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Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs to You!

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This is a former Featured Article.

It's the summer solstice, so Phineas, Ferb, and their friends decide to travel around the world in one day in an effort to create the biggest, longest, funnest summer day of all time. But not everyone believes they can actually achieve what they've set out to do, leading them to get some encouraging words from Clay Aiken and Chaka Khan. Meanwhile, Dr. Doofenshmirtz takes a father-daughter trip to Tokyo with Vanessa.

  • 1.1 Act One
  • 1.2 Act Two
  • 1.3 Act Three
  • 1.4 Act Four
  • 1.5 Act Five
  • 2 Transcript
  • 5 List of Locations
  • 7.1 The "Too Young" Line
  • 7.2 Ferb's Line
  • 7.3 What'cha doin'?
  • 7.4 I know what we're gonna do today
  • 7.5 Oh, there you are, Perry
  • 7.6 Hey, where's Perry?
  • 7.7 Perry's entrance to his lair
  • 7.8 Evil Jingle
  • 8 Memorable Quotes
  • 9 Background Information
  • 10.1 Reception
  • 10.2 International Premieres
  • 12 Continuity
  • 13 Allusions
  • 16 References

Episode Summary

SBTY-22-Giant jump roping robot

The Giant Jump-Roping Robot.

Candace calls Jeremy , who is currently in Paris, to ask about how his trip is going, in spite of that it's 2:00 am in his current time zone. Though a bit irked to being disturbed as early as he was, he mentions to Candace that she was in his dream and that they were in a Dixieland band with an iguana playing an oboe. The call is interrupted and ended when the house is shaken by the repeated blunt stomping from the backyard. Phineas and Ferb are outside watching their latest creation, a jump-roping robot . Candace storms out into the yard and tries to call Linda to inform her of another insane project of her brothers, but in vain, as the latter fails to hear her through the construction on the street she is stuck on.

By the time Linda arrives at the house, the jump-roping robot is gone, as expected. As Phineas and Ferb look through a scrapbook with everything they've done over the summer, he comments on how "mundane" they were and that he and his brother needs a better challenge. He subsequently comes up with the idea of creating the "longest, most fun day of summer ever" and begins work on their next project.

SBTY-49-I was really hoping for Paris

Vanessa with her father in the plane.

Meanwhile, on a commercial airliner high above, Dr. Doofenshmirtz and his daughter, Vanessa , are bound for Tokyo. Though Vanessa had wanted to go to Paris, she doesn't mind the change in plans for the thought of Tokyo being more exotic. The pilot announces that there would be a delay reaching Tokyo and Doofenshmirtz displays his irritation at how often public flights would be delayed, not showing much amusement to the fact that there is a giant jump-roping robot dangling from the plane's tail.

Linda and Lawrence are leaving for the weekend, leaving Candace in charge. Linda prohibits Candace from inviting any boys over, though this is not a problem for Candace as Jeremy is in Paris for the week. She also tells Candace that if she ever has to call her concerning the boys' antics, she wouldn't be doing her job properly and would be in trouble as well.

Linda and Lawrence are set to depart as soon as Lawrence finds the rub and a book of puns he was looking for. As they leave in the station wagon, their children bid them a farewell.

SBTY-101-In this ship we will travel around the world

"Behold! The amazing Sun-Beater 3000!"

At five in the morning next day, Candace is disturbed by a dream about French girls trying to get Jeremy's attention and wakes up. Freaking out and fearing her chances of earning Jeremy's affection, she calls Stacy , who willingly suits up to come over. When Candace asks for her to bring breakfast, Stacy rudely hangs up.

Phineas and Ferb are also up unusually early, much to the curiosity of Isabella , the Fireside Girls , and a throng of others. Phineas answers saying that they were intending to make the longest day of summer last even longer. He then pulls a sheet, which had oddly taken the shape of the Statue of Liberty, off of his latest creation, the Sun-Beater 3000.

Phineas announces that he plans to use the Sun-Beater 3000 to circumnavigate the world in a direction opposing its rotation so that they would get a full 24 hours of daylight. Buford opposes the plan and seriously doubts they can do it, prompting Phineas to bet on his success. Phineas then pulls another sheet, which looks like The Discus Thrower, to unveil a model of the Earth and the sun, explaining how they'll complete the task. The final deal would be that Buford eat a bug and return their bikes he had taken from them if Phineas wins, and that Phineas admit that he and his brother are governed by the laws of physics, summer isn't what they want to make of it, and that he must spend the rest of the summer doing nothing if he loses.

Though Isabella fears that Phineas will lose the bet, Phineas is ever so confident he will succeed, and to demonstrate it, he and Ferb have Clay Aiken and Chaka Khan sing an inspirational song in a duet, but when the crowd stands on the wing to join them, it collapses under their weight.

Perry gets a mission briefing from Carl , reading a note that was allegedly written by Major Monogram that claims he wasn't kidnapped and that he is on vacation. He tells Perry that Doofenshmirtz and his daughter are on vacation in Tokyo, which is also the location of the current Annual Good Guy Convention, so foiling the evil scientist would be unnecessary. Perry, however, is aware something is wrong and embarks on a search for the Major.

SBTY-215-We've got a guy tied up

Doofenshmirtz ended up bringing work with him.

Over a breakfast of Japanese noodles, Candace talks with Stacy over her relationship with Jeremy. Because Jeremy had never called her his girlfriend, or even kissed her, she fears that his being single and in Paris with local women trying to get his attention can compromise her efforts to make him her boyfriend. Stacy testifies saying that her declaring him her boyfriend would be valid. Candace, though having always thought it was supposed to work vice-versa, heeds this advice.

While retrieving their luggage at the Tokyo airport's baggage claim, Vanessa sees her dad picking up a dolly with Major Monogram tied to it from the conveyor belt and is irked that her father had taken work with him on a trip that was supposed to be devoted to him spending time with her.

SBTY-237-Check out this giant map

Candace sees their map.

As the wing is fixed back onto the aircraft with packing tape, Phineas goes over the map of the planned route. Buford decides to come along to make sure they wouldn't cheat and brings Baljeet with him as carry-on luggage. Candace comes out into the backyard, intending to impede what her brothers are doing, but changes her mind when she finds out that Paris is one of their stopovers. Stacy at first tries to negotiate Candace out of the decision, but Candace testifies saying that being in charge, she should supervise her brothers as they travel. Though seeing this as irrational, Stacy concurs and bids Candace a farewell.

The aircraft launches while Adyson and the Fireside Girls are left in charge of getting the backyard in shape for the welcoming party, and she instructs Clay Aiken and Chaka Khan to start working.

While she and her father wander around in the top floor of the Tokyo Tower, Vanessa is reading facts about it on a brochure and she sees a giant water balloon being hung on the top of the structure that isn't supposed to be part of it. She finds out her father had put it there and was planning to drop it on the Annual Good Guy Convention at the base of the tower and frame Major Monogram for perpetrating the prank.

Meanwhile, in another part of Tokyo, Phineas makes a gear-up landing on the motorway, damaging the undercarriage of the Sun-Beater 3000. The aircraft comes to rest, coincidentally, in front of the residence of Stacy's relatives.

In a stroke of fortune, Stacy's great aunt owns a tempura restaurant and willingly donates some of her vegetable oil to them to refuel the aircraft. After a spontaneous J-Pop musical number , the aircraft is once again in the air and bound for Paris.

Vanessa Joins the Ride

Vanessa joins the ride.

As Vanessa angrily walks away from her father, she passes and greets Perry, who has arrived via helicopter and makes it his first priority to untie Major Monogram. Doofenshmirtz tries to negotiate her into staying, saying that he would drop the balloon right there and then to that he could get to spending time with her, but is halted by Perry, whose intervention causes him to drop the remote. The crane carrying the balloon starts to spin out of control and knocks Vanessa off the tower. Luckily for her, the Sun-Beater 3000 passes and catches her in the midst of her fall. Ferb opens the canopy and lets her into the aircraft.

Doofenshmirtz is displeased that the people who rescued his daughter are now running off with her and sought the cooperation of both Major Monogram and Perry to pursue them. After a few moments of relentless pleading by Doofenshmirtz, Perry and Major Monogram agree to take him to his daughter and give chase after the Sun-Beater 3000 in Perry's hover-car.

Klimpaloon walks by

Klimpaloon walks by.

As the Sun-Beater 3000 passes over the Himalayas, Phineas advocates for the passengers to keep their eyes out for Klimpaloon , a magical old-timey bathing suit rumored to be residing there. Candace objects, claiming that he only made it up. A quiet dispute over its existence begins between the two before the altimeter warbles with an alarm. Phineas realizes that the additional weight caused by Vanessa's arrival could be hindering the aircraft's performance and flight ceiling. Not long afterwards, the aircraft's wings are severed by a collision with a mountain summit and it comes crashing down on the mountainside. As the airframe comes to rest, Klimpaloon waddles past the aircraft, validating Phineas' claim to him existing.

SBTY-439b-I cannot pronounce

Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella dancing with Uncle Sabu.

Baljeet recalls an uncle of his who is residing not far from where they crashed and leads them to his area of residence. Candace and Vanessa stay behind, volunteering to guard the plane.

Baljeet's Uncle Sabu greets the visitors and welcomes them into his rubber band factory, where he sings about its production endeavors in an already rehearsed Bollywood style song . As the musical number closes, Phineas requests if he could be given a batch of giant rubber bands.

SBTY-560-The gang looking around

The gang enjoying their ride.

Candace and Vanessa venture further up the mountainside trying to gain reception on their cellphones while Doofenshmirtz closes in on them with a GPS locating device tracking a GPS beacon in Vanessa's earrings.

Because the mountainside is too treacherous for Perry to be able to land the hovercraft on, Major Monogram equips Heinz with skydiving gear and tersely ejects him from the aircraft. Doofenshmirtz fails to deploy his parachute and slams into the ground rolling. As he rolls, snow builds up around his body and in a few seconds, he is tumbling towards the teens inside a massive snowball.

Candace and Vanessa flee in panic towards the aircraft, which now has a large ball of rubber bands strapped underneath it. Ferb urgently tries to start the engine, but it stalls stubbornly. Vanessa makes it to the plane and Candace, still running, narrowly avoids being hit by the snowball before it plows into the aircraft and sends it off the cliff.

However, the ball of rubber bands it was strapped to rebounds the airframe vertically upward and Candace is able to climb in before the aircraft is thrust forward. Repeating the process of using the rubber ball to rebound the plane from the ground and thrust forth, the group continues west across the globe and manage to reach Paris, where they run out of rubber bands and crash-land into a river.

Doofenshmirtz, unseen by the group, has been propelled skyward by the collision and hits the ground uninjured beside the parked hovercar Perry had managed to find a landing area for.

The Sun-Beater 3000 is washed up on a riverside in Paris. Phineas tells everyone they need fuel and parts so they should all split up to find them. Candace heads off to see Jeremy, Buford and Baljeet are to go scare out some additional fuel, and Ferb goes to the Eiffel Tower with Vanessa to plot the directions back home. Phineas decides he will go look for some parts and invites Isabella to come along with him and she quickly agrees, but then she rephrased herself and calms down.

Depressed in the City of Love

Isabella sings City of Love.

Candace walks around Paris trying to find the hotel Jeremy is staying in. She comes across a bilingual French woman with knowledge over English, but assumes she only knows French. After an awkward communication blunder trying to use a French-English Dictionary, Candace leaves and spots Jeremy around the next corner. She tries to say hi, but leaves dejected when she sees him enjoying his time with some local teens.

At the same time, Isabella tries to seize a romantic moment with Phineas. She sings to Phineas in her effort to try and shift his attention away from trying to repairing the plane and towards spending time with her, but frustratingly fails.

When Buford and Baljeet arrive at a cafe to ask for vegetable oil, Baljeet asks the cafe's manager, but is rejected. However, when Buford steps forward and makes the same request in fluent French, he is approved.

SBTY-701-Ferb holding a rose

Ferb is left alone.

Phineas managed to find a pair of large plastic baguettes being thrown out which he plans to use to fasten to the Sun-Beater 3000 using their remaining rubber bands and convert it into a boat.

Ferb and Vanessa are atop the Eiffel Tower while Vanessa talks about how frustrating it is that her father puts his work ahead of her when she only wanted to spend time with him. Ferb in turn suggests that if one loves another, they must meet that person halfway. At the same time, he realizes the love he has for Vanessa and heads off to a flower shop on the tower to buy her a rose.

SBTY-698-Vanessa getting in the hover car

Heinz and Vanessa are reunited.

While Ferb is away, Doofenshmirtz, Perry and Major Monogram arrive in the hover-car to pick her up. Though Vanessa is still mad at her father for bringing work with him on their trip, she realizes how much trouble he had gone through to find her and decides to rejoin him. When Ferb returns with the rose, she was gone, to his dismay.

As everyone is reunited at the plane on the riverside, Phineas expresses feeling sorrow for Ferb and Candace, who never received the opportunity to spend time with their special partners, which ironically, he did not respond to Isabella's affection before, much to her frustration.

When Candace reveals that she couldn't muster the self-esteem to approach Jeremy who was apparently enjoying his time without her, Phineas recalls Clay Aiken's song to help motivate Candace to believe in herself, and reassures her that she will succeed, as she did during all the previous times her confidence was put to the test.

C+J officially

Candace and Jeremy call each other Boyfriend and Girlfriend.

Jeremy sees Candace at the bridge and is surprised that she is suddenly in Paris. In the process of explaining that she was only trying to supervise her brothers while they circumnavigated the world she accidentally brings up that she saw him outside of his hotel with a group of French girls. Jeremy replies, "I thought my girlfriend would have more trust in me than that." Candace is surprised as well as delighted as her official boyfriend declares her his girlfriend. They prepare to share a kiss with each other, but lose the chance to do so as the aircraft drifts away in the current. A dismayed Candace returns to her seat in the aircraft by Isabella, who remarks with envy that Candace was fortunate to have a love scene at the bridge when she herself had none. Buford weighs in by quoting French philosopher Voltaire .

Isabella reassures Candace that she would be reunited with Jeremy soon while Phineas reignites the engine, pushing it to full throttle. Skimming through the river at a high speed, they make it out to the Atlantic in a short time frame.

Phineas is glad to be ahead of schedule and looks forward to arriving in Danville earlier than expected. However, as they dart west across the ocean, the airframe collapses and disintegrates under the stress of the rushing water.

Candace is extremely frustrated and distraught at the fact that they're stranded on a desert island while Buford taunts Phineas, satisfied to be winning the bet in spite of the circumstances. Phineas, though optimistic and confident he can get them out of their predicament, soon realizes he has nothing to work with. His searches for a means of escape become desperate.

Doof cries

Doofenshmirtz shedding tears of joy as he is proud of Vanessa doing something evil.

In Paris, Doofenshmirtz thanks Major Monogram and Perry for their cooperation, but they just handcuff him in response, hoping to put him away in prison to 10–20 years. However, before Doofenshmirtz is about to be taken into custody, Vanessa stalls them by threatening them with a handheld weapon and escapes with her father in the hovercar. At first, Vanessa denies being evil and reveals the weapon was actually a hairdryer, but she later concedes to it after Doofenshmirtz pointed out that she manipulated Monogram and Perry into believing it was a weapon, leaving Doofenshmirtz to shed tears of joy in this. Despite being distraught to see Doofenshmirtz and Vanessa escape, Monogram decides to let this one behind and happily goes off to take a revue, leaving an upset Perry behind.

Sad Phineas and Isabella

Phineas and Isabella watch the sunset.

Phineas' optimism has been faded by desperation and he is now frantically digging a large hole in the sand for anything they can possibly use to escape. Despite his efforts, his search yields nothing but a sea sponge and a starfish. Isabella, downcast, heads off to the edge of the beach and sits down to watch the sunset. Before long, she begins to cry. Ferb consoles her, offering a handkerchief to blow her nose on. This calms her down enough for her to open up to Ferb how frustrating it is that Phineas would barely notice her with his unbridled determination on winning the bet. There is no doubt left in her mind he'd lose the bet and she feels giving up is the best answer. She gestures to Phineas, who finds a sponge and a starfish, but throws them away due to neither of them helping. Isabella adds it's as if she doesn't exist, and would give anything if Phineas would sit with her and watch the sunset.

Phineas and Isabella hugging

Phineas and Isabella hugging.

Phineas promptly runs to Isabella's side making a final vain suggestion that they could dig a tunnel underneath the ocean, before finally giving up. Still trying to look on the bright side of things, he sits down by Isabella and begins to enjoy the sunset, quoting that to her. At first, Isabella is content, but then she finds herself unhappy with how emotionally broken he is and tries to snap him out of it with a motivational pep talk. Isabella pickets to Phineas about his past inventions, but suddenly changes one sentence when she almost reveals her crush on him. When she points out how confident he had been working out the route on Ferb's map, Phineas makes a realization and snaps into action. He gives Isabella a thankful hug before getting to work, not noticing that left her in a trance.

Coordinating the group, Phineas has them fold the giant map into a paper airplane. After placing the seats from the original Sun-Beater 3000 in it, Phineas puts their remaining rubber band around two palm trees to make an improvised slingshot. Candace is at first extremely doubtful that what Phineas has planned will work, but decides to join in when Phineas reminds her it's her only hope for her to see Jeremy again.

After adjusting the slingshot and aiming the plane in Danville's direction, Phineas gives the go order for everyone to board the makeshift aircraft and launches it.

The plane darts over the Atlantic at an extreme speed, and a short time after passing over New York City and crossing into the mainland, crash-lands into suburban Danville a few blocks from Phineas and Ferb's backyard with only a minute until sundown. Though they've reached the homestretch, the road construction Linda took an hour to navigate around blocks their path as a final obstacle. This leaves the kids extremely upset, seeing that they cannot go around the block in less than 30 seconds.

Jumping the Ditch - SBTY

Riding over the unfinished sidewalk.

Buford soon notices that he's nearby his house. Deciding to let Phineas and Ferb win the bet, he leads the group into his garage to return their bikes so that they can jump over the worksite. Everyone in the group is accounted for with their bicycle except for Candace, for whom only a tricycle is available. After Phineas convinces her to settle for it by yelling at her, the group is set.

They pedal with every ounce of their might down the street and into a ramp at the worksite. The jump over the ditch is perilous, but they make it safely back into the backyard just in time for the sun to disappear behind the horizon.

Everyone singing SBTY

Phineas, Isabella, Ferb and Candace singing Summer Belongs to You.

They celebrate their amazing and remarkable success just as Linda and Lawrence arrive home weary from their weekend journey. They let Candace know how proud they are for having been so responsible but are unaware of what she and her brothers have gone through all day. They notice the welcoming party that has been set up, but are too exhausted to participate and turn in early, leaving the kids alone to enjoy it.

Candace and Jeremy Kiss

Candace and Jeremy's first kiss.

The group sings and dances to a celebratory musical number with Phineas, Isabella, and Candace as the lead singers. As Candace finishes with her solo, she sees Jeremy entering the backyard and runs to welcome him. After telling her he returned from Paris as early as possible so he could spend time with her, he kisses her.

As the musical number comes to a close since the entire day worked out well for everyone, it occurs to Phineas now that Perry is absent, wondering aloud where he is. Unbeknownst to him, Perry is still in Paris, and at the moment, ordering at a restaurant with a date following Doofenshmirtz and Vanessa's escape.

Read the transcript of Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs to You!.

  • " I Believe We Can " performed by Clay Aiken and Chaka Khan
  • " J-Pop (Welcome to Tokyo) " performed by Stacy 's Cousins
  • " Rubber Bands, Rubber Balls " performed by Uncle Sabu & Co.
  • " Bouncin' Around the World " performed by Love Händel
  • " Forever Summer " (instrumental)
  • " Sad French Song " performed by a voiceover
  • " City of Love " performed by Isabella (voted #6 on Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown Hosted by Kelly Osbourne )
  • " Follow the Sun " performed by Danny Jacob and Laura Dickinson
  • " Summer Belongs to You " performed by Phineas , Isabella , and Candace (voted #2 on Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown Hosted by Kelly Osbourne)

Soundtrack available on Walt Disney Records as a digital download [2]

  • " The Ballad of Klimpaloon " performed by Love Händel (soundtrack only)
  • " You're Wrong " (cut for time)

End Credits

Last verse of "Summer Belongs to You".

On Netflix, Disney+, and a select few countries, the episode is divided into two parts. The end credits of Part 1 is the first verse of "Rubber Bands, Rubber Balls".

List of Locations

Bold - Stops Italic - In a song and/or pass along the way

  • Pacific Ocean
  • Japan ( Tokyo )
  • Nepal / Tibet
  • United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi)
  • India (Agra)
  • Italy (Rome)
  • Poland (Cracow)
  • Switzerland (Zürich)
  • Netherlands
  • Russia (Moscow)
  • Egypt (Cairo)
  • African Savanna
  • Germany (Berlin)
  • Australia (Sydney)
  • Greece (Athens)
  • Belgium (Brussels)
  • Cambodia (Angkor Wat)
  • France ( Paris )
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Deserted Island in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean
  • United States (New York)
  • Home ( Danville in the Tri-State Area )

Running Gags

The "too young" line, ferb's line, what'cha doin', i know what we're gonna do today, oh, there you are, perry, hey, where's perry, perry's entrance to his lair.

Perry was in his bed until it quickly flips over.

Evil Jingle

Doofenshmirtz in a jet airplane!

Memorable Quotes

Background information.

Summerbelongstoyouad

Magazine advertisement for the episode.

  • Without advertisements; this episode is 46 minutes, making it the second longest episode of the series behind Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars . This is the fourth longest Phineas and Ferb animated show (excluding marathons), currently being behind Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (with a runtime of 1 hour and 25 minutes), Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension (with a runtime of 1 hour and 18 minutes), and Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars (with a runtime of 51 minutes).
  • The Summer Solstice, which is known as the longest day of the summer and the first day of summer, takes place between June 20 and 21 in the Northern Hemisphere.
  • Substituting Chicago for Danville, the shortest route around the world which also includes Tokyo and Paris is about 16,500 miles (locating Danville elsewhere in the U.S. would not make a significant difference). Given that they had 40 hours to make the trip, the kids must have averaged about 412.5 miles per hour - a little more than half the speed of sound. Of course, since they made several stops, their actual traveling speed would have been considerably faster.
  • Air France Concorde F-BTSD circled the globe flying East to West in 33 hours 1 minute on October 12 and 13, 1992, so a trip of this nature is actually possible.
  • This episode won Best Kids Episode on iTunes 2010 Rewind.

Production Information

Enter the secret password to unlock video

Screenshot of the password page.

  • From late July until August 1, 2010, the first 15 minutes of the special could be viewed as a "sneak peek" on Disney XD's website, using a "secret password" revealed in a video which was both posted on Disney XD's official YouTube page and featured on a USB drive given to attendees of the screening of the episode at Comic-Con International.
  • The video was also made available on Wired' s "GeekDad" blog .
  • As of August 7, 2010, the video is no longer available on the Disney XD YouTube channel.
  • The password was "platypus" and the site was www.disneyxd.com/topsecret . As of August 7, 2010, this now links to the videos page on Disney XD's Phineas and Ferb site.
  • For a time, Disney Channel and Disney XD had the entire episode available to watch online through their "Replay" links.
  • On Disney Channel Netherlands/Flanders this episode was broadcast as a 'Must See Movie' on October 15, 2010.
  • In some of the overseas translated versions of this episode, like in Spain, Portugal or Asia; the episode is divided in two parts. The end credits of the first part consist in the song "Rubber Bands, Rubber Balls". Each part has 30 minutes to fit into the time slot: the first part is composed of Acts One, Two and Three, while the other one is composed of Acts Four and Five. As a result, many scenes are deleted (i.e. the sailors' cameo scene during the song "Follow the Sun", the annual substitute teacher day or the handcuffs joke) to reduce the length of the second episode; the song "Welcome to Tokyo" is extended for the first episode, at least in the Spain, Portugal and Iceland versions. The song "Follow the Sun" plays either way, but shortened and without vocals. The aforementioned cuts also appear in the Disney+ version.
  • In 2011 the episode was launched in DVD in Spain and it had the sailors scene and the song subtitled (when it was featured in DC and Disney XD the scene was missing).
  • This episode shows Diamond White now voicing Holly , who was previously voiced by Cymphonique Miller .
  • According to composer Danny Jacob , the working title for this special was "The Longest Day of Summer". [3]
  • This is the only hourlong episode aired outside the fourth season.

Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs to You! was watched by 3.862 million viewers. 20% of Kids between the ages of 2-11 who were watching TV were watching Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You. 13% of teenagers, 5% of households, and 3% of adults between the ages 18–49, who were watching TV saw it. It was also the #1 program on that night and it was 25th for the week in views. [4] [5] On Disney XD, the episode ranked #3 in the top telecasts of the year with 1.32 million views and 365,000 views by Boys 6-11. The hour telecast on August 2, 2010 is currently the Emmy-winning animated series' No. 2 telecast of all time on Disney XD in Total Viewers, in kids 6-14 with 677,000, Boys 6-14 with 435,000, and kids 6-11 with 542,000, Boys 6-11 and Boys 9-14 235,000, behind only December 2009's " Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation! ." [6] In the United Kingdom there were 99,000 viewers. [7]

Round the World How-To

Inside: the ultimate guide to planning a dream vacation around the world, from rtw tickets to choosing your bucket list itinerary..

Let’s face it, the pandemic was a punch to the gut for travel lovers around the world.

Never did I think I’d see a day when I couldn’t just bebop onto a transatlantic flight. Or just, say, leave my own home. But there we were.

When I (literally) dusted off my passport in early 2021, the thin layer of dust accumulated was borderline soul crushing.

But fear not dear globetrotters, the pandemic era is finally in the rear view mirror and international travel has rebounded with a heart-warming zeal!

So now what?

You’ve got some lost time to make up for, that’s what.

And there’s no better way to do it than with a life-changing, Bucket-List-crushing, dream vacation around the world .

Take my word for it…I’ve done 10 around the world trips, visiting more than 175 countries on all 7 continents along the way. And you can, too.

But I probably don’t need to waste my time selling you on the idea of a trip around the world. You found this site. I suspect you’re on board.

So let’s start with the basics.

Pyramids Giza Cairo Egypt

What is a Round the World Trip?

Simply put, a Round the World (RTW) trip is a circumnavigation of the globe, either in an eastward or westward direction. Start in one city and continue east or west until you get back to it. That’s all there is to it!

Tip: West is best for combatting jetlag, while east saves time and hotel nights ($$) with overnight flights. (I’m cheap and usually short on time, I fly east. )

Read More: 8 Reasons to Stop Dreaming & Start Planning a Trip “Around the World in 30 Days “

Of course, while the concept of round the world travel is simple, the variables are far more complex.

For example, you may be wondering…

How many days do I need for a RTW trip?

What you’ve probably seen on YouTube and Instagram from round the world travelers is true.

Most quit their jobs, sell their possessions, and hit the road for a year or more with big dramatic flair. Of course, that kind of nomadic commitment is not for everyone.

And I’m living proof that there are other options.

My first 9 RTW trips were approximately 30 days each. The lone exception was RTW #10, my honeymoon , which clocked in at a pretty incredible 3 months.

I’ve also done 30-day trips focused on various regions of the world like Europe , Central America , Oceania , the Balkans , and the Himalayas (a great option if there’s a specific part of the world that interests you or you just hate jetlag).

For me, a month is the ideal amount of time to travel.

Machu Picchu Peru

Long enough to truly disconnect and explore. Yet short enough that I’m unlikely to throw my carry-on (we’ll get to that) suitcase out the nearest train window because I’m tired of every single thing in it.

There’s no right answer to how long your round the world trip should take. I know someone who went around the world in 5 days (zero stars, do not recommend) and someone else who started 10 years ago and is still going strong.

So, two weeks, a month, or even 6 months to travel around the world? It’s totally up to you.

The bottom line: Take as much time as you can, anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months will do. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that you never know if you’ll have the chance to do it again.

World Trip Dream Vacation Around the World

A trip around the world sounds amazing, but how do I get the time off?

When I wrote the first edition of The Grown-Up’s Guide to Globetrotting 11 years ago, this topic was a central focus and the largest hurdle to taking a career-friendly trip around the world. After all, most Americans are stuck with a measly 2 weeks of annual vacation leave (the horror!).

So, how do you travel the world without tanking your career?

Amazingly, on this front, the COVID-19 pandemic gifted us with one gleaming silver lining:

WORK. FROM. HOME.

Yes, even the stuffiest of Fortune 500 corporations have finally come around to the idea that work from home can (and does) work – with the right employee.

This revelation is especially thrilling to me as someone who has been working from home (combined with business travel) for more than 20 years.

In fact, my friends will tell you that my life mantra has always been:

If you can work from home, you can work from Rome. Jenny McIver Brocious

Or Paris. Or Bangkok. Or wherever floats your boat. You get the idea.

There’s a lot more to making this work successfully from exotic locales – time zone challenges, reliable internet, etc. (I go into that in detail in the book) – but I can assure you, it can be done. And it beats the pants off working from your dining room table.

Captain Vassilis Chania Crete Greece

The bottom line: You can use the WFH option to increase your available time for travel. Add days or weeks onto your trip or schedule a trip just to work from somewhere inspiring.

What’s on your Bucket List?

And now we come to the fun part. This is where the magic happens.

Where in the world do you want to go?

I speak from experience when I say that there are few things more thrilling than sitting down in front of a giant foldout map of the world and plotting out your dream vacation .

explora Patagonia Hotel Salto Chico

Maybe you already have a dozen exotic destinations in mind. Or maybe there are places in the world you never considered visiting because they always seemed too far away.

The beauty of going around the world is that the entire world becomes just a short flight away.

How many destinations should I choose?

The answer will directly correlate to how much time you plan to take. My month-long trips have ranged from an uber-ambitious 15 stops on Round the World #1 to a more relaxed pace with 8 stops on Round the World #2 .

Here’s a simple, 3-step plan to crafting your round the world itinerary:

  • Make your wish list.
  • Compare it to the number of days you have to travel.
  • Adjust accordingly.

Critically evaluate how long you actually need to see each place on your wish list.

Great Barrier Reef Australia Whitsundays

For some (like me), 2-3 days per destination can be a good rule of thumb. Devote more time to your “ Top 5 ” must-see destinations and maybe just spend one day exploring the city you only added to the itinerary because it was right there and you couldn’t just skip it (you laugh, but I guarantee a few of these stops will sneak their way onto your itinerary!).

Remember that a short-term round the world trip, however incredible, is not going to be an in-depth cultural experience at every stop. Think more Amazing Race and less Under the Tuscan Sun .

It IS, however, a terrific way to get a taste of new and exciting places and start building a new wish list for future trips.

Depending on your interest level, you may not need a week to see the Pyramids , I did it in an afternoon and it was magnificent. A full day at the Taj Mahal and a morning walk along the Great Wall of China were enough to fulfill my dream of seeing those world wonders.

But that’s me. And I’ve been told I can be a little, ah, overly-energetic when I travel. You do you.

Need some destination inspiration? Here are 30 of my favorite travel experiences around the world:

Around the World in 30 Extraordinary Travel Experiences

And here are the Top 50 places I think should be on every Bucket List:

50 Amazing Places for Your Travel Bucket List (2024)

Round the World Flights: The RTW Ticket (your new best friend)

I am fortunate that my years of excessive business travel have one nifty little side benefit, I have a crap ton of airline miles.

So when I discovered the magical world of “ Round the World airline tickets ” years ago, those Delta miles not only afforded me the opportunity to take that first RTW trip but to take it in first class with Delta’s Skyteam Alliance.

Eiffel Tower, Sunset, Paris

Sadly, the days of booking a RTW ticket with miles went the way of the dodo bird in 2015. I won’t lie to you, I wept openly when Delta first announced it (followed quickly by United and American).

But all is not lost if you’ve been hoarding miles like pandemic toilet paper. All major US airlines now allow one-way award booking. Meaning you can still use your miles to route yourself around the world, one one-way flight at a time!

And honestly, the old mileage RTW tickets were a deal but they were a BEAR to book and had zero flexibility. One-way award booking gives you a ton more flexibility plus the option to mix economy and business class legs (for longer flights) on your journey. This is a BIG perk.

Here are a few more tips for you “ Up in the Air ” business travelers out there with miles & points to burn:

How to Use Points & Miles to Redeem Your RTW Dream

No miles, no problem

Two of the three major airline alliances do still offer paid RTW ticket options. Delta’s Skyteam Alliance is the exception, they discontinued the RTW ticket option completely a few years ago. The airline alliance RTW tickets are not cheap and you’ll spend extra time connecting through hub cities but you can earn a ton of miles as you travel.

If that option interests you, start here:

  • Oneworld – World Travel (American, Alaska)
  • Star Alliance – Round the World (United)

they travel around the world one day

The affordable RTW ticket…

If redeeming (or earning) miles isn’t your jam and you truly just want the most affordable way to see the world, skip the airline alliances and head straight to:

  • Airtreks – This site is more service oriented, you enter a proposed itinerary and a travel planner will contact you to create the perfect customized itinerary.
  • BootsnAll – This one is more DIY. You can create and book an itinerary yourself online.

Unlike the airline alliances, these two round the world airfare specialists utilize all airlines to create your dream itinerary. This will often yield both the best price and the most direct routing for your trip.

WARNING: Once you start playing around with the trip planners on these two sites, you may become addicted to the global possibilities.

Tip: You guessed it, I’ve covered all the ins and outs of booking RTW tickets in the book.

Hotels vs. Airbnb – Where to stay?

Once again business travel rewards can be handy when planning a round the world trip.

My Marriott and Hilton points have been offsetting the costs of my round the world trips for years. Not to mention affording me swank rooms at hotels and resorts that were WAY outside of my round the world budget, like these:

Points and Miles at the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort

But if you don’t have points, not to worry! I am a firm believer that a quality, affordable hotel can always be found, even in the most expensive destinations. My go-to hotel site (when I’m not using points) is Booking.com .

Tip: If you’re not a member of any hotel frequent guest programs, sign up for all of them before you go. It’s free and you’ll earn points as you travel. Many also offer perks during your stay, just for being a member.

If you’re not a fan of chain hotels or if you’re going to be in one spot for more than 3 or 4 days, I’d highly recommend an apartment rental. They can be considerably cheaper than even the most economical hotel and having a kitchen can be a tremendous cost-saver as well. Not to mention it’s just fun to live more like a local!

One of my favorite apartment rental sites is Airbnb but I’ve also found that more and more apartment rentals are also listed on Booking.com (and the fees there are often cheaper than Airbnb). That said, I’ve booked with Airbnb all over the world (including the Tuscan villa we used for our wedding – below!) and never had a bad experience. If you haven’t yet rented through Airbnb, click here for my discount code. You’ll get $40 off your first rental and, when you book, I’ll get $20 off my next rental…that’s a win-win!

Villa Poggio Tre Lune Tuscany Italy

Who should I travel with on an around the world trip?

If you’re married, it would probably be rude to go without your spouse (try it at your own marital peril).

But if you’re single, this is a question that deserves serious consideration. If you’ve never traveled solo, your gut instinct may be to find a friend or family member to travel with.

But before you do that, consider this…

A solo trip around the world is perhaps the best gift you can ever give yourself, especially for women. It’s empowering, it’s safe and it just might be the best travel experience of your life.

Read More: Why Every Woman Should Travel the World Solo (at Least Once) & How to Stay Safe Doing It

Petermann Island Antarctica

No matter what you decide, choose carefully.

How to pack (carry on only!) for an around the world trip

Yes, you read that right. I just casually floated the idea of traveling around the world for a month or longer with nothing but a carry-on bag.

If you’re a guy, you were probably not at all alarmed by the previous paragraph and thought, “ Couple of t-shirts, some shorts, underwear, got it. ” You can scroll down to the next topic, this section is not about you.

Now, for my globetrotting ladies. I’m going to ask you to trust me on this one (we’ve known each other for 10 or 15 minutes now and I feel like you get me).

With so many flights involved in a RTW trip, carry-on is truly the only option.

Reuniting with a lost bag can quickly become a logistical nightmare when you’re changing cities every few days. (And I can assure you that no one at the lost baggage desk understands what “ RTW ticket ” means.)

If you don’t believe me you can read all about the one time I broke my own rule and ended up spending an entire day at baggage claim in Paris on Round the World #4 . (Actually, don’t. It’s mind-numbing reading and definitely not my best work.)

You can do this. You don’t need all the “ stuff ” you think you do!

(For the things you do need, here’s all the Stuff I Love most!)

I have traveled for as long as 3 months out of just a carry-on (and in case I forgot to mention it, I’m a girl!). I do freely admit, however, that I was over just about every item of clothing in that suitcase by the end. I also confess I checked a bag to Antarctica. Because Antarctica .

Carry-on bags

How do I do it? This excerpt from “ The Grown-Up’s Guide to Globetrotting ” is guaranteed to help you overcome your RTW packing challenges:

How to Travel Around the World with Just a Carry-On: A Girl’s Guide to Traveling Light

What else do I need to know for a RTW trip?

We’ve covered the big-ticket items – how long to travel, how many places to visit, with who, how to find RTW tickets, where to stay, and what to pack. So what’s left?

Well, a LOT actually. But hey, that’s where my book comes in (insert shameless plug here).

I’ll end with a hit list of other tips, tricks and things to consider when planning your once-in-a-lifetime (or maybe more!) round the world trip:

  • Apps : For currency conversion, I like Oanda. And Google translate is also incredibly handy to have around.
  • Thoroughly research entry requirements for ALL countries you plan to visit well in advance. Almost all visa applications can now be completed online.
  • A good universal power adapter & converter is a must. More than one is a plus if you have lots of devices (and don’t we all these days?).
  • Check with your doctor for any immunizations you may need for your destinations. I got the works before my first trip and haven’t had to worry about it since (other than the occasional prescription for malaria pills).
  • Consider purchasing travel insurance, for a trip of this magnitude, it’s a must! Especially in the post-pandemic era. Here’s a good independent review of the benefits of travel insurance and the options available: 10 Best Travel Insurance Companies
  • Make sure your passport is valid for at least 6 months after your planned date of return because all countries have different requirements on this.

And finally…

How to Travel Around the World

Get the Book!

For more comprehensive advice on planning your route, booking RTW tickets and everything else you ever wanted to know about traveling around the world, get the ultimate resource guide to planning a RTW trip (without quitting your job!):

Round the World in 30 Days: The Grown-Up’s Guide to Globetrotting

Now get out there and start planning the around the world trip of your dreams!

As Phil Keoghan says at the start of every season of the Amazing Race,

“The world is waiting for you!”

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Dawn over the ancient temples in Bagan scattered through the misty landscape

How to plan a trip around the world

 Making the fantasy of a global odyssey an achievable reality is not as impossible as it might seem.

Combining a series of once-in-a-lifetime experiences into a single around-the-world trip can feel like the ultimate expression of luxury travel. It can be a daunting prospect though, with many contending factors to consider. Here's how to start planning the ultimate round-the-world trip.

1. Take to the sky

Air travel is, predictably, the simplest way to traverse the globe. Start by purchasing an around-the-world plane ticket through an airline alliance — coalitions of different airlines which let you pay for all of your flights in a single transaction. The alliance offers regional passes which might work better should you want to devote the bulk of your time to one or two continents.

There are three main players: Star Alliance, OneWorld and Skyteam; the latter, however, has suspended sales of RTW tickets. Star Alliance is a confederation of 26 airlines covering 1,200 airports in 98% of the world’s nations, while OneWorld’s 13 airlines serve 1,000 destinations across almost as many countries.

The small print varies, but fliers must always keep to one global direction, east or west (the latter better suits your circadian rhythm), with no backtracking; must only cross the Atlantic and Pacific oceans once each; must start and finish in the same country; and must travel for a period between 10 days and one year.

Convenience is a benefit here, allowing you to minimise paperwork. It’s worth noting that some countries, such as China, also require proof of an outbound air ticket before issuing visas.  

How to do it:   Star Alliance offers a 133-day itinerary from London via Istanbul, Dubai, Bangkok, Sydney, Los Angeles and New York from £2,580 per person.  

2. Ride the rails

A century ago, taking extended rail journeys was one of the only means of long-distance travel. Today, trains are a great option for travellers looking to minimise their carbon footprint and take a slower, more measured route.

Recapturing the romance of the past, around-the-world specialists Travel Nation can tailor-make odysseys involving   separate train journeys. Vietnam’s Reunification Express, an Outback crossing aboard the Australian Ghan and a ride on the Rocky Mountaineer in Canada can all feature.

How to do it:   Travel Nation ’s 74-night, rail-focused global tour costs from £17,760 per person, including flights, trains, accommodation, most meals and some excursions.  

3. Go Private

For those who truly want to travel in style, it’s possible to circumnavigate the globe by private jet through National Geographic Expeditions. These trips are based around epic itineraries whose remarkable destinations are brought to life by a experts and groundbreaking researchers in various fields, who most travellers never get to meet.

On the 24-day Around the World by Private Jet expedition, you can visit 10 UNESCO World Heritage sites. Among the trip’s standouts are Easter Island’s Moai statues, Angkor’s jungle-flanked temple complexes, rock-carved Petra and a Serengeti safari. Departing from Washington, DC, up to 75 passengers will travel VIP-style in a customised Boeing 757, bedding down throughout the adventure in five-star hotels or lodges.

How to do it: National Geographic Expeditions ’ 23-night Around the World by Private Jet trip starts from £77,100 per person, all-inclusive, including medical evacuation insurance. Departures on 10 March, 29 October and 28 December 2024.  

train curving near Lake Louise on bright, sunny day

4. Head overland

Travellers who don’t mind hitting the open road can try Oasis Overland, a tour company specialising in overland travel. Its longest offering is a 293-day trip from the UK to Cairo via an anticlockwise loop along much of the African coast, plus Victoria Falls and Zanzibar. The slew of highlights include the Sahara desert, the Giza Pyramids and East Africa’s wildlife-rich plains.  

The 16 (or fewer) group members will ride in one of Oasis Overland’s bright yellow trucks, built for traversing bumpy roads while offering as much comfort as possible. Nights are almost exclusively spent camping, and everyone is expected to contribute by pitching tents or cooking dinners.

You could also combine trips by flying from Cairo to Istanbul and then joining another overland tour all the way to Singapore, for example.

How to do it: Oasis Overland ’s 292-night UK to Cairo expedition starts from £9,495 per person, including all transport (except flights from the UK to Gibraltar or Malaga) and a selection of excursions.

5. Do it yourself

Arranging everything yourself is an option — most easily accomplished by purchasing multi-destination flights through a comparison website such as kiwi.com or Skyscanner.

A big upside to this is that you can work out something closely aligned to your specific needs; it’ll require a fair bit of time, though, and you’ll lose out in terms of flexibility — changing dates can be tricky — and cancellation cover.

It’s usually more convenient to aim for large airport hubs — the likes of Bangkok, Dallas, Dubai, Heathrow, Paris and Singapore — as the many competing services provide more options. A typical around-the-world ticket will involve something along the lines of London — Istanbul — Bangkok — Singapore — Sydney — Los Angeles — New York — London. From these hubs, you’ll be well placed to add in more obscure destinations in between.  

It’s also worth bearing in mind that you don’t have to fly between each stage. For instance, it’s possible to travel from London to Istanbul by train, lowering your carbon footprint in the process. Or, rather than flying from Bangkok to Singapore, you could get a boat from the Thai capital to Koh Samui and continue from there instead. A reliable tool for establishing train, bus, boat or taxi costs is the website Rome2Rio, and it’s worth investigating the likes of Amtrak rail passes in the US, Eurail Passes for European trains or Greyhound coach tickets covering Australia’s east coast.

Accommodation is something to decide on in advance. Be sure to have all hotel bookings locked in place well ahead of time. Hostels are a good bet, especially if you’re travelling solo or planning an ad-hoc approach during each stage of the trip, but can be lacking in privacy and comforts. House or apartment rentals can be much more comfortable and convenient, particularly for longer stays.  

How to do it: A sample 147-day itinerary from London via Istanbul, Dubai, Bangkok, Sydney, Los Angeles and New York from kiwi.com starts at £2,189 per person, including checked luggage.

evening images of Singapore's Supertrees lighten up at Gardens by Bay.

6. Enlist a pro

One of the best ways to arrange an air-based around-the-world itinerary is by booking with a specialist agent or operator such as Trailfinders, Travel Nation or AirTreks. This can cut out a lot of organisational stress, while also enabling you to take advantage of these companies’ many years of experience. These firms often have access to special deals and aren’t constrained to particular airlines or alliances, allowing them to further improve the offerings to their clients.

The AirTreks website even has a trip planner tool listing a series of suggested activities, interests and attractions such as hiking, beaches, meditation or family travel, providing an extra level of choice at the planning stage.

If you’re interested in earning air miles, specify this to the agent so that they can concentrate on finding flights that qualify. Agents will also be able to suggest tempting additional stops — Taiwan, maybe, or a pause in Oman — which can be a great way of adding an extra bit of excitement to burgeoning itineraries.  

Finally, a specialist company can also take care of — or advise on — vaccinations (such as malaria), and certification and visas you’ll need, saving you plenty of legwork.

How to do it: AirTrek s’ nine-stop ticket from London via Paris, Florence, Venice, Athens, Singapore, Sydney, Auckland and Los Angeles costs from £1,325 to £1,770.

7. Learn to sail

Land ahoy! You might just get to utter those words by signing up for a unique sailing adventure with London-based operator Another World Adventures, which can arrange for you to join a classic, square-rigged tall ship for 90 days as it makes its way around the world on a 455-day voyage. Once on board, you’ll learn how to trim the sails, haul mizzen spinnakers and lean on trade winds to cross the tropics. No experience is required, and participants will become part of a tight-knit crew and make friends for life.

It doesn’t matter at which point on its itinerary the ship happens to be, as it’s entirely possible to join subsequent legs. Setting sail from Bali on 6 November 2023, leg three sees the ship call at the Indian Ocean islands of Rodrigues and Reunion before arriving in Cape Town on 6 February. Beginning one day later, the fourth and final stage is via Namibia, the British overseas territory of St Helena, several Caribbean islands and, on 13 July, Nova Scotia in Canada.

If you’d prefer to wait and tackle the whole trip — the other two legs are Nova Scotia to Tahiti, and Tahiti to Bali — then Another World Adventures (which also offers other, similar experiences) expects it to start in 2025.

How to do it:   Another World Adventures offers 90 nights, full board, from £13,600 per person, including transport, port fees and instruction.  

daylight image of people sailing

8. Cruise along

Ever more around-the-world voyages are being offered by cruise lines. To join one, you’ll need one important thing: lots of spare time. The circular itineraries are mostly more than 100 days in length, with Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise maxing out at 274 nights via seven continents and around 150 stops. These kinds of journeys really fit the ‘trip of a lifetime’ tag, running up to £100,000 per person.

Notably, 2023 marks a century since the world’s first continuous passenger cruise ship completed its pioneering journey. Chartered by the American Express Company, Cunard’s SS Laconia arrived back in New York City after completing a monumental six-month sailing via Japan, Singapore, India and Egypt.  

