Sorry for hijacking Agent Foxtrot’s thread, but this thread has started me to thinking…
What about a 52 yr old?
I have 25-35k that I could ‘blow’, (on something like what has been discussed in this thread) without seriously effecting my ‘retirement money’. I’m not looking to ‘travel the world’ for a year or two. I would be quite content with seeing however much of Europe I could on the amount that I stated, and for whatever length of time that I could manage on that amount.
I’m single, retired (for all signifigant intents and purposes), children are grown, aging parents are not a concern, no real, tangible reasons to be ‘sedentary’, always wanted to travel, (to Europe, at the very least) and my health is okay. (nothing that requires constant maintenance, other than blood pressure) Just wondered about what the other Doper’s opinions on this might be.
Any and all thoughts and opinions will be appreciated.
If the MODs would like for me to start a new thread, I’ll be more than happy to do so…
Just wondering, and sorry if I overlooked this, I tried to re-read the thread: How many languages besides English do you speak, and which ones?
Being terrible at the local language is an immense challenge and can easily make you feel sad and helpless, even if some people around you do speak your own language.
Don’t go expecting to become a completely different person, or have a completely different life when you get back. It could be fun and awesome, but it won’t teleport you to Narnia where you’ll become a King.
Don’t expect to be able to just find work. If you stumble into an gig teaching English for a few dollars a day or room and board, great, but either expect to live on whatever you have before you go, or get a job lined up ahead of time (in which case, remember, you’ll be working not traveling).
Make sure to always keep enough money for a ticket back.
Not to be shirty about it, but why are you asking for other peoples’ opinions on this? You are an adult, have the cash, are footloose and fancy free, a desire to travel, and are still mobile and relatively healthy. What are you waiting for, a message from the gods? If you are just reluctant to go it alone you can always go with an adventure tour group; there are agencies that set up group tours for just a bunch of individuals with all kinds of interests. If you like outdoors travel and some moderately strenuous activities I’ve heard good things about REI’s trip service.
If you want to travel, don’t stop to ponder what other people might think, straighen the bed linens, worry about learning the local language, or wind the cat. Get a couple of general references abd do a little reading to figure out what kind of itenerary sounds interesting and what kind of visas and insurance you need, grab a phrase book and your passport, and go! Provided you are smart about protecting your essentials and don’t try making an overland trip through Iran, the odds of something really terrible happening to you are about the same as staying home and enduring the next series of American Idol.
It’s not just “where you make your money”. It’s also where your home is, where your relationships and connections are, where you keep your shit. Basically it’s where you go back to once your vacation is over.
Fah! I spent six weeks in Okinawa with my Japanese which is barely passable on the mainland, and apparently unintelligible to Okinawans, and despite that, I had almost no problems getting around. It was helpful that highway signage was in both Japanese and English, and at least on Okinawa-hontō a fair number of people spoke English because of the large American presence there, but I got around on Ishigaki-jima, Iriomote-jima, the Kerama islands, and Kumajima all fine even though the proportion of people who speak English with any degree of fluency is about 1 in 20. I often had to resort to point-and-order or blindly guessing (I guessed correctly on “pigs feet” but didn’t realize it was just a dish with four hocks and no vegetables, but it was still delicious if a little greasy) but I had an outstanding time, and if I needed to hear some English I put on earphones and listened to the OSF 2010 Hamlet production.
Despite not speaking the language to any intelligible degree (my best efforts were met with shrugs and amused smiles) I had little problem in casual friendly interactions; a couple of firefighters shared their bottle of awamori with me on Zamani-jima, and the husband and wife owners of the pension I stayed at for five days on Iriomote-jima took me hiking and dropped me off with the kayak at a couple of different places so I could paddle back. In my experience, most of Asia and much of Eastern Europe is like this; as long as you make at least a token effort at the language and are patient, the locals will make every effort to help you and figure out what gibberish you are trying to say. The biggest fear, language-wise, is getting sick or injured and having to explain your malady in pidgeon, but the vast majority of doctors have learned some amount of English (almost mandatory since nearly all medical journals and textbooks are in English) and one of the few things the US State Department actually does well is provide emergency communication and assistance services for Americans abroad.
Do not let a fear of being isolated or not having a fluent command of the langauge stop you. At worst, go with a group in which you know the leader or members have some working knowledge of the language. With a little effort, you will pick up the minimums (“Hello”, “please”, “thank you”, “excuse me”, “bathroom”, “laundry”, “taxi”, “airport”, “ferry”, “food”, “drink”, “so sorry about the US being an international raging asshole these last ten years”, “I didn’t vote for that guy”, et cetera) and will be functionally independent even if you can’t talk about the nuances of international finance.
