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Author: Sean Keener

John E Ball – Around-the-World Traveler

  1. When do you leave?
    March 13, 2002

  2. How long do you plan to be away?
    6-12 Months

  3. How much have you saved?
    enough

  4. How old are you?
    34

  5. Nationality
    England

  6. Where do you live now?
    Most recently Amsterdam, Netherlands

  7. Occupation
    Telecoms Consultant

  8. Is this job one that you actually like, or are you only doing it to pay for the trip?
    It’s my career

  9. Have you traveled around the world before?
    No

  10. What is the route you plan to take/places you plan to visit?
    • London Heathrow, Delhi
    • Overland from Delhi to Nepal
    • Overland from Nepal back across India to Goa/Bombay
    • Bombay fly to Bangkok
    • Overland through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, back into Southern Thailand and then down through Malaysia to Singapore.
    • Singapore fly to Bali (visit some other Indonesian Islands) fly back to Singapore.
    • Singapore fly to Sidney. Spend time exploring Australia.
    • Sidney fly to New Zealand. Spend time exploring New Zealand.
    • New Zealand fly to Fiji (just relax and unwind!).
    • Fiji fly to Los Angeles.
    • L.A. fly back to London (Boo Hoo)

  11. Why did you decide to take this trip? What got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?
    The truth is I am at heart a young 34.

    I have worked across much of Europe and visited further-flung places for the typical 2-week vacation.

    I have always had “itchy feet” and have for a long time had the urge to make a trip of this nature. I guess the truth is that I know that I will never be able to truly settle down until I get it out of my system.

    Until July 2001 I was so much like everyone else who thinks “I would love to do it but I cant because….” It was at this point that I met someone who helped me to realise that I could do it, I just had to accept a few changes to in my life!

    So I decided not to take another contract for a while, rent my house out and sell my car. At the time of writing this I have just about finished re-organising my life. At the end of the day, what’s one year of a lifetime!

  12. What is your biggest fear about this trip?
    That the people I care most about will still be there when I return!

  13. Are your family, friends, co-workers, etc., supportive of you? What is their opinion of your going around the world?
    I have met with every kind of reaction from “Are you crazy?” to “Wow I wish I had the bottle”. Most of my friends are really interested in what I am about to do and have asked that I add them to my regular email update. I have even got my elderly parents hooked up with email (no small miracle if you knew what technophobes they are!) so that they can feel part of it.

  14. How much planning and preparing have you done?
    Winged it a lot

  15. What are you packing? What do you consider your most indispensable item(s)?
    The usual kind of stuff. I will probably end up taking a whole load of medical stuff just in case. I am toying with the idea of buying a digital camera to replace my film camera. It is so important for me to be able to properly catalogue this trip for future memories.

  16. How do you think your round-the-world trip will change your life? How do you think it will affect and change you as a person?
    Maybe it won’t. I am sure however that if there ever was something that would change my life dramatically then it would be this.

    I am sure that seeing so many different cultures and lifestyles is bound to have some effect on me.

    One further thing is I truly believe this: If you have your eyes and your heart open to what surrounds you, who knows where your soul may find itself!

  17. If you had to sum up your thoughts/feelings about your round-the-world trip in one sentence, what would it be?
    I’ve talked about doing it for long enough, it’s time I took some bloody action!

  18. Why do you think people should go on round-the-world trips? Why not just take a regular old one- or two-week vacation instead?
    I’ll let you know when I get back!

  19. What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
    That it is better suited for someone else.

  20. Why do you like to travel?
    I love to see how other people live and also what the world is like elsewhere.

  21. What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?
    Look around. I was for a while convinced that I would not be able to get the flight deal with the flexibility I needed. One afternoon, bingo! I found exactly what I was looking for.

    Talk to people who have done it. I found the advice I got from the guys at BootsnAll invaluable!