This morning, before I put on my boots (hiking boots of course), I ritually tipped them over to make sure there were no scorpions or other unwanted guests inside.

The catch is, I live in the Northeastern USA and it was snowing, not the climate you'd expect to find boot buddies. This is one of those things I still do out of habit since I went RTW.

This got me thinking, going RTW changes us all in big and not so big ways that stay with us forever. I could list a hundred things, but I'll start with three:

If I never went RTW, I...

1)wouldnt check for creepy crawlies in my boots every time I put them on

2)would probably still work in a cubicle (i shudder at the thought)

3)wouldn't watch so much BBC or any BBC (in other words, I wouldnt know about anything happening anywhere but in the States)


What are some things do you do differently since traveling RTW?

Yeah!

I can relate.

1. I still use a sleeping bag or sleep sack on my bed.

2. Always make sure my wallet and valuables are secured.

3. Won't go out without my passport and birth certificate.

Great thread!

If I had never gone RTW (or anywhere, really), I would not

1)Be constantly checking to make sure the coins in my purse were from the correct country.

2)Know bits and pieces of half a dozen languages.

3)Be able to differentiate Australian, New Zealand, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, English and South African accents. (Most Americans can't... go figure)

4)Have my friends laughing at me for my strange mixed up slang.

5)Realize how much you miss when you stay in your comfort zone.

6)Have so many great friends all around the world.

If I never went on an RT, I wouldn't...

1) long for dollar coins.

2) walk everywhere.

3) use travel-size shampoo ... still !!!

4) have this scar

5) know anything about Slovenia

6) be able to thank people from 10 different countries in their native tongues. ('Kop Jai Lai Lai' is still my favorite.)

7) be able to differentiate between beer, bier, and pivo

8) like Italian people

9) laugh at the thought of Finns and crosswalks.

...wouldn't have finally figured out how to convert kilometers to miles

i haven't been rtw, but i'll hope my travel time warrants a reply anyhow.

1) wouldn't confidently pretend i knew where i was going even if i didn't. even on a college campus in broad daylight. in indianapolis. indianapolis, for chrissakes!

2) be madly in love with rubber boots

3) have to translate elevation from feet to meters in my head so i have a better understanding of just how high that number actually is (or isn't).

quote:

Originally posted by Skimaxpower:
If I never went on an RT, I wouldn't...

1) long for dollar coins.

Good one!!!

Forgot about my scars... and my jewelry!

I could go on forever, as I'm sure a lot of us could... I'm really only posting again to bump the thread up b/c I like it and I want to hear more!!!

One I forgaot and nearly got yelled at by the chef at the restaurant last night,

Refuse to eat any meat that is not thoughorly cooked.(One bout with near death dysentary and dehydration made that careful)

... I would still think America is the best country in the world, and everybody else would agree.

... I would still wonder if they had dogs in Germany.

... I wouldn't be willing to try everything at least once.

... I'd still be in the closet.

I wouldn't be able to tell my wife that I'd searched the world for the perfect person only to find out she was right where I'd started.

I wouldn't be able to start sentences with "When I was in 'Nam..."

Wouldn't still carry water purification tabs in my wallet (not that I needed them in Oz).

Wouldn't buy ingredients and spices from half a dozen countries and ask the Halal butcher for goat meat (curry goat--mmh! I actually know it from New Cross, SE London, but here's another thing: )

Wouldn't try foreign foods everywhere I go.

Also, a snippet of African music, or the smell of plantains frying in palm oil, or the taste of sesame oil, or the way the light looks around sunset on (rare) hot summer days snap me instantly back to exotic destinations...

Wouldn't have weird dreams involving squat toilets.....

wouldn't have had the opportunity to drink a bottle of wine with a French cook in Monaco, while he was smoking a cigarette and cooking our food...classic

This thread got a plug on Ralf Potts' blog!


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