As I was sitting in Patan’s Durbar Square a few weeks ago, I noticed a couple elder tourists escorted by a guide: they were taking pictures, bending into unnatural shapes. The DSLR cameras they were shooting with looked like some sort of futuristic gear they could barely handle. They seemed quite clumsy and out of place, as they had been cut out from a lifestyle magazine and pasted into another wrong centerfold.

Instantly, I was reminded of the persistent, conservative way of thinking I was pushed to accept back home: before you may travel and enjoy your life, you will have to work a day job and bend your spine behind a desk for 30 years. Kow-tow to the Gods of corporate business. Enjoy the rat race. Then, maybe, you will be able to travel and see the world on a pension.

With a smack of teenage angst, I would promptly reply: “Cool. See the world, on a wheelchair?”

Seeing those tourists made me think that the way I travel in Asia now may not be replicable in about 30 years. Who would be able to take that umpteenth bone melting night bus ride after hitting the 50 years old line? Who would be able to enjoy the tastes and smells of an Indian public bus crammed to the roof with humans and sometimes cattle? And ultimately, who would have the strength to travel slow, soak into a culture or trying to fit into the holes left by mass tourism?

Certainly, not the average Old Joe.  Let’s face it: the older you get, the lesser you would be likely to travel hard, especially when you have not been used to it as a young man. And furthermore, when the kind of world we live in constantly conceives travelling as a recreational activity that cannot be taken as a lifestyle, or not even as a part-time occupation.

Me with two "Incredible Old Joes": Ibrahim and Saida from Spain. (Picture by Kit Yeng Chan 2012)

Nevertheless, it is quite a contrast – and a funny one – to observe the travelling habits of many older people, some at their very first foray oversea. It appears that so many years spent leading organized, normal lives have not been able to gift these people with a natural inclination to feel relaxed in foreign places. It seems like their movements are harder, slower, filled with the atavist fear of the unknown. They attempt to do what they may have dreamed for many years, but they are doing it with a total regret of having left their comfort zones.

But let me say that I have also met some “Incredible Old Joes”: some were biking from Europe to South East Asia, or doing the same route by walking. Some decided to avoid taking any bus ride longer than 2 hours, to stress less, and see more of the countries they visited.  All of them, however, had a common feature: they had been travelling a lot in their younger days. You could clearly see how travelling had enriched their souls… these people may have also been grinding at the office, but oh boy, how freer they were than any of my friends’ –and my own – parents!! I could sit in awe for hours just listening to their life stories.

As much as the mode of travel we use will most likely change or evolve overtime, it appears that to do it with ease we better start young. It surely does not matter how young; but that attitude needs to be embraced early in life, in order not to appear lost in a foreign square taking a bunch of pictures later. In order to actually fit in the broader World, and not be forced to end up lonely on a couch, hypno-entertained by a flat Tv screen.

Have you ever met some experienced older travellers, and do you agree with me? How do they compare to your own older folks at home?  I would like to hear some stories.

A fellow traveler recently asked me for some advice, and it sparked a thought I wanted to share.

She’s in her twenties, interested in Croatia, and likes to have fun in the sun. So, I suggested Pag and Havar, two lovely islands off the Dalmatian coast. I recall describing them as “Ibiza in the Balkans”. They’re big party destinations for the party-on-the-beach-all-night crowd. Now she’s planning a trip to Croatia and is interested in visiting those islands because of my comments. She asked me if I had any had suggestions for the best party hostels on the two islands.

Nowadays, the term “party hostel” doesn’t quite have the same siren call for me as it did ten years ago. In fact, I shivered just reading it. It brought to mind many good times and good friends, but also hangovers and sleepless nights when I was exhausted from my travels.

It also provoked another thought; I have mixed emotions about recommending these two islands to people. While both are fun, scenic (set in the sparkling Adriatic), and dotted with historic little coastal towns, it’s easy to get caught up in the “Ibiza of the Balkans” hype.

This would be my advice: Go if you must, but don’t lose sight of the genuine treasures of the Adriatic. Though it’s not a hotspot of twenty-something activity, the stunning old city of Dubrovnik—perched dramatically on the Croatian coast overlooking the turquoise sea—is well worth a visit. Force yourself to slow down and soak up a little of its romanticism and rich history.

