Travel – Page 2 – Karol Gajda

On Travel Snobbery (or Why You Should Be Proud of Your Travels No Matter How Infrequent)

A sad thing happen when someone starts traveling a lot. Here is how to overcome travel snobbery …

“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.” #16 on the Dalai Lama’s 18 rules to live by.

When I started CouchSurfing in early 2008 I started meeting lots of people who traveled regularly and had been all around the world.

When they’d ask me about my travels I wouldn’t have much to talk about. And some of them would make it worse by acting like holier-than-thou travelers.

My response would usually be something along the lines of “Uhh, well, I went to Poland…3 years ago.”

And I was embarrassed by that.

I’d been to more than half the states in the U.S. (touring with bands), Canada a few times, and Poland and Mexico twice a piece, but that didn’t seem spectacular enough.

I hadn’t been to the beaches of the Caribbean, or backpacked through Europe, or visited the Great Wall.

I just didn’t think I had any grand stories to tell and I was embarrassed when conversing with people who did.

Travel Is An Individual Experience

The more I thought about it, the more I realized:

a) It didn’t matter whether I was well-traveled or not.

and

b) I did have interesting stories to tell about the travels I had experienced.

I’d done two 3-week road trips around the U.S. on rock tours. The first covered about 3,000 miles and the second over 7,000. I didn’t think that was really anything special because I hadn’t left the homeland.

But the truth is they are special because they happened to me, they’re a part of my story, and I had an amazing time on each tour. Nobody can take that away from me, no matter how epic their around the world adventures.

There Is A Lot To See

U.S. citizens get flak for not being well-traveled. I can’t find verified statistics, but supposedly only 25% of Americans have passports. (Hey, no comments about me using the word Americans! Everybody in the world calls residents of the USA Americans. It is what it is, yeah?) It doesn’t matter if you never set foot outside of the United States because there is a lifetime of travel to experience there. Hell, there are probably a lifetime of travel experiences in each U.S. State, much less the whole country. (The same probably holds true for wherever you live.)

How To Feel Like You Belong

My trip to Germany is no better than your trip to Northern Wisconsin. Your trip to Dublin is no better than my trip to San Francisco. And so on …

They’re all personal journeys involving individual experiences and should be treated and respected as such.

What I finally did to get over my shyness in the presence of those more well-traveled was to start telling my stories like they were important and I was proud of them, because I was, I am.

The easiest way to get your stories sounding interesting is to write them down. Write them down (hopefully while you’re experiencing them) to the very last most interesting detail. Read the story aloud so you’re more comfortable telling it and then don’t worry about it. You don’t have to be perfect when retelling.

The trick is to not feel subpar when a travel snob overshadows your story with one of their own. Realize it’s on them and they have an ego that needs to be fed. Simply listen, feed their ego, make them feel good about it, and you’ll feel good about it too.

I love hearing stories about weekend camping trips just as much as I enjoy hearing stories about year long trips to Asia. If the storyteller is passionate about what they’re talking about I’ll feel the passion listening to what they have to say.

Money Is No Excuse

Some people will complain that they really don’t have any travel stories to tell because they can’t afford it.

One of my favorite travel experiences was a 2 day/1 night canoe/camping trip on the Withlacoochee River in Florida. A group of 10 of us borrowed 3 canoes (had to strap one on top of a little Nissan!) and headed to the river.

Spot The Gator — Can you spot the gator? ;)

It’s there that I saw my first wild alligator. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but having gone 27 years without seeing an alligator I was ecstatic. The memory is burned in my mind. Learning we can coexist with such amazing creatures in the wild was a life affirming experience for me.

Then we set up camp on the banks of the Withlacoochee just 100 meters after seeing a whole group of gators. Maybe not the smartest thing to do, but when you’re not at “official” campgrounds you have to set up camp wherever you find a decent spot.

Total cost of the trip? $30 for gas (petrol) and food.

It’s not about how much you spend, or even where you go, it’s about getting out there and doing things you enjoy doing with people you love and people you just met.

Nobody can take that away from you no matter how many languages they speak, how many stamps in their passports, or how many frequent flier miles they accumulate.

Not Enjoying Travel Is A Valid Excuse

Some people just don’t like to travel. That doesn’t mean they lack culture or aren’t interested in other people. It just means they don’t like to travel. Nothing more, nothing less.

So if you’re conversing with someone who’s never traveled anywhere and has no desire to there is still a lot to learn from them.

Find out what they are interested in.

What interesting sights are there to see and what fun things are there to do in their home towns?

Asking those questions to everybody you meet might just result in you having another travel story of your own to tell.

And when you do have travel stories to tell don’t annoy people with them. Share, don’t annoy. It’s a fine line and something I have to remind myself regularly.

As an aside, even now I’m not interested in visiting the most places, but simply new places (and revisiting old places). A lot of people I talk to rack up countries like a game. And that’s awesome! It’s just not for me and doesn’t have to be for you either.

5 More Extraordinary Ways To Travel Like A Minimalist

Want to get more intense with your light traveling? Here are 5 more tips …

It has been an awesome couple of weeks during the How To Live Anywhere launch. Thank you for being a part of it! Let’s switch gears from all the business focused articles for at least a day, huh?

Last year, I wrote an article on ZenHabits called The Beginner’s Guide To Minimalist Travel. If you haven’t already read it, go ahead and check it out after we’re done here.

We’re going to take minimalist travel to the next level.

As an ultra light traveler (ok, technically not) my goal is not only to pack as little as possible, but everything I pack should have multiple uses.

As an example, I use the Dr Bronner’s soap I mentioned in The Beginner’s Guide as body wash, face wash, toothpaste, and laundry detergent. I stopped washing my hair with hair products almost a year ago so I don’t use it as shampoo, but it can also be used in place of your shampoo.

