Where are you headed next, and why? (Free t-shirts at stake.)

Ten years ago this month, when I was touring around the United States promoting my then-recently released book Vagabonding, I handed out stickers that featured the letters “VGB” in a little white oval (not unlike the international license plate “country code” sticker one might see on cars in Europe). The purpose of the sticker, I told folks, was to help a person stay motivated as he or she planned and saved money for some future trip. Affixed to a car (or a dorm wall, or an office cubicle, or some other visible place), the VGB could be a reminder to oneself and one’s community that the person in question had made the decision — they were committing themselves to a vagabonding adventure, be it a few weeks or few years into the future.

I’ve since run out of VGB stickers, but — thanks to this blog’s friends at tshirtprinting.org — I’d like to give away VGB t-shirts to ten Vagablogging readers who are in the process of planning a vagabonding journey. To put yourself in the running, just reply to this post with an answer to the question: Where are you headed next, and why? Feel free to add details about your destination, your motivation, your fears/ambitions for the trip, and how you’re currently planning and saving for it. Be sure to include contact details — or follow the post in coming days — so that we’ll know how to reach you and send you a shirt if you’re one of the lucky ten. Happy vagabonding, everyone!

Posted by | Comments (19)  | March 4, 2013
Category: General


19 Responses to “Where are you headed next, and why? (Free t-shirts at stake.)”

  1. Kristine Says:

    I am headed to Plum Village in the South of France. It is a Zen Buddhist monastery. I will be living with Thich Nhat Hanh and his monks and nuns for a year, helping out in the office in return for food, board and meditation instruction. I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t tell you I was a little intimidated by having to get up at 5.00am every morning, becoming a vegan, no sex, no TV and no mainstream music (I believe the monastics do a bit of singing). For a year.

    However, I feel overwhelmed by the disfunction of the world. It seems that cultivating peace inside is imperative, not just for ourselves but for others and society at large. It is an essential developmental human need to be exposed to positive environments. To be seen, to be loved, to be accepted, to have companionship and without it we become biologically, and metally disfunctional and even diseased.

    In order to create a good environment for others it is important to do that for yourself. We are many individuals and one great being who must individually and together create an internal environment which is emothionally, mentaly and physicallly healthy and this in turn will lead to the kind of society that most of us want to live in. So I am trying as the Buddha suggested to drop my wrong views “like my hair is on fire”.

    This is why I’m going and hope to write a book while there so others can also share some of the experience

    Ta

    Kristine

  2. Gabe Says:

    I doubt you’ll remember but I wrote you years ago to ask for advice on a documentary I hoped to shoot. This was just as I was entering film school (I know…) I’ve since completed that and moved on with my life. Unfortunately, my South America trip was put on hold. Things came up and I kept finding excuses not to follow through. I traveled across the US via rail, writing along the way and basically tried to build some vagabonding self confidence. I’m proud to say that the time has come. I’ve bought a motorcycle, my passport should be here any day now and with a pack, camera in hand, I’ll be setting off. First through Mexico, through Central America, Colombia, and ultimately making it to Rio in time for Carnivale. From there I want to head further south to Argentina for steaks, penguins, and glaciers. I really have no idea what it is I should expect and that’s my favorite part of this stage of the journey. I’m completely open to whatever may be thrown at me. I know parts of the region are dangerous but hopefully I’ll make it through unscathed.

    Some friends of mine recently made it to South America on their bicycles. If you’re interested, take a look at Ride to Rio, they’re on Facebook. Anyway. None of this would be happening if I hadn’t picked up Vagabonding as a wide-eyed teenager. Shirt or no shirt, thank you for the inspiration. Keep doing the guest professorial gigs, I’d love to make it to one one of these days. I’ll tell you about my trip in person.

  3. Gabe Says:

    Also, you’ve gotta’ print up some more of those stickers, man. My guitar feels naked knowing there isn’t one on it.

