I love to travel. If I could choose only one desire of a magic lamp, I’d ask for learning from every culture in the world and understand that ideas, that actions…When I joined college, (and i didn’t like my major) I joined AIESEC, AIESEC opened me a world of opportunities (I guess every international organization which helps you to meet people and travel) and since them, I’ve visiting a lot of places.

As you have had notices, at the beginning you never know how and what you are gonna do, but with time and practise, you are becomming an expert in travels. I’m gonna follow you (throught my google reader and twitter) and I’d love to meet you one day (you see, my desire in the lamp).

About my “how I travel” : look the best fare throught momondo.com (I find everything on there) and I do couchsurfing almost all my time (realize that it’s almost because you also need to rest your mind and think about what’s happening aroud.
I try to use publlic transportation or ways of ridesharing. Roads are amazing everywhere you go.

You made me think about redesigning my blog and start writting again. I’m not a professional of writting, neither of taking pictures, but it’s always good to write down the feelings with that contrasts, that cultures and share it with the people who love you or just need more magic in life with sentences of this world

Love and peace!

Mireia
from Barcelona

By the way you can easily and safely visit Khartoum (stay at the Acropole Hotel) to add Sudan to your list. I was there for six months in 2004 and although I would not recommend Khartoum as a favorite city it was certainly safe for a traveler and I don’t think things have changed much since then. Of course I would not recommend going to Darfur or any of the southern states as a private traveler.

Have fun with your travels.

So glad I found your blog (from a link on Pick the Brain) – have enjoyed what I’ve read so far, particularly your likemindedness with travel.

I love the idea of nonconformity in travel, among other things. One strategy I use is to read a guidebook to learn where everyone else goes. Then, with the help of maps, I work out where everyone else is NOT going … and I go there. Of course I go to popular places too, but by going out of my way to visit places of little interest to tourists, or just not being promoted, I’ve found some real gems.

Another technique I apply to places I travel in regularly is to mark my routes travelled and places visited on a map. I use pale or greyscale copies of maps, so that lines drawn by marker pens stand out clearly. The aim, over the long term, is to explore thoroughly and methodically so that eventually every road and location on the map is marked off.

I’ve done this for my home state of Western Australia, and my other favourites – Tasmania and New Zealand. If planning a trip to somewhere I’ve been, I’ll ensure that as much of the route as possible is over a line I haven’t yet marked on my maps. It’s a variation on “going everywhere” … instead of visiting every country, I’m trying to visit every possible part of a few well-loved regions within my reach.

I do nearly all of my travelling by myself too, and I love it!

Yet I have traveled to two countries where English is not the first language. And I did this by visiting friends or relatives who move there. My sister was stationed in Belgium for three years, so I decided I would visit her twice. She took us to a lot of great places in Belgium and also a few great places in Germany. And once we also spent a weekend in Paris with a friend of my boyfriend’s who was there for a job.

Later, another friend decided to look for a postdoc somewhere interesting and ended up in Switzerland for eight months and wanted visitors. So, I visited there and spent a lot of time in Lausanne, but also took a few day trips to other places in Switzerland and to some places across the lake in France.

Both times I spent some time working on learning the main language of the area I was visiting, and although I certainly could never talk to anyone,* I could at least pronounce things that I was reading semi-properly and I could talk about numbers and money and find exits. Also, both of the countries I visited had loads of English-speakers everywhere I went. And my hosts in Switzerland knew French.

*I once successfully ordered, received, and paid for a jellyroll all in German. That’s my greatest victory: an entire conversation in a foreign language!

Another idea I would go for is to accompany friends on their trips. Some people love a certain country and go often; some people have family in another country and go often.

Most people like this have trouble finding someone to accompany them because everyone thinks it’s too expensive. But you can totally save up for such a trip. I save $200/month for expensive things (trips, computers, furniture), and I can easily travel somewhere once or twice a year. If I always went abroad, I could easy afford that once every other year. By “easily” I mean that I can travel and also have money in that fund leftover for other things I want.

I think I’ve covered most of the questions you listed! How I find time is I save up vacation time. I get almost three weeks a year and I like to take one-week vacations. When I am going abroad, I take two-week vacations, so I can afford vacation time at about the same rate as I can afford to spend the money.

@Josh – I’m looking forward to going to Brunei this summer.

@Mark – I agree completely. I started small and have slowly scaled up to how I travel now.

@James – Thanks; it’s always nice to hear feedback.

Thanks for sharing.

When people ask me, “How do you do it?” I typically reply by stating that you have to make travel a priority. Really, it’s just like anything else in life, if you want success then you have to focus.

Too, I explain to them that it is okay to start off small going for one or two weeks at a time. For your first trip you do NOT need to abandon all worldly possessions, quit your job, and sell your house in the name travel…

All the best,
Mark H.
Lifestyle Design Consultant

The usual places of stoppage are Hong Kong and Toronto.

My best experience so far has been in Hong Kong. Sure they had a bunch of English signs around the city, but I’m sure that wasn’t close enough to get me around. Since I was only staying one night, I took a train out to the city and walked around for miles and miles, and stopped at McDonald’s for dinner. It was a good time. Unfortunately I had no one with me for this experience. But I surely wouldn’t mind doing this type of adventure again, but in a different country, like Korea or something.