- When do you leave?
December 2005
- How long do you plan to be away?
1-6 Months
- How much have you saved?
3000
- How old are you?
46
- Nationality
USA
- Where do you live now?
St. Petersburg, USA
- Occupation
machinist
- Is this job one that you actually like, or are you only doing it to pay for the trip?
It's my career
- Have you traveled around the world before?
No
- What is the route you plan to take/places you plan to visit?
Not sure yet, but have a keen interest in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia. Maybe I will hit a few European or Middle East cities enroute.
- Why did you decide to take this trip? What got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?
I just feel that I need to see how the rest of the world is coming along. I am a bit of an anthropologist and enjoy other cutures.
- What is your biggest fear about this trip?
That I will not want to return home.
- Are your family, friends, co-workers, etc., supportive of you? What is their opinion of your going around the world?
I would not even tell them. Maybe I will send a postcard. :)
- How much planning and preparing have you done?
To the Nth Degree
- What are you packing? What do you consider your most indispensable item(s)?
Ultralight as possible. I have everything for camping, but I will not bring it, instead I will use hostels and such. I will try to buy local when possible.
- 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?
It should bolster my Kantian cosmoploitan beliefs.
- If you had to sum up your thoughts/feelings about your round-the-world trip in one sentence, what would it be?
- 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 think it is incumbant on people to leave their "comfort zone" in order to understand others.
- What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
- Why do you like to travel?
It seems to energize me like nothing else. It gives me a bigger sense of mental imagery to think with, to be more creative. I am always fascinated with how things are done in other places.
- What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?
Read a lot. Avoid revolving debt. Stay healthy.