Iama 27yo Redditor who's been traveling the world for 8 years figuring out what to do with his life: teaching English, organic farms, web design, work exchange, painting murals, leading yoga, hitchhiking, filmmaking.. Thanks to my years involved i...

Hey bud. I admire the drive it sounds like you have to just get up and go see the world. I have always wanted to travel but I always find the same excuses of money, time, school, bullshit, etc. I have a few questions for you.

1. How did you initially decide that you wanted to commit as you have to traveling? I know you said you studied abroad at uni and this probably helped break the ice.

2. What steps did you take to turn this into a reality? i.e. how do you prepare/overcome the fears that keep so many others from doing what you do?

3. What has been your most emotionally/spiritually rewarding experience so far and where was it?

4. What are your goals for the future? Are you looking to continue traveling like this for a while? Which made me think of another question...

5. Is it ever hard for you to be gone from family and friends for such long stretches? I read something on reddit I don't remember where now, where a redditor was talking about how one of the hardest things about spending a lot of time abroad is coming back and seeing his parents age in what he called "snapshots"

Anyway thanks for doing this man. Wish you all the best out there in the world old friend...

1: Study abroad! If you have the chance, DO IT! I did it twice during uni--a year in France, a semester in Mexico. Breaks the ice and even made the water, in a sense. I never decided to commit to traveling, it committed to me--the only thing I ever committed to was never letting myself get stagnant. I got a tattoo on my forearm to remind myself that no matter what happens, your tree of life continues to grow.

2: Only way to overcome fears is to jump in. I'm in India for the first time and even though I've traveled through developing/busy countries before, the media hype about rapes and literature about bad shit going on still got to my head before arriving. I prepared (ironically) by reading more--it only made things worse which made it that much more fulfilling when I realized how silly the fear was. As far as fear of money goes, part of removing this is remembering that coming from my socioeconomic class (I'm white, middle class suburban), is that my parents would never EVER let me starve. That was kind of a curse to me for a while because I WANTED to have nothing to do with that part of society, the blatant consumerism and wealth and so on and so forth. My parents pay me for some of their web site maintenance now, but before that was happening I would literally play my accordion on the street for money to eat (i.e. drink beer). Once I learned how to hitchhike and street perform and get over my ego, I realized I would never truly starve or be lacking shelter--the world is a loving place for someone that isn't trying to cause any problems.

3: Spiritually reward is a much different ballgame than emotional rewarding. Feeling a surge of joy rush through me is emotionally rewarding, as is wanting to cry at experiencing something that brings on sadness. Feeling the RAW emotion is rewarding because then I know it's not being repressed. I often feel an emotional reaction when I see/hear of people helping each other in some sort of communal way. Not sure why, but in movies about revolts and revolutions I always tear up when they all cheer in unison with a common goal--I feel community is inherent in human beings and I think we miss a lot of this in today's world always being taught to look out for number one and our own interests.

Spiritually rewarding, however, has been finding myself, day after day, excited. There's nothing more rewarding than walking down the street after a PERFECT afternoon full of synchronicities that succeeded a magical morning full of serendipity, which of course followed an evening full of inspiration, and you know another evening is going to pass full of more wonder... What I mean is once your life is in sync with yourself, once you're in "the vortex" or the singularity of your being, everything is beautiful and only gets better. Sure, meditation and yoga and stuff help with the awareness and appreciation of these things, but it's always there, always around you. Terence McKenna's Time Wave Zero theory said that we're approaching the age of novelty, where nothing is ever habitual anymore and everything around us is always novel.

I don't know if that theory is right or not because I think we can find it in every moment, anyway, if that makes sense. This might be a little more philosophical than you were asking for, but that's my answer.

4: I have no real choice at the moment. Everything I've developed as an adult has been with vagabond-ism in mind (even subconsciously). I've tried signing leases on apartments but I disappear after 2 months (thanks Craigslist for finding me someone to take over). I've tried working jobs but they drive me nuts, working on someone else's time and for a cause that I don't believe in. My goals for the future are to find some sort of income that also works as funding for my projects, so in a non-profit sort of way (see OP EDIT 1). I'd like to help out people in the world that not only need the help but DESERVE the help. Right now I can make videos to help them, so that's what I'm doing. We'll see where that goes and what it turns into.

5: It was hard at first, it's never hard anymore. Friends and family will always be there (for the most part, at least). It was hard to leave girlfriends behind back when I tried the monogamy thing, but lately it's actually exciting to leave new friends and lovers behind because I know that the ties will only be stronger when I return. Coming home to see my mom is one of my favorite past-times now, because we always have so much more to talk about.

EDIT: #3

the world is a loving place for someone that isn't trying to cause any problems.

Good news.

Edit: quote

Unfortunately it's not true.

You're right. There are plenty of people in the world willing to lend a hand to another human being in need of help, but there are also many who are willing to hit you over the head for that accordion you're playing.

Blindly leaping into the world banking on it to embrace and nourish you because you aren't "trying to cause problems" is naive to the point of dangerous.

I see your point but the accordion has REALLY low pawn value, so that person would first off be a moron, and second off he'd be stuck with an accordion.

Also, while it's certainly a matter of perspective, I would argue that blindly leaping into the world is a lot less dangerous than sitting around at your day job letting stress build up over financial problems, the latest media hype/disease going around, diet and health problems, et cetera et cetera. That stuff is a lot more long-term damaging than someone hitting me over the head for an instrument. And quite frankly, it'd be a much better way to go.

/u/pitano says it in a comment down below,

that's how you're trying to cause a problem.

With that attitude, of course the world's full of people willing to hit you over the head for that accordion. And that's what you'll attract to you. But for everyone of those head-hitters, there are 10 that would help you heal that bump on the head and do whatever in their means to help you out.

Accordion, backpack, sun glasses, whatever. The actual item is secondary to the point.

I love backpacking, and do so as often as I can working 4 wks on 4 off. But to think that the world is not a dangerous place if you expect it to take care of you is dangerous.

