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Author: Sean Keener

Tal Gutstadt – Around-the-World Traveler

  1. When did you go on your RTW trip?
    November 2002-June 2003

  2. How old were you when you took this
    trip?
    30

  3. Including your air ticket and other expenses
    (from accommodation to souvenir-buying), about how much did your trip
    cost?
    C$25,000

  4. Nationality
    Canada

  5. Where do you live now?
    Torontor, Canada

  6. Occupation
    Before your trip: Lawyer

    Now: Writer

  7. How did your travels affect your career when
    you got back?
    Traveling gave me the time out that I needed to switch between careers.

  8. What is the route you took/places you
    visited?
    Western U.S. – Tahiti – New Zealand – Australia – Thailand – Hong
    Kong – Thailand – Cambodia – Vietnam – Thailand – Nepal – Israel – Spain.

  9. Why did you decide to take this trip? What
    got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?
    I was fascinated and influenced by friends’ stories of long-term travel.
    The decision to switch careers and relocate from Manhattan to Toronto
    gave me the opportunity to take a time out and go.

  10. Out of all your experiences traveling around
    the world, what was the:

    • Best Moment

      Trekking in Nepal

    • Worst Moment

      Being frustrated in Vietnam

    • Biggest Hurdle, Obstacle or Difficulty?

      Gihardia

    • Biggest surprise?

      How easy everything was

  11. Who is the most memorable person you met on
    your trip and why?
    Too many…

  12. How much planning and preparing did you
    do?
    Just Enough

  13. What was your favorite piece of
    gear?
    My backpack.

  14. What did you bring, that in hindsight you
    could’ve left at home?
    Most of my clothes. Everything is available everywhere, usually for a
    fraction of the price at home.

  15. How did your round-the-world trip change
    your life? How did it affect and change you as a person?
    Too soon to tell…it definitely gave me the bug to go out traveling
    again. It also gave me some perspective on how most of the world lives,
    and with that, the confidence to pursue a more fulfilling career than my
    previous one.

  16. If you had to sum up your round-the-world
    trip in one sentence, what would it be?
    Living a dream.

  17. Are you planning more trips and travels for
    the future? Are you planning another round-the-world trip?
    I hope to something similar in scope again someday…

  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?
    The difference is: a regular vacation is simply a short break from your
    everyday life, with all of its ups and downs. A long-term RTW trip,
    after the first few weeks, becomes your life, and all the stuff that
    stays in the back of your mind throughout your one- or two-week vacation,
    stops mattering. There is a freedom in that state of being that is not
    possible back in the “real” world.

  19. What is the most valuable thing you
    learned?
    How to budget.

  20. What is the biggest myth that people have
    about round-the-world traveling?
    That it’s hard.

  21. Why do you like to travel?
    To observe other ways of living. To eat amazingly different food.

  22. What is your advice for people planning
    their own RTW trip?
    Take lots of money, get your shots, don’t worry about anything else, it’s
    easy…