5 ms·

> Try to stay in one place for a few months, minimum. I second this. 2 months is the minimum amount of time per country, and 2 weeks per city if you expect to

> Try to stay in one place for a few months, minimum. I second this. 2 months is the minimum amount of time per country, and 2 weeks per city if you expect to get anything more than a handful of good meals and a couple adventures out of a place. My better memories were all from places I stayed for over 2 months, and all have more to do with people I met than the place itself.

aerovistae 6y ago
> and all have more to do with people I met than the place itself. Did you speak the local language?
- hayst4ck 6y ago
  Nope. Until you travel you don't even have the slightest clue what a privilege it is to speak English or be from America. Educated middle/upper class people everywhere except china (where there is almost no english at all) generally speak at the very least broken English, if not fluent english. That being said: One of the most interesting people I met was in china, and I'd say complex ideas were 75% communicated in english. Google translate or wechat translate supplemented the conversations. One of the other people I met was in Korea. His enlgish was probably closer to 50% and complex ideas almost certainly required a translation app. Great memories though. I would probably have a conversation mediated entirely by google translate once every other week or so, and google translate was generally good enough to get an idea of menu's or communicate to people with absolutely no english ability at all. Nearly all conversations I had in china were translated via WeChat. Traveling made me regret circumventing the language requirement in college so much.
  - checkyoursudo 6y ago
    > Traveling made me regret circumventing the language requirement in college so much. I can feel this. I did the opposite. Instead of circumventing the requirement, I studied 5 different languages, and then continued 2 on to relative proficiency. This has been, in my opinion, of tremendous benefit in living on and traveling to multiple continents. I had an advisor whom I admired who was competent in some 12 or more languages. I was so jealous. I guess I probably still am.
  - cpursley 6y ago
    Not to nitpick, please don't use the term "broken English".
    - hayst4ck 6y ago
      You are getting downvoted because it's completely unclear why the term "broken english" is offensive or not fit for use. You also did not propose an alternative. I promise my use of it was entirely descriptive and not at all a judgement of the person speaking it. I have the utmost respect for anyone who can communicate an idea in another language at any level. I see my self as deficient for not being able to do so and think of myself as lesser and a poor citizen of the world for only speaking english.
      - cpursley 6y ago
        The term broken means something was once whole and is no longer. There's plenty of alternatives like non native speaker, beginner speaker, etc. I'm generally extremely non PC but this one is a pet peeve of mine. As a native English speaker living in Russia, it really made me realize how difficult and nerve racking language learning and speaking is. I don't consider my Russian skills "broken", just very incomplete; a WIP.
        jodrellblank 6y ago
        Broken in the sense "broken line" (https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=broken+line&ia=web); https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=broken+line&ia=web); not "once whole", rather "with breaks (pauses/gaps) in it". Like when a conference breaks for lunch, it doesn't mean the conference was whole and now is inferior.
    - jeofken 6y ago
      How could I who learned English after childhood strive for greatness without distinguishing real from broken, i.e with potential for repair? There is nothing that is equal in this world
  - dumb1224 6y ago
    That's very interesting. However I am not sure whether being middle/upper class has any association with being able to speak english. Frankly I don't think there is a class distinction in China (despite an economic one maybe). I would like to point out if helpful that in China our education of the English language is much more geared towards reading rather than speaking. Students are generally equipped with enough to read and understand given adequate time but probably not speaking. However regional difference also may exist (first tier cities vs second, third etc). I used to feel ashamed about our english level in east asia in general. But then again now I think about people in the anglosphere where French and Spanish are largely taught but no one would expect a large proportion will be able to converse in them :)
  - dehrmann 6y ago
    > Until you travel you don't even have the slightest clue what a privilege it is to speak English Agreed; almost everywhere, you can find someone who knows some English. The other time I realized who a privilege it is was looking for a second language to learn. There isn't a clear answer if you already know English. The English privilege you might completely miss is that, outside of China, the internet is English-first.
anm89 6y ago
As someone who was on the road for three years, this was my biggest take away. If anything I'd treat one month as an absolute minimum. I'd prefer not to be anywhere less than 3 months. It ends up taking a week just to get truly unpacked. From that base, you can still do day trips and weekend trips.
- elyobo 6y ago
  The amount of time maybe varies by the location and the visitor, but... how much do you carry that it takes a week to unpack? Until I started travelling with my wife (and now a child too), one main lesson I learned was "you aren't going to need it" - every time I went travelling it was lighter than the trip before!
  - anm89 6y ago
    I had one carry on for clothing and a backpack for essentials and some electronics. I guess more accurately it takes a week to get settled in. Most of that time isn't about physically removing the stuff from the bags but more about where you need to put it and what stuff you might need to go rebuy and organize, in the new country.
    - elyobo 6y ago
      Sorry, I read that far too literally! Yeah, that's fair enough. I certainly needed large blocks of staying still, but didn't feel the need to stay anywhere as long as three months - month long blocks were more common for me.
- arwhatever 6y ago
  Agreed - 3 months minimum, esp if working while traveling. This allows to alternate between excursion weekends and relaxing weekends. I also agree with the "1-2 years" content above - I'd really like to see the seasons cycle through in any particular place I stop.
  - Cd00d 6y ago
superbcarrot 6y ago
> My better memories were all from places I stayed for over 2 months, and all have more to do with people I met than the place itself. How did you go about meeting people in the first place?
- devoutsalsa 6y ago
  Dating apps, couch surfing, and getting out of the house & going where the people are. Expat groups on Facebook and WhatsApp, too.
  - hayst4ck 6y ago
    Yep, dating apps didn't work great for me at all because I have the misfortune of being both unattractive and picky, but couch surfing hangouts work fantastically, especially for meeting local people. Walking around at least puts you in places where people can talk to you, occasionally they do. Wearing unique or attention grabbing things gives people an excuse to talk to you. I always choose trains and buses to travel, conversations are more common there. Hostels are a very easy way meet other travelers and get your social fix when you need it. Often times the staff are friendly enough and if you stay in one hostel long enough or visit with them, the staff might integrate you into their social life. Most hostel staff like to travel, too. Becoming a regular at any kind of place will almost certainly get you conversations with staff. A lot of people you meet in hostels are traveling from the same country or ones you are going to visit, so you meet those people there.
    - oblio 6y ago
      > both unattractive and picky I know this is HN, but I do have to say: good luck! :-D
      - biolurker1 6y ago
        Yo forgot the third parameter in the function..
barbs 6y ago
My friend met someone travelling who consciously focussed on creating new and interesting experiences and connections with people, rather than actual places. It led him to some pretty awesome and amazing adventures.
telesilla 6y ago
Yes, definitely. I find that around 10 days is needed to feel 'at home' somewhat, know where the market is etc, and 2 or 3 months to feel like you live there, depending on the language. It happens quite quickly. It's very satisfying to have lived in a variety of countries.