Last summer I was stabbed on the beach in the french riviera because some asshole thought I had an iphone. Lesson learned, do not go to the beach at night unless you are with a large group no matter how western/safe/whatever you think the location is.

I agree that allowing fear to prevent you from living life is possibly the worst fate of all, but that does not mean that not looking out/being able to provide for yourself isn't unwise or unsafe.

Instead of fearing the unknown. Live life with a healthy view on everything around us. Take no shit, but do no harm.

I met a wise Canadia whom i stumbled over in a hostel in Brazil. And asked him, are you not afraid that people will do bad things to you? And he responded. "Do not go around and fear what is going to happen, do not fear that you might be robbed, or that "those" guys looks like mean people. You will attract the negativity". "Do not judge people" was his finishing word of wisdom. And this comes from a guy that had been traveling alone for 6 (of his 9) months through the worst parts of South-America. And not a single bad thing occurred.

And shit might happen none the less. And so is life. But do not go around and wait for the bad things to happen.

EDIT: Spelling.

I agree with both of you. This can get spiritually convoluted with notions of karma and non-Western rationale, but in the end its the priority in your perspective.

I was once approached by a man with a gun at night at a beach in Mexico (he was concealing it under his shirt as he walked up to us, I think to make sure we knew he had it). Instead of reacting with fear, instinct kicked in and I immediately greeted him and asked about his Friday night. He was timid and didn't really want to talk, but I had him on his toes. I even grabbed him by the shoulder at one point with a smile and asked if there was any way I could help his evening. When he said "I don't know..." I asked him if I could buy him a beer. I gave him the equivalent of $3 and he hopped off with a bigger smile than I could have imagined him having five minutes before. And me, I was just as excited that the situation had been diffused.

My point is, even if you're attracting a negative thing to you, that doesn't mean it has to end up being negative through that same scope. Sure, call it luck or call it energy, but nothing is ever written out in stone before it happens.

Hey man,

Niko here, former roomate, I can attest this man tells the truth and have been watching his exploits for years. I joined the military hoping to travel as much as he, but alas this is not the case.

Bon voyage!

Miss you buddy! I still owe you that shout out..

Study abroad! If you have the chance, DO IT!

Aaaaand shattered. Any hopes of picking up something on your AMA and applying it to myself.

Not everyone is a student and I'm sad to see you assume so.

If you have the chance

Obviously if you're a student, you don't have the chance to do it, now do you? There are plenty of other ways to get started: HelpX is a great way to find work exchanges and pick up some new skills in a new place. You don't even need to go too far from your current place, in many cases.

If you want my personal opinion, I don't think being a student (esp directly out of high school) is a good idea. In fact I think it's a horrible idea. I love how Australia has their gap year: for many I've met, it turns into a few gap years. Traveling and doing something new, some not-routine activity, is a great way to learn about yourself so if you should ever choose to be a student, at least you'll give a fuck about what you're studying (which is what most students out of high school, myself included, don't do)

Do you think that director Troy Duffy made a mistake by making Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day?

Seems like he made a movie for the fans. Reused jokes, ridiculous writing, over the top directing and bad acting have really made me hate it.

How do you feel about it?

Can't fucking stand sequels like that. Except for Hook, I thought that kicked the original Peter Pan's ass.

Hey,

I'm someone who is currently looking at some of the options you mentioned - Saving up and travelling indefinitely, teaching abroad, woofing, work exchange, working in the nonprofit sector, doing a travel blog, etc. It's tricky because I love to travel and really want to experience as much of life as I can, but I also want to use the opportunities I've been given to better the world. And at the same time I feel some pressure to be prepared in case my health deteriorates or something.

I guess my question for you is: Have you thought at all about the future? Do you have any savings, or what do you think about the possibility of getting injured or sick?

Also, how hard is it to maintain strong and lasting relationships when you're constantly on the move? Is there time for love?

Damn good questions. A year and a month ago, New Years came and I asked myself what the fuck I was doing with myself. Here I was, smart and creative, talented and diverse, yet doing NOTHING for the world nor even for myself. I was just floating through, finding just enough money to get by to work on some writing project here or there and keep playing music. I bought myself a GoPro to start documenting my travels in first person. I apparently was doing something right, because within 10 months I raised enough money for a trip to Asia, a DSLR camera + extra equipment, and started a new YouTube channel with this idea of bettering the world in mind.

I have only recently started thinking about the future because it was never until recently that I ever gave a fuck about it--I was thrilled with life on the move, owning little, relying on experience and myself to get by. But lately, I'm feeling more and more ready to have a cave to call my own so I can write, work on projects, etc. As an example, I'm interested in starting donation/contribution-based businesses that can not only fund my projects (which always have intention to give back to the world), but to also help out the communities I connect with on the road. This fundraiser, for instance, helps out an orphanage and two artists up in Nepal. It's pretty small-scale, but it works for all 3 parties involved (producer, me, consumer) and there's no real shadiness involved in the business/profit aspect.

I have no savings, and live my life with prevention in mind, so if I get sick I'll figure it out when it happens (luckily, most places in the world have much cheaper health care than the country I call home...)

As far as relationships go, they have never been healthier for me. There is plenty of time for love (I always stay in a place at least a month so I can get grounded), and I never omit any facts: I have special people everywhere, I will be leaving soon, etc. When you decide you want to live in love, love finds you. Understanding finds you and those you surround yourself with when truth becomes the main factor.

I remember a few years ago in Bulgaria. I went originally to see a lovely lady I had met at a Rainbow Gathering. Sure enough, I fall in love with my couchsurfing host as I'm staying there (a week turned into a month). I didn't know what to do--in the past, I would have hidden it from both of them and kept secrets. Instead I came upfront to them both, explained what was going on inside me, and BOOM--they were both super cool about it. They became friends (shout-out to /r/polyamory)...

Stuff like this happens a lot to me, now. Thankfully with Facebook and Skype it's not so easy to drift away into nothingness (though it is indeed possible), but you can keep up with one another's lives indirectly through photos and links and what-not. I would say the strongest relationships I have are with people I only see once every few years (or have even only met once). It's a beautiful thing.