1) Use USB Rechargeable Electronics

If you’re traveling it’s a given that you’re going to bring electronics with you. Especially if you’re like me and you’re working as you travel. I’ve got a laptop, an iPod, a digital camera, a Flip Video camera, and a small flashlight (torch).

But I’ve cut my chargers down to the bare minimum.

While my laptop is charging (or I’m working) I charge most of my electronics.

My iPod charges with a small iPod cable and not the big iPod charger and the batteries to my Flip and flashlight charge using a small USB AA/AAA battery charger.

You can buy a USB battery charger almost anywhere that sells rechargeable batteries. If you can’t find it locally, Amazon has them.

Unfortunately, my digital camera has it’s own proprietary charger, but thankfully it’s very small.

2) Stick To One Credit Card and One ATM Card

The rationale for traveling with more (what I’ve heard from people I’ve met) seems to be “well, if something happens to one, I still have a back up.”

On the surface that seems like a great argument, but it’s completely unnecessary.

Let’s pretend you fall into the unfortunate situation of getting mugged. If you get mugged all of your credit cards will probably be taken. If you lose your wallet the same holds true. Having a backup in either of these worst-case-scenarios will be utterly useless. (Unless you happen to keep your cards in different places.)

Instead, stick to one credit card. Either one that gets you the most points or cashback or one that doesn’t charge international fees (my preference).

If you’re in the U.S. get a Capital One credit card. They don’t charge international fees so you never have to worry about being hit with the industry standard 3% fee for the “privelege” of using your card in another country.

Along with your no fee credit card, find a bank that offers no fee ATM withdrawals. Many online banks with corresponding stock trading accounts offer ATM cards that refund your ATM fees worldwide.

Additionally, sometimes banks in your home country will have an association with banks in other countries. For example, with my Bank of America ATM card I get fee free ATM withdrawals from any Westpac bank in Australia or New Zealand or Deutsche Bank here in Wroclaw, Poland. :)

Confession: I also travel with an Amex Platinum card so I have access to their benefits. Completely worthless card to actually use for transactions outside of the USA though.

3) Replace Your Shaving Cream or Foam With Shaving Oil

Shaving oil is a shaving cream/foam replacement that packs up much smaller than even travel sized shaving products. It’s also good for both men and women.

Shaving oil is not the same as pre-shave oil. Pre-shave oil is a conditioning oil used before your shaving cream/foam. Shaving oil, on the other hand, is used in place of shaving cream/foam.

I personally use Pacific Shaving Oil and love it more than any other shaving product I’ve ever used. One tiny bottle is good for 50-100 shaves depending on how many drops of oil you need to use. I use 8-9 drops per shave.

Just as important as being a minimalist product, shaving oil provides a very smooth, close, shave. I have horribly sensitive skin and Pacific Shaving Oil is the only product I’ve ever used that keeps me from getting razor burn. (I think it’s the only company I’m a fan of (err, I mean Like of, haha) on Facebook.)

4) Pack Your Own Towl

That’s not a misspelling. I’m referring to the MSR Packtowl. It’s a highly absorbent towel that packs up like a deck of cards. It may not be luxurious, but it’s small, light, dries incredibly quickly, and gets the job done.

It’s a must in the bag of any minimalist, ultra-light, traveler.

If you’re staying in hotels this isn’t relevant for you, of course. But the PackTowl is indispensible if you’re camping, hosteling, or CouchSurfing.

5) Vapur-ize Your Water

I forgot to write about this in my updated packing list because I didn’t use it in India or Thailand. Been using it daily here in Poland. Speaking of Thailand, on the streets all around Chiang Mai there are purified bottle refill stations for big 5 liter water bottles. It costs only 1-2 Baht (2-6 US pennies) for a refill. I do have video of the process and will post it some day. :) Tangent over …

The Vapur anti-bottle, available through Vapur.us or Amazon ($7 more expensive on Amazon), is one of those products I can’t believe I didn’t come up with myself. Not only is it BPA-free, but it rolls up tiny.

Let me repeat that last part: the Vapur water bottle rolls up. It rolls up! Which means you can take a reusable water bottle with you anywhere.

You might be thinking “Doesn’t buying a new water bottle go against what minimalism is all about?”

Not necessarily.

Minimalism isn’t only about not buying stuff. It’s about living with the essentials and not overconsuming.

If you regularly buy bottles of water you now have no excuse not to take a reusable bottle with you everywhere. The Vapur fits anywhere.

And if you already have a bulky reusable water bottle give it to a family member or friend.

Traveling with a 16oz (almost half liter) water bottle that folds or rolls up simply makes more sense than any other option.

I hereby declare you ready to travel the world with the bare minimum. The absolute essentials. When you have the best time of your life thank yourself for having the courage to be a minimalist.

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I’ve had lots of new friends visiting here in the past few days. Is that you? Hi! I’m Karol (Carl not Carol). Thank you for stopping by. I write about fun things like traveling the world, minimalism, challenging authority and ourselves, and working from anywhere via a laptop. I don’t know how many thing I own (I’ve never counted) but I live out of a 32L backpack and own 3 t-shirts. :) Welcome! I hope you stick around.

21 Reasons You Should Quit Your Day Job And Travel The World

The title explains it all. Don’t read this article if you love your day job…

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou

I discovered Maya Angelou when I was 15 because one of my favorite artists, Fiona Apple, loved her. Thanks Fiona and thanks Maya for providing such a powerful quote.

Most people are born with an interest in travel that never subsides. The fact that blogs like Chris Guillebeau’s, Gary Arndt’s, or this one (on a much much smaller scale) are as popular as they are is proof of this fact.

The problem is that most of us, and I fell into this trap too, put it off. Either for 1-2 weeks at a time on a yearly vacation or “until some day when X happens.” Whatever eXcuse (get it?) you have for continuing on living a life you’re not thrilled with, it’s unfounded. There is always a way. (I just set myself up for a slew of “but, but, but my situation is different” comments/e-mails.)

