4 ms·

Call me jaded, but this is another "let's travel somewhere exotic/remote and post about it later because it's cool" doesn't get me anymore. But I don't get why

by sanoli 13y ago

Call me jaded, but this is another "let's travel somewhere exotic/remote and post about it later because it's cool" doesn't get me anymore. But I don't get why he didn't just start walking from where he was. If you want to wander and just walk, start from there, no need to go to China. Like I said, a little bit jaded.

OlivierLi 13y ago
I also would have liked to know why he didn't leave from where he lived. I bet the slow change of lifestyle and landscape going from western Europe to Asia would have been really interesting to experience.
leyfa 13y ago
I've read parts of his book. He had already been living in China as a student for a few years when he decided to start his trip, if I remember correctly.
avar 13y ago
If you live in a rich western country and want to take time off to wander then it's going to be less expensive to do so in a country like China. It's also probably much more interesting to go to a poorer country where people are more likely to be farming out in the countryside or walking/biking around than just walking by some highway in a western country.
- moron4hire 13y ago
  I take it you live in a city. I'm guessing because I've learned that even educated city-folk really have no fucking clue what goes on a mere 15 miles out of their city limits. You could--today, right now, right this very minute--probably get somewhere in less than an hour where people are farming in the countryside, biking around, etc. You could get out there and see it and be back in time for lunch. I live in one of the most expensive, overpopulated regions of the United States, and taking an hour drive west--with most of that hour being dealing with traffic just to get past the first 10 miles--and be in gorgeous, rural countryside with hills and trees and beautiful fields and streams and animals everywhere. Or I could even stay home. I could walk down one of the hundreds of streets I've never walked down before. And it will most likely be a veritable smorgasbord of new experiences. Just because you've parked your butt in one place for a while doesn't mean you know everything about it. Geography is a dense place.
  - zimpenfish 13y ago
    I try and walk down at least one new street a week (preferably per day but that can be tricky during the work week.) London does make this easy, mind.
    - moron4hire 13y ago
      True, but also: it's not particularly hard anywhere else. I grew up in the sticks. The country. The middle of nowhere. Or, as I used to call it, to the left of the middle of nowhere, because at least the middle of nowhere had an intellectually interesting distinction of being in the middle of something. Yeah, it's "boring" out there. We dreamed of living in the city and going out to craft beer bars with a wider selection than just Dogfish Head (if they even had that) every night and seeing awesome bands play who weren't the same, one band you've been seeing every other night since high school. Now that I live in the city, I dream of living in the country and going hiking every weekend. It's "boring" here, when all there is to do is go check out world-class art museums and Michelin-rated restaurants. I miss sledding in the snow. I miss seeing the stars every night--all of them. I miss not living under an airport takeoff path. Point being, people have a tendency to do 10% of what a place has to offer and assume the other 90% is the same. One of the first few months that I lived in Philadelphia (when I lived there, I'm in DC now), I met up with a friend at this place called Reading Terminal Market, for lunch. He had lived there for 10 years and had never been to the place. "Who knew this was even here?" he said. Uh, dude, it's one of the most popular places in the city. You can't watch a travel show about Philadelphia and not have them mention it. Some people are just dense. If you're not engaged in your location, the grass will always appear a shade or two closer to #00ff00 everywhere else. Someone, somewhere, wishes they live where you live. Well, barring somewhere really fucked like Mogadishu or something. Hell, I bet there is an aspiring photojournalist somewhere who'd like to be there for 6 months, though. So you never know.
      - rytis 13y ago
        Wholeheartedly agree. Question is though, is it possible to appreciate what you have without losing it first? You seem to have been bored of your surroundings until you lost them (ie moved to the city). Only then you realized that in fact country life is not as bad and there's loads to do... So IMO to appreciate and discover the 90% one first has to lose or abandon it all.
- jzwinck 13y ago
  Exactly right. My budget walking in England (see my other comment here) was about 230 USD per day for two people; cycling in Malaysia it was 50 USD for the same. If you're going to do this for a really long time, you may as well travel somewhere that will excite you, and where you can do it four times longer for the same money.
  - arethuza 13y ago
    I'm pretty sure I could live in the Scottish Highlands for $50 per day USD to pay for food and stove fuel.... :-) Access and wild camping are a lot easier in Scotland as well http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/ http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/
  - gbog 13y ago
    50 USD per day in Malaysia, in country side? Seems like a lot. In China I would go as down as 20$ par day.
    - jzwinck 13y ago
      50 USD per day for two people together. We stayed in towns, as the Malay countryside is not flush with hotels (longest stretch of highway without one: about 50 km). If two people scrimped they could do it for 30 USD (especially toward the north), but it isn't rural China.
  - sanoli 13y ago
    You have to put in cost of air travel to get there, and all the other extra costs of such a trip, but, otherwise, good point, though the truly adventurous people that I've met (and they don't even bother blogging, and no, I'm not one of them) love to travel in developed countries, because it's safer and they can pretty much get away for free, whereas in the poorer countries, the free stuff is already taken. Wow, that was a long sentence :-)

by sanoli 13y ago

OlivierLi 13y ago

I also would have liked to know why he didn't leave from where he lived. I bet the slow change of lifestyle and landscape going from western Europe to Asia would have been really interesting to experience.