Sometimes it’s the simpler, more intimate experiences that stay with you, like clambering onto the city’s crumbling medieval walls for a front-row, goose bump-inducing view of the ancient town at sunset. Listen to the bells toll, as they have for half a millennia. In my experience these memories tend to linger long after the night’s hazy recollections and next day’s hangover have faded. They’re free, and the treasures are available to anyone who stops long enough to appreciate them.

That was my advice. I hope my friend keeps this in mind while in search of the “place to be”. At least for one day.

This article is the fourth in a series of posts explaining how to bring your music on the road and get to travel with it. Read the series’ introduction , Post#1 , Post # 2 and Post #3 

picture credit: http://performermag.com/Archives/DIY.0801.php

In the last article of this series  I mentioned that a band may decide to book their own tours, by themselves, using their own forces. This is totally right and possible, but is a long, dreary process presenting more than a few risks. Exactly like planning a Round the World trip, there are many things to consider. First of all: where to go?

This question – WHERE – seems quite biased; but try to think that, unlike travelling, touring is a process that verifies only when every piece of the puzzle is laid down perfectly on the table, showing a nice, neat picture. Of course, if a band has to hit the road, there will also definitely be room for improvisation and resourcefulness: independent, poor musicians are known to be able to sleep anywhere, from beaches to floors and van’s seats. But seriously, can we consider “touring” a wild holiday with friends around two mere shows booked on two different weekends? No way, as it will cost you a fortune for nothing. And therefore, you need to choose carefully where to go when you plan touring.

Europe is by far the favorite choice: great cities, good crowds, and especially short driving distances make touring the Old Continent a favorite experience for many bands. If you add that Europe has some of the highest paying clubs, an affectionate, record-buying crowd, and that a show deal generally includes catering and accommodation for the whole band, there is no doubt this is the place where bands want to go to sell their records and have a great time.

The United States and Canada remain the dream destination for many non-American musicians and bands because of their abundant rock and roll history and culture. Touring the USA is quite simple logistically: hiring cars or vans is relatively inexpensive, and you can easily travel to any state and city by driving for a few hours – or days. Unfortunately, such a big rock and roll culture has generated a situation where cheaper gear and transportation expenses do not match with the poor pay, scarce free food and drinks, and virtually nonexistent accommodation services for touring bands. However, it is fairly easy and direct to ask for a crash pad, and get one after every show.

Australia and New Zealand may be beautiful holiday destinations, but are not very well suited for independent rock touring. Australia is too big and has too few key cities which, if not taken over by flight, may result in endless day drives to hit cities where a rock crowd is very scarce. Melbourne and Perth are different, but still, they are thousands of kilometers far from each other. In terms of pay, it is decent, but it is not worth the effort when thinking of touring only in these two countries.

Southeast Asia is increasingly becoming an appealing destination among most independent music circles. A fistful of pioneering small agencies are bringing bands to play those countries where the music scene is alive and kicking: mostly Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and sometimes Bangkok, Thailand. As long as a Southeast Asian tour may sound great, consider it still is a financial suicide: there is generally no guarantee for any of the shows, and if it is true that you may sell t-shirts and tapes – for a fraction of their real retail price, note well – , you will most likely do it for the fans, without even breaking even. Still, the lure of touring in such an exotic part of the world keeps attracting more and more bands.

South and Central America has a long history of rock culture, and places like Brazil, Mexico or Peru have plenty of bands and fans. Similarly to Southeast Asia, touring this region is still attractive and interesting, but making a profit will be very hard. The long distances and the dangerous roads may be also better tackled by public transportation such as buses, making a tour of the region a real test of endurance. However, the wild crowds, la vida loca and the desire for rock and roll will most likely make up for all of the hassle you encounter.

Whatever you decide, you will need to prepare to put hard work on your booking effort, and include countless hours of email work and skype international phone calls. If this sounds like too much to do for your band, I guess you are still in the “local only phase”: do not worry, as after a few months/years of local gigging, the gut feeling to venture abroad will come as an unexpected stomach ache… do not tell me I did not warn you, then!!

This article is the third in a series of posts explaining how to bring your music on the road and get to travel with it. Read the series’ introduction , Post#1 and Post # 2

Photo credit: "The Van" by Andrea Jablonski of band Rabid Rabbit

In the previous posts I have described how to prepare yourself to find shows and thus increase your performing experience. Once you get familiar on the stage, and you have acquired enough skills, it may be worth to consider taking your music out to the world. But how can you get to do it?

