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For months we’ve been simultaneously grimacing at the bad economic news and rejoicing at the fantastic travel deals that resulted from said bad news. We know we’ve been repeating ourselves on this subject, telling everyone who’ll listen, but some of the prices on airfare, cruises, hotel rooms, and vacation packages were just too good not to go on about. We kept wondering when the deals would stop.
We might be able to stop wondering now.
To be fair, it’s unlikely that the deals are gone for good, or that there won’t be another dip in prices after the peak summer travel season is over, but we’ve noticed prices creeping back up a bit over the last couple of weeks. If only this meant the economy was rebounding, then we might be more excited about an uptick in the cost of airfare… But alas, we doubt the two are so linked.
In any case, the good news for long-term travelers is that there are still great deals to be had on RTW tickets. These multi-stop trips didn’t see the recent steep drop in price that simple round-trip tickets did (although there was a bit of a drop), so there also won’t be a corresponding rebound upward. And because these long-term trips are almost always about being more flexible, your chances of scoring a deal are better overall.
Here are the new special deals on multi-stop airline tickets available through BootsnAll - these deals are good through July 31, 2009:
And if none of those itineraries suits you, stop by the BootsnAll RTW site to play with our RTW travel planner. It’s interactive and fun, and - fair warning - kind of addictive.
A Wat in Bangkok's Grand Palace
Southeast Asia is one of the most popular regions in the world for vagabonds. The low cost of living, exotic cultures and fantastic food make it a permanent fixture on most itineraries.
But how much money do you need? On the New York Times travel blog In Transit, a writer attempts to map out a Southeast Asia budget. Writer David G. Allen wrote a detailed, informative breakdown. Most helpful, there are lots of links to NY Times articles related to all the major destinations in Southeast Asia.
Having recently completed a 5-month trip around the region myself, I can add my two cents. I was more “flashpacker” then backpacker, taking Air Asia flights, staying in nice guesthouses or budget hotels I found on Travel Fish, and eating in sit-down restaurants (check out Chowhound.com’s Greater Asia forum).
My rough costs were about US$1,000 a month. If you take long-distance buses, stay in the cheapest motels and eat from street stalls, you could do it for dramatically less.
NPR recently discussed how the recession is luring some to lace up their hiking boots and hit the Appalachian Trail. It has become particularly popular with recent graduates and laid off workers - to the extent that some have started calling it the “Recession Trail” this season. It typically takes six months to “thru-hike” the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine with expenses typically totaling from $3,000-5,000.
Even disgraced South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford attempted to get in on the popularity of long-dstance hiking recently, falsely claiming he was hiking the Appalachian Trail when he was really meeting with his mistress in Argentina.
Other popular long-distance United States trails include the Mexico-to-Canada Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail.
There are also plenty of quirkier long distance hiking trails in the United States including California’s Bigfoot Trail, the southwest’s Hayduke Trail and Alaska’s Iditarod Trail.
There are long distance hiking trails throughout the world, from Armenia’s Janapar to Turkey’s Saint Paul Trail to Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
Just make sure to take proper precautions and use common sense so that you don’t end up in Hiker Hell.
If anybody knows how to follow through on a travel goal, it’s Gary Arndt. His: simply to travel. He’s been traveling non-stop for the past two years and he has yet to set a return date. What we do know: he’s in Amsterdam today. And soon he’ll be in England. His website, Everything Everywhere, keeps us up-to-date on his whereabouts.
Gary’s the first to admit that he caught the travel bug a little late. Growing up in Wisconsin and Minnesota, he didn’t see saltwater until he was 21 years old, when he visited Seattle. His first trip abroad was in 1999 on a business trip that took him around the world.
It’s true that he sold his house to pay for his current trip, which isn’t something that everybody can do. He figures most people spend about $15,000-20,000 per year to travel year-round. But his one luxury—staying in single rooms rather than dorms while at hostels—ups the expense a bit.
Gary was kind enough to answer a few questions recently via email:
Your blog mentions that you got the idea to do a RTW trip two years before your trip. Looking back, what was the best preparation that you did during that time? And the worst?
