Yeah, India is intense for sure.

A fellow-American friend of mine who has barely been anywhere suddenly planned a trip to Tibet and India.

I told him in my opinion for an American to go to Canada or London is like a freshman-level course in college, and going to non-English Europe is like a sophomore-level course, but going to India is like nearly getting your PhD.

If my first trip was to India I might have sworn off traveling altogether out of shock.

quote:

I told him in my opinion for an American to go to Canada or London is like a freshman-level course in college, and going to non-English Europe is like a sophomore-level course, but going to India is like nearly getting your PhD.

While, it is courageous to go to India as your first travel experience, it would be by no means a "PhD level" type country. India is right where easy ends and before hard begins.

quote:

Originally posted by halfnine:

While, it is courageous to go to India as your first travel experience, it would be by no means a "PhD level" type country. India is right where easy ends and before hard begins.

I think easy has already ended before you get to India, but otherwise I think you are right about that. Putting it in the context of the 40-something countries I've been to, India is up near the top in craziness, but you've got a point.

There are over 160 countries I haven't been to and thinking about it now I'm sure many of them make India feel like going to a Sandals resort.

Point well taken.

I guess on my Dad's passport it would have been Malta when I was a kid, but I had to think about my own first one for a while. I was prompted by someone else's post about visa stamps. I got my first passport (the proper old big black British ones in those days!) in 1982. In those days one had to get a visa for the USA and I was headed off to New Jersey on a month-long exchange trip with my school. I'm looking at it now - full-page, technicolour visa stamp, dated 2 Feb 1983. Immigration admitted stamp dated 23 Mar 1983.

Seems like a lifetime ago and yet I, like others here have mentioned, really only think of myself as having 'discovered' travel as a 'thing' (so eloquent this evening...) - a life-thread if you like - fairly recently. On my fourth passport now and much, much older

the Seychelles... i was about 8 (so about 1989) and it was my first passport! had an awesome time... def want to go back as an adult one day!

first stamp in my second passport is USA... mother, daughter trip to Disney World in 1999!

First passport was when I was 17 I think. And my first stamp was in Malta. Amazing place!

First passport (age 18) - First stamp is Bahamas

Second passport (age 29)- First stamp is Tahiti

Great topic. I got my first passport in 92 at 15, and the first stamp was Mexico. But the first place out of our neighboring countries was Costa Rica in '94. second passport was was the British virgin islands in 2000, but after using that passport to cross over and back between US and British VI, it got some bad water damage, and then the dutch passport control decided to ruin it by taking the plastic film up. so then on my third, and current passport, it's the exit visa from Austria going into Czech rep. and I'm happy to say I recently filled up that passport, and had to get new pages put in.

Oohh, fun!
I got my first passport in '96 for a month in Costa Rica.
My secong passport I got last year...first stamp is Jamaica.

Junebug

Glasgow, September 11, 1998. Although the stamp sucks as you can't even read what it was.

My first was in 1984 in Frankfurt Germany.

My first stamp was HongKong, sometime in '90 or '91. Don't remember which year.

My first passport lost it's virginity in 1997 to Madrid, Spain; I was just 17.

My second passport, who with the experience of my first one had been around the block once or twice if you know what I mean so knew what was coming, got a good stamping in Chile; that time though it cost me a $100 bucks.

And god, since my first time what a great time it's been.


All you passport virgins out there, take the leap, it's great out here.



Peri

My first and ONLY trip out of North America was in 94..went to India when I was 8, so that was my first stamp. Don't think it counts though since that was back when I could be undermy moms passport. I didn't get my own passport until last year..I'm dying to get a stamp in it!!! I hope that US customs doesnt stamp it on my way to Auckland..that's not as exciting!

No worries Sunny we will not count the US stamp...humm...since you are transiting you will be passing through Immigration..ah I think they stamp :-(

But maybe the Canada -US is considered Domestic.