Lesson 1: A week of overseas personal travel is just insane.

Part of my problem was not helped much by a complex itinerary involving 2 connections. I left Minneapolis on a Friday night and arrived in Taipei on a Sunday night. I flew through Los Angeles and Tokyo. Even though I did my best to get at least some sleep on these flights, the quality of sleep wasn’t the best. I arrived in Taipei pretty tired from traveling and had at least some jet lag. Even though I did have some jet lag, I forced myself to do things and try to stay on Taipei’s timezone. This worked for the most part except for a couple of naps on the first 2 days.

After getting over the jet lag, this gave me 3 days to fully enjoy my travels. Now that I am back in the U.S., I do think I am mostly recovered from the return jet lag although my first day back was a 30 hour day.

For my next trip overseas, it will be a minimum of 2 weeks. Not that I have to spend it all in one place, but 2 weeks gives me enough time to feel like I am not rushed to see certain things and also to not have to worry about recovering from jet lag.

Lesson 2: Don’t let the weather affect your travel experience.

It rained for nearly 4 days straight in Taipei. This really forced me to spend more time inside and less time outside, however, because I was prepared and had my rain jacket with me, I was still able to spend time walking around the city. The real lesson here – do your homework ahead of time and try to be reasonably prepared for anything.

Lesson 3: I could have used an unlocked cell phone.

While I have previously mentioned the iPhone as being a useful travel gadget, I still have not unlocked it. I thought that I wouldn’t need an unlocked phone due to only being gone for a week. It would have been nice to be able to insert a local SIM card in a phone and make phone calls to see if places like restaurants were open. There were a couple of times where I walked to a restaurant only to find out it was closed. For my next overseas adventure, I’ll be sure to have an unlocked phone with wireless and a skype application.

Lesson 4: I might be done staying at hostels.

There is nothing wrong with hostels – they are cheap and a way to meet other travelers, however, if you want to have a better chance of meeting local people, couch surfing might be better option. Through a friend of a friend, I had the opportunity to hang out with Eric, a Taiwanese student, for a day. Even though it was rainy, I had a good time hanging out with Eric and learning about Taiwanese things. For my next trip, I’d like to try couch surfing for at least a few days.

Overall, I’m glad I went to Taipei. I learned some important things that will allow me to continue improving my international travel experiences. As you do your own traveling, I would encourage you to analyze your trips for lessons learned and apply those lessons to future trips. It’s how you can become a better traveler.

• A few of my favorite photos from China I've been back in the U.S. since Sunday, September 13th. I admit...I'm extremely behind in posting content about the China trip. Part of that is because I've been extremely busy at the office and part of it is because I've been recovering from jet lag slower than usual. One thing......
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- February is rainy! I know it was going to rain while I visited, but I am sure glad I brought my rain jacket. It has been a lifesaver.

- Many museums are closed on Mondays Looking at my Lonely Planet – there must have been at least six museums that were closed on Mondays. This is good and bad in that you can really use Mondays as a R&R day or do a ton of walking around the city like I did.

- The MRT is clean and efficient I can’t believe how clean and quick the MRT is. You can pretty much reach anywhere in the city by subway or bus. I have taken a couple cab rides, but the cab rides seem more expensive than the ones I took in China.

- The Taiwanese love to shop I noticed this trend in Shanghai as well (much less so in Beijing), but there are a ton of malls in major sites like Taipei 101. It seems to me that shopping is a national past time. This doesn’t even factor in the many night markets that are in the city where you can buy almost anything.

- Lots of hiking and biking in and around Taipei I would definitely call Taipei a very bike friendly city. There are multiple places where bikes can be rented and marked lanes for bikes. Additionally, there are hiking trails within the city and national parks just outside Taipei. I found a trail near Taipei 101 called xiangshan. This led to excellent views of Taipei 101 and the city itself.

- Taipei is very tourist friendly The city has many maps which you can refer to find tourist attractions near the MRT station. Additionally, announcements are done in English, Mandarin, and Taiwanese. Many times I found signs which directed me to tourist attractions. It was very easy to walk around.

I am sure there are things that I could include with this post, but for now, I would say Taipei is an interesting city with a unique vibe to it – it’s not as fast as NYC or as gritty as Chicago, but the vibe of the city is one that is OK by me.