As you already know from Lesson #13, you’re not as different as you think. Whatever situation you’re in, someone has already been there and still made things happen.

In another post I will present to you the “how.” Here now, I present to you the “why”: 21 reasons you should quit your day job and travel the world …

You’ll become more open minded and learn to treat people with more respect. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Unless, maybe, you stay in sanitized resorts. But since not many people can afford to stay in sanitized resorts long term, this isn’t even an issue.
Your job is dragging you down. (In very rare cases it’s not, and that rules.)
You’re unhappy.
Slaving away is getting in the way of your dreams.
Traveling long term is cheaper than living wherever you’re living.
It will stretch you to do things you didn’t think you could do.
You might not have any big “revelations” or “aha moments” but you’ll have a blast anyway.
If you have kids it will set them up for a life of independence instead of setting them up to be cogs in a machine. We need more children who are exposed to how most other people live instead of sanitized first world society. I met a British family, 5 kids aged 6-16 and their Parents, on the train up to Chiang Mai. The kids were having a ball experiencing all these new things and I could already pick out leadership qualities among each of them. In addition, they were incredibly respectful, which I’m finding less and less among children.
You can eat your favorite foods in the countries where they originated.
You’ll experience new foods that will quickly become your new favorites.
The best fruit in the world, Jakfruit, is plentiful and cheap in Thailand. (OK, so that was a specific case for why you should travel to Thailand as opposed to anywhere. Whatever, Jakfruit is the best fruit in the world. I discovered it while in the Daintree Rainforest in Northern Queensland, Australia.)
Even when it’s dangerous, it’s not as dangerous as some people would have you believe. I’ve felt more fear walking the streets of Detroit with $10 in my pocket than walking around Mumbai or Bangkok at night with thousands of dollars in gear and cash on my person.
You will stumble onto awesome events like Holi and Songkran. Who doesn’t love a week-long water fight? :)
This site makes a lot of good cases for saving your tax dollars by living elsewhere.
You will meet, and make friends with, people who you would never have met staying where you are. Most of us only associate with people in our immediate geographical areas. I call it Friendship By Geography, and it’s incredibly sad.
Facing your fears is good for you. And you will face all of them, sometimes in a single day, when traveling. How many fears do you face on a daily basis at your day job? How much do you grow as a person at your day job?
You will no longer have to participate in office politics or water cooler gossip. If that’s the kind of thing you enjoy then why are you reading this site in the first place? :)
You will have more time for your family, friends, and maybe more importantly, for yourself.
You will become a master of fake sign language. Also known as Traveler’s Sign Language. It’s frustrating for a spell, but when your communication is finally understood it’s an awesome feeling.
Even if you never become fluent, learning and using a few words in new languages is fun. My favorite thing in the world is now the Thai bow/greeting. I know the way I say it is probably horrible, but the old lady who runs the best veg restaurant in Chiang Mai (Save Thunya on Nantaram Rd just outside Chiang Mai Gate) always treats me like a king when I come in. I know she appreciates my limited Thai because she speaks approximately 3 words of English so we’re in the same boat. I wonder if I can use the Thai greeting everywhere I go? :) If you think it’s difficult learning new languages, Benny at FluentIn3Months.com has the best course available on the topic: click here to get the Language Hacking Guide.
You owe it to yourself to be Ridiculously Extraordinary. Most day jobs would not be categorized as such.

What have I missed? I know there are many more good reasons to quit your day job and travel the world so leave them in the comments below …

Also, no excuses in the comments. Only positive thoughts please. ;)

Updated Light Packing List (Or I’m No Longer An Ultra Light Traveler!)

An update about what I’ve been traveling with…

Let’s get it out of the way right now: with a guitar in tow I am officially a waste-my-time-waiting-for-checked-baggage traveler. And I wouldn’t change it for the world. I built a freakin guitar and I get to play it anytime, anywhere, everywhere! :)

Now to the updates.

If you haven’t read my complete list of gear, it’s all here: Travel Light, Travel Anywhere: The Ultimate Light Packing List

Most of that stuff has treated me well, but some of it is falling apart.

The Stuff That Needs Replacing

T-Shirts

My Icebreaker BodyFit 150 shirt is developing tiny holes all over! I look like I got in a fight with a cat.

Oh, speaking of cats, I saved a baby kitty from drowning in a pool within my first hour in Chiang Mai! Besides saving my own cat after the hurricanes in Florida 5 years ago, this is one of the highlights of my life. If I could handle it emotionally I would volunteer at animal rescue places instead of just sending money, but I get too emotionally attached to the critters.

Baaaaack to the story at hand: I hand wash all of my clothes so there is absolutely no reason this Icebreaker shirt should be falling apart after 7 months. Or maybe that’s just the lifespan. I don’t know, but I’m definitely going to try a different (vegan) travel shirt when I officially retire this one.

The IceBreaker BodyFit 200 does not have holes in it, but it is far too thick and I have worn it maybe 5 times in India and Thailand.

My 3rd, and last, shirt: the Patagonia Capilene 1 is getting oddly discolored. It looks bad.

So Icebreaker and Patagonia shirts are a no-go for me from here on out. Suggestions?

Socks

The Patagonia Lightweight Endurance Quarter Socks are on their last legs. The heels are almost completely worn out. I actually picked up a pair of completely synthetic socks at REI just before I left for India. I haven’t worn them much as they’re just there to replace the first pair of Patagonia socks that gets the heave-ho.

The Smartwool Adrenaline Light Mini Crew socks aren’t faring much better. One sock has a tiny hole on the heel that I’m sure will grow with time. But on the whole, the Smartwool socks feel more sturdy than the Patagonia.

I stopped wearing my Vibram Five Fingers, which cuts down on sock usage, after I hurt my knee running 4-5 weeks ago in India. But now my knee is better so I’ll be wearing them more. The only way to get the stink out is a machine wash and they start to stink really quickly. Still not sure what to do about that.