The process seems indeed quite daunting: organizing shows in a foreign country you barely know, thinking of transportation logistics, backline, time constraints and money matters may give you a headache. Nevertheless, a big number of independent bands are touring every day. It is actually simpler than we think, and it works generally in two ways:

Working with a promoter is definitely the easier way: this person knows everything about that particular country/region’s music scene, and can organize a tour for you. He will generally ask you for a presskit and, once he has agreed in booking your band, he will work for you for a fee – generally a 10-15% off every show’s guarantee -. Having a promoter or a booking agency behind is a big advantage, which is not always easy to get, tough. Booking agents work mostly with more established bands; therefore, if you only have a demo CD out and struggle for shows, this may not be your first option. Furthermore, by hearing promoters’ brutally honest comments, many bands already get discouraged from the reality of the music business and call it quits. Do not do that, as there are other ways to tour independently.

Booking your own tour the whole process is painfully long, will give you headache, insomnia, nausea and will be a huge risk. But once you line up some shows and actually got to play them in a row, you will feel the greatest satisfaction.  If you have collected enough contacts of friend bands in different cities, the first step is to try to organize a weekend to 4 or 5 gigs mini tour. Do it over a holiday break as a start. You will have to organize your own transportation, your own backline and probably drive yourself, but you will get to keep all of the money involved. The difficult task here is trying to line up the gigs in a functional itinerary, allowing you to maximize the time on the road, and minimize expenses. This is more easily thought than practically done, as you will have to deal with each and every single promoter’s request in every city you decide to hit.

As Booking your own tour deserves more lengthy and detailed explanations, I will write more in-depth suggestions over the next few weeks. For the moment being, please start thinking how to manage your touring options, and start to ask promoters and booking agencies to consider your band. If everything fails, do not worry as I will be providing some ideas in a week time.

This article is the second in a series of posts explaining how to bring your music on the road and get to travel with it. (Read the series’ introduction and Post#1)

In my last article I was stressing on the necessity to improve your bands’ live performance by playing as many shows as possible. You may debate that this is a difficult task to stat with: why should you invest time and money to travel with your band, when you can just buy a RTW ticket and set off for the world tomorrow??

Well, it is mainly because you would experience travel under a completely different perspective. According to the Indie Travel Manifesto we emphasize at Vagabonding, playing music as a means to long term travel can bring you to experience a foreign culture very insightfully.

So, how to get serious? I have previously said that you need to hone your skills and be unique as a band/artist. People do not need clones anymore, so try to be yourself. (more…)

This article is the first in a series of posts explaining how to bring your music on the road and get to travel with it (Read the series’ introduction)

To be able to travel with your music, and I mean being able to get paid – even a tiny bit – to play, one of the basic requirements is to have some good music to “sell”. It needs to be original, your own. Too many artists around the world fail to overcome their insecurity, consequently failing to create original music. However, you should also consider the reality: it is highly improbable that a promoter would book a cover band for an European tour.

Therefore, the first thing you have to consider is yourself: what does your band have that others have not? Sometimes it is just matter of finding a shade of color in a genre, in any niche, to be able to get incredible results.  It is really impossible to suggest some general lines about what a band should do to be better, as there would be a million different answers. The best lies always within yourself and your current capabilities. Once you know what you want to play, you have a definite lyrical idea, a concept, and you have some songs, half of the job is done. The other half is keeping at honing your craft and play live shows. (more…)

Photo credit http://frasesdavida.wordpress.com

Most people will never understand the thrill of being on a stage because, actually, they have never been. That complex array of mixed emotions, gut feeling and embarrassment which sometimes spawns some of the World’s greatest awesomeness may be related to travel in many ways.

As I previously wrote , by bringing an instrument on your travels you may enhance the chances of casual encounters with locals, volunteer opportunities, earn some money as you go and many other serendipitous experiences making a trip much more worth remembering.

But… what about those people who are actually travelling by playing music? What about the touring artists? They do get to travel, yes. A lot.  And the best part is… they get paid for it!!

The role of the musician in today’s society is generally misunderstood, placed on a superior level, a better niche, and is generally perceived as something we may never get to attain. Well… deadly wrong, my friends. Playing music and get to travel is easier than you would think, if your expectations remain in the realm of realism. Because Woodstock and the 70s, unfortunately, are long gone in the sands of mythology and times…

I decided to start writing a series of posts to help those with a musical penchant to analyze their skills, organize them into a musical product, and take it out on the road by touring… and consequently get to travel the world in an amazingly different way.