Bollocks. I don’t think I’ve spoken the language in half the places I’ve been (not a lot of people are going to learn Mongolian for a short trip, you know?), and it’s never stopped me from much of anything. The only places I can think of where you really do need language skills as a tourist are if you are travelling independently in handful of extremely remote areas where you are likely to have many direct interactions with monolingual police asking for bribes. And I’m talking “remote village in central Niger,” not “slightly out of the way beach in Thailand.”
Not speaking the language is a challenge, but unless you are an exceptionally delicate flower, it’s one of those “exhilarating, mind-expanding, confidence building” challenges. Now, if you are going to live someplace, absolutely learn the language. It will be the key factor in how integrated you are, which is the key to a happy social life and personal security. But for a trip? Bring a smile, a willingness to use improvised sign language, and if you need to, a phrase book. Honestly, any place that has hostels is going to have enough tourist infrastructure to get you through the rest fine.
Agent Foxtrot, I don’t know you, and I can’t say whether Kimmy’s brutal critique is well taken. But if you think there’s possibly any validity to what he’s saying, then I think you ought to consider approaching your Wanderjahr with a little bit of planning and some goals. If you go at it entirely footloose, you run a significant risk of disappointing yourself and feeling afterward that you frittered the year away too aimlessly.
You might want to pick fewer destinations - or start someplace that you think might most interest you.
Perhaps rent a small apartment and park your butt for a month in a village in Italy (near a larger town) and slowly ease yourself into the lifestyle - learn a bit of the language, check out the art and architecture, meet some people, learn to cook the local foods well…or try some Irish small town, or perhaps Germany (my favorite) or anywhere that has many of the creature comforts you are used to.
As a newbie, you might not want to jump into a third world country…but then again, if that is something you want to try, do some research first and check out a “safer” place to begin your journey.
There are lots and lots of retirees who go off to smaller countries on limited incomes, and live there quite well! Much better than if they had stayed in their home country - and they get the advantages of perhaps better weather, a sense of adventure, learning new languages and cultures.
I guess my theory is that you could go out and buy some high-end, luxury car - or you could take that money and live for a decent amount of time in some other country and do some traveling by train/bus and see the world.
A few years later you either have an old car for trade in, or memories/experiences that last a lifetime.
But when you are somewhat older, do your research - medical care? Political situation? Prices of rent/food/amenities? Is there already an ex-pat community to latch onto at first?
A good laptop and Google will be your friend in the preparation of such trips, and probably be a good source of info once you get to where you are going. And with a round-trip ticket - you can always toss in the towel and just go back to where you came from.
Over the years I have met thousands of people who left their home countries and traveled and settled elsewhere for a few months, few years or are even still living abroad.
I have also met quite a few in the USA who did this in their youth as well.
I can honestly say I have never heard one person who said they regretted doing so - sure, some have the amazing horror stories, but not a single one ever told me they wished they had never gone off on their adventure.
But you do have to have some money to ensure you are not stuck somewhere with no way home, and have the peace of mind to not panic if you don’t find work or have to move on. Flying off to Europe today with only $60 in your pocket would be dumb…hell, flying off to Peoria, Illinois with $60 would be dumb. So - if you have enough to live at least three months without worrying about finances, that should give you an idea if you want to re-group and return for a longer stay, or see about getting work permits and staying longer, or perhaps falling in love and staying where you landed - it just takes some common sense and planning.
I don’t think age has much to do with it - good health, yes - some innate curiosity and open to new experiences and culture, yes - and a bit of money (and emergency money), yes…but age really shouldn’t be a factor.
Not everyone has that. Lots of people never go back to the place that they left from. Indeed, reentry after a big trip is a good time to resettle somewhere new (perhaps with better economic prospects than your home town.) I left from Oakland (10.8% unemployment) and returned years later to DC (unemployment 8.4%) and it was the smartest move I ever made. I made a lot of new friends, visit the parents on holidays, and went to Ikea to get some new stuff. No biggie.
That said, re-entry is hard. It’s harder even than the culture shock you get moving somewhere. Definitely have enough money to survive for a few months and a better plan than “get some kind of job.” People who have structure (grad school? Americorps?) have an easier reentry, and those who go back to their parents tend to have it rough. Think about it now so you don’t come back to nothing.
Don’t worry about your friends moving on. One of the strangest things is coming back feeling like you’ve lived a hundred lifetimes, and realizing your buddies are still in basically the same place they were when you left. It feels like a reverse rip van winkle.
Put it this way. Worst case scenario and you move back in a couple of years completely broke.
1> You’ll have ‘done it’, always remember it and never have the regret of not having tried.
2> You’ll still be young enough to pick up the pieces and start over.
And contrary to LWITBR, there is no such thing as ‘a year behind’. We’re not all on the same track with the same goals, being compared against each other.