The time before my trip was spent tying up loose ends more than planning. Selling my house and taking care of other business took up all that time. There was actually very little planning that I did other than knowing the general direction I was going to travel. The ability to adapt is more important than the ability to plan, because your plans are always going to change no matter what you do.
You’ve been away for two years now. How have your thoughts on the trip, or your approach, changed over that time?
It has been more of a matter of adjustment. When I started the trip I had to get used to not having my own bed or a place to retreat to. Eventually you just get used to it and you come to accept wherever you are as home. The only way to get to that point is to be forced into a situation where you have no place to retreat to. The first few months were sometimes difficult, but eventually you get used to it.
Do you have any favorite budget travel tips?
For me, I always look for hotels and hostels with free wifi. Paying for internet will drive you bankrupt if you have to do it on a consistent basis. I have found that cheaper hotels and hostels usually offer better/cheaper internet access than expensive places.
Any tricks you’ve learned for blogging from the road?
You have to be dedicated to blogging. There are tens of thousands of people who try to keep a blog while traveling and almost all of them are infrequently updated and abandoned. A laptop and a good camera I think are essential to blogging from the road. Also, blogging isn’t just writing. The internet is multimedia and travel is a very visual thing. Photography and video are just as important. Also, don’t expect to make a ton of money from your travel blog.
I’ve read you’re an Eagle Scout. Have you ever put some of those skills to the test on the road?
Yes. Knots and first aid always come in handy. 
What’s next? Or do you have a particular goal for future travels?
I’ll be returning to the US in about a month to take care of some business and to visit my family which I haven’t seen in two years. Later in 2009-10 I plan on doing a big tour of the Caribbean and Central America with some road trips in the United States in September/October. I intend to keep traveling as long as I can, but I don’t know if I’ll be on the road for two years straight again in the same way I have been traveling. I might do two or three multi-month trips per year to targeted destinations like China and India. I hope to do more video and podcasting in the future and find other people to travel with. After almost 30 months of solo travel, spending time with someone else will be a real change.
I found out about this cool service from the Journeywoman newsletter, which is also worth subscribing to for their cool tips and occasional nuggets of usefulness for the permanent traveler (although it’s geared more towards vacation travelers).
HelpX describes themselves as “an online listing of host organic farms, non-organic farms, farmstays, homestays, ranches, lodges, B&Bs, backpackers hostels and even sailing boats who invite volunteer helpers to stay with them short-term in exchange for food and accommodation.” Basically, it’s sort of like Servas for volunteers — you sign up on the website as a volunteer or a host. If you’re a host, you list where you are, and what you need done — say you need help in your garden, or getting your crops in. The volunteers post profiles as well (or, with an upgrade of 20 Euros for 2 years to the Premier account, can contact hosts directly), and the hosts may choose from the lists of available volunteers who they’d like to come stay with them. Volunteers are expected to put in a certain number of hours per week, and there is not necessarily any time limit for stays.
HelpX can be found in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Europe, including England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Finland, Bulgaria and many other European countries.
“Saint Augustine declared that “the world is a book, and those who have not traveled have read only one page.” Only firsthand experience can validate or challenge our intuitions, giving us confidence about risky political decisions in a complex world of instant feedback loops and unintended consequences. During travel, perception and thought merge; a contradiction can emerge as a truth to be revealed, not some exception to be disproved. Such ambiguity is the corollary of complexity, after all. Reality is famously resistant to theories that measure the world according to what it should be rather than how it really is. Instead, exploring the patterns of the second world aesthetically, honoring the value of purely sensory judgments — this exposes characteristics that are common to the entire second world; differences are revealed to be more relative than absolute.”
–Parag Khanna, The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order (2008)
Kelsey Timmerman, author of Where Am I Wearing? fame is giving away an iPod.
To enter to win, simply make up a “funny, clever, witty, insulting answer” describing what song Kelsey is dancing to in the photo pictured here. Then, go to the contest webpage, leave a comment, e-mail your friends about the contest (and CC Kelsey) by 11:59 p.m. EST on Tuesday. Complete rules (and a complete list of prizes - including autographed book copies, t-shirts, and “writerly advice”) are available on the contest webpage.
