BootsnAll Travel Community

My name is Chris Leighton, I'm 24, from Washington, D.C., and have 5 weeks to burn in SE Asia before I have to detox and get ready for law school.

I suppose I'm at about a sophomore international travel level after vacationing in a half-dozen Carribean islands and countries and studying abroad for 6 months; but I've never really gone balls-out for such a long period and welcome any tips you seasoned globetrotters might have to offer.

As for my hobbies, I'm very interested in history, golf, music, heavy drinking, fishing, sailing, foreign women, sarcastic people and general merry-making. I've spent the last 2 years as paralegal at an enormous law firm trying to convince myself not to become a lawyer, but as that has failed, I need to make the most out of my summer before going into battle for the next 3-30 years. That said, I'm not looking to go on anything resembling a bender or break any laws, am hoping to find the balance between partying/sightseeing/relaxation.

Travel is fast becoming my favorite thing to do and I already know its something that I will NEED to incorporate into my professional/future life.

I've really enjoyed reading and learning from some of the incredible posts here and look forward to contributing.

-CL

Hello BootsnAll folks!

I signed up so I could use the search function. But I'm working out plans for 1.5 to 2.5 year round-the-world trip, so I'll certainly be asking questions once I've learned enough to know what questions I have!

More than a decade ago I went on an outing to the Yucatan peninsula to explore Mayan ruins with some co-workers. We were working on a video game which was in a Mayan-inspired fantasy setting. That's the only travel I've done... pegging me as: not much of a traveler.

Now, at age 34, I'm planning to bounce around the globe while working on my own software project. I've been itching to leave the company I'm at (only a few more months now!). Afterward, I thought I'd return home to Canada (I'm currently in L.A.)... maybe the far north, to be secluded and work for a few years. Better yet would be a foreign country where I don't know the language and expenses are low... but I can't stay anywhere for long as a visitor... so "aha!", why not hop from country to country?

It took a few days after looking into this country hopping idea before I'd started to find sites like this where a lot of people are doing it! Great advice here, especially for a blank-slate like me.

My situation is a little unusual... I pretty much intend to be a nomadic hermit. I'm not a partier, don't drink (the world's social custom), and won't need to earn money... much of my time will be spent programming... but doing this under the shade of a tree, on a train, or maybe a mountainside. And when transitioning countries it will be like a vacation as I get my bearings and migrate from big city to rural; looking for a place to settle for weeks or months.

Once I've exhausted searching for answers, I'll be posting in hopes some of your experience can guide me! I probably won't have much to offer in return, but perhaps once I'm on my journey... which I plan to begin in January, 2009.

Hi, I'm scrubb. I live in North Carolina with my husband and dog. Although we love living here, we try to squeeze as much travel as possible out of my 2 weeks vacation per year. The big trips in the past few years have been to Brazil, the Galapagos Islands, Belize, Morocco, the Philippines, and England. Currently, we are dreaming of and hoping to take 6 months off, heading for Asia and Australia/New Zealand 2 years from now.

Hello all! Just joined, after snooping around the website for a while. I'm Deanna. I just quit my job in retail to move out to Hawaii for a while. I plan on staying with a friend for a month or so, then working on an organic farm picking whatever it is they grow. (if anyone has done this, please email about what to expect) After that, I have no idea of what to do or where to go. I'm 26, originally from a Really small town in South Carolina. I graduated college in SC, then moved out to California with some friends after graduation. Loved it there, but saved up some money and went backpacking in Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji for a little while. I spent all my money and moved back south to Charlotte, North Carolina. Loved it there too. So now I'm packing up again, this time for lovely Hawaii. If anyone has any info on the aloha state, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!

Namaste

I am a new member! I am 24 years old and currently enjoying the sunny weather of Fort Lauderdale, FL USA! I am self-employed as a web designer so I have [some] freedom to travel. One day I hope to be able to work from anywhere in the world and do a few years travelling around.