Pants

My lone pair of pants are holding up well as far as the material is concerned, but they’re stained and even 2 machine washes didn’t get the stains out. This is why I wish travel clothes companies would come out with darker colors. I never wanted these khaki colored pants to begin with, but dark travel pants are near impossible to find. Especially when you’re 6′ 5″ and need a long inseam.

I’ve actually strongly considered creating my own line of travel pants in only dark colors and with strictly zippered pockets. I’m not passionate enough about it to actually follow through so I’m throwing the idea out there for you. :)

On To The New Stuff!

Amazon Kindle 2 – Holy wow I love this thing! What I don’t love is that the books aren’t DRM free, which means if I get a different eBook reader in the future I can’t transfer the books. Lame. I love Amazon’s MP3 store for the lack of DRM, why did they mess up the Amazon Kindle eBook store? Dummyness. (new word?)

The Kindle is great because the screen has no back light and my eyes don’t get tired no matter how long I read. It really is just like reading a paperback, only without the page flipping. I’ve read it in the bright sun with no problems and actually ran into another guy reading a Kindle on the beach in Goa, India.

Biggest selling point for me (the reason I bought it actually): You can download eBooks from something like 65 countries directly to the Kindle from the wireless Kindle store (it’s $2 extra to get the wireless delivery internationally, free if you transfer via USB). In addition, there is a basic Web browser and Wikipedia search function. I used this when I was having trouble with Internet in India to check e-mail. No additional charge for that!

iPod Touch 32 GB – I told myself I wouldn’t replace my old iPod Mini until it broke. Well, that thing is a workhorse and I’m convinced it will never break. I gave it to my Dad. Even put Lady Gaga on it for him, hoping one day he’ll click play and his mind will be blown. :) (He’s reading this, btw.)

So why did I get the iPod Touch?

1) I love music and with 32GB of storage I can fit almost my entire music collection on it.

2) I love reading and the free Stanza eBook reader app lets me read public domain eBooks when I’m waiting in line, on public transport, or just hanging out without my Kindle. There’s also a Kindle app if I want to read my Kindle books! It’s not great reading eBooks on this tiny thing, but for 1-30 minutes it’s perfect.

3) The Skype App allows me to use it as a phone as long as I have a WiFi connection.

4) The Wifi capability allows me to respond to e-mail and moderate blog comments if I so desire.

5) I wanted to get into iPhone/iPod Touch App development and that’s a little difficult without owning the device. My first app (iHeadlines: Instant Blog Headline Generator) is out by the way! I’ve had some good feedback about it so far and an article about iPhone App Development is coming soon. iHeadlines is only $3 right now so if you have a blog you should go get it ASAP. I am considering raising the price because at $3 it’s not going to even make development costs back. :)

6) Battery life. The battery life of the iPod Mini is 4-5 hours. I can listen to music on my iPod Touch for a good 20 hours before recharging.

7) Note taking. When a note doesn’t constitute using my pen/notepad I put it on the iPod.

Clif Bars instead of Organic Raw Food Bars – While the raw food bars taste better and have better ingredients they are also very melty. Clif Bars, almost all of which are vegan, don’t melt. They come from the future. Since sometimes finding veg options is difficult or time-consuming in a new place, I need some rations to hold me over. These do a mighty fine job.

Also, the book that Gary Erickson wrote a few years ago is a Freedom Fighters must read: Raising the Bar: Integrity and Passion in Life and Business: The Story of Clif Bar & Co.

Lenovo X200 (no link because I don’t really recommend it) – A very small, very light, fully-functioning laptop. This is not a netbook. I researched computers forever before finally deciding on this one. I was very close to getting a Macbook Air, but Apple is stupid and only put one USB port on that thing. Since I use my computer to recharge batteries, my Flip camera, and my iPod, I need more than one USB port. Sorry Apple, you’re not perfect. Yes, I understand I could use a USB hub. But if I’m going to spend $2k+ on a computer it better have what I want. The X200 was barely over $1k.

That said, the Lenovo X200 isn’t perfect either. I can’t get the Bluetooth to work (I want to see if there are any cool things I can do with the iPod Touch’s Bluetooth) and the Trackpoint mouse causes intense cramps in my right hand/forearm. There is no trackpad, which is what all other laptops use for the mouse.

I will sell this computer when I get back to the States and find something else. Maybe Apple will smarten up and put at least one additional USB port on the Air and I’ll become an Apple fanboy who believes Apple does no wrong (even though there’s a Genius Bar at every Apple store to handle all the problems with Macs haha). ;) (Sorry dudes and dudettes, just busting your Apple chops. I still love you.)

Pacsafe MetroSafe 300 – Similar to my old MetroSafe 200, except bigger (for the new laptop), and with better security features. I like it a lot, but it’s not perfect. It’s heavy by itself (due to the metal!). Add the laptop and cameras and my shoulder/back starts hurting pretty quickly. The strap is the problem. It’s too thin and digs in. I think that’s the problem with most messenger bags though.

Flip UltraHD Camcorder – I upgraded from my old Flip Ultra to the newer HD model and I’m glad I did. The video quality is great and it takes 2 hours of video instead of 1 hour. I’m a big fan of these little workhorses, especially considering they’re so cheap. (Get it used and it’s even cheaper!)

And that’s it. Not too much change, but enough to warrant an update.

Videos!

(If you’re reading via e-mail click here to view videos.)

Pacsafe 55 Demonstration:

Pacsafe MetroSafe 300 Demonstration:

Coming soon!

Coming soon (err, eventually): ultra light packing for women. I have enlisted 3 awesome women (readers of this site) to hook me up with their light packing lists. Editing packing lists is a pain though so I’ve been putting it off for months.

Have your own light packing list? Link to it below!

Question about the items on my list? Ask below.

