friends. So as you can see, we are very different people. Which is probably not a bad thing 0
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