All This Travelling The World Stuff

[WildGoose]

i know its what most people love to do, very trendy to go travelling it seems, has been for years, gap years were invented for the purpose

go to a far off land, appreciate other cultures, learn about the history, take pictures of yourself looking nicely out of place too close to the camera with some seventh wonder or other in the background, and repeat etc

looking on facebook at some old school mates and stuff, it seems 70% or so have been off to the far corners of the world and back, and some have even got jobs and are staying out there

most of the 'canned' holidays i've been on have sucked and i've been glad to get back, the places i've ended up in by implication i've also not missed in the slightest when i've left, the experiences i've valued the most have all been on this island, and i'm certain that it wasnt by accident.

It costs crazy amounts to go somewhere for any period of time, and at the end in my view you have nothing to show for it but an empty wallet.

anyone on here totally not into the going abroard thing? and more interestingly why?

alternately if you think that its all about the rest of the world, and here sucks, you can share that too.

thoughts?
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[hellkat]

Its not that its trendy - people have always done it. But its trendy to actually make a fuss about where you've been/what you've seen, as if it makes you a better person than someone else.

Canned holidays are probably the worst idea.

Its usually better to just pick a spot on the map and travel there. The whole point of travel is the fun (or dramas) you have getting there, being there, and getting back.

When you read a travel book, most of the experiences of the writer are about some incident which occurred on the way, its more about the experiences that they have had, than what they have seen. Photos of fantastic scenery somehow never quite seem as magnificent as when you're actually standing in front of the scenery anyway.

Seat of the pants travel experiences are much more interesting than pre-planned ones. People might pay a fortune to go to Thailand/Goa/Himalayas as a pampered tourist, but I suppose they value their experience as much as, say, my mate Patsy, who spent 18 months living with Buddhist monks in Thailand. She moaned that most of the time her clothing was damp due to heat or monsoon rains, and that she lived on whatever food/money people gave them ... but it was one of the most life-enhancing experiences she ever had (plus she came home with a very cute Thai boyfriend, half her age, LOL)

It was Patsy who inspired me into being a bit more laid-back and just living life as it comes along (although I still always try to have a "Plan B", just in case - LOL) ... She called me (from New Zealand) on Christmas Night 1999 and suggested that for the Millennium we (her, myself and her cousin who lived in Dublin) either go to the Pyramids to see Pink Floyd, or we fly to New Orleans. Due to none of us having suitable injections for travelling to Egypt, we decided on New Orleans, and flew in from three different directions, three nights before the Millennium - with no hotel and fuck all money. But we managed to find a flea-pit motel, and we had a GREAT time.

Sometimes I think people go to many of these exotic places just so they can say "I've been there too".
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[pwntifex]

Traveling is important. You learn more about the differences and similarities between people all over the world.
Some people gain an appreciation of differing cultures and languages. Most people come away with memories that will be with them forever.

Note that traveling is not the same as going to Benidorm for a two-week piss-up.

Saying that traveling is pointless is ridiculous.
However, if that is your opinion, then nobody will miss your presence abroad.
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the warped one: This is a follow up from the thread 'my willy hurts'

[flat spot]

When I was 25 I handed my notice in from a secure job, finished with a girlfriend I really liked, bought a backpack and an around the world ticket and buggered off for 18 months.
Realistically it's probably one of the best things I'll ever do and I don't have a single regret.

I can't be arsed typing the whys and wherefores, but just to say the memories of it will be with me for the rest of my life. It's not particularly about the places (fantastic as they are.) It's really about the people you meet and the different experiences that bombard you everyday. Sitting on Bondi beach for a year won't give you these things.

It's about the journey, not the destination.

I know that sounds very profound, but you realise it's not just the travelling on trains/planes etc, it's about the journey you take yourself.

There are loads of travel books to read, but why not read "Jupiters Travels" by Ted Simon. It's got a motorbike link i.e. he travelled around the world on a Triumph, and it's a great read.

One last thing to think of, and maybe put things into prospective. It was over 10 years ago when I did this, and I can still recall people, places, sights, experiences that I did from all over the world. I actually couldn't tell you what I did at work last Thursday.

