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In one of his stories, humorist David Sedaris describes how, as a child, he looks forward to a trip to Greece because it is his chance to prove to his friends at home that he is worldly and continental. He imagines his classmates saying, “Did you hear? David has a passport now. Hurry, let’s run before he judges us.”
If each one of us were given a shot of truth serum, we would probably admit to a similar feeling of self-satisfaction after taking a long trip. After my first trip, I embarrassingly thought that everyone I met would be dying to hear my tales of foreign intrigue. Turns out, few cared, and even if they had, I didn’t have a very satisfying response. “So, how was it?” the more inquiring would ask. “It was good,” I’d answer. What more could I say? How could I condense a several-month-long trip into a several-second-long response? In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad addresses just this topic:
No, it is impossible; it is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one’s existence– that which makes its truth, its meaning– its subtle and penetrating essence. It is impossible. We live, as we dream– alone.
A little bleak, sure. But it’s true– we can’t explain, especially in casual conversation, what a long trip has meant to us. Worse yet, not many people would want to hear it even if we could. I myself confess to lacking patience when someone recounts the details of a long trip. I roll my eyes when I hear people relate everything in life back to their semester abroad in London:
“I’m hungry.”
“One time, in London, I was hungry, and…”
But perhaps it’s best that most people aren’t terribly impressed or interested in other people’s travel exploits. It makes traveling for the sake of status seem foolish and desperate. It encourages us to create new memories rather than constantly trotting out old ones. In short, it helps to keep us from livin’ in the past, man.
There are so many good reasons to travel that we shouldn’t have to rely on bad ones, such as gaining status, or being more interesting at cocktail parties, or impressing our friends and neighbors. These may be the results of travel sometimes, but they should never be its motivation.
I’ve covered some new thematic ground in recent articles and interviews of late, including a meditation on the idea of making a home for World Hum. Entitled “A Vagabond Finds a Home,” this short essay reflects on the challenges of my latest adventure — renovating a house in Kansas after over a decade on the road:
Years of travel had taught me numerous skills—how to shop for food when you only know 10 words of the local language, for example, or how to perform certain bathroom functions in countries that don’t sell toilet paper. Unfortunately, I’d learned very little about carpentry, so my first few weeks of house renovation were as bewildering and exhilarating as a visit to a strange country.
The house, I explain, doesn’t spell the end of my travels so much as it expresses some of the lessons and values I’ve learned in my travels. My essay is accompanied by an audio slideshow that is co-narrated by New York Times travel writer Matt Gross, whose essay “No Direction Home” rounds out World Hum‘s home-themed Thanksgiving-week feature.
Elsewhere in the media world, I was recently interviewed by The Wittenburg Door, a satirical magazine which published my first-ever freelance story 15 years ago. Though The Wittenburg Door might best be described as an evangelical Christian version of The Onion, the interview is non-satirical, and explores some interesting issues of religion and travel:
American evangelicalism is a very young tradition that has its own culture-specific language and idiosyncrasies. The Christians of Ethiopia or Palestine, on the other hand, are part of a local tradition that goes directly back to Christ and the apostles. These people have a lot to teach—and if you’re talking instead of listening around Old World Christians, you’re missing out on a golden chance to better understand your own faith and traditions. This can be humbling—and it isn’t always comfortable, because it forces you to look beyond the comfortable clichés of American evangelicalism.
This learning experience needn’t be limited to the Christian world. You can learn a lot about faith in general from sincere Buddhists or Muslims or Sikhs. This doesn’t mean you have to become a Buddhist, Muslim or Sikh; I’m just saying that if you approach them with respect as a person of faith, there’s a lot both parties can learn.
Full interview online here.
Finally, a TV documentary covering the Drive Around the World expedition (for which I was writer-in-residence in 2003-2004) has now debuted internationally. You won’t be able to see it on U.S. TV yet, but it is airing on Asia’s Adventure One channel, Australia’s National Geographic Adventure channel, Europe’s Extreme Sports Channel, and Life TV in the UK. Since I took part in the journey as a journalist for the initial leg (and since my travel ethic doesn’t always jibe with that of the expedition), I don’t have a very prominent role in the documentary. Still, you can see some character-reel footage of me buying fireworks on the El Salvador – Honduras border at YouTube. (the narrative kicks in around 00:30; please pardon my tragically shaved head).
The show also has a website, ODYSSEY: Driving Around the World, which features resources about the expedition and show, including promos and outtakes featuring the various people who took part in the expedition.
Every traveler knows what it’s like to get the worst seat on the plane. But how do you know ahead of time which seat will lead to twelve hours of misery and which one will let you recline in leisurely bliss? Seat Guru might just be the answer. The website has detailed diagrams of airline seating, also noting services such as meal availability on airlines.
