A couple of months ago, a friend of mine asked me to recommend a guesthouse in Istanbul for her mother, an adventurous soul at the age of 70, who was heading to Turkey to do some traveling. I recommended one of my favorite places and that was that.

But, then, a few days ago, this very same friend forwarded me an email that she had just received from her mother. Her mother was now in the midst of her trip and the email was sent to all of her children in order to update them on her adventures.

My friend wanted me to see how much her mother was enjoying Istanbul and so I naturally had a read through the message. Well, once I finished reading, I couldn’t think of anything else but to share that email here.

So, here it is (it’s copied exactly as it was sent):

“so how many miles do you suppose i have walked today having left the hotel at 9am returning only for an hour to stretch out and wait for the ibu [ibuprofen] to work…and now just returning at 8:40pm? i should have brought a pedometer on this trip. i bet i put in over 10 miles today…maybe way moreç

after bypassing the aya sofia sophia whatever (ayasofya just looked it up on my little istanbul map) due to long line this morning, i found no line at 4. amazing place. but first things first. out the door at 9 and went first to the blue mosque again as this time i had my head covering (wearing two different pieces of tiedye at once) and could go all the way in. these architectural wonders take my breath away. so then i bypassed the line at aya and went on to find the grand bazaar…and it was…both huge and bizarre. and i did NOT buy a kilm….sort of not anyhow. i did buy a kilm bag to be my new carry on as now i will begin to check the aging eagle creek bag. should have seen me getting the eagle creek bag into the overhead in amman coming hereç

almost didn,t make it! balanced it on my head to then shove it up there. i need to go a little lighter for the next flights as i,ve been picking up a few things here and there and things are getting tight…and the next flight is to bordeaux and no one will be meeting me…i just have to find the shuttle to the airport hotel to FIND MY TRAVEL BUDDIES who will get there at two different times and earlier than i. and i sit in the madrid airport many hours during the day waiting for the flight to bordeaux. hard to believe that the time for france has nearly ARRIVED!!!!!

anyhow, kilm bag…carpet bag…it,s wonderful. kept circling through the bazaar walking walking walking and it is really big. and of course i got turned around and came out a different way i went in and ended up walking forever in places where there were no tourists or at least not manyçççççonly other lost ones, i thınkç that damn ö button is where the period is supposed to beö see?

and you know, i think all of you kids would really like istanbul. there,s something here for everyone…and it,s friendly and really manageable…the language sounds so cool…and tonight i had the best calamari i think i,ve ever had!

so anyhowö i finally found my way back to the hotel so that i could lie down for about 40 minutes and see if ibu would help my back feel betterç. it did so off went the energizer bunny once again this time to the underground cisterns and then back down to the ferries and i hopped one for the asian side…and had the wherewithall to remember to note the name of the place i was supposed to come BACK toç. brilliant. so on the asian side i had the best calamari, and perhqaps (rememberö there,s no mouse with this laptop computer and the keyboard isn,t as user friendly lalalalala) the best sauteed fresh veggies i,ve ever had…and a great cold beerç

oh and i forgot to say that while i was stretched out for 40 minutes it suddenly started pouring and thundering…very exciting…it just started again this minute…and so it was GOOD that i was in my room where i could grab my good rain jacket that i got when i was in nepalö or chına or wherever…a northface knockoff…but nice and light and rainproof for as long as i need it. since the rain was threatenıngö (maybe the ö is where the comma is supposed to be…) i went to the indoor activity of ayasofya which was amazingç lots of photosç (so the ö ıs where the comma is supposed to be and the ç is where the perıod is supposed to beç) (i know that is important to you)ç

so walk walk walk it,s been another incredibly wonderful day. my lower back aches and low neck aches7burns. and i,m stupidly tired. and you know what? there,s a jacuzzi in my tub. see ya allç have to rest up for my last full day here tomorrow…and that should include topkapi [palace].

love to all
me that energizer bunny”

I loved reading this email. This woman seems so excited to be out there traveling the world and you can tell that she has a positive attitude at all times, something that leads to non-stop amazing experiences for her.

And that’s how it should be. After all, we make the decision to travel. We are not forced to do so. And whether we travel to faraway lands, or lands nearby, and no matter if our goal is to explore, relax, learn, eat or whatever we want to get out of our travels, we are doing things that much of the world can only dream about.

We dreamed about it once too, but as soon as our plane lands or our bus or train arrives at our destination, we’ve somehow managed to turn those dreams into reality.

By remembering, as often as possible, that we are literally living a dream as we travel this world, it will ensure that every conversation, every email, every single journal entry is filled with the exact same intensity, appreciation and excitement that can be felt in the above message.

And as a side note, if she can travel independently to the Middle East, Turkey and Europe at the age of 70, I certainly don’t want to hear anyone say that traveling on your own is not possible!

