Christine Veleber
Round-the-World Traveler Round the World Travel GuideYour One-stop Source to Plan & Book Around-the-World Trips
My biggest influence was my imagination. I never knew anyone who did such a thing. I found people on the internet who did and thought, "Me too!" I've always been fascinated with the world and wondered if I had it in me to partake in such an endeavor.
Christine in Cambodia.
April-November 2001
31
US$35,000 for 2
USA
New Jersey, USA
May I never sit in a cubicle again... I want to devote my career to the study and teaching of culture.
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia, Costa Rica, one month "wind-down tour" of Southern USA.
It began with this question, "Before we have kids and get tied down, what would be our biggest dream to fulfill?" Today we ask, "How small do they make backpacks, and how much weight can a child carry?"
Our fellow passengers and crew of the ill-fated cruise on the Princes Monika in Turkey, and Lyn, our 7-year-old guide in Cambodia.
Winged it a lot
cipro - it kills anything in 2 days
clothes, books
I feel like a citizen of the world, not just my country. I will never look at myself or my country the same way again. I am calmer, more confident, more patient, and have more respect for life and death. I could go on and on... but I should note that I feel that I've changed in ways that people at home cannot understand, and it does feel a bit isolating at times.
This trip, by far, was the most incredible experience in my life that NO ONE can ever take away from me.
Every day I wait for the phone call from John (my husband and travel partner) where he says "Let's go." My backpack is always ready... We'll be out there again, just don't know when! We'd like to live abroad as well.
I don't think RTW is for everyone... however there are tons of people in the USA who can do it and never will. Not that I'd want to "share my trip" with an influx of others, but I think if more Americans stepped out into the larger world, our country would be a very different place...
99.9999999% of what we think matters, doesn't.
Too dangerous – I feel safer abroad than here in the USA. Too expensive – if I hear one more SUV-driving, McMansion-owning person say "I'm soooo jealous, that's, like, my dream, but I could never afford to do thaaaaaaat," I may be arrested for assault. (In which case I'd flee to Thailand... hmmmmmmmm)
Somewhere in Turkey the "like" turned into "obsession". It is a part of my DNA strand or something.
Be flexible.
Don't plan too much, you'll be disappointed.
Don't rush through a country.
Don't spend all of your time in Western cafes.
Don't get so caught up in "recording" the trip that you forget to look, listen, and learn.
A smile goes a looooong way!