They also sell out quicker than almost any other cruise, partly due to having a limited number of departures. Holland America Line, for example, opened bookings this summer on its new 2025 Grand World Voyage. Departing from Fort Lauderdale in Florida, this is a six-continent, 124-day round-trip which transits the Panama Canal before visiting Callao (for excursions to Machu Picchu), Easter Island, Tahiti, the Great Barrier Reef, the Seychelles, Cape Town, Kenya, Jordan and Barcelona among 46 stops.  

How to do it:   Holland America Line’s 123-night Grand World Voyage starts from £19,900 per person, full board, including complimentary airport transfers, a $500 (£400) air credit and up to £6,700 per person in onboard spending credits if booked by 3 June 2024.  

9. Hop aboard a cargo ship

A rather more adventurous way of sailing the seas is aboard a cargo ship or freighter cruise. Carrying large containers of clothes, electrical equipment, foods and most other things between the world’s major ports, some of these allot space for four to 12 passengers.

Single, twin or double cabins are the norm, usually with sea-facing windows as well as a sitting area, a desk, a shower and a toilet. A few boats come with a pool, but most are very simple — they’re built for work, not pleasure, after all — and you certainly won’t find a spa or casino (though playing cards with the crew members isn't unheard of). All meals are provided in the on-board canteen.

The major appeal is the sense of serenity — watching the ocean drift by and having time to gather your thoughts or write that novel you’ve always planned.  

This can also be an amazing way to tick off some hard-to-reach places. Take freighters travelling to Singapore from New Zealand; be it for fuel and supplies or to make a drop-off, these stop at numerous Pacific islands en route, occasionally for a couple of days. That said, some port calls are too quick for guests to go ashore.

Note that good health and unaided mobility — due to steep gangways and lots of stairs — are mandatory, and it’s not suited for children or elderly travellers.

How to do it:   Cargo Ship Voyages offers a cargo ship crossing from Rotterdam to Cuba (estimated at 16 nights) from £1,880 per person, which includes all meals.  

Related Topics

  • LUXURY TRAVEL
  • TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE

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TripTins

Ultimate Around the World Itinerary | 1 Year Around the World

By: Author Charles

Posted on August 25, 2023

Ultimate Around the World Itinerary | 1 Year Around the World

In March of 2019, I quit my job, packed a couple of carry-on bags, and took a one-way flight to Auckland, New Zealand to begin my around the world itinerary.

Over the course of the next 375 days, I traveled to 20 countries and countless cities in 6 continents. I put together this post to walk you through the exact route, and how it all came together the way it did.

Whether, you are just interested in reading along, or you would like to put together an around the world itinerary for yourself, I hope this can inspire you!

*  Affiliate Disclosure : This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you make a purchase through the links provided, at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting the work I put into TripTins!

1) Around the World Itinerary Overview

I knew from early on in my career that travel was a very important aspect of my life. I didn’t know at the time though, that I would have it in me to quit my safe corporate job of 6 years and travel for an extended period of time.

Instead of taking those few 10-day vacations and always looking forward to just taking that next trip, I thought a full year of solo travel would be the right move for me. I could visit places that would have taken years for me to get to, and challenge myself consistently along the way.

So, on March 13 2019, I hopped on a flight from JFK to LAX and then onwards to Auckland, New Zealand (essentially as far as one can get!). Over the course of the next 12 months, I got to experience some of the best travel moments of my life.

Whether it was meeting locals, exploring cities, hiking high into the mountains, trying new foods, engraining myself in new cultures, or hanging out with like-minded travelers. The one year of travel ended up being the best decision of my life, and one of the reasons, this site came to be .

Around the World Stats Days: 375  Countries: 20 Cities: ~100

Travel Around the World

2) Travel Considerations

As I planned the trip, there were a few “main” aspects that I was sure to plan the trip around. These included – weather, local holidays for & peak seasons, logistics, among a few other considerations.

Probably the most important aspect of the around the world itinerary, was making sure I was visiting countries during the best time of year from a weather standpoint .

I did not want to go through all of this, just to visit countries when it was rainy season or when I couldn’t take part of certain activities.

For example, I made sure to visit Nepal during November when the weather was at its clearest (but quite cold) and there was little risk of rain and clouds ruining the trekking views. I made my way to the Philippines at the tail end of the dry season and Costa Rica at the beginning of their dry season.

At the end of the day, it was all about being able to fully enjoy my time in each place on a day to day basis and not have constant days where the weather wouldn’t allow me to do anything.

With that said, the weather is unpredictable and you never know what it can bring (no matter how much you plan). There were certainly days I was completely rained out of doing anything, and times where I had to move things around last minute to circumvent the weather.

But by initially planning the trip to avoid poorer weather conditions, I feel as I was really able to get the most out of the journey.

Local Holidays & Seasons

Another thing that I considered is to avoid traveling to countries during the local’s national holidays . While dealing with tourists is one thing, dealing with a whole country traveling at the same time is another.

This isn’t across every country out there of course, but for some countries during these holiday times, many locals decide to travel for themselves.

This results in less availability for hotels and more expensive prices altogether . A couple that come to mind are Golden Week in Japan and Holy Week in the Philippines. 

I will caveat that with saying, sometimes it can be a great experience to take part of certain local celebrations if that is what is of interest to you.

In addition to holidays, I also tried to avoid peak season when most tourists are traveling to a certain destination .

Now, this is certainly not avoidable if traveling for a year, but it can help to steer clear of some places during those peak seasons.

Instead, I tried to visit places during shoulder seasons, as the weather is great but just less people are traveling to these places. At the end of the day it is just picking and choosing what works best.

The last main consideration when planning the trip was the logistics side of things. I just wanted to be sure that there was an easy way to get between city A and city B .

Whether that be a plane, boat, train or bus, I just didn’t want to put myself in the position where I would have to go drastically out of my way to continue on with the next city or country.

To the best of my abilities, I attempted to book direct flights when possible . I remember in the Philippines for example, there were not direct flights between certain islands or they were not operating every day of the week. I had to put the itinerary together so I was not wasting full days just to get between two islands. 

If I was renting a car, and I was taking a one way route through a country (such as Austria), I had to be certain that I could pick up and drop off the car in two separate locations without a hefty fee. 

With that said though, there were certainly times where I had to compromise with logistics. If I really wanted to travel somewhere but it would take days of traveling, I had to be fine with that. It all becomes a balance between everything .

Other Considerations

Also considered in the travel planning was the flexibility and having time to just unwind without anything planned. While I put together a list of countries and things I wanted to do in each country, I never had it written out to a tee.

I consistently moved things around as I went and sometimes did not even have a set date to leave a country I was in. Having that flexibility helped big time when things didn’t go 100% according to plan .

I also wanted to be sure that I had time to just rest and recover . For the majority of the trip I was out and about from morning until night. All of that traveling can take a toll on the body.

So, you will see times in the itinerary where I may have stayed longer than one may expect just to have time to do nothing and all.

When I combined the weather, holidays, and logistics, an itinerary began to form that I continuously worked on for months leading up to the trip.

→ Learn more: check out the planning a trip around the world and around the world cost guides for many more considerations when putting together an itinerary, as well as my around the world packing list

With that said though, there were some things that I had to plan around, making this around the world trip a bit more difficult to plan out than initially expected. See the next section for more on that…

One Year Travel Itinerary

3) What I Planned Around

Now, the around the world itinerary didn’t come without any hitches. There were a few things that came up which altered my initial travel planning.

Timing is never perfect to take a full year off from your friends and family. And there were certain events that I just had to come back for. Due to this, you will see a bit of interesting travel plans that the trip goes through.

» I spent October of 2019 back in the US as I had weddings to attend of close friends. Due to this I ended up staying the month back in the US before heading out again (and did get to visit NYC, Philadelphia and Chicago during my time back). Then again in December 2019, I came back again, but this time just for a quick weekend.

» On top of that, my trip was originally going to be closer to 15 months of travel. As we all know though, Covid started to ramp up in March of 2020. The end of my trip was a bit hectic trying to figure out where to go and what to do. But on March 20, 2020 I ended up taking one of the final flights out of South Africa before the world went into lockdown.

Round the World Travel

4) Around the World Itinerary Details

From start to finish the trip lasted 375 days with 329 days outside of the country. Over the course of those 375 days I visited 6 continents, 20 countries, and upwards of 100 cities. I ended up splitting out my trip in five phases:

Phase 1 : NZ/AU/Asia Phase 2 : Middle East / Europe Phase 3* : Nepal Phase 4 : Central and South America Phase 5 : Asia/Africa -> cut short

→ *I returned home before/after I traveled to Nepal

Below is the country by country route I took along with the number of days (including days to travel to them). Throughout the remainder of the post I will go into detail about where I decided to travel to in each country.

Country #1: New Zealand (29 days) Country #2: Japan (12 days) Country #3: South Korea (11 days) Country #4: Philippines (20 days) Country #5: Indonesia (30 days) Country #6: Australia (21 days) Country #7: Singapore (4 days) Country #8: Israel (17 days) Country #9: Jordan (4 days) Country #10: Austria (10 days) Country #11: Germany (6 days) Country #12: Slovenia (11 days) Country #13: Croatia (15 days) Country #14: Montenegro (10 days) Country #15: Nepal (26 days) Country #16: Belize (17 days) Country #17: Costa Rica (24 days) Country #18: Argentina (21 days) Country #19: Chile (11 days) Country #20: Sri Lanka (24 days)

Bonus : South Africa for 5 days until I had to take an emergency flight back home on my final day

Some of my travel plans would not necessarily look efficient on paper (Chile to Sri Lanka for example). However, given I did need to make some stops back in the US as I spoke about earlier, and with Covid ending the trip early, the trip doesn’t always make perfect sense without knowing the details.

You can see that I did spend quite a bit of time in many of these countries (24 days in Costa Rica). Like I said, when planning the trip, I did not want to rush myself in a country.

I wanted to truly enjoy all different aspects of where I was . I also wanted to be sure to have enough “rest” days, to just spend time to regroup and reset before continuing on.

You may find many itineraries out there that visit double the amount of countries in the same time period. But at the end of the day, each person has their own travel style and what they want to accomplish on a trip like this.

For me, it was seeing the world at my pace and really engraining myself in each country I visited.

How to Build a Around the World Itinerary

5) Around the World Itinerary Map

Below is a map of each and every place I visited all along the year long journey. You not only can see the cities I visited, but you can also see nearly every attraction I got to visit along the way.

Feel free to zoom in for more details!

6) 1 Year Around the World Itinerary

With that all said, below is a breakdown of each country along with the main cities/attractions I got to enjoy along the way.

New Zealand (March 13 – April 10)

I started off the around the world itinerary by taking a one-way flight to Auckland, New Zealand and from there got to explore both the North Island and South Island of the country.

After spending a night in Auckland, I grabbed a rental car, and then began the journey from north to south. Along the way I was able to visit the following places:

• Auckland • Waitakere Ranges • Rotorua • Taupo • Tongariro Alpine Crossing • Wellington • Abel Tasman National Park • Punakaiki* • Wanaka • Te Anau • Queenstown • Mount Cook • Pukaki • Christchurch

* As I was making my way down the western coast of the South Island, a major storm caused mudslides and a collapsed bridge. I ended up missing out on Franz Josef and had to spend a day driving around the island to Wanaka. Always good to have the flexibility to change things on the fly!

Driving in New Zealand

Japan (April 11 – April 22)

From Christchurch, I hopped on a flight to Tokyo via Brisbane. After a full day of travel, I arrived to Tokyo, where started my 12 days through Japan .

Since this was my second time in Japan, I did not spend as long as I might have if it was my first time. While I certainly went to some of the same places from my initial trip, I did not go back to places like Kobe, Hiroshima , Miyajima and Osaka.

However, I did get to visit a bunch of new places as well, and took the following journey through Japan:

• Tokyo • Kamakura • Hakone • Takayama • Shirakawago • Kanazawa • Kyoto • Nara

10 Days in Japan

South Korea (April 23 – May 3)

It was then off to South Korea as I flew directly from Osaka to Jeju Island. Over the course of the next 10 days or so, I visited three beautiful places in the country:

• Jeju Island (+ Mount Hallasan hike !) • Gyeongju • Seoul

Seoul South Kora

Philippines (May 4 – May 23)

After a successful time around South Korea, it was then onto the Philippines. It was all about the beaches, water, and island life during this portion of the trip.

As the rainy season starts in June, I got there just in time to fully enjoy the experience. Besides a few nighttime rain showers, it was all clear to enjoy some time in the sun. I ended up spending time in 4 different islands for around 4-5 days each.

Logistics were important here as it can get quite tricky to travel around the country. With a combinations of boats and direct flights, I ended up visiting these places:

• Coron • El Nido • Bohol • Siargao

Philippines Travel Guide

Indonesia (May 24 – June 22)

You are only allowed to visit Indonesia for 30 days without getting a longer term visa, so that is exactly what I decided to do. I spent a full month exploring the country visiting many places along the way .

While 30 days does sound like a long time, Indonesia is a massive country. I can honestly spend a year traveling around the country and still have things to do. But during my month there I started on the island of Java and then got to visit:

• Yogyakarta • Lumajang / East Java Waterfalls • Cemoro Lawang / Mount Bromo • Banyuwangi / Ijen Crater • Munduk • Ubud • Nusa Penida • Gili Trawangan • Mount Rinjani • Komodo National Park

From Komodo, it was then a quick flight back to Bali , where I headed off to Australia for the next portion of my trip.

King Kong Hill Bromo

Australia (June 23 – July 12)

Australia was one country, where it was a bit tougher to pick a time of year that worked weather wise for various cities around the country. I could have gone right after New Zealand but found some of the logistics a bit too difficult to manage.

Either way though, while I did not have the beach weather for Sydney, all else went great in the cities further up north. Below were the places I traveled to during my few weeks in Australia :

• Sydney • Blue Mountains • Whitsundays • Cairns / Great Barrier Reef • Port Douglas • Daintree Rainforest • Uluru / Kata Tjuta • Kings Canyon • Alice Springs / West MacDonnell Ranges

Whitehaven Beach Australia

Singapore (July 13 – July 16)

From Alice Springs I took a flight over to Perth for a quick layover before heading off to Singapore. I decided to split Singapore into two parts.

The first couple days I would spend sightseeing all around the city. For the second two days, I opted for a bit of relaxing and treated myself to two nights at the Marina Bay Sands hotel.

Overall, the four days in Singapore ended up great and got me ready for the next leg of my trip as I traveled all the way to Israel.

Visiting Singapore

Israel & Jordan (July 17 – August 2)

When visiting Israel, I knew that I wanted to spend a few days in Jordan visiting a couple of the top sites.

So, I ended up traveling around Israel for 10 days, and then ended up in Eilat. From Eilat, I traveled into Jordan for 4 days and then re-entered Israel, where I spent another week.

While I could have figured out the logistics to be a bit more favorable, the three weeks between Israel and Jordan ended up something like this:

• Jerusalem • Ein Gedi / Masada • Dead Sea • Mitzpe Ramon • Eilat • Petra • Wadi Rum • Haifa* • Tel Aviv

* After visiting Jordan, I crossed back into Eilat, rented a car and drove all the way north to Haifa. I spent a few days exploring the northern coast and ended the trip in Tel Aviv for a few days of beach time.

Israel Travel Planning

Austria & Germany (August 8 – August 23)

After taking a flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna, I spent the next 2+ weeks driving my way through Austria and the Bavaria region of Germany. I spent time in cities and out in the mountains, while visiting several places along the way:

• Vienna • Hallstatt • Berchtesgaden • Garmisch Partenkirchen • Mayrhofen

This is also a time where the weather did not always go according to plan. It was nice to have some extra days here in order to wait out the couple days of poor weather and then get up into the mountains.

Olpererhütte Bridge Hike

Slovenia (August 24 – September 3)

From Mayrhofen, I took the quick drive to Innsbruck, dropped off my rental car and then took a train over to Ljubljana. I spent the next 10+ days driving around Slovenia and enjoying all different aspects of the country including:

• Ljubljana • Lake Bled • Bohinj • Bovec • Piran

Ojstrica & Osojnica Lake Bled Hiking

Croatia (September 4 – September 18)

A quick train from Ljubljana to Zagreb and it was then time to explore Croatia for two weeks . I opted against renting a car here and just made my way around the country using busses and ferries. Along the way I got to visit:

• Zagreb • Plitvice National Park • Zadar • Krka National Park • Split • Hvar • Korcula • Mljet • Dubrovnik

Croatia Itinerary

Montenegro (September 19 – September 28)

Montenegro was the last country on the first portion of my trip around the world . I took a bus from Dubrovnik to Kotor and then rented a car for the next 10 days. During those days I made my way to a few different places:

• Kotor • Durmitor National Park • Lake Skadar • Sveti Stefan

My last night of the 200 th day of my trip was spent in the small coastal town of Sveti Stefan, where I got to enjoy one last sunset before making my way back to the US for the next month.

After heading to a couple of weddings and traveling to cities like NYC, Philadelphia and Chicago, I then made the round trip journey to Nepal. Here is where I took part of the Three Passes Trek + Everest Base Camp.

Sveti Stefan Montenegro View

Nepal (November 11 – December 6)

Visiting the Himalayas had been a life dream of mine, and during this around the world trip, I finally got to experience some time there. I decided to go for the Three Passes Trek , which is essentially a longer version of the standard Everest Base Camp trek .

In addition to EBC, I got to head over the Kongma La , Cho La , and Renjo La passes, visit the Gokyo Lakes , and trek up peaks like Chukhung Ri and Gokyo Ri .

After three weeks of trekking, I had a few days of relaxing in Kathmandu before heading back for a quick weekend in NYC .

Gokyo Ri

Belize (December 10 – 27)

It was then time to explore some of Central and South America, as I headed from New York down to Belize. During my time in Belize I spent several days scuba diving, visiting the inland of the country, and finishing up at the beach .

Technically I actually went to another country during the trip as I also did make the quick one night journey to Tikal in Guatemala. Overall, the trip to Belize (and Guatemala) looked like this:

• Ambergris Caye • Caye Caulker • San Ignacio • Tikal • Cockscomb Basin • Placencia

Belize Itinerary Scuba Diving

Costa Rica (December 28 – January 19)

It was then off to Costa Rica , where I got to spend 3+ weeks traveling to all different parts of the country.

It was a great mixture between volcanoes, rainforests, wildlife, hiking, and beaches as I visited the following places:

• Poas / La Paz Waterfall Gardens • La Fortuna / Arenal • Monteverde • Manuel Antonio • Corcovado National Park • Uvita • Cerro Chirripo • San Jose*

*The plan was to visit the Caribbean coast for the final few days of the trip around Puerto Viejo. However, the weather had different plans. So, I decided to just spend a few days in San Jose, rest and recover there before heading off to Patagonia for the next month of hiking.

Arenal Volcano Viewpoint Tower

Argentina (January 20 – February 9)

While I did spend a day in Buenos Aires, the main aspect of this portion of the trip was to hike my way through Patagonia . While, I did visit during what is considered one of the best times of year to go from a weather perspective, I still knew the risk of the Patagonian weather.

One day can be nice and sunny, while the next day could be a complete snowstorm (yes even in their summer months!). I mean, I even had a day when it was sunny and snowing at the same time .

Knowing the unpredictability of the weather, I decided to always give myself extra days in each one of the places I visited . This way if the weather did not cooperate for a day or two, I still would be able to enjoy my time there.

And for the most part, that is exactly what happened. Half the time I was in El Chalten, the weather made hiking impossible. A couple days in El Calafate by the Perito Merino Glacier were completely clouded over. But since I planned to have more days than necessary, it all worked out pretty well in the end as I visited these regions:

• Ushuaia • El Calafate • El Chalten • Huemul Circuit

Argentina Patagonia Itinerary

Chile (February 10 – February 20)

From El Chalten, I bussed back to El Calafate, and then took a bus ride over to Puerto Natales in Chile. From there began the O Circuit Trek in Torres Del Paine National Park (an extended version of the famous W Trek ) .

This was actually one portion of Patagonia, where I could not just add on more days for a weather buffer. Since I needed to book the accommodation in the park well in advance, I was locked into my days.

Although the weather was not perfect for some of the days on the trail, it was more than suitable for some trekking. Some top highlights included the Grey Glacier , French Valley , and Mirador Las Torres .

After 8 days of hiking the “O”, I made my way back to Puerto Natales and flew to Santiago to end my time in Chile.

Torres Del Paine Chile Around the World

Sri Lanka (February 21 – March 15)

It was then across the world to Sri Lanka , where I got to see the ins and outs of the country for the next three weeks. Yes, I know not the best flight plan, but I planned to spend the next several months in Asia/Africa. Along the way I got to experience a little bit of everything including:

• Colombo • Habarana • Polonnaruwa • Kandy • Dalhousie / Adam’s Peak • Nuwara Eliya • Ella • Yala & Udawalawe Safaris • Mirissa

Sri Lanka Tea Fields Views

And here is where things just started to get a bit crazy. We are talking March of 2020 as the world began to turn upside down. The remainder of my trip I was supposed to go to China (quickly got nixed), India, South Africa and Namibia.

I soon realized though, that traveling was no longer an option. After deciding to go to South Africa, I just lasted a few days in Cape Town, before taking one of the last flights out of the country back to the US. It wasn’t the way I wanted to end it, but I still did get to travel around the world for a year.

But now I have written a ton about the countries I visited before, during and after the trip around the world. I hope you find the itineraries and travel guides up on the site helpful!

If you have any questions or comments about any of it, just feel free to comment down below. Also be sure to check out some travel tips & tricks to help you better plan your next trip.

Have fun out there and safe travels!

Around the World 1 Year Itinerary

Related posts:

Planning a Trip Around the World

Sharing is caring!

Monday 13th of November 2023

This is very helpful!, thanks so much for taking the time to put it together. Can you expand more on why you didn't go to Australia after NZ? Also, so it was fall when you went to NZ and winter for Australia, any regrets going when you did? thoughts? I've read travelling west, is the best way to do a RTW trip, so it's a given to start in NZ, but when to go to get less tourists but decent weather.

Sunday 6th of August 2023

This is all very inspiring and informative, as I’m considering doing the same. Question, how much did you spend your your entire trip?

Monday 7th of August 2023

Hi Mai - feel free to check out this overview I put together about the costs of traveling the world. Good luck with trip planning!

Monday 26th of June 2023

Hi, love your travel story. Have u visited china ever since u miss the last round? Do you plan to round china? I am looking for a company to go round china. I am 60 years old woman.

Hi Janet - I traveled a long while ago just to Shanghai and Beijing. I have yet to go back but would love to travel more around the country one day!

Friday 23rd of June 2023

Hi, this trip sounds amazing! myself and my husband would love to do this type of trip! How did you manage to sort all this out with transport etc? And how did you budget doing all the travel? How much would you need? Thanks. Katie

Saturday 24th of June 2023

Hi Katie - I just took everything one step at a time. The entire trip was not planned out from day one. While I knew of the overall route for the most part, I did not want to corner myself into making decisions too early. I would recommend writing out the countries that are most interested to you and then doing some research on what an overall route would look like. You can see what is possible and what may be too difficult or expensive to fit in.

As for budget, check out this around the world cost overview up on the site that will walk through it all.

Hope you have an amazing time!

Saturday 10th of June 2023

What was it like coming back to the US and finding work? I want to travel the world for a year or two but it would take me leaving my very stable/promising career.... Which scares me to death! My worry is that I would come home to the US and not be able to get the same type of job.

I also worry that a gap year (0r two) may look bad on a resume. Thoughts?

@hailey, from someone who used to work in Human Resources, the time you spend travelling is an education. Learning language, culture, customs, weather, geography, etc. As a candidate, you bring a lot to the table with this type of experience. It would be a completely different story, if you were just unemployed and laying on the couch for a year. Travel....you won't regret it at all!!!

