The Where, What, and Why of Travel

[zkelvin]

I've been reading PostMasculine / PracticalPickup for almost a year and a half now, and I've also met a few people who engaged in extended international travel. Between their raving and Mark's extolling of the many benefits of travel, I've decided to indulge my budding wanderlust: starting at the end of this Summer, I'm going to travel the world for a year.

And I'm incredibly excited about this. Or, well, I was, before I realized that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.

So I have a three part question for you, fellow PostMasculiners, in which I invite you to help me understand what I'm getting myself into.

1) If you had 8 months to travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Assume you're an American with no international travel. (I know I said a full year, but I'm doing this as year off from my paid PhD program, and so I may have to take a full-time job for a few months to afford this.)

2) What exactly do you *do* while you're abroad? I'm mainly interested in meeting new people and imbibing new cultures-- more than a day or two of touristy activities per month will surely disgust me. Relatedly: how do you get the most out of your time from traveling?

For one thing, I think staying in hostels is a must. I'm also seriously considering taking classes on culturally relevant skils-- Muay Thai in Thailand, salsa in Brazil, etc. Mark has mentioned both of these in various travel posts in the past. But I'd also like to hear about less structured experiences-- randomly meeting foreigners with whom you later share a drink, practice respective languages, complete day labor, join their family for dinner, etc.

3) What are the beneficial effects of traveling? I'm already sold on the idea; I mainly want to be aware of what to expect (and maybe, what to pursue). Mark writes about this in A Dust Over India, so either expounding that idea or others are welcome:

Quote:The most beneficial effect of traveling that I’ve found is that it forces you to become more confident and independent in a million, tiny, unnoticeable ways that add up to a great, noticeable whole. The more difficult and exotic the culture, the more it challenges you, the more it engages you on an emotional level, and the more you grow in intangible and personal ways.

Any half-baked ideas, thoughts, experiences, and partial responses are appreciated. Thanks!

[Mark]

1. I can't tell you where to go. It depends on your priorities. Are you looking more for fun, for tourist sites, for learning new things, for experiences exotic cultures? Also, you'll probably have more inherent interest in some cultures and not others. It's something to seriously think about. I will give you two pieces of advice though:

a) Start with less exotic cultures first, to break you into traveling. Don't jump straight to a place like India or Bulgaria or something. Start with Western Europe or Australia, and then ease yourself into it.
b) Vary up how long you stay in each location. Doing the 3-4 days per city endlessly for months gets REALLY old and you get burnt out. Pick a few places to spend at least a month and to get to know really well, make some friends, etc.

2) Hostels are great for short-term stays, but they too, can get old quickly. If you're staying anywhere for more than a week or two, I recommend trying to get your own place or at least your own room. Couchsurfing is an amazing resource for meeting local people and hanging out with them. I never stay with people, but I meet up with tons of people for coffee and whatever just to get to know the area and what's cool. I've actually gotten laid off of it a couple times too (although that's not its main purpose). Classes are great (salsa is in Colombia and Central America, Samba is in Brazil). Surfing lessons are fun. Language courses are great ways to meet other foreigners. Language exchange groups as well (you help someone with their English). Online dating is pretty useful, especially for countries where white guys are seen as higher status. But yeah, find activities, classes, events to take part in. Then take it from there.

3) No easy or short way to answer this. But here's the short answer: makes you more confident, makes you more self-reliant, makes you appreciate other cultures and other people more, exposes you to different ideas, exposes you to different types of women, makes you grateful for many things you have, also shows you things you have that you may not want. Every time I leave the US, everything just seems easier and quieter when I get back. It's happened every time I've come back and I've talked to other long-term travelers and they say the same thing.

So yes, highly recommend everyone travels. In some countries it's expected of young people to go see the world. In the US, it's seen as weird or dangerous. Which is a pity. A guy emailed me recently and said that he'd saved up enough to take a bootcamp, or to go live abroad for a month and asked me which one I would recommend. I told him to do the travel. Bootcamps help you meet girls and get over a few little fears. Traveling changes you and changes your perceptions of people and things. Especially when you travel alone.

[Matt T]

Mark will probably consider this heresy, but I have a decidedly poorer view of traveling around. Maybe because I come from a diametrically different background than he does.

[Mark]

Matt T Wrote:Mark will probably consider this heresy, but I have a decidedly poorer view of traveling around. Maybe because I come from a diametrically different background than he does.

Some people just don't enjoy traveling. Which is fine. I still think it's something everybody should periodically or at least a few times.

[Matt T]

Mark Wrote:Some people just don't enjoy traveling. Which is fine. I still think it's something everybody should periodically or at least a few times.

Well, I've probably spent close to 2 years of my life in India, haha.

[Mark]

Yeah, if I spent two years in India, I'd probably hate traveling too, lol.

[zkelvin]

Thanks for the feedback, Mark.

Mark Wrote:1. I can't tell you where to go. It depends on your priorities. Are you looking more for fun, for tourist sites, for learning new things, for experiences exotic cultures? Also, you'll probably have more inherent interest in some cultures and not others. It's something to seriously think about.

Really, the main reason I'm going is because I think I'll grow as a person, in some vague sense. Everyone I know who has engaged in extended travel has reported that it changed them in significant ways, and I want to see how it will affect me. I guess that's also what I was trying to ask about in part 3-- I was trying to figure out exactly how this could change me. Beyond that, I'm looking primarily to meet people from different cultures, and then I'd rank having fun and experience exotic cultures next.

I've already decided on both Japan and Thailand for a couple months. I'm planning on taking the Trans-Siberian railway from Moscow to Beijing with generous stops along the way, with a week or two in each of those cities. On top of that, I'm considering a quick backpacking tour through the Western Europe as I could see a lot in a short period of time and without too much cash by hosteling / Europass.