Archive for the 'Fellow Travelers' Category

Our Stories Might Not Be the Same…But They’re All Worth Telling

Theresa October 8th, 2009

In a year of traveling around the world, we’ve met a lot of people, many of whom are fellow travelers. We’ve found the majority of them to be fun, interesting people. We’ve shared some good times with them and, in some cases, exchanged info in the hopes of one day meeting up again. But every once in a while, you meet a bad egg. There’s lots of things that can spoil a person in my opinion, but there’s one thing, above all, that I can’t stand: a superiority complex. Just a tad too often for my tastes I find that long-term travelers develop this notion that they are somehow superior to the family and friends they left back at home.

To paraphrase them: “I’m out seeing the world. Every day is a challenge. I’m learning so much, doing so much, growing so much. They’re all just sitting at home, their lives the same today as they were yesterday as they will be tomorrow. They’re not changing at all.” To my never-ending amusement, I usually hear this sentiment uttered by a person sitting at a hostel watching television and drinking beer.

Most of the time I don’t waste my breath with such people, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to tell them off. Yes, Jeff and I have had an amazing year. Yes, we have learned all kinds of things–about places, about people, about ourselves. We’ve challenged ourselves physically and emotionally. We’ve grown. But so have the people we left at home.

Sometimes when we answer people who ask how long we’ve been traveling, we’re told that we’re “brave.” I usually just smile and feel awkward. We could probably just as easy be called “selfish” for saying screw it to everyone and everything and disappearing into the world, or “stupid” for giving up good jobs just as the economy crashed. We obviously don’t think it was selfish or stupid, but we also don’t think it was brave.

Brave, I’d say, is choosing to bring a new life into the world, something many of our friends and family have done this year. Brave is going back to school in your thirties to completely change careers. Brave is saying that your dream job is no longer going to be just a dream. Brave is giving up a job you love and a salary you very much like to stay at home with the kids you love more. Brave is giving everything you have to a relationship but knowing when enough is enough. Brave is promising to spend the rest of your life with the person you love.

No, our friends’ and families’ lives have been anything but boring, static. They have completed degrees and taken first jobs. They have moved to new cities, and they have bought homes. They’ve been promoted at jobs they love and left jobs they didn’t like. They have said, “I will” to the question of “Will you marry me?” and “I do” to the question of “Do you take?” They have become moms and dads, aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas. They too have traveled, some acquiring a passport for the first time, some going to places that we dream of one day visiting. They have grown and changed and been challenged, just as we have.

When our plane lands back in the States and we again get to see our family and friends, I hope that they ask about our trip. I hope that they want to hear about our year. But I also hope that they will tell us about theirs, that they too will have stories they want to share with us and pictures to show us. Because if this year has taught us only one thing, it is that our world is an interesting place because of our differences. How boring the world would be if we all chose to walk down the same road.

Blog Love

Theresa January 29th, 2009

If you check out our sidebar, you´ll notice many links to other blogs that we follow. Unfortunately, since we´ve been on the road, we haven´t been able to be as frequent of readers and commenters as we would like to be, but we do check in when we can. One blog I always love to check out is Asian Ramblings, primarily because blog owner Stevo, who you have probably seen leaving comments here, is an awesome photographer. He´s so amazing that he actually inspires in me an interest in China, which as I once wrote right here on this blog is one of the places I was at one point least interested in visiting. Obviously, I am not the only one who thinks Asian Ramblings is awesome, as this blog is a finalist in the 2009 Bloggies in the category of Best Asian Weblog. He´s totally deserving of this honor, so I want to encourage all of my readers to first go check out his blog and then second to go to the 2009 Bloggies page and vote for him!

And because I know you all need more ways to waste time online, while you´re there, check out some of the other finalists in the various categories and you´ll find lots of good reading material. The Pioneer Woman was a daily read of mine back when I was in the working world, and Camels & Chocolate always makes me jealous as the woman who writes it is younger than me and has an awesome freelance travel writing career. She also tells hilarious stories, so I can´t hate her too much.

A Visitor!