Hi Everyone -

My name is Jason Rodriguez. Just to provide some details about myself, I am 26 and grew up and still reside in Dallas, Texas. I graduated from a university about 2.5 years ago with a engineering & math degree and currently work as a Business and IT consultant for a major consulting firm. Although I am learning a ton from my current employment its seem that I am missing out on life and chained down by the everyday routines.

I have always enjoyed traveling and exploring new adventures even if they were local 'aka backyard at times'. Before starting my current position, I decided to treat myself to a backpacking trip to Japan "land of the rising sun". Traveling by rail and foot was one hell of a wake up call to the world around me and nothing seem so perfect to me or natural. Needless to say I been dreaming, eating, drinking, thinking and planning my next big adventure and pretty much everything I have been doing since Japan has been geared towards that once in a life time journey.

Okay I'll delay your pain with having to read about me. I have to mentioned this last part because I am on the edge of my seat everyday trying to not pack up my gear and leave for the great unknown. So hopefully in 5 and 1/2 months I will embark on my next voyage around the world. I been doing all the research, planning and saving for the past 2 years. I plan on doing a full year or longer if my budget can be stretch out backpacking trip around the world. The details basically consist of going East from USA to Fiji -> NZ -> OZ -> SE Asia -> China -> Africa (South Africa and Egypt) -> Europe (by rail) -> South America -> Central America -> home. To see the world and its people will be an experience that I can put off any longer nor be held back by work...yea 'work' that thing we do for the rest of our lives.

I am very nervious about this trip but I am embracing all the factors that come with it and trying to make this the trip of my life (even with the planning phase I am trying to have fun with it). I look forward to communicating with experienced and knowledgable traveler on this site and gain valuable information, as well as share anything with to people who are interested.

-Jason

Looking to go to africa and volunteer ... for free. plane ticket is ok, but i dont exactly want to pay to volunteer. any ideas out there?

-e

My name is Amy and I'm a twenty-something single girl looking to travel the world. My first major trip starts this Saturday as I head to Costa Rica for 2 months. This is not a roughin'-it type of trip though, I'm going to study spanish and improve my language skills.

I'm from Northern Virginia and just graduated with a masters in education from George Mason University. In August I'll start my first year as a teacher, teaching 8th grade Civics. Yeah...it's a scary thought. I've worked with 8th graders for 3 years now, so there's not much that scares me.

My travel goals are simple, I want to travel everywhere. Haha, I believe it can be done, I'm in the process of figuring out how now but I'm sure I'll cover a big chunk of the globe at some point. I have 2 months each summer and after I save some money (I'm living at home in order to do this), I will be making a round the world trek...whether I'm single, married or with kids. People have done it before me so I know I can do it too. Check out my blog, The Single Girl, to read about my adventures. So far I've been to Cananda, Northern Ireland, Mexico, Cook Islands, St. Kitts, Bahamas, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, Cayman Islands, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Puerto Rico and soon to add Costa Rica!

HI there. My name is Son, and I was once a tour guide but now, together with some guides friends, we have established the site www.paradissa.com. We run tours in Vietnam and offer all services necessary for your travel. We hope you enjoy your time of travel to the region and if we could be some kind of help, please drop by our site and leave your footprints. We'll do the rest. Cheers, mate. Wish everyone a safe and cool time in Vietnam if you are or are going to.

hi Jason...

I read your message. I must say all of us go through mental fight with ourself, wherein tryin to find the bigger meaning of life, exploring the world. What is life beyond corporate world or dail rutine..
I am also currently struggling from the same mental agony, but not been able to decide..But i must say congratulation, for making your mind and following it single mindly on yur idea...

Keep it up and best of luck for your planning and the trip... Sorry forgot to introduce myself..
I am Aarti from India.. I am also travellor and loves travelling... If you ever come to India, which you must,, pls feel free to drop a line. I would do my best to be of any help to you and if possible couch at my place too..
Also keep bloggin on your trip and send me the URL of the same...

