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When I quit my job and went travelling I used this framework: 1. Go via land. You see everything in between all the places you should see as a tourist. You imm
by bfirsh 6y ago
When I quit my job and went travelling I used this framework:
1. Go via land. You see everything in between all the places you should see as a tourist. You immerse yourself in how a place actually feels. You meet people who aren’t just trying to extract money from you. I cycled, because I like cycling, but any form of transport works.
2. My algorithm was something like “Go east. Stay somewhere if it’s interesting, until you get bored. Continue going east.” I didn’t have a fixed itinerary, but I did have some framework.
That was the basis of it, I think. I cycled from London to Italy, stopped for a while in Italy, cycled on to Greece, then fell in love (with the place and somebody in particular). I met some of my best friends, worked on side projects, volunteered for charities, and ended up staying there for several months. I skipped forward to India on a plane, cycled across India, then returned back to Greece.
My partner in Greece wanted to visit the Middle East and Central Asia, but she wasn’t quite as excited about cycling through the desert as I was, so we bought a van and drove — to Central Asia, and everything in between.
My framework worked extraordinarily well. If I have one regret, I think it was not making an effort to interact with more people. You do that a lot more naturally when travelling by land, but you still need to put in effort to make it happen.
For example, I was up late in a bar in an Italian village, and met one of the locals. It was a long cycle ride back to the place I was staying so he offered me his spare room. Turns out he lived with his parents and the next day his elderly Italian mother cooked us pasta for lunch. Possibly one of the best meals of my life.
I wish I had done more of that. Just hanging out in bars and making friends. And not tourist bars — real bars. Knowing the local language better would probably help.
- notional 6y agoWhat languages do you speak? Great stories btw also, it sounds like you really made the most of traveling and doing so much by bicycle is quite a feat!
- Taylor_OD 6y agoSounds like an incredible experience. Were you able to transition back into working easily?
- rvba 6y agoWhy did I follow him...? I don't know. Why do things happen as they do in dreams? All I know is that, when he beckoned... I had to follow him. From that moment, we traveled together, East. Always... into the East
- dreamer7 6y agoFor those curious, this is a quote from Marius in the game Diablo
- rhn_mk1 6y agoWhere did you find places to sleep? Hotels are not guaranteed, and camping is not allowed everywhere. Without having a pre-planned journey, it seems a bit risky.
- bklaasen 6y agoIt depends. You can ask permission to pitch up overnight on someone's land, or you can discreetly find a hidden spot. Most people are friendly and unafraid of strangers.
- bfirsh 6y agoIt was never a problem in 2 years of traveling. My priority order was hostel, Airbnb, camping, hotel. Camping got higher priority if there was good nature or it was expensive. Airbnbs (the kind where you stay in somebody's spare room, not a whole place to yourself) are plentiful and cheap outside major cities, and mean you get to meet locals. I had so many good experiences doing that. More often than not I would book an Airbnb in the afternoon for that night, when I had figured out how far I would get that day. Homestays are abundant and cheap in India and other parts of Asia. $10 for dinner/bed/breakfast. I didn't camp in India once because they were so cheap and abundant -- I'd rather eat delicious food and meet a local family. Wild camping is much more of a normal thing outside of the US, even if it is technically not allowed. You just find somewhere discreet. In Europe, I was discreet but always welcomed if somebody found me. In Asia nobody gives a shit, you can just do what you like.
- batmaniam 6y agoHow old were you when you did the trip? How long was the trip, 3 months/1 year? Did you work before to finance the trip? What was the total cost?
- bfirsh 6y agoLate 20s. 2 years overall, but that was interspersed with doing work in Athens. I would say maybe 1 year of travel and 1 year of working, overall. I had spent ~10 years working in tech so I had some savings. Contract work also helped. Not sure what the total cost was exactly, but the cycling part was cheap. It's ridiculously cheap if you're in Asia or cheaper parts of Europe (Greece, eastern Europe, etc). It got more expensive when I bought a van...
- TheMagicHorsey 6y agoWhat was it like cycling in India? Did you feel safe? I mean from both the traffic and crime. I'm thinking about doing this at some point, but I get nervous sometimes when I see the traffic in the cities there. Maybe its not as bad on the roads outside the cities?
- bfirsh 6y agoThe traffic was wild. As you say, the traffic is less bad outside of cities, and if you avoid the busier roads. But even still, lots of trucks barreling down small dirt roads, weaving in and out of cows, and things like that. I felt very safe in terms of crime. Subjectively I felt safe, but also objectively crime rates are low in India, I think. (Obviously hard to compare crime rates and I forget the exact metric I am basing this off.) Even though my bike and laptop were probably a year's salary for somebody there, I never felt like it or myself were in danger. Toward the end of the trip I remember being chased by a scooter honking at me and waving me down. He handed me my wallet. Turned out I had left the zipper on my bag open and my wallet had fallen out. He found it on the ground, saw me in the distance, and chased after me to hand it back. I had maybe $100 in cash in there (which is like $1000 adjusting for purchasing power) and of course it was all there. Everyone in India is so kind and welcoming. There is no concept of personal space or privacy, but that also means everybody is your friend.
- ballooney 6y agoI have spent probably about a year in total in india over various trips, cities and rurally a bit of cycling though usually just for getting around locally. It’s much easier outside big cities, wrt traffic. It seems a bit easier in the south, too. I’ve never felt remotely worried about crime from a personal safety POV, but having something lifted from you on a sleeper train is not that unlikely (those steel-cable net bag things you can padlock to something to contain your bag are handy). It was never an issue in homesteads, and getting your washing done regardless of how sketchy a place you think you’re staying always just seems to work - you always get your clothes back and never anyone else’s. A bit like takuhaibin in Japan - accept it’s magic and just relax and enjoy yourself more.
- npsimons 6y agoI've never done a trip this long, but I have to say I like your idea of traveling by land, especially by bicycle. I'm reminded of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and his commentary of "being in the scene" instead of "watching it on the TV that is a car window" (paraphrasing here). Also going by land is cheaper, and lower impact for those who care about that. It does cut your options, requires more time, and at least in America there's an awful lot of nothing in between even the non-touristy places. I hiked the Haute Route (Switzerland and France) with my father and his friends in 2019, and while it was only two weeks, it was such a wonderful experience.
- bfirsh 6y agoThat exact same sentiment from ZAMM inspired me too. I’m glad I did it on a bicycle rather than a motorbike. There’s something more human-scale and less intimidating about it. Well, in relatively populated places like Europe and India at least. I imagine I might feel differently if I cycled through the empty bits of the US or Kazakhstan.
- neitsab 6y agoTo get a feel of what it's like to cycle through vast swaths of empty land, I highly suggest "A bivvy, a phone and a drone: cycling home from China." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmdxs_0yYwc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmdxs_0yYwc This man literally rode through Eurasia up to the UK, sleeping on the side of the road. I stumbled upon it recently and found it quite endearing.
- em-bee 6y agowhen travelling i always make it a point to use couchsurfing or similar communities to find hosts to stay with. it's the easiest way to get in touch with locals. and they are expecting you. similar to your story, one of my most memorable unplanned experiences was missing a train at christmas eve in poland, and then joining christmas dinner with a host i found on short notice.