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2009 was an interesting year and I think I gained some perspective. I think this came having different experiences like traveling to China, learning Mandarin, jumping on the bicycle again, having a different job, and spending time with friends and family. All of these things have given me a chance to look forward to 2010 and to set current and future goals. Some of the goals are a continuation from 2009 while others are not.

I’ve decided to focus on a core set of 6 goals for 2010 including:

1. Pay off remaining student loans.

This was one of my 2009 goals as well. I do have to report success. In 2009, I paid off 3 Wellsfargo student loans and turned my attention to my federal loans. 2010 will finally be the year I will be entirely debt free.

I received great news regarding the rest of the loans. Yesterday, I was notified that due to the settlement of a lawsuit with my lender, I will be entitled to the monthly interest credit that was suspended in February 2008. I’m not sure of the exact dollar amount and won’t know until April. Oddly enough, I project by April 2010, I will have the entire loan paid off. Starting in April or May, I will be able to comfortably set aside $ every month for longer term travel.

2. Make smarter purchases.

I’ve already decided that I will be buying a new bicycle, laptop, and some camping gear in 2010. For each of these items, I have a specific use in mind. While these items may have some significant cost, I am spending time researching gear, computers, and bikes to find the items that will last a long time even if it will cost a little more upfront. I’m willing to spend more for quality if I know the purchase is going to last along time.

3. Complete at least 1 endurance event.

From 2006 – 2008, I completed 1 marathon and 3 half marathons. In 2009, I proved I still could run the half marathon and completed my 4th half. After completing the 4th half, I took some time off from training. I bought a new Trek 7.5fx and biked about 1,000 miles before it was too cold. Even though I loved biking and it was a great way to give my knees a break, I realized that I could not burn as many calories when I biked versus running. I’ve taken several corrective actions which I can already tell are starting to work including:

- consuming less beer and alcohol
- signing up for strength training classes
- kick starting my running again

I was never of a major fan of weight lifting because I was so focused on cardio exercise. After only 2.5 weeks of strength training classes, I am starting to see the importance of lifting and how it can improve my endurance. I still have a major goal of completing a triathlon by the age of 35 with the renewed focus on running (and adding in a bike ride every so often) and strength training, 2010 could be the year I double down and start preparing for a triathlon.

One of the things that I am most willing to spend time and money on is my fitness. There are so many benefits and so little drawbacks. I want to be able to push myself and have the endurance to experience some of the best places on the planet. It’s hard to do that when a person is not fit.

4. Travel to new places both internationally and within the United States.

I don’t even know if this should be defined as a goal as it’s going to be really easy for me to completed. In February, I will travel to Taiwan to experience Chinese New Years’ and to practice speaking Mandarin. My trip to China in September was amazing and I continue to be fascinated with the cultures of Asia. I figured Taiwan would be another great place to visit in order to practice speaking Chinese.

I think the biggest change for me will be what I have planned for a summer trip – hiking, biking, and camping in the Black Hills! I have seen pictures of the Blacks Hills and Badlands National Park and was amazed at the photos. I decided this would also be a good way to re-discover camping and to experience one of the beautiful places located within my own background.

At this point, I don’t have any other destinations set in stone, but I do have 5 weeks of vacation in 2010 and plan on using it.

5. Become active in 1 club.

I think it’d be great to become active in a running or biking club in the Twin Cities plus a great way to meet new people. There’s so many people who are active and it would be nice to not always run by myself. It might even make running a little more enjoyable.

6. Discover my passion.

I already know I like traveling, pushing myself physically, being outdoors, running numbers and scheming for rewards points, and challenging myself with new goals, but I am currently in a job that allows me to save for travel and pay off my loans. I don’t dislike my job, but I would not consider myself passionate either. I am going to use 2010 as a year to look for opportunities and understand what I could be doing. Someday soon I know there will be an opportunity to take risks and pursue the things I want to do.

In the mean time, I am continuing to look for opportunities to develop professionally through certifications and leading projects and personally through clubs, fitness, and learning Chinese.