Jeff December 28th, 2008

We’ve been traveling for almost three months now. This means that we’ve spent approximately the last 2000 hours together, with one another being our only consistent support in our grand endeavor. And honestly, while that brings us closer and all that, when you do everything together and see everything together and notice everything together and are removed from the pace of everyday life together, you run out of things to talk about. Everything we take in about the world happens at the same time. Our conversations often amount to “hmm, did you see that, that was weird” … “huh, yeah.” Sure, there’s an awful lot of conversation about what to do next, what we just did, what do you want to eat, and so on. But there’s also a lot of comfortable silence these days.

So I think we’re both a little excited to have someone else to talk to. Get filled in on all the weird little things that make the news. Someone to update me on the football world. Theresa’s brother Greg arrives tonight to join us in exploring Lima, Nazca and Cuzco. Since it’s all got to happen in ten days, it will be a flurry of activity and we may not be terribly active here. Instead, we may be too busy talking.

The Circles We Run In

Theresa December 6th, 2008

In our daily lives, we all have certain circles we run in. We shop at the same grocery store, attend the same church, have a drink at the same bar, get dinner at the same restaurant, grab coffee at the same cafe. And in the process, we see familiar faces. We come to have a favorite bartender or waitress; we share small talk with the girl who pours our coffee; we ask the grocery store clerk about her day. Rarely do these people turn into much more than acquaintances, but when they are no longer there, we miss their presence. They have a role in our lives.

When you travel, moving from one place to another in a matter of days, rarely if ever returning to the same place, you lose your circle. You don’t have your favorites, the old stand-bys. But actually it’s not completely true that you lose your circle, because lately we’ve learned that thought they might not be showing up in the same place, we will often see the same faces.

In Nicaragua, we didn’t do repeats. We’d meet someone in some town, and then never see them again. Not by design, but because that’s just the way it worked. In Chile and now Argentina however that’s the case. We’re on a certain route that a certain type of traveler (the outdoorsy-type I’d say) likes, and we therefore find ourselves repeatedly running into the same people. For instance, we first met Wesley (an electrician from Britain) while cooking dinner in a cramped hostel kitchen in Puerto Varas. A few days later, we walk into our hostel in Chiloe to see him sitting in the common area. About a week later, we’re ascending Valle Frances in Torres del Paine, and who do we see sitting on a log beside a creek but Wesley. We’d pass him multiple times during the rest of the hike. And then, finally, just two days ago while we were eating our lunch at a park in El Calafate, Wesley walks by on his way to an ATM. Each time, we stop and chat, exchange stories about where we’d been in the time between spottings, and then head off with a see you later, since goodbye seems a bit premature.

The same thing has happened with others. Oh, look, there’s the lady from Torres del Paine who did the uphills so slowly it seemed she wasn’t moving. Oh, hey, it’s Nienke and Tijmen, the couple from the Netherlands who we met in Chiloe, I guess they’re done surfing. And on and on. Though I guess some people could find this irritating (and it probably would be if we didn’t like the people we keep running into), I find it a bit nice. Humans are creatures of routine and habit, and when your world changes every day, it can be awfully nice to see a familiar face…even if it’s just for a few minutes, before you again move on, maybe in ultimately the same direction and maybe not.

On Conversation

Jeff July 22nd, 2008

I’m following both my mom and Theresa’s recommendations and am currently reading Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux. Its a great book, a relatively easy read filled with the adventure, difficulty, and aura of travel. What I keep getting from it though, is the myriad encounters he has with locals. How easily he meets people wherever he is, and manages over the course of a few drinks to pull out a captivating life story. He does this over and over. Now, naturally, a fair amount of this is because he is the storyteller and this is his narrative;  I’m sure there were many very boring stories and uninteresting people he has blessed us not to write about.

But when I think about how I want our trip to go, that is it—seemingly constantly falling into interesting scenarios, going out of our way to meet what turn out to be fascinating people, having a keen eye for who is trustworthy and worth our time. And while our one week in Egypt says all these things are bound to happen in spades, I can’t help but worry about it.