How many times have you wandered the streets of most European and American cities, visiting different bars, and asking yourself how could that terrible guitarist get to strum those elementary notes on a stage, drunk, and just plain mediocre? If such people get a chance to express themselves, why should not you, a skilled, enthusiastic musician, get to do the same?

Because you do not know how, possibly. Because the music business still remains one of the least accessible cast systems in the show business… possibly alike to literary circles, but with a bigger emphasis on the egos, the booze, and the mayhem. And most times, believe me, when you get into those circles, you will understand that you CAN DO much better than most of them.

So, if you have dreamed about packing that guitar/ukulele/flute/keyboard/saxophone and taking it out on the road, driving long distances in vans crammed with people, sleeping on the floors of total strangers who have become your new best friends after a night of musical entertainment – and possible drunk mayhem -, getting to know the insights of the World’s furthest corners’ youth cultures, and making a lot of friends –and boy/girlfriends – along the way… well, if you really DID dream about this, tune up your RSS feed on Vagabonding because from this week onwards, and sometimes sporadically, you will find a wealth of useful information.

Now, go back to the bed, and keep practicing on the guitar!!! Because nothing in this World comes without effort… and this is the bottom line of this introduction, and Lesson Number One.

picture by Kit Yeng Chan

There has been a recent debate about budget travel against cheap travel: the article draws some interesting comparisons between budgeting your trip, and actually being too much of a cheapo to make the best out of it. As much as I agree with many of the statements presented in the article, I had to stop and think hard to find a parallel with my own experience.  Because I did not.

For example, as my own travels in greater Asia testify, it is still very much possible to travel for less than 10$ a day, without being a cheapskate, and actually enjoying your time. It surely requires more work and preparation – like, many hours on Couchsurfing, reading guides, browsing message boards and blogs of other travelers who have been there before you -. To top it all, it probably would come more difficult if attempted in Europe or other Western countries for an obvious currency disparity. Nevertheless, you can trust me, it does work. (more…)

Travel scientists have unearthed that a human subspecies called backpacker, or traveller, has been observed across many of the furthest flung corners of the globe reading guidebooks more than interacting with locals.

“So do you want to come with me for breakfast?”
“Sure! “
“Any preferences? I saw a street stall at the corner selling what looks like an awesome fruit salad”
“Well… actually, if you look here at page 267, the guidebook mentions this place… I’m sorry, we have to eat there”
“Why?”
“Well… because it’s in the guidebook!!”

If there was a Travel Exorcist, dear guidebook, its power would compel you; because you can be the reason why such a conversation has become a standard among travel circles.  I am sure that, whether you are born a Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Footprints, Moon, Bradt or any other, you and the authors and editors who put your attractive paragraphs together are not the only ones to blame.

I think it is mainly because of the authoritative halo you emanate: with a country’s name printed boldly across your front cover, you are a dangerous spell. You can possess people who think they are travelling freely, and instead follow your suggestions blindly, fearing an almost certain death when going out of your carefully prepared itineraries and suggestions. Some even eat only in those restaurants which you recommend!!!  Dear guidebook… what have you done to travelling? (more…)

Last week I discovered that, according to an article published on CNNgo’s website, one billion tourists are expected to hit the world’s roads in 2012. With the steady wealth increase of colossus countries China and India, an incredible number of people are going to test the existent infrastructures and push several countries around the world to achieve “tourism excellence”.

picture taken from http://chinatravelgo.com

Hundreds of sites around the world, from Angkor Wat to the Coliseum to the Iguazu Falls, are going to be assaulted by hordes of camera toting, sunglass-faced individuals ready to fight tooth and nail to secure the best position for that unforgettable sunrise picture spot. Every experience will be most probably overcrowded and overpriced, museumifying the most beautiful places across hundreds of countries, leveling every experience to appalling, standardized, must-see-must-do checklists.

Until the end of the article, the word “tourist” was constantly used.  And this led me to sit back, and think. Who are the tourists, really?

Of course, we may think of those groups of people following a colorful flag-toting tour guide, queuing up in a neat line at the sound of a whistle in front of a ticket office. We would certainly exclude our own group from such a trivial definition, the “tourist”.

Nevertheless, as vagabonds with more or less travel experiences under our belts, as people striving to find the unexpected, linger longer, transform trips into life stories… what are we? After all, travelers aren’t just another sub category of the wider “tourist” umbrella definition? (more…)