Want to buy an item from my list for your own adventures? Click the links above and Amazon gives me 4-7% per sale. (4% for electronics.) Usually that amounts to this site generating $40-$50/month in commissions from Amazon, which isn’t much, but you will never hear me complain about “free” money. :)

How To Minimize Stress and Maximize Awesomeness!

If you’re stressed, here’s how to relieve that stress and live awesome …

During the courses of our lives we go through a lot of transition periods. Transitions can be both stressful and awesome.

Marriages, graduations, new careers, new relationships, new destinations …

That last one is an interesting one for me and it prompted this article.

My second night in Bangkok I hung out with Sean Ogle of Location180.com (check it out, he rocks) and we were talking about how much we love our lives. Is that nerdy? ;)

But we were also talking about stresses involved with our work. That stress being, we love what we do, but when we’re in a travel period (transition period) and visiting a new city, it’s tough to get work done. And not working is stressful because it’s something we enjoy. It’s a funny cycle. :)

Tangent (you know how I love them): Sean is also a guitar player. Like me, he gets stressed if he can’t play a guitar for an extended period of time. One of the many reasons I built a guitar in India is because when I was traveling through Australia/New Zealand for 4 months it was stressful not having a guitar.

But I digress …

While in Bangkok (I’m in Chiang Mai now, love it!) I knew it was just for a short while so I put off work even though I had stuff to get done. On both Thursday and Friday I went to one of the Regus offices in the city (free access with my Amex Platinum Card) and did 1-2 hours of work. But the city was calling me so I answered.

What Are Stressful Transitions?

Stressful transitions are different for me and you. Mine are things like being on the road for an extended period of time vs staying put in a new place for an extended period of time.

Traveling around New Zealand in a bus for 30 days? Awesome! But stressful as all get out. (I think I’ve used that phrase twice within the past 2 weeks. When will it get out of my system? Nobody knows.)

Goa, India for 2 months? Besides the first few weeks of figuring out Internet access, not stressful.

The last 24 hours were a little bit stressful:

– 14 hour overnight train (thanks to the nice British family who let me take one of their bottom, roomier, berths in exchange for my crappier upper berth!) with a bunch of loud drunk punks.

– The one vegetarian dinner option on the train wasn’t available (they did have 10 meat options, so you know, really catering to all the Buddhists) so when I got to Chiang Mai I was starving.

– The first few apartments I looked at were out of the way and expensive. Walking from apartment to apartment in the 100F/38C heat was exhausting.

But then, awesomeness:

– I quickly found a great veg restaurant.

– I found a sweet apartment for $300/month (including Internet and weekly cleaning) with 3 veg restaurants within a 60 second walk!

– All the stress immediately melted away even though I felt like I just took a shower and thought I might faint. :)

Our goal in life should be to minimize stressful transitions to maximize awesomeness.

The reason I do what I do the way that I do it is to minimize stressful transitions, which makes the fun stuff even more fun for me.

Sure, I don’t see as much as other people who travel. But I’m not here (there, or anywhere) to see everything. I’m simply living my life in a way that makes me happiest.

The Game Changer: Minimalism

My secret to minimizing the stress of even stressful transitions is through minimalism.

Minimalism and Transitions

Less stuff = less stress! ;)

My stressful transitions are less stressful because I have less to worry about.

If you’re stressed, I guarantee adopting even a little bit of minimalism into your life will do wonders to relieve your stress.

I could write for days about minimalism, but here are some rock stars who have written a lot about it:

Everett Bogue – The Freedom of Living With 75 Things

Tammy Strobel – How To Unplug From Stuff

Leo Babauta – Oh, just read everything at Mnmlist.com and ZenHabits.net :)

David Damron – 15 Ways To Become A Minimalist In 2010

Colin Wright – All 51 Things I Own

Now that I’m so quickly settled here in Chiang Mai I’m going to:

– Work.

– Eat awesome food.

– Do some fun shit.

How about you? What do you do to minimize stressful transitions and maximize awesomeness?

Guitars, Cows, and Pollution OH MY! (Live From India)

Lots of updates from India, including video of the guitar I built, and info about upcoming travels …

The big and really, only, update regarding India. 1,830 words, 4 videos and some pictures. :)

I was going to stay in India until late April. But … well … it’s just not “me.”

So I’m leaving to go to Thailand on 31 March. I’ll stay in Bangkok for about a week then head up to Chiang Mai for ~30 days before coming back to Bangkok to fly to Poland.

08-09 May looks like this:

– Train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok on 08 May
– FinnAir ($1800 Business Class ticket for $200 in taxes + 70,000 frequent flier miles!) leaves Bangkok at 12:15am on 09 May and heads to Helsinki (10 hour flight)
– Helsinki to Warszawa (FinnAir, same ticket), arriving at 10:25am (just a 1 hour flight!)
– Train from Warszawa to my hometown of Wroclaw that afternoon (6 hour train ride)

The at-the-border Thai visa is supposed to be only 30 days, but I couldn’t book any award travel until 09 May so hopefully they give me an extension without any hassle.

Other points of interest

No Traveler’s Tummy

I eat from dirty street stands (hell, dirty restaurants in general) every day and have not had “Traveler’s Diarrhea” at all like what supposedly happens to “everybody” who comes here. I attribute this to my strengthened vegan immune system. When I used to eat meat I would get sick if somebody sneezed 10,000 miles away from me.

It’s Dirty

It really is as dirty as everybody says it is.

Let’s break it down …

a) The air is polluted as all get out. When I first got to Mumbai I went to play basketball with my CouchSurfing host and I might as well have been playing in a smoky indoor bar. My lungs were not happy. Funny thing is, the Indian kids who we played with ALL smoked during breaks. I don’t know how they do it.

This One's Called The Smog — Aguada Bay, Goa, India

b) Trash burning is a regular occurrence. All day. Every day. Couple that with almost 100 degree heat and you have the recipe for pleasant odors.

