Travelling

[Flash525]

Hey Guys (and Gals),

Just a quick one, but has anyone here done any travelling (either by themselves, or with friends)? I'm talking anything from a week's adventure somewhere (not the typical beach resort) up to six, nine, or even twelve months worth? I suppose travelling in general.

Where would you recommend, and what sorta' things can you recommend to get involved in? Would you suggest cheap hotels, hostels, air BnB's, or … I can't remember what they're called now, but there's places you can go, kinda' like a house share when you live with a couple/family for a while.

If you travelled alone, was it 'escaping your comfort zone', and how did you find it/cope? Especially if you're more 'introverted' in nature?

Thanks!

 

[Chuppy]

My wife and I travel fairly frequently, both internationally and within the US.

We've had a lot of success with AirBnBs, they can provide a good price compared to hotels and usually have a kitchen - something important to us because my wife has many food allergies. Just do your due diligence when searching, ask the host(s) questions if you're not sure on something. They can be especially cost-efficient if you are vacationing with friends or family.

We tend to do a mixture of sight-seeing and relaxation on holidays. Few days kicking back, few days going around the area. We're both introverted, so we tend to avoid anything social unless it's with friends/family. We'll often pick an area we think we'd like to go and then start searching for interesting stuff. Trip Advisor can be quite good for getting interesting places that aren't necessarily the biggest or most popular attractions in an area. We went to Colorado at the start of this month and spent an afternoon driving ourselves around old, abandoned gold-rush mines because we had found it on Trip Advisor. Peaceful and some great photos to be had, but we wouldn't have found it without spending some time looking online.

 

[tzarinna]

I don't travel as much as I used to. But I utilized hostels, bed and breakfasts, guesthouses, campgrounds/cabins and hotels.

My camping trips would at times be solos, unless I was dating an adventurous soul. I take my son camping, but when it's just us it can be a bit much. He's still too young to be much help. I've done some pretty cool camping trips with a few meetup groups, they do most of the scheduling and planning. I've been beach camping twice now with meetup, most amazing thing to sleep on the beach.

I'm cheap, so I like hostels if I'm going to a big city, I prefer to spend my money on food, maybe shopping. Now that I have a tiny human I do hit up hotels, and my little one likes free breakfast buffets.

I found that staying in hostels when your a solo traveler you are more apt to meet and make friends, especially the international folks. I partied with quite a few people when I stayed I in hostels outside of the US.
If I'm eating out alone I might take the time to making some journal entries or plan the next days itinerary.

 

[Silvermoth]

I’ve done 7 weeks in Europe with my mum and sister and two weeks in Hong Kong solo. Both lovely. Travelling is so good for you, either solo or with someone.

That said though I also went to Japan with some friends and it was an absolute nightmare. We fought all the time

 

[Donner]

My husband and I travel frequently. Every year we go away for at least a month. We take backpacks small enough to be carry ons but big enough to hold all of our stuff. We've been to Nepal, Peru, Indonesia and are currently in Vietnam.

I would recommend hostels to stay cheap and also to meet people. In certain countries (Indonesia and Vietnam) you can get a private villa for quite cheap ($45 for three nights right now) and that can be nice when you've been travelling for a couple weeks already and need a break from other people. I've also travelled to Europe alone and stayed in hostels and had a good time. For a woman, it's nice to meet people and have someone to watch your back.

For culture shock, go to Indonesia and stay out of the big cities. Lombok and Papua are so different from Western culture, it'll open your eyes. Bali is nice as well if you go north and to Ubud. Peru is nice too if you want to trek the Inca Trail. Very cool. Nepal is good for the Himalayas, but Kathmandu leaves a lot to be desired. Whatever you do, get off the beaten path. Tourists ruin everything.

My advice would be to get out of your comfort zone, stay in hostels, don't be afraid to talk to people, and do as the locals do. Dress down, eat their food, and head to the rural areas.

 

[Flash525]

For culture shock, go to Indonesia and stay out of the big cities. Lombok and Papua are so different from Western culture, it'll open your eyes. Bali is nice as well if you go north and to Ubud. Peru is nice too if you want to trek the Inca Trail. Very cool. Nepal is good for the Himalayas, but Kathmandu leaves a lot to be desired. Whatever you do, get off the beaten path. Tourists ruin everything.