Tuesday 20th of June 2023

@hailey, The current unemployment rate in the U.S is 3.7%. Anybody who wants a job can find one. As long as the gaps in your resume were doing something interesting and intellectually stimulating (like travelling) and were not spent doing something stupid (like in prison or in re-hab), you'll be fine.

Monday 12th of June 2023

Hi Hailey - everyone is different and I can't say for certain how hard/easy it will be able to come back and find work. I was able to do so within a few months but there are many factors at play such as industry, the economy, demand/supply, etc. I am an advocate of traveling as you can tell, and would recommend doing so if it is something very important to you. There are ways to fill up the gap in the resume - for me it was this site, for others it may volunteering, remote work, etc. It is certainly a tough decision, but hope you make the right one for yourself!! Good Luck!

they travel around the world one day

The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

Tim Ferriss's 4-Hour Workweek and Lifestyle Design Blog. Tim is an author of 5 #1 NYT/WSJ bestsellers, investor (FB, Uber, Twitter, 50+ more), and host of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast (400M+ downloads)

20 Things I've Learned From Traveling Around the World for Three Years

Share this:, join 1.5m+ subscribers and receive exclusive tools, tips, and resources sent directly by tim:.

Gary Arndt is the man behind Everything Everywhere , one of the most popular travel blogs in the world, and one of Time Magazine’s “Top 25 Best Blogs of 2010.” Since March 2007, Gary has been traveling around the globe, having visited more than 70 countries and territories, and gaining worldly wisdom in the process.

Today, I’ve asked him to share some of that wisdom.

On March 13, 2007, I handed over the keys to my house, put my possessions in storage and headed out to travel around the world with nothing but a backpack, my laptop and a camera.

Three and a half years and 70 countries later, I’ve gotten the equivalent of a Ph.D in general knowledge about the people and places of Planet Earth.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned…

1) People are generally good.

they travel around the world one day

Many people are afraid of the world beyond their door, yet the vast majority of humans are not thieves, murderers or rapists. They are people just like you and me who are trying to get by, to help their families and go about living their lives. There is no race, religion or nationality that is exempt from this rule. How they go about living their lives might be different, but their general goals are the same.

2) The media lies.

they travel around the world one day

If you only learned about other countries from the news, you’d think the world was a horrible place. The media will always sensationalize and simplify a story. I was in East Timor when the assassination attempts on President José Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão occurred in 2008. The stories in the news the next day were filed from Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur, not Dili. It was all secondhand news. I was in Bangkok during the political protests this year, but you’d never have any idea they were happening if you were not in the immediate area where the protests were taking place. The media makes us scared of the rest of the world, and we shouldn’t be.

3) The world is boring.

they travel around the world one day

If there isn’t a natural disaster or an armed conflict, most places will never even be mentioned in the news. When is the last time you’ve heard Laos or Oman mentioned in a news story? What makes for good news are exceptional events, not ordinary events. Most of the world, just like your neighborhood, is pretty boring. It can be amazingly interesting, but to the locals, they just go about living their lives.

4) People don’t hate Americans.

they travel around the world one day

I haven’t encountered a single case of anti-Americanism in the last three-and-a-half years. Not one. (And no, I don’t tell people I am Canadian.) If anything, people are fascinated by Americans and want to know more about the US. This isn’t to say they love our government or our policies, but they do not have an issue with Americans as people. Even in places you’d think would be very anti-American, such as the Middle East, I was welcomed by friendly people.

5) Americans aren’t as ignorant as you might think.

they travel around the world one day

There is a stereotype that Americans don’t know much about the rest of the world. There is some truth to that, but it isn’t as bad as you might believe. The reason this stereotype exists is because most other countries on Earth pay very close attention to American news and politics. Most people view our ignorance in terms of reciprocity: i.e. “I know about your country, why don’t you know about mine?” The truth is, if you quizzed people about third-party countries other than the US, they are equally as ignorant. I confronted one German man about this, asking him who the Prime Minister of Japan was. He had no clue. The problem with America is that we suffer from the same problem as the rest of the world: an obsession with American news. The quality of news I read in other parts of the world is on par with what you will hear on NPR.

6) Americans don’t travel.

they travel around the world one day

This stereotype is true. Americans don’t travel overseas as much as Brits, Dutch, Germans, Canadians or Scandinavians. There are some good reasons for this (big country, short vacation time) and bad ones (fear and ignorance). We don’t have a gap year culture like they have in the UK and we don’t tend to take vacations longer than a week. I can’t think of a single place I visited where I met Americans in numbers anywhere close to our relative population.

7) The rest of the world isn’t full of germs.

they travel around the world one day

Many people travel with their own supply of water and an industrial vat of hand sanitizer. I can say in full honestly that I have never used hand sanitizer or gone out of my way to avoid contact with germs during my travels. It is true that in many places you can get nasty illnesses from drinking untreated water, but I don’t think this means you have be a traveling Howard Hughes. Unless you have a particularly weak immune system or other illness, I wouldn’t worry too much about local bugs.

8) You don’t need a lot stuff.

they travel around the world one day

Condensing my life down from a 3,000 sq/ft house to a backpack was a lesson in knowing what really matters. I found I could get by just fine without 97% of the things I had sitting around my home. Now, if I purchase something, I think long and hard about it because anything I buy I will have to physically carry around. Because I have fewer possessions, I am more likely to buy things of higher quality and durability.

9) Traveling doesn’t have to be expensive.

they travel around the world one day

Yes, if you insist on staying in five-star hotels and luxury resorts, travel can be very expensive. However, it is possible to visit many parts of the world and only spend $10-30 per day. In addition to traveling cheap, you can also earn money on the road teaching English or working on an organic farm. I’ve met many people who have been able to travel on a little more than $1,000/month. I met one man from the Ukraine who spent a month in Egypt on $300.

10) Culture matters.

they travel around the world one day

Many of our ideas for rescuing other countries all depend on them having similar incentives, values and attitudes as people in the West. This is not always true. I am reminded of when I walked past a Burger King in Hong Kong that was full of flowers. It looked like someone was having a funeral at the restaurant. It turned out to be people sending flowers in celebration of their grand opening. Opening a business was a reason to celebrate. In Samoa, I had a discussion with a taxi driver about why there were so few businesses of any type on the island of Savai’i. He told me that 90% of what he made had to go to his village. He had no problem helping his village, but they took so much that there was little incentive to work. Today, the majority of the GDP of Samoa consists of remittances sent back from the US or New Zealand. It is hard to make aid policies work when the culture isn’t in harmony with the aid donors’ expectations.

11) Culture changes.

they travel around the world one day

Many people go overseas expecting to have an “authentic” experience, which really means they want to confirm some stereotype they have in their mind of happy people living in huts and villages. They are often disappointed to find urban people with technology. Visiting a different place doesn’t mean visiting a different time. It’s the 21st Century, and most people live in it. They are as likely to wear traditional clothes as Americans are to wear stove top hats like Abraham Lincoln. Cultures have always changed as new ideas, religions, technologies sprang up and different cultures mingled and traded with each other. Today is no different.

12) Everyone is proud of where they are from.

they travel around the world one day

When you meet someone local in another country, most people will be quick to tell you something about their city/province/country that they are proud of. Pride and patriotism seem to be universal values. I remember trying to cross the street once in Palau, one of the smallest countries in the world, and a high school kid came up to me and said, “This is how we cross the street in PALAU!” Even crossing the street became an act to tell me about his pride for his country. People involved in making foreign policy should be very aware of this.

13) America and Canada share a common culture.

they travel around the world one day

This may irk Canadians, but we really do share a common North American culture. If you meet someone overseas, it is almost impossible to tell if they are American or Canadian unless they have a particularly strong accent, or they pronounce the letter “z.” It is easier to tell where in England someone is from than it is to tell if someone is from Denver or Toronto. We would probably be better off referring to a “North American” culture than an “American” culture. What differences do exist (Quebec being the exception) are more like differences between states and regions of a similar country.

14) Most people have a deep desire to travel around the world.

they travel around the world one day

Not shocking, but every day I meet people who are fascinated by what I do and how I live. The desire to travel is there, but fears and excuses usually prevent people from doing it. I understand that few people can drop what they are doing and travel around the world for three years, but traveling overseas for even a few months is within the realm of possibility for many people at some point in their lives. Even on an island in the middle of the Pacific, people who would probably never leave their home island talked to me of wishing they could see New York or London for themselves one day. I think the desire to explore and see new things is fundamental to the human experience.

15) You can find the internet almost everywhere.

they travel around the world one day

I have been surprised at where I’ve found internet access. I’ve seen remote villages in the Solomon Islands with a packet radio link to another island for their internet access. I’ve been at an internet cafe in the Marshall Islands that accessed the web via a geosynchronous satellite. I’ve seen lodges in the rainforest of Borneo hooked up to the web. I once counted 27 open wifi signals in Taipei on a rooftop. We truly live in a wired world.

16) In developing countries, government is usually the problem.

they travel around the world one day

I have been shocked at the level of corruption that exists in most developing countries. Even if it is technically a democracy, most nations are run by and for the benefit of the elites that control the institutions of power. Political killings, bribery, extortion and kickbacks are the norm in many places. There is little difference between the Mafia and the governments in some countries I’ve visited. The corruption in the Philippines was especially surprising. It isn’t just the people at the top who are corrupt. I’ve seen cops shake people down on the street for money, cigarettes or booze.

17) English is becoming universal.

they travel around the world one day

I estimated that there were at least 35 native languages I would have had to have learned if I wanted to speak with locals in their own tongue. That does not include all the languages found in Papua New Guinea or Vanuatu or regional dialects. It is not possible for humans to learn that many languages. English has become the de facto second language for the world. We are almost to a point where there are only two languages you need to know: whatever your parents speak… and English. English has become so popular it has achieved an escape velocity outside of the control of the US and UK. Countries like Nigeria and India use it as a unifying language in their polyglot nations. Other countries in the Pacific do all their schooling in English because the market just isn’t there to translate textbooks into Samoan or Tongan.

18) Modernization is not Westernization.

they travel around the world one day

Just because people use electricity and have running water doesn’t mean they are abandoning their culture to embrace western values. Technology and culture are totally different. Japan and South Korea are thoroughly modern countries, but are also thoroughly Asian. Modernization will certainly change a culture (see #11 above), but that doesn’t mean they are trying to mimic the West.

19) We view other nations by a different set of criteria than we view ourselves.

they travel around the world one day

On the left, people who struggle the hardest for social change would decry changes in other countries that they view as a result of globalization. On the right, people who want to bring democracy to other countries would be up in arms at the suggestion that another country try to institute change in the US. In both cases, other nations are viewed by a different set of rules than we view ourselves. I don’t think most people around the world want the help or pity of the West. At best, they would like us to do no harm.

20) Everyone should travel.

they travel around the world one day

At some point in your life, whether it is after college or when you retire, everyone should take an extended trip outside of their own country. The only way to really have a sense of how the world works is to see it yourself.

You can subscribe to Gary’s blog , or follow him on Facebook .

If you’ve ever fantasized about taking time off to globe-trot, I would highly recommend Rolf Pott’s Vagabonding . It is one of only two books I took with me when I traveled the world for 18 months. Outside Magazine founding editor Tim Cahill calls Vagabonding “the most sensible book of travel related advice ever written.”

I recently partnered with Rolf to release the exclusive audiobook for Vagabonding. For more on this incredible book, click here .

Odds and Ends:

Vegetarians vs. Meat-Eaters:

My recent guest post from Robb Wolf created something of a religious war between meat-eaters and vegetarians . The comments — 816 and counting — got ugly fast.

Whether you’re a die-hard meat-eater or plant-eater, I highly recommend watching the below video of Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals. He is a brilliant writer, and we were actually in the same class at Princeton. Take some time or let it run in the background as audio — the following discussion is worth it:

Related and Recommended

The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than 900 million downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page .

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465 Replies to “20 Things I've Learned From Traveling Around the World for Three Years”

Awesome post, Gary. It’s great that you dispelled some of the “myths” about the world outside of the U.S. I was especially pleased to hear that you can find the internet almost everywhere. 🙂

– Eric

I have to say…I’m usually skeptical about blogs in and tend to believe the majority of them are the innate ramblings of individuals who can’t write. With that said, I thoroughly appreciate you breaking this trend and posting interesting and cogent pieces. Much of what you wrote was incredibly helpful and insightful. I especially enjoyed your comment about there not being as much “Anti-American” sentiment as we’re led to believe. Granted, there are times when you will run into people who have a chip on their shoulder in regards to the U.S. (this was especially true when I was in Europe during the Bush years) but for the most part people are open minded and will take you as serious as anyone else, regardless of your nationality.

Anyway, with all this said, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind giving me some advice on traveling alone outside of the U.S. and the advantages and disadvantages it affords an individual? I’m asking because I plan on embarking on a year long journey somewhere outside the country but have never traveled for length of time alone.

I’m sorry but I have to sgtrongly disagree about the world’s view of Americans.

I have done alot of travelling and only on a few occassions have I met cultures and people who like Americans the first that comes to mind is Holland. Alot of countries/cultures like American money as you Americans are famous for being over generous with their cash.

For example the last time I was in Morocco so many people asked me if I was American, when I said no they shout ‘good’ and spit inside their shirts! I have had people assume I was American and spit at me whilst walking down a street minding my own business.

I could spend a long time reeling off countries that dislike Americans but that is not the point i’m trying to make here.

Americans truly are largely an ignorant country and I suggest sir that you would like to believe people like American people but from a non-American the hatred I have seen all over the world towards your people and culture (and it seems behind your back and perhaps because you are ignorant to it) is huge and relatively universal.

Sorry to have popped your ‘American bubble’ but I assume you do not believe a word I have said and thus proved the point I am trying to make!

we are team america, world police…but I know most people outside the US are more intrigued by the actual person and can look past the fact that the country has done some wrongs in the past…people are generally good. That is still and will always be true. All is not lost for Americans abroad. The author knows this and is trying to help people get past the fear of anti-Americanism

Danny i agree with you. Mostly people have this thiniking as they dont travel. They juust hear from people and start believing.

Travelling is important think that people should do.

“Americans truly are largely an ignorant country”

…hmm sounds like someone needs an English lesson.

While I can’t say much for the existence/non-existence of anti-American sentiments abroad, there is a point to be said about American ignorance. True, your German acquaintance couldn’t tell you who the prime minister of Japan is, but:

a) neither could a lot of people (Americans just as much as anyone else)

b) most of the issue with American ignorance is not their ignorance of facts like this.

The problem most people see is in an ignorance of broad, basic common knowledge, international affairs in which they are directly related, current affairs in their own country … more or less, the “American news” that we are all apparently obsessed with.

Granted this is not an America-specific phenomenon, but it undeniably is a frequent occurrence in America. And while most of the Americans I’ve met by no means even approach the ignorant, rude stereotype, all of the Americans I’ve met are travelling, which as stated opens your eyes to the bigger picture.

I totally agree! I’ve been travelling for nearly 2 years now and I have to insist I am Australian and not American because people assume that I am some George Bush loving, war mongering, guantanamo torturing, child killer.

Americans ARE by and large ignorant. I’m sorry but it’s true.

Most of it is the fault of your education system, the majority of your population doesn’t know basic geography or world history.

In Australia we even have a comedy tv show that goes around asking Americans basic information about world geography

I have to say tho I have met some very educated and intelligent Californians in the hundreds of Americans I’ve met (tho they seem to be the only ones who have a clue?)

Wow dude calm down. We get it you hate Americans. keep ranting no one cares. Oh and you are wrong. I was born here but have a Middle Eastern background (and have lived there), and no not everyone hates the U.S. it’s obvious that you felt the need to unload your pent up anger or something, but you really are wrong about the majority of what you’ve said. Americans are not ignorant, most people do not hate us, and thank god no one cares about what you have to say lol. chowda!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for posting what you’ve experienced as far as other cultures’ response to your nationality. It’s encouraging in a way, whether or not people are being genuine. Bummer that people want to be rude in the comments section… Based on your post, I imagine that you have a respectful demeanor when you travel and hopefully the stereotypes people have learned can be seen merely as that.

Thanks for the insight!

I am not American and I can tell you now that I and everyone I know do not hate Americans themselves. We don’t like the government, the policies, the superiority with which they view other countries, but not the people. Everyone can tell you that they hated George Bush, but dont exactly blame all Americans for the invasion of Iraq.

As for the ignorance of Americans, what was said in the blog is completely true. Do not forget that we speak English ( I speak English as a second language fluently) and when you learn a language, you are learning a culture. I watch American TV series, movies, read their magazines and so on. I can probably tell you more about America than Americans can. Ask me, however, about China, my knowledge won’t serve me beyond knowing that they have a great wall.

Don’t completely disregard other peoples’ ideas, especially when they are speaking of greater experience, for that sir, is ignorance.

I don’t know what country you’re from, but I’m going to assume it’s Canada because you sound pretty butthurt =).

To ZLB and the ones who live outside America but insult it anyway:

America is not what you think. “But I’ve seen the news and heard the stories!”, you cry. Cool. I’ve seen news and heard stories about Mexico and Egypt and South Africa, etc. too. A lot of those places suck hard if they’re what I see on the news. …But they don’t. That’s what you get for being ridiculously gullible and relying too much on the news.

The only acceptable criticism about a country is from people who make a logical, calm point (without trying to be condescending or superior) that are from a different country, or who live in the country themselves and know what it is like there. All others are just trying to blow their own horn. Badly.

Agree. Ask any Australian.

America and Canada are two very different places. Canada has its own cultural identity. Its not simply “american.”

I agree wish her as well…

Canadians have enough trouble with our own shaky cultural identity without having comments made about how we’re ubiquitous with the USA.

It frustrates me to no end when im travelling abroad and have my own cultural identity presumptiously compared with that of the USA. In my mind there are some fundamental differences between our countries, often ones that are overlooked.

While I wholeheartedly agree with a lot of the message of your post, this particular one bothers me…

Thanks…

there is also plenty of research that proves this as well, although it might not be obvious on the surface

Great article!

As a combination of Point 1 and 12, I learned that people are very helpful and love to share the cluture and places they like.

If you travel a lot you see that people have so much in common. Work, freetime and social life, kind of same problems and same pleasures.

Live is short, but when it’s good, it’s last out.

I had the pleasure to meet Gary a few weeks ago. He’s a great guy with an excellent attitude to travel 🙂

Disagree about the point about English (nearly everyone I meet in my travels doesn’t speak any English beyond “the book is on the table” and I’m glad about it 😛 ) – I think it depends on who you decide to gravitate towards. But everything else is spot on!

People should definitely check out Gary’s blog to see his excellent photos!

Everyone SHOULD travel and it really isn’t that expensive 🙂

I’d have to agree that English is becoming increasingly universal, Benny. I have traveled to three continents outside my native North America and, believe it or not, I was surprised that the English language was approaching a ubiquitous status—especially countries like Japan and Finland. I do, however, find many of the citizens in these countries are almost embarrassed to speak the English language unless they absolutely need to do so. I guess that action is outside their comfort zone. Just my two cents.

As I said Garrett, it depends on who you gravitate towards. Most travellers I’ve met (I’ve been on the road for 8 years) don’t get out of their comfort zone, especially if they believe “almost everyone” speaks English.

If you keep meeting the fraction of the population who does speak English then your experiences will be tainted to believe they represent the majority. The lack of ability in the local language decides who you spend time with – you find who you are looking for; English speakers.

Although I would imagine that in Finland the majority of people speak excellent English, I’m mostly referring to South America and Asia (although in Europe I have countless friends with no English abilities). I have never been to Japan, but I imagine outside of touristed parts of major cities you *will* find Japanese with poor to no English skills. If you happen to socialise with a demographic similar to yourself (young, interested in travel etc.) then of course you will see mostly amazing English speakers.

And I think this lack of English truly universally is a good thing – travellers should attempt to learn the local language if they want to get more than a superficial glimpse of the culture, or just rely on the upper class to present the culture to them.

It’s very easy. I find it ironic that the same people who argue that the whole world can speak a second language (i.e. English), insist that “not everyone” (i.e. themselves) have the natural talent to learn a second language. Surely if everyone can easily learn a second language, that’s an even better reason for travellers to do it too.

Benny, I really appreciate your comments, but please just use your personal name in the “name” field per the comment rules.

Go raibh maith agat!

I love these points! Especially number 5, about American’s not being as ignorant as stereotyped. When I studied in Ireland for a semester, I was relieved to hear fellow students being just as lost as I was when class turned to current events in foreign countries. They knew Irish, US, and British events but generally little else.

I think that anyone who wants to travel (and I realize that is most people) should print this out as a reminder. At a minimum, print out the headlines to.

I agree with a lot of points in this post.

During my travels I usually trust people, and then they trust you back! There are also assholes everywhere, but you do not have to hang out with them.

People do not hate Americans, but even in America there are some assholes, again, you do not have to hang out with them.

I have not always been proud to be from Germany, but through traveling to other countries I developed a pride for my country.

I lived and worked in Costa Rica as well as in the Yukon, Canada, and even had the internet in my wood cabin there, so agree to that point as well.

Everyone should travel and you do not need a lot, besides the desire, the bravery, the naivety and the faith.

I combined my traveling with working. I had the trust that I would meet the right people that guide me to my next step during my travels, so in Canada for example I ended up working as a horse wrangler in the Rocky Mountains, working on the oil fields and as a bus driver in Banff, Alberta and being a river guide on the Yukon River just by meeting the right people by chance.

This post gives me the opportunity to talk about myself and agree with Gary and his points.

Go travel and trust people!

This is a great post and makes me want to travel even more than I already do! You bring up a good point about the media scaring people, and that we feel scared of visiting other cultures because we worry they could be criminals (I’m sure the media has helped with that). It was nice to read that, and of course you are correct in saying, they’re just people like you and me.

Thanks Gary!

Have you flown a PPG? Powered Para-Glider?

I’m learning how now and I’m excited about it, not just because I get to fly (do a video search on ppg glider or ppg fly) but also because everywhere you fly you can get great video of the scenery like nothing else that exists!

I’m learning from Russell Stegemann and I can tell you its always been a dream of mine to fly. I used to want to learn to use a wingsuit, but now I’m all about learning how to fly a PPG, where I can take off from the ground.

The crazy thing is that its actaully safer than parachuting, because in order to leave the ground, your chute has to be up, one of the biggest dangers to skydivers is that their chute won’t open or doesn’t open correctly.

Safer than skydiving, but with more power to fly, isn’t that wild?

Nice post, quick read and a good refresh of lessons everyone should take to heart.

As a father with 6 month old twins I have been trying to keep in mind the lessons I want to pass on to my children. #8 has always been a big one for me and a big struggle as well.

Have you ever been able to convince a friend or family member that they don’t need half the stuff they buy or already have? I have some people very close to me that think “stuff” will make them happy. Do you have any success stories about changing someone’s mind about filling the empty spots in their lives with “stuff”?

Once I met a probably 25 years old man in front of an atm in cologne, germany. I got into a conversation with him and he turned out to be from “Las Vegas”, staying here for an internship.

He said “I am from Las Wayyygas” in a very proud way. He asked me: “What is special about Cologne”. I said: “Cologne is just a big city the same way Las Vegas is”.

He replied: “But every city has it’s charme”. Well.

But I know where he came from metaphorically speaking. He heard about the awesome cologne the same way we hear about the awesome Las Vegas, New York or Paris. And it’s proverbial charme.

There is no such thing as charme a city could have. Living wherever you want, in the long run everything turns out to be boring. Average. Known.

It is the people you meet who can have charming personalities. But a city is just this: a city.