After simply selecting the airline and aircraft model, a diagram will offer a peek into the cabin, color coded like a stoplight, with green seats being the exceptionally good seats, yellow the ones to use caution with, and red being the seats to avoid if at all possible. The information not only includes basics such as which seats do not fully recline and which ones offer only limited legroom, but offers details such as which seats tend to get chilly during flight and which ones have misaligned windows, causing a passenger to crane his or her neck for a peek of the expanse below. Power ports are even marked, for those who need to power up during flight.
While Seat Guru offers great advice on where to sit, it can’t guarantee you a pleasant seatmate. The site FlightsFromHell.com lets travelers share and exchange stories about their unpleasant aviation encounters. The expected story categories such as “Babies & Kids” are included as well as the slightly obscure “Weird people” section that notes one passenger’s tale of a fellow passenger who was a dead ringer for a Neanderthal. The “Portly” section is one easy for many to relate to, as many travelers have faced the difficulty of a seatmate who exceeds the bounds of his or her alloted seat.
And of course Flyer Talk is a good site for people who fly, with forums to exchange information on everything from frequent flyer programs to airport to security to what airport hotel is the best.
While these sites cannot make a trip more pleasant, they can help a traveler be a little more prepared before they fly the “friendly” skies, or if all else fails, at least place to vent afterwards with people who understand.
Speaking from my own personal experience, traveling has always been a way to escape the monotony and routine of my day-to-day life. Whether it has been a 2 week holiday, a charity bike ride across Vietnam or a longer round-the-world trip – the excitement of breaking out of the daily routine, seeing new sights and meeting new people has always been the perfect antidote to my ‘real’ life.
Now that I travel the world permanently however, something else has happened. Traveling is my real life – and along with it has come the realisation that it isn’t just the traveling that provides the excitement in my life…it’s me and the choices I make and actions I take on a daily basis.
As with everything, the things you do regularly become the ‘norm’ and it’s easy to get stuck into a rut, forget that you can discover something new every day, no matter where you are and that flying half way around the world isn’t the only way to bring some excitement into your life.
Of course, that’s easy for me to say, sitting here in the sunny Caribbean whilst my family and friends freeze back home in the UK but what I find interesting is the fact that the things I choose to do on a daily basis here in Grenada (or Panama or Dubai or Buenos Aires) really aren’t that much different from what I did back ‘home’ – I just do them in a different location every few months.
So is vagabonding the antidote to a boring life? No, I don’t believe it is. I believe you and I are the antidote to a boring life. Choose to do something a little different every day and that long-awaited trip so far off in the distance might not seem like the only respite you have to your real life.
Andrew Skurka has logged his share of time on the road—most recently seven months worth, across 6,875 miles of the western US, consistently hiking an amazing 35 miles per day. The 26-year-old just finished hiking the Great Western Loop, which covers 12 National Parks, 75 Wilderness Areas, five major mountain ranges, and nine states. The feat has garnered him National Geographic Adventure’s 2007 “Adventurer of the Year” award.
Just as fascinating to me as understanding the inspiration for the trip are the day-to-day practicalities. While reading the feature article about him in the December/January magazine, I learned that his pack weighed a mere seven and a half pounds, he supplemented his basic diet of Balance bars and potato burritos with eggs, bacon, and cookies whenever he’d reach a town, and he wore through 17 pairs of shoes over the seven months.
Not your typical trip, that’s for sure. But I’d bet that beneath it all, his planning process, leaps of faith, and growth experiences aren’t too far removed from those in any of our extended travels.
I got the chance to ask Andrew about this accomplishment. He kindly fit in his answers while on the move—this time during a road trip to Colorado.
How long had you considered hiking the Great Western Loop? Was it an easy decision?
I first thought of the hike a little more than a year before I started, and I began planning almost immediately—at first, on a big scale (Is it possible? How long will it take? What direction should I go, clockwise or counterclockwise? What will be the biggest challenges? Etc.) and then increasingly detail-oriented as the start date approached (e.g. packing supply boxes, organizing maps, making last-minute gear modifications, etc.). Deciding to the do the trip was fairly easy—I had been on the lookout for another big hike since I had finished a transcontinental hike in July 2005, and the Great Western Loop was irresistibly appealing for many reasons: foremost, its scenery; secondary, it had never been done before and it would very challenging.
Is there anything that you would’ve changed, looking back? What advice would you pass on to someone else wanting to start a similarly ambitious trek?
You can never plan enough for an undertaking like this, but I feel like both the planning and the execution were near-flawless. And they had to be—if I did not maintain an average pace of ~33 miles/day I would not have exited Colorado before the winter storms rolled in and put an end to the hiking season. I attribute much of my success to the thousands of miles I had hiked before that had taught me many valuable lessons, including why carrying lightweight gear is better than heavy gear and why it’s important to eat nutritious food instead of over-processed granola, toaster pastries, and candy bars.