I swear you could be my brother. I travel the same as you, and have come to the same conclusions you have about relationships and travel. My project is a "hostel". If you need anything on the road message me and you have a meal and a place to stay no questions.

Where you at brother? Let's meet up and make a video

Right now in NYC. Japan for March maybe mongolia to india after.

I would be down. Shall we pick a spot somewhere between us?

I can't plan that far ahead. I'm booked to keep up with this fundraiser in Nepal until at least late March. I'll have to see where finances and projects are going at that point and see what makes sense. There's a wedding in Delhi in mid-April I wanted to attend...

haha maybe i can swing down to delhi and head backwards from japan. I will be in touch and let you know if i end up down there.

sounds good... find me on FB or something!

Drugs?

When I was younger I would gobble up whatever you gave me. Probably because I wasn't so happy. Nowadays all I can really handle is the green stuff.

Nice! I assume you dropped out from uni before finishing it, how do you sustain youself while travelling?

Also, which country did you like the most?

Nope, I did finish uni! BA in French Lit--fat lot of good that did me.

I sustain myself now financially by different small-scale web design gigs that come my way through a network I've created over the years, by making promotional videos for people either through trade or cash (when I'm home in the States), and right now I'm on my second IndieGoGo fundraiser (so far, so good).

To be honest, once I get the plane flight a lot of my expenses (room and board) are done through work exchange.

What school did you graduate from?

California State University, Long Beach. Class of 2010.

Cool school, cool city. 8/10 would recommend for lib arts

Go 49ers! I am pleasantly surprised you went to my school

I don't like the Alumni e-mails but I really enjoyed my final two years there. It's a cool city to live in and the campus has cool vibes.

Only bummer is no skateboarding, eh?

[deleted]

While waiting for OP to reply, I'll recommend you check out wooof and helpx

Yes. WWOOF I don't like too much anymore, but helpx is where it's at. I start 99% of my travels in a new place this way by offering either a promo video, simple web design, basic yoga instruction, or even just cooking and cleaning. You don't even have to have farming experience, just be ready to learn and get dirty!

Couchsurfing, Work Exchanges (see HelpX below), studying abroad, crowdfunding. Most importantly: BEING CREATIVE. You can sell yourself very impressively as long as you have the right words for it.

Aside from work exchanges or being hosted, I've afforded other means of finance on the road by doing odd-jobs here and there (construction, painting, music gigs connected to by friends or asking hitchhiking drivers/couchsurfing hosts), by returning to the States and making promo videos and simple WP websites for low-budget clients, working for my neighbor's catering business, playing some solo music gigs, and lots of random stuff.

Lately, I've been trying to get the YouTube channel going because that'd be pretty awesome to have passive income like that. Enough people are going this route these days, and with enough SEO knowledge, they're doing it successfully. I don't want to talk shit (because I'm just jealous), but dropping it all and traveling with a blog and/or YT channel is a huge trend these days. The traveling then becomes a lot more about the blog posts and photos then it does about the people and cultural experiences.

The first step (for me) in quieting worries about money was to hitchhike. Grab a sleeping bag and one summer just head out there without a destination. Strangers will take you in, leftovers will find you outside of gas stations, and the stars will guide you to a GREAT spot to sleep on a field next to the highway (you'll realize you couldn't have planned this)

Learn to ask for money on the street (or play music for some, or offer something silly but happy). It's humbling and you learn how to make someone like you within seconds of eye contact. If you can succeed in getting someone to give you money (we all know what it's like to be asked for spare change, imagine being on the other side), then you are succeeding in getting someone to like you--or at least give you enough energy to trust you for that moment.

If you can get people to like you, then you're capable of a lot more than that. That's the very bottom of the food chain (eating, sleeping)--we're often so estranged to getting these base calories and levels of comfort met that we don't realize it can be a powerful foundation for getting something a lot more powerful off the ground.

Meeting people. Be happy, friendly, courteous, and don't be afraid of small-talk. If someone walks away, so be it. But most people are excited for a small chat--once they realize you're traveling, that you're interesting, the conversation steps up a knotch. Once they realize you're on the look-out for something, maybe they can help. This would depend on where you're at and who you're trying to talk to (or how you're dressed).

That said, finding a job teaching English (esp if you're white), is NOT a hard task in today's world. You're able to teach computers? You're a shoe-in. All you have to do is be able to get someone to like you and boom, you're hired. Even if it's just for room and board--if you can sell yourself as something someone else doesn't know they need (selling ice to an eskimo), then you can do anything you want.

What was the craziest experience you had while on travelling?

Well there are a couple "don't stick your dick in crazy" bits (1 in particular that strikes a chord), but my favorite story off the top of my head is hitchhiking through France one summer afternoon a few years ago:

After waiting 5 hours in the hot sun in a very crappy place to look for a ride, a very sketchy dude picked me up. Wasn't long before he showed me his bag of hash for sale and offered me some, and when I denied he suddenly told me we were going to take a shortcut. After leaving the road and driving through some countryside for a bit, we get to a little village in the middle of I-have-no-idea-where. We stop for "a coffee" where my driver orders a beer and downs it. While I drink my coffee, he wanders off to make a phone call and when I get near to him he lowers his voice and speeds up in French (I speak French but nowhere near to a native level).

He gets off the phone, tells me we're going to "meet his friend." That I would "like his friend, his friend was special ... (special in French can mean special or crazy). We hop back in his car and drive down the block to a house that looks like a crackhead lives inside--two beaten up, broken down cars with a bunch of auto parts lying around, overgrown grass, a twisted mangy cat walking around--and suddenly a guy walks out that fits the crackhead stereotype--bulgy veins, muscular but thin, faded tattoos, grungy face... That's about when I'm like "oh shit." He says the cops are on the way, so my driver makes a face and we book it out of there.