  4. Cristina Valente Says:

    I was born in the USA but as a teenager I lived in Portugal after my parents decided to move back to their roots. We never had much money so despite living in a European country for all those years, I never even made it to Spain. Now I live in the States and regret not having done more traveling while I was in Europe. So…I made a promise to myself….each year…go SOMEWHERE. And I have. My first year back in the States, I made a dream come true by visiting Niagara Falls. Next year, I saw images of French Polynesia and boom!, four months after I was snorkeling with sharks and turtles. Next year, I took a long weekend to St. Lucia to see the Pitons. I dreamt of Autumn strolls through Paris and the following year I was eating crepes and getting scammed by gypsies. I also made it to Normandy and Mont St. Michel. I saw TV shows of swamps and said “What an interesting ecosystem” which translated to a long, wet weekend in Fort Lauderdale and the Everglades. Finally, last year…an incredible soul changing trip to Bali, Lombok and the Gili Islands of of Indonesia. Mind you, I did all these travels by myself. For some reason, I am attracted to these romantic destinations but I always travel alone to them. Oh well! Honeymooners don’t lay claim on them! This year, I wanted to push the limits and do two major trips….so I am taking a photography workshop/tour with two reknowned photographers (one had a photo that was used in the cover National Geogrpahic)to Iceland. Hopefully I will accomplish my dream of seeing the Aurora Borealis!! Secondly, I amgoing to following the footsteps of the hobbits and visit New Zealand with a side trip to the Cook Islands. These are no cheap endeavors and I wasn’t born with a golden spoon in my mouth so I made the sacrifice I getting a second full time job until the end of the year. That secondary income will solely be for travel. Who knows…I might even make enough to spend Christmas in Russia!

    So there you go! I spilled the beans like I was on Oprah! Sorry! Here’s to making dreams some true!

  5. Caroline Eubanks Says:

    I’m planning some road trips around my own state and region and hopefully making people see that there’s more to the US than Vegas, New York and LA!

  6. Steve Says:

    I’m planning a Venice-to-Instanbul road trip, all by bus or other public transport, for January 2014. I spent my childhood outside of Venice (near Treviso) and haven’t been back since I was 8. I’m really interested to see if I have any memories left of the place. I’ve always wanted to go to Zagreb, so the road there goes through Trieste and Ljublyana. The road next will take me to Belgrade and Sofia – which leads into the road to Edirne and Istanbul. I have a 2 month sabbatical from work, so I thought I’d do this the slow way. And since it’s January, I probably won’t have to pre-book any hotels, except maybe in Venice. I love slow travel!

  7. Jake Baker Says:

    I’m planning on learning French in France from May-Aug-my summer school break. My reasons for going are primarily learning about wine and culture and if anybody knows a popular dance I should learn while I’m there, I’d be interested. I try and have a reminder as well, something to keep me motivated like a background photo on my laptop or something. To pay for the experience, I’m starting a micro-lifestyle business helping runners cure shin splints because I’ve had shin splints on & off for the last 6 years and finally cured them last summer.

    good luck to everyone’s plans!

  8. Scott Says:

    I’m headed to Namibia in the fall. I love deserts and would love to experience the Kalahari.

  9. Trace Carlson Says:

    I’m leaving in May to travel around central Asia. Three months ago, I was dead set on heading to grad school, but the further I ventured into the application process, the more I realized I was only trying to avoid an uncertainty. After studying abroad, I was hell-bent on backpacking the world, but when I graduated, the uncertainty of that decision deterred me from that decision. So, instead, I’ve spent the past year working unfulfilling jobs saving money for grad school and generally be unhappy. Quite recently, I said fuck that, left the application process, started a blog, booked my tickets, and I’m spending the next year traveling around central Asia. Once I realized that I was living an unhappier life here, in the shadow of my own fear, I knew I had to follow my dreams. So, starting in May, I’ll be traveling around central Asia with about $5,000 in my pocket, trying to stretch it as far as I can. I’ve read your blog and many others for years and I’m certified to teach English abroad, so I’m not worried about finding work if I have to, but I want to bum around for as long as I can. I’m ok with sleeping parks. Seriously.

    Wish me luck!