Closing Thoughts…
These are not the only goals I have, but they do represent my major agenda items for 2010. Some of these goals will be easy to measure, track, and succeed. Other goals seem somewhat subjective.

My call to action for you is to determine your own goals and ruthlessly pursue and succeed at them.

Dream. Pursue. Succeed.

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On Monday, November 30th, I turned 29. I spent some time reflecting on turning 29 by mapping out where I am in life, steps I am taking going forward, and some of my plans for 2010. My thoughts are captured below…

I think I’ve learned a lot between 28 and turning 29. I’ve thought about how I might have done things differently right after graduating from college and how I can give myself a chance to have a “do-over”. I know some things I absolutely want to get done like doing some longer term traveling and living overseas. I’m working on pursuing those goals, but the first thing I must complete is paying off the remainder of my student loans. The good news is that by the end of April 2010 , if everything goes according to plan, I will have paid off my final student loans. I see completing this step as the beginning of opening myself to some opportunities and things I have held off on doing because I have been so focused on having no loans.

I guess I could call myself pretty lucky. For one, I have some really great friends who want me to be successful and pursue my goals. I’m learning a foreign language and I’m also aggressively paying off my remaining student loans. In the last year, I’ve been to India and China which has allowed me to see some amazing things like the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal. I do hope that I can be forgiven for not pursuing a MBA at this time, although I’d be open to obtaining a MBA in another country.

I’ve got some interesting things in the works for 2010. For starters, I am thinking of buying a couple of major items in 2010 including a new bicycle, new laptop, and new camping gear. Hopefully I can get the bike and camping gear before summer so I can get a chance to use these items.

I also have a number of trips planned. In February, I’ll be headed to Taipei,Taiwan for Chinese New Years. My summer will be filled with attending 3 weddings and 1 camping trip. In May, I’ll be off to New Jersey, for wedding #1 of 3 this summer. In June, I’ll head down to Iowa for wedding #2 of 3. August will bring wedding #3 of 3 in Ann Arbor, MI. In July, I also plan on spending a week camping in the Black Hills.

I am happy for those friends who have made the decision to take that next step in their lives and get married. I am looking forward to celebrating their special occasion with them in person.

I want to continue improving on things like staying active at the gym, speaking Chinese, trying new things, meeting new people, staying connected to my friends, and learning new knowledge.

Turning 29 is not really different than it was for 28, 27, or 26. I do see this year as an important turning point. I don’t plan to stop pursuing goals or having fun just because I am almost 30. I think maybe it’s a moment for pause because one is so close to leaving the “20’s”. Some people say that you are supposed to spend your 20’s having fun and your 30’s acting like a grown up. I have decided that I am going to enjoy this year more than in the past mainly because it is my last year of being a 20-something.

Wherever you are in your own life, I encourage you to take a moment and reflect on it as well. As for me and the next 363 days, I’m going to enjoy being 29 and bring on 30 soon enough!

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What really struck me though was the number of people in the comments that were giving praise to the post. As of 11/7/09, I only noted one comment that pointed out how ignorant the post sounded. One reason I have decided to write this post is to show the weakness of the arguments presented.

In his article titled, “Why Americans STILL don’t travel overseas“, Matt attempts to address prior arguments such as cost and the geographic size of U.S. and goes on to explain the primary reason for Americans not traveling overseas is really cultural ignorance. It’s Matt’s assumptions and how he addresses the counter arguments to the issue of why Americans do not travel overseas that I particularly disagree with.

First, Matt assumes that the majority of Americans are like him – single with no obligations. This simply is not the case. The majority of Americans are married or have obligations such as work, house and car payments, families to take care of, and limited time to travel. More importantly, Matt assumes that Americans have a desire to travel to the same places that he travels. This is something that can not automatically be assumed.

Matt uses his assumptions to address the cost argument of travel. He states,

“A flight from LAX to BKK is $787 dollars. A flight from London to BKK is $654. A flight from Sydney to BKK is $794. Americans bear no extra cost burden relative to the rest of the world.”

This sounds like a great point to support his argument that cost really is not an issue when it comes to traveling except he does not factor in that not everyone is single like himself. So let’s look at his example prices. He quotes a price of $787 from Los Angeles (LAX) to Bangkok (BKK).