My sister started traveling when she was about 19. She’d planned to go for a couple months during her summer vacation from college, got the travel bug and never went back to school. She spent most of the next 15 years or so traveling on the cheap. She’d come back to the US for a while to build up her bank and then take off again. She lived in hostels, took third-class trains through Europe. Camped on the banks of the Dead Sea. She fell in love with Turkey and made Turkish friends. She got a roommate and became a tour guide in Istanbul. Eventually she married an American serviceman stationed in Germany (she met him while visiting my other sister whose husband was stationed there). They lived on the economy and had German friends. She’s now the Director of Transportation for an American company and her knowledge of the world outside the US has helped a great deal.
You’re starting a little late, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go.
True. I’m not saying you need to live within 20 miles of where you grew up. I think there is a difference in traveling “to” something vs just being a hobo drifter. I have a friend who I’ve known from college who is always traveling. He studied abroad for a couple of semesters, went to grad school abroad, takes jobs in Europe, South America and Asia for periods of 1-3 years. Recently married a Brazilian girl and moved to Sao Paulo (with awesome week long destination wedding). He sort of gravitates to NYC for periods of time because he has friends and family here, but for all intents and purposes he “lives” in whatever country he goes to, with a new job, residence, friends and local interests.
I think it’s a mistake for the OP at 34 to just drop all his shit and wander the Earth or go on some sort of dude’s Eat Pray Love trip for a year. He’ll still be basically an unemployed guy with no girlfriend or SO. He’ll just be doing it in some other country.
Maybe try to find some purpose in going to some other country? Like finishing up your last semesters or for a job?
Heck, I hate going back to work after 2 weeks off.
Yup, same here- well, different places, obviously, but I came back then moved pretty much straight away to a place with better prospects. I did move back in with my parents for a few months, but they’d offered me a short term job, so that worked out pretty well.
Do make sure you have an ‘out’- a flexible ticket or money to pay for one, and definitely make sure you have some savings (preferably some you can’t get at while you’re away) for when you get back, enough to get yourself set up again somewhere. Your parents may well loan you the ticket money, but being stuck ‘back home’ in your thirties is bad enough normally, without having to compare it to the freedom you’ve just had.
I’m not as well travelled as some on the board, but I’ve been quite a few places where few people spoke English, and it’s generally fine. So long as you’re friendly, you make an effort, and you realise that it’s you that doesn’t understand, not the person who’s speaking their own language in their own country, communication might be slow, but it normally kind of works out in the end. The people who run into trouble are generally the ones who get annoyed at the locals for ‘being idiots’ because they don’t understand English (I have seen that, and sadly the USA has probably the worst reputation for the attitude).
Worse case scenario, you move back after a couple of years in a foreign prison for being arrested as unwitting drug mule. Finally after saving up enough cash on the Russian roulette and underground Muay Thai kickboxing circuit to barter your way on a black market freighter (where you will be repeatedly traded as a slave) you return broke and homeless. Suffering from an opium addiction and a bad case of AIDS you got from a Thai prostitute (she said she was a boy but you knew she was lying).
Thanks, SOAT and DM.
I was just ‘fishing’ to see what the responses would be, (and pretty much, got what I expected:)) and to see if there might be some suggestions that would enhance a trip, such as I suggested. Thanks for your thoughts.
First I want to say thank you to everyone who’s posted, regardless whether you favor this idea or not. I have purchased two of the books recommended in this thread from Amazon and plan to do some homework this weekend.
I’m evaluating the option of going abroad for 6 or 9 months instead of 12. How do you all think that would affect my plans to sell everything? Would it be wiser to just stick it in storage if it will be less than a year?
For those who made mention of me having gone to college for 7 years: Please keep in mind that this was done while working full-time the whole time. Some people are capable of both working and school full-time. I’m not one of them.
Another thought about completing school first: I think it would be better to come home to no debt instead of a five-figure school debt, right? The government isn’t going to let me off the hook for the loans while I’m on the trip, so what little money I would make would have to go toward the loans as well.
Someone also suggested finding a group of people to go with instead of doing it solo. I think this is a fantastic idea. Does anyone happen to know a resource for where I could hook up with people like this?
Again, if I haven’t responded to you in this thread, please don’t take that as me ignoring you. I’m reading all of the posts and weighing my options carefully.
Also thank you to those who offered your couch if I end up in your corner of the world! I may take you up on it!
Add an orphaned mathematical prodigy, a passel of corrupt police detectives, a Ukranian mafia hit squad, a nitrous-boosted Continental GT, a safety deposit box of compromising photographs of powerful world leaders, and a Robert DeNiro walk-on, and you got yourself the next Jason Statham movie, soon to be free on Amazon Prime Streaming.
