My time in Paris (as with many European destinations for this short period of my travels) was short and sweet. I would hazard a guess that you could spend the better part of a lifetime exploring the various nooks and crannies of Paris. But in as little as five days, you can cover a lot of territory if you wish. Here are some highlights from my Parisian adventures:
I recently spent almost a week in southern Germany. I didn’t see any major towns, nor did I attend many tourist attractions. And although I imagine I’ll return to Germany someday, I won’t on this particular trip. And I’m not sorry about it.
One of the underlying messages in the documentary A Map For Saturday that spoke to me was that travel gets old pretty quickly. At least – certain styles of travel get old quickly. If you bounce from one major city/attraction to the next, staying in hostels and following the backpacker circuits consistently, one amazing awe-inspiring sight tends to melt into the next, and you can actually become almost apathetic about the attractions that once appeared wonderous.
Having been on the road well over three years, I don’t think I would have lasted anywhere near this long if I were on this “actively traveling” circuit.
I have fallen – head over heels – in love with Spain. My three weeks spent there flew by, and I know I will return to this country. In fact, I’m on a mission to return to Spain as soon as I can, and to stay as long as I can. Something about Spain has gotten under my skin!
Some of the adventures I had in Spain included the following:
Taking a day-trip to Segovia with three Irish people, walking the streets, then sitting down to a fancy lunch that featured Segovia’s signature dish of Cochinillo (roasted suckling pig). As I had the most advanced Spanish language skills out of our lot (which isn’t saying much), I was relegated to figuring out the menu and ordering, which was an adventure unto itself.
George, Drew, David (picture: left to right), and Jamie operate a community and online store for active people, LiveOutThere.com. Jamie, the chief adventurer, recently summited Mt. Everest for the second time and the entire team went along for the trek to Mt. Everest Base Camp. After spending a week in Hong Kong, George, Drew, and David landed in Kathmandu and began their trek. Please enjoy this (slightly more than) week-in-the-life of the team as they trek to Mt Everest Base Camp!
Our journey starts with a bang in the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu. George’s best friend Jamie is climbing Mt. Everest, and we have come along for the ride. The Maoists are protesting and the city has ground to a halt.
The wheels touch down and we strike off into the city. We step off the plane, shuffle through the airport, collect our bags, and find the curb. A throng of people crush against the chain-link fence outside the baggage claim. We see our guide, Ang Temba Sherpa, holding a “Berg Adventures” sign.
As we make our way to the hotel, protesters bang their hands against the windows of the van, and a ring of red-shirted teenagers surrounds us at one intersection. We keep our heads down and try to attract as little attention as possible. We arrive safely at the Yak & Yeti, where we meet the rest of the team.
In the last few weeks I’ve graced the shores of three countries; something only generally possible in Europe! I started (or rather finished) off my time in Spain, then visited a friend in Germany for a short while, before moving on to Paris to meet and travel with my mother. I am currently enjoying the sun and sea in the south of France, and was lucky enough to also enjoy the Bastille Day celebrations in this country as well. But there will be more on all of that as time goes on (and as I find time to commit my thoughts and adventures to proverbial pen and paper). In the meantime, please enjoy my latest published musings and mentions from around the web:
FINANCIAL IQ Test: How Healthy is Your Financial Plan?
What aspects of personal finance does your financial plan cover? Are you focusing on the right things and bouncing your ideas off somebody knowledgeable and trustworthy? Does your financial plan excite you? (Because is should). Or do you have a plan at all? Following is a Financial IQ Test to help you determine how healthy your financial plan is.
Managing Finances Securely While Traveling
You need money to travel, and you’ve got to actively manage it while you’re on the road. How do minimize security concerns while paying for expenses? Where do you keep your cash? What would you do if you needed money in an emergency situation? How do you manage online finances securely? And how do you put it all together?
With a background in financial planning and a current full-time travel lifestyle, I’m a stickler for managing finances – and doing it wisely and securely. So read on for some tips on how to manage your own finances securely while you travel.
Preparing for Travel Abroad: Gathering and Traveling With Official Documents
Preparing for travel abroad can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to putting your affairs in order. There are official documents to gather, phone numbers to collect, and emergencies to hedge against. Then you have to find a way to organize and carry (and not lose) some of these documents, which is a challenge unto itself on the road. This article will help you prepare for your own trip abroad, providing you with guidelines regarding what to consider and how to pull it all together.
Managing Life and Work While Traveling: Phone, Mail, Internet
Managing communication tools like phone, mail, and Internet is usually quite easy in the comfort of home. But it’s a different story when you travel long-term or full-time. How do you know when you received mail from the tax-man? Where will your next Internet connection come from? And what is the most cost-effective way to make and receive phone calls? If you work while traveling, having these communication essentials figured out becomes even more important. In this article, we will explore how to manage life and work on the road easily and inexpensively.
Care One is a new addition to my regular columns. I am writing for their Life Balance department, focusing on articles about travel and money that emphasize the fact that sometimes we can indeed have our cake – and eat it too.
Cheap Accommodation With Style: Hostels Aren’t Just For Backpackers Any More
Hostel culture has evolved since the days of yore. It’s accommodation with style, and it isn’t just for backpackers any more.
Some fellow writers for a syndicated column called The Frugal Traveler gave me a mention for my technique of extending my travel dollars by volunteering in trade for accommodation. Thanks, guys!