That was reassuring, until he's suddenly driving super fast on roads through a bunch of corn fields making random turns here and there, stopping only to ask a prostitute "how much?" before driving through a small village where he gets another phone call. He speeds up his French and lowers his voice again and as we start to drive through a one-lane, shady forest road he gets off the phone and asks me what the best strains of marijuana were in California. I tell him some as we get deeper and deeper into the forest, wondering if this was straight out of a murderous hitchhiking film...

But sure enough, my mind got the best of me and suddenly we emerge out of the forest and right at the pay station at the highway I had been on before. We had taken a shortcut. He gives me a hug goodbye and says "may we meet again, the Earth is small." And that was that.

I would've noped out a lot sooner. Took some balls to stay with that guy.

Always gotta stick it with for the story. Or the future /r/iAMA thread...

The karma long con. But it's hard to tell a story if you're dead. =\

It was one of those "follow your intuition" things. The only "reason" I had to be scared was the fact that I thought it was unfolding like a shitty horror movie--and that's not a reason at all. I didn't really feel uncomfortable or nervous around the guy, I just thought it was a sketchy situation. The mind likes to play tricks.

What is the minimum amount of money you would advise having to start something like this?

Depends on your reason for leaving, what your skills are, what you require in your lifestyle, and what you would like to accomplish. Always helps to have a friend somewhere, and helps even more to have a skill that you can trade for room and board (check out HelpX). If you don't mind hitchhiking and sleeping on sides of roads, you don't need much at all. I spent less than $800 in 4 months in Europe a few years ago. Nowadays, my standards are a bit higher and I left for Asia with $2000 to spend. It's gone now, and I'm working on making more with a fundraiser that I had no idea I would be doing 5 months ago. You just have to learn to be creative.

Lately I have been trading room & board for promotional videos. I used to do web design for that, sometimes yoga, sometimes just plain cooking and cleaning. You can even pick up new skills this way.

Also check out Couchsurfing. Having someone that understands your plight in the place you want to move to/start fresh at is never a bad thing.

1 - What is the equipment you travel with : backpack, suitcases, multiple DSLR, sleepingbag, etc?

2 - Anything you regret not doing while abroad?

Backpack + sack for clothes. Backpack has DSLR (Nikon D5200 + 3 lenses), Zoom H4N mic, hard drives, computer and related accessories/cables, a few books (lost my kindle), notebook, pens paper business cards, studio headphones, that's about it. Sleeping bag attached to the bottom, trumpet hangs off an arm strap (I always travel with an instrument, this time I decided to learn trumpet). There's a pic on my IG of my new hemp/nettle leather bag I custom designed in Nepal, which is super awesome for holding all my gear in a convenient way.

And I have about 2.5 outfits worth of clothes in a soft sack backpack I carry around with my hand.

Regrets? A few women I regret not pursuing, wondering where they are now. A few natural wonders I hope to get a chance to see again because they passed me by. A few nights of drinking I wish I hadn't taken so intensely.

where's the dopest spot?

boulder, CO

Have you ever had to resort to banging an old lady in exchange for a bed and a hot meal?

In a lot of ways I've done that without realizing that's what I was doing.

Where is the happiest place you've gone? Not necessarily the place that made you the happiest, but the place where the locals seemed the most genuinely happy.

Probably not the answer you're looking for, but in Phuket, my best friend and I were discussing how it seems that wherever people are living by a beach, these people are never stressed out. It's like they just get it--no need to take anything too seriously, because the beach is right there. Nothing's ever too stressful if something so naturally powerful yet beautiful is nearby. All you gotta do is jump in to humble and rejuvenate yourself.

Then I went to Bali, and realized that this was NOT the case. Requires a certain kind of beach, NOT destroyed by tourism.

Aside from beach places? Nepal. Those people are just so rad. So laidback, so cool. Out for your money but not out to hurt you or be rude to you (like sometimes you feel in India). Warm and loving, stoked to hear you say a few words in Nepali... I'm on a Nepal kick lately, for sure.

What were some of the organizations you worked with that you felt were actually having a positive effect?

I'm currently a first year college student trying to find a way "out" of this, but I find that all of these organizations that revolve around helping those in other countries are more driven to make those who volunteer feel good, rather than actually benefit those countries. If you have any organization recommendations I'd love to hear about your experience. Or really any advice you have for someone trying to pave their own path.

Of the videos we've completed, here are a select few that exemplify 'positive effect:'

Divayanatra Orphanage & Community School in Kathmandu, Nepal: this guy runs his business doing sound healing with singing bowls (wtf is that, right?) and uses all extra profits to sustain this orphanage for 9 boys that also acts as a school for migrant workers' kids in the area (42 kids) during the day. The boys would have nothing if it weren't for that, and the kids would be playing in the mud and getting hurt trying to make bricks like their parents. The effect is small but it is a beautiful thing.

Farmer's Yard Permaculture Hostel in Bali: Djuka and his mates are all the children of ex-pats--white kids with white parents that grew up on Bali speaking Balinese and Indonesian. A weird fusion of a new generation, they went to international schools so they are still 'western' in that sense, but are in many ways still a part of the local scene. Bali is a beautiful island but is absolutely fucked by its tourism and rampant development, and Farmer's Yard and Permablitz Bali (below) are groups that aim to show tourists that there are smarter ways to travel: in places that don't have garbage pick-up, there are alternatives to plastic (which would otherwise be burned at night).

Permablitz Bali: These guys meet up once or twice a month and set up a new organic permaculture garden set-up on a new plot of land. This involves removing the layers and layers of garbage from below the surface of the soil, setting up garden beds, building grease traps and fish ponds to maximize waste usage, and a hell of a lot more. There are a LOT of permaculture groups out there, and I'm proud to say that we worked with a few in Bali.

Rainbow Children's Home in Pokhara, Nepal: A good definition of "positive effect:" the volunteers that run this place (not including the western 'voluntourists' that pay to come help out for a few weeks), dedicate all their extra time to teaching the orphans skills that will help them get on later in life: tourism, trekking, handicrafts, English, and more. It's absolutely beautiful, and they've got a pretty good set-up going which is impressive and inspiring. We're actually working on a fundraiser with them right now.

