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Travel The MEGA Travel Thread!

a few more pictures from peru:

ollantaytambo:

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this is a rufous collared sparrow - i saw many birds while at MP, including the andean cock-of-the-rock and a golden headed quetzal, but only these little sparrows consented to being photographed.

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6:13AM 26 april 2012:

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the temple of the three windows:

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the ceremonial stone:

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Wow, you guys, these pictures are amazing! I want to be in Macchu Picchu, no wait, I want to be in Prague or Iceland! I want to be everywhere I see in these pictures. :)

A_C--I've traveled a lot by myself and am planning another big trip for a year from now. I love it! I actually prefer it to traveling with friends or family because you meet all the other lone wanderers.
 
^hahah rough 'em up, eh? :D


StarOcean, Hopefully AudioRiver in Poland....we may just go the first two days and not the full three but we will see.
We've thrown around a couple other festivals, the Balkan Lake one and a couple others....but it's going to depend on whether or not we take a cruise or not....AudioRiver is the one we're pretty set on but we haven't bought the tix yet.
My mother and I are in love with Nico Jaar so it's the top one on our festivals list.
 
I visited Poland and Hungary last year around the same time :) and i rarely had any problems with the language barrier.
 
wicked! im going to europe in July for my first time too :)
a bit nerve wracking, but i think english is pretty well understood in most of the countries there.
 
If you can't understand them just nod and smile. Most eurobeans speak english though. When I was lost in Zakopane Poland all wasted some dude on a bus asked me "Speaka de deutsche?"

I was like LOL NO I DONT SPEAK DUTCH.

America fuck yea.
 
^Uh oh :D

tripnotyzm said:
wicked! im going to europe in July for my first time too :)
a bit nerve wracking, but i think english is pretty well understood in most of the countries there.
Click to expand...
Where are you going there?

So I have my tix and while I feel quite a bit better about speaking english when I get there- trying to make reservations in Poland has been trying. All of the hotels have the English option but switch over to Polish in the reservation process lol Ack. The other day I had all my little translators pulled up trying to figure out what I was paying for! I didn't reserve my room and decided I will try to call this week.
The German sites were fine in translation.

But yay! I DID get my flights and my AudioRiver Tix- now I just pray my passport hurries up so I don't lose my mind.
In the meantime I think I should learn how to say Thank you in a few languages ;)
 
Condumbpope said:
If you can't understand them just nod and smile. Most eurobeans speak english though. When I was lost in Zakopane Poland all wasted some dude on a bus asked me "Speaka de deutsche?"

I was like LOL NO I DONT SPEAK DUTCH.

America fuck yea.
Click to expand...

I presume you're joking since you know how to spell deutsche... but if you're not he was asking if you speak German. ;) He'd ask "Spreek jij Nederlands?" or something like that if he wanted to know if you could speak Dutch.
 
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You just couldn't resist the urge to correct....uh?

:D

Don't tip. Gratuity will be included, most likely.
 
European backpacking by yourself?

I am a 29 year old guy who is sick of waiting for friends to commit and who has an opportunity to afford such a trip. I don't want to get old, kicking myself for not pulling the trigger when i actually had the means. I am outgoing and have an adventurous streak but I still find that the idea does scare me a little. It sounds like it could get lonely at times.

I do have a passion for history and am practically creaming myself just thinking about everything I could see. I don't do drugs, (quit 7 year heroin habit around five years ago) but I do like to drink, let loose and and fucking rage on occasion.

Those are my objectives. Has anyone here done something similar to this before? Did you ever feel in danger? how did it go? tips?
 
I forgot to add, I do have 2 possession felonies on my record. Would this be an issue with securing admittance into certain countries or is it something they don't really check?

My experience with living in the states my whole life is that EVERYBODY checks for felonies and it more often than not is an issue. But don't get me started on that.
 
do it. plan a really loose itinerary, and you will likely meet people and change your plans accordingly.

i imagine some of the inevitable frustrations will feel more depressing when you are alone. like when a bus station doesn't exist or the hotel you made a reservation at and get to at 3am tells you they are booked. as long as you can handle things like that by yourself.
 
I backpacked alone in Europe earlier this year and I've also backpacked alone in the USA. I'm female and younger than you. Personally, I think travelling alone is better than travelling with friends. I think you're more open to meet people - it's too easy to stay and talk to your friend/s if you're travelling with someone. You can also do whatever you want, go wherever you want, whenever you want. I was rarely lonely - I always had people to do things with. I stayed in hostels and they are a great place to meet people. A lot of people will be in the same situation, and travelling alone.

I had very loose plans - I had some countries/places I wanted to see, but apart from the first two nights in the first hostel, I didn't book anything before I left. After that, I booked things just before I decided to go there, based on what I felt ike doing. I was there in winter though so there wasn't much problem with places/transport being booked out - if you go in a different season, you might have to book further ahead.