For a married couple with no children, the total cost for those flights would be $1,574.

For a married couple with 1 child, the total cost from LAX to BKK would be $2,361.

For a married couple with 2 children, the total cost from LAX to BKK would be $3,148

The second problem with Matt’s cost argument is not everyone lives in Los Angeles and will start their trip where they actually do live. So let’s look at a few other major cities and see what the cost of that trip to Bangkok is.

(Note: I used kayak.com to perform month long searches for the lowest airfare in April 2010 and July 2010)

I live in Minneapolis (MSP) myself, so the lowest cost for myself to get to BKK is $1,069 in April 2010 (off peak) and over $1,500 if I wanted to travel in July 2010 (peak). Start multipling those numbers by 2 (married with no kids), 3 (married with 1 kid), and 4 (married with 2 kids) and you can quickly see how costs can increase for those families that want to travel overseas.

I also checked the cost to fly to Bangkok from Chicago and New York City. Respectively, the cheapest I could find from Chicago is $800 per person in April 2010 and $1,317 in July 2010. From NYC, the lowest cost per person is $922 in April 2010 and $980 in July 2010.

The other thing about cost you have to consider for Americans is cost relative to other places within the U.S. For example, the lowest cost flights between LAX and NYC are $307 and $310 in April 2010 and July 2010. That’s about 1/3 the price of flying to Bangkok from NYC. One might be able to understand why Americans choose the flight with a lower cost.

Finally, I think that cost is a major factor in why Americans are not traveling overseas especially in the current economic environment. The official unemployment rate stands at 10.2%, but according to the New York Times, the broader unemployment rate is 17.5% in October 2009. With that many Americans out of work, there is definite reason to say that at this point in time, cost is more than a minor factor in why Americans are not traveling overseas.

The most that you can say about the cost argument is that depends on where in the U.S. you are starting from, what time of the year travel is occuring, where you are traveling to, and how many people are going on the trip. Only after those facts are known can one determine if cost will be factor, but for the majority of Americans, cost is a major factor due to having mortgages, credit card bills, car payments, and families to take with them on travel.

The second problem I have with Matt’s analysis is when he discusses cultural ignorance. The words “cultural ignorance” is used in a subjective manner and is not clearly defined by Matt. He criticizes the U.S. media and politicians for influencing Americans opinion of travel and goes on to use a quote by Bill O’Reilly, a conservative news commentator. I seriously doubt the majority of Americans care what Bill O’Reilly says and would not agree that O’Reilly’s opinions represent what the majority of Americans think. I also find it odd that Matt mentions Politicians as painting the world as a scary place, yet I would say the current Administration lead by President Obama is doing now more than ever to reach out to those places deemed as “scary” and “full of terrorists” by giving policy speeches in the Middle East, becoming engaged with European governments, negoiating with Iran, and traveling to Africa.

I do want to focus on the cultural ignorance argument and just how subjective this phrase is. Matt cites that education budgets are being slashed for world history, that the entire history of the world has to be covered in one year , and less humanities classes are being offered. While I think it is important for these types of classes to be offered, let me give some other examples of being “cultured” for you to think about. How about the American who speaks and learns multiple foreign languages? How about the American who has many friends from different countries and backgrounds but those friends live in U.S.? How about the American who goes to various areas in their city such as “Little Italy”, “Chinatown”, or “Little Somalia” to stay connected with people that share a common background? How about the American that lived in a country for months or years but now has a family or job in the U.S. ? How about the American who has family that immigrated to America and still celebrates their family’s background? The point is that there are multiple ways to be “cultured” without always having to travel to another country.

The third issue I have is Matt’s analysis of geographic size. He states,

“It’s not that America’s size makes travel prohibitive, its size is important because people feel there is no reason to leave. We don’t need to travel to “big scary places” when we have deserts, tropical islands, mountains, endless summer, wilderness, snow, and more. Every landscape can be found within America’s large borders.”

I highly doubt this is the line of reasoning Americans use when they visit the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Hawaii, or the Rocky Mountains. People go to those places because they want to not because they are afraid of traveling outside the U.S. He also completely discounts the cost factor and maybe people want to enjoy what they have near them.Try telling a person in Colorado that they should go somewhere else to enjoy the mountains when they are within driving distance of the Rockies. Try telling a person from Minnesota that they should not enjoy their cabin on the lake for rest and relaxation.

I actually got quite a chuckle when Matt gave his example of his friend from Iowa. I happen to be originally from Iowa and have done my own significant traveling outside of the U.S. His example does not represent what all Iowans think of traveling and is merely an example. I bet that you could probably find examples of what Matt’s friend experienced with their co-workers with people in other countries saying to their own friends and co-workers “Why do you need to go to such and such place, when there is such and such here.”

The fourth issue I have is around the vacation time issue. Matt acknowledges the choice that Americans have made to focus on work and money, however, I am not sure where he gets his examples of travel being viewed as weak in the corporate environment. He states,

“It’s a sign that your work isn’t important, you aren’t a team player, or you are lazy. Workers are made to feel guilty about leaving their co-workers and responsibilities behind.”

I have worked for a consulting firm and currently work for a major health care payer. The management and leadership messages have always encouraged using your vacation and scheduling time off. No where in those messages were workers called out for not being a team player or being lazy. Matt goes on to point out that there is a growing trend of only taking a week of vacation at a time. Perhaps the reason there is a growing trend to take only 1 week of vacation is because currently Americans can not afford to take 2 weeks off in row due to financial and personal obligations.

My final issue with the post is that it lacks a call to action. Matt provides no recommendations to improve something he thinks is a problem. He does imply that education budgets need to be increased and humanities classes do need to continue to be offered, but I would have liked to see Matt make a few recommendations on how Americans could be become less “culturally ignorant” or some steps he feels the country needs to take. It would have been interesting to see what he would find acceptable to the perceived problem of “cultural ignorance” and if traveling overseas would have been his preferred recommendation. His article lacks recommendations and weakens the points he was trying to make.

To simply boil down the issue of why Americans don’t travel overseas to a subjective term such as “cultural ignorance” is pretty hard to do for such a complex issue. The issue goes beyond cost, geographic size, and subjective terms like “cultural ignorance”. Additionally, there are multiple ways to be “cultured” without having to travel. Right or wrong, in general, Americans have made choices to have careers, buy houses and cars, start families, visit family in different U.S. cities and states, and pursue their personal goals earlier on in life than their peers in other parts of the world. Americans choices forces them to travel in a different way. Matt has made a choice to do long term travel now instead of having the above stated obligations. Neither choice is more right or wrong – it is a personal choice made by the individual. There are advantages and disadvantages to each choice.

I do want to thank Matt for bringing this issue back up. I think it is important issue to discuss, however, I have to disagree with his analysis. Personally, I think the reason Americans do not travel overseas is complex and involves many factors. It is not possible to nail this issue down to one factor as Matt has attempted to do. Some of it has to do with desire to travel and where to travel. Some of it has to do with cost which is tied to financial obligations and some of it has to personal obligations such as activities that kids are involved in. Additionally, I think that many Americans want to travel, but have made choices, which forces them to travel later in life. Finally, while I think there is a small amount of “cultural ignorance” (whatever that term actually means), I think that its just that – a small minority of people not realizing there’s a world outside of where they live.

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Whatever the case, I’ve buckled down. I’m making the extra payments. I’ve run some numbers and done some projections. If I can stick to the payment schedule and factoring a conservative estimate for a tax refund, I project I can have the loans paid off by April 2010.

In the grand scheme of things, April 2010 isn’t that far away….and I will be no longer be in “survival” mode, but finally able to work on goals I want to achieve like travel without any worry of financial burdens or moving to a different city or internationally without worrying about finding a high paying job that I need because I have loan payments to make.

So here’s to the last 10,000!

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The Forbidden City in Beijing

Before I begin this post, I’d like to wish some of my friends in China – a belated Happy National Day. For those who don’t know, October 1st was the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It’s a big celebration in China with a parade across Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

For those keeping track, the Forbidden City is a UNESCO world heritage site located in Beijng. One of the main entrances to the Forbidden City is found right off of Tian’anmen Square. The other major entrance to the palace complex is located right outside Jingshan Park.