EDIT: I'll get back to your advice for paving your own path shortly...

Thank you so much for those, have you worked with all of them personally? and yes, definitely open to any advice(:

Yes I've worked with them, I made these videos!

As far as paving your own path goes, I would say start off with having an open mind towards everything. Develop as many skills as you can and don't limit yourself to what you only think you're able to do. Be creative with your potential: the more you experience and the more you see, the more you'll be able to offer.

Personally, I take what I enjoy doing and I market myself to work exchange groups/clients as someone with something they NEED. Most people don't know they need/want a promo video, for instance. Everyone's got something unique to offer, you just need to know how to portray it in an honest way that is attractive to the other party.

So you're basically Hansel from zoolander?

"Me and my friends have been been too busy bathing off the southern coast of St. Barts with spider monkeys for the past two weeks. Tripping on acid changed our whole perspective on shit."

So, I guess, uh, I guess you can dere-lick my balls, capitan.

That was the response i was looking for. Thank you.

There couldn't be anything else, eh?

Any tips for a female traveling alone or possibly with a partner? I've always wanted to drop everything and just go, but being a young woman in a foreign country scares the shit out of me. In your experience, might it be safe?

Helps to have a partner in the beginning if you've never done it. The girl (old high school friend) I'm traveling with now is off traveling India alone after four months with me--I doubt she would have been so comfortable doing that four months ago, but we warmed each other up to it. Now she's confident, chillin and comfy, living life.

How do you you travel at this age knowing full well that your parent(s) may die or become ill during your time away? Something that always has been the biggest "oh I can't do this" factor is just me feeling obligated to stay close so I can be there for those around me, I feel like I'd just be bailing on them if I left to travel. Makes me feel like I'm giving a big middle finger to my family...

I'm fortunate enough to have a family that loves and supports what I do. My grandfathers get death scares all the time, but they'd never in the world want me to not follow my heart on account of them. They did the same kind of thing when they were younger, just under different pretexts.

If something happens, something happens. If an emergency happens, someone would fly me home on the next flight if it were that important.

Death is a part of life. Clinging to life as we know it can become like clinging to a shirt that no longer fits you: change into a new one and you'll probably be much more content.

As far as death of loved ones go, you should probably make sure you're not dead on the inside yourself before you go around worrying about if other people around you are going to die. It's a much more productive use of energy to make sure you're alive first and foremost--following a dream of traveling can be that spark to feel alive.

Thanks for the reply! Death was just an example as it's something that happened to my family recently, I know if I wasn't nearby my mom would have had a lot on her plate to deal with alone. I guess what I meant is the aspect of taking care of your family out of respect for what they sacrificed to raise you. But I fully understand about what you mean with living your life for what you dream of, I just think that sometimes it can come off as selfish to fully follow your dreams regardless of the needs of those around you.

Yeah, everyone's in their own situation so I can respect where you're coming from. I think it's best to approach it in moderation: decide what you want to do, think about it in a rational way for everyone that would be affected, and then bring it up with them frankly and openly. Explain to them what you plan on doing and what it means to you, and that you'd like to make it easiest for everyone by adjusting the plans to work for everyone. That way everyone can have their say and feel respected, and no one has to feel like anyone is being selfish or doing things without others in mind.

My SO and I are leaving in late July to travel Western/Central Europe. We'll be flying into Copenhagen and working our way south along the Northern coast as a general/vague itinerary, but are really just aiming to go with the flow of things. Our goal is to travel for as long as possible, but we'll both be first timers and I haven't had many first hand accounts from people other than those who go only for a few weeks at time.

Do you have any great towns/places off the beaten path that hold well in your memories? We're trying to avoid big tourist hubs and just experience travelling for as long as possible. We should fly over with somewhere around $15k saved up. Is this enough for us to have a good time for 3-4 months in Europe and still have enough to fly over to SE Asia for a few months?

We'll hopefully be doing some work exchange and TESL or something, but it's all kind of up in the air still. I really don't want to limit our travel with commitments, but how far in advance do i need to be in touch with some of these places to have a chance at landing a job?

Thanks in advance if you can answer any of that. We're really excited and are just trying to gather as much info as possible.

I stayed in Western/Central/Eastern Europe hitchhiking around for less than $800 in 4 months. I slept on sides of roads (fields) a couple times but mainly camped with groups of hippies and was taken in by strangers picking me up on the road. They would feed me and have me shower, etc. So $15k? I should hope so.

Try couchsurfing and work exchanging and it'll not only help you find some new places off the beaten path but it'll save you money and help you learn some new stuff, plus meet cool people.

As far as Thailand goes, you could probably land a job in Bangkok under the radar just by being white (assuming you're white) with the right connection. TEFL/TESOL courses start a month before the semester starts (I think Jan and October in Thailand are the course months), so make sure you sign up a few months in advance of that.

If you really want to wing it, get there a couple months in advance of those months ^{^} and decide if you even want to stay and teach before committing. You may not be into it, after all. Nothing wrong with that.

Sorry to be brief, PM me if you have more questions.

Are all of your friends extremely annoyed by you?

yes, they're the reason I keep traveling.

I've been reading some of your comments and I watched some videos on your Youtube channel. I really love what you're doing because it's something I've set out to do myself and it resonates with me. I created a podcast that I hoped would be the foundation for heading in this direction (yes, it's my username).
In the start the podcast would be symbolized as a seedling and would be the start to something big, a "Growth Origin". I would focus on thriving, use the podcast as a means to feel out and understand my environment and learn. I take the topics that I'm interested in but never had the time to learn and use the podcast and it's listeners as motivation to study them. I knew very well that when I started it, it could turn into pretty much anything.
Lately I've been imagining this podcast as turning into exactly what you're doing. Traveling the world and recording conversations with random people and building an online community. Hearing their stories, recording their laughter, and just experiencing life in general.
It's so fulfilling to see someone else doing it. It gives me a way to see where I want to be with a real example, I guess I could say.
And honestly, "perception travels" is really just a perfect name for it. I just can't get over how awesome the name is, I wish I'd thought of it.