Due to the increasingly heavy workload I’m facing as a result of the growing number of new projects I’m working on, I’ve decided to hire some help in the form of a “Nomadic Affairs Assistant” (aka Project Assistant).

And as my goal is to find someone who is already familiar with my blog, what better way to advertise the position than right here on the blog itself?

First, I do want to mention that hiring a Project Assistant won’t change anything around here. I’m not looking for someone to write my posts or to handle my social media or to answer my personal emails. Those aspects of this blog will always remain 100% my responsibility.

What I am looking for is someone with…

• previous or current experience in PR/Marketing (or currently studying)

• strong writing skills (for business emails, not posts)

• excellent research and organizational skills

• positive outlook and ability to connect well with others

• some travel experience

• ability to train elephants

In order to help me…

• explore the feasibility of new project ideas & help get them started

• contact various people/organizations about possible collaboration

• with random admin tasks that might arise from time to time

• train elephants

In exchange for the above work, which I expect to take 2-3 hours per week, I’m offering $125 USD per month. Also, there will be plenty of opportunities to earn good bonuses (as in more money), especially for someone with strong networking skills.

If you might be interested, even if you’ve never trained an elephant, just send me an email explaining why you’d make a good candidate. I’ll then forward you more details, I’ll answer any questions you may have and we’ll go from there.

(If I don’t reply right away, it’s because I’m going to Slovakia this weekend and won’t be online much, but I’ll definitely reply to all emails as soon as I can.)

And I hope to choose someone for this position within the next couple of weeks.

Until then, I look forward to receiving your emails and I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

***DUE TO THE LARGE NUMBER OF EMAILS RECEIVED IN RESPONSE TO THIS JOB OPENING, I AM UNFORTUNATELY NO LONGER ACCEPTING FURTHER INQUIRIES OR ‘APPLICATIONS’***

While it is true that I tend to speak positively about almost every destination I visit, there’s a simple explanation for that. My views about a particular city, or even country, have little to do with the tourist attractions that may or may not exist or about the number of chances to take stunning photos that I may have during my stay.

Instead, I formulate my opinions based upon my interactions with local people, my wanderings around random, everyday neighborhoods and my keen interest in trying to ‘feel’ a destination as opposed to simply seeing it.

And when travel is approached in this manner, it is, quite frankly, difficult not to enjoy every single destination that one visits. One no longer needs to be ‘wowed’ by a castle or impressed by a museum. One only needs to wake up and walk outside, treating every moment as a potential, and interesting, learning opportunity, in order to fully appreciate your surroundings and have a most rewarding travel experience.

So it goes for me these days with Bucharest, Romania.

I’ve been living in Bucharest on and off now for about five months. I’ll tell you, the city is not an overly pretty one and it definitely lacks a ‘wow factor’ to impress foreign visitors. There’s a lot of gray, there’s no shortage of neglected buildings, communist-style apartment blocks and unattractive graffiti, and at first, it can appear as an overall gloomy place, which is why most travelers rarely stick around for more than two or three days.

But I feel quite lucky that I decided to stick around myself as the more I stay in Bucharest, the more I discover a city that deserves to be noticed by more people.

The problem is that most of Bucharest’s charm and appeal lies hidden, tucked far away into corners of the city that the overwhelming majority of travelers will undoubtedly never find. Most visitors seem to spend their time hanging around the pleasant, yet very small, Old City (Lipscani), but this area represents the tiniest fraction of what this city actually has to offer.

You need some time to discover the rest. You need to make connections with local Romanians who will guide you in the right direction and you need to explore every street and lane with the understanding that quite often, one must search behind the dark gray facade in order to find the cafes, jazz clubs, galleries and exhibition halls, parks, restaurants, independent cinemas and more that give this city an entirely different energy and identity.

For example, you can easily find an overpriced restaurant in the Old City, but just wait until you discover places such as Clubul Taranalui, a wonderful open-air eatery attached to the interesting Museum of the Romanian Peasant at Piata Victoriei, where the below feast of traditional Romanian food and local wine costs a mere $10 USD per person…

Cafes are plentiful (that’s a huge understatement) in the Old City as well given the strong cafe culture, but what about the unique and infinitely more atmospheric gathering establishments in the neighborhoods that you would never visit unless a local Romanian told you to. That’s how I found the splendid Reader’s Cafe in Dorobanti, the very cool Ceai La Metoc in Cartierul Armenesc and the very laid-back Serendipity Cafe in Gradina Icoanei, all of which are some of my favorite hangouts in Bucharest.

Throw in the theaters and concert halls, an excellent and varied local cuisine, diverse nightlife and a long list of warm weather events, and I was hooked.