Good news for student vagabonders hoping to make that leap abroad. This Matador pulse article, 1% of American students study abroad, introduces the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act. If it gets signed into law, it could enable more students to take that first step overseas. Here’s the official website.
Some of the biggest obstacles are getting financial aid and the bureaucratic nightmare of making sure your classes taken abroad will count toward your degree back home. One shortcut is to find out if your university has a “sister school” that it cooperates with. That could cut through a lot of the hassle.
In a previous post here at Vagablogging, I wrote about what tools you can use to self-study a language. While your choice of tools will determine the success of your program, your approach to studying can make the learning process easier and more enriching. Here are some things you should keep in mind while you’re studying on your own:
Learn everyday. You don’t necessarily have to take on a full-blown lesson each day, but by spending just a few minutes learning something new, you’ll spend less time reviewing in the future. If considerable time passes between lessons, you can’t learn as fast and whatever you learn will be easy to forget.
Acquiring a new language isn’t just word substitution. You can’t expect to just grab a foreign language dictionary and literally translate English phrases. The syntax, usage, and conjugations among languages vary greatly. There are unique rules for different classes of languages, and you need to know those rules before you can do accurate translations.
Know why you’re learning the language. In my experience, just ticking off a language from a list isn’t motivation enough. Do you want to learn Russian because you’re obsessed about Dostoevsky’s work? Are you interested in speaking Italian because your grandparents came from Umbria? Having a deep motivation can work wonders, since you’ll be inspired to go through even the toughest lessons.
Find a partner. If you can, find someone who wants to learn the same language as you do
Also, you should look for a native speaker to practice with. This shouldn’t be too hard given the web sites, chat rooms, and online communities at your disposal.
Have quantifiable goals. How do you measure your fluency? Will you take a language test? For my self-study program in Spanish, my goal was to have a 10-minute conversation with a native speaker and to translate at least 5 of Pablo Neruda’s poems. Make sure your goals are measurable so that you be certain whether you’ve achieved them or not.
Learning a new language by yourself is never an easy task. It requires constant patience and discipline. But if you keep the above tips in mind, your lessons will feel like steps towards personal fulfillment, rather than a chore you have to check off from your to-do list.
Have you ever self-studied a foreign language? What advice would you give those who are trying it for the first time?
With factories belching and spewing pollution, benzene plants exploding and contaminating rivers, J. Maarten Troost presents a vivid description of the environmental peril in modern day China in Lost on Planet China: One Man’s Attempt to Understand the World’s Most Mystifying Nation. Of course, Troost (author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific and Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu) is known for his humorous approach to travel, so the journey through China is by no means all environmental gloom and doom.
Troost writes about the hordes of women offering “massagees”, bargaining as a laowai, reactions from fellow travelers towards his vocal Republican friend, and how he intentionally paralyzed his bowels so as to avoid the putrid horror that was the available train toilet. Exploring many different regions and cities within China (even coming perilously close to North Korea when his boat engine failed), Lost on Planet China offers constant entertainment. This book is hard to put down, which is good because it is nearly 400 pages long (according to the acknowledgments section his editor worked on trimming this massive tome while she was in the throes of labor and childbirth).
The culinary experience that is China is of course part of this tale. Troost tries diligently to avoid eating dog meat while deciphering restaurant menus to find such delicacies as “cattle penis with garlic”.
Every traveler has a stomach-churning tale of dining abroad. Share yours for a chance to receive one of the three copies of Lost on Planet China that we are giving out. Simply share a story about a unique (or terrifying) dining experience on the road in the comments section by midnight Pacific Standard Time on Sunday June 28 (please also email the story to kristenelisepope[at]hotmail.com so that we can get a mailing address from you if you are one of the winners). Three winners will be randomly chosen to receive a copy.
UPDATE: Congratulations to Silvia, Nora, and Brenda, the winners of the Lost on Planet China book giveaway!
