What is it like to Travel the World

[MarciaB]

Here's an excellent post from a travel blogger...on how not to be boring! I loved this:

http://youngadventuress.com/2014/10/how-not-to-have-a-boring-blog.html

[Kaspian]

The travelling part is generally sucky - long hours herded into aluminum tubes with 200 other people, quing up like cows to be milked... bleh.

When people use that tired cliché, "It's not the destination, it's the journey," I like to reply, "You don't travel much, do you?"

[VirginiaBob]

I know a couple who actually won millions in the lottery.  $20M, took the lump sum instead of the annuity = $13M, paid taxes on it, $6.5M, lived it up for a year, got divorced, $2.5M per person, bought high, sold low in the 2000's stock market, $1.5M now. 

But anways, the year that they lived it up, they travelled all over the world, and found that they were bored with it in about 4 months.  It was kind of like, oh wow, look at that sight, its amazing! - at the beginning.  And that one, and that one, and that one, and that one, neato - look at that one, by the end they were like, ok let's do our time and see this sight just so that we can say we saw it.  At the end it was more like that song, "Is that all there is?".

[arebelspy]

I know a couple who actually won millions in the lottery.  $20M, took the lump sum instead of the annuity = $13M, paid taxes on it, $6.5M, lived it up for a year, got divorced, $2.5M per person, bought high, sold low in the 2000's stock market, $1.5M now. 

But anways, the year that they lived it up, they travelled all over the world, and found that they were bored with it in about 4 months.  It was kind of like, oh wow, look at that sight, its amazing! - at the beginning.  And that one, and that one, and that one, and that one, neato - look at that one, by the end they were like, ok let's do our time and see this sight just so that we can say we saw it.  At the end it was more like that song, "Is that all there is?".

Great example of how not to do it, and why so many of us talked about traveling the world (slow travel), not just sightseeing.

[klystomane]

I know a couple who actually won millions in the lottery.  $20M, took the lump sum instead of the annuity = $13M, paid taxes on it, $6.5M, lived it up for a year, got divorced, $2.5M per person, bought high, sold low in the 2000's stock market, $1.5M now. 

But anways, the year that they lived it up, they travelled all over the world, and found that they were bored with it in about 4 months.  It was kind of like, oh wow, look at that sight, its amazing! - at the beginning.  And that one, and that one, and that one, and that one, neato - look at that one, by the end they were like, ok let's do our time and see this sight just so that we can say we saw it.  At the end it was more like that song, "Is that all there is?".

Part of the fun of traveling is figuring out what to do, making tradeoffs and sacrifices (what would I prefer doing based on time and money), how to get to places, and what to eat, etc. all while trying to juggle a limited budget. If money weren't an issue, then you wouldn't have to think about how to do all these things and it becomes too eas.

If you had an unlimited travel budget yeah, it would get boring pretty fast.

[RetireAbroadAt35]

kaspian:
When people use that tired cliché, "It's not the destination, it's the journey," I like to reply, "You don't travel much, do you?"

I think it depends on how you define things.  I think you're referring to the transportation.  The journey is the adventure.

But anways, the year that they lived it up, they travelled all over the world, and found that they were bored with it in about 4 months.

Great example of how not to do it, and why so many of us talked about traveling the world (slow travel), not just sightseeing.

x10.  Boredom sprouts from a lack of creativity.  There's no getting bored when you're creative, inquisitive and engaged in your travels.

[Spartana]

I know a couple who actually won millions in the lottery.  $20M, took the lump sum instead of the annuity = $13M, paid taxes on it, $6.5M, lived it up for a year, got divorced, $2.5M per person, bought high, sold low in the 2000's stock market, $1.5M now. 

But anways, the year that they lived it up, they travelled all over the world, and found that they were bored with it in about 4 months.  It was kind of like, oh wow, look at that sight, its amazing! - at the beginning.  And that one, and that one, and that one, and that one, neato - look at that one, by the end they were like, ok let's do our time and see this sight just so that we can say we saw it.  At the end it was more like that song, "Is that all there is?".

Instead of spending time in passively viewing a ton of sites (woo look at that one, and that one and look at that one) they might have enjoyed travelling more if they got involved with something and did stuff other then just look at things. Don't just look at that mountain , try to climb it. Don't just look at that historic site, try to draw it. Don't just look at those ruins, join a dig. Don't just look at that nice ocean, dive it. Don't just look at the locals, live with them. Spending months viewing tons of sites would bore me to tears rapidly and drive me insane - you've got to "do' things to make it fun. 

[Sid Hoffman]

After FIRE I'm planning ultra-slow travel where I spend at least 3 months per location.

I like the sound of that, for sure.  I'm still somewhere between 8 and 13 years away from FIRE myself (kids and divorces really do alter the best laid plans) but I've been to 19 states and 9 different countries.  Mainly western states and mainly western European countries.  However what I noticed is that the more I travel, the more I look at it in terms of a place to live for a while, not a place to tourist and sightsee.  Like when I was in Belgium, sure, first I was totally struck by how amazing the city was.  But then I started to realize that when you act like a local and do things like take the subways, or do a mile-long walk to get somewhere, it's actually just a really nice city to spend some time in.  Travel changed the way I see things.

Now when I vacation to places, I tend to do more stuff like taking a walking tour, renting a bike, or even bring my own bike to ride around.  I grocery shop, or even pack extra light and do laundry at a laundromat while on vacation as a way to force myself to actually slow down.  I remember my first time to the California central cost, I would look up real estate prices of nice houses and be blown away at how impossible it would be for me to ever buy that nice $750,000 home that I loved the look of.  However by my most recent trip, I was blown away at how incredibly easy it would be for me to swing the $1300/month rent for a tiny 1-bedroom home half a mile from the bay (central coast, not SF bay) and enjoy just living there for a year even while I decompress from working for the previous 30 years or so, assuming I do achieve FIRE on time.  Goals became possible, rather than impossible, and suddenly $750,000 was seed money to make retirement possible, rather than simply the initial payment to buy a house and keep working to pay for everything else needed in life.

My frequent cheap travel made it possible for me to quantify my goals and stay motivated for FIRE in a way that wasn't possible until I started to travel.  Before I used to travel, I was like a crash dieter: I'd starve and starve, spending no money on anything, then blow it all on something stupid, like when I dropped $20k on a used sports car.  Then I'd sell it 6 months later and starve and starve until I blew a few grand on a way, way fancier computer than I needed.  A few years later I spent $10k on an ultralight.  It was a feast/famine system that only stopped once I started to travel, honestly.  Travel opened my eyes to see the world differently and to actually appreciate the places that I could spend months not just a couple days if I stopped my binge spending.  I feel like I've been "sober" ever since, and still get to have regular frugal vacations anyway.