BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi everyone! I'm Koen from Belgium, 23 years old. I've gotten completely fed up with college, so I'm thinking of taking a year off to discover Australia, New Zealand and myself in the process.
I've been lurking on the boards for a couple of days, and this appears to be one helluva great community. Can't wait to talk to you all!

Hello world, Im Rishayan, currently in San Antonio Texas but always living in Mexico! Since I am always "jodido"(spanish for penniless or more literally "fucked")I live a rather unique life as a beggar(most of the time)and then documenting the responses to me.I literally roam all over Mexico,many times without documentation or with expired visas.I dont travel like this on purpose,its usually due to a lack a funds sometimes to return to the border on time or because I lose my IDs due to the occasional theft.I have no fear of jail or death as I walk with God.I am always interested in hearing of other peoples "rough life" experiences in Latin America. There is much more to my life ,but it is all I have time to tell right now. Love and Peace to all the good people of the world(especially to those that have given me money or food *********) Later!!!!!!

My name George. Would be a little older and marrieder than the average on here.
Was planning a family trip to China and discovered this site. Found it interesting have hung around like a bad smell ever since.

Unfortunately the China trip has hit a temporary stumbling block. Funds were suddenly required for something else. Would still like to pull it off some time as my wife is a Chinese Malay from Penang whose father came from South China to Malaysia when he was five. Our kids (10, 8 and 6, two girls and boy) are more jingoistic Australians than I like but would love them to see where the other half of their blood line comes from before they grow up.

A part from that am a farmer of sorts somewhere between Melbourne and Adelaide. If you like, give us a pm if you are in the area and we will see what we can work out.

Hi Guy's and girl's,
my name is Peter Hoare and I live in the UK.
I havan't travelled much and I am a late developer.. I am aged 52 and have started (in my head atleast)to plan my trip.. I intend to travel to both north and south America as well as seeing Europe,Africa,Asia and Australia.
I know this is going to be hard to achieve especially as I am part disabled but I think this is going to happen or I will die trying.
Thank's for letting me into your forums and hopefully I can minimise any problems I may face by taking advice from other people who have allready made these trips.
I see others have made travel logs and I will probably do the same.
Anyway that's about it for now.
BR,
Huggy

Hello from Maryland. I'm Charlie. Hanging out at home today, but dreaming of tropical beaches, boreal forests, and desert canyons. Found this site while researching on-line travel writing. Hope to post something from a recent trip to Nicaragua soon. See ya.

Hi, I'm Lauren from California, but I'm studying in Edinburgh, Scotland for the year-go back in May, but I have lots to do before then.

Hi it's Newt,
I was raised in Seattle,WA. Developed a taste for travel at a young age from the backpacking trips in Canada to the road trips across country with the family. At 16 we all did Europe for 6mos and it was on. Went back several times after that and lived en Suisse for a while. Then South America which I did several trips and a volunteer program.
Then as my drug addiction progressed it made it impossible to travel for about 15 years. Now that is behind me (it's been 8yrs but who's counting) and I'm ready to pick up where I left off. I'm in California now and am always going places but it's not the same as leaving the country to explore unimaginable places. So my sis and I are planning a Euro/africa trip this fall. I'm super pleased with this website!

Hi, Newt:

As a recovering alcoholic (been 26 years + but, as you say, who's counting), I say "Welcome to the club!" No reason I can think of that you and your sis can't have a great time.

Be glad to shoot the breeze any time.

Hi,

My name is Ryan and I'm a 18 year old in my first year of university. I am originaly from Edmonton Alberta but am currently living in Winnipeg Manitoba studying International Development and Psychology.

Growing up I developed a large taste for traveling with the bare minimum, and developed a love for the outdoors- especially hiking biking and skiing. With my family I have traveled all across the States and Canada as well as Alaska and a little bit of Mexico. We also spent a month backpacking around Europe.

I am currently planning trips to Costa Rica for a couple weeks later this year, and then in the long term I plan on working in Europe for a year...probably in the Netherlands or Switzerland or a bit of both. I'd say my dream location is probably Peru and Chile, so hopefully I eventualy get there.

Thats a bit about me,

-Ryan

sarahstaves@gmail.com

Hi, I'm Sarah, 28. I'm doing my PhD in Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester. I did my fieldwork in nepal, where i lived with my son, Dylan, between 2003 and 2004. Now I'm back in Manchester writing up my thesis, which is driving me crazy! I was (and still am) looking at the ways in which different representations and images of Nepal and Nepalese peoples interact and circulate, particularly with reference to the relationship between tourists and locals. I'm interested in how people talk about their experiences and images of place and peoples circulate. Starting in Kathmandu, I followed tourists' gossip about places to be, which became increasingly difficult as the Maoist situation escalated and was exacerbated by the war in Iraq, and being a British traveller became an issue. My son and I were actually held at gunpoint in one village, and told that American and British tourists were not welcome in Nepal - they let us off with making a small "donation" to their cause. This was an extreme case, and on the whole my experiences in Nepal where fantastic. I'm fairly new to blogging, as it wasn't in flow (or I was too backward in hearing about it!) when I lived in Nepal. I would love to hear of people's experiences of travelling/living/working in Nepal - good and bad! It would be great to hear about places you went to or are going to, people you met, things you bought back with you, how you spent your time and money!