I would love to email you and speak with you sometime. We could maybe even record a discussion?

I'm down! I was actually on another podcast a few months ago, the How to do your 20s podcast.

Glad we are on a similar wavelength and you are inspired. Conversations are important and need to be shared--even if only a few people hear it. I would say Joe Rogan has inspired us all :P

PM me and we'll set something up!

My last day at work is in less than two weeks and I am off to Thailand to take a TEFL class and live abroad for as long as is sustainable. I am very excited but also very nervous. Your posts have inspired and fostered my sense of adventure, thank you. I too want to give back as well as make a living and discover something about myself.

When faced with a homesick feeling or sense of doubt about your current state, was there a frame of mind, mantra, or something that kept you moving?

Sweet!

I answered something like this in another question when asked if I ever thought I was going to die: I would ask myself if I would be OK with that, if I was happy with who I was in that moment. If I wasn't happy, I quickly made myself happy by some deep breathing and acceptance of things that are what they are.

Once I ended up surviving (inevitably), I made sure I adjusted my life/lifestyle into one that wouldn't bummed me out if it were all to end (personality, projects, ambition, etc)

Kind of like a wake-up call.

A good mantra I use in meditation these days is simply "I AM." Remember that you are, and nothing else really matters.

Thank you so much for your reply Jordan. This is a fantastic mental stance. Best of luck to you in all future endeavors. Maybe our paths will cross someday. Cheers to you!

Cheers! And thank you. Feel free to keep in touch.

I don't want this to be taken the wrong way but why should I care about what you are doing? There are lots of people traveling and helping out others, they are called missionaries, you are combining that with amateur reporting. What should someone be asking you that isn't already on your YouTube channel?

Absolutely nothing. If you don't care, don't ask anything.

I'm not saying i don't care, in asking why i should care about your AMA. What is unique to what you are doing, what unique or personal insights into missionary work or where you are living do you want to share?

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development.

As the OP states, I'm making videos for individuals and organizations trying to better the world in their own local, regional manner available to them. Videos help expose what they're doing to the world via the internet, and may help them attract funds or the volunteers they need to continue.

A simple question to start: which countries that are not your home country have you visited thus far?

Lists like these make me realize how much I've traveled and how little I've traveled. Excuse the lack of exact countries, but I don't quite feel like opening up Google Maps just yet:

Most of Western Europe (excluding Scotland, Portugal, Italy), a good chunk of Central/Eastern Europe (still haven't made it up to Latvia, Belarus, Estonia, or Ukraine), most of SE Asia (no Laos or Vietnam) + Hong Kong, Nepal and India, and a bit of central America (still waiting on Belize, Guatemala and Honduras).

Also: Canada.

I've always wanted to undertake Africa as a big thing--one of those bike from the south to the north things, or go on some other kind of crazy adventure--but I'm still building up to that. I've heard you need a lot of money to do something like that. The Middle East scares the shit out of me because of the media but I know from friends it can be a super loving place, so I also have a lot of desire to figure out a trip there, as well.

Lately my travels have been for making videos with subjects in mind, so if I can't get connected into something that interests me, I won't be going there any time soon.

I am planning on hitch hiking Cairo to capetown. I am currently working out the details right now but i will go with the next couple of years. I could use some company!

Keep me in the loop. Sounds epic.

Anything you regret doing, during your travels?

Staying with a [psychotic] woman in Mexico for a couple months so I could play accordion in a gypsy jazz band. She was cool, and so were her kids, but suddenly when it was time for me to leave she was pregnant (this was after I'd gone that she told me this--also, very suspicious because our sex life was domestic to none).

I told her I'd be back to help out in a few months then, after raising some money at home, that I needed a reason to settle somewhere anyway, and a child may as well be that reason.

But then she told me I wasn't allowed to be the father, that she would hide the child from me. That she was moving to a hidden city and I would never find her no matter how hard I tried. That she contracted HPV from me and that I was secretly gay and that's why I was such a bad person.

She made my life a living hell until my family and I realized she was making the whole thing up.

Women eh? Cant live with them, cant live without them.

Everything in moderation. Even great BJs.

I'm one of those cliche people that says they don't believe in regret because experience shapes you into who you are today.

Anyhow, I regret the amount of rampant decadence I partied in Bangkok when I lived there for a year. I could have saved a few thousand dollars, instead drank enough beer to fill a lake.

You mentioned web design. Can you tell me more about how one can make money remotely like that?

Also, what should I learn, if I wanted to make it a full time job?

Honestly I got lucky. As a kid (~11 years old), I was super into it and learned PERL and HTML early on (started to learn, at least). Within a few years, my parents' friends knew me as "that kid," so the seed was planted. By the time I was 14 (this was like 2002), all my parents' friends who knew literally nothing about the internet wanted to hire me for their websites. I didn't know much either, on a professional level (Unreal Tournament 2003 demo had me hooked) but I knew enough to get some images online and show them a website.

So basically, some of them I still do projects for because they know I'll do it cheap and they know they don't need it perfect. They need updates every few months so they throw me some dunks when that happens. It's nothing stable, but it helps.

While I'm hardly the authority on this, I would look into WordPress development and/or design. Market yourself to real people in your real people network as someone who will make a small-business or organization website for either free or very little money. If they like what you do and how you operate, they'll tell friends when friends ask. WordPress is easy--SO easy. Yet some people still can't figure it out, so they'll hire people to do something which is almost like a Microsoft Word equivalent (plus a few steps)

Want to travel with little money? Go to Asia and teach English. I was in south China for a year, and there are a lot wealthy Asian parents will pay big money to get their kid a native English tutor. The standard is like $25 an hour, and it's not like they want you to teach grammar either, they just want you to talk to them.

It's CRAZY how much money can be tapped into this way

As someone who has always loved being in my comfort zone, and maintaining the status quo in my life, I have a hard time seeing the allure of traveling with no end in sight and no plans ($, location, agenda) Do you think that some people are dispositioned to love traveling or do you think its something that can be developed/inspired in people?

