Michael Colucci - Round-the-World Traveler

1. When do you leave?
   December 2005

2. How long do you plan to be away?
   1-6 Months

3. How much have you saved?
   3000

4. How old are you?
   46

5. Nationality
   USA

6. Where do you live now?
   St. Petersburg, USA

7. Occupation
   machinist

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?
    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.

11. 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.

12. What is your biggest fear about this trip?
    That I will not want to return home.

13. 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. :)

14. How much planning and preparing have you done?
    To the Nth Degree

15. 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.

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?
    It should bolster my Kantian cosmoploitan beliefs.

17. If you had to sum up your thoughts/feelings about your round-the-world trip in one sentence, what would it be?
    

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 think it is incumbant on people to leave their "comfort zone" in order to understand others.

19. What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
    

20. 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.

21. What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?
    Read a lot. Avoid revolving debt. Stay healthy.