What came as the biggest surprise during the hike?
Part of my purpose in this hike was to assess first-hand the current and future impacts of global warming on backcountry areas in the West. Because they indicate long-term trends, I was at least expecting to see significantly smaller (or all together non-existent) glaciers in the Cascades and northern Rockies, which I certainly did. But I was surprised at the number and intensity of other forecasted effects of global warming: drought in the Southwest, significantly reduced snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, record-breaking heat in the Northwest, horrible wildfires in Montana, and devastating pine beetle outbreaks in Colorado. While these events from 2007 might each independently be attributed to cyclical patterns—not global warming—the shared timing is perhaps not coincidental, and if nothing else 2007 at least provides a glimpse of the West’s future.
What does “adventure” mean to you?
An “adventure” is an undertaking that has unknowns about it, be they regarding the terrain, weather, wildlife, local cultures, rule of law, etc. Throughout history, and accelerating since the advent of the internet, it’s become harder to find adventure—the world has become much smaller thanks to satellites, airplanes, travel books, and online travelogues. My trip had some adventurous elements to it: I pioneered a new route across the Colorado and Mojave Deserts, hiked through the Sierra Nevada and Cascades unconventionally early in the season, and maintained a hiking pace that sheds light on the limits of human endurance. However, in many other respects it was merely a “journey,” which I’d define as an undertaking that will not necessarily turn “unknowns” into “knowns,” but that will teach you things about yourself and your surroundings that you personally did not know or personally had not experienced before. For example, I used established trails that had guidebooks and mapsets but that I had never personally hiked before.
Are you already planning for your next route?
Big trips have to come from within—if you personally do not want it, no fame or fortune can make it worthwhile. So far, I have no specific plans, but I’m sure something will come to me when I start looking at maps and reading books again. For now, I’m focused on starting to write a book and scheduling some speaking engagements.
To read about Andrew’s observations on global warming, see photos from his trip, or follow his latest news, check out www.andrewskurka.com.
If you watch “Amazing Race” you know the drill: on certain segments the last team can still continue the race, but without the benefit of money. Apparently one of the previous contestants decided to embrace that worst-case-scenario throughout his 5-month trip around the world.
Now in Santiago, Chile on its 70th day, “Around the World for Free” follows the TV show’s alum Alex Boylan on his trip, with daily videoblogs. More accurately, the website’s viewers direct his travels – it’s interactive. Somebody might suggest a place to pick up work; another person might recommend a friend’s house to stay at for free.
“Too often people have a tendency to rely on money to have meaningful or fulfilling travel adventures,” Boylan said. “This journey is all about relying on input from others as well as resourcefulness on the road. It’s a bit scary to think soon I’ll head off penniless around the world… I am really going to need help from the online audience or it will be a very bumpy ride.”
Not solely working with a grassroots web audience, the website is featured weekly on the CBS Early Show. And despite the simple premise, it’s difficult to imagine that a trip with this type of interactive support would be possible for the average person — without the initial backing of money (did I mention that Alex won half of the million-dollar prize money on “Amazing Race”?) and the famous names of other reality show alums involved (Burton Roberts from “Survivor” and Danny Kastner from “The Apprentice”).
But kudos for using the publicity to the benefit of the Red Cross. The organization will be featured throughout Alex’s travels and anyone who registers online will be prompted to get a Red Cross kit.
What I like about the project is that it’s based on the serendipity of travel: the generosity of strangers, subjective nature of advice, and randomness of luck. We’ve all been there.
I often hear myself saying “I hate tourists”, and then I have to remind myself that, wait a minute, I’m a tourist too. But I repel tourist spots, and when I visit new places, I’m really not fussed whether I have seen all the hotspots; I don’t think being in a place for a weekend gives you any real knowledge of the place, and these days, I think of moving to a place to get to know it rather than just visiting it.
I’m not sure what that makes me, stubborn and perhaps a bit of both?
A piece addressing this traveler / tourist difference was posted by Vagabondish a few days ago. Basis that, here are my tips on being more of a “traveler” than a tourist, especially if you don’t have the luxury of just picking up and moving when you feel like it:
Unfortunately this is not a review. I live in Madrid and it’s not showing here yet, I doubt it ever will! But it has been a long time since a movie has really called my attention, so I thought I might alert those who can watch it, to check it out!
For those who are not familiar with this movie: it is inspired by the life of 22-year old Christopher McCandless, who gave up his sheltered, well-off American lifestyle and all his wealth to hitchhike to Alaska and live in the wilderness in search of adventure, wanting to live his life, wanting to find himself.