Tim, you might appreciate this post: http://simplegoodandtasty.com/2010/04/23/why-animal-lovers-should-eat-meat

(Not to reignite the war.)

Hey Yael, thanks for the link!

Once I met a probably 25 years old man in front of an atm in cologne, germany. I got into a conversation with him and he turned out to be from “Las Vegas”, staying here for an internship.

He said “I am from Las Wayyygas” in a very proud way. He asked me: “What is special about Cologne”. I said: “Cologne is just a big city the same way Las Vegas is”.

He replied: “But every city has it’s charm”. Well.

But I know where he came from metaphorically speaking. He heard about the awesome cologne the same way we hear about the awesome Las Vegas, New York or Paris. And it’s proverbial charm.

There is no such thing as charm a city could have. Living wherever you want, in the long run everything turns out to be boring. Average. Known.

It’s refreshing to hear that traveling is not as expensive, dangerous or whatever the news is spewing that day. I recently started my “muse” with every intention to travel the world also. I can’t wait! Post like these really motivate me to get out of my comfort zone and plan my traveling trips.

Yeah, the corruption in the Philippines is horrible. Ironically, Hagedorn (the mayor on your photo) seems to be one of the few respectable politicians in this country.

When I visited Puerto Princessa his name was slapped on everything that was in any way touched by government money. Any civic project seemed like an opportunity to campaign. If that’s clean, it just shows how bad the Philippines has become. Most Filipinos I know seem to think I underestimate the problem.

I’m from Manila, Philippines. David was quite right, Hagedorn was one of the good mayors here. However if the project posters with Govt officials’ names on it was one of your observations of corruption, therefore corruption is here, because THOSE TYPE OF POSTERS are EVERYWHERE.

I just want to suggest a better picture on #16:

http://tinyurl.com/35mwqqj

That is one real public fund waster. Anyway thank you Gary for the honest notice.

Hello Gary,

I think that is corruption. I want you to know that here in the Philippines, it is illegal to use civic project as an opportunity to campaign. Yes, there is a law the prohibits it since people are made to believe that the money comes from these politicians.

That law was trampled upon during Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s administration. The former president use government’s money to bribe politicians. Her face was everywhere and almost every goverment program has the acronym PGMA (President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo).

The new president promises to curb corruption in the Philippines. It will take a long time before we Filipinos can clean our government. The former president made it difficult through midnight appointments.

I hope you visit the Philippines again.

…Oh, like Obama does in the dead of night, here in the U.S.?

Gary thanks so much for your article. I appreciate a fine piece of work, especially when it motivates people to get outside their comfort zone and experience a true, full-fledged culture shock.

I love the feeling of culture shock.. But I hate the feeling of reverse culture shock, once returning home… Home becomes all of a sudden, so depressing, compared to a ‘new’ world.

Ya but you got Manny now in the Phillipines. Maybe you can get him to clean up the government.

It is so corrupt. I would agree 100% on what Gary mentioned. Philippines is beautiful, yet marred by too much ugly politics by the elites and oligarchs there! My God, what have we done to our country! People there still vote for the same crop of foolish politicians (like the current president and same banana senators).

I love your adventure, remain bless and more focus. I love u.

Marvelous post, Gary, and the images are terrific as well.

You’ve confirmed some of my observations as well as made me think about a few issues I hadn’t considered – in particular your points about the importance of culture, and how it morphs over time. Well done; thank you.

Wow Gary, my eyes have been opened! This is inspiring stuff and makes me (even more) want to get outside of the ‘States and get some countries under my belt!

I also just signed up for, and am looking through your 50 Travel Photos pdf. So inspiring! Keep up the great work, I look forward to reading you more and getting to know you better!

P.S. – Tim, not sure if you knew this or not, but Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming is available for FREE online here: http://bibliotecapleyades.net/archivos_pdf/exploring_luciddreaming.pdf

I’ve been going through your archives and have been 1-week into Lucid Dreaming training. POWERFUL stuff man! Thanks for sharing!

This is so true. I have traveled quite a bit in the military and for personal reasons. I would agree with all 20 of these observations. As an American the most important things that you can when traveling are the simplest.

1. Realize they love their country the way that you love yours. Even if they do not let them make the disagreement not you. Most people are proud of where they are from. Your dead on.

2. Try their language. Even if you do not have any clue or ever studied it. This shows that you are interested in their culture. I have found that even when you butcher it, it becomes a common ground that eases the conversation dramatically, after they laugh at you.

How have you seen them respond when you butcher their language Tim, do they respond they same way I have experienced?

100% agreed on language. I ALWAYS try. At the very least, it’s comedic relief, totally breaks the ice, and you can all have a laugh when you ask someone to “rape you” instead of “wake you”, as I did in Japanese (okashite kudasai vs. okoshite kudasai).

I find language to be the best way to connect. People are hugely forgiving, except perhaps the French in a few cities, and Americans and Brits in almost all cities.

Great point.

I love the universal language of communication, which always understand everything with my poor English – it’s the eye, smile and gestures!

While explains pantomime, has become all happy!

My husband and I had a dream – do not freeze in the Russian winter. In late winter, we are basking in California and the Dominican Republic, beginning of autumn spent a month in the Bahamas, and now winter in the warm Florida!

And before that I 39 years did not go out anywhere!

Tim, I can think of nothing more gratifying when traveling than being able to speak at least a few words or phrases in someone else’s language. Recently I went to Colombia and met a gentleman from Malaysia on the same tour. Though I don’t speak Malay, he was tickled to death when I used the Malay phrase “rumusan bayi” (infant formula) which I learned through one of my earlier jobs!

i was in bangkok during the protests this year as well. while much of the city operated as usual, grenades on the silom line (my station to work) and a rpg in my condo did actually cause a personal disruption.

we never felt unsafe (minus the condo thing), but we also could not work. i had to move to singapore for several months to iron out things like work and cash flow.

This is really inspiring.

I graduate from college at the end of December and I’ve set aside some time to try and live as a location-independent digital nomad for a while after that. If anything, this post is proof it’s really possible long-term, not just as a crazy kid without a “real” job.

Btw Tim, I just started reading 4HWW and it’s awesome!

Thanks, Ravi! Be sure to search “Cold Remedy” on this site for reader case studies of successful world travel!

What a lovely post for a Saturday morning.

I agree with what’s been said about the rest of the world. The only thing that I’d add is that it’s fun and really gratifying to make friends in different countries. The Internet makes it much easier to keep in touch with these friends than it used to be when we relied on snail mail and making a phone call overseas was outrageously expensive.

13) America and Canada share a common culture-

I’m Canadian and couldn’t agree more. I think you’d find a lot of Canadians in larger cities that would be more open minded to this conclusion. We’re proud to be where we’re from but we understand the cultural goulash that has happened on this continent (except Quebec haha). Smaller town folks would bring up points that make a Canadian ‘different’ without seeing the similarities small towns across North America (I bet the world, too) share with small Canadian towns.

I am a little fatigued at the many attempts to discuss a “Canadian identity” on our airwaves and national channels (CBC- please….). I feel as though everyone knows exactly what it is to be Canadian (America but smaller, more spread out, colder, more hockey, high awareness of which Canadians are famous, and how we are the fodder for sitcom writers, and probably some more blah blah blah etc). I mean, Americans are really nice. If someone’s a jerk, they are a jerk, not their country’s population.

Anyway, watch out for Tim Hortons coffee chains. In a few years America will be peppered/inundated with them. Only purists and contrarians will have a problem with the coffee. Actually, I’m going to get one right now.

Tim Hortons is delicious! Oh, and not to forget: Canadian maple syrup. God, I love that stuff.

Tim I hope you aren’t talking about Tim Horton’s coffee! omg its horrible! i even talked to some Canadians and they laughed that it was horrible and they still drink it! lol. the treats are delicious though

Thanks for a GREAT post. I’m a South African travel writer and editor and I travel as much as I possibly can. I cannot imagine doing anything else, nothing makes me happier than discovering new people and places. There are some draw-backs to this type of life however. I live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Cape Town but even so, I find it hard to adapt when I come home. I collect memories and slices of life so relating to my friends who do “normal” jobs is very difficult. And there is a subtle modecum of envy as well – they feel stuck in jobs they dont really enjoy with husbands, wifes and kids that make them feel trapped so that can be tough as well. One question, about that North America culture thing – why DO you call yourselves “American”? Do the Americas not encompass North, South and Central? 🙂 Why claim two continents? As an African, I’m reminded of a show of NYPD Blues I saw eons ago where the one cop asks his (black) partner: “why do u call yourselves African American? Why not Nigerian American or Somali American? How can you claim the entire continent?” Interesting…. Thanks again. Jo

Thanks for your observations. I want to comment but didn’t see “reply” directly under your post (hope this is the right place).

When you talk of others who envy your lifestyle, what they don’t seem to realize is that they have more power to alter their circumstances than they recognize or would care to admit. What they may be envying in reality is your ability to make the decision to travel while they choose to stay where they are out of fear.

I’m not sure how we came to adopt the term “American” for ourselves. My friends from Latin America are quick to point out that America really refers to the entire Western Hemisphere (aka “The Americas”) and not just to the United States. There doesn’t seem to be a good term in English to differentiate residents of the United States from the rest of the countries in our hemisphere. The Spanish language has the term “estadounidense” (among others) and that is the term I personally prefer to refer to myself when speaking in that language.

Actually, if you put aside the linguistics difference,we’re not that much different from the rest of Canada or the United-States. Almost all of our major radio stations broadcasts mainstream pop music in English.Also most of our television shows are either translated shows from the rest of Canada or the United-States with minor adaptation to the dialogue only to reflect francophone celebrities, or imitations with french-Canadians actors.We also eat the same dishes(since poutine is now spread from coasts to coasts… even to Belgium) and love the same sports(we’ll leave baseball to the States).

Ohhhh, i live in Ohio and we have Timmy Ho’s everywhere! Couldnt live without ’em!!

Wow. Really? I agree that we (Canadians) have a lot in common with our neighbours to the south, but that list you prattled off clearly shows you’ve never listened to any discussion of Canadian identity past the introduction of stereotypical “best we can manage” answers.

Where to begin? Quebec is not the exception to our cultural “goulash” – have you ever been to Montreal or any other centre that clearly exemplifies this? What you mean is that they try very hard to preserve the culture that has existed there for centuries; but that doesn’t mean quashing the attempts of immigrants to maintain their own culture within their new home. Yes, smaller towns are much more homogeneous, but that’s true almost anywhere you go. Furthermore, consider our Maritime and Atlantic Provinces (I mean, to say that Newfoundland is just like the rest of Canada, oh wait, North America, is ignorant) as well at the northern Territories, especially Nunavut which is a very unique place to explore (try it some time, or at least wiki it).

Just the fact that we have such a territory, that we celebrate the many different cultural groups that make up our First Nations in a meaningful trans-national way, and that the enormous continuing social issues and prejudices many face continue to be a highly contentious and frequently tackled topic is a HUGE difference we have from not just the States, but a multitude of other countries. This appreciation for our colonial roots and the complexities that have followed is paramount in most Canadians’ understanding of our heritage.

To wrap up this rant, clearly Canadians can be just as ignorant as Americans – it’s just a whole lot sadder when it’s about your own country.

I think that the part about Canada being culturally indistinguishable is the most interesting thing in the article (note I’m American) And for me one of the most off-base. I have been to Canada a couple times but more importantly have worked with numerous Canadians in jobs at summer camps and teaching English. Several differences – Canada is much less impacted by the culture of Christianity, especially Evangelism, than the US. They just have fewer, and less vocal, Evangelists there. Canadians, as are most non-American citizens II have gotten to know, are less arrogant on the surface. I think that may be one stereotype of Americans that is unfortunately true. We are just more up front with our self confidence, opinions, and individualism. In my experience people from outside the US are more hesitant to brag or really argue for why they are right and you are wrong. I don’t think this is such a bad thing, we are a proud people, but many of the people I have met from

The US talk more than they listen. people from other countries are often just as arrogant and opinionated, but just polite enough to hold it inside (Brits!!!!). . Also Canadians do have an accent, and like hockey a LOT more. And there are some unique foods like poutine and real maple syrup. Also some unique words and language from the US. In general the Canadian travelers are a little more laid back and a little less arrogant than the folks from the US. And less likely to be religious. And I am friends with a Newfie and they are flat out one of the most unique and awesome cultures I have met someone from. I think people from both countries are good, and I am proud to be from the US.

Well said John….as a Canadian, I’ve travelled a lot through the U.S. and feel very much ‘at home’. Excellent article btw!

this video appears to be of two old people, not Jonathan Safran Foer.. ?

I would add a number 21 – traveling around the world can be a better education than spending your time languishing in a school/university.

This would certainly apply to those students entering university because they are looking for “themselves” or “what they want to do with their lives”.

Thanks for the great post – very inspiring!

I sort of feel cheated that the content of this post was someone else’s words and experiences entirely. You definitely make it clear that Gary Arndt is the author, but overall it just feels…odd that you posted this.

I’m really sorry you feel that way. I understand most readers are accustomed to reading my material, but I feel part of my job is to find examples outside of my own to showcase as models. Hope that helps somehow.

All the best,

Must agree with “Use personal name”. I’m happy Tim Horton’s is such a hit and I have a certain pride that they’re Canadian but great coffee it is not. Almost everybody I know who drinks the stuff orders a “double, double” or some such thing…so much cream and sugar with the coffee one can hardly tell it’s coffee. There are tons of local coffee shops in Toronto and Montreal (probably Vancouver too but can’t speak for them) and who offer way better coffee and it’s often organic and/or fair trade which Timmy’s does not have…shame on them. Love the post though and keep on rockin’!

I think it’s great! Sharing information is the way to go, especially when the message is one that inspires and resonates with others. Thanks to Tim, I discovered Gary’s blog and have since subscribed to it. Looking forward to reading his posts and viewing his videos/photos :-).

Nice post. Travelling is the best education. I wish more people would travel and discover what really goes on outstide their home town.

Traveling can be an education away from the tourist way. Only with an open mind and having the courage to be honest can travel be an education. If you go to a country with the attitude to prove it the best ever! How are you learning anything. It is also about absorbing the simplest things that can be useless information to most.

Reading this made me smile, then I got chills and then tears came to my eyes. Thank you so much for dispelling the myth that people in other countries hate Americans. I always wondered about that theory. I don’t hate Iranians or North Koreans, I don’t like their governments and I think our media perpetuates that horrible myth. I am an avid watcher of Anthony Bordains No Reservations where he visits other countries and doesn’t just eat there food but interacts in their cultures. I have noticed on the show that people ARE good. Between you and Anthony you have given me renewed hope to venture!

I hope to visit other countries but first I need to see New York and Yellowstone. Working on my passive income so I can do that.

Thanks for making my Saturday!

I live in small town in Iran, here nobody hates americans. Youths like your movies. They respect all foreign people with different cultures. Indeed, this post was really interesting. thank you

Love your post! Thank you.

I couldn’t agree more! Traveling with an open mind and desire to learn makes for amazing life experiences! Live it!

Been a fan for a while, and I’ve recently been hearing more about you from a list of my good friends… Delmonte, and the owners of FBF and DSP (i’ll leave the owners names out).

I think this is one of your best posts. I think everything is spot on, however #5 I’ve found to be a little more true than not, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. I think its simply born from the lack of travel experience and the obsession with american news you mentioned. That formula alone unfortunately makes it too easy to forget your travel rule #1.

Without a real experienced awareness that there are other people and others places working hard to feed their families outside of the US, it leads to a lot of the extreme rhetoric we hear today.

People fear what they do not know, and travel lesson #2 makes everything a million times worse.

thanks for the thought and effort you put into this post.

Wow Tim! This just goes to show us what a lot of traveling can do for your self growth. I particularity like the first lesson and I find it to be the conclusion of most people who meet a wide range of other people: we are in general good.

Wow. I think this is one of the most honest and enlightening posts I’ve ever read about…anything.

A lot of what I read is along the lines of, “Americans don’t travel. American’s suck. If you don’t travel you suck.”

I clicked over to this article from a link in Twitter. I had no intentions of reading all the way through. But I couldn’t stop.

It’s refreshing to read writing this good and objective.

Love this one, Gary.

I was speaking with an Irish ex-pat currently on leave and doing a RTW trip. We were talking about the disparity in travel rates between USA and various European countries, and it’s true that while we here in the US don’t have a gap year culture (not gonna open THAT can of worms), it’s also true that the United States is huge compared to various western European countries. For some one here to live in, say, New York and travel to the American Southwest provides as different a topography and culture as does a German spending a holiday in Spain. Minus the language.

So, yea, it’s a hard truth that North Americans don’t visit different countries as much as people in other countries, there’s more than one root cause for this.

Great lessons. You’re right…I would like to travel the world.

I traveled around the world in ’98 for about 9 with less than 7K (after I bought my 2K around the world ticket), and the ROI was priceless.

We have been traveling as a family non-stop for the last 5 years and I agree with most of these points. I am reading this outside on a deck facing the most spectacular view of Cook’s Bay in Moorea in French Polynesia…we are couch surfing here with the most amazing folks.

I just have to disagree with the English speaking part a bit. Many places DO speak English & almost always in expensive hotels or on the tourist circuit one can find English speakers since it is a major language. BUT there are MANY places where it is very hard to find anyone who speaks English..even in Europe.

Just like many Americans learn other languages in school but can not speak any, even if they got A’s ( like I did), most people in larger countries like Spain, Germany ,France etc ( that have a major language themselves) do not speak English. They may have taken them in school, but can not carry on even a very simple conversation.

As demographics change, English may very well become a much less important language. ( One of the reasons that we as monolinguals are raising a very fluent trilingual/triliterate in Spanish, Mandarin & English. ).

We have been traveling the world luxuriously on 23 dollars a day per person( total costs for living and traveling) for the last 5 years ( and use many methods from hotels to RV) so are living examples that travel does not have to be expensive….even for families.

Funny to find this post this morning as I just had a dream about you as I woke Tim! 😉 Love any and all encouragement for world travel. The more we do it, the more we want to do it & I am thrilled that our child is already planning her very own RTW trip sans parents once she finishes her University. Travel truly is the best education and gives one more faith in humanity. Thanks for sharing Gary!

Great post Gary, some interesting points that go against a lot of similar articles I’ve read – in a good way.

Every point you noted is bang on! The frustrations with the mis-conceptions runs high with me at times. Thank you for the excellent clarifications.

As a Canadian #13 doesn’t really irk me, but you’re confusing language / accent and general appearance with culture. And the two cultures are similar in some ways, but very different in others, such as: views on the role of the military, an entirely different political system, very different views on healthcare and social safety nets in general, and of course sports. Hardly the same culture. And anyway we say ‘eh’, how could you not spot that? 🙂

I came here to make this point, but you beat me to it.

A few other differentiators I’d highlight:

1) The US is a melting pot, while Canada attempts to be multi-cultural. This is an aspect I miss this the most when travelling to other countries which are (typically) made up of homogeneous populations.

2) Attitudes toward violence. US media glorifies violence more than any other society I’ve visited.

3) Incarceration rates are very different.

4) Attitudes toward sex. US media is far more prudish about sex than any other society I’ve visited.

5) Religion. The US is more fundamentalist than Canada.

6) Litigation. The US is more litigious than Canada.

7) Imperial versus metric measurement (i.e. Canadians can conform to a standard that we didn’t establish).

8) We (Canadians) like hatchback cars.

9) Canadians would end dissenting comments with a smiley face to ensure people knew we meant no harm by them. 🙂

yes yes, Canadians and Americans are very different. But we also have to remember that looking at it from the outside in, we do appear similar. The majority of us North American’s probably would have trouble distinguishing the difference between a person from:

China-Japan

England-Ireland-Scotland

Australia-NewZealand

Brazil-Argentina

And its so funny because us Canadian’s get offended when we’re mistaken for American’s.

In my travel experiences, I find the Americans to have the poorest knowledge of geography, and the French to be biggest jerks lol.

It’s quite easy to distinguish between the cultures/groups you’ve listed. Accents, psysiology, and language are all direct indicators. Just becasue you cannot tell the difference doesn’t mean you should assume the majority cannot. Why people must be grouped in large associations such as North America is confusing, especially when there is such a stark contrast between people of the same country (a Quebecois is quite different from an east coaster or someone from the Yukon)

Actually Brazilians and Argentinians are very different. Brazilians have in majority African roots while Argentineans are more white European.Also they speak different languages, Portuguese vs Spanish. Maybe it would be better to say Urguay-Argentina. Or Colombia – Venezuela. But I agree with you on the rest, unless you are truly immerse on a different culture it is hard to distinguish people from different countries. I love Japanese culture and can distinguish when someone speaks Japanese vs Korean and Chinese. Sometimes I could tell the difference in physical traits but not all the time, just like people from Japan wouldn’t know the difference between myself and a person from South America.(I am Hispanic)

I’ve only been to 20 countries but I find that English is divided between the under and over 40 age groups. Young people everywhere speak english. also remember that sometimes the locals pretend to not speak english if they think you’re annoying.

I find that my best experiences are asking locals to show me their area – people are very proud of whatever they have and the fun is all in the cultural differences.

Travelling has easily been the best thing I have ever done> i too have learned many of the same lessons. A lesson I learned, similar to the “you dont need lots of things” is that once you start travelling, all of your material possessions stop defining you (not that they have to at home, but they did for me). Now I have slowed down, I do not have the urge to buy stuff I once did. Great post.

The great thing is that most of these lessons can be learned from visiting just a handful of countries outside one’s own. I’ve only been to 12 countries outside North America and yet I absolutely and intuitively agreed with every point.

Travel is like a free “Win at Life” card 😀

Random coincidence, I just opened this up mid-way through reading Eating Animals and enjoyed seeing the unrelated video at the end of this post… Foer is an amazing writer and the book is awesome and terrifying.

Great list! Speaking as a Canadian that has lived overseas for the last couple years, I would tend to disagree with 4, 5, and 13 to a lesser degree. The Americans I meet in third-world countries do tend to be culturally sensitive – but that goes with the territory of visiting an impoverished nation.

In first (and even second) world nations, spotting Americans is easy – they’re often (not always) the loud, ignorant, and rude ones. They’re the ones sitting in the Prague restaurant trying to communicate that they just want a grilled cheese sandwich. Or yelling at the Portuguese locals because they don’t speak English. Or starting most of the fights at Oktoberfest. Or being asked to leave the Taj Mahal for answering their cell phones while inside. I have lost count how many times a cab driver has asked me if I was American and on my denial has said something like, “good we don’t like Americans here”.

Of course, there are exceptions. I have met a number of culturally sensitive Americans while traveling who are equally appalled by their countrymen’s sense of self-entitlement That said, it seems like everyone I know who travels has a story about a rude American they saw while traveling. It’s rarely the rude Japanese man, or Argentinian woman, or British man, or Irish woman.

Hi Sterling,

I will agree that I’ve seen some bad American behavior overseas, but… British men?!? Oh my lord, I think the Brits often give us a run for our money 🙂

Me, (the american) and a Scottish rugby team in Lapa RJ July 2009. No way I was the worst behaved man on the street. It was still a blast…

I am a proud American who attened uni in Scotland and then lived abroad for five years, in Edinburgh, London, and Greece. I traveled extensively throughout western and eastern europe, and sorry to burst any bubbles, but throughout the world, the worst tourist is the English tourist. Scots are a universal favorite: loud and brash, their kindness and generosity make them popular travel companions and visitors. The English, with their refusal to eat food that is not “British”, their inability to be able to drink without binging, and the fact that their drunken antics and refusal to wear sunscreen seem to result in more ER visits and arrests than any other nationality on holiday, mean that when I was asked where I was from, a sigh of relief was heard. “Oh, thank goodness you aren’t English.” This is not to say that I have not met many wonderful English people on my travels, I have, but as an American girl traveling alone, I can promise you, I don’t drink or yell about grilled cheese sandwiches anywhere. And while maybe you can say that people liked my American money, I was welcomed into homes and ate meals with families who were concerned that I was alone, and they never asked for anything in return. We cooked together and I played with their kids. No one spat at me or acted like I had ruined the world. Honestly, I think people often tell you what you want to hear, and if you acted anti-american, they will act anti-american too, because mostly, people want to get along with strangers. 🙂

I did meet ONE American, in Romania, that had a lot of trouble fitting in and I am sure he will go back and report that the world hates Americans. He wore sweatpants to a fancy resturaunt with us, even when I tried to suggest that he dress up a bit, and liked to get into political arguments with people a lot of the time. I think he was generally a nice guy, but he certainly didn’t “blend” in anywhere. That’s life.