  10. Michelle H Says:

    As a single gal, I travelled care-free around the world and of course became addicted. When I got married, my husband and I kept things fresh with fun new traveling adventures. When our first son was born, we celebrated his 1st birthday with a 6-wk backpacking trip in Europe. And then things dwindled off as we settled into suburban normalcy. It’s been driving me crazy! This summer my husband is getting a job doing something he LOVES, and I am packing up our van for a cross-country roadtrip with our boys-age 6, 3, and 9 month twins. We’re starting in Utah, ambling through the midwest and down the Mississippi River, across Tennessee all the way to the North Carolina coast before turning around and heading home. I’m excited to cross off 5 of the 9 states I have left to visit and spend time exploring the backroads, campgrounds, playgrounds, swimming holes, and hidden eateries with my growing family!

  11. Kate Says:

    I’m heading to Hawaii with my boyfriend. After vagabonding for the past 15 years all over the world I am taking an ‘adult vacation’ and staying in a condo. I’m scared!!

  12. Joy Says:

    Next, we are heading to Panama, and then South America, for now. I am a single mom traveling with my sons ages 9 and 10, we have been traveling for 5 months and this was supposed to be a 9 month trip, but we are pretty sure that in June we will go back and sell the house, and become, yep, permanent nomads. I am nervous about selling it all, but I know that for my family, it is the right thing. It will also allow us to travel for awhile and not worry too much about funds. I also have some online work that I do.

  13. Sam Says:

    El Salvador for Pupusas. Maybe Guatemala to Takal if we have time left.

  14. Sasha Tokareff Says:

    I love to travel but have always been afraid of flying. I never let it stop me but the older I get my phobia gets worse. So I am planning a trip that will take me once around the world but never setting foot on an airplane. :)73-9 2F Goejeongdong Seo Gu Daejeon South Korea 302-815

  15. Gail Says:

    The next trip for my husband and me will be to Japan, Sri Lanka, and Maldives. It will be a first-time trip to explore Japan’s particular blend of tradition and modernity, and to visit an old friend from high school who has been living there for two years. It will be a repeat trip to Sri Lanka to visit my husband’s family in their home, as we have been doing about every other year for the last 12 years. And finally, it will be a first-time trip to Maldives for the whole family to have some frank relaxation. The trip is about a year away, so detailed planning has not yet begun, but we are saving for it by working full-time, occasionally overtime, and living moderately on a budget.

  16. Naomi Says:

    I’m finally off to Buenos AIres this July for 6months to learn Spanish and to explore the rest of Argentina and neighbouring countries from.
    I’ve been secretly dreaming and planning this trip since I first read ‘Vagabonding’ 2 years ago.

    At times I doubted if I could really do it and half gave up at some point but this year I decided enough was enough –
    I quit my corporate job and decided I would be headed Argentina after first spending time with my family.

    To save for this trip I moved from a studio apartment into a cheaper flat share, I cut unnecessary spending and stayed way too long in a job I hated.
    I just know everything I will learn and see from this trip will all be worth the sacrifice!

  17. Sean Says:

    I’m planning a trip to Peru. This will actually be my first vagabonding trip, and right now it is more dream than reality. I’m a student, but as soon as I graduate I will travel to and get to know Peru. I want exercise my Spanish skills, and hopefully become fluent (this may be accomplished in other trips throughout Latin and South America, not a huge priority.) I’d like to see Lima, hike in the rainforest (I have hiked, but never in anything resembling a rainforest) and stand in awe at Machu Picchu. This is a trip that I’ve wanted to do for a long time now, and the prospect of it becoming a reality is making me excited. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared of not corforming, but I am so ready.

  18. Rolf Potts Says:

    Thanks, everyone! If you posted a comment above (#1-#17) shoot me a message at my website email address and I’ll tell you what to do next regarding the t-shirts…

  19. Mariella Wretman Says:

    After the development of an unexpected plan last year that led to a thrilling last-minute trip to the back roads of Zanzibar brilliantly master planned by the excitedly accompanying 9-year-old, we are now headed for the next adventure. We are taking on the Trans-Siberian Railroad with no considerations for possible down falls in a now 10-year-old mind. Complete and utter boredom is a challenge that one needs to be exposed to early on, experience and finally, accept and love to be able to fully embrace life to come.
    Or I am just a reckless parent. Either way – Amaze me!