I remember when I was a travel virgin and had never been outside the North American continent. I was interning at Wells Fargo right before I went to go study abroad in Scotland my senior year of college. During my internship, I worked with an Englishman and an Indian and they were talking about their experiences abroad. At they time, I had thought Western Europe was foreign and exotic.
But truth is, Western Europe isn't much different than the US. Pretty much everyone speaks English, there's no strange creatures in your food and the religious/ideological beliefs share the same roots. There's hot water in the bathrooms, drinkable water from the faucet and a pub on every corner. Yes, there was a slight culture shock, but by no means was it a comfort shock.
The same British man I worked with told me "You're young, travel. Travel and explore places when you have the chance. And when I mean travel, I don't me Europe, go to Nepal and sip tea with the monks, go to Africa where kids don't have shoes on their feet. When your young, these learning experiences will carry with you the rest of your life."
While the places I'm going are well worn backpacker trails, I picked places that were all over the map and would provide me an experience that I wasn't used to. I wanted to experience different cultures with different religions and understand more about emerging markets.
Unfortunately, the blog comes with a 2 week delay as it's not always easy to find a computer where you can upload photos. But this is where I have gone so far:
Hong Kong
Thailand (Bangkok, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan)
India (Delhi, Pushkar, Jaipur, Agra, Palolem)
And to where I'm going:
Nepal (Kathmandu, Gokyo Ri Trail)
Lithuania
Helsinki
Czech Republic
Madrid
Morocco (Fez, Marrakesh, Tangier)
The map details can be found here
It's quite an eclectic group of places to visit, but the main reasons why you see that list of countries because of price, food and beer.
Each of these places, I should be able to live comfortable on a budge of around $50 per day, which includes an activity, meals, beer and a place to sleep.
Thailand, India and Morocco are my 3 favorite cuisines full of spice and heartiness. Not only will I taste the food, but I'll also take some cooking classes to learn how to make the cuisines when I return home.
I've always been fascinated by Nepal, Mt. Everest, sherpas and geology, so Nepal has long been on my bucket list. After tea with monks, that Engligh man would now approve of the travels.
Lithuania and Czech Republic are two very underrated countries when it comes to making beer and after 3 weeks of hiking, I plan to do 1 week of drinking.
Madrid, Helsinki and Hong Kong are on the list mainly because they are Oneworld Alliance hubs, but also places that I haven't visited before and would like to check out.
Coming up will be a post on how I booked the flights in business class using miles for free.
But truth is, Western Europe isn't much different than the US. Pretty much everyone speaks English, there's no strange creatures in your food and the religious/ideological beliefs share the same roots. There's hot water in the bathrooms, drinkable water from the faucet and a pub on every corner. Yes, there was a slight culture shock, but by no means was it a comfort shock.
The same British man I worked with told me "You're young, travel. Travel and explore places when you have the chance. And when I mean travel, I don't me Europe, go to Nepal and sip tea with the monks, go to Africa where kids don't have shoes on their feet. When your young, these learning experiences will carry with you the rest of your life."
While the places I'm going are well worn backpacker trails, I picked places that were all over the map and would provide me an experience that I wasn't used to. I wanted to experience different cultures with different religions and understand more about emerging markets.
Unfortunately, the blog comes with a 2 week delay as it's not always easy to find a computer where you can upload photos. But this is where I have gone so far:
Hong Kong
Thailand (Bangkok, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan)
India (Delhi, Pushkar, Jaipur, Agra, Palolem)
And to where I'm going:
Nepal (Kathmandu, Gokyo Ri Trail)
Lithuania
Helsinki
Czech Republic
Madrid
Morocco (Fez, Marrakesh, Tangier)
The map details can be found here
It's quite an eclectic group of places to visit, but the main reasons why you see that list of countries because of price, food and beer.
Each of these places, I should be able to live comfortable on a budge of around $50 per day, which includes an activity, meals, beer and a place to sleep.
Thailand, India and Morocco are my 3 favorite cuisines full of spice and heartiness. Not only will I taste the food, but I'll also take some cooking classes to learn how to make the cuisines when I return home.
I've always been fascinated by Nepal, Mt. Everest, sherpas and geology, so Nepal has long been on my bucket list. After tea with monks, that Engligh man would now approve of the travels.
Lithuania and Czech Republic are two very underrated countries when it comes to making beer and after 3 weeks of hiking, I plan to do 1 week of drinking.
Madrid, Helsinki and Hong Kong are on the list mainly because they are Oneworld Alliance hubs, but also places that I haven't visited before and would like to check out.
Coming up will be a post on how I booked the flights in business class using miles for free.
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