Of course, I am perfectly aware that all of these things can be found in just about every city on the planet, but that’s not the point. The reason I love Bucharest is not because it has parks, cafes and art galleries. It’s because I’ve discovered so many appealing places which have given me a more complete picture of this city, places that I would never have found and enjoyed had I stayed for just a few days and moved on, never to return again.

Besides, Bucharest is also an extremely affordable destination and it’s shockingly easy to meet people here and to have a social life, even if you don’t know anyone when you arrive. It’s quite conveniently located as well, with not only the rest of Romania to explore, but other countries such as Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria just one border crossing away. And a short flight to Istanbul (55 minutes) connects you with the rest of the world.

All I know is that Bucharest is quite an ideal place for me to spend some time, especially considering that, after ten years or so of bouncing around the planet non-stop, this other side of travel, the more in-depth connection with a destination, its culture and its people, is exactly what I now crave.

Conclusion

It would be foolish of me not to recognize the fact that many locals here might disagree with some of my thoughts. I’ve met many who have a long list of complaints about this city and who are quite interested in ‘getting out of here’ and moving elsewhere in Europe or to countries on other continents.

So I must emphasize that this post is from the point of view of a foreigner, from someone who loves to travel and learn about other cultures and who also happens to work online, something that gives me the freedom to spend my days exploring and enjoying as much as possible.

But with that said, that’s exactly the point of view I wanted to provide here because I think that travelers who are searching for a destination to live or spend an extended period of time in, would be wise to add Bucharest to their list of options. If you stick around instead of passing through quickly, this city is almost guaranteed to surprise you in ways that you could never imagine when you first arrive.

Coffee? You’ll see.

So, your flight lands. You walk off the plane and proceed to the Immigration lines. You receive your entry stamp in your passport. You collect your luggage from the luggage carousel and you walk through the Customs area without any issues.

And then you step out into the arrivals hall of the airport, ready to begin your adventure in a new land.

At this point, you may already have your transportation organized and somebody or some service is picking you up. Others might have spent a little time before their trip researching the best methods to get from the airport into the city on their own and some people won’t have done any research whatsoever.

If you’re the kind of person (as I am myself) who prefers to do only some very basic research or even no research at all before you arrive, I offer you the following suggestion of…

How you should spend your first 20 minutes in a new country.

You should take a break immediately upon arrival. This is an idea that I briefly mentioned on this site over 18 months ago, one that I learned from fellow traveler John Bardos over at JetSetCitizen.com (lots of useful information on this site for anyone looking to become location independent).

Taking a break is so simple, it makes so much sense, yet almost nobody does it.

Once you collect your luggage and proceed through the Customs inspection, head straight to an airport cafe, plop down in a seat and drink a coffee or tea or anything else you might desire. (If there’s no cafe, just sit down on one of the benches in the arrivals hall.)

As travelers, we tend to be taken advantage of most when we are tired, disoriented and unfamiliar with our surroundings, which is exactly the state we’re in right after landing in a new destination. So why not relax for 20 minutes instead of immediately trying to figure out how to get into the city? Enjoying such a rest allows you to take a few deep breaths, observe your surroundings and to clear your head before stepping out into the unknown.

You can also ask the staff at the cafe for reliable information about transportation and you can read the signs around the airport from your table without looking completely lost. Then, when you feel ready, you can calmly and confidently (you won’t be so overwhelmed anymore) head off into the city. And by this point, the unofficial taxi and shuttle bus representatives will have left you alone and you most likely won’t be bothered by anyone.

Also, if you’re two or more people traveling together, one person can wander around the airport learning the best way to get into the city while the other waits in the cafe so that you don’t have to stand around with your backpacks, exhausted and frustrated, trying to read signs and trying to understand where you need to go.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Taking such a break has helped me out several times, including…

Upon arrival in Istanbul during my first visit, a simple rest in a cafe at Ataturk Airport allowed me to figure out how to navigate the metro and tram system that would take me into the city center after a 17 hour trip from the US. Before I had my coffee, I found myself fending off several people offering a variety of taxi and shuttle bus services at prices that seemed much too high.

When I flew into Bucharest’s Otopeni airport, taking a seat on a row of benches in the arrivals hall (I couldn’t find a cafe) for twenty minutes helped me discover that the ‘official’ taxis in front of the airport charge 3.50 lei per kilometer ($1.15 USD) but if you walk one minute down the exit ramp you can hail a taxi that charges the standard Bucharest taxi rate of 1.39 lei per kilometer.

And when a friend of mine flew to Vietnam last week, he told me about how he took a seat at a cafe in the airport and how it saved him from getting ripped off by a taxi driver, something that had happened to just about every other traveler he met at the hostel where he was staying in Ho Chi Minh City. Simply by asking the waitress at the cafe for advice, he learned that he could catch a local bus outside the airport that would take him straight into the neighborhood he wanted for less than $1.00.