The Frugal Traveler: Making Long-Term Travel Affordable
FlipNomad has a great interview series called “Meet The Nomad”, which I’m pleased to have been invited to participate in! Thanks for the opportunity, Flip. You can check out the interview here:
And I was delighted to have a flattering mention over at The Brooklyn Nomad in his recent roundup of things he’s reading online. My post on enjoying over $8,000 in business class flights for under $1,500 caught his eye – and rightly so! It’s a great “travel hack” that anybody can do!
As I sit on the bus departing from the old restored town of Valdelavilla for the second of my two weeks of volunteering in Spain, I am very sad. But then I reflect on the dozens of new friends I have all over the world; I imagine how and when we’ll see each other again, and I’m energized and excited.
A few years ago, I read an article online about how I could have an all-expenses paid trip in Spain, in exchange for simply conversing in English with Spaniards who want to improve their conversational English skills. I wasn’t sure it was a legitimate opportunity (it seemed too good to be true), but I bookmarked it anyway, figuring I could investigate it when I eventually made it to Spain.
So in planning my European trip, I knew that Madrid would be my first port of call so I could check out this volunteer opportunity.
His name was Toro Bravo, and although I’m not sure exactly what he said, very little was lost in translation.
As I walked through the narrow cobblestone streets of Alcala (a town 50km outside of Madrid, where I was the house-guest of a lovely Spanish family for a week), I took in everything I could. I smelled the delicious food wafting out from the nearest tapas bars, listened to the sounds of children playing and adults socializing and enjoying the afternoon, and gawked at all the amazing buildings and historical features that are commonplace here in Europe, but oh-so-foreign to my Canadian eyes.
Then, on a relatively empty side-street, I spotted a non-descript doorway, through which I could see countless pieces of artwork. Just inside, an elderly man with long hair and an even longer beard sat on a chair, sketching.
Standing across the street, I was mesmerized. This man had to be photographed. The tiny dark art gallery of sorts obviously contained hundreds of works of this man – who unto himself was a work of art.
Jason Demant and Sharon Duckworth quit their Silicon Valley jobs last year to travel throughout Asia. Initially planning on a 1-year career break, they quickly realized that wasn’t going to cut it. So while traveling, they’re also trying to build an online business to keep their travel dreams going. Please enjoy a week-in-the-life of Jason and Sharon in Japan and Korea.
7:00AM – Sharon and I wake up in our 4-bed dorm room in Kyoto, Japan. We’re here for a week of tourism and a Visa run from South Korea. We have a new dorm mate that must have come in late last night. She is sniffling and mouth breathing. This is one of the downsides about being in a dorm – sick dorm mates.
We eat our standard breakfast of bananas and toast. When we’re on the road, we try to eat a healthy and cheap breakfast. Lunch and dinner are usually at restaurants.
For the past few days we’ve been traveling with two friends from home who are in Japan for a wedding. It’s been great to have friends again (sounds kind of weird, but true). Sharon and I have each other, but other than that we usually make friends with other travelers for just one or two nights.
8:45AM – Arrive in Osaka with our friends after a 15-minute ride. Thank you Japanese Bullet Train. Everyone should travel at 200mph!
10:30AM – The fun of finding our hotel never gets old. After two train transfers we get off and start looking for it. It takes us a while, but we finally realize we’ve gotten off at the wrong station. We got off at Imamiya Station when we wanted Shin-Imamiya Station. Doh!
11:15AM – Finally find our hotel, then head towards our friend’s hotel –the Grande Vista Osaka (ahh, the luxuries of having an income). We go out to find a restaurant recommended by the hotel. Of course we get lost. Thankfully, the Japanese are unbelievably helpful and a random man decides to walk us to the front door of the restaurant.
Happy Canada Day! Salutations from Spain, where I’m spending my last of three glorious weeks. After a week’s rest while staying with some friends near Madrid, I’m back at Valdelavilla where I’m volunteering my English chatting skills in exchange for excellent accommodation and meals. (Not to mention the chance to meet some amazing people from all over Spain – and the world). More on that later, as I must find time in my demanding volunteer schedule to write and publish my many stories of adventure and cultural immersion. In the meantime, please enjoy some other articles I’ve written that have been published in the last few weeks!
Travel & Money: Using Your Credit Card on the Road
Some would say credit cards are a necessary evil for traveling; I actually prefer to use them in my travels. In this edition of the Travel and Money series, we’ll look at advantages of credit card usage and precautions to take, along with how to maximize the benefits of paying for your trip with plastic.
Study Abroad at High Schools Worldwide in the United World College Network
When I was in high school, I figured that studying abroad was a pleasure reserved solely for the affluent and only available during university years. If only I had known about United World College: I would have had an exciting, fast-paced, intellectually stimulating, and wildly different finish to high school than I could have imagined. And what is most extraordinary is that my study abroad would have been virtually free. If you know somebody who is of high-school age and looking for something different, United World College might be the solution.
Tools for Running Your Location Independent Business
This article is effectively a “Part II” to my series on Location Independent travel, starting with Essential Services for the Road. Part II explores tools for managing your finances, communication, backups, and other handy tools for location independent professionals.
As a full-time traveler, I take a lot of flights. And since my travels are financially sustainable between my writing income and creative attempts at accommodation, I won’t pay the big bucks to fly business class (or – gasp – first class).
So unless I am lucky enough to get a free upgrade to first class, I am relegated to the ranks of economy – cattle class – with so many others.
But after reading Chris Guillebeau’s Frequent Flyer Master and getting one of his email updates about a US Airways promotion that promised some big bonus miles, I decided to take a financial leap of faith with the payoff of some big rewards.
