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> What i'm trying to say: If you feel your situation is similar and you maybe even have some money on the side for the beginning: do it. You will not regret it.

> What i'm trying to say: If you feel your situation is similar and you maybe even have some money on the side for the beginning: do it. You will not regret it. Don't be scared and never give up. I'm in a slightly different situation and wonder what advice you might have. I'm not on the border of going broke. I work for myself from home, alone, and have a comfortable income that I expect will continue for a while. Definitely enough to travel with. So I'm not afraid of not having enough money. But I am afraid of simply not knowing what to do. Typically when I take vacations it's pre-planned, a week-long thing with a specific destination or event, and then it's over. A part of me really wants to go "nomadic" and travel lots of places, but I just don't know what I'd do with myself. How to choose where to go to next, how to get the most value out of where I'm at, etc. It seems like constantly moving and trying to get something unique out of each place would take so much consistent planning and work as to be a second job, sucking attention away from where I'm at so I can plan where I'll be. I don't work with anyone else (even remotely) and I don't have friends scattered across the country/planet. It's extremely unlikely that I would be receiving random calls from people I know, deviating me from my path and pulling me into unexpected interesting places or scenarios. So my fear is that I'd end up wandering aimlessly, missing the good bits for the obvious ones, not getting a whole lot out of it, and wondering what I'm doing. Is this a legitimate fear? Is there a way to prevent this?

sushimako 14y ago
> So my fear is that I'd end up wandering aimlessly, missing the good bits for the obvious ones, not getting a whole lot out of it, and wondering what I'm doing. > Is this a legitimate fear? Perfectly legitimate fear. But none that cannot be overcome. Yes it takes some time to get into it, but the only way to get there is to jump into the cold water and get out of your comfort zone. Realize the fear but have the courage to just try it. When relocating somwhere without knowing anyone, i usually start off by just checking wikitravel (now probably wikivoyage) and check the "Sleep Budget" section. Pick the Hostel that sounds nice (kitchen, wifi, artisanias, friendly personnel) and head there. Plan nothing more (well maybe just checkout some stuff you want to see eventually, while you're around the area.). When doing so, the most important thing is to have confidence, that a flexible schedule and your freedom to move whenever and wherever you want will help you get where you want (wherever that shall be). Unplanned and spontaneous trips have been way better and fulfilling than any planned stuff. That's something you can only learn by experiencing it yourself. And in case you really end up somewhere without finding contacts or get bored, just relocate :) Pick another stop and do it over again, don't ever get frustrated and keep in mind that there are tons of people doing the same as you and are happy to connect and share good experiences with you. E.g.: At some point i was in peru and planning to visit bolivia. Looked up a really nice guy on couchsurfing (who ended up hosting me for a week). In his respond to my CS request he recommended a festival at lake titicaca that was going to happen soon. Went to the festival alone and immediately met incredibly nice and interesting people (with whom i spent a lot of time in bolivia and peru afterwards). This one clueless couchsurfing request ended in 3-4 weeks of fun and many new friends that i'm looking forward to meeting again at some point. Another time i met a guy who was travelling with his '94 chevy van from the states down to SA since 2 years. We ended up crossing the salar de uyuni and the bolivian andes towards chile together in his van (and lost the muffler along the way on the rocky mountainpaths...). So my advice is: Just plan the first step, be open for things to come and then spontaneously choose what looks best. Freeing yourself from the idea that you _need_ plans for a good time will give you the freedom to be open to what comes and lays the way for unexpected adventures :) The people you meet (travelers and locals) are probably the best "tour-guides" you'll find. I've never had a lonely planet on the whole trip, so dunno how useful they are for this kind of travelling. Found the reviews on wikitravel/wikivoyage to be reliable enough, so far.
peacemaker 14y ago
Why not take a look at http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ then find a couple of places you like and buy the destination guides. They're a good start. I did this when travelling around Australia and New Zealand and found the books extremely useful.
deleted 14y ago
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douglascalhoun 14y ago
My 2c from personal experience: 1) Pick a place. Let's say Paris. 2) Go to hostelworld.com, sort by highest review, choose the first hostel in your price range, book a week stay. 3) Sit at a large table in the common room, nurse a beer or coffee, work on your laptop, wait for others to wander by. 4) Strike up conversation, ask about where they've been, what they've done, and what they recommend. I traveled for 3 months in SE Asia in this way. Everybody is in the same frame of mind as you, ready to meet new people, share stories. It really is that simple.
markbao 14y ago
As someone who has been doing this for the past six months, the folks here are right. You kind of learn as you go. The beginning of my trip was in Barcelona, and I had no idea what to do. Talked to a few folks at hostels, found out what was cool to see in Spain, and used the web to figure out how to get there. Ended up traveling all around Spain for a month, just by getting somewhere, spending time, plotting my next step, and then going. It might be a little intimidating. It should be. The uncertainty is what makes the journey so much more worth it.