So let’s have a conversation about these conversations. Obviously the discussion depends drastically on who you are and where in the world you are, but tell us what you think. Do you find yourself easily talking to locals? Do they talk to you first/annoyingly barrage you? Where are the friendliest people? The coldest? Do you have to force yourself to make the effort to talk to new people? Are you as outgoing when you are already traveling with people you know? Is your personality different abroad versus at home? Share your thoughts.

This is your chance!

Jeff April 6th, 2008

Ok, guys, this is it. Now that I’m back state-side, the time has come to start planning an itinerary more specific than “we will be on this continent …” So what we need to know from all of you in internet-land is when and where you want to meet us for some adventure. Consider this an open invitation. We love having visitors and on the trip I’m sure we’ll be itching for the company. If you’ve been inspired by somewhere we’re planning on going and want to meet us there, let us know and we’ll try to fit it in our schedule (the general dates listed below are non-negotiable). If you want to read more on generally where we want to go, we’ve outlined it in our posts on:

Africa (Aug 2009 – Oct 2009)

Southeast Asia (Apr 2009 – June 2009)

South America (Nov 2008 – Mar 2009)

Nepal and Northern India (July 2009) – no post yet but consider us open to anything in the area.

So let’s have ‘em! (Greg, your previous four posts on the subject have already reserved you a spot for Machu Picchu … but when exactly?)

Your Turn

Theresa March 18th, 2008

For the past few months, Jeff and I have been sharing with you our thoughts about our upcoming trip, frequently focusing on all the places we want to go and the sites we want to see. Now it’s your turn. If you’re reading this, please leave a comment listing the top three places you would like to travel in your lifetime. It can be a faraway exotic land difficult to reach. It can be an awesome national park not far from your home. It doesn’t matter to us, so long as it’s where you’d like to go. You can supply reasons if you like, but feel free to just list them if you’d prefer. Maybe you’ll inspire us or a fellow reader. It is a big world out there after all.

Then after you post your three places, take a minute to consider why you’re not making plans to take one of these trips (unless, of course, you already are). As far as I’m aware, this is the only life we get and there are no guarantees. Carpe Diem!

(Seriously, post your three places. Don’t just read and move on to another site. Read, click the comment button, and share your list. We want to know where you, our readers, dream of going. Please? And thank you.)

A Note from a Friend

Theresa November 4th, 2007

Today, I received a postcard in the mail from my friend Joyce, who along with her husband Jack, is currently on a Round the World trip. As the postcard shows, they were recently in Peru, visiting the famed Machu Picchu, a destination firmly anchored on our must-see list. Joyce and Jack have had a pretty crazy year. Joyce graduated with her master’s degree in June, they were married in September, and they left on their trip in October. It doesn’t get a lot more exciting than that.


Earlier this year, I got a phone call from Joyce. She was contemplating what she wanted to do post-graduation and said that Jack had suggested that they spend some time traveling. She wasn’t sure what she thought about this but knew I was the one person who wouldn’t think they were absolutely nuts for even considering it. Of course, I was all for it and spent the entire conversation cheerleading for travel. After all, I’d been planning a similar trip since at least 2005 when Jeff and I got married, but actually for much longer than that. I think we first discussed it as we were graduating college, and I was heading off to Greece and Jeff off to grad school in DC. This is a trip a long, long time in the making.

Anyhow, in the end, Joyce didn’t need a lot of convincing, and they’re now out seeing the world (with much, much less planning time than we’ve had!). If you want to read about their travels, you can visit Joyce’s blog or Jack’s blog. They haven’t posted a lot so far, but I’m hopeful that things will pick up at some point. I know I’m anxious to hear about their adventures.

For now, I’ll take the postcards. Though our itinerary will differ greatly from their’s, we are visiting some of the same places, so it’s fun to hear their impressions of places we will be soon. And while I know I’m too much of a planner to have done the trip with the relatively little amount of planning they were able to squeeze in between finishing up school and planning a wedding, it just goes to show that there’s no right or wrong way to do a RTW trip. It’s all about your style, your goals, and your dreams.

Have you started planning your trip yet?