And to address Canada: sorry guys. I am originally from upstate NY and I have a lot of friends from Toronto, and no, no one can tell the difference between us. And when I go visit my friends from the north, I see no difference, culturally, from my hometown. Except they have KFC/Taco Bells. Which are awesome. 🙂

Hey Danielle, I’m planning on traveling alone as soon as I finish my college pursuits and I wanted to know if you had any tips seeming as you unlike many other bloggers or people who have shared their testimony on travel are a female who traveled alone. I must say that is my only concern, but will no not deter me from my dream!

I haven’t had the opportunity travel as extensively as you, but I have been blessed with the privilege to spend extended time in a good bit of the globe outside the U.S. My experience is that everything you wrote is true.

Great post,

I agree in every point of list. Reading of this post was really amazing and took me to the other places on the world. Thank you.

Great piece, now I want to read his book. The fotos are terrific. I like #18 the best because it is important to distinguish between modernization and westernization. The Ronald foto is hilarious too. Anyway, I love to travel and feel the itch. I never got any bad vibes from anyone about being American and never said I was Canadian either. Be cool, be American, set a good example. Even when Venezuelan cops shook me down, they just wanted some bread, not to mess with a gringo.

I full heartedly agree with #2 and #3 – I think one of the best things about world travel as an American is getting away from American media, and realizing just how boring the rest of the world is. I’ve always wanted to travel to Bhutan, and I just read another blog post about travelling there ( http://www.krisking.org/blog/2010/10/29/the-incredible-lightness-of-being/ ) – I think this is a sign that I need to make it happen! Thanks for sharing your experience and encouragement to explore the world!

I recall one day in Greece years ago in the afternoon and I was “rushing” around trying to do some banking…Well the joke was on me because banks there close until early evening/late afternoon (this was early 80’s…) . So, I went and got a cold frappe and sat under a tree and chilled and relaxed. I remember that I had finally learned that, ” when in Rome….” although I was in Athens !!!

#14 is so true. As we’ve traveled extensively over the last few years, we have experienced the same curiosity in others. No matter where you are, you find that most people dream of seeing far off places.

Also, #20 = Awesome!

I agree with single point – some more than others, but still. I’ve lived in Peru for going on seven years now and the fact is that my life is very much the same as any wife and mother in the US.

Really beautiful post. (One thing that jarred me. “North American culture” as defined here excludes Mexico.)

Thanks for the interesting post. I agree with Barbara, we should be careful with the term “North American culture”. Mexico belongs to this region, and it certainly differs a lot from the United States and Canada.

Mexico is still a lot more similar, by comparison, to the other countries talked about there though. But I agree, and my Mexican girlfriend always bugs me when I forget that I’m speaking about Mexico as well when I talk about “Americans” or North America, haha.

Thanks for the article Tim, I’m currently in a crisis of decision about moving to Western Canada from my home in Ontario and to be on the road as a musician more.

This list was a great reminder of my desire for adventure and travel.

Nice post. I had the opportunity to visit Thailand during the Red Shirt demonstrations. I avoided the area and never would have known a thing about it if not for the sensationalism of the news media. I felt very safe and had one of the nicest trips. I took 3 days and went to Phuket and found the people and culture to be so enriching. I plan to take a year off and travel to South America to live and explore. Thinking of Ecuador. Everyone should reach out to do something like this. It’s better than a college degree for learning in my opinion!

Amazing post Gary,

Its great to read an article like this from the perspective of a traveller, rather than the media or even someone who has never travelled (i have friends and family telling me how dangerous it can be and they have never left the country!)

Yes the big one for also is internet connection almost anywhere! Thats awesome to know!

This post is great, but the linked talk about “Eating Animals” was pretty much a waste of time. Yes, factory farming is horrible, but vegetarianism is a completely naive answer. In answering the “hunting” question the author comes up with an incredibly silly answer that people hunt because of the joy of killing another animal.

Whether or not this is true is completely moot. For any of us to live, many, many things have to die. Read “The Vegetarian Myth,” it’s much more annoyingly political but still a much more realistic view of our place in the world. It seems to be that hunting (assuming you’re not hunting things to extinction) is an incredibly responsible way of living like a human being, and physically taking the responsibility of killing other things for your own survival literally into your own hands.

I like people speaking out about factory farming, but the author’s conclusions about this are counter-productive and obfuscating. Eating plants means species extinction. There is no way to live without blood on your hands. The idea that literally having blood on your hands is something to be avoided shows me that even writing a whole book about this, the author hasn’t thought much about it, not beyond some idealistic vegan imaginary utopia.

Great article. Agree on Canadian/American culture being essentially the same, although as Genny so eloquently demonstrated, another way to tell the difference between us is the use of the phrase “bang on” ;-p.

#6 and #11 were particular enlightening when I traveled in 2005-2006. It was rare to run into other “yanks”, hence, why #4 is probably true, if anything, people are interested in Americans. #11, I just like how you put it, it is the 21st century, it is a different place but not a different time. So the Buddhist monks in South East Asia with their I-Phones is not out of place 🙂

Great Post!! But just wanted to let you know:

The photo used in #19 – the photo that looks like a Nazi Symbol on a Korean Sign is actually the symbol for Buddhism. In this regard, I feel that the photo may be a bit out of context.

The ends on the Nazi symbol point to the right, but the ends on the Buddhist symbol point to the left, and this symbol can be seen on a lot of older temples, as well as many modern Buddhist venues/meeting spots.

I will echo the comments on the video so far. Are you sure you posted the one you meant to? I don’t see Jonathan Safran Foer.

I think you confused the f**k out of everyone by posting that video, considering you’re doing Paleo 6 days a week.

How do you reconcile the Paleo diet with this video? Buy your meat at Farmer’s markets only?

Get local or grass-fed beef, if you choose beef; and know the sources of your food. That’s about it. Hope that helps!

As much as a like your posts, I found this one by Gary way too ambiguous, than what I expected someone who traveled the world for 3.5 years have to say.

I’m not saying that every traveler should or will become an instant philosopher (which does happen quit a bit on the road to some fellow travelers…) but i guess i expected different insights that most of this list.

I personally been on the road on and off, for the last 10 years and on of these adventures was for 3 years as well. but it goes beyond ‘binge traveling’ to count the places we’ve been in and the time we’ve spent in each, rather the insights, the experience and the stuff we gathered from meeting different cultures, meeting, seeing things that are different to us and learn to accept them the way they are, trying to feel and experience the vibe in that certain city, province or country…

I just think that this specific post lacked a bit of ‘juice’ and was a bit ‘grey’ as of content, because i’m convinced that Gary can come up with more than just ‘american’s are like this or like that’

to be honest…it doesnt matter! the world goes beyond that. and most people don’t really fuss too much with that after the first 10 minutes into the conversation.

I guess i expected something interesting and as good as Rolf Potts’ in going beyond the basics themselves.

I do agree with Gary that there’s so much to learn from each other and from other cultures. And the reason that a certain country is not in the news doesnt mean that it’s nowhere, boring or bad ….

I truly hope most people reading this post will have a chance to discover traveling themselves not just as a getaway from the 9-17 rather as a mind opening experience and educating not to mention life changing.

well, at least that’s my personal opinion.

Your point is well taken, but maybe the post is designed for people for whom Gary’s comments would be a revelation – perhaps those who have not traveled much and rely on what they see and hear from the news media. (Gary says “the media lies,” and a former teacher of mine said “the media’s purpose is not to educate.”) Gary’s post is inspiring me to come up with a list of my own that takes into account things I’ve learned from my own travel experiences.

No surprise for spending not more than 300 $ for month , most people in egypt are pure and i am sure that they spend less.

For example in Moldova , many people work on several works to survive , 1000$ a month are big money there. And yes big corruption there also ..

Very enjoyable article. I had my first experience traveling the world this month when I took 2 weeks to explore all of Sicily. I will never forget that experience: the people, the food, the culture, the language, the way of life, the smell, everything.

Tim you need to make a post about warning people about what happens after you start traveling – you never stop. The urge only increases more and more until you satisfy it.

Hey #19, I assume that the swastika in the picture doesn’t mean what it meant in WWII Germany. At least I hope not…

Any insight on that one Tim?

I got the same shock when I lived in Seoul! Hint: Google a Nazi swastika, and compare the two images carefully . . .

The swastika is originally an Indian sun symbol which spread widely in East Asia (the picture is from Korea) as a part of Buddhist symbols… because of the supposed link to the Aryan race as coming from Northern India/the Himalayas, the Nazis took over that symbol.

It’s always jarring, and always a good reminder to keep your mind open to potentially different meanings of symbols you just know to mean one thing alone: a Japanese temple adorned with swastikas does not mean they have anything to do with fascism….

The left-facing swastika is a Buddhist symbol.

@aharon If you look closely, you will see that the Swastika is backwards from the Nazi symbol. It was used in Buddhism before the Nazis ever got a ahold of it and corrupted it. The reason I used the photo is because we are so conditioned to react in a certain way when we see that symbol. Culturally, we are not used to seeing it in another context.

Hey Gary, thanks for the reply, and thanks to Brendan, YJ, and Gerald for the explanations.

It’s an ancient symbol, first recorded in neolithic times and still in use in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism (where it can be left facing or right facing depending on meaning). I guess that the Hindu use pre-dates the Buddhist use.

It has been popular in many cultures over the centuries sometimes just for the design impact rather than meaning – it was once a popular quilt pattern element for example and appears in many weaving designs around the world.

But you don’t need to travel to learn stuff like this – you could just crack open a book now and then.

In Asia, the swastika is a Buddhist symbol ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika ).

Good article! Two minor points:

First – “In developing countries, government is usually the problem.” Strike the “In developing countries” part. Corruption and meddling are universal, though the actual amount varies.

Second – about English being the world’s second language. You’re right, but it helps to understand what being a second language means. I’ll admit that my non-English country experience is limited to 2 weeks in Japan. From what I saw, Japan speaks English in exactly the same way that the USA speaks Spanish. Everyone studies it. Then they gradually forget all except for a small amount of vocabulary. Unless they personally deal with foreigners all the time.

You can enjoy Japan without knowing any Japanese, just as many Spanish monolinguals get by for decades in the USA. But don’t count on having the most ideal experience. Knowing any of the local language helps a LOT. Even if it’s just at the level of “please, thank you, goodbye.” There were many times when I wished I could read more Kanji…

As for the rest of the world, I assume you’d know more than I do. Thanks for sharing what you learned!

I really liked this post except I would have worded “English is Becoming Universal” differently. To me, it implies that one has a good chance of getting by on English alone.

There’s a myth that everyone outside the U.S. is dying to learn English and would “love to practice their English” with you. That’s hardly been true in my travels. Even in Delhi, India — unless I was in a tourist specific spot, I had a very difficult time communicating in English.

wow that was such a great read………nice and punchy. I totally agree with language and how it breaks down barriers. I’m Australian and married my Indian wife ( who speaks Tamil ) in Brunei, where she grew up. Everyone in Brunei speaks Malay.

Tamil is astoundingly difficult to learn, however my wife teaches me words that are related to food. In Asian cultures, especially South Asian, food is about love, family and togetherness. Just by trying to speak some Tamil food words, my wife’s family and friends have embraced me as their own…………which is an AMAZING feeling. And when I try to speak Malay ( which is relatively easy to learn ) to the local Bruneian’s, they open up to you, purtely because you are TRYING and you are making an EFFORT…………this applies to everything in life. Trying and effort is all that is needed to earn respect, love and gratitude.

Thanks for this awesome post Tim!

Gary . . . .

#11 resonated with me a lot.

There’s this whole “myth” of authenticity thing that is *totally whack*!

I live in San Fran and work in a touristy area and you see a breakfast place with a “World Famous Waffles” sign and think, “seriously?” You have to come to SF to gnosh on world-class waffles? Puh-leeaase.

@john – Quaffed some Tim Horton’s on Vancouver Island and it was off the hoOok!

Good Vibes~

Vic Dorfman

As someone who has spent the better part of the last 2+ years overseas (primarily in Germany, with a current stop in Afghanistan and a previous stop in Iraq for, uh, work related reasons 😉 ), I agree with a lot of this post.

Going around Germany, I have noticed that not just Germans, but all people (regardless of where they come from) love to share their pride with (but not just) Americans.

I see so many other Americans who go out and visit the German countryside but don’t actually care about the culture or the people.

Though I could never afford it myself, I am glad my job sent me overseas, so I could actually experience firsthand a part of the world I had never been (I had never left the country prior to 2008).

As an aside, the only people who ever showed an anger for Americans were random Turkish youth I ran into in train stations and on the streets.

I definitly need to find a way to travel.

One question – Has Gary been stereotyped in other countries due to his race? And how did he deal with it?

I’m on this issue not to be rude, but because I’m black and all examples of world travel (outside of Africa) I can find are of Caucasians.

Caucasians in Africa tend to be treated poorly compared to black travelers, and outside of Africa (the rest of the world) they tend to be treated better than black travelers (vice versa for Africans). And sometimes everyone’s treated poorly.

Does Gary offer a solution for this?

Great points and facts, that’s exactly why travelling is so great.

By the way, #13 is really true hahaha and I’m a Quebecer. It was kinda hard explaining the differences between our culture, the RoC’s one and the USA. I might have felt kinda irritated sometimes, but I totally understand that as a North American, people will have a tendency to generalize.

Well said, Tim, this should be required reading! I’ve done some traveling myself, mostly “off the beaten path”, and in my experience everything you’ve said is more or less generally true. And with regards to point #4, not only do most people *not* hate Americans, but in some countries we are treated like rock stars. AND I LOVE IT!!!

Awesome, awesome, awesome post. My family and I loved overseas for a few years and even attempted a short stint as nomads in Europe. Your comments are well articulated. These are many of the same observations we had though your words describe them well.

Hey Tim, great post on travel! I’ve been traveling the globe the last 3 years and teaching English as my means of income. One of my good friends (Emil) has been traveling for the past 7 years and compiled some amazing videos as a hobbie/education instrument. He doesn’t get the online recognition he deserves, but the amount of countries he’s been to and videos he’s created are really awesome to watch. I hope you and fellow travellers take some time to check out his youtube page and enjoy all his shenanigans around the world!

(sorry I initially commented on the wrong post)

Was a bit disappointed to see that I had already read this post a few months ago in the Huffington Post. Still inspiring, of course, but was hoping for something new!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-arndt/20-thing-ive-learned-from_b_673264.html

Thank you for sharing Gary’s fantastic traveling insight. Along similar lines as #1 (People are generally good.), I have found this to be true. As a current English teacher in South Korea, I’ve noticed that people will go out of their way to help. In Peru, one of the locals warned me about a potentially shady situation, and I am forever grateful to him.

Another great tip: Ask questions! As mentioned, people are more than willing to help you, even if you can only communicate through sign language. I tried a new Korean stew last night by asking the people next to me (in hand gestures) what they were eating. They even offered me some and offered to order for me. This was all in Korean, and I was still able to understand, even though I speak at a very very basic level.

It’s not just that this isn’t your own material but the fact that this entire post has been posted multiple times all over the internet and attributed to various authors. Just take any sentence in Gary’s post and Google it. You will see it come up over and over again.

For instance, I took the sentence “Many people are afraid of the world beyond their door, yet the vast majority of humans are not thieves, murderers or rapists.” You can find this exact post on the following sites:

http://everything-everywhere.com/2010/08/23/read-my-first-article-for-the-huffington-post/

http://berimbauone.tumblr.com/post/1009341899/20-things-ive-learned-from-traveling-around-the-world

I remember reading this same post several weeks ago which is why I bothered looking it up.

Thanks, Bill. Gary has absolutely posted this before, but I felt it was good enough to introduce to those who might not have seen it elsewhere. Still experimenting with this guest poster stuff, but we learn as we go.

I’d never seen this post before and had only briefly seen Gary’s name mentioned somewhere else. I think posting this was great. Not all of us have a long list of blogs on our RSS reader.

Thanks for the post!

Great summary of what you learn when you travel Gary. I’ve learnt similar in my (almost) 2 years so far traveling. Point 1 & 2 are the most important for people to consider if in doubt. Murderers and other bad people are in a huge minority worldwide, you couldn’t even fill a small country with people at that level really.

I wouldn’t say English is universal just yet, but it is definitely the most handy to have worldwide. It can be a struggle here in Japan to get by in English despite it being so developed (and that’s one reason why it isn’t so popular – they don’t need your money here and therefore your language) but that can be a plus if you’re keen to learn languages. Even one odd sentence can make locals warm to you. For Japan I use ‘conban beerlu o nomimas ka’ Which means ‘will you come for a beer with me this evening?’ It shows off my humour, an effort to learn their language, is a genuine social question and usually makes them laugh if its the example I give for what Japanese I’ve learnt.

@Rob my point is not that everyone speaks English (they don’t) but that it has become the default second language in most parts of the world. If you are to learn another language (and not everyone does) English has become that language for most people. Many multilingual countries are using English as a working language as so not to favor one local language or another.

Gary, I enjoyed your post. Regarding English speaking worldwide, what speaking English does for me is give me a language I can fall back on in case my attempts to speak the native language fall short, which has its pros and cons: pros because I can communicate effectively, cons because it may make me lazy and not make as much of an effort to learn the other language. I find that Spanish does the same thing in Latin America, as I’ve met people from non-Spanish speaking countries traveling there who do not necessarily speak English, and Spanish enables us to communicate with each other.

Seeing Tim’s comments on this post was slightly confusing to start with seeing as I subscribe to both your and Gary’s RSS feeds.

Particularly liked #6 – the phot you have to go with it is priceless. You missed Australians from the list of travelers. I think per capita its either us or the New Zealanders that travel the most. The reason as I see it is that in the US travel is seen as somewhat socially unacceptable – if you front up to a job and tell the prospective employer you’ve been traveling for a year, they’d probably look at you suspiciously. In Australia its almost expected that you travel for a long period some time in your 20’s.

Really fabulous article. Point 11 resonated with me,

We all are in the 21st Century. I have to remember that I am looking for that ‘authentic’ experience. I love the way you articulated, “we are travelling to a different place, not a different time”, so true.

Great insights! Yes, everybody likes to travel. Until we get out and start travelling short to start with, we would never be able to remove the block in our mind. I live in India and I haven’t even seen some of many great places here itself. I think its time to start. Thanks for the post!

Alastair Humphreys spent 4 years cycling around the world, he’s a fantastic speaker if you ever get the chance to hear him. The thing is, in total, the whole trip including flights, accommodation, food and everything only cost him £7000 (that’s $11,000). $1000 a month seems a little expensive but I suppose that it depends on your level of luxury.

Hi Tim, thanks for the great post! I also travel a lot and I’m always inspire by you/your readings! I am from Taiwan, the R.O.C. so when I saw the photo # 12, I was so touched! Why? Again because of political issues between Taiwan and China, I am not sure if Gary is aware of this, however, it’s usally a taboo to show our national(Taiwan’s) flag somwhere, sometimes even in our own lands! This post is not to stir anything political, just to repond to Gary’s wonderful discovery that: YES, I am proud of where I am from, that’s Taiwan : )!!

So true, all that’s written! For that, thank you Tim for giving Gary’s wonderful experiences a space here. Suffice it to say that when one spread the good ideas that others have, more people learn from it. To you both, my warmest salute.

Now back to the 20 things… there’s just one thing I have to say about it all. There’s a real world outside the TV set. LOL! While I’ve learned a whole lot from TV, and yes, the news, magazines, internet and all other sources, there’s no exchange for ACTUALLY being in that place. More importantly, there’s so much to love about people and how they live life when we’ve ACTUALLY spent time with them.

There’s thousands of languages, many more mores, customs, religions, art, governments and all that. I may be powerless and limited to change the unpleasant ones, and totally just one too little soul to contain joys we get from the experience. But in the end, the immersion in a new culture and place ALWAYS leave me wiser. And more appreciative of life.

Again, thanks Tim for sharing Gary’s work! All the best to both of you.

Tim and Gary,

This article came out with a great timing (my departure day is just around the corner) and thank you for sharing your insights.

Although I agree with most of the points, I have to disagree with 17) English is becoming universal. It might apply with younger people, yet when you show your willingness to communicate with their language, you’ll be surprised by their hospitality (“Pivo, prosim” worked miraculously in Czech Republic).

About English becoming universal…. certainly true, although I had the shock of my life when I went to china outside of the 4 cities generally known to westerners, (Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guongzhou) and discovered that I had to learn a completely new language and moreover, completely new body language, even to tell a taxi driver to turn right. If anyone thinks that English is becoming universal, china is the greatest challenge to that!

@Daniel There are more people currently learning English in China than there are people in the United States.

Totally agree with #2. As someone that has lived in Northern Ireland during the Troubles I have seen the cause, effect and aftermath first hand. However, I was shocked to see how this was portrayed on foreign (Canadian actually) media while I was travelling at the time. It would have totally put me off visiting Northern Ireland as it implied the entire country was in uproar which was not the case at the time. In reality any trouble is usually isolated to very small localities which with common sense can be avoided.

Your points are great and well spoken, but as someone who has been to France a few times, I would wholeheartedly disagree on 4.

Yes, the rest of the world likes us as people and are interested in us, but a large majority of encounters I’ve had in France have ended poorly (and I’m not the disruptive or argumentative type at all). I will not go back after my 3rd week-long visit, merely trying to soak up as much of the rich culture as I could.

I just started a year-long sabbatical traveling through Central and South America. In less than 48 hours in Quito, my first destination, I got robbed. I am trying very hard to remember #1 right now.

Another item I would add to the list is that things can be replaced, and you should not be attached to anything you carry with you. If it is something you cannot replace, you shouldn’t bring it.

To read about my thoughts on the incident, go to my website.

Currently traveling around the world, and can agree with all points. I love how Gary started with “People are generally good”. I would also say “Most places are not scary.” Most cities of the world are surprisingly modern and friendly (except Cairo!), and generally not the image we make of it through what we’ve heard.

I’ve studied over 10 languages so far on this trip, even if we’re somewhere for just 2 days. Like Tim said, it’s amazing to break the ice, and in some countries like Thailand, unless you want to be reduced to speaking English like a three-year old child all day, learning the language is a priority. It’s true however that English is the universal language. If the locals are going to speak a second language, it’s going to be English! I was amazed at the tour guides in Cairo. They all specialize in one language, and create themselves a “niche” as a tour guide with that language. I was very impressed when I saw an Egyptian tour guide speak fluent Mandarin to his group!

I would also add as a French Canadian that we share a common North American culture too. A recent trip to France reaffirmed that as Quebecers, we have very little in common with France culturally speaking, besides the language. In France, I feel like a foreigner. In the USA and Canada, I feel at home.

@Frederic Just for the record, I am not against learning other languages. My observation about the rise of english as a de facto second language shouldn’t be construed as me being against learning other languages. I’ve picked up words in a bunch of different languages and I think it is something everyone should do wherever they go.

