Let's Hear Your Travel Stories

[Barwelle]

I took three months off last summer to backpack around Europe. Got to see many great places, meet tons of people, went off the beaten track, even got to meet a fellow forumer. A couple of months after returning, I found a job that, if I wanted to, I could settle in and make my career. And that's what I thought I was going to do about six months ago when I came in for my first day of work. I even had outlined a plan to save money for big purchases in the future that grown-ups usually make. But now, whenever there is a lull in the workload (like at this moment), or when I'm driving... I dream. Of travelling. Of being free. Of a different kind of day, every day. Of being a nomad. Of seeing new places. I have wanderlust.

I don't know yet if I'll be taking off or sticking around. But I figured... let's see what other CMF'ers have done! I did a quick search for a thread like this, but didn't see anything. So let this be the travel stories/discussion thread. Share your experiences, good and bad; your bucket list; advice; anything.

A former co-worker of mine was fond of telling the story of his father who went travelling to New Zealand for a couple of weeks, and ended up staying there for months - without telling the family what he was up to. A phone call from him months later informed the worried family that he had ended up "living off the land" with a few other people on a remote beach or island or something, away from civilization. Now, this co-worker of mine was also fond of exaggerating his stories - but, it comes up in my mind now and then, and I think, how cool would that be? Disappear for a while and get away from computers, phones, cars, everything that is modern technology (except for a few essentials like matches, clothes, and a first aid kit) and live naturally for a while?

[brad]

My travel experiences have been pretty tame, and I've never done the vagabond thing, but I agree that something changes when you're gone for more than just a couple of weeks.

I spent three weeks in Scotland one January hiking along the western and northern coasts counting shorebirds for the British Trust for Ornithology. That was a life-changing experience, and I got to see some stunningly beautiful coastline, lots of sheep (!), and made some lifelong friends. For a few years after that I applied for caretaker jobs on remote islands off the west coast of Scotland but it never worked out. A few years later I went back for a two-week vacation on Skye and almost convinced myself to buy a little croft I saw for sale in the village of Elgol, a gorgeous whitewashed cottage on 15 acres of land for the equivalent of $20,000.

I spent four weeks in Bergen, Norway as a journalist covering the preparatory meetings for the first Earth Summit in Rio; I had a lot of free time while I was there and spent it exploring the city and the hills around it. I made friends with a guy who lived in Bergen and he took me out for a boat ride in the fjords with a supper of fresh-caught shrimp. I hiked up to the hills overlooking Bergen each morning and often crossed paths with Lucien Bouchard, who at that time was Canada's environment minister. He walked up there as well.

[indexxx]

I've done eight big solo trips for a total of 2.5 years with a pack on my back. The last one was when I left the Cayman Islands- I lived there for 5 years, and when I left, I decided to see how long I could stay on the road. I was not a resident of any country, had no ties nor obligations; I'd given up my Canadian residency for tax-free status (but not citizenship), and when I closed my Cayman work permit, I was no longer a resident there either. I had given up almost all my possessions when I'd moved, had no job or home, just a whack of cash saved up. So I hit Europe again and spent nine glorious months supporting myself on the road as a street musician, while working on a novel and building my photography portfolio. It was magical being that free, but I got sick of sleeping in youth hostels and eventually came back to Canada- I'd hoped to find a way to live in Europe, but it can be difficult. But man, that was living! I'd love to see India and Peru, but I think my next one will be a photography safari in Africa- that's my bucket list.

[MoneyGal]

These are all amazing.

I spent a few months living completely out of a backpack in India many years ago. I've also hiked the Lower Atlas mountain range in Morocco. I've hiked pretty extensively in the Canadian Rockies and I've been through the Canadian far and near north. I climbed Half Dome (in Yosemite National Park) and figured out I was pregnant halfway up when I was so tired out of proportion to the effort. I spent a few weeks in a nunnery in rural France near Le Mans. I rented a cabin for a few weeks in the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba and I also stayed in Bequia (in the Grenadines) for a while. The one place I do kind of dream about going back to is Essaouria on the west coast of Morocco - I'd like to take my kids there. (I've also been in many many cities throughout the U.S.)

[Spudd]

I love this thread!

We spent last summer riding our bicycles across Sweden from south to north, 1900 km in all. We carried all our stuff with us on the bikes (about 30lb of luggage per person, plus food and water) and were fully self-supported. My husband broke more spokes than I care to remember. We got pretty good at fixing them. That was the best travel experience I've done. We camped 2/3 of the time, and stayed in B&Bs or hostels the rest of the time. We rode through so many varied landscapes. Wide open fields in the south, rocky coastline, super old pine forests. I could have done without the gravel roads but it all added up to the total experience.

