Now I don't claim to be a serious world traveler just yet.
I can only say from my own personal experiences.
As I sit here now at the bus terminal having just arrived in my 26th country/territory Oslo, the capital city of Norway; I start to reflect on my travels again.
The ups and the downs.
People often refer to the ups and the downs of life. It isn't very different when you're traveling.
Of course most people in the world desire to travel. Much better than sitting at a desk slaving away and waiting for the clock to tick past 5, or 6, or 7.
As I travel, I am thankful for my ability to travel.
That my passport allows me to enter so many countries without too many questions asked. (Ironic story I'll share later)
Thankfuk that my parents immigrated to Australia before I was born so that I could receive that Australian education, which allowed me to work in my previous job as a government contracted English teacher in South Korea, which allowed me to save money and balance work and play, in fact it wasn't balanced. It was too good to be true.
I loved my job. What I could do and the impact I could have on the children. I had flexibility, short working hours, decent pay, in a foreign country where I could travel and feel like a tourist 24/7.
You see. I'd chosen to see myself as a tourist in the 4 years I worked overseas.
That means, I didn't settle in and become too comfortable in my apartment.
Think about this.
How often do you fly to another country, then stay at the hotel using wifi to watch movies?
People would be crazy to do that.
Thus I made it my goal to use my time exploring, experiencing, learning, meeting new people and forming new relationships with people.
Never a day did I want to waste and feel the need to "kill time".
Why?
Because time is our most important asset.
Along with health of course.
Back in Australia, I used to kill so much time...and then as I went overseas I realised how important my time was, because I always wanted more.
I'm now rapidly approaching my 30s, yet I appear to be in my early 20s whenever I meet anyone new. I do not want to regret not having lived enough, because no one can time travel.
So... I've managed to side track a lot.
This is not a click bait, so I'll get back on topic.
At the start of the year, I finished my final contract and decided to return to Australia. I found this transitioning period to be the best time to travel the world before heading back.
The 2 things biggest things holding people back from traveling the world are time and money.
Student with lots of time and no money?
Or
Worker with lots of money but no time...
So imI seized this opportunity and started traveling in February.
I solo traveled Japan for 2 months before returning to South Korea for a month as a tourist, catching Jeju island for a week.
Then I returned to Sydney for a little under a month before beginning this 5 month journey.
Myth 1
You can travel if you're rich
I'm not rich. I have money but I'm not rich.
I worked a job that paid me less than all my friends in Sydney. It's how you save your money I guess. It is also how you travel.
If you have a high paying job, and only 2 weeks a year to travel...it is understandable how you would want to spend a lot of money in those 2 weeks. I know people who spent 10k AUD in 2 weeks. I'm trying to spend less than that traveling for 5 months.
Sure, when you are traveling you will need to spend money to enjoy a little.
Each to their own.
Likewise on the other extreme, I met some girls from Russia the other day who had spent 14 euros in total in the 4 days they were in Helsinki, the capital of one of the most expensive countries, Finland. That averages to about $5.25AUD a day.
How did they do it?
Transport - Hitchhiking and walking
Accommodation - Couchsurfing and tent
Food - Brought their own food and foraged (they were vegetarian)
Wow. Now that is pretty extreme but cool too.
It's up to what you want out of your travels.
I spent about 3000USD in 2.5 weeks traveling my first and second Europe trips. (6000USD in total)
But I spent about 4000USD traveling for 2 months in Japan, also notorious for being expensive.
Pick what you want to spend on and budget well.
You don't need a fortune.
In Stockholm I bought a 7 day travel card for 345SEK (34.50€). My friend bought a 3 day Stockholm card for 1000SEK (100€).
I don't like Museums, so I opted for the travel card. Simple decisions like that. You don't need the best deals if you're not going to enjoy them. She ended up visiting everything she could just to make her money's worth instead of going to those she wanted to only.
Myth 2
I am a normal person with a day job. I can't afford to quit and travel the world.
I've met "normal people with day jobs" who quit and traveled the world.
A lot of these people I've met hit some identity crisis, realising they were not happy with their life and so quit their job to find themselves.
Solo travelers for year long travel too. It's crazy, I know. But they're not homeless somewhere starving now because they did that.
As long as you're capable of working, you can work and earn the money again. You cannot gain time.
Myth 3
Traveling is always fun
I've received so many messages of envy whilst overseas. I will say, I think it's much more fun.
However life has its fun moments and its not so fun moments. Traveling is just life in an unknown land.
In fact, sometimes being in an unknown land renders us much more helpless to do tasks that you'd normally be able to do in your home country.
You're like a child who needs someone to do the simplest task.
When I was living in Korea, this was a thing.
My Korean is quite fluent, but I still depend on Korean coworkers or friends to help with tasks such as dealing with tax or official immigration tasks and so forth.
Other foreigners I knew would need help with even simpler everyday tasks like calling the landlady to fix a broken door or even shopping online.
We are like children in an alien land, sometimes this can make us feel small and incapable.
It is however quite normal.
Another instance was when I was in Moscow trying to check into a hostel only to be denied because I did not have the proper documentation. I needed to contact previous hostels and the right government departments to sort it out... but Russia is a country that only 5% of the population speaks English.
And so... like a child, I relied on my Russian friend to help me.
Imagine if I had not made any Russian friend.
It is easy to cheat tourists because they don't speak the local language. It's easy to being bullied into paying extra fees and unwanted services. In some countries, even authorities take money from travelers.
In the end it took me 5 hours to check in and I missed watching the Australia vs Denmark world cup game because of it.
Traveling has its bad moments too.
More recently, I broke my phone and tried to buy a new one only to have my bank fail on me. It took them 3 days to solve the issue and following that another 4 days before I gained control of my social media accounts. (New device in foreign country)
So it's not all daisies and roses.
Right now I'm sitting and waiting for replies from couchsurfing.
Sometimes being a solo asian guy means that people don't want to meet you as much.
Perhaps because Asians still have stereotypes which make them less interesting.
Likewise, combined with my youthful looks.
The immigration police stopped me after disembarking the bus. Upon showing my passport, I guess I was treated more suspicious because I was this young looking asian kid holding an Australian passport.
Along me were some Chinese nationals and South Americans.
Now, if I had been a capable looking white male. I'm quite sure he would not have held me back along with the others.
Australians are amongst the most traveled people in the world. Everywhere you go, there are Aussies traveling.
Due to ongoing immigration problems in Europe, I understand the fears of foreigners overstaying their visits.
But... come on. An Australian passport should've recieved less suspicion than all the others they let pass.
Ok. I look young. Understand. But my year of birth is clearly stated there.
Perhaps the Asian appearance made me less trustworthy hah.
How long are you staying?
2-3 days
Where will you go next?
Denmark
How are you going?
Do you have a ticket?
No. I'm going to get the cheapest way... by bus maybe?
Where are you living?
Waiting on replies on couch surf otherwise hostel
What is the name of the hostel?
Umm...Anker hostel
Ok... do you have money to travel?
Umm you can see how much I travel in my passport?!?
Yeh sorry but we still have to check.
Uh... yeh I have about 10k
checks on phone
What is the Australian currency abbreviation?
A. U. D.
Checks exchange rate
Hmm ok about 6000Euros...I know it sounds weird, but can you show me your bank statement or account. Sorry, but we have to make sure because Norway is expensive.
So then I logged on my bank account and showed them my money.
Now that was the first time in my life I was given so much doubt.
But hey it made an interesting experience.
Ok it has been over an hour now and the same officer has seen me sitting here on my phone...so I think it's about time I move to find some accommodation.
Wish me luck!
Till next reflection time!