I'm envious of people like you. I had a girlfriend once that told me she felt sorry for me because of how I was. I didn't know how to respond because I felt sorry for how she was at the time.

Yes, I think people are predispositioned to lifestyles like this, just like the status quo followers are also dispo-ed to that. Makes sense, in the end, because one wouldn't be there if it weren't for the other.

I think for a lot of people the inspiration has a lot to do with self-discovery. Go travel, "let it all out while you can" as they say (and people continue to tell me), and then settle in and get your shit done. Self-discovery is important and that's why it feels so good: some people find it in travel, others in yoga, others in psychedelics, others still in inspiring people or works of art, the list goes on.

For many of us, I think a lot of these methods come in and out in phases. I personally can get fed up with traveling and get excited to stick around the town where I grew up for a couple months and recover. But after a couple months of being there, I'm absolutely craving to get somewhere new again.

It's really nice having no plans, but without knowing how to manage it, it can be really stressful not knowing where the next bit of $$ will come from.

How have the travels been going hermano? Reading your ama now and really enjoying it. I am currently out of the travel loop as I need to build marketable skills for the future...but coming here was a breath of fresh air.

The travels are travels, they go as they go >_O

Marketable skills like what? :P I've been trying to do that for years now. Just, you know, while being on the road. I think it's working, it'll just take a decade longer than if I applied myself to one thing at a time..

Hey mate I'm looking to do something similar. Long distance bicycle touring with the good help of the subreddit r/bicycletouring. Have you ever traveled by bicycle for a long amount of time? Alternatively spent long weeks in remote areas of the world travelling through it?

I never have done either of those to the degree I would like to, but it's definitely on my list. I'd like have to have a really cool project in mind for it, to learn something very intense.

Throughout your travels, what was the most rewarding work you did, where did you do it (country or place of work) and hwy was it rewarding compared to the other things what you have done?

That's a great question, and the answer is easy: Nepal making videos. This last November and December, we (my current travel partner and I) made videos for two different orphanages (one and two that are using them for either their GoFundMe page or general online exposure usage.

It was rewarding compared to the other things I've done because I actually got to be present and witness the reaction from them when they realized what we'd done. Teaching English is something the child may never actually come to appreciate, but a kid/volunteer staff seeing a video made for their orphanage community school, produced purely for helping them subsist, was one of the most rewarding things I've been a part of in my days.

Coolest place you have visited? Worst place?

Hardest questions. I really love everywhere I go because it's a chance to be some place new... but for some reason I really just did not enjoy myself in Cambodia. It was a learning experience, sure, but experience after experience just kept me feeling down and out: first about myself, and then about the country itself. The world's not all a happy bouncy place like we think sometimes, and coming face-to-face with that can be heart-wrenching.

I'd say something similar happened to me in Nicaragua when I was 19. Seeing poverty for the first time really opened up my eyes. I hid in my hostel for 4 days.

EDIT: oh, and favorite place? I love eastern Europe because it's similar enough to not be TOO culture shocking but it's just underdeveloped enough to be away from the stream of bullshit I leave the western world behind for

What country had the rudest people?

Honestly I love France--I studied there and have returned multiple times--but I still think the French are the rudest.

In a good way, I guess. They just don't care.

Indians are also kind of rude in a way that's just cultural misunderstanding. They don't mean it--I just don't get it. Once I started to get the feel of it, I realized that no one means any harm, they just do things differently.

That's interesting. I went to France this summer and found people to be really, really nice as long as I was attempting to speak French with them. I had people literally giving me their roadmaps when I asked for directions, walking me and a companion to the police station and helping to file a police report, giving me free tours of their town...It was kind of shocking given the stereotypes.

Germany, on the other hand...

Ha! I had a lovely time in Germany.

I suppose my French bitterness stems from the fact that the last 2 times I was there, I spent a lot of time in rural Bretagne. The countryside/peasant folk were friendly on a local scale--for me it seemed that since I was not a part of their community, I just wasn't welcome at all. But I suppose that kind of attitude is not limited to France.

Was there ever a time in your travels where you were genuinely afraid for your life?

Yes, but those are always the moments that I try to take advantage of to take a step back and ask myself "If I'm to die right now, am I happy? Was it worth it?"

Once I ask myself that, it makes me feel better. And I never end up dying. Fear is never real to begin with, just a product of the mind.

Thanks for the joy, entertainment, and inspiration you've brought through your travels. I've always been a wanderer and lived a few places abroad and traveled a bunch but can no longer due to family and financial constraints. Any recommendations on how to achieve that sense of wonder and personal discovery in your own backyard with only a few days at a time to get away? Were you happy while home when you weren't able to plan trips and look forward to traveling? If so how and what did you spend your time doing?

Besides marijuana? Yoga and meditation. When you can't continue seeking outwards, start seeking inwards. You have access to everything in there, you just have to open the door. It becomes a journey inward symbolic of the journey outward (and vice versa).

Sorry to get all hippy on you, but I really believe that. Yoga's what keeps me sane when I find myself back in the States for a few months at a time. I don't really require it as much when I'm on the road with constant stimulii surrounding me.

What has been the single moment in your travels that has made a significant impact on you as a person? Changed your life/ way of thinking type of thing.

I'd like to think on this one because there may be a better answer, but the big thing that changed my life forever was seeing a guy without an eyeball in Granada, Nicaragua when I was 19.

I was coming from intern-ing in Hollywood, going to school (had studied abroad in France but never had really been out of the western world), coming from the suburbs... And there was this guy begging for change with his eyeball scooped out. There were plenty of guys along the street asking for money, but the fact that this wasn't even being hidden blew me away.

I didn't know about the civil war/CIA stuff yet, and I hadn't seen too far out of the tourist part of town... But once I saw that, I suddenly realized that the world was a much bigger, perhaps scarier, much more raw place than it had been presented to me in my bubble for my whole life.