All it took was twenty minutes of relaxation upon arrival.

TWO MORE AIRPORT TIPS

The following can make things even more hassle-free…

Find another traveler in the airport. Whenever I fly into a country for the first time – and I actually begin this process while on the plane itself – the first thing I do is to look around for other backpackers. If I don’t notice any on the airplane, I look around the immigration area of the airport, the luggage carousels and the customs area to see if anyone else looks like a traveler in need of a ‘buddy’.

If I do locate a fellow traveler, I strike up a conversation and ask them if they want to head into the city together. After all, backpackers usually tend to stay in the same area of a city, whichever area has the most budget accommodation options, so why not team up? Dealing with the initial challenges of facing a foreign language, foreign culture and simple lack of local street smarts in a strange land is much less intimidating when you’re with another clueless person.

The word ‘Official’ doesn’t actually mean ‘Official’ in many countries. In many airports, you’ll immediately notice booths and signs in the arrivals area advertising ‘Official Taxis’ and there will be people yelling out ‘Official this’ and ‘Official that’ in an attempt to convince you to use their services. But don’t be fooled, in some airports it seems that anyone is allowed to use this word, even those involved in the most unofficial of operations.

In fact, this is also true with the word ‘Government’ in some airports as well. Signs for ‘Official government taxis’ may lead you to an unlicensed guy with a car parked a mile down the road who will proceed to rip you off and just maybe, as happened to me in Bangladesh, kidnap you for a couple of days. So, this is where taking a break really pays off…it gives you time to find out exactly where the official ‘Official’ taxis or other transportation are located.

At the end of the day, you don’t have to plan every detail of your trip ahead of time and that’s not even something that I would recommend. But you certainly don’t want to arrive in Bangkok or Delhi or Buenos Aires or Cairo, overflowing with excitement about your upcoming travels, only to have all of that positive energy immediately sucked straight out by a negative experience as soon as you land.

And if the difference between a frustrating, upsetting initial experience and a much smoother, enjoyable one lies simply in a cup of coffee and sitting in a chair for twenty minutes, I imagine you’d agree that this is an idea worth following!

There seems to be a general belief that anyone who decides to travel extensively or to give up the traditional 9-5 lifestyle in favor of a life that focuses on the achievement of one’s goals, is at least in some small way acting in an irresponsible manner.

After all, such a person is trading the stability and safety of a normal routine in order to head off into the wild unknown where others believe they won’t have access to health insurance, they won’t be able to start a family and they certainly won’t be saving money for their future.

I hear about this last one all the time. In fact, here’s a common question that I am asked: “Isn’t it irresponsible of you to just travel around without saving up for retirement?”

And my answer is simple. “Yes, such a thing is very, very irresponsible. But who said that I’m not saving up for my future?”

I may be living a non-traditional lifestyle but I’m not an anti-society rebel out to prove that I can survive in this world by doing the complete opposite of what everyone living back at home feels is important in life. Living a life of travel does not mean I just run around the world all nilly-willy, earning and spending, earning and spending, living dollar to dollar and not worrying about what might happen, always content in the belief that ‘everything will fall into place’.

I actually have a plan. I save money just like anyone else and I certainly do prepare for the future. I think about ‘retirement’ or a time when I may no longer want to travel and I realize that if that happens, I will need some savings in order to make the transition to a new lifestyle or to live out the rest of my days.

It’s just common sense to me and something that I’ve always taken into account, even when I was earning little money while teaching English in Thailand back in 2000. And anyone who does decide to follow their own unique path in life should keep their future in mind as well.

Even if you put away $20 per month, it makes a huge difference and will prevent you from finding yourself completely stuck at some point in life, left with no money at all and, as a result, fewer options to turn things around.

So, go forth I say, chase after and achieve those goals, live that life that excites you more than any other, but use some general common sense too. Think about your future, at least a little bit. This way you’ll have a useful cushion to fall back on if times get tough or to be used during those later years when work is no longer a priority.

Standing at the reception desk of the shabby, low-budget Al-Shabaa Hotel in the Gemmayze neighborhood of Beirut, there was little I could do when the hotel owner informed me that the single room I had booked was no longer available. He apologized several times as he explained that due to the Eid al-Adha holiday, the city was overflowing with travelers and as a result, he was forced to turn all of his hotel rooms into dorm rooms in order to accommodate as many people as possible.

My options were to stay in a dorm room with three other people or to sleep on a thin mattress on the roof of the building, where twenty other travelers had already set up their ‘beds’. Considering that there were also people sleeping in the hallways and even two people sharing a narrow bench inside the kitchen, I happily agreed to take a bed in the dorm.