sushimako 14y ago

> So my fear is that I'd end up wandering aimlessly, missing the good bits for the obvious ones, not getting a whole lot out of it, and wondering what I'm doing. > Is this a legitimate fear? Perfectly legitimate fear. But none that cannot be overcome. Yes it takes some time to get into it, but the only way to get there is to jump into the cold water and get out of your comfort zone. Realize the fear but have the courage to just try it. When relocating somwhere without knowing anyone, i usually start off by just checking wikitravel (now probably wikivoyage) and check the "Sleep Budget" section. Pick the Hostel that sounds nice (kitchen, wifi, artisanias, friendly personnel) and head there. Plan nothing more (well maybe just checkout some stuff you want to see eventually, while you're around the area.). When doing so, the most important thing is to have confidence, that a flexible schedule and your freedom to move whenever and wherever you want will help you get where you want (wherever that shall be). Unplanned and spontaneous trips have been way better and fulfilling than any planned stuff. That's something you can only learn by experiencing it yourself. And in case you really end up somewhere without finding contacts or get bored, just relocate :) Pick another stop and do it over again, don't ever get frustrated and keep in mind that there are tons of people doing the same as you and are happy to connect and share good experiences with you. E.g.: At some point i was in peru and planning to visit bolivia. Looked up a really nice guy on couchsurfing (who ended up hosting me for a week). In his respond to my CS request he recommended a festival at lake titicaca that was going to happen soon. Went to the festival alone and immediately met incredibly nice and interesting people (with whom i spent a lot of time in bolivia and peru afterwards). This one clueless couchsurfing request ended in 3-4 weeks of fun and many new friends that i'm looking forward to meeting again at some point. Another time i met a guy who was travelling with his '94 chevy van from the states down to SA since 2 years. We ended up crossing the salar de uyuni and the bolivian andes towards chile together in his van (and lost the muffler along the way on the rocky mountainpaths...). So my advice is: Just plan the first step, be open for things to come and then spontaneously choose what looks best. Freeing yourself from the idea that you _need_ plans for a good time will give you the freedom to be open to what comes and lays the way for unexpected adventures :) The people you meet (travelers and locals) are probably the best "tour-guides" you'll find. I've never had a lonely planet on the whole trip, so dunno how useful they are for this kind of travelling. Found the reviews on wikitravel/wikivoyage to be reliable enough, so far.

peacemaker 14y ago

Why not take a look at http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ then find a couple of places you like and buy the destination guides. They're a good start. I did this when travelling around Australia and New Zealand and found the books extremely useful.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

douglascalhoun 14y ago

My 2c from personal experience: 1) Pick a place. Let's say Paris. 2) Go to hostelworld.com, sort by highest review, choose the first hostel in your price range, book a week stay. 3) Sit at a large table in the common room, nurse a beer or coffee, work on your laptop, wait for others to wander by. 4) Strike up conversation, ask about where they've been, what they've done, and what they recommend. I traveled for 3 months in SE Asia in this way. Everybody is in the same frame of mind as you, ready to meet new people, share stories. It really is that simple.

markbao 14y ago

As someone who has been doing this for the past six months, the folks here are right. You kind of learn as you go. The beginning of my trip was in Barcelona, and I had no idea what to do. Talked to a few folks at hostels, found out what was cool to see in Spain, and used the web to figure out how to get there. Ended up traveling all around Spain for a month, just by getting somewhere, spending time, plotting my next step, and then going. It might be a little intimidating. It should be. The uncertainty is what makes the journey so much more worth it.