Aside from that, our best trip was a cruise around South America, which included a visit to Antarctica. We weren't allowed to actually walk on Antarctica but we cruised around it for a couple of days and it was absolutely stunning. South America was really nice too.

[Nemo2]

Here's one that I posted a little while back on a, primarily US, retirement site under the title "Robbed While Traveling Stories":

Back in 1963, 'we' ( 2 companions & I), came down through India to Ceylon, (now Sri Lanka), and encountered an assorted group of hitchhikers who were shipping out a couple days later, (Ceylon, being an island, is at the end of the line).

(At that time Ceylon had restrictive currency exchange rules.....the black market payment for hard currencies was ~ 3 times the official rate, and arrivals were 'required' to declare all their money on arrival, obtain official stamps for any/all conversions, then hand in the completed forms upon departure.)

The people heading out directed us to a travel agent who would provide temporary fake papers, (which he would then destroy), allowing his 'clients' to purchase tickets, (through him), with local money obtained 'unofficially'........the onus would then be upon the departees to claim they had lost their papers when exiting.

So far, so good.

About three weeks after our arrival, (at this time we had expanded into a group of about 20, assorted nationality, travellers), three Brits showed up on a motorcycle & sidecar.......we informed them of the procedure, off they went, and we didn't see them again.....until:

Our day of departure, on a small French passenger ship en route to Singapore/Viet Nam.........20 of us, all having mysteriously 'mislaid' our currency conversion papers, piled onto a tender to take us to the vessel moored in the harbor.

As we approached the ship we're hailed by the three Brits who are up on deck waving over the rail.

Once boarded we asked them if they'd gone to the travel agent....."Oh no" they exclaimed, (very taken with their own astuteness), "We got a much better deal.....we met a guy who took us to a place up country and provided booze, women, food, etc" "He told us to go out to the boat as 'visitors' and he'll arrange for our tickets/passports/motorcycle/stuff to be brought out prior to sailing".

Open mouthed, we all responded with versions of "You didn't actually do that...did you?"

They had. And, after the final "All visitors ashore" announcement, when the ship prepared to sail, the three of them were on the tender, heading into Colombo, with no passports, no motorcycle, no money.....no nuttin'.

(The moral, I guess, is don't think that because you're coming from the First World that the residents of the Third World are dumb and/or in awe of your self-perceived 'status.)

[MoneyGal]

Oh, Spudd! I forgot that I've travelled through Sweden as well. I have some great stories from my nights at the ice hotel in Kiruna (and by "great" I mean they are great to tell, and were horrible to live. The visit to the reindeer herd with the reindeer herder by dogsled was awesome, though)

[Spudd]

Don't leave us hanging, MG!

[Barwelle]

Wow, I'm impressed with the responses already. Brad, that must have been a cold January, on the coasts of Scotland! You should have bought that place on Skye... so that we could have our annual CMF retreats there. You hit the nail on the head with this comment: "something changes when you're gone for more than just a couple of weeks." That is what I am looking for... that freedom when you aren't so limited by the two weeks you're allowed per year for vacation, and mortgage payments, and kids to take care of, etc. When you have nothing but yourself and the money in the bank to hold you back.

Spudd, how long did it take you to do that 1900km? That's something I've envisioned, to cycle across some of the parts of Europe I missed.

Index, we'll be expecting some pictures in this thread after your safari! 9 months straight on the road, that is impressive. You didn't want to settle in one place for a bit, maybe find a pad for a month? I'd run into some people who did that. Also talked to a few musicians who did the same thing to support themselves. Even witnessed a confrontation in Vilnius where some travellers were playing in some local buskers' regular spot. The locals were very agressive about getting them to move... even though the travellers were being very polite about it and had no problem picking up their stuff and moving somewhere else. (They had more than just a couple instruments, including an amp, so it took a bit of time to pack up, meanwhile trying to cool down the locals who seemed to want a fight)

[brad]

Some really amazing and inspiring stories here from everyone. Wow!!

You hit the nail on the head with this comment: "something changes when you're gone for more than just a couple of weeks."

I'm embarrassed to admit that the last time I took a full two-week vacation (14 days off) was in 1987. Gotta do something about that. We just got back from 10 days in Brittany, which was nice, but two full weeks makes a difference.