And so my stay in Beirut, Lebanon began…

For the first two nights, I shared the room with the same three people, two British travelers and a Jordanian driver who was driving a French couple (who was staying at a much nicer hotel) around the Middle East for a few weeks.

All was well in that room. Everyone got along just fine and in the evenings, after we had each spent the day doing our own thing (which in my case was exploring a neighborhood or two of this fascinating city), we would all walk over to Gouraud Street and eat dinner together.

THE DAY I MET ‘DAVE’

My third day in Beirut started off just like the previous two. I woke up at 9:30am (everyone else in the room had already gone out by this time), I went into the hallway and waited in line for a shower and I then returned to my room to get dressed.

But when I returned to my room this time, I noticed that a new guy had apparently checked into the hotel while I was in the bathroom. He was a normal-looking fellow, possibly from a Middle Eastern country, with a thin beard and shiny brown shoes. He was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room with his feet up on the metal frame of the bed that the Jordanian driver had vacated earlier that morning. His small backpack leaned up against the wall at the foot of that bed and he had placed a packet of cigarettes on the pillow.

And while this new traveler did seem to give off a friendly vibe, I couldn’t help but notice that he appeared to be waiting for me when I had walked into the room.

After shaking hands and sharing pleasantries, ‘Dave’ told me that he was from a small town in Texas, something that wasn’t too surprising once I heard his strong Texan accent. He then continued to tell me more about himself as I started putting on my clothes…

This was his first trip abroad. He was planning to travel around the world indefinitely and Lebanon was his first stop (odd choice of a first destination I thought). I asked him if he had family in Lebanon and he said he did not. He told me that he was nervous about his trip, that he only spoke English, that his family didn’t approve of him leaving the US for such a long period of time and that he never wanted to return to his hometown again.

And then he informed me that he really wanted to visit Iran.

He asked me if I had ever visited Iran and I said ‘no’. (I have not.)

THE STRANGE QUESTIONS BEGIN

As I finished getting dressed, Dave invited me to tell my own story but, as I was eager to start exploring Beirut again, I just gave him a brief, one-minute version. However, this proved to be less than sufficient as suddenly, Dave was asking me an endless stream of questions.

Have you been to Indonesia? Have you been to Bangladesh? Have you been to the United Arab Emirates? Have you been to Syria? Have you been to Pakistan? Have you been to Afghanistan?

My answer to all of those questions was ‘yes’ of course, and once he finished, I was somewhat confused. It was as if he already knew that I had spent time in these countries.

He then asked my why I have not been to Iran. I told him it is almost impossible for a US citizen to get an independent tourist visa from the Iranian government. He pressed me further, asking if I knew of any way to get around the Iranian visa rules or if I knew of any Iranian Embassy or Consulate where it might be easier to obtain a visa. I simply informed him that I had once heard about an Iranian Consulate in the far eastern region of Turkey that apparently sometimes issued independent travel visas to US citizens.

He continued asking me, over and over again, if I planned to try and visit Iran in the near future. He then began asking if I planned to return to Indonesia, Bangladesh, UAE, Pakistan, Syria or Afghanistan. Starting to feel uncomfortable, I replied with a quick, “I don’t know.”

At this point, I was all dressed and ready to go outside and when I informed Dave that I was leaving, he practically demanded that he tag along. Not sure how to handle this situation, I reluctantly agreed and out of the hotel we went, walking off in the direction of the Hamra neighborhood.

DRUG SMUGGLING & FLUENT ARABIC

Unfortunately, Dave didn’t let up with his questions and this time, he seemed very interested in how I earned an income. Thinking that I could easily brush this one aside, I just said, ‘I work on board cruise ships’.

It didn’t work. For the next fifteen minutes Dave tried quite hard to find out whether or not crew members on board cruise ships ever participate in illegal activities such as smuggling drugs between ports. Many times he tried to pry some information from me with such statements as, “Come on, surely you’ve seen some illegal stuff on board ships.”

All I said was, “I don’t transport drugs and I have no idea what others do”. And this is when I finally reached the conclusion that there was no way Dave was just another ordinary traveler.

He then changed the subject and starting asking me if I had any contacts in Dubai, anyone who could help him with some business ideas he had. He told me he needed to find someone who knew how to ‘get things done’, whatever that meant. When I said I knew of nobody that could help him, he asked if I had any contacts in Kuwait or Bahrain or Saudi Arabia, at which point I shook my head and stopped talking altogether.

As we reached Bliss Street a short while later, Dave suddenly stopped in front of a small shop, told me he was going to buy a bottle of water and asked me if I wanted a bottle of water as well. I said ‘no’ and continued walking.

But after taking another ten steps or so, I realized that I was indeed feeling a bit dehydrated and so I turned around and entered the shop as well. And that’s when I saw and heard ‘Dave’ speaking with the man behind the counter in fluent Arabic, despite having told me earlier that the only language he spoke was English and that he had never been to the Middle East before.