I am on my second year abroad and can’t agree with you any more!

Great post Gary, some interesting points that go against a lot of similar articles I’ve read – in a good way.

You don’t truly get to experience a culture until after you’ve lived there for 3 months or more

Awesome travel reflections of yours. We agree to many of them, though when it comes to the part “Americans don’t travel overseas as much as Brits, Dutch, Germans, Canadians or Scandinavians” – we think that the cold climate has importance too 🙂

Agree with all these things, except the Canadian thing – but that’s because I am Canadian 🙂

A good article, even though it’s recycled content as I’m fairly sure I read this on the Huffington Post a few months back.

One more thing Gary! You inspired me to travel around the world.

@jeff Wow. That’s quite an honor. Let me know how your travels go.

Though I loved this post, I think it should’ve been written as a countdown from #20 to #1 to make it more exciting.

I wish “#7 The rest of the world isn’t full of germs” really gets across.

(some) people think that anything they touch/eat will make them sick. Not true and honestly….I’ve gotten sick by eating food in the US as well. So we’re even 🙂

Married now for 3yrs and a father now for just 1yr, your book and strategic philosophy for life (along with ramit sehti’s financial advice) have revolutionized my families life over the course of the last six month’s. While i have not yet developed a muse, i have instituted dreamlines, streamlining (80/20) and the general approach you take of cutting out what is unnecessary and implementing change in a short, no-allowance-for-hesitation method.

Since then i have taken my first international trip (Germany, Czech Rep.) with my daughter and wife and have began making travel an absolute part of our future. It has been truly inspirational to see the case studies involving families making the same leaps that people assume that only individuals (or couples w/o children) make.

this post is right on. people abroad are nearly always positively responsive to people who take interest in their culture!

Congratulations, Jacob! To your first trip and many more 🙂

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365 Days: 20 things I Learned from Traveling Around the World

Travel for long enough and one day you wake up to realize: this is no longer a vacation, it’s your life..

Over one year ago I quit my job and decided to travel around the world. This was both a dream 10 years in the making and one of  the best decisions I’ve ever made [ photo: night train from Belgrade to Sofia].

In the last 12 months I learned a lot about long-term travel, what I need to be happy, and how to survive outside of the US. Many of these things can’t be learned at home or in a book, and while reading about them on the internet can only get you so far, a lot of people have asked me to explain how I’ve done it.

Well, here’s part of the answer.

 “There’s no substitute for just going there.” – Yvon Chouinard

My trip hasn’t been about sightseeing (although I’ve done that) as much as just  being  somewhere . The simple challenges of daily routine can be overwhelming:  trying to eat, drink, and sleep in a place where nothing makes sense, you don’t speak the language, and where none of the basic comforts of home are available. It’s not easy, but if you want a fast-track to personal development, get on a plane.

When I was younger my dad often said ‘the hardest part is just getting out the door.’ And that may be the most important lesson of all:  it’s too easy to get complacent at home and if you aren’t at least a little uncomfortable, you probably aren’t learning anything.

If you’ve already traveled extensively, you may get a kick out of this. If you haven’t, here are some reflections, tips, and advice about long-term travel on my one-year anniversary of life on the road:

#1) Most of the world’s people are friendly and decent.

Except for the French*.

Some stereotypes really hold up, but on average, most of the people I’ve met around the world are extremely polite, friendly, and helpful. They are generally interested why I chose to visit their home. They are eager to assist if it’s obvious I’m lost or in trouble. They’ll go out of their way to try to make sure I have a good stay in their country. And, contrary to what most Americans tend to think (see #3 below), they often don’t know much about the United States (or necessarily care).

Don’t be convinced before leaving that “everyone there is _______”. Show a modicum of respect to people and their culture and you’ll be blown away by what you get back. Try picking up a little of the local language. Just learning how to say ‘thank you’ can make a huge impact.

* Sorry, I couldn’t resist. To be fair, France is like everywhere else: most people are decent. It’s just that France has a particularly large proportion of bad apples the give the place a well-deserved reputation. I’ve met a  lot of wonderful people in France but also a disproportionate number of assholes (not travelers generally, but residents of France). This isn’t based on a single trip nor is it restricted to Paris. Almost every non-French local in Europe agreed with me on this one.

#2) Most places are as safe (or safer) than home.

I remember confessing to my mother recently that I had a big night out in Budapest and stumbled back to my apartment at dawn. Her reaction was: “But don’t you worry about being drunk in a foreign country?”

Ha ha, not at all mom! I’ve never felt so safe!

The only place I’ve been violently mugged was in my home city of San Francisco. Many of the people I know there have been robbed at gunpoint, and on more than one occasion there were shootings in my neighborhood.

In one incident just a block away from my apartment (Dolores Park), a man was shot 5 times and somehow escaped, only to collapse about 10m from our front door. You can still see the blood stains on the sidewalk.

Turns out we actually live in a pretty dangerous country.

In over 365 days on the road, staying mostly in dormitory-style hostels and traveling through several countries considered ‘high-risk,’ the only incident I had was an iPhone stolen out of my pocket on the metro in Medellin, Colombia. I didn’t even notice and deserved it for waiving the damn thing around in the wrong part of town. Most people think that in a place like Colombia you’ll still get kidnapped or knocked off by a motorcycle assassin, but that’s not true. According to the locals I talked to (who grew up there), things have been safe there for at least ten years.

Caveat:  This doesn’t give you a license to be stupid, and some places really warrant respect. Guatemala and Honduras, where there are major drug wars going on (and the Peace Corps recently pulled all of their volunteers), or Quito, Ecuador, where everyone I talked to had been robbed, are reasonably dangerous (I had no trouble in any of them).

In reality, based on the sort of mindless binge-drinking that happens in most travel hot spots, you’d expect travelers to get knocked off a lot more often. But if you pay attention and don’t do anything stupid, you’ll be fine.

#3) Most people don’t know (or care) what America is doing.

I think the whole America vs. the rest of the world debate has been summed up perfectly in this post:

=>  10 Things Americans Don’t Know About America

I couldn’t have said it better:

Despite the occasional eye-rolling, and complete inability to understand why anyone would vote for George W. Bush, people from other countries don’t hate us either. In fact — and I know this is a really sobering realization for us — most people in the world don’t really think about us or care about us.

I’ve met people that didn’t even know that San Francisco (or California even) had a coastline (now  there’s  a sobering conversation for you. So much for thinking that’s the center of the world eh?).

One thing is true: Americans are not well represented on the travel circuit. It just doesn’t seem to be culturally important to us, unlike say, the Australians, who never go home.

#4) You can travel long-term for the price of rent and a round of drinks back home

My favorite question from friends at home has been: “how the HELL are you still traveling?”

Well, for what you spent at lunch I can live on for a whole day in Indonesia. That’s all there is to it.

– Average monthly rent for a shared apartment in San Francisco: $1100 per person. – My average monthly expenditure during the last year of travel: $1200 / month*.

That’s $40 / day , and includes some ridiculous and totally auxiliary expenses. For example:

  • 10 days of Scuba diving in Utila, Honduras – $330
  • Kitesurfing gear rental in Mancora, Peru – $100 for two days
  • Flight to Easter Island (50% subsidized by my dad) – $400
  • Acquisition of 4 Surfboards, + Repairs and Accessories over the year –  $750
  • Purchasing a bunch of gear, like a new netbook ($380), wetsuit ($175), boardshorts ($55), camping gear ($100), a SteriPen water purifier ($125), summer sleeping bag ($55)
  • Riding the NaviMag Ferry through the lake district of Chilean Patagonia from Coyaiquhe to Puerto Montt ($200).
  • Taking a total of 7 nearly cross-continental flights (like Brussels=>Greece) during my 4 months in Europe.

And so on. I also went out, a lot, and spent way to much money on alcohol.

Before I left home, my original budget projection was $50 / day , which I would consider lavish in many parts of the world. In some places, I spent as little as $20 / day (including lodging, all meals, and booze) while living in relative luxury right on the beach. Generally, I shot for $30 / day which gave me a buffer of $20 for travel and miscellaneous or one-time expenses.

Countries visited on this budget: Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Easter Island (Chile), Argentina, Uruguay, Santa Cruz (California), North Shore of Oahu, Belgium, France, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Turkey

Totals: 6 months Central/S. America, 2 Months USA, 2 months W. Europe and 2 months E Europe).

Obviously, some places are cheaper than others, like Guatemala, where you can get a room for $4 / night. You have to be a lot more careful in Western Europe, where I got a little bit loose with my budget and spent $2000 / month for two months. But I also spent less than $900 in the month that I biked (pushbike) through France.

You might be blown away by how cheap some ‘expensive’ places can be. The second cheapest hostel I stayed in (after Guatemala) was in Berlin, Germany, at €6 / night (~$7.43 USD). Beer in Prague was as cheap or cheaper than any other country I’ve been to (it was $1.43 for 0.5L in ultra-touristy downtown Prague). You can rent a decent downtown apartment in Budapest for $200 / month.

Bottom line: If you’re careful, you can travel on $1,200 / month or less. Rolf Potts, the author of Vagabonding (highly, highly recommended whether or not you’re planning to travel) claims to have circled the globe for years on $1000 per month. Budget $1,500 / month and you should be totally covered. You can do this even in Europe if you go slow, stay with friends or in cheaper hostels, fly on discount airlines (as opposed to taking the train), cook or eat street food, and don’t buy booze at the bar (which I did and somehow survived).

The best budget rule of thumb I’ve learned (can’t remember the source) is to take the price of your nightly accommodation and triple it. That will be about your daily minimum to survive, so $30 / day where a hostel runs you $10 / night.

*Note that my monthly total budget does not include transcontinental airfare (like USA=>Europe) which was free (see How I flew around the world for $220 ). Since I typically travel overland and all flights are one-way tickets I haven’t flown as much as you’d expect.

#5) Saving for a big trip is not as hard as you think.

Most people think I’m rich because I’ve been traveling for a year. What they don’t realize is that, although I didn’t leave at the time (this was 5 years ago), I was able to save enough money for this trip within a year and a half of graduating college.

My first salaried job paid $29,000 / year–not exactly ballin’ by US college-grad standards. But by pretty ruthless budgeting I was able to save $1,000 a month for the 15 months I worked there.

Guess what, that’s $15,000 or 12.5 months of travel at $1,200 / month.

Are there sacrifices to be made? Of course, but it’s worth it.

Btw, I am by no means the first person to discover or write about travel budgeting. This post is from 2009: Travel full-time for less than $14,000 per year . Don’t think it’s just us either, because all of these people are writing about it.

I plan to write more about how to save money in the future

#6) In most places, moving around is incredibly easy.

I rode buses from Honduras all the way to Uruguay. With a surfboard. And it was a cinch.

Unlike the independent car culture of the US, people all over the world rely on some kind of bus service to get around.

In most places you can get from anywhere to just about anywhere else, and most of the time it doesn’t take more than a few minutes to figure out. Generally (outside the middle of peak tourist season in popular places) I haven’t bothered with reservations or pre-planning transportation routes. I just show up at the bus or train station and go.

I’ve ridden buses for hours into the middle of the Costa Rican jungle as well as through BFE in the Northern Chilean Andes. There’s almost always a group of locals who needs to get to where you’re going too. And if there’s no bus you can always hitchhike (this only happened once or twice on my entire trip).

It’s an eye-opener to see how some of the poorest countries on earth can still provide better public transportation than San Francisco.

In places like Europe and SE Asia you also have the opportunity to take advantage of discount airlines like RyanAir and EasyJet . I flew across Europe 7 times in 2 months for less than $120 that way.

#7) Every pound over 20 makes life worse.

There is virtually no reason to carry more than 20lbs (~9kg) of gear unless you’re going on a major trek or you have some serious sporting event in mind (like multi-day backpacking or cold weather sports). If you’re traveling in the summer you can get by on even less.

Here’s the first key: Try only to do one thing on your trip.  If you are hiking, just hike. If you are surfing, just surf. If you’re party backpacking and staying in hostels, just do that. Packing for every possibility is suicidal. You just can’t carry street clothes and backpacking gear in the same pack and expect to not have a million tons of crap.

I’ve travelled the last year with a carry-on sized 30L day-pack made for climbing (this means it’s made to properly handle weight). Right now, it’s only 2/3 full and loaded with exactly 20lbs of gear (which in my opinion is still too heavy). But I have some serious accessories in there including 3lbs of surfing equipment (for Indonesia), a 3lb laptop, as well as a GoPro video camera (0.5lb).

When most people pack for a trip, they make a list of things to pack and then try to figure out how to fit it all in. But the best way to choose a backpack is to  find the bag you want to carry  and then see what you can fit inside. Make sure the pack doesn’t weigh more than 3lbs by itself.

If you can get to less than 15lbs (~7kg) it will change your life. Imagine getting to a location and being able to walk around and site-see with all your gear. Incredible.

This is the other key: pack the 20% of gear and clothing that will cover 80% of possible travel scenarios (yet another manifestation of the 80/20 rule ). If you end up saying “I might do _____” then get rid of it. Don’t take anything you won’t use with relative frequency unless it’s really expensive or hard to find on the road.

Get rid of everything you possibly can before you set out, and don’t be afraid to donate things or send them home along the way. Oh, and the easiest way to figure out your pack weight? Buy a cheap fish scale from Amazon.com .

A small pack also allows you to have a carry-on bag, even on super small planes. I can’t understate the importance of this.

Bottom line: Trust me, the longer you travel the less you want to carry.

Bonus:  Here is my 2013 Round the World Trip pack list .

#8) Long-term travel is not a vacation (it’s a full-time job).

After my first 6 months of traveling I went home for a break. To the surprise of my friends, I was completely spent, exhausted, and didn’t want to do much of anything.

“But you’ve been on vacation, you should feel great!”

Right. I guess you missed the 22 hour bus-ride where we took turns puking in the back because of altitude sickness and pisco-induced hangovers. Or maybe you didn’t make it to the last 15 hostels where sleeping before being black-out drunk is just not an option. (Sounds glamorous, doesn’t it!)

Planning and logistics also take an incredible amount of time and effort. Most downtime spent in a place when not sight-seeing is typically sucked up in researching the next destination, making reservations, planning logistics, and going through the dreaded ‘time budgeting’ process where you decide what you can reasonably see in the time available (and what you have to cut out).

Overall, it’s exhausting, and a great reason to consider traveling slowly (more on that later).

If you move quickly, don’t have any illusions about all the things you’re going to ‘get done’ in your down-time. Take a good book and just travel, that’s it.

#9) ‘Travelers’ and ‘Tourists’ are different.

You know what I mean.

Tourists exchange money for pre-packaged experiences. They consume experiences and move on without engaging with the local culture.

Travelers are there to see things, not buy them.

Travelers tend to be more involved. They may stay with locals, hang out with locals, try to learn the language, or just plain move slowly enough to really live and be where they are.

Sometimes I play ‘tourist’ but that doesn’t mean I see myself as one.

#10) Don’t worry about traveling alone (it’s better).

Although I’m a solo traveler I haven’t spent much more than a handful of days on the road alone. That’s because you meet people everywhere: in hostels, on buses, trains, planes, restaurants, trail-heads, monuments, etc. If you’re doing a standard travel circuit you’ll see the same people over and over again (most people don’t leave the Lonely Planet itinerary), and it isn’t uncommon to fall in with a large group of people who are all going the same way.

It’s so easy to meet people that I’m often stuck with the opposite problem: trying to get  away from everyone. While I love all my new friends I need some downtime every so often.

Most travellers are uncommonly interested in meeting new people. That’s one of the big reasons they’re on the road. A simple ‘where are you headed’ has often turned into a new travel partner for weeks. And when it stops working you simply set off on your own again.

Afraid to go it alone? Don’t be. Go the the first big city in your destination country and hang out in the hostel lobby for a few days. I promise you’ll make new friends. This is why you should also  stay in hostels . Don’t be afraid of sharing a room. It’s a small trade-off for the amazing people you’ll meet.

#11) Movement can be addictive (and this is not necessarily a good thing).

The ‘traveller’s rush’ that hits you upon arrival to a new place is like a drug. And like a drug, the more you expose yourself to it the more you want.

This can mean moving too fast or skipping out on places just to experience the ecstasy of arrival again. The results are obvious: less time in places you thought you wanted to see and ultimately, burnout. The tendency to try to cram more places into an overpacked schedule is often hard to control.

One trick I’ve found to deal with this is to have a minimum stay: 3 nights in every destination. This is enough time to see the place, relax, and get sorted before the next stop. It also means you’ll have to cut out some places if you’re tight on time. While I’ve had great one-night stops before (I’m looking at you, Belgrade) it isn’t sustainable or desirable to do too much of this.

Of course, some places aren’t what you expected either. If that’s the case, get the hell out of there and spend more time in a place you want to be.

#12) Don’t bank on paradise.

Keep your expectations in check.

This isn’t easy, since you really want that place you’ve been dreaming about to be paradise. But like anything else, high expectations are a recipe for disappointment.

I spent 5 years in office jobs dreaming about getting back to Utila, the magical Scuba party-island off the coast of Honduras. When I finally got there, I was ready to leave after a week.

Turns out I didn’t really care about Scuba-diving as much as I thought, and there’s only so much you can do on a tropical island before you go nuts. At that time I also had new aspirations and a new skill: surfing. I ended up heading to El Salvador to surf some of the best waves of my life.

Expectations can also make or break a place. Most of the places I knew nothing about before arriving blew my mind. Most of the places I had high expectations for utterly failed to impress me (except for Chicama, the world’s longest wave, and Rome).

The other thing is that as you go through life the rules are always changing. By the time I arrived here in Bali–which has been a dream and one of the pinnacles of the trip–I had a small but growing online business that had become my #1 priority. Instead of rushing off to some deserted beach hut and surfing all day I’m obsessed with trying to find a place to live where I can get to fast internet at least a few times a week. Say what you will, but my priorities have totally changed (at least for the moment).

It also turns out that a lot of Bali is a tourist nightmare from hell. Or maybe it’s just getting harder for me to be as impressed by anything.

Also: Take recommendations with a grain of salt. Another person’s paradise might be your personal hell, and vice-versa. A close friend of mine thinks tropical beaches are the reason for existence. Well, unless there is wind or waves on them I’ll crack up after 3 days. Getting stuck on a deserted tropical island is my definition of hell-on-earth.

#13) Traveling doesn’t get ‘traveling’ out of your system.

If you’ve got this bug it’s not going away (sorry), but the obvious question is: why are we trying to get traveling out of our system, anyway?

Rolf Potts did a great job in  Vagabonding  of justifying not just travel as a lifestyle, but also a lifestyle that makes travel a non-negotiable ingredient. Whether that means saving for a big trip or just taking a few weeks a year the important thing is to make room in your life to  keep traveling.

I was actually told on this trip ( 😉 if you’re reading this) that I needed to stop screwing around and ‘grow up.’ I think in our culture that means going back to the ‘real world’ of office jobs, succumbing to general complacency, and trying to enjoy two weeks off a year.

If that’s the case you can count me out.

The world is just too big and interesting to not be exploring.

#14) Eventually, you will need something real to do.

Most people think that I’ve spent the last year sipping Mai-Tais on the beach somewhere. Well, I tried that and after 4 days I started to lose it.

The sad and somewhat surprising truth about the  myth of the deserted tropical island paradise  is this:  there is nothing to do on a deserted tropical island . As Harrison Ford drunkenly slurred once in that terrible but entertaining movie, ‘Honey… it’s an island. If you don’t bring it you ain’t gonna find it here.”

Despite popular belief,  most people can’t just sit around  doing nothing for an extended period of time. Especially Type-A American folks who I’ve been told are ‘goal-oriented’ and always trying to ‘get things done.’ It might be a cultural thing, but it’s more likely just human nature to want to be involved in something larger than yourself. (This also, by the way, is the death knell for the whole concept of retirement, as articulated so well in Tim Ferris’ 4-Hour WorkWeek ).

The point of quitting a job to travel around the world is also not to do nothing, it’s to do something else. As Tim Ferris points out, ‘idle time is poisonsous,’ and believe me, when you’ve cut your ties with conventional society you’re going to have a few moments of serious self-flagellation.  The endless ‘what I’m doing’ and ‘why am I doing this’ loop.

It’s true that the feeling of wanting to build/create/be a part of something can be deferred since traveling itself is a full-time job, and that simple fact can keep you satisfied for a long time. But after 6 months of moving around I was astonished to discover I was actually  bored.  I mean,  really bored . There are only so many days that you can walk around looking at things, go to the beach, and party all night without starting to think that something’s missing.

What it boils down to is that eventually you’ll need need a project. Whether that means studying, concentrating on a sport, volunteering, working somewhere, starting an online business, or whatever, eventually you’ll have to find a creative or intellectual outlet to keep yourself sane. Which brings up the next point:

#15) Long-term happiness is a pretty complicated emergent property that has little to do with money.

I will probably kick myself later for publishing this, but what the hell, here goes:

If you studied any chemistry in school you may remember the concept of emergent properties: the difference between the dining-room table and this computer screen is simply the right mix of a bunch of elements. Put together the right pieces and the product spontaneously emerges from the matter it’s composed of.

Similarly, in my experience happiness is not derived from a single point source (although it can be temporarily) like a sudden infusion of cash or arriving at your dream destination. Instead, it takes a lot of things working in concert to keep me happy: it’s really the emergent property of a network of variables .

Unfortunately, most people seem to forget the network effect and focus on a single variable, like  money . Sure, money can allow you to do things, but once basic needs are satisfied the correlation between money and happiness seems to drop off a cliff.

A lot of people defer things they might otherwise pursue for the big payout dream. The ‘if I only win the lottery’ or ‘when I sell my company for $10 million’ routine. The problem with the fantasy, besides the obvious deferral of really having to come to terms with what you want to do in life, is that while a big payout would certainly increase the options available to you, but that is not necessarily a good thing . I won’t elaborate on this too much further here, but having more options has actually made me less happy in the past, as was so well articulated in  The Paradox of Choice .

And here’s another punchline: most people whose luck or life-stage has allowed them to not be required to work seem to choose to anyway. I know a guy who retired at 26. What does he do now? Runs a firm for fun.

Think $10 million in the bank is going to make you happy? Well, good luck with that.

While I can’t speak for everyone, I’ve learned that I need the nearly perfect concert of 3-4 major variables before I can say that I’m ‘really happy’.

These have very little to do with money:

  • Health:  Not just injury or disease-free but fit and functional for everything I want to do. That could mean anything from just feeling good in the morning to being able to easily run 5 miles.
  • Wealth:  I’m not talking about money, but the reinterpretation of ‘wealth’ as the free time and means to do what you want to do. In my experience, control of my time is the key, and as long as I have enough money to cover basic expenses I’m happy.
  • Relationships:  In major cross-cultural studies published by the WorldWatch Institute, happiness has often been primarily attributed to  breadth and depth of social connections.  ‘Nuf said.
  • Productive/Creative Outlet:  As discussed above, I need something to learn, to do, or to build.

If this sounds cliche or too simple, try sitting on a beach somewhere and wonder why you’re not happy for a few weeks. It’s easy to forget the most basic things in life.

(The funny thing about having four simultaneous requirements is the violation of Sun Tzu’s Art of War: Never fight a battle on multiple fronts. Maybe you’ve figured it out already, in which case I’d love to talk to you about it, but whenever I get two things in order the third one drops out of the sky.)

#16) When you challenge a person’s assumptions it can really piss them off.

People get angry when I tell them you don’t have to buy into the system, that you can travel the world and do anything you want if you’re up for it.

The problem is that this statement challenges the basic assumptions that people have  invested  in over their entire lives–every decision, every action, every goal has depended on the stability of this conventional framework.

