The Where, What, and Why of Travel

[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.