It wasn't scary as such. There were times when I felt completely lost and out of my depth - like when a bus started going in a completely different direction and everything's in German, or you can't find your hostel no matter how far you walk with that damn heavy bag on your back. Obviously though, I survived, and it's a real rush to be somewhere where you know you can only rely on yourself, where things are in a different language and you're completely out of your comfort zone, but you get there anyway. I had an amazing time and I'd highly recommend it.

As for tips, there are lots. My main ones would be to pack light, you'll really appreciate a pack that's light when you're manouvering on public transport and so on. Bring clothes in fabrics that are easily washable! I made the mistake of bringing woollen jumpers - great for the cold, but you can't chuck wool in the washing machine, so I was stuck washing my jumpers in the shower. Some kind of passport/card holder you can carry around your neck/waist is useful. Photocopy your passport and keep it somewhere separate to your real one; also give a copy to your friends and family back home. Bring a padlock too - you'll need it to lock away your valuables in the hostel lockers. That's all I can think of for now - one thing about travelling is that you become great at making do and finding solutions :)
 
Highly second everything footscrazy mentioned.

I'm currently in my third month of traveling through europe on my own, I'm posting this from Portugal off my phone.. I would highly recommend pursuing it; if you book into hostels you rarely get lonely, there's always other travelers, groups and solo that you will instantly click with because your both following the same goals.

I've kept it super flexible, I had a rough idea of where I wanted to go and the route I was going to take but most if the time I would pull out a map 2 or 3 days in advance and decide which city/country I would visit next.

Transport in Europe is also extremely easy to use and figure out, most countries have the English translation or the words themselves are similar enough to English that you can figure it out. Most countries also speak English as a second or third language, Spain can be a little tricky though as they don't speak much English as I found out :) But it gives you an opportunity to learn some words in the native language.

I've been in both the winter and summer, as a solo traveller it's quite easy to get beds and public transport on late notice, but it does fill up considerably in July and August and I would recommend booking hostels a week or more in advance for popular destinations like Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin.

I packed extremely light, a 28L backpack to be exact, but I would probably recommend a 32-35L, I went a but nuts with minimal luggage :p The main benefits are been able to check all your luggage in as carry on which makes flying much more stress free if you have connecting flights and also much easier to move between places.

Initially it feels daunting to travel on your own but once you get into the swing of moving around it feels like second nature, you forget your traveling after a while..

The only downside I would mention is after a while of traveling it can be exhausting to continuously meet new people and answer the same questions, and it can be hard to have downtime when there's 6-12 other people in your room.. But the pros totally outweigh the cons.

It's freedom at its greatest, enjoy!
 
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silverman said:
I forgot to add, I do have 2 possession felonies on my record. Would this be an issue with securing admittance into certain countries or is it something they don't really check?

My experience with living in the states my whole life is that EVERYBODY checks for felonies and it more often than not is an issue. But don't get me started on that.
Click to expand...

There are some countries that don't allow people with felony records into their country. Japan comes to mind, but then again they run your prints at customs when you land and deport you right away if you have a criminal record. Most European countries aren't this strict though.

I think as long as your name doesn't pop up on any Interpol lists you'll be fine. I remember I flew to Amsterdam one time and the customs officials were very lax. They didn't type my name into a computer or anything. They just looked at the passport picture to make sure it was me and then let me through. England was a little more strict but still not nearly as bad as United States Customs can be.
 
I like the idea of travelling alone. Why hold yourself back from the experience while waiting for others?
I lucked out when I planned my European vacation in 2004. A year prior I sent almost everyone on my email list a message saying that I wanted to go and was flexible with cities. A friend of a friend contacted me and we had a great 3 weeks.

I found this...

There are some countries that will not let you enter unless you apply for a special visa. If you had a single felony, more than 5 years ago, you may get that visa. Canada, the U.K., South Africa, Iceland, Australia, and a few others do this. Most countries do not yet have the computer program to do criminal background checks at the border. You can use the site below, choose the country you want to travel to, look under entry requirements. There will be a link there to the embassy of that country. You can then look on their website, and/or find the contact info for them and call or write and ask if they have prohibitions against the entry of persons with a history of a felony. I wish there were a master list of countries that do the background checks, but there is not...not that i can find. ...and it changes from time to time. Most European countries do not require American citizens to have a visa, but if you go without knowing their policy, you could be denied entry. Best to find out ahead of time. People with a history of a felony travel all the time. there are some limitations, but, you can travel. You just need to do your research first.
Source(s):
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw…
 
^Good advice there. Use it. You don't want to travel half way around the world only to get deported back to the States. That would fucking suck.
 
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