All the best, and look forward to hearing from you!

Sarah

Hello all,

I'm a rookie traveler who just sold his house and is ready to set out on a long adventure. I never knew there was so much to traveling, the whole visa and passport thing put a big spin on my plans, but I am heading out into the big blue undaunted.

I hope to be of some help to people and, of course, get help, because I need it.

Be well,

Hi all

I just joined after lurking for about a month. I'm turning 38 this year, which means that 40 is not too far off! I realise that I'm running out of "some day" to see all the places I want to. It occurred to me that I too can quit my job and travel round the world.

I want to finish my accounting designation, pay off the line of credit & student loan & save save save, but I think it can all be done in the next 2-3 years.

I've learned a lot from many of you already, looking forward to interacting too!

Karen

Welcome. I am but a newcomer too, but it is a fine place, and these are fine people. I was in your fair city last year, and enjoyed it immensely. Saw my first baseball game, and found some mad folks down at the Amsterdam brewery. Excellent.

Hello everyone, I am Pat, forty something, married with 6 macaws, an African gray and a conure.

I was born on Guam, raised in Redding, Ca., joined the Navy, at 17, join the Navy, see the world worked then. Spent quite a few years as a commercial diver before moving to Hawaii, had to get warm! I moved to Saipan to work at the power plant, and then back to Guam where I met my wife Mary, a 500 ton boat captain, she had, with a very small crew of 2 delivered a 56’ yacht from Hong Kong to Guam through the Philippines. From there, we moved to Ft. Lauderdale for Hurricane Andrew, no fun. Then to the Big Island of Hawaii for 12 years, we sold our house there and moved to Potrero, Costa Rica 9 month ago. Mary had been to Costa Rica many times as a delivery Captain; she has made several trips through the Panama Canal, as well as to Europe and South America. I now make regular trips to Nicaragua and Honduras and will be going to Panama and South America on business.
We would be happy to answer any questions about our travels.

We both agree, doing our travels at a young age was much more fun than waiting until retirement and physically unable to enjoy the world, it is nice, as we approach retirement to kick back and relax on the beach. Rock on, Pat & Mary

Hi! My name is Pete and I was born and raised in Malaysia. I moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan for college and ended up in West Michigan for over 11 years. I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in the summer of 2004 and I love the change in weather. Michigan winters were starting to get old.

Anyway, I love to travel and I've made my personal goal to visit at least 1 new place every year. This year is shaping up to be a good travel year. I'm headed to Malaysia to visit my family for a few days in April and then flying over to Cambodia (Siem Reap/Angkor) and stopping over for 5 days in Tokyo before returning to the US.

I'm already starting to think ahead to the fall and am seriously considering spending a week in Prague if my budget survives after Asia.

Hello! My name is Stephen and I'm from Miami, FL. I just joined BootsnAll and I really like this site. I've always been really into travelling but I first came to this site just a few weeks ago to do some research on my upcoming May '06 RTW trip. I will be going with a friend but after reading some of the stories by solo travellers I've decided that my next RTW will definitely be a solo one. Anyway, 7 weeks until my year-long obsession will finally be fulfilled. I'm having a seriously hard time concentrating on graduating from school. Hope to see some of you on the road!
Stephen

"Get up, shower, go to work.....get up, shower, go to work....." I'm 38, live in San Francisco and this is what I've been doing more or less for 16 years since graduating from college. Oh sure, there's been some entralling civil engineering along the way, some great time with friends and family, and even some very memorable vacations.

Meanwhile though, the list of places I want to see and experience was....GROWING....vacation time....SAME old crappy U.S. 3 weeks. We bought a condo in SF 4 years ago (no small feat) and had 27 years left on a huge mortgage last year with an endless schedule of work, work, work to pay the big mortgage. What else could we do? We do love this city! My wife and I didn't realize it fully, but we both felt trapped and mildly depressed at our jobs. So we decided one Sunday morning (while reading the travel section); why don't we just sell the F*&Kn' albatross of a condo, downsize, simplify, and then quit our jobs and travel for awhile. Never looked back since...

Now we are doing it! And our lives and attitides have already changed; we're considering new careeers when (if) we return, we've lighted our materialistic burden, and I feel, are on our way to enlightened living. Our stuff was owning us, but no more. Q-day (quiting) is now July 6th, travel RTW from late Aug- June '07!

