When I was little my family always went travelling. Most of my school friends went for two weeks to Italy, France or Greece during the summer holidays. My family rather chose to spend all of our school holidays away in Poland, Hungary or the Baltics, which was a lot cheaper as well.
I was twelve when we went on holiday to the baltic states. My dad spontaneously promised my uncle that he could visit the house he was born in a few years before World War II. The only problem was that the house was now officially on russian territory and we could not get a visa. So my dad bribed a border guard to let my uncle, me and himself on our bicycles across for the day. We spent a couple hours driving around the border town, but in the end my uncle found the right street and shortly after that the house. It made his day. By then we were quite lost though. So after pedalling around for a bit and not really getting anywhere, my dad stopped at a police station and asked for the way back to the border.
I still remember this story and so many others. And they are probably part of the reason why I feel the need to visit other countries. It wasn’t always like this. In my late teens I hardly went travelling. I didn’t really miss it. I was in love for the first time and that was enough for me to stay back home. My life seemed to be set. Finish school, go to university, marry my highschool sweetheart, get a job, a dog and a few kids. Then she left me and I had no clue what to do. I just wanted to get away, so I decided to just save up some money and go travelling.
As soon as I stepped out of the airport in Bangkok on that first big trip and got enveloped in that hot and humid air I felt at home. Being there just felt right. The uncertainty of what was to come, the sense of adventure in the air, the simplicity of the travelling life, the fascination of the unknown cultures, the freedom to do whatever I wanted. All the things I knew from my childhood holidays and the reasons why I continue to travel now. The split up was soon forgotten. There are of course negative aspects to a life mostly spent travelling as well, but for me the positives outweigh the negatives and I am kind of addicted, so I need to get my regular fix… Why do you travel?
ovidiu - 28 May 2008 @ 4:17 PM
hey Bo,
just wanted to say hello as I just found your blog, read this story and completely identify with it, although my personal story differs a little ;-)
I was just curious about you, would you mind sharing a little more info on how long you have been traveling now or if you go home from time to time, and how did you manage to finance your traveling, etc,etc.
I am very curious, as I have been stuck for quite a while now but I tried to make up by getting jobs in different places, so right now I am in South Africa, but don’t know for how long, and I already start to feel the need to travel again :-(
traveljunkie - 28 May 2008 @ 5:04 PM
Well, right now I’ve been on the road for just over a year, but this time I’m not planning to go home for another few years (decades?), really. So far my trips have usually lasted around one and a half years and out of the last 8 years I spent around 2 years on and off back home in Germany. Not a big fan of going home, only for the reason cause that means that I’m working far too much to save as much as I can and then I basically don’t have a life.
I set this site up short before I left on this trip and I had visions of making a fortune through it :), but that obviously hasn’t worked out, so I’ll just have to work as I move along, which isn’t really that bad.
Usually I work as a dive instructor when travelling (it sucks lugging all that equipment around all the time). And that just has to be the best job ever. Haven’t done it for quite a while now, though. Just booked a ticket from New Zealand back to Indonesia, where I’ll meet my family and once they’ve left I probably head up to Thailand again to get some money swimming with the big fish and teaching blonde swedish tourists how to become a mermaid. With that money I’ll then sling myself to India, Nepal, or China.
I know what you mean. I’ve been in New Zealand now for 6 months, which for me is quite long, and I’m getting itchy feet. There seems to be a direct correlation between my feet and temperature. 7 weeks to go for me.
Right now I operate machinery. Bulldozers, tractors and occasionally diggers. Never did that until 3 months ago. That’s what I love about travelling. It always seems to work out in the end. I might not have any money whatsoever one week and suddenly I get offered a job doing whatever and I’m sorted again for another few months. Never gets boring and if it does I just move on.
How long have you been away then?