In what sense do you mean? Way of life? Living conditions?

 

[Donner]

In what sense do you mean? Way of life? Living conditions?

You mean when I said that tourists ruin everything?

They make everything more expensive. If you want local prices, you have to get away from touristy areas because they're overpriced. Also, tourists are atrocious for litter. In third world countries, it's not as obvious because the countries themselves don't have proper garbage disposal (Peru does in the main areas of the main cities) and garbage is everywhere, but in Western Canada where I live, tourists line our mountain trails with crap. In the Himalayas, it's the same thing. I found Coke plastic bottles stuffed into the rock features below Buddha statues. Disgusting.

Also, when there are more tourists, the locals start to cater to their tastes. So you'll go to a touristy area in Vietnam and instead of eating Vietnamese food, they'll sell burgers and fries.

And the Instagrammers. Ugh. Hordes of people taking pictures at every spot and hundreds of them. Today, I watched two girls on the beach take pictures for over an hour and a half. It's all they did. Multiply that by a thousand and that's how it is in tourist areas. The Gili Islands near Bali are very Muslim, but they cater to tourists so much that it looks like just another beach with bars and Western music.

And there's the issue that tourists don't tend to ****ing know the rules. Don't feed the wildlife is a big one. Don't walk on 500 year old Incan ruins. Don't feed the effing wildlife. Don't walk off the paths. Don't touch the artwork. And so on.

If you want to really know what the people and the culture are like, stay away from the areas that tourists flock to. Of course, there are cool things to see sometimes and it may be inevitable to go into those areas, but make it a quick stop. The best thing you can do is take local transit or rent a car/motorcycle and do your own thing.

 

[Flash525]

You mean when I said that tourists ruin everything?

I meant the culture shock, hah. If I was going to go traveling, I'd do my best to stay away from the tourist hot sports for the very reasons you've expanded upon.

 

[Donner]

In what sense do you mean? Way of life? Living conditions?

If you mean culture shock, it's because Indonesia is predominantly Muslim. It has the highest concentration of Muslims in the world actually. You have to be careful about the way you dress. It's more for women because they don't like it when women have their shoulders or knees showing and the men will stare. But guys are also expected to wear shorts that go past the knees. You'll see women in full burkas and men in traditional Muslim clothing. The traffic will test your nerves, the food will test your taste buds and, depending on where you stay, you'll hear Muslim prayers at 4am.

And the toilets. Hahahaha. Holes in the ground. No toilet paper. No soap. But there are hoses for you to wash yourself with, using your hand.

Papua is a Christian province and because the Germans sent missionnaires there years ago, it's a dry province. No booze. And very poor. And hardly anyone speaks English.

They're friendly though and they like it when you smile.

 

[Donner]

They're Buddhist in Bali and you'll see swastika statues in the middle of the street. It's quite jarring at first until you google the history.

 

[Donner]

Sorry for the long rant about tourists. I just hate seeing litter.

 

[Flash525]

Sorry for the long rant about tourists. I just hate seeing litter.

Hah, no worries, I hate it too, regardless of where I am. It's bad enough in the best of places.

Back in September I went to Turkey for a vacation with the family; the beach resort was fantastic, clean, friendly, everything you'd expect. Me and my brother took a Quad Bike Safari one day though and were driven to a less than hospitable place where the Quad Biking took place, that itself was an eye opener just to see two very different sides to Turkey. I'd imagine places like the ones you've visited are significantly worse than what I witnessed though.

It's a shame tourists can't get their **** together. There really is no excuse for it short of laziness.

 

[Donner]

How was the safari? Did you see anything cool?

 

[Flash525]

How was the safari? Did you see anything cool?

Not really; it was advertised as Quad Biking Safari, but in actuality it was just driving (in convoy) along a predetermined route. We got to see maybe a different area of Turkey compared to the standard resort aspect, and came across a nice natural spring (with a waterfall for a quick dip) but the tour didn't really offer anything other than a lot of dirt/gravel tracks and some hilltop sights.

I'm sure there were some rats and birds about, but nothing quite as exotic as wild animals.