As I understand it from my limited study of neuroscience, these kinds of assumptions are firmly rooted in the brain’s neural network, and our cognitive framework (borrowing heavily from George Lakoff here) really doesn’t like being fucked with.

Just think about how hard it was the last time you tried to change a serious habit. The first day you try something new it can be physically painful because there’s a strong emotional response to resist change. Think also about the last time you had an argument about politics. Why is so much anger involved? Because you’re both challenging thought patterns that are too well established to change easily (it’s not air in there, but a real physical network of cells) .

Lakoff at one point wrote that the neural framework is like a net: if you offer something up radically different from what a person expects it might just slip through. It’s almost like they can’t even process what you’re saying to them.

It’s also hard for people to imagine anything different from their experiences. Take the notion of precedence (hat tip to Dan Andrews ): before the 4-minute mile was broken it was thought to be physically impossible. That is, until Roger Bannister ran a mile in under 4 minutes. Within two months two more runners had achieved the same feat, and whole slough of runners soon followed.

When you defy the status quo (even when you don’t make a big deal out of it. *cough*) you implicitly (although unintentionally) suggest to people back at home that their lives are based on a faulty assumptions. Don’t expect people to take this well, or to care or understand what you’re doing if you decided to cut out. They might get pissed off, the might act like you don’t exist, or  they might actively call you out .

You can’t convince them that it’s the right thing to do either, because in all honesty, we all have a different idea of what the good life is.

#17) Travel slowly: Save money, avoid burnout, do more.

Going slowly is the key. The more time you have the more money you can save, for two major reasons:

  • Large expenses like airfare get averaged out over the course of cheap days staying in one place, and
  • You can take advantage of special opportunities, like cheap flights or sleeping on a friend’s couch.

I talked to one girl who flew around Europe just on discount airlines like RyanAir and EasyJet. She’d simply log in and see where the cheapest flight next week was. “Guess I’m going to Romania!” Not something you can do easily on an itinerary.

The most expensive part of traveling for me has typically been moving from point A to point B. Traveling like a maniac can be a lot of fun, but you’ll save money and get to really know places if you take your time.

#18) You can’t work and travel at the same time.

For the remote-work inclined…

Ok, you sort of can , you just won’t ever get nearly as much done as you want to.

Let me clarify this for the uninitiated:  obviously, you can work in the places you travel to, eg working as a SCUBA Divemaster or a Kiteboarding instructor, but my focus here is on location-independent internet work.

At this point I’ve worked all over the world on my laptop, and in order to get shit done I have to hunker down in one spot for at least a week. Try building/fixing things/growing an online business on the road and you’re going to just get irritated when you can’t finish anything in the 2-4 hour block you’ve set aside.

You also have no continuity if you’re constantly moving around. Dan Andrews of the Lifestyle Business Podcast nailed it when he said ‘you’ve got to find your 5 hours.’ All 4-Hour Workweek fantasies aside, if you want to build something you’d better find that 5 hours (or more) each day.

If you’re going to travel, then just travel. There are sights to see, spontaneous adventures to be a part of, and all kinds of unexpected things that happen. Aren’t you traveling to take advantage of those?

But when you’re going to work, just work. I think Tim Ferris really hit it with the concept of mini-retirements: the idea of focusing 100% on one thing at a time is the only way to make significant progress. Work for 1-3 months, then take a mini-retirement for 1-3 months (depending on what you’ve got set up for yourself. More on this later).

#19) When everything gets irritating, it might be time to head home.

I’ve had this experience more than once: a nice local is trying to help me but can’t understand what I’m asking for. I can feel my impatience rise and I notice my voice gets that “what the fuck is wrong with you” tone.

Then I remember: this isn’t home. People don’t speak English. Don’t expect anything to operate on your schedule. It’s not your country anyway, jackass.

This is usually the first sign of burnout, and usually means it’s time to find a cheap place to relax or time to book a flight home.

If you start really missing hot showers, strong coffee, Mexican food, or climate control, it might just be time, but….

#20) Long-term traveling can teach you more than almost anything else

About yourself, about life, about what you need to be happy. It also really highlights just how different home is from everywhere else, especially when you start to get a large sample size to compare it to.

For some, this can mean going home with a heightened perspective. For others, it may mean never going home. For everyone though, long-term travel will change your life.

Questions? Ask me below in the comments section!

And just for fun, some stats from a year of travel:.

  • Countries Visited or Crossed over-land: 25
  • Longest Stop: 4 weeks (North Shore, Oahu)
  • Second-Longest stop: 3 weeks (Budapest)
  • Most dangerous place: Guatemala (anywhere)
  • Number of times robbed: 1 (Medellin, Colombia. Pickpocketing)
  • Number of violent muggings: 0
  • Number of violent muggings at home: 1 (San Francisco, CA)
  • Scariest incident: Fist fight with two wild dogs (Arica, Chile)

Money and Budgets:

  • Daily Budget of <$15 / day: Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador.
  • Daily Budget of <$20 / day : Mancora, Peru
  • Daily Budget of <$30 / day: Medallin, Colombia
  • Daily Budget of <$40 / day: Budapest, Hungary
  • Average Monthly Spend: $1200

Accommodation:

  • Cheapest Hostel: $4 / night (Chichicastenango, Guatemala)
  • Second Cheapest Hostel: 6 euros / night (Berlin, Germany)
  • Most expensive hostel: $25 / night (Punta del Este, Uruguay)
  • Second most expensive hostel: $23 / night (Santiago, Chile)
  • Best hostel: Luna’s Castle, Panama City, Panama

Food and Beer:

  • Cheapest Meal: Papusas at $0.25 each (El Tunco, El Salvador)
  • Most expensive Meal: $20 Boat Sushi (Antwerp, Belgium)
  • Cheapest Beer: 21 Czech Crowns or $1.02 per (Prague, Czech Republic) per liter?
  • Most expensive beer: Vienna, Austria
  • Cheapest alcohol (overall): Krakow, Poland and Prague, Czech Republic (less than $1 / drink)
  • Cheapest transport: Bicycle (Free) across France.
  • Second Cheapest Transport: $1 per hour on the bus (Ecuador)
  • Most expensive transport: $130 just to look at it (TGV, France)

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Around the World in 24 Days: Visiting the Most Iconic Sites by Private Jet

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Horses graze in front of a row of Moai statues

Phileas Fogg famously traveled around the world in 80 days in the novel by Jules Verne—but on this Around the World Private Jet Expedition from TCS World Travel, you’ll easily beat his record. In just 24 days, you’ll circumnavigate the globe and set foot on five of seven continents.

This trip, which departs on either October 10, 2021 or December 30, 2021, includes iconic natural wonders like Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater, both of which showcase dazzling displays of diverse wildlife. The itinerary is long on fabled human wonders as well, with stops at the ancient sites of Machu Picchu, Easter Island, Angkor Wat, and Petra.

Between each stop, you’ll fly aboard a specially outfitted private jet with your roughly 50 fellow guests. The flawless service of the TCS World Travel crew will assure that you will arrive at each destination ready to continue exploring. And the trip’s experts—distinguished college professors and professional photographers—will bring the histories, cultures, peoples, and wildlife of every destination to life.

If you take advantage of TCS World Travel’s new Book with Confidence benefit, you’ll even have the option to cancel your trip for any reason when you book before December 31, 2020. Providing you with flexibility for your travel plans, TCS allows you to cancel your reservation up to six months before departure if you deposit 50 percent of the trip cost at the time of booking.

Itinerary / 24 Days

A temple across the water

TRIP HIGHLIGHT

Dinner in a 12th-century temple.

TCS World Travel

TRIP DESIGNER

Tcs world travel.

Waves roll in at a Florida beach at midday.

DAY 1 Depart from Fort Lauderdale

Golden sun rolls in across the ruins of Machu Picchu

DAYS 2 TO 4 Peru

Moai statues in a line

DAYS 5 AND 6 Easter Island

A woman kayaks along the shore of a lush island

DAYS 7 AND 8 Fiji

The Great Barrier reef from a helicopter. Boats anchor alongside.

DAYS 9 AND 10 Great Barrier Reef

The beautiful ruins of Angkor Wat across the water

DAYS 11 TO 13 Angkor Wat

The sun shine through a hazy sky and casts a warm glow over the Taj Mahal

DAYS 14 AND 15 Taj Mahal and Jaipur

A giraffe stands by a weathered tree at sunset

DAYS 16 TO 18 Serengeti or Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

A detailed palace facade carved into red rock

DAYS 19 AND 20 Petra and Wadi Rum, Jordan

Geometric tiles line a walkway leading to an inset door

DAYS 21 AND 22 Marrakech, Morocco

The Orlando skyline across the water

DAYS 23 AND 24 Orlando, Florida

I Took My Family On A Trip Around The World For A Year. Here's What I Learned.

they travel around the world one day

Theresa Stevens and her family of four were living a comfortable life just north of San Francisco — they had a nice house, her two daughters were in local schools, and she and her husband Michael had full-time jobs. But something was missing. They craved travel and adventure and wanted to take their kids, Marina and Lilah, around the world before it was too late . Long before their 'round-the-world trip and even before they met, Theresa and Michael both had a passion for travel. In his early 20s, Michael spent a year backpacking and bicycling around Europe , and Theresa spent two months backpacking around Europe just after college. After they met, the couple traveled regularly and always knew deep down that they'd take their kids on an epic trip around the world. They wanted to expose them to new cultures , ways of life, history and sights. In 2017, the Stevens family finally bit the bullet. They got rid of most of their stuff, put their house up for rent, found someone to watch their dog, and bought one-way plane tickets overseas. The family of four traveled for exactly one year with their two daughters, ages 11 and 13, visiting 22 countries and over 70 destinations. Theresa calls it the trip of a lifetime and encourages other families to travel if possible. Here's what Theresa learned on her trip around the world.

Go when your kids are young

"We finally started to travel when our kids were preteens, and while family travel can work at any age , it starts to get tricky as they get older. The 'tweenage' time can be difficult, because they're too old to hang with little kids and too young to be comfortable around older teens. It's harder to find other kids who are just the right age for them to interact with. And when a kid hits 13, they most likely don't want to be around their parents all the time — they want to be out asserting their independence — which made the trip a struggle for our oldest, at times. But one great thing about the preteen and teen years is that kids are comfortable being alone! Sometimes, ours preferred to stay in, so my husband and I would leave them in the Airbnb while we went out to sightsee. And when they did make friends, they were able to run around a bit on their own without us hovering in the background. If you go when your kids are between the ages of 9 and 12 — that's the magic window — they are old enough to remember the trip but young enough to want to be around you all the time. Really, there's no bad time to go, but I'd say at least try to go before they enter high school."

Stick around for a while

"The longer you stay in one place, the easier it is to make local friends and gain a sense of belonging. With the exception of spending four months in Sydney, Australia, we chose to hop around a lot, which worked for our family. But we had been advised by a child development expert prior to going that we should consider choosing just 4 or 5 locations to use as home bases and settle into each for a few months to make friends and become part of the community. She suggested we could make side trips from those. We know of some families who've done this and even put their young kids into the local schools. We found that just knowing one welcoming, local, English-speaking person before you arrive can make all the difference in helping to quickly plug into the community."

Social media can help, but also be careful

"For various reasons, we didn't use much social media as we traveled . However, it would have been a helpful tool in connecting with other families traveling at the same time, finding local English-speaking expats, or connecting with others who 'road school,' meaning their kids get their education purely through what they are doing as they travel. We naïvely expected to run into other families doing the same kind of trip, just as backpackers meet lots of other backpackers. It didn't work out that way, so it would have been nice to find and be in touch with others, even if remotely. When we did finally connect through friends with a few other traveling families via email and WhatsApp late in our trip, we found it enormously helpful to compare notes and swap travel tips. Do be careful about offering real-time social media updates on where you are and what you're doing so as to not make yourselves a target. It's one thing to share everything when you're on your own, but having kids in the mix completely changes the game. Though you don't want to be paranoid, you also want to be judicious."

Get your kids involved in planning

"We learned that it makes everyone happier when the kids are involved in planning the trip. Global travel can be hard on kids , so the more they're invested, the better. Before we left for our trip, we brainstormed fantasy destinations and activities together. Then, we gave our kids jobs. Our oldest became the videographer, and she saved up to buy a nice camera to document the trip. She posted frequent videos on YouTube . Our youngest daughter researched each destination in advance and educated us on what was to come. This kept both of our daughters engaged and "into it," even when they were missing home and their friends. Tailor the job to your kids' interests. They can help manage the budget, write a blog post, do a special project in each location, get a particular photo op in each place, choose your lodging, etc. There are endless possibilities."

Live by the ‘Action Sandwich’ rule

"Full-time travel means a lot of constant change and stimulation, which can be challenging for kids. It's not like you're on a go-go-go one- or two-week vacation. This is your new way of life. We learned it was just as important to integrate rest and relaxation into our trip as it was to plan fun events. Kids need plenty of downtime, so we started following the 'Action Sandwich' rule, which means for every one or two days of non-stop action, schedule in one day of absolutely nothing. That way, the kids can catch up on reading, chat with friends, or do whatever they want. Let your kids set the agenda on those down days, which gives them a sense of control over their lives and schedule. Non-stop touristy action is just not sustainable for such a long trip."

Stuff isn’t important

"All of our possessions for our trip around the world fit into one suitcase and daypack per person, and two of those suitcases were carry-on size! Interestingly, we never once felt deprived, and we've learned we don't need much at all to be happy and comfortable. Before we left for our 'round-the-world trip, we purged a ton of our possessions, and now that we're home, we're trying our hardest not to accumulate too much 'landfill,' as we now call it."

We’ve learned how to work together as a family

"When you're traveling around the world, you're in it together, all the time. We've had so many shared experiences together and have learned great teamwork. Together, we've navigated unfamiliar public transit systems, run through airports , dragged suitcases through pouring rain, swum with sea turtles, gaped at natural wonders of the world, ordered extra servings of mind-blowing dishes at random cafes, and gotten lost more times than we can count. We've struggled through language barriers, laughed and cried together, and bickered. Our children have watched their parents be frazzled and frustrated but are hopefully learning how to get through life by also watching us persevere and keep a sense of humor when the going gets tough."

Homeschooling is hard (for some, at least)

"Just because you're traveling doesn't mean it's any easier to get kids to do homework. Homeschooling was really challenging for us! Every school and educator we talked to before we left for our trip said our girls would get all the education they'd need just by traveling . I wish we had listened. We wanted to keep our children involved in tasks like math and writing, because the kids worried they'd be behind when they started school again. In many ways, though, it felt like a distraction. Take all the arguing, nagging and cajoling that goes on at home just to get your kids to do schoolwork, and magnify that by 20. It was a drag, and if we could have just trusted they'd be fine, it would have removed so much stress. In the end, we didn't get a lot done, and in the end, it didn't matter. They each came home right back into the next grade and didn't miss a beat."

World travel detached us from our egos

"When you live in a competitive environment like the San Francisco Bay area, it's easy to get caught up in work and social media and the pressure to build professional reputations. But with world travel, we were invisible nobodies everywhere we went. No one paid one iota of attention to us, and it was so liberating! World travel shows you just how much in common we all have as human beings. We've met people who couldn't be from more different environments than us, and yet we are all the same in so many ways. Often it was the people who had the least who were the kindest and most friendly toward us. It was very enlightening for our kids to see all of this firsthand."

Kids need other kids

"We learned pretty quickly that our kids needed to have the chance to interact with other traveling children . And the older kids become, the more important it is for them to have a peer group. We made it a point to find friends for them to hang out with who spoke English, and we discovered family-oriented group trips were a great place for this. We also connected with local schools and organizations. While in Sydney during a local school break, we enrolled our girls in summer camps where they made a bunch of new friends. In Bolivia, they had the opportunity to go to class with local kids studying English."

Incorporating animals into our travels was also important

"Our kids really love being around animals, so we tried to incorporate them into our activities whenever possible. We also tried to do activities that were respectful to animals — no elephant rides! Our kids loved pet-sitting our Airbnb host's rabbit in Prague, and we went horseback riding in New Zealand and Costa Rica. In Austria, we rented an apartment near a small farm, where our kids doted on the cows, horses, chickens, and a new litter of kittens. We visited animal sanctuaries wherever we could, including two in Chengdu, China, whose mission is to restore the wild panda population. We spent so much time behind the scenes at a sanctuary in Queensland, Australia, that the kangaroos started acting as though we were their caretakers! We also had amazing encounters with wild animals (from a distance) in the Chilean and Bolivian deserts, the Galapagos, the Great Barrier Reef, and a few other places. We meant to at some point use one of those sites that connect you with pet-sitting opportunities throughout the world , but never got around to it."

Let someone else do the planning

" We took on way too much planning on our own. Looking back, it would have been really beneficial for us to hire some help every now and then . For example, as an attempt to save money in China we turned down the opportunity to let someone else plan our trip through Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu and Guilin. We did end up saving a tiny bit but not enough to justify the exhausting learning curve, logistical planning and fumbling. Outsource when possible! We did hire someone in Croatia to take charge of a one-week sailing trip with some friends, so we wouldn't have to think. In the Galapagos and Amazon Rainforests, we joined tour groups, and it was so relaxing having someone else do the work."

Your kids would rather have a tour guide than you

"When you're traveling together non-stop as a family, you can get really tired of each other really fast. We learned pretty early on that it's a good idea to hire a tour guide whenever you can. Our kids found tour guides a lot more interesting to listen to than us! Instead of moaning and groaning, our kids perked up, listened and learned so much more than if we'd prattled on ourselves. Our kids can name every tour guide we had — they were that memorable! Even the worst tour guides turned into stories our kids still love to tell."

Cities get boring really fast

"After a few major cities, our kids were majorly unimpressed. They thought every city looked the same and were B-O-R-I-N-G. After less than a month on the road, we learned to skip the walking tours, tour buses, museums and churches, and instead start approaching our exploration of cities in a different way. We decided to focus on one-of-a-kind experiences and food , and that strategy was a hit. The kids paraglided in Queenstown , New Zealand, and went to a carnival in Copenhagen . We took a chocolate tour in Lucerne, enjoyed beautifully lit Budapest via river cruise and studied Spanish in Sucre, Bolivia. We watched pros do the tango in Buenos Aires and ate obscene quantities of gelato in Rome."

Our interests were not necessarily our kids’ interests

"Our kids went along with what we wanted to do for a while, but then they started to protest. Michael got to the point where he was doing city walking tours by himself! Nine months into our trip, we stopped visiting big cities altogether and started opting for nature activities . Our kids were really happy in the outdoors, and we learned it's really important to give them a voice. Global travel with kids is going to be different from what you'd choose to do on your own. To my disappointment, we didn't visit a single castle in Europe , because the kids just weren't interested."

We learned how to be flexible and adaptable

"Not everything goes as planned when you're traveling the world with kids. Our planned itinerary and actual itinerary looked completely different. We sped things up, slowed things down, skipped entire countries, changed the order in which we visited places, etc. It can be challenging to have a new 'home' every few days, so we were pleasantly surprised at how easily the kids adjusted to day-to-day life in each location. I'm sure this made us all extremely flexible and adaptable. Before long, the kids didn't even blink when we arrived in a new country and had to figure things out all over again."

We learned to be even more tolerant and open-minded

"A long-term trip around the world really opened our eyes to so many new and different people, cultures, and ways of life. Now, our awareness and compassion for global political and social issues is even greater. It's almost impossible to be biased against or judge other cultures when you've experienced them firsthand. I suspect that children who've traveled like this are more flexible, more resilient, and more tolerant of differences in people, culture, values and politics than most. Hopefully ours now really understand what lucky lives they lead and what it means to be caring citizens of the world ."

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10 Around-the-world Cruises for the Trip of a Lifetime

These world cruises offer the ultimate itineraries.

Elizabeth Rhodes is a special projects editor at Travel + Leisure , covering everything from luxury hotels to theme parks to must-pack travel products. Originally from South Carolina, Elizabeth moved to New York City from London, where she started her career as a travel blogger and writer.

they travel around the world one day

Want to island hop around French Polynesia, visit Africa's incredible cities, and cruise through Asia without ever switching hotels or repacking your bags? An around-the-world cruise provides the ultimate itinerary, packed with exciting international destinations (some even visit hard-to-reach destinations like Easter Island and Antarctica), and luxury cruise lines provide comfortable accommodations, specialty restaurants, and plenty to do on and off the ship.

There are two main things you need before booking a world cruise: plenty of time and some spare cash. Prices range from around $20,000 to upwards of $100,000 per person, and all our top picks are more than 100 days (one is even a whopping 275 days), so they're ideal for retired travelers looking for their next big adventure. Pack wisely for a range of destinations and climates, and get ready for the journey of a lifetime, filled with postcard-perfect destinations and new friends (because you're bound to meet a travel buddy or two after 100-plus days on a ship). If an around-the-world cruise is at the top of your travel list, you'll want to book sooner rather than later — these journeys frequently sell out because many cruise lines only offer a limited number of sailings.

Here are ten of the best around-the-world cruises you can take in 2023 and 2024.

Viking Ocean Cruises

Viking world cruise.

See 28 countries on the 138-day Viking World Cruise from Fort Lauderdale to London. After departing from Florida, the Viking Sky will sail the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, stopping in sunny destinations before crossing the Panama Canal to reach the Pacific. From there, the ship will visit destinations in Mexico and the continental United States, continuing on to Hawaii, French Polynesia, New Zealand, and Australia. Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, and India are among the ports in Asia, then it's on to the Middle East before traveling to Europe, where final destinations include Italy, Spain, and Portugal en route to London. Fares start at $59,995.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Moments in time: world cruise 2024.

Sail around the world in 132 nights aboard the Seven Seas Mariner on a round-trip journey from Miami. You'll spend the days at sea enjoying the luxury ship's amenities, including the spa and several restaurants and lounges, between stops in destinations like Costa Rica, Mexico, Hawaii, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, India, UAE, Israel, and Italy, among others. This 2024 world cruise , with fares starting at $73,499, is officially sold out , but you can join a waitlist to be notified of cancellations.

Royal Caribbean

The ultimate world cruise.

Royal Caribbean pulls out all the stops — and there are more than 150 of them — on this 274-night cruise to all seven continents. The itinerary aboard the Serenade of the Seas begins in Miami on December 10, 2023, and visits more than 60 countries, including Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, French Polynesia, the Philippines, South Korea, India, Romania, and Greenland, before ending in Miami on September 10, 2024. Travelers who don't want to commit to the entire cruise can book shorter segments. Fares start at $59,999 for this cruise that gives travelers the opportunity to visit 11 of the great wonders of the world, including the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, and Chichen Itza.

World Cruise 2024

Enjoy 133 days on Silversea's Silver Shadow with this round-trip sailing from San Francisco. During that time, the ship will visit 65 ports in 14 countries, including Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Japan, and Canada. Fares start at $66,000 for this 2024 sailing, which currently has waitlist availability.

2024 World Cruise: Extraordinary Horizons

Climb aboard the Seabourn Sojourn for a 145-day world cruise from Los Angeles to Athens, visiting 72 ports in 28 countries. The cruise departs Los Angeles and goes to Hawaii, French Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, Japan, and China — just to name a few places — before ending in Greece. Visit the website for booking details and shorter segments.

Oceania Cruises

Around the world in 180 days.

Travelers on Oceania's 180-day round-trip cruise from Los Angeles to New York aboard the Insignia will see some of the world's most impressive sights. Highlights include stops in stunning French Polynesia, Indonesia, Thailand, Egypt, Spain, France, and Iceland. Fares start at $48,499 for the 2024 sailing .

MSC Cruises

Msc world cruise 2024.

The MSC Poesia will take guests to 56 destinations on this 120-day cruise starting in Rome. