Traveling the World

1. The best way to enjoy an experience is to go into it with no expectations.

2. It’s great to travel on your own because you learn a lot about yourself. (Shanghai, Malaysia)

3. It’s great to travel with friends because you can strengthen your bonds and share new experiences. (Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, China)

4. It’s great to travel with strangers because you never know what’s going to happen. (Malaysia/Singapore)

5. Not all locals want to screw you over!

6. When people recommend something to do or somewhere to eat, you should listen.

7. Only eat at places where the locals are eating!

8. Couchsurfing.org is your friend!

9. You will ALWAYS regret later on the things you didn’t do but wanted to do. (i.e. sitting in the hotel with an injured foot while your mates are swimming around the island where the movie “The Island” was filmed).

10.You don’t need to be rich to travel often. (9 trips in 1.5 years to 4 countries including 11 out of 23 provinces in China for a total time of about 4.5 months at a total cost of $3,500 USD)

11.You don’t need to stay in hotels with room service to enjoy yourself. Sometimes a bus, train, or chicken truck are just as good! (33 hours by train to get close to the Vietnam border? No problem!)

12.Don’t be afraid to rent a bike/scooter and take a map and explore the areas outside of cities or towns. (2 hours outside of Krabi town has beautiful scenery and deserted white sand beaches)

13.Travel is what you make of it. (Trains are better than planes because you meet cool characters)

14.Traveling to developing or poor countries gives you a real perspective on life. (China will blow people’s minds).

15.Life is very precious, and it’s a shame that those with power and money do pretty much nothing to help those with nothing.

16.Every chance you take now is another story to tell later on. (But some stories are meant to be kept a secret!)

17.Don’t ask what the food being put in front of you is. Eat it now and ask questions later. (That was a pig’s heart? Not bad!)

18.Always have your credit card, debit card, and a backup source of funding in case of emergencies (getting robbed of all your money while sleeping on an overnight bus from Krabi to Bangkok).