I didn't know how to deal with it. I drank rum with some Austrians and stayed in my hostel. I wasn't scared of people, I was ashamed with myself. Who was I to bargain down a dollar for a guest room in a place like this? Who was I to be drinking, eating, living well, doing whatever I wanted when people without eye balls were still trying to survive out on the streets?

Might be simple enough questions, but I had grown up a sheltered boy. It's still tough for me going to a new area covered with poverty, but I know how to keep my chin up now and remember that what I am doing has a purpose for the greater good, to help this kind of global issue in the long run.

Anyway, that's my answer for now. If another one comes I'll add another reply.

This is exactly what Id like to do. Im a 21 year old university student, Im going to Daegu, Korea next year, and Id like to travel and live the next 10 years or so after I graduate living in various countries.

How do you pay off your college debt while doing odd jobs travelling? Thats my biggest fear is being tied down by bills.

I went to a public school, had a mom that forced me to go to school (thus paying for a good amount as my ultimatum to not "drop out and go traveling"), and also worked full-time, so actually I never had college debt. Super lucky there.

I do have credit debt though. I don't regret it, but it does suck. It was a big burden to me until I realized that there's nothing wrong with only making minimum payments--those big evil banks helped me gain a lot of life experience that I'm sure one day will help me out with cash flow. For now, I just let interest accumulate and enjoy myself.

When you die, you don't take anything with you. Helps to remember that, and the fact that debt (and most money, these days) is just a number on a screen. Your life is your life, and you can feel it inside your veins.

EDIT: oh yeah, but go teach English in Korea for a year or two, and I'm sure you'll have a NICE chunk of savings afterwards. Use that to do your traveling and have some intention in mind for what you want to do after. Either settle somewhere and get a job or try to start some kind of business while on the road, if it's tickling your fancy. Just stay creative. Never forget that the universe is unlimited potential and you can do whatever you want as long it's coming from who you are and not your society-brainwashed mind (just requires patience)

Thank you so much for such a full answer, it's a bit daunting when you don't know where to start. But you have a good point, I'll keep all of this in mind!

It's really daunting, I know. But it's the first step--mind over matter. Just start developing skills outside of the classroom. Start empowering yourself to know that you can pretty much do whatever you want if you put your mind to it. That's key.

Have you ever got laid?

A couple times, yeah. Made me squeal like a lil girl.

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Well I personally speak French and Spanish, so that helps when I'm in the respective regions of the world, but even if you don't speak another language, get a guidebook or an app that helps you learn the local language of wherever you are.

Even if you don't pick them up as easily as others, just the basics 'thank you' and 'hello/good day/good night' and 'how much' with basic numbers does WONDERS and people will get SO excited and you'll make them so happy. It's really worth the very small amount of effort you have to put in.

And no, I have actually NEVER studied an area beforehand. I refuse to, really. I like to get my own organic experience from it. Sometimes I miss out on things, but sometimes I get a much more authentic experience. Lonely Planet isn't the end all be all of a country, after all.

I'm 14, and still rather confused as to what I want to do (Who isn't?), and I thought I would ask you a few questions:

I may have the opportunity to go on exchange for a year through Rotary in around a year and a half (I would apply initially in October this year, and then train/learn up until around august next year, coming back stateside July year after that). What are your thoughts on this, and what would you recommend learning to both make an application look better, and have a better time wherever I do end up going? I am currently learning German.

What country have you enjoyed the most, and where have you stayed the longest (Outside of the US)?

Do you speak any secondary languages, and if so, which?

Who would you not recommend doing what you currently are to? What type of person?

Thanks for reading, you really do seem like an interesting guy.

~Rescis

I don't know what Rotary is, but on any application I'd recommend being creative with explaining yourself. This requires being creative with discovering what you want from this, also. If you know what you hope to achieve/learn, then you can refine how you fill out that application. They probably get enough apps about "open-minded" people wanting to travel, so maybe come up with some clever wording in there.

I've stayed the longest in France (cumulatively about 14 months), and probably have enjoyed Mexico the most.

I speak French and Spanish fluently, and spoke enough Thai to get by when I lived in Thailand. I've got some street German in there, and at the moment am learning a bit of Hindi. Was, at least, I kind of got sidetracked.

I can't really not recommend the travel life to anyone--unless maybe you have some serious physical disabilities, in which case it may not really make sense.

In the end, it's good that you're 14 and curious. You're miles ahead of where I was at 14. I was curious but wasn't aware of that fact--it took a lot of different catalysts for me to start doing what I'm doing.

Hmm, alright. Why did you like Mexico the most? Also, once I learn a bit more German, I would love to Skype occasionally and speak it to someone, if you are open to that? My brother went to Austria for a year, and I would really enjoy to just start talking to him one day in halfway (more likely eighth of the way) fluent German.

Oh, and Mexico just because I always felt relatable to people. Not sure why, maybe because I come from Southern California originally.

My German sucks. Try /r/languagelearning, lots of good resources in there

This might be a bit late but this post really hit home with me, I can relate to a lot of it.

I'm a 19 year old who has, like you, dabbled in many different things trying to find out what to do in life, from web design to photography to filmmaking to writing. And of course, I love to travel.

I'm currently saving and planning for a (solo) backpacking trip to Europe in mid-march to april, so my question is what advice would you give for someone venturing into something like this for the first time?

Jacks of all trades, masters of none! Some call it the curse of our generation, I actually think it's pretty cool--especially if you take the time to 'master' some of those trades once in a while (for instance, right now I feel like I'm doing that with film).

Advice for a solo backpacking trip to Europe is to HITCHHIKE! I can't recommend it enough. It's scary as shit that very first time, but after you receive a ride and watch distance go by and realize that you're not paying for anything, your whole life will change. Throw interesting, amazingly kind people into the mix and it'll be that much more powerful.

And if you don't get that far, at least start Couchsurfing! Meeting people is key to getting a life on the road going.

what are your top 5 favorite travel sites?

Honestly, I'm not a fan of many. They all seem egotistical. I like travel for the people, not for the tourists/site owners themselves, which is what the travel sites normally seem to be about.

Feel free to open me up to some new ones...