BootsnAll Travel Community

So last night I went out to see some old friends. I was talking with someone who just got a great job and gets paid a lot.

me: "I'm going around the world"
him: "I'm buying a house."

me: "I just got a raise."
him: "me too, they gave me a raise because i had a college degree..." (no joke he got a raise post-hire because of a college degree - he's a freaking accountant with a MASTERS, of course he'll have a degree)

me: "with that money you can come visit us on our trip"
him: "...or, I could buy furniture"

me: "well at least come visit us in New york this summer"
him: "i've never been on a plane. I don't like anywhere."

me: "shut up you're coming out to visit"
him: "...or, I could buy furniture"

Two different worlds here... It's funny bc there are many people who I've talked to about my trip who say "I don't understand people wanting to travel and their awwwe over other places..." WEll they haven't been anywhere!

It's also funny to me because he makes sooo much more money than I do and doesn't even want to travel... he could do a lot more than I could.. but instead wants to just work and buy stuff. ugh. corporate wasteland has taken a firm grasp on that one.

It's tough having the 'travelers mindset' sometimes -- large portions of society are stuck in the work, buy stuff, work, buy more stuff "I have to impress (so-and-so)" etc mindset.

They think traveling people are weird, we think they are weird. To each their own. You'll never convert them. Seek out like-minded people - it keeps the stress down to hang around with people who "get" you and what your interests and priorities are.

Hmm sounds like he's doing quite well being an accountant with a masters... that's why he's never been anywhere, just in school the entire time! Lol. I can understand that viewpoint though, I was in a similar mindset up till 4 years ago or so (however I would go to CA or Vegas so it's not like I never left the house)... but once I had my first overseas trip... gotta get back out there!

yeah that's the thing he just doesn't even want to go anywhere...

oh well

Heh, yeah, I've met folks like this before and can't understand them for the life of me.

If I had as much cash as your friend seems to do, I sure as heck wouldn't be worrying about furniture!

Hello.

I had a conversation with my best friend a month ago and told him i was leaving on a six month trip around the world.

I am almost 38 years old, and he couldn`t understand why i would give up a good job to travel around the world.

He spent almost an hour trying to convince me how foolish that choice would be. I tried telling him of the incredible adventure i would experience and the people i would meet, and how this experience would change me.

I have found very few people who understand why someone would want to live out of a backpack and travel to places like India and Nepal. Oh well, at least there is this forum.

To take your next step, not knowing where your foot will come to rest. Not having every detail planned. Living outside your comfort zone, and living in the moment. Being scared and unsure. This is to live, to hear your own heart pumping and saying to you...I don`t ever want to see 70 beats per minute!!!

quote:

I have found very few people who understand why someone would want to live out of a backpack and travel to places like India and Nepal. Oh well, at least there is this forum.

I agree. Most people I talk to about travelling just don't get it. Iv'e sorta stopped talking about it because of the reactions I get. That's why this place is so great. Everyone else understands. I'm in the process of downsizing. The more stuff you have, the more stuff you have to take care of, clean, insure, worry about, fix, etc. I try to explain this to my kids but they think I'm silly.

My whole life I've been torn between travelling and settling down, and travelling almost always wins out. But I'm still torn because I just love the idea of finding a home, a place that I would love so much that maybe I wouldn't want to leave. So the people who want to buy a home and furniture are not necessarily to be pitied. I remember traveling on a train in Austria and eavesdropping on an American couple who were talking about where in their house back in Texas they were going to display all the souvenirs they had picked up....they were talking about the china cabinet in their dining room and their kitchen shelves and I just lost it and started weeping (inside). After your round-the-world trip you will probably want a home to come back to. I know I always do. But I think the secret is to yes, have a home, but to live like you're travelling around the world in your hometown.

To each his own.

I dont think its necessarily a bad thing that your friend wants to invest in a house and furniture rather than travel. Travel isnt for everyone... even though thats hard for us to comprehend (why wouldnt you own a passport!!?!) But I know a lot of people who havent left the US, let alone New York (where I live) and are perfectly ok with that. They love their life, and thats the only thing that matters really. If its Ikea sofas or a weekend in Dubai - thats for you to decide! (But yes.. I still think they are missing out!)

For me - I love to travel, but like Dove I've always been a little torn between the two worlds: settling down or traveling around. I, too, love the idea of owning my own space. I love interior decorating, and gardening and homey things like that. So, while most of my savings these days are going towards my next trip (NZ baby!) I do have some savings back home that im tucking away to eventually put a downpayment on a house or condo somewhere. (and I have a stockpile of furniture in my parents garage from my endless flea market binges!)

For me, I eventually want to a balance of both worlds. A place to call my own - AND the time and money to escape it But for now, im hitting the ground running..

Hi there Brooke vs.theWorld ,really enjoyed reading your post. Found myself shaking my head. sounds a bit like one of those comedy routines on television.

I cann't help wondering, would your friend have had a raise if he didn't have a college degree? To think that a bit extra all hinges on a piece of paper, oh dear oh dear oh dear.

There are those who can and those who cann't- in any given situation. You my friend are one who can. Your friend sounds like one who cann't. Don't worry . Be happy. There is no greater happiness in life than to see how the other half live and to explore new and exciting boundaries so enjoy your RTW to th Nth degree.