View of the Forbidden City from Jinshan Park

Some interesting facts about the Forbidden City include:

- 24 Chinese Emperors lived in the Forbidden City from 1416 – 1912
- 9,999 and 1/2 rooms – although I could not find that “1/2 room”
- Referred to as “gu gong” in Chinese
- Extremely large complex sitting on 250 acres of land

As with all the major sites in Beijing (and China), I found the Forbidden City to be huge and almost overwhelming (in a good way). Before I went there, I didn’t realize how large the complex really is. When my Chinese friend told me there are 9,999.5 rooms in the Forbidden City, I didn’t equate those rooms to hundreds of separate buildings. I spent a good 4-5 hours exploring the palace complex. The Forbidden City is officially named the Palace Musuem. Let me tell you – every building on the complex is like a mini-museum of Chinese history and culture.

Exploring the Forbidden City is definitely a half day to an all day task. I entered from the Tian’anmen Square side. You’ll know that your entering from Tian’anmen when you see the big picture of Chairman Mao as you pass through the gates to the Forbidden City.

Getting to the Forbidden City from Tian'anmen

The Forbidden City is divided into two main parts – the outer court where Emperors governed and the inner court where they lived. There is definitely a lot to see in the complex. I’m going to cover three of my favorite highlights of the Forbidden City and of course include photos.

- Hall of Supreme Harmony: This is the largest hall in the complex. It was frequently used for enthronement of a new emperor. As with most of the more popular halls in the Forbidden City, getting a photo was always a challenge of making my way to the front of the crowd. Lucky for me, my Chinese friend was good at assisting me in getting to the front.

Throne at the Hall of Supreme Harmony

- Large Stone Carving: There are many stone carvings within the Forbidden City. This is the largest and longest of them. It is 16.75 meters long, 3.07 meters wide, and 1.7 meters thick. It weighs in at more than 200 tons. Seeing this thing and how long it is – it was impressive.

Largest and Longest Stone Carving in the Forbidden City

- Nine Dragon Screen: Pictures of dragons are an important part of Chinese culture and history. The Chinese is dragon is said to offer protection and good luck. Within the Forbidden City, there is a wall with 9 dragons ornately displayed. It is a popular place for people to take photos.

9 dragon "screen" in the Forbidden City

There’s many other things to see in the Forbidden City such as the Hall of Clocks and Watches, Hall of Toys, and Hall of Jewelry. It really depends on your interests, but the Forbidden City probably has something for every history and architectural buff to enjoy. Even though I wouldn’t consider myself in either of these categories, I definitely was glad to have visited the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City also has a great location next to Tienanmen and Jinshan Park. It is definitely in the heart of Beijing.

Seeing the Forbidden City was a great way to experience Chinese culture and to understand how the Emperors lived. Even when I return to Beijing, I will probably try to make it back to the Forbidden City because of its size which makes it difficult to see everything the first time you visit and its location to Tienanmen and Jinshan Park.

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My iPhone 3G

In the past, I have reviewed the iPhone 3G and discussed the impact of the update to iPhone 3.0 OS on my 3G.

Now, I’m returning to provide perspective on how my iPhone 3G helped me as a travel device on my trip to China and how I think it could become essential travel gear in my travel bag. In fact, I found it interesting to recently read how Deb and Dave over at theplanetd.com are planning to use an iPhone to update their blog on the road. They are more adventurous than me! I like the touch screen of the iPhone but I don’t know if I could write blog posts from the phone.

For the two weeks that I spent in China, my iPhone served as my alarm clock, email client, flashlight, MP3 player, news paper, and international phone. I could have also had a translator, guidebooks, and a way to update my site on the iPhone if had been more organized. If I had been in a different country, it would have also been my twitter and facebook client, but China limits access to facebook and twitter. Additionally, with a number of games on the iPhone, it became a way for me to pass time in the rare occurrence I became bored during the trip.

As you can see, the iPhone has many uses. The power of the iPhone is not only in how small the device is, but also the multitude of applications that are available to make it essential travel gear. I think the application that has the most value for travelers is Skype. Before I left the U.S., I put $10.00 on my skype account to make calls from China over the Internet. I talked for a total of about 20 minutes from China and Tokyo, Japan and still have over $9+ in my skype account. I can definitely see using Skype on a longer trip with additional features in enabled.

