For 4 years to the end of 2009, I conducted 6 long trips in various parts of the world - India (4 months), Australia (2 trips of 3 months each), Southeast Asia/China/Russia (10.5 months), South America (9 months), and Africa (10 months). My experiences in that time were blogged at Jabe's blog. Now that the travelling is over and I'm trying to create some kind of life back in England, it seems right to gather together some of the wisdom I gained during that time - both as confirmation to me that I actually did learn something, and also as information that may prove helpful to anyone contemplating something similar. This blog, Sparky's Planet, will be where I lay out that knowledge as well as draw some conclusions.
I'm expecting that what I write here will cover several bases, from pure data (e.g. costs of transport, hotels, food, etc) to general summaries (e.g. best ways to carry cash) to more philosophical topics (e.g. why travel). Please bear in mind that this will inevitably be slanted by the strength/weakness of my own talents (e.g. in haggling over prices), and my particular travelling style, not to mention my general outlook on life. Any conclusions I draw will be based predominantly on my own experiences, which in most cases were one-offs. In other words, this will not be a consensus view nor a substitute for one.
My motivation for doing this is a conviction that knowledge is power. By power, I don't mean master-of-the-universe power - rather, the power to control one's own life by making informed decisions. Knowledge can range from the simple, such as the appropriate price for a live chicken in northwestern Mozambique, to the complex, such as the potential effects of each political parties' policies on the future of one's country. I won't pretend that what I will write here will necessarily equip anyone for complicated decision-making, but it will hopefully assist at least one other person in the world in the future.
After my trip, I wrote a book about my dissatisfaction with my career, my reasons for quitting my job, life as a first-time thirtysomething backpacker, and finally the lessons learned from being exposed to experiences and people that I would never have encountered if I'd stayed in my office. The book is called "Out Of Office Male" and is available as an eBook at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, and Smashwords (other outlets to follow).
I'm expecting that what I write here will cover several bases, from pure data (e.g. costs of transport, hotels, food, etc) to general summaries (e.g. best ways to carry cash) to more philosophical topics (e.g. why travel). Please bear in mind that this will inevitably be slanted by the strength/weakness of my own talents (e.g. in haggling over prices), and my particular travelling style, not to mention my general outlook on life. Any conclusions I draw will be based predominantly on my own experiences, which in most cases were one-offs. In other words, this will not be a consensus view nor a substitute for one.
My motivation for doing this is a conviction that knowledge is power. By power, I don't mean master-of-the-universe power - rather, the power to control one's own life by making informed decisions. Knowledge can range from the simple, such as the appropriate price for a live chicken in northwestern Mozambique, to the complex, such as the potential effects of each political parties' policies on the future of one's country. I won't pretend that what I will write here will necessarily equip anyone for complicated decision-making, but it will hopefully assist at least one other person in the world in the future.
After my trip, I wrote a book about my dissatisfaction with my career, my reasons for quitting my job, life as a first-time thirtysomething backpacker, and finally the lessons learned from being exposed to experiences and people that I would never have encountered if I'd stayed in my office. The book is called "Out Of Office Male" and is available as an eBook at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, and Smashwords (other outlets to follow).
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