

What I’ve Learned From Traveling Around the World for Three Years - da5e
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2010/10/30/20-things-ive-learned-from-traveling-around-the-world-for-three-years/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timferriss+%28The+Blog+of+Author+Tim+Ferriss%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

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jasonkester
Well said. The important things that most Americans I meet don't get are these
two:

    
    
      - Travel is cheap
    

Americans tend to think of Travel in terms of the Caribbean Cruise. A cruise
lasts seven days and costs $5,000. Therefore, traveling costs $5,000 per week.
Therefore I must have spent about $250k on my last trip. "How do you afford
that?"

No, travel costs $500-$1000 per month unless you go out of your way to make it
cost more.

    
    
      - They're not actually going to kill you for being American
    

I went through Syria in 2003, and everybody back home thought I was nuts. I
had the time of my life. In general, if you want to get killed by crazy
middle-eastern terrorists, you're better off staying out of crazy middle-
eastern countries. They just don't have the infrastructure for it over there,
since the few people who care about that stuff are all in places where
westerners actually _go_.

Even in the "dangerous" places, the odds are generally in your favor. Most
days, nobody shows up at the Valley of the Kings with guns. Once every 10
years they do, but still your odds are better than 50/50. I was at that club
in Bali a year before it blew up. I was handling chickens in Asia during the
Bird Flu scare, having lunch with the dreaded Thai Muslim Separatists, and all
of this during Tsunami Season.

If you look at the odds, it's like being afraid to go to Nebraska because of
the lightning storms. Relax, and go see some cool stuff!

~~~
nakkiel
Just, what is "Tsunami Season" exactly?

~~~
jasonkester
That's actually a quote from a relative. I went to the Indian Ocean side of
Thailand the year following the Tsunami. Being December, I was asked if I was
worried to be there during Tsunami season, since everybody knows that once-
in-500-year random events happen in December over there.

~~~
nakkiel
Right. Living in Thailand I recognize the kind of confused reasoning people
are capable of here.

I used to collect them too but there was just too much to keep up with.

------
Natsu
> I confronted one German man about this, asking him who the Prime Minister of
> Japan was. He had no clue.

That's a slightly unfair question, because they've been getting a new one
roughly once a year for the past several years due to scandals and such. They
only seem to make the news when appointed and stepping down due to scandal,
unless they visit that shrine for Japanese war dead or something that triggers
protests.

~~~
nick_dm
It's a tricky question and there are far more practical things to know than
current affairs, e.g. customs and taboos, language, currency etc.

For example, I've met people (American and others) who weren't aware that the
UK hasn't switched to the euro. I once pointed this out to two surprised
Americans on a flight to London - when you are a few hours from landing this
is more useful than knowing the prime minister's name!

Beyond knowledge and ignorance (there are certainly ignorant Brits too) there
may be a difference in attitude which sometimes comes across as ignorance. I'm
relocating from London to NYC in just over a week so it will be interesting to
experience the differences, I've heard that despite being quite cosmopolitan
NYC is generally a little more inward looking.

~~~
qohen
"I'm relocating from London to NYC...I've heard that despite being quite
cosmopolitan NYC is generally a little more inward looking."

Sounds like you could use a map:

[http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/newyorker2.JP...](http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/newyorker2.JPG)

(Discussion:

<http://bigthink.com/ideas/21121>

And, from 40 years prior:

<http://maps.bpl.org/details_10595/?mpubl_id=159>

[http://www.georgeglazer.com/archives/maps/archive-
nyc/nyersi...](http://www.georgeglazer.com/archives/maps/archive-
nyc/nyersideasm.html) ).

------
jamii
> People are good

I can't emphasize this one enough. Travelling is a great way to restore ones
faith in humanity.

> Many people travel with their own supply of water and an industrial vat of
> hand sanitizer.

Germs aside, you should still carry a bottle of water. Dehydration is not fun.
Also, hand sanitizer kills the bacteria that make you smell which is handy
when you can' t shower as often as you might like.

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krmmalik
I agree with everything written in that blog post. I haven't travelled
anywhere near as much as this blogger, but i've visited a fair few countries,
and for sure that really started to change my view of the world.

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raju
Previous discussion on HN (Though the story was posted on Huffinton Post)

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1629521>

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corin_

      When is the last time you’ve heard Laos or Oman mentioned in a news story? What makes for good news are exceptional events, not ordinary events.
    

That's because it's _the news_ , it's designed to inform you of current
events, not tell you about places...

------
roryokane
Another interesting post on the same topic, by someone else:
<http://squid314.livejournal.com/2008/07/29/>. squid314 concludes some of the
same things as this post, but also some things not mentioned in this post.

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erso
I agree with most of those points, with an addition to #1: people are
generally happy.

On my most recent visit to Bangalore I went out of my way to go into the more
run-down, impoverished areas of the city to see what life was like for people
there, and I was really surprised at just how excited and happy people there
were when I asked to take their picture. It really changed my view of the
people that live in what I'd consider to be pretty depressing conditions.

The pictures can be seen here (flickr): <http://goo.gl/CsgD>

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forcer
Very true. We are onto 5th month of our travels and notes on why you don't
need 97% of stuff from home and long thoughts when buying something have
particularly been on my mind during this trip :)

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lazyant
I agree with everything except 13; superficially American and Canadian culture
are similar but they are not. I moved from the US to Canada because of that
difference.

~~~
gyardley
Oh, there's definitely cultural differences - I moved from Canada to the
United States for grad school, but I've stayed because I prefer it down here.

However, the deeper differences between the two countries aren't going to be
immediately apparent when interacting with tourists. It's not hard to see how
someone on another continent could equate the two countries.

~~~
elai
Well it's about as much difference between a texan, a new yorker and a
californian.

~~~
mmphosis
Oui, ç'est vrai.

------
Mikecsi
My wife keepstelling me to stop buying expensive gadgets so we can travel
more. (apple is keeping me from seeing the world, darn it!)

~~~
toolate
I took 18 months off and lived and worked overseas. I keep recommending it to
anyone who'll listen.

Gadgets like iPads and iPhones are just diversions, the freedom you'll get if
you take time off (not just a two week trip!) is worth so much more.

------
JofArnold
The picture in (18) is quite profound.

~~~
jasonkester
I've been to that McDonalds. It's on Khoa San Road in Bangkok.