I immediately backed out of the shop and walked to the next corner, but within a minute, Dave had caught up to me. And this is when I told him that now was the time to part ways because I wanted to check my email at an internet cafe. But, not surprisingly, he replied by stating that he would like to check his emails as well.

MORE SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR

Five minutes later we were inside of a large, dark internet cafe and thankfully, the woman at the desk assigned us to two computers that were on opposite ends of the room. I sat down and opened my inbox and I spent the following forty-five minutes replying to emails without paying any attention whatsoever to Dave.

After I had cleared through most of my inbox, I then did what I do a few times every day…I went to crack my neck. However, when I turned my head to the right just before giving it a good solid crack, out of the corner of my eye I noticed another person not too far away. I quickly turned around and sure enough, there was Dave, sitting in a swivel chair only four feet behind me, staring straight over my shoulder at my computer screen.

And that was enough for me.

I logged off the computer, paid the woman behind the counter and told Dave that I was going to meet a friend. I then shook his hand, as if to emphasize the fact that this time I was indeed going without him.

Dave finally accepted our parting of ways, although, he still asked me if I wanted to meet him back at the hotel in the evening so that we could grab some food together. I said, “We’ll see” and I walked off, heading straight up some unknown street to meet a friend I didn’t even have, looking back over my shoulder every few seconds, wondering if I was still being followed around Beirut.

THE FINAL TWIST

So, such a story might seem strange but perhaps the details have yet to convince you that I was actually being tracked or spied on by some type of secret service agent. Maybe Dave was just some weird character in the end.

But what about this…

When I returned to the hotel in the evening and I walked into my dorm room, ‘Dave’ was nowhere to be found. His bag was gone, his bed was occupied by someone else and nobody in the room claimed to have seen him.

And then, when I asked the owner of the hotel about this bearded traveler from Texas, he also told me that he had absolutely no idea who I was talking about and that nobody fitting the description had checked into the hotel that day.

Let me begin by thanking everyone who participated in the travel poll over the past week. There were over 500 voters as well as a few dozen comments in which many of you offered your own suggestions of other countries and regions that you would be excited about visiting in the near future.

As for the results…

Starting with the question of “Which continents interest you more than others?”, the clear winner was Asia as it received a vote from 49% of those who took the poll. The second and third place positions were almost equal, with only one vote separating Europe (2nd place) and South America (3rd place). Africa came in next, receiving a vote from 23% of participants and then Australia and North America filled up the last two spots, somewhat far behind the others.

As for the second question – “Which country/region do you want to visit the most?” – India easily took first place by receiving a nod from 34% of voters. In all honestly, I was more than excited to see India receive the most votes. India certainly is a destination where I would love to organize an informal tour given the 2+ years I’ve already spent traveling/living in that country. It is also a destination that I truly believe every traveler should try to visit but at the same time, I understand that the challenges of India often keep people away. So, what better way to get into the groove of this fascinating land than by joining a small, informal group!

After India, I was definitely surprised to see Argentina take the second spot as I rarely receive any questions about this country from readers. However, it only narrowly beat out Thailand by just one vote. And while Thailand came in third place in the end, it only narrowly beat out Australia/New Zealand by one vote as well. So the difference between second and fourth place was a mere 2 votes.

To see Australia/New Zealand so high on the list despite coming in fourth place in the first question was something I didn’t expect, although I certainly agree that Australia/New Zealand is a region well worth exploring.

And then came Nepal, which was another surprise to me (but a welcome one of course). I just wasn’t sure if Nepal would appeal to travelers/potential travelers considering the typically greater allure of its massive, and more popular, neighbor India. After Nepal, and rounding out the countries that received at least 20% of the votes, came South Africa and Turkey, two countries that have quickly risen to the top of my own list of favorite destinations on the planet.

While the remaining countries, such as Indonesia, Czech Republic, Romania, Mexico, Slovenia (I’m going to work on bringing more attention to this wonderful country) and last-placed Guatemala, filled up the bottom half of the results, I was happy to see that every country at least received a respectable number of votes.

There were also some great suggestions left in the comments, including Colombia, Oman, Iran, Egypt, Vietnam, Philippines, Mongolia, Belgium, Greenland and London for the Summer Olympics. Just reading that list makes me want to pick up right now and head to the regions I’ve yet to explore…so many places to see in this world!

So, what’s next?

Within the next few weeks I will write a post with more details about my informal tour project. Right now I can say that the focus of this project will be on small groups (no more than 8 people), unique off-the-beaten-path experiences, building confidence in one’s ability to travel independently and of course, having such a blast doing it all that you’ll want to continue traveling for a long, long time!

