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Author: Sean Keener

MD – Around-the-World Traveler

  1. When did you go on your RTW trip?
    March-October 1997

  2. How old were you when you took this trip?
    21

  3. Nationality
    Germany

  4. Where do you live now?
    Frankfurt, Germany

  5. Occupation
    Before your trip: Cultural Representative, Walt Disney World Orlando, Florida, U.S.

    Now: University Student

  6. How did your travels affect your career when you got back?
    My career hasn’t much started yet, but so far the trip affected my life only in positive ways. I wouldn’t want to exchange the trip I took with a nice career anyway, but furthermore I hardly doubt it’ll have any negative effects.

  7. What is the route you took/places you visited?
    East Coast U.S., Hawaii, Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, a bit of Southeast Asia

  8. Why did you decide to take this trip? What got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?
    I worked in Florida for a year and didn’t want to go back to Germany to start university there, so I decided to go to Australia for some time. Then all the other places came on my mind. Financing was a problem, and I have no idea how exactly I had the idea to do the trip. I’m still thinking about why everything went so smoothly, don’t know.

  9. Out of all your experiences traveling around the world, what was the:

    • Best Moment

      Watching the sunrise somewhere between Tonga and Fiji, on a tiny yacht with two parrots and a “pirate” aboard.

    • Worst Moment

      Losing my wallet in the middle of Kakadu during a cloudburst, got it back though.

    • Biggest Hurdle, Obstacle or Difficulty?

      Finding work.

    • Biggest surprise?

      Many surprises, but I can’t find an outstanding one to mention here.

  10. Who is the most memorable person you met on your trip and why?
    I don’t want to try to classify all the memorable persons I met on my trip, most of them are freaks in their own ways.

  11. How much planning and preparing did you do?
    Just Enough

  12. What was your favorite piece of gear?
    Pocketknife and camera.

  13. What did you bring, that in hindsight you could’ve left at home?
    Can’t remember, my backpack has proved very efficiently packed. Everything I didn’t need anymore I either gave away, sent home or threw away.

  14. How did your round-the-world trip change your life? How did it affect and change you as a person?
    I’ve learned to listen to the opinions of other people and to see things from different angles. To sum it up I got a new hobby and I travel a lot more. The thing is, the dreams about travelling around the world don’t end once I’ve actually been around the world. There are so many places left to see, and now I have proof that it’s possible, if not easy, to go to all these places.

  15. If you had to sum up your round-the-world trip in one sentence, what would it be?
    It’s been the best idea I’ve ever had.

  16. Are you planning more trips and travels for the future? Are you planning another round-the-world trip?
    I’m not very keen on travelling around the globe right now. I’ve picked my favourite region during the trip to where I’ve done an extended trip in the past, will definitely go there again in the future and maybe settle there.

  17. 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?
    Depends on how they do their trip. It doesn’t really matter if you travel the whole globe or stick around a place for a while, which actually would be the better choice when you’re short on time. One or two weeks, vacation or not, are definitely too short for anything.

  18. What is the most valuable thing you learned?
    That it’s a big mistake to see different cultures only through European, “civilized” eyes. As an example: democracy, which we regard as the best system, isn’t worth much in places like Samoa, because they’re used to having their own ways to rule their place, which in their standards has worked quite well for centuries. It’s not about backwards, it’s just different. I don’t see things in black and white any more.

  19. What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
    The people who haven’t done it compare it to travelling to the moon, people who’ve done it know that all this actually is easily possible on the surface of the Earth.

  20. Why do you like to travel?
    Because of overwhelming boredom at home.

  21. What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?
    Get in contact with the locals and stay away from gossiping with your mate about the latest newspaper from home during the trip. Travel alone if possible. Keep an eye on your money, travelling without it isn’t much fun. Most important: make your ideas and dreams become real.