Some Travel Tips(or How I Got There and Back)

For anyone who may be interested - here are a few things that helped me or that I've learned along the way:

Motivation

Read this excerpt from Rolf Potts' Vagabonding. He nails it better than anyone.

One of my favorite magazines, National Geographic Adventures, has the slogan I've always liked of "Dream it, Plan it, Do it."

Financing

The key to long-term travel is to look for ways to stretch your money out by staying in budget places, cooking, and pairing up with people to share costs. Not every day, because nicer places and nicer meals are part of the whole experience, but all those dollars add up over the long haul. Also, bargaining helps. When I went paragliding in New Zealand, I told them I was thinking about either paragliding or doing the bungy jump, and got them to give me a much lower price.

I worked for several years before traveling which was the source of my financing, but I'm amazed at the number of recent grads who travel with seemingly no money, and have asked a few how they've financed their trip:

• Graduating, working overtime 8 months, then traveling 6 months.


• Getting a working visa in a place like Australia - working 6 months doing odd jobs like berry-picking and then traveling on weekends or for 3-4 months at the end.


• Taking out a student loan with the intention of paying it back with the signing bonus or first few paychecks.

Personally, while I'm glad I'm did my trip now that I'm older/more mature and was able to really absorb it all.... I definitely wish I would have done a trip after college - especially seeing how confident everyone is in paying for their trips.

Some people (mostly guys or couples traveling for over a year) are hardcore budget travelers; I was quite tame in comparison. (Better safe than sorry, for a single female traveler, IMO.)  In New Zealand, a popular mode of travel is the Campervan, which doubles as a bus and hotel and is extremely cheap. I've heard about people hitching rides on ships and helping with odd jobs like cleaning toilets for free rides. You can volunteer on farms for free room/board and travel on weekends. And apparently the new thing now is "couch surfing" which pairs up travelers with strangers' couches.

I've done none of that. But, I think the bottom line in all this is that there are many ways to do it, and you don't need tons of money.

Planning

• There are several "'Round the World" ticket agencies like Air Treks who offer budget open-ended tickets. There are a lot of great deals available.


• To figure out my basic itinerary, I did research from websites like Lonely Planet, talking to travel agents, and getting info from friends or friends-of-friends. I also looked at packaged tours like GAP Adventures to see their routes and get an idea of what itineraries are feasible/efficient.


• I kept some flexibility in my schedule so I could change my plans. It's nice to be able to adjust my schedule based on what's recommended or discouraged by people I met along the way. Plus it was nice to have some extra days if I got someplace and really loved it.


• A great book is The Rough Guide to your First Trip Around the World - with information on everything - planning, financing, visas, vaccinations, itineraries, etc.


• A good travel insurance company is World Nomads, which covers theft, loss and medical. Most private insurance at home does not cover travel.

Traveling Alone and Making Friends

I've traveled alone enough in business trips to know that it doesn't bother me. Actually, I quite enjoy it because I've met so many people from all over the world. Now I have friends on every continent (well, almost - 6 continents... no penguins).

Hostels with kitchens and patios were always a great place to meet people to explore a town with. (The Lonely Planet guidebooks usually do a great job of pointing out the "social" and "quiet" guesthouses, depending on what you're up for that day.) Plus, most places with something to offer tourists have day tours or 2-4 day tours available, which is another avenue to meet people.

I met loads of people who enjoy traveling alone, so as intimidating as it seems at first, I'd encourage anyone to give it a try.