Best of Luck...
Cheers...
Ciao..
Aarti

Hi Aarti

Welcome aboard. Check out the Asia section where many folks ask about travel in India. Do share your experiences and expertise about India in those threads.

Madhu

Hello everyone!
Nice to meet you all here, and thanks for having me.

I'm a 30+ guy from SG. And I've been bitten by the travel bug. My 1st backpacking trip was to Chiang Mai and northern Thailand some years ago. Absolutely loved the place, the people and the backpacking style of travel.

Since then, I've been to the nearby countries in the region: Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, China, Vietnam, Australia. Really enjoy all the different experiences.

My favourite place right now is Chiang Mai, and I've just created a guide on Chiang Mai travel. Hope you'll find it useful.

Hey.

You's guys sounds like you have some interesting times. So much to see, so little time.

I'm Jesse, 22 from Canada. Currently living / teaching in Hainan, China. The place is gorgeous, palm trees, beaches, hot weather, cheap coconuts, etc etc. First time outta Canada, and it was to the place you'd reach if you drilled a hole through the earth and survived the magma. Everything about the lifestyle is completely different, has its ups and downs, but I don't regret any of the 5 months i've been here.

For two months this summer, my g/f and I will be backpacking thailand, and the not-so-frequented China. Looking forward to it, and sharing some of the stories with anyone who cares to listen.

Cheers!

edit: http://picasaweb.google.com/jezzah for pics!

Hey everyone. We're actually two people, Allison and Michael, from Brooklyn, NY. We also have a soon-to-be three year old son who tags along everywhere we go - so you can count him too.

This summer we're off to Washington and Oregon for almost four weeks, and we can't wait! Crater Lake, Portland, Olympic Peninsula, and lots more. If we could, we'd travel all the time, but as it stands, we usually take about two big trips a year - the big summer getaway (we're both educators), and the February break-out-of-New York trip.

We both loved traveling even before we met. Allison had lived in Asia, spending her first two years out of college teaching English in Japan and Taiwan, and traveling through Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia. Michael spent four summers in South America, living in Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil. Since meeting each other in September 2001, we've traveled together to Europe, the Caribbean islands, and around the U.S. and Canada.

Before our son came along, we were more adventurous, hiking from hut to hut in the Julian Alps of Slovenia and rafting the Chiriqui River in Panama. Now that we have a two year old, we avoid tall precipices and Class IV rapids, but we still get around and enjoy the ride.

We just launched a new travel website called Darn Good Digs that we're obsessed with, but when we are not working on that, Michael mentors teachers in a New York City public high school and Allison runs an Early Intervention program for children with special needs. While we love what we do, we’re still always thinking about that next big trip.

My name is Kelly , I am a married, mom of 1 son. my husband and I love to travel. In 2009, we are heading to San Juan Puerto Rico!

Kelly:

When you get to Puerto Rico be sure and visit Arecibo. That's where the huge dish antenna is that was popularized in the movie, "Contact."

Hi Everyone,

My name is Linda Brown, but I always stick the J. in there in an attempt to distinguish myself from a billion other gals by the same name. I've been a Bootsn'All member for several years and relied heavily on this site in planning my first RTW - May, 2005-April, 2006. I will leave again for a second RTW in Jan.2009, the planning for which I've neglected, so far. [Note to Donovan: I really, really, really wanted to take part in your Nov.2008, two month trek along the spine of South America, but I can't get away that early. We talked about it once. Sorry!]

As far as my travel background, I didn't take off till late in life and then, BANG! I started by leading grassroots trips to the Soviet Union in 1990, when things were newly-opened and I got to go all over Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Siberia, either leading trips or alone between group arrivals. How I love that whole area! Since then, I've extensively chewed up all of Eastern Europe,Turkey, Egypt, India, Thailand,Central America. My next RTW will cover South America,some Pacific Islands, NZ,Aussieland, Africa, Borneo, Israel & Spain, or some variation thereof.

