Anna Clinco - Round-the-World Traveler

1. When did you go on your RTW trip?
   October 2004-July 2005

2. How old were you when you took this trip?
   28

3. Including your air ticket and other expenses (from accommodation to souvenir-buying), about how much did your trip cost?
   $15000

4. Nationality
   USA

5. Where do you live now?
   Boston, USA

6. Occupation
   
   Before your trip: real estate appraiser
   
   Now: hmmmmm
   

7. How did your travels affect your career when you got back?
   Im going to grad school to study economic development.

8. What is the route you took/places you visited?
   New Zealand, Australia, SE Asia, India, Southern Africa

9. 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.

10. Out of all your experiences traveling around the world, what was the:
    
    • Best Moment
      the Himalayas, diving the Great Barrier Reef

    • 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

11. 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.

12. How much planning and preparing did you do?
    Winged it a lot

13. 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.

14. What did you bring, that in hindsight you could've left at home?
    Most toiletries, clothes

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

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?
    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! :)

19. What is the most valuable thing you learned?
    I learned how the rest of the world lives.

20. What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
    That it is dangerous. That it is lonely.

21. Why do you like to travel?
    

22. 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.