Unfortunately, this vagabonding story doesn’t have a happy ending: four months into the adventure, hunters find his decomposed body.
An adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s best-selling book and screenplay/direction by Sean Penn, I cannot wait to see this film that explores the challenges and dangers of this kind of travel.
As you can imagine, much debate has taken place over McCandless’s decision to take-off on a life-changing expedition that landed up taking his life — martyr to the cause of attempting to change his life by becoming an adventurous wanderer, or rebellious young kid on an irrational trip?
Do check it out if you can! If anyone has already seen it — how is it? your opinion on McCandless’s drive?
Next month at the RolfPotts.com Travel Writers page, I interview Kate Siber, who has written for Outside, National Geographic Adventure, Men’s Journal, and The New York Times. A memorable snippet from our Q&A is this account of how she first broke into travel writing:
I talked to an alum from my college about journalism — she worked at a women’s magazine in New York — and she asked me what I wanted to do. I answered, “well, I want to work anywhere in journalism. I don’t know, newspapers, wire services, magazines.”
“No, really. What is the thing you REALLY want to do, specifically? Your dream job? No obstacles. No qualifications. No prerequisites. If you could be doing any job,” she said, trying to prompt me to narrow my scope. I had to actually think about it; I had never considered looking at it this way. I was so bogged down thinking about jobs that I thought would be good resume-builders or that would eventually pay off that I wasn’t even thinking about my real end goal. I hadn’t stopped to consider what I really wanted to do, what would be my perfect job.
“Well, this sounds ridiculous because I’m so not qualified, but I’d like to do something like write travel and environmental stories for magazines like Outside and National Geographic,,” I responded.
“Then send your clips to Outside and National Geographic and see what they say,” she said. Well, that seems like dumb advice, I thought, but I took it anyway. I looked at Outside‘s masthead and chose Katie Arnold and Elizabeth Hightower, and sent them my clips out of the blue. Then I thought that was really dumb, canned the idea, and started perusing journalismjobs.com again. Two weeks later, I heard from Mike Roberts at Outside, who asked if I’d be interested in an internship after my clips landed on his desk. I packed up my car and was in Santa Fe in a matter of two weeks, and though the job wasn’t writing brilliant feature stories, it was a fantastic opportunity and a giant step in the right direction. I learned a ton. Three years later, I am doing exactly what I want to do. Though I could always be writing bigger and better stories, I still can’t believe it.
I’m not relating this story because I think everyone should go off and randomly send their clips to magazines. I think the moral of the story is that you should consider what you really want, which often gets lost in the shuffle of what everyone else is telling you is a good idea or the best path to success. Things don’t necessarily always fall into place perfectly, but if you at least have an idea of your perfect job, you’ll always have something to shoot for. And with a destination in mind, it’ll be easier to steer the course. That’s my silly bit of philosophy for today.
Full Kate Siber interview online here.
The holiday shopping season is upon us, and that means only one thing: it’s time to express our love for others by giving them stuff. If you’re searching for the perfect gift for a fellow traveler, however, your shopping this year should be easy. Order Brook Silva-Braga’s round-the-world documentary A Map for Saturday.
If you haven’t heard by now, Brook was an Emmy-winning producer with HBO’s Inside the NFL, when he quit his job to take a trip around the world. Carrying nothing on his back but five pounds of clothes and 30 pounds of camera equipment, Brook created one of the best documentaries about round-the-world travel that’s ever been produced.
The film presents perfectly what traveling is all about– intense friendships that end much too quickly, the invigorating experience of near-constant movement around the globe, interacting with people from dozens of countries, learning what you’re made of, trying to figure out what the world is all about.
In addition, Brook documents the more practical side of independent travel, the part you won’t read about in many of those shiny travel magazines– shower shoes in dingy hostels, bumpy eight-hour bus rides, cooking pasta because it’s cheap and filling, the difficulty of keeping in touch with home.
The film was not only full of beautiful landscapes, street shots, and interviews, but it also had its share of poignant scenes. For instance, we see Brook talking to a couple of Indian shopkeepers, who ask him what his trip is all about. When he says that he quit his job to travel around the world, they look at him and say, “You didn’t feel like working?” And he has to admit that, no, he didn’t feel like working. He wanted to travel instead. This was a simple but powerful exchange that clearly showed a major difference between two cultures. In India, those who have jobs want desperately to keep them. Quitting your job to travel, or to do anything else, is usually not an option. In the United States, it often is, whether people realize it or not.
Brook uses his award-winning production talents to create a beautifully crafted film, one that should not be missed by anyone interested in independent travel.
For more on the movie, Check out Justin Glow’s review and his interview with its creator, Brook Silva-Braga.
@Backpack Foodie & Kim:...