The benefits of the iPhone and its multiple uses do not come without downsides though.

First, there is a trade off between having applications, movies, and music on the device. My iPhone is only 16GB. I realize that the current generation is offered in up to 32GB, but not all iPhone 3G owners can afford to upgrade to latest model with 32GB of storage. I have worked around this by limiting the apps I use and not putting my entire MP3 collection on the device even though the collection is way less than 10GB.

Second, the iPhone’s battery life in wireless mode only is not ideal. I found that enabling the wifi on the iPhone drained the battery extremely fast especially if I was checking email, browsing the web, or using skype. I found myself charging the phone alot to make sure the battery was at 100%. One thing that I tried was to get a battery extender that plugged in the bottom of the device. Unfortunately, this proved to be worthless. I could never tell if the extended battery actually worked. It’s possible that I got a bad battery or that it was just a waste of money.

Finally, my iPhone was locked to the AT&T network. For some people, buying an unlocked iPhone is not a problem and can easily be done in their country. For those in the United States, we have to buy off e-bay or unlock the device after getting it from AT&T. If I was more organized, I would have tried to unlock the phone with one of the software means published on the Internet. Fortunately for me, I was able to borrow an unlocked Nokia E-61 from a friend which came in handy. On my last day in Shanghai, I needed to get ahold of my Chinese friend. Because I had an unlocked phone with a China Mobile SIM card, I was able to call my friend’s Shanghai cell phone number with no problem. If I didn’t have this, I guess I could have used Skype, but it was much easier using the unlocked phone to make a local call. The value of having an unlocked phone can not be understated as it allows you connect to locals much more easily. I think when my contract is up with AT&T that I will pursue unlocking my device.

Overall, I think the pro’s having access to multiple apps that can help make the iPhone a multi-use device outweighs the three con’s that I have discussed. Even with a locked iPhone, you can still use Skype with WiFi to make phone calls – it’s just not as easy. The battery life issue is a challenge with any device and WiFi enabled – I have not read about a mobile device like the iPhone that gets great battery life with WiFi enabled. The storage issue only becomes a problem if your music collection is obscenely large or you want to have alot of apps/movies on the device. I think it is a matter of finding the right balance between useful apps and storing music,games, or movies.

Personally, I would recommend the iPhone as a travel device although there are similar mobile devices that can probably fit travelers’ needs as well.

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I love to travel as much as anyone else does. I’ve been to Russia, India, China, Western Europe, and New Zealand so far. Unfortunately, every time I’ve left those places, I feel like I’ve left the place wanting to do more. To give you a little perspective, none of my trips to Western Europe, Russia, India, China, or New Zealand have ever been longer than 3 weeks at a time. I’ve always wanted to have more time to travel and experience things at a slower pace.

Throughout these trips I’ve had to deal with what I call the short comings of short term travel including:

Feeling rushed to see things… Short term travel forces the traveler to try and cram as many activities and places to visit in a day as possible. What this does is exhausts the traveler each day. If you cram too many things in one day, your brain will begin to lose interest and your experience might not be as enjoyable or memorable as you were hoping.

Forces the traveler to make hard choices… Short term travel forces you to make tough choices about what to see, how many days to spend in a certain city, and what type of a schedule to maintain. I spent 2 weeks in China and saw only 3 cities. Within these cities there were things that I missed out on doing and seeing. I would have liked to spend more time experience the night life in China, but I knew if I over indulged in my favorite beverages that I could lose most of the next day recovering from a hang over.

Leaves the traveler wanting more… Short term travel always leaves the traveler wanting more. More time to travel. More time to meet others. More time to experience the culture of where ever you are visiting. People asked me when I returned from China how my trip went. One of my first thoughts was that 2 weeks just wasn’t enough time for me. (Hey I can’t help it that China is huge place). I met a traveler in China who spent 9 weeks in country and was extremely jealous of that person.

Nomadic Matt in his article on long term travel talks about some of the downsides such as having the “24 hour friend” or not being able to have steady dating relationships due to travel. I think what is key for each traveler is to find the appropriate balance between traveling for long amounts of time and digging into one or two places and hanging out for awhile.

