 How long was your longest trip? What were your biggest joys and challanges during the trip? How did you fund the trip? |
AfricaAntarcticaAsiaCentral America CaribbeanEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaOceaniaSouth AmericaOceans and SeasHow long was your longest trip? What were your biggest joys and challanges during the trip? How did you fund the trip? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ''Cyclist on 30,000-mile, 8-year journey through 37 countries on battered bike '' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Mell Mell Post Count: 14102 Msg: #1 83 days ago, September 11th 2009 |  A Japanese cyclist who set off eight years ago on a whim to ride around the world with only 160 yen (£1) in his pocket has pedalled 30,000 miles through 37 countries.  His biggest achievement has been to climb Mount Everest, after riding to the base camp and joining an international expedition.His trip has been funded by the charity of others and the money he earns from performing magic tricks.He has faced many challenges, including being robbed by pirates, arrested in India, attacked by a rabid dog in Tibet, and narrowly escaping marriage in Nepal. Two of his bicycles have been stolen and two have broken so he now rides his fifth.Quote from Cyclist on 30,000-mile, 8-year journey through 37 countries on battered bike [Edited: 11:23 - Mell ]  PA Leslie Pierre-Alexandre Post Count: 867 Msg: #2 80 days ago, September 14th 2009 | Mell, | On October 12th 1996, my Mum brought me to Brussels airport for my flight to adventure in Asia...I had a backpack, some savings done through student jobs...it was few years back...and I still remember what she asked me... When do you come back? My answer: It will be bewteen 3 weeks and 20 years...guess what, I know alreary today it will be over 20years. But I still come back home at least twice a year...and not to do only my laundry! Mell Mell Post Count: 14102 Msg: #3 80 days ago, September 14th 2009 | When do you come back?That has been my mothers most frequent question for so long, along with ''will the travelling stop after this trip?''. She used to think that once I get it out of my system, I will settle down, buy a house, get a car and start looking like and air stewartess. :D My longest trip: Including working in another country to earn the money for it, it lasted a year. There were 2 year long trips, which were spent partly working in another country. [Edited: 11:20 - Mell ]  twotravelbugs Karen and Colin Post Count: 101 Msg: #4 78 days ago, September 16th 2009 | Eight years travelling sounds great. Our longest have been much shorter. We had a year in South America and 9-10 months in Africa. All others have been between 2 days and maybe 3 or 4 months. | Funding - saving hard before we left, only buying what we really needed before and during the trip. Biggest joys and challenges - oh boy, hard to answer that one. Joys would include seeing and experiencing new things, meeting people, learning about life and culture where we were, sharing things with others, be it a meal, recommendations on things to do, and not to do, or just about life at home. Our challenges would be mild compared to the quote Mell listed, dealing with new places, new languages, different cultures. One challenge in Africa was living with the same 20 people day in day out for months on the truck. Another challenge could be leaving when your time is up and you have to go home! Achievements dont have to be big, I'm not knocking riding to base camp then climbing Mt Everest, that is indeed a great achievement. I am just saying that even small things can be considered achievements. Like getting somewhere you have read about for years and finally you are seeing it for yourself. Or finally mastering enough language that you get what you want first time of asking. Or for us, finally getting into the Amazon jungle after days of buses and boats, getting to a largely untouristy area, with no camps, no flash boats, nothing but us, the guide and boatman, and a mossie net on the shore each night. That was a joy as well. The peace we experienced there, the wildlife we saw up close, no jungle trip since has beaten that. Mell Mell Post Count: 14102 Msg: #5 77 days ago, September 17th 2009 | My biggest joys: The fact that I could actually get a job, save up and then do something as cool as travelling has always been my biggest joy. | My biggest challange: Keeping my life balanced, in order to fit in everything I want as well as travelling is the biggest challange. How I funded travel has always been to save up for it and to be economical so I can save faster. I am not so sure I would like to travel endlessly like the guy in the news clip. I have met travellers like him and they cant afford the smallest luxuries that I can afford everyday. I like to be able to buy things I see and like and go into a cafe or restaurant etc when I feel like it, or take a taxi sometimes..... I have sometimes bought travellers such as the one in the news blog a coffee or a drink or given them cigarettes sometimes, and I got the impression that having these things is not a regular thing for them. I dont think I would want to depend on the charity of others, as the guy explains in the blog, for things like this. It seems like too much deprivation. Number of Users: 3 | Number of Posts: 5 | |||||||||||||||