The idea is also to ensure that these tours are accessible to as many people as possible by having them offered at a cost that is more than reasonable. I’m not looking to turn this into a million-dollar tour company. I just want to continue doing what I love most and to help others do the same, and that will never change.

Where did I get this idea?

I am often contacted by readers who ask if they can travel with me or if I have an ‘apprentice’ program that will teach them the ropes of long-term travel. After receiving a few dozen of such emails over the last year, I started thinking that maybe I should take this idea and run with it. I did some brainstorming, talked about the concept with some of my closest friends in the travel world and suddenly, the informal tour idea was born.

And I must say that it feels wonderful to think about the possibility of meeting many of you in person should you be interested in participating in one of these ‘tours‘ unique first-hand travel experiences.

Stay tuned for more information and thank you again everyone for taking the poll…

The goal of this post is simple.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, let’s say during the upcoming summer, I want to know where it is you would choose to visit.

As I’ve hinted in a previous post a couple of months ago, I’m working on organizing some informal ‘tours’ in which I will take a small group of people around a particular country. The idea is to not only explore the destination, but more importantly, to offer a hands-on introduction to independent travel. By the time the experience comes to an end, you’ll be fully confident and prepared to create your own life of travel and to hopefully sustain it for as long as you wish.

There will be more details about this project to come soon but for now, I just want to know which part of the world you want to explore most! This will help give me a better idea of where I should organize my first couple of tours.

Below you’ll find a very short poll (only two questions!) and I hope you’ll take a few seconds to participate. Even if my tour idea is not for you, please vote anyway. I think that feedback from as many people as possible will still be useful and interesting.

And that’s it. I appreciate you taking the time to participate and I shall share the results along with more details of this project very soon.

On a side note, it’s been a busy week of travel as I left New York City and have spent the past five days exploring some more of Istanbul. And I’ll be traveling back to Bucharest, Romania on Saturday, a city that will be my general ‘base’ for the next few months. If anyone happens to be passing through that area, please do let me know!

For some reason, this morning, just seconds after waking up, I started thinking about an elderly Indian man. But this was not just any elderly Indian man, it was the owner of a small hotel in the tiny Ladakhi village of Mulbekh, located some three days north of Delhi by car or bus, and at an altitude of 3500 meters, way up in the heart of the Himalayas.

It’s embarrassing to admit but I don’t know this man’s name despite having spent two nights at his hotel some years ago. And while I certainly don’t remember the names of all the hotel and guesthouse owners I’ve met over the years, my stay at this particular hotel was a particularly memorable one…

When I hopped off the bus in Mulbekh, it did not take long at all for me to learn that this 5500-person village had only two accommodation options.

Glancing to my left, I noticed what appeared to be a brand new three-level hotel, conveniently situated across the street from the Chamba Statue, a 1300-year old Buddha image carved out of the rock face, which happened to be the main attraction in the village. There were a few cars in front of the hotel as well as ten or so Indian tourists sitting in the restaurant next to the lobby.

Glancing to my right, I saw a crumbling and faded green and red building with a hand-painted sign above the door that read, “Namchung Hotel & Restaurant”. There was an old man – yes, the old man I thought about this morning – sitting on a plastic chair in front of a tiny shop that appeared to be part of the ‘hotel’.

Without hesitation I turned to the right and walked up to the old man, who turned out to not only be the owner of the hotel, restaurant and shop, but the only employee as well.

He spoke no English. I spoke only a few words of Hindi and zero words of the other languages that could be heard in this remote mountain region. But we managed to communicate nonetheless.

And before long, this man led me around the back of the building and to my room. It was actually the only room available, not because there were other guests, but because this hotel only had one room. The floor was made of dirt, the bed was made of rope. There was no electricity, only candles. There was also no lock on the door but I had a feeling this was the kind of village where I didn’t have to worry about my belongings.

Excited to be spending two nights here, I threw down my backpack, returned to the front of the building and ordered a chai, which the old man naturally prepared himself. And then we sat there drinking tea together, staring out over the beautiful Himalayas as we communicated through gestures and broken Hindi.

NOT YOUR NORMAL HOTEL

After drinking two cups of chai, I asked the man where I could relieve myself, something I had to act out in order for him to understand. He simply led me to a small patch of grass behind the building, a patch of grass that was in plain view to the residents of at least twenty homes in the village. That grass was the toilet, no matter what kind of business you needed to take care of.

When I asked the owner where I could wash my hands, he went into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water. He then proceeded to slowly pour the water into my hands as I rubbed them together.

And when I inquired about taking a shower, a question to which I could not wait to hear the answer, he quickly pulled out a piece of paper and drew me a map. From what I gathered, I had to cross the street, walk down a small path, turn right onto another path, turn left onto yet another and after a while I would reach the Wakha River. So that’s what I did and sure enough, thirty minutes later I found myself bathing in its icy waters, and loving every second of it.

