- When did you go on your RTW trip?
- How old were you when you took this trip?
28 - Including your air ticket and other expenses (from accommodation to souvenir-buying), about how much did your trip cost?
$15000 - Nationality
USA - Where do you live now?
Boston, USA - Occupation
- Before your trip: real estate appraiser
- Now: hmmmmm
- How did your travels affect your career when you got back?
Im going to grad school to study economic development.- What is the route you took/places you visited?
New Zealand, Australia, SE Asia, India, Southern Africa- Why did you decide to take this trip? What got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?
Id wanted to go RTW for ten years, and it was now or never.- Out of all your experiences traveling around the world, what was the:
- Best Moment
- Worst Moment
The day a pyromaniac burned down my hostel in Tasmania - Biggest Hurdle, Obstacle or Difficulty?
getting over homesickness early in the trip - Biggest surprise?
How safe the world feels relative to the US
the Himalayas, diving the Great Barrier Reef- Who is the most memorable person you met on your trip and why?
A Thai monk I met while travelling in India. He represented the joy that is Buddhism.- How much planning and preparing did you do?
Winged it a lot- What was your favorite piece of gear?
My camera. Gaiters were handy for the Overland Trek. Oh, and Ziploc baggies rock. And a sleep sack is a MUST in India.- What did you bring, that in hindsight you could’ve left at home?
Most toiletries, clothes- How did your round-the-world trip change your life? How did it affect and change you as a person?
I was immensely humbled by the experience. Encountering some of the poorest people in the world, and discovering they are also some of the kindest, cant help but affect a person. I realize that friends at home have extraordinary amounts (relatively) of material wealth, but it doesnt buy happiness.- If you had to sum up your round-the-world trip in one sentence, what would it be?
A RTW trip can be one of the most eye opening experiences of ones life.- Are you planning more trips and travels for the future? Are you planning another round-the-world trip?
Currently planning on studying abroad, with a possible career abroad.- 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?
Theres nothing wrong with a two week vacation… it can shake up your routine a bit. But a RTW trip will shake up your entire life and you will never be the same. Which one is appropriate for a person depends on where you are in life! 🙂- What is the most valuable thing you learned?
I learned how the rest of the world lives.- What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
That it is dangerous. That it is lonely.- Why do you like to travel?
- What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?
Just go. It will be the best thing you have ever done for your self. - Before your trip: real estate appraiser
October 2004-July 2005