I'm getting heavily into blogging all of a sudden. I didn't do that, tho I could have here, on my first RTW, as I love to sit at umbrella tables writing in my journal. Instead, I came home and wrote a book,which will be on Amazon.com this summer. I yell at the Boomers in my title: "Hey Boomers! Get A Move On! It's Easy To Backpack Around The World On Social Security!" Please buy it and help me with airfare for junket #2. Also, do drop by my whole-blogsite-to-myself at heyboomers.com, which is almost, but not quite, on line as we speak. I, who am too busy to sit still very long, am suddenly committing to blogging and writing my fingers off! Call it Book Promotion! I've already thought of the title for my next book upon return from the above, but you shall have to stay tuned to learn it.

I have a schtick (sp?) that just gets better and better all the time. It's my enormously-advanced age! Amazingly, I can easily (well....that's a relative term) wear my loaded, 85 litre backpack; sleep in every sort of hostel, in their coed dorm rooms; walk long miles over bad sidewalks and up mountainsides, as well as through the traffic in Cairo (anybody familiar with the roundabout near the British Museum? I've crossed that a few times, under a towering pack); ride overnight in over-air-conditioned buses and trains, or else, blazing hot ones; eat all but hot,spicy foods (3 months in India was rough!); get asked out for beer by my hostel mates...who never seem to notice anything different about me!!!! I can sit up all night in every manner of station; sleep on board hard beds; deal with beggars and touts; and never quite run out of money, though sometimes, I've had to stretch things till the old Social Security stash refilled my dear little debit card. I have yet to find anything that scares me, and I'm addicted to solo travel without an itinerary. I'm on an absolutely fantastic roll, just wondering how much longer this can go on. Well, I'm planning ahead and have both polar routes in mind after I chalk up this West-East, East-West business. Why not wrap this old world up in a bow?

Okay,your burning question....Just how old AM I? As we speak, I am 70.5!!! Unbelievable, to me too! But, I will be past 71 before I can launch myself out the door again! No problem! I just finished an 8-week boot camp of intensive weight/strength training at Bodies By Design and I graduated with honors. (Do I hear stereotypes clinking to the ground? Hope so!)

But, all this blogging is turning me into a couch potato before my time! How do you guys do it? Don't forget to visit my heyboomers.com blogsite which will have lots of cool extras, as soon as my blog designer gets it off the ground, sometime in June, 2008. Write to me! I'll be happy to tell your parents how extremely safe the world is, if that doesn't blow your macho image all to bits. Maybe they'll get off your case about going out there, though. It's worth a try!

Hi 70 and a half year old. You're still a spring chicken - our father-in-law will celebrate his 77th birthday on the road with us in a few short months.

quote:

Originally posted by Linda J. Brown:

Okay,your burning question....Just how old AM I? As we speak, I am 70.5!!! Unbelievable, to me too! But, I will be past 71 before I can launch myself out the door again! No problem! I just finished an 8-week boot camp of intensive weight/strength training at Bodies By Design and I graduated with honors. (Do I hear stereotypes clinking to the ground? Hope so!)

You guys are my inspiration. You truly are!

Hello Everyone -

After doing much reading throughout the site, I thought it would be time for me to join in on the conversations... so here goes... my name is Danielle, 24 from central Cali. I have finally paid off all my debt, so now its time to start saving and really thinking about and planning my adventure! I would like to start out in Mexico then travel overland eventually taking me all the way to Southern South America.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately and I finally just told myself, "JUST DO IT!!" Life is only what you make of it, and if I'm not happy with things it is me and only me who can change it. Work sucks, school sucks... I always find myself thinking of far away places than the things I should be doing. So why not go out and experiences those places!?

This is my life and its starting NOW!

-danielle