Returning to the hotel after my ‘shower’, I asked the kind man, who always answered my questions with a smile on his face, where I could find some food. He simply motioned for me to sit on a wooden box in front of his small shop and then he disappeared inside.

When he returned twenty minutes later, he handed me a metal plate with some rice and a few spoonfuls of what appeared to be potatoes in some kind of sauce. Whatever it was, I wolfed it down quite quickly, and while this was no award-winning meal, it was definitely edible, which was a good thing considering that he would cook me the exact same meal the next day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

And so my two days and two nights passed at the Namchung Hotel. In between bathing in the river and eating rice and potatoes, I also wandered around the village, played football with some Tibetan children and took a couple of short hikes into the mountains. Every evening though, I would sit right back on that wooden box in front of the hotel, right next to the owner, and we would watch the sunset, drink chai and try our best to communicate.

I’m not sure I’ve ever enjoyed a hotel stay as much as I enjoyed this one. Maybe that’s because apart from a room and some food, I also received my most memorable lesson in simplicity. I didn’t need a carpeted floor or even a sink. I didn’t need a toilet or a shower or electricity or a 10-page menu to order from. I also didn’t need nightlife or shops or a cinema or internet.

I found happiness in just being, in witnessing the Himalayan mountains, in breathing in the freshest of air, in the colors of the houses, in the smiles of the locals and of course, in getting to know another wonderful human being whom I never would have met had I not started traveling.

Could I have lived in Mulbekh forever? Nope. But I’ll certainly never forget my stay at the one-room, dirt-floored Namchung Hotel and the life-changing lesson that stay taught me.

Four-hour workweeks, two-hour workweeks, zero-hour workweeks…that’s what it’s all about, right?

After a little research, anyone looking to break out of the traditional path in life, especially those of you who want to do some traveling, will undoubtedly discover an abundance of websites and people declaring that a life involving just a few hours of work per week, or even no work at all, is just around the corner and oh-so-easy to obtain.

Now that’s fine and all, despite it being complete nonsense, but I have a question.

What’s wrong with work?

I like to work. And while I would prefer not to spend 50+ hours per week in front of my laptop, as I generally do these days, I certainly don’t find the idea of a 4- or 3- or 0-hour workweek any more attractive.

Work gives me a purpose, it gives me structure and it ensures that I am constantly using my brain. Also, work leads to new opportunities through the connections I make, helping me meet an endless number of amazing people and to have an endless number of amazing experiences that I otherwise would have missed out on.

Besides, if we choose our work wisely, work allows us to create and build and to actually observe the results of our efforts. And it feels mighty good to create something and to see it through until the end.

In my case, I genuinely enjoy spending time working on this blog, watching it grow and of course, having a chance to interact with all of you. I also enjoy creating other websites and travel-related eBooks and then witnessing how the months and months of hard work I put into each of these projects ends up benefiting other people in some way, shape or form.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to bamboozle you into thinking that I only work for the love of work. I won’t hesitate to admit that I get quite excited about earning money through my efforts as well, money which allows me to continue living this nomadic lifestyle. Money does play a role. We all need it to travel and that’s just an undeniable fact.

But my point is that I don’t mind working hard to earn my money. I’m not bothered by a long workweek at all. Instead, I accept it and welcome it as an integral part of my lifestyle.

And I’ve always tried to stress on this website that without the long workweeks I’ve been putting in over the years, whether teaching English, working on board cruise ships or working online, I simply wouldn’t have been able to travel this world of ours for so long.

As lovely as it would be, immigration officers stationed at the border of every country unfortunately do not hand every traveler $1000 upon arrival. You need to earn your money, and in order to earn it, you need to work. The good news is that if you have a healthy mindset, work doesn’t have to be such a negative thing.

And in all honesty, what would you do if you didn’t have to work? I sure have no idea what I’d do. The immediate answer would be to travel more but that’s really a silly answer as I travel quite a lot already. I just don’t know. I’m quite sure I would feel somewhat lost and even bored if I didn’t have to sit down at my computer every day and continue building and creating, finding solutions to problems and working on new ideas.

Again, I want to work. I enjoy work. And I don’t really understand the anti-work movement at all.

Instead of wasting time trying to chase after that unobtainable goal of 4- or 2-hour workweeks, I recommend spending time trying to find a type of work that interests and excites you, some kind of project or occupation that you are motivated to sit down and spend 20, 30 or yes, even 40, hours per week working on.

And once you do find something that you actually enjoy, then you can take the necessary steps to transform that work into something you can do while traveling and/or living overseas.

That’s how you turn travel into an actual lifestyle and I urge you not to be fooled by those who claim otherwise.