Gotta go, son wants to use the computer , I know, I know, I know-- I paid for the damn thing. Alas it doesna work like that . He NEEDS it. Oh well, C'est la Vie.


Have a nice day, Whistler.


If you can keep a sense of humour and see the funny side of life, you will never be old. SMC.

This reminds me of that episode of Sex and the City when Miranda almost dates the guy who hadn't left Manhattan once in ten years. "What else do you need? We've got culture!"

I remember that episode from Sex and the city

i live in small town in Alabama. People here NEVER travel. To them spring breaks and summers are for going to beach in Florida. And they call going to Florida "traveling". Other day I had same kinda conversation with my friend

Me: Man i got parking ticket today, I dont have money to pay for parking ticket.
Her: But you were just planning to go to Italy next year
Me: yeah but thats different
Her: No its same. You have money for going to Italy but not for paying parking ticket? its weird
Me: well when i pay for travelling..the money i spend i dont feel bad about it. Because I know i would enjoy every penny of it but money i spend on things like Gas/paking/bills, I dont like those things. When i spend my money on something i dont like I dont feel good about it.
Her: you are weird. You work for six months and spend all the money on a 10-14 day trip to different county. I can never do that. I have to make sure I have enough for basic needs.
Me: (thinking inside..Yeah right. You drive big SUV and pay $40 for gas everyday while you make only $8/hour. Eat out every day and night. Shop till you drop , always buy expensive things. I may have $500 in my account right now, and your balance is -$100 for sure.)

But the thing is that in our culture spending money in Malls, on SUVs, eating out ...even tho you are broke, is considered normal. But lets say people like me who dont spend money on Suvs or in Malls and spend on travelling...we are seen as weirdos.

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Originally posted by Ranni007:
But the thing is that in our culture spending money in Malls, on SUVs, eating out ...even tho you are broke, is considered normal. But lets say people like me who dont spend money on Suvs or in Malls and spend on travelling...we are seen as weirdos.

sometimes we are just called bookworms.

I think I have a foot placed firmly in both camps.

I love travel and can not conceive of life without being able to wander off and explore this planet we live on. Still saying that as corny as it sounds particularly due to a certain song. Australia is my home and leaving it makes me realise that. Travel, among other things, makes me realise how lucky I am to have been born here.

Still I do not want to rent my whole life. I want that place that is my own. I want to retire early. When I'm ready and not when my government says I can. I want to keep travelling.

Unfortunately that also means diving head first into the rat race to achieve all of those 'I wants'.

Sometimes it is all about balance.

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i live in small town in Alabama. People here NEVER travel.

Isn't it amazing! I'm from CA and people there travel all over but it seems that a lot of people in the south have little desire to move about. Iv'e met several people in NC and SC that havn't even been to the beach and it's only a couple of hours away! Some never even venture out of their own towns.

This post reminded me of a similar conversation I had a while back with a coworker. He seemed to pity me for actually having to get on an airplane to travel because with the new $5000 TV he'd bought he said he didn't need to travel.

He actually tried to convince me with high definition the quality was so good there was no need to actually visit the places he saw on TV.

*sigh*

Oh well - to be honest, as much as I can't empathize with people's material desires, at least these people won't be sharing hostels with me and bitching about the accommodations.

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He actually tried to convince me with high definition the quality was so good there was no need to actually visit the places he saw on TV.

Can you believe that this is the world we are living in? Bizarre how modern globalization has given us the opportunity to experience so much, yet there is a large population who use technology as a replacement....

We're in a relatively new period of history where more people than ever before have the ability to travel around the globe. In the past, the vast majority of people never left the vicinity of their birth. So I can kinda understand those people who are still a part of that old way of thought, that one is born, lives and dies in the same spot and never ventures out anywhere else. Maybe it's a comfort to them.

Me, I feel sorry for people who don't go out and see the world.

Quote:
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Originally posted by croz:
with the new $5000 TV he'd bought he said he didn't need to travel.
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Call me a cheapskate if you like, but if I had $5000 (which I don't),I could not justify spending it on a television
especially when my old 68cm one works perfectly well. Why spend money to 'update'? If it works, keep it!

With $5000, think of all the places I could go to. Seeing said places on TV is nothing like actually going there in person.

Just like, several years ago, I watched "Riverdance" on Channel 2, then later went to the show. Watching on tv was nothing! Believe me, it is Sooo much better being there live.

After the money is gone, you may not be able to point to an object(tv) and say 'There's my money', but the memories you have in you head will ber with you forever and far outlive any entertainment equipment. Far longer.

Have a nice day. Whistler.


If you can keep a sense of humour and see the funny side of life, you will never be old. SMC.

Eh. I've found that many of my fellow travelers don't have any better a handle on life than those who find adventure at home or in books.

Raising a family can be, or so I'm told, quite an adventure in and of itself. Feels a tad pretentious for some of us here to imply that such folks are only living "half lives."

I feel the need to transform foreign experiences into familiar ones. Others are motivated by different needs. Sometimes our needs intersect, but I've long given up pondering why good friends of mine are just as thrilled when at home as I am when climbing a mountain.