Cow in Garbage Smoke — Cow Hanging Out In Garbage Smoke

c) There are signs everywhere stating “Don’t spit, it spreads TB.” Almost everybody spits. Gross.

d) The land is your toilet. If you need to use the toilet (yes, #1 or #2) anywhere you like is fair game.

Goan Hospitality

The Goan phrases for “hello” are …

– If you’re a taxi/rickshaw driver: “TAXI?! YES?! TAXI?!”

The taxi/rickshaw drivers here would rather stand around yelling TAXI! than drive anybody. They don’t use meters and will not drive you anywhere (even just down the road) for less than 50 Rupees, but more likely no less than 100. In comparison, in Mumbai I took a 1 hour taxi ride (~15km) for about 200 Rupees. When I was doing the guitar workshop I walked everywhere, but after that I rented a scooter for 150 Rupees/day.

To be clear: You could be 30 feet from a taxi driver and he will yell across the street for you until you acknowledge his poor salesmanship. “TAXI!? HELLO? FRIEND? TAXI? HELLO?! HELLO?!” All day long, no stopping. Every single taxi driver.

Eventually I stopped caring, because I understand they’re just trying to make a buck. (And getting the scooter meant I wasn’t affected by it anymore.) But if one smart taxi driver broke the “rules” and used his meter he’d be driving/making money all day instead of standing around wasting his voice.

AutoRickshaw01 — Autorickshaw driver doing what he does best: nothing.

– If you’re a shopkeeper: “Hey! Look at my store! Just look!”

I’m a nice guy. So when a shopkeeper would extend a hand and say hello I would shake their hand and say hello. I learned to stop doing that quickly because once they have your hand you literally have to pry it away. Not a good way to make a sale.

I made friends with an Indian-American here and I asked him if this stuff happens to him with the taxi drivers and shopkeepers. He didn’t know what I was talking about. So we went walking down the road and every single person we passed wanted our wallets. He got annoyed real quick. :)

Beggars

I heard there would be a lot of problems with beggars but they have all been very kind. I’m not a fan of giving cash, but whenever I have food I offer that. They sometimes ask for money beyond the food, but that’s OK. Gotta hustle to live.

Interesting story: one day while walking from the market to my scooter (not a long walk) I ended up giving away all of my apples. So I went back to buy more. On the way back to my scooter this time nobody asked for my apples. Sign of respect? I don’t know, but it was nice.

The Cow Is Not Sacred?

Cows01 — Yay cows! On the beach! Baga Beach, Goa, India

I was talking to a woman who has been in India for decades and I mentioned that I was quite surprised when I saw a guy elbow drop a cow and other people treat them like garbage. I thought the cow was sacred in India. Her response: “What you hear in the news and from outside the country is not how it truly is.”

Essentially, I’m told from various people, cows are pests. It’s true they are everywhere, and they play in traffic, and they leave cowpies where you’d rather them not leave cowpies. But if they’re sacred they’re sacred. You treat them like gods, not like dirt. So, while most people here do not eat cows, they don’t seem to be well respected animals.

I understand Goa is different (maybe due to the large (30%) Christian population?) and I also understand my definition of “sacred” means more than just “don’t eat cows.” So my final observation on this situation is: I’m still not sure what to think.

I’m also told in rural areas it’s different and cows are, indeed, treated with the utmost respect. And that makes a little more sense. I’m an ignorant American making the only observation I can with what I was presented. Take it as you will.

Wow, that was negative, so what was good?

– I love Indian food. For less than 200 Rupees I could almost eat enough to make me puke. For illustration, here is part of a reference one of my CouchSurfing hosts left me: “We had a good time with Karol…[EDIT]…seeing him put away copious amounts of food (in a good way).”

I always laugh when people say I eat a lot because usually it comes from somebody who says they eat a lot and are astounded by my stomach capacity. I’m 6′ 5″ and I have a metabolism, much like the rest of my body, from the future. That explains that.

Massive 50 Rupee Paper Dosa (also pictured: a fresh squeezed pineapple juice)

– 20 Rupee coconuts! OK, maybe this falls into food, but it needs a separate mention. I’d never had fresh coconut before coming to India. I love coconut water and coconut meat! It’s full of fat, but that’s where my futuristic body comes into play.

– Celebrity treatment. This annoys a lot of people. I loved it, if only for the sheer wackiness of the situation. If I spent every day on the beach I’m sure it would get annoying, but I’m not a huge fan of beaches. Anyway … every time I’d go to the beach or other touristy areas I’d get swarmed by Indian men (~20-35 in age) taking pictures of and with me. They’d put their arms around me like we were best friends and give me high fives and whatnot. It always tripped me out, but it was awesome. But again, if it happened every day I can see how it could get annoying. It’s fun to be “famous” every once in a while. :)

– Nice people. In that same regard, everybody I met who wasn’t a taxi driver or shopkeeper or trying to make money from me some other way was very nice. I would go exploring on my scooter pretty much every day and in the little villages/neighborhoods around Goa lots of people would wave, kids would run out and talk to me, and people were just cool. They’d usually think I was lost, but you can’t be lost if you don’t know where you’re going. I mean that literally and philosophically. ;)

– It’s cheap. Although Goa is more expensive than most areas of India, it’s still cheap. For example, most nice (i.e. not the cheapest, not the most expensive) guest houses cost 500-800 Rupees (less than $20) for a room with attached bathroom.

I rented a nice apartment in Calangute for 18,000 Rupees/month (~$400). A year ago the cost would’ve been about 20% less. Inflation is nuts here. But again, still cheap. And that price included a living room, bedroom with queen bed, cable TV (haha, pretty useless for me, but it was there), a nice outside porch, and every other day house cleaning (including new sheets/towels).

And if I was the old me I estimate I could get completely shit-faced for about $10/day. Speaking of alcohol, there’s a local Goan alcohol called Fenny (~$1 for 60mL) made from cashews (Goa is known for its cashews, mmmmm) that I wanted to try. So I did. Not drinking for 4 months was easy. And I haven’t drank for a month or so since I tried the Fenny.

