21–30 of 103 posts
I would think that everything ends up being rather similar.
I travel ten days at a time, with 6 months to a year in between international trips. Most trips only include one or two countries. Anything else would be a cognitive overload.
However, in Mexico, the default foreigners are usually from the US.
I've had the good fortune to be able to travel quite a bit in both my professional and personal life. And I really have to echo everything the author says. But three points in particular: "The media lies" is something everyone should take to heart. It's an astonishing thing to be in a place where the #1 story of the day is happening and not see anything even remotely representing the reporting on it at ground level.…
I used to travel. Africa, Australia, Japan, Europe, Mexico, etc. His point about Americans not traveling is valid. I wonder if part of the reason is that North America is so far away from everywhere else. It takes 11 hours to fly from Berlin to Thailand, but it takes 25 hours to fly from NYC to Thailand. Most Americans probably have to get to NYC or LA to get anywhere else in the world, which can be another 3-5 hours…
The other thing that I've noticed is that Americans from the West Coast are much more likely to travel (of course, I'm from the west coast so this might be some confirmation bias).
(opinions based on a little more than two years or so of ongoing travel and probably something like 30 countries)
I don't get the point of traveling all at once (months at a time or more). It seems to me that most people that do so, visit dozens of countries back-to-back in a relatively short span of time. I would think that everything ends up being rather similar. I travel ten days at a time, with 6 months to a year in between international trips. Most trips only include one or two countries. Anything else would be a cognitive…
I don't get the point of traveling all at once (months at a time or more). It seems to me that most people that do so, visit dozens of countries back-to-back in a relatively short span of time. I would think that everything ends up being rather similar. I travel ten days at a time, with 6 months to a year in between international trips. Most trips only include one or two countries. Anything else would be a cognitive…
I've spent four months in Guatemala and over six in New Zealand. Most of the people I know who travel long term do the same thing. The only time I hear about people going to many countries in a short period is when countries are dense (central america and europe) or when they're only gone for a couple months and trying to get as many stamps (pokémon) as possible.
I have lived in 3 continents (Africa [Nigeria], Asia [India], and North America [US]) and vacationed a few times in Europe [mainly England and Switzerland]. This, IMO is good advice. Contrary to popular belief, people around the world are good. They are willing to help you out and are less likely to take advantage of the fact that you are new there. There is also a sense of curiosity - about who you are, where you ar…
I don't get the point of traveling all at once (months at a time or more). It seems to me that most people that do so, visit dozens of countries back-to-back in a relatively short span of time. I would think that everything ends up being rather similar. I travel ten days at a time, with 6 months to a year in between international trips. Most trips only include one or two countries. Anything else would be a cognitive…
All that being said, I'm really happy to have done it a couple of times, but have no real desire to do it again. Now I much prefer shorter (4-14 days), more frequent, trips within a more limited geographic region and a higher level of comfort.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds good. If the mortgage payment and health insurance were going to be "OK" too, I would already be out there.
Well, if you have a family and a mortgage, then your responsibilities are to them, not to indulge yourself in a year off. But my point is that many Americans who have the opportunity and position to do this kind of traveling still don't seem to do it. And if one has a mortgage but no family responsibilities, then things can almost certainly be arranged to be rid of the house, or rent it out temporarily, etc. to make…
I think that the U.S., despite the existence of Social Security and Medicare, is more like China than a northern European country. We have a dog-eat-dog social structure and economy. One of the only reasons we have such a high standard of living is Brenton-Woods and it's subsequent replacement system, which heavily favors the U.S. because T-Bills are the most liquid place for the world to park their cash. So my point is: Sure, some of American's fear of extended foreign travel may be driven by unreasonable fear, but I'll bet a lot of it is driven by reasonable fear -- the fear of falling behind and not being able to catch up.