I think it is important to realize that when you travel you are going to meet a ton of people. That’s both a good and bad thing as Matt pointed out. The other thing to is realize is when a person is interesting enough to send that occasional email or make efforts to keep in touch through twitter or commenting on blogs. That’s the hard part and is an individual decision about how much effort you’re going to make to keep in touch with people you meet on the road. Try to remember, there may be value in building that relationship – maybe the person you just met has a bunch of contacts in country that you’re looking at moving to. Again, it is a judgment call.

For me, my plan is to travel for around 12 months and then move to a different country. I am slowly coming to the belief that the best way to truly experience a culture is by living in it for at least 1-2 years. I’d like to spend 3-4 years living outside the U.S. – who knows maybe I’ll like it so much that I decide to stay outside the U.S permanently or maybe I’ll be ready for the next trip around the world.

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One of the many photos of the Great Wall

I spent my second day in Beijing at one of the best places on the planet – The Great Wall of China. If you have only a limited time in Beijing, you must dedicate most of a day to seeing the Great Wall because you really can spend a whole day visiting the wall and feel like you still haven’t accomplished much. Lucky for me, I had 6 days in Beijing so it’s not like I was going to have to make hard choices about what to see in Beijing.

When I first decided to visit China, I knew I had to see the Great Wall. I could not imagine the looks I would get from people back home if I went to China and said that I didn’t see the Great Wall. After seeing the Great Wall for the first time, I now realize that every subsequent trip I take to China will have to involve a trip to a different spot of the Great Wall. Before staring blankly into your screen, realize that the Great Wall stretches for over 8,800KM (5,500 Miles) and has many sections to visit.

I was lucky that I didn’t have worry about getting to the Great Wall of China. My Chinese friend arranged with one of her friends to drive me to a section near Beijing. I understand from talking to other travelers that you can get to different sections of the Great Wall via public bus and taxis. I certainly appreciated my Chinese friends helping me out.

After about a 1-1.5 hour drive outside of Beijing, I arrived at the Badaling section of the Great Wall. Now, many guidebooks will call this the most “touristy” section of the Great Wall and I will say that there was a lot of people, but I was thankful to just be on the Great Wall. I was visiting Badaling on a weekday which reduced the amount of people there. I understand it does get busy on the weekends though. Also, even though there was a lot of people at the Badaling section of the Great Wall, I was able to hike to certain sections of the Wall where there was very few people. So it is possible to get away from people even at the busiest section of the Great Wall.

So what’s it like to be on the Great Wall? The Wall is not built in a straight line. It curves in many sections and walking on it is more up and down and has slopes rather than a nice leisurely flat walk. For those who like to work out, hiking on the wall was a nice workout. One of the amazing things about the Wall is how well it has stood the test of time. I’m sure this is different for other sections, but it is built in the mountains just outside Beijing. The wall reaches a height of 25 feet or about 7.8 meters and 16 feet or 5 meters wide at Badaling. The feat of engineering that the Chinese did in building the Great Wall is truly amazing.

The Wall is no "walk in the park"

It really is hard to describe just why the Great Wall is so “great”. Unfortunately, my post can not even begin to do justice to the experience of standing on the Great Wall. I could share facts like the Great Wall has been designated as one of the new 7 wonders of the world, but that still does not adequately describe it. The Great Wall seems like it is never ending. Every time I reached a top of one section, there was always more Wall around the corner and in the distance. As I stopped and took photos from different points of the Wall, I tried to take in the beauty of the surroundings and admire the work that it must have took to actually build this wall. As I walked along, I thought about how something like the Great Wall would never be built today just due to how much something like the Wall would cost to build. Doing further research, I learned that the Chinese builders tried to use local resources as much as possible to reduce the expense of building the Wall.

Official Designation as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World

The Great Wall really does not End

I close this post by saying the Great Wall is truly an awesome and “great” structure. It is a unique and once in a lifetime structure that will never be replicated again. One thing that I’ve learned in my trip in China is that the Chinese imagination for building things on a grand scheme is one of a kind in itself.

Take a look at the rest of my photos in my Great Wall of China Gallery.

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