Conclusion

Even though India is not “me” doesn’t mean I didn’t have a good time. It’s just not “me” that’s all. It’s kind of the whole Right People thing.

Check out more photos from India on my Flickr account here.

For more reading: check out what Chris at Nomad4Ever.com has to say about Goa here. I agree with most of it.

###

Unrelated, but Kirsty over at NerdyNomad.com just released an awesome eBook called The Underground Guide To International Volunteering. I named it. ;) And yes, I bought a copy as well ($14). If you’re interested in International volunteering this has a lot of great info from someone who’s been doing it for years: http://www.nerdynomad.com/volunteering (not an affiliate link) – $7 from every sale goes to Hands On Disaster Response. Kirsty is currently in Haiti volunteering with HODR, helping clean up after the massive earthquakes.

Also, I’m going to interview Kirsty about how she makes money passively, which allows her to travel the world perpetually, for Version 1.0 of How To Live Anywhere. :)

[Video] (Great?) Expectations

This one’s about my shattered expectations (and my ignorance) here in India…

Due to lack of Internet here in Baga, Goa, India the following video will be visible only in your mind’s eye. I can’t upload the actual video. I can barely upload a picture! (Yes, it is quite near impossible to get any work done here, try as I might.)

The setting: an open field just east of Baga Beach off the Arabian Sea.

The camera is held in my right hand and pointed at my face.

I begin speaking.

“Today I want to talk about expectations, because while here in Baga, Goa, India a lot of mine have been shattered.”

“First, here’s an Indian cell phone from Vodaphone.” [I show my cell phone to the camera.]

“The process of obtaining this was an interesting experience. It took 2 days, 4 visits to Vodaphone, and 5 or 6 hours of my time before I actually had this phone working.”

“This morning I tried to place a phone call and got a message saying my paperwork was never submitted and I can’t place outbound calls.”

“I called customer service from the phone and explained the situation. But because I got my phone in Mumbai I have to call the Mumbai customer support. I can’t call customer service in Mumbai because my phone won’t place outbound calls.” (Note: The first customer service call worked probably because I used the Vodaphone Service button on the phone.)

“Second, I got this Tata Indicom USB Internet stick from a friend.” [I show the USB stick to the camera.]

“I went to the local Tata store to get it activated, but since it hadn’t been in use for a year the SIM card is cancelled and can’t be reactivated. They tell me I must buy a new SIM. So I ask to buy a new SIM. They tell me they don’t sell the SIM, but I can buy a new stick. I’m at the Tata store, they tell me to buy a new SIM, but they don’t sell the SIM. :)”

[A cow walks behind me]

“I ask to buy a new stick. They ask me if I have my resident paperwork. Of course I don’t because I’m not a resident. I try to pay them off because that seems to be how everything works here. But they don’t accept my bribe. :)”

“This all boils down to my own ignorance. I was ignorant of how difficult things I take for granted are in the third world, but it makes sense in retrospect. Everything works differently here and I have to learn to roll with the punches or leave. Things (like a cell phone or internet) that should just work, don’t. It’s like real life Windows. Nothing works correctly, and nothing works on the first try. ;) ”

[A young child on a bike stops and stares at me. I make a comment to the camera about the child. The child appears in the video behind me.]

“What I’d like to know is times in your life when your expectations for something have been shattered and how you dealt with it. But if you have examples of expectations being met or exceeded I’d much rather hear that!” ;)

[Video ends.]

Ayurvedic Oil Massage (or Karol Gets Naked In Front Of A Short Indian Man)

I think you probably just have to read this…

It’s the end of Day 2 at my guitar building workshop and my left forearm is in a burning pain. This workshop definitely isn’t for those with carpal tunnel or other forearm problems. I decide to let it be. “Maybe it won’t hurt tomorrow.”

Upon waking up from an 11 hour sleep (did I mention that building a guitar is exhausting work?) my forearm twitches in intense pain. Thankfully it’s Saturday and there will be no guitar workshop today.

I’ve got to take care of this pain.

Being that I’m in the land of Ayurvedic Oil Massage I decide this will be my course of action. The neti pot is an Ayurvedic treatment and you know how much I love the neti. Seems like a great plan.

First, a quick lesson on Ayurveda: it’s a traditional Indian system of medicine. The word Ayu is derived from Ayussu, which means “life span,” and veda means “knowledge.” Therefore, Ayurveda is the knowledge of life. :) It is all encompassing, meaning it deals with body, mind, and soul. And although in this instance I am using it for treatment, it is generally a way of life and used regularly for prevention.

(Don’t say you didn’t learn anything from this article!)

There are approximately 10 Ayurveda clinics on a short 1 km stretch of Calangute-Baga Road so I have many to choose from. I pop into 4 to get prices and recommended treatments.

Unanimously the Elakizhi massage is the recommended route to take, with prices from 700-1500 Rupees. Elakizhi begins with a 45 minute full body massage and ends with approximately 30 minutes of a boiling herbal treatment, focusing on any specific pains.

I don’t understand why nobody will just massage my arm because otherwise, being that the rest of my body is made of an indestructible polymer you won’t discover for another 200 years, I’m all good. (We ran out of materials in the future so my arms are made of human…in case you were wondering.)

I chalk it up to “Don’t be stupid! They gotta treat the whole body Karol!”

(Yes, I did just claim I’m from the future. Yes, I’m sticking to it. No, you can’t have tomorrow’s lottery numbers.)

My first choice is to find a massage center run by women, for obvious reasons. But it seems the men have this little beach town on lock down. Or maybe I just don’t know where to look.

Whatever, I need a massage.

I decide to choose the shadiest looking of the group of massage centers.

It’s tiny, 3 rooms, and in a little shopping plaza with a knick knack shop on each side. If nothing else, it seems like a good choice because it’s the only massage center with another client actually getting a massage.