aerovistae 6y ago

> and all have more to do with people I met than the place itself. Did you speak the local language?

hayst4ck 6y ago
Nope. Until you travel you don't even have the slightest clue what a privilege it is to speak English or be from America. Educated middle/upper class people everywhere except china (where there is almost no english at all) generally speak at the very least broken English, if not fluent english. That being said: One of the most interesting people I met was in china, and I'd say complex ideas were 75% communicated in english. Google translate or wechat translate supplemented the conversations. One of the other people I met was in Korea. His enlgish was probably closer to 50% and complex ideas almost certainly required a translation app. Great memories though. I would probably have a conversation mediated entirely by google translate once every other week or so, and google translate was generally good enough to get an idea of menu's or communicate to people with absolutely no english ability at all. Nearly all conversations I had in china were translated via WeChat. Traveling made me regret circumventing the language requirement in college so much.
- checkyoursudo 6y ago
  > Traveling made me regret circumventing the language requirement in college so much. I can feel this. I did the opposite. Instead of circumventing the requirement, I studied 5 different languages, and then continued 2 on to relative proficiency. This has been, in my opinion, of tremendous benefit in living on and traveling to multiple continents. I had an advisor whom I admired who was competent in some 12 or more languages. I was so jealous. I guess I probably still am.
- cpursley 6y ago
  Not to nitpick, please don't use the term "broken English".
  - hayst4ck 6y ago
    You are getting downvoted because it's completely unclear why the term "broken english" is offensive or not fit for use. You also did not propose an alternative. I promise my use of it was entirely descriptive and not at all a judgement of the person speaking it. I have the utmost respect for anyone who can communicate an idea in another language at any level. I see my self as deficient for not being able to do so and think of myself as lesser and a poor citizen of the world for only speaking english.
    - cpursley 6y ago
      The term broken means something was once whole and is no longer. There's plenty of alternatives like non native speaker, beginner speaker, etc. I'm generally extremely non PC but this one is a pet peeve of mine. As a native English speaker living in Russia, it really made me realize how difficult and nerve racking language learning and speaking is. I don't consider my Russian skills "broken", just very incomplete; a WIP.
      - jodrellblank 6y ago
        Broken in the sense "broken line" (https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=broken+line&ia=web); https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=broken+line&ia=web); not "once whole", rather "with breaks (pauses/gaps) in it". Like when a conference breaks for lunch, it doesn't mean the conference was whole and now is inferior.
  - jeofken 6y ago
    How could I who learned English after childhood strive for greatness without distinguishing real from broken, i.e with potential for repair? There is nothing that is equal in this world
- dumb1224 6y ago
  That's very interesting. However I am not sure whether being middle/upper class has any association with being able to speak english. Frankly I don't think there is a class distinction in China (despite an economic one maybe). I would like to point out if helpful that in China our education of the English language is much more geared towards reading rather than speaking. Students are generally equipped with enough to read and understand given adequate time but probably not speaking. However regional difference also may exist (first tier cities vs second, third etc). I used to feel ashamed about our english level in east asia in general. But then again now I think about people in the anglosphere where French and Spanish are largely taught but no one would expect a large proportion will be able to converse in them :)
- dehrmann 6y ago
  > Until you travel you don't even have the slightest clue what a privilege it is to speak English Agreed; almost everywhere, you can find someone who knows some English. The other time I realized who a privilege it is was looking for a second language to learn. There isn't a clear answer if you already know English. The English privilege you might completely miss is that, outside of China, the internet is English-first.