leyfa 13y ago

I've read parts of his book. He had already been living in China as a student for a few years when he decided to start his trip, if I remember correctly.

avar 13y ago

If you live in a rich western country and want to take time off to wander then it's going to be less expensive to do so in a country like China. It's also probably much more interesting to go to a poorer country where people are more likely to be farming out in the countryside or walking/biking around than just walking by some highway in a western country.

moron4hire 13y ago
I take it you live in a city. I'm guessing because I've learned that even educated city-folk really have no fucking clue what goes on a mere 15 miles out of their city limits. You could--today, right now, right this very minute--probably get somewhere in less than an hour where people are farming in the countryside, biking around, etc. You could get out there and see it and be back in time for lunch. I live in one of the most expensive, overpopulated regions of the United States, and taking an hour drive west--with most of that hour being dealing with traffic just to get past the first 10 miles--and be in gorgeous, rural countryside with hills and trees and beautiful fields and streams and animals everywhere. Or I could even stay home. I could walk down one of the hundreds of streets I've never walked down before. And it will most likely be a veritable smorgasbord of new experiences. Just because you've parked your butt in one place for a while doesn't mean you know everything about it. Geography is a dense place.
- zimpenfish 13y ago
  I try and walk down at least one new street a week (preferably per day but that can be tricky during the work week.) London does make this easy, mind.
  - moron4hire 13y ago
    True, but also: it's not particularly hard anywhere else. I grew up in the sticks. The country. The middle of nowhere. Or, as I used to call it, to the left of the middle of nowhere, because at least the middle of nowhere had an intellectually interesting distinction of being in the middle of something. Yeah, it's "boring" out there. We dreamed of living in the city and going out to craft beer bars with a wider selection than just Dogfish Head (if they even had that) every night and seeing awesome bands play who weren't the same, one band you've been seeing every other night since high school. Now that I live in the city, I dream of living in the country and going hiking every weekend. It's "boring" here, when all there is to do is go check out world-class art museums and Michelin-rated restaurants. I miss sledding in the snow. I miss seeing the stars every night--all of them. I miss not living under an airport takeoff path. Point being, people have a tendency to do 10% of what a place has to offer and assume the other 90% is the same. One of the first few months that I lived in Philadelphia (when I lived there, I'm in DC now), I met up with a friend at this place called Reading Terminal Market, for lunch. He had lived there for 10 years and had never been to the place. "Who knew this was even here?" he said. Uh, dude, it's one of the most popular places in the city. You can't watch a travel show about Philadelphia and not have them mention it. Some people are just dense. If you're not engaged in your location, the grass will always appear a shade or two closer to #00ff00 everywhere else. Someone, somewhere, wishes they live where you live. Well, barring somewhere really fucked like Mogadishu or something. Hell, I bet there is an aspiring photojournalist somewhere who'd like to be there for 6 months, though. So you never know.
    - rytis 13y ago
      Wholeheartedly agree. Question is though, is it possible to appreciate what you have without losing it first? You seem to have been bored of your surroundings until you lost them (ie moved to the city). Only then you realized that in fact country life is not as bad and there's loads to do... So IMO to appreciate and discover the 90% one first has to lose or abandon it all.
jzwinck 13y ago
Exactly right. My budget walking in England (see my other comment here) was about 230 USD per day for two people; cycling in Malaysia it was 50 USD for the same. If you're going to do this for a really long time, you may as well travel somewhere that will excite you, and where you can do it four times longer for the same money.
- arethuza 13y ago
  I'm pretty sure I could live in the Scottish Highlands for $50 per day USD to pay for food and stove fuel.... :-) Access and wild camping are a lot easier in Scotland as well http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/ http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/
- gbog 13y ago
  50 USD per day in Malaysia, in country side? Seems like a lot. In China I would go as down as 20$ par day.
  - jzwinck 13y ago
    50 USD per day for two people together. We stayed in towns, as the Malay countryside is not flush with hotels (longest stretch of highway without one: about 50 km). If two people scrimped they could do it for 30 USD (especially toward the north), but it isn't rural China.
- sanoli 13y ago
  You have to put in cost of air travel to get there, and all the other extra costs of such a trip, but, otherwise, good point, though the truly adventurous people that I've met (and they don't even bother blogging, and no, I'm not one of them) love to travel in developed countries, because it's safer and they can pretty much get away for free, whereas in the poorer countries, the free stuff is already taken. Wow, that was a long sentence :-)