For 900 Rupees (~$20) I’m going to get a full body massage by a man “specializing” in Ayurvedic massage. I don’t see any certifications, but hey, who am I to judge? I don’t have an English degree and here I am writing to you. (English degrees are phased out in the future, sorry friends.)

I step inside a tiny room and the man tells me to take off my clothes. I take off my shirt and shorts and stop for a second.

“Underwear too?”

I don’t know the protocol, and I don’t want to jump the gun, if you will.

He motions for me to lie down on my stomach.

In one fell swoop he pulls off my Ex Officios and hangs them up.

“But you told me I was your first! How are you THAT good?!”

I am officially naked and another man is going to run oil and fingers all over my body for the next 75 minutes.

I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say the man “grazed me” more than once. I guess that’s not sparing you the details, huh? Sorry. (No I’m not. You’re going to be just as uncomfortable as me, thank you very much.)

The actual massage consists of an incredible amount of oils and the smell of exhaust and cow manure wafting in from the street. My left forearm gets a Ben Gay-like oil treatment. If you’ve never smelled Ben Gay, it smells like Grandma’s bathroom.

To complete the session, the man asks me to stand up, and then towels me off (uhh, I should really choose better words) to get rid of excess oil.

As I head out the door feeling like a 5 cent trick I have 3 thoughts on my mind:

1) That was the least relaxing massage I’ve ever had.

2) My forearm still burns.

3) Next, I’m getting my hair done at Amanda Bynes’s salon:

Persistence (or A Newbie Books Award Travel)

How persistence paid off after I booked an award ticket that wasn’t quite what I wanted…

A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. – Elbert Hubbard

I’m very much a newbie when it comes to booking frequent flier award flights. So while I was booking my flight to India a couple of months ago I settled on flying American Airlines / British Airways. I wanted to fly Cathay Pacific, but didn’t know how to get the person I was speaking to at AAdvantage to give me the CP ticket. She told me only the AA/BA flights were available. I knew that wasn’t true, but I didn’t know enough to get around it.

So I booked a series of flights that left DTW at 6:30am for a nice 9 hour layover in Chicago’s ORD airport! The rep told me there were no later flights available even though that was a lie. They just didn’t want to offer Award tickets on those flights. After being on the phone with them for upwards of 30 minutes I didn’t feel it was worth my time to try to figure out how to get them to book me a better flight.

A couple of weeks later I read this article by Gary Leff:

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2009/12/12/little-white-lies-i-tell-when-booking-award-tickets/

You can see I was the first to comment on it.

Not much I could really do about the already booked flight, but now I had a plan for the future.

And then I thought: “I should use this to decrease my layover time in Chicago. 9 hours is dumb.”

First Try: Failed, Sort Of

I called AAdvantage up and asked for a later flight. “All they could do for me” was put me on the 9:40am flight. 3 hours later than 6:50am so already a win, but not a very big one. I wanted on the 12:55pm flight with an arrival at 1:05pm (only 10 minutes later due to time zone difference). That would leave just 4 hours layover before my flight to London (and then finally on to Mumbai!) and I wouldn’t have to wake up early to get to DTW airport.

But I let it be. I booked the 9:40am flight and figured I’d try again later.

Try Again

I tried exactly 2 days before my flight’s departure.

And this time I was going to get my 12:55pm flight. I didn’t care how long I’d have to stay on the phone. I was going to make it happen.

I called AAdvantage and got the regular old spiel. “Sorry, there are no Award flights available on that flight.” Which was a lie, because I was looking at a booking screen that showed 2 available Award seats for 25,000 miles each. These are the “expensive” award seats. 25,000 miles one way domestic!

They said my particular Award ticket wasn’t bookable there.

So out comes a variation of Gary Leff’s little white lie tactic.

“I know you’re not supposed to book the ticket for me, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to the airport for the 9:40am flight. Is there anything you can do?”

“Let me check with a supervisor. Hold please.”

3 minutes later…

“Yes, you’re booked on the 12:55pm flight.”

“Wow, thank you for doing that!”

And there it is. Nobody got hurt. Karol got the later flight. Thanks Gary Leff.

As an aside: The Business Class seats on both airlines were great. BA was better than AA because the seat folded completely flat and I got a great sleep. I have a strong feeling Cathay Pacific would’ve been considerably better, but I’m surely not going to complain about traveling in a very comfortable business class seat.

Do you have any stories of booking award flights or being persistent and getting what you want?

On Being Ready

How much can you possibly prepare? Free thoughts inside…

Today I depart on a one way ticket (Business Class using AAdvantage miles!) to India. This is a bit of a different approach from my last trip since I honestly have no idea when I’m actually coming back “home.”

I’m not ready.

– There are some things I wasn’t able to accomplish while in the US due to logistics and timing. Nothing critical, just a few things I wanted to do that I didn’t make happen.

– I have 2 print books I wanted to read, but didn’t have a chance to even start page 1. I only read one book at a time, and while I did finish a few print books, I didn’t make it to these last 2 (Alain De Botton’s The Art of Travel and Nassim Taleb’s Fooled by Randomness). Due to my ultra light packing (packing list update coming soon!) there is no way I’m taking them with me.

– I just got a new computer (12.1″ screen, higher resolution and much easier to work on than a 10″ netbook) and the Windows 7 transition has been less than stellar.

– I’ll miss my family and friends even though I don’t see many of them on a very regular basis anyway.

And then there are some What Ifs, mostly:

– What if I get sick?

– What if I can’t find suitable health services wherever I happen to be?

– What if I get mugged?

And other stuff that’s out of my control.

Then I realized none of us are ever ready.

It’s impossible to prepare for every contingency.

You can plot and plan. You can can write lists and make phone calls. You can review and research.

You can do “everything,” but it won’t be enough. Accept it.

It’s almost guaranteed that things won’t go as planned.

If nothing else, I’m ready for that.

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