I've been reading posts and gaining valuable insight into RTW travel over the past 6 months, so now it's time to get involved and give back. I also know the SF Bay Area very well after 20+ years in the area; especially public transit, bike travel, CAMPING, and other secrets of the city. We walk, hike, and bike everywhere as we don't own a car. Feel free to contact me as an insider.

Happy Trails,

-Rich

quote:

"Get up, shower, go to work.....get up, shower, go to work..

I knew that I was forgetting something.

Oh, and WELCOME!

Hello, I'm Cynthia and I have enjoyed reading various profiles here. I like this online community thing and perhaps our paths will cross in our travels. My love of travel began in college when I spent a semester in Queretaro, Mexico. After that I've been looking for any reason to work/live/travel abroad. I'm very much into the immersion type of experience rather than that of the typical tourist.
I've just finished college in December with a student teaching internship in Chicago. So, I'm still living here in Chicago, working trying to make ends meet and save some money for the fall. I applied to work as an English language assistant in France. (http://www.frenchculture.org/education/support/assistant/)

I belief someone at this site also applied for it, which partly why I registered in the first place. My French Prof. from college who gave me a recomendation told me the acceptance rate is pretty high after the basic application requirements. However, I'm going crazy not knowing for sure, and I won't receive an acceptance letter until May. Ahh! Either way, I'll probably find a way to go abroad with in the next year. I'm just that restless. Chicago's not a bad place to be if you're restless though.

Hi Guys,

My name is Dean, i'm 28 and live in the UK, god this sounds like a support group intro....

OK, I got the travel bug after spending some time in Thailand in 2004/05. That trip, to this day, still makes my skin tingle and my heart beat fast just thinking about it.

To me that is what travelling is all about. It's about the memories we take back with us when we are finally reinserted into "normality". It means that I can now put up with a lot more mundane, ordinary things just by looking back at the person I was out there.

It also had one of the scariest days I think i'll ever have. After waking in my hotel on Koh Lanta (one island behind Koh Pee Pee) at about 11.30am on 26th Decmeber 2004, I got that feeling, like you do, that something wasn't right. It wasn't just that the streets were empty, it was more that things weren't where they were when I went to bed the night/morning before. OK, Xmas day had been one hell of a night, my first away, but this wasn't the normal carnal damage high spirits will induce.

Land had move! The road was covered in sand and the debrie was horrific. After about 15 mins of walking down the road towards town without seeing a soul, I heard a bike coming from behind me. The spanish guy riding stopped to pick me up and in broken english explained about the big wave that had come that morning and that everyone had gone to the hills for safety.

Once up there I caught up with my friends, they said they couldn't wake me that morning, not really suprising. Everyone was scared, everyone looked white and pale. There were a couple of American girls with us who were actually on the beach when the wave hit, they were very lucky. Apart from some cuts and bruises they were fine. In fact eveyone was luckily on Lanta, no one was killed. The same can't be said for the poor poor people on Koh Pee Pee, they never stood a chance, RIP x

One of the lcoal expat guys was sitting on the beach with a beer chang. Apparently he was picked up by the wave and hurled about 200m back up to the road. So the story goes he was found still sitting upright with his beer in his hand, what a legend )

The local Thai's were really good. They stayed with us up in the hills all day and some of the men kept going down and getting water and rice for people to eat.

As most of you probably know, the Thai people are quite suspicous. There is always something that is round the corner and I guess this had gone someway to proving there worries. All day we kept hearing reports of another wave was coming, sometimes we'd see the tide go out and everyone was looking around for things to hang on to.

Well the next wave never came and when the mossies were too much to bare at about 6.30 everyone headed back down to the town. That is when we all got to see the real power of what had happened. A friend who ran a beach bar had lost everything, he also lived in the back of the bar.

Most people left over the next couple of days, some where even air lifted out by there own governments, bit much we thought ;o)

I'm glad to say that I stayed. I stayed for about another two months and help where I could. Mainly by just being there and trying to put money back into local businesses.

The whole atomsphere of the island changed on that day, for the better in most ways. It may sound silly but there was a very clear feeling of surival running through the community. There was even a lot more interaction between the farangs and the locals.

I know no matter where I go from here i'll remember that day. It was very humbling, seeing so many people from different cultures all coming together for a single purpose.

Well I got back in March '05 and my life changed, it really did. Quit my job, now have one with double the salary ) Everything was going great until November when I was knocked off my motorbike by a car driver not looking where they were going changing lanes. I broke my tib/fib on my left leg and have been in a Ilizarov External Fixator since!

The good thing that has come out of that though is that I am now 100% sure that I want to do a RTW. I'm in the processing of planning it now, and would greatly appricate any input for you guys.

I suppose I've painted a bit of a dull picture here S but I really didn't mean to. I loved every single minute of my trip, especially the Full Moon Party ) and wouldn't of changed anything.

Well goodbye for now and props to the people who run and contribute to this amazing site. Keep up the good work guys.

Laters

Deano