anm89 6y ago

As someone who was on the road for three years, this was my biggest take away. If anything I'd treat one month as an absolute minimum. I'd prefer not to be anywhere less than 3 months. It ends up taking a week just to get truly unpacked. From that base, you can still do day trips and weekend trips.

elyobo 6y ago
The amount of time maybe varies by the location and the visitor, but... how much do you carry that it takes a week to unpack? Until I started travelling with my wife (and now a child too), one main lesson I learned was "you aren't going to need it" - every time I went travelling it was lighter than the trip before!
- anm89 6y ago
  I had one carry on for clothing and a backpack for essentials and some electronics. I guess more accurately it takes a week to get settled in. Most of that time isn't about physically removing the stuff from the bags but more about where you need to put it and what stuff you might need to go rebuy and organize, in the new country.
  - elyobo 6y ago
    Sorry, I read that far too literally! Yeah, that's fair enough. I certainly needed large blocks of staying still, but didn't feel the need to stay anywhere as long as three months - month long blocks were more common for me.
arwhatever 6y ago
Agreed - 3 months minimum, esp if working while traveling. This allows to alternate between excursion weekends and relaxing weekends. I also agree with the "1-2 years" content above - I'd really like to see the seasons cycle through in any particular place I stop.
- Cd00d 6y ago

superbcarrot 6y ago

> My better memories were all from places I stayed for over 2 months, and all have more to do with people I met than the place itself. How did you go about meeting people in the first place?

devoutsalsa 6y ago
Dating apps, couch surfing, and getting out of the house & going where the people are. Expat groups on Facebook and WhatsApp, too.
- hayst4ck 6y ago
  Yep, dating apps didn't work great for me at all because I have the misfortune of being both unattractive and picky, but couch surfing hangouts work fantastically, especially for meeting local people. Walking around at least puts you in places where people can talk to you, occasionally they do. Wearing unique or attention grabbing things gives people an excuse to talk to you. I always choose trains and buses to travel, conversations are more common there. Hostels are a very easy way meet other travelers and get your social fix when you need it. Often times the staff are friendly enough and if you stay in one hostel long enough or visit with them, the staff might integrate you into their social life. Most hostel staff like to travel, too. Becoming a regular at any kind of place will almost certainly get you conversations with staff. A lot of people you meet in hostels are traveling from the same country or ones you are going to visit, so you meet those people there.
  - oblio 6y ago
    > both unattractive and picky I know this is HN, but I do have to say: good luck! :-D
    - biolurker1 6y ago
      Yo forgot the third parameter in the function..

barbs 6y ago

My friend met someone travelling who consciously focussed on creating new and interesting experiences and connections with people, rather than actual places. It led him to some pretty awesome and amazing adventures.

telesilla 6y ago

Yes, definitely. I find that around 10 days is needed to feel 'at home' somewhat, know where the market is etc, and 2 or 3 months to feel like you live there, depending on the language. It happens quite quickly. It's very satisfying to have lived in a variety of countries.