[greatmoorred]

Too right, travel broadens the mind.
You still meet people who annoy you, but you also get to do strange things like share a dorm with 4 Haida indians, now i couldnt have done that in manchester, even if they did snore and fart a bit
Its great, and, one day you get a mortgage and kids and then the possibility to travel disappears, so i say get your rucksack out and go and have a look around.

[Silver]

[hellkat]

Whether we get involved in other cultures, look at other pretty places (and the UK is equally as attractive as many places I've been) or meet and mix with different kinds of people, travelling is about a personal experience.

Travel either broadens your mind, or closes it further.

If staying home and enjoying yourself here is what you want from your life, great. Thats your decision for your own personal experiences.

Like most other people who travel, for whatever reason, I find that it gives me a different view/happier perspective on life for the relatively short time I am alive. Cos you're a LONG time dead.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Al]

I did the whole normal year backpacking thing, Although I don't really see it as a life changing event in my life,
I did learn a lot about myself,other people and the world in general.

But most of all I got to get drunk lots,meet loads of cool people and see lots of interesting places I wouldn't normally.

It was nice also to just have a break from everyday life, I find that I'm generally a little more chilled now


I have a few friends that have never left the UK even for a holiday, I find it rather strange that some people have no interest in what else is out there.

In true smug backpacker fashion I have lots of photos on my 'Myspace' page if anybodys interested
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Yamaha FZR400RR 3tj
My Instagram Thingy

[CortezTheKill...]

Independent travel is the best way of travelling IMHO. Stick a load of stuff in a rucksack, catch a plane to somewhere and disappear for a while. It really sorts your head out.

Me and my wife spent a good while travelling around mainland Greece a few years back. We stayed well away from any tourist spots and had the most amazing time. Had some of the best, most unexpected experiences I've ever had whilst travelling.

Would recommend anyone to do it at least once before kids come along - bit more difficult to do once they arrive.
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SV650 - TRASHED
ZX636R C6F - SOLD
Current number of wheels: 0 (not including a bicycle).

[WildGoose]

[Walloper]

I miss my bike.
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W-ireless A-rtificial L-ifeform L-imited to O-bservation P-eacekeeping and E-fficient R-epair

[Al]

I wouldn't look down on somebody because they haven't been traveling as such, but I may do if they were just naive about the world in general.
But then people say stuff to me like isn't it about time you got on the housing market, perhaps I could take that they think there better then me as I spent my money going traveling and not on a house deposit.

You say 10k is a lot just for an experience, but surely thats all life is an experience. I aim to have as many experiences as I can before I die and at that point the money I could have saved is not going to be important.
I didn't spend 10k and I worked a bit whilst I was traveling but what else more important do you think the money would have been better spent on if you think it is such a waste of money?
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Yamaha FZR400RR 3tj
My Instagram Thingy

[Silver]

[hellkat]

[hellkat]

... and we woulda made ourselves HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE big monster carbon footprints.

What a thing to leave for posterity, eh!

You wont be forgetting me when I'm dead and buried, you fuckers, I'll be the one who put a BIG hole in your ozone layer wiv all my travelling.

I'll make sure I have "hellkat woz ere" imprinted on the sole of my carbon footprint boot.


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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[colin1]

[Silver]

Geez, I don't even know where to begin with that post, so I won't bother...

[Walloper]

[JonB]

I'd like to go travelling myself.

HOWEVER, it seems like every Tom, Dick and Harry I know has gone, or is going to Australia. Like it is the ultimate destination.

Perhaps it is because it offers the same sort of security as Britain, with nice weather, friendly people who speak English.

If I was to go travelling, i'd love to go somewhere like China, or something of that nature and if I was to go to Australia, i'd be in it to look at the ancestry, e.g aborigines and not to get some working visa for a year and not explore the culture. That's what most people I know have done.
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[hellkat]

Well, I'll start then ...

[Silver]

[pwntifex]

Colin looks like a turtle.
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the warped one: This is a follow up from the thread 'my willy hurts'

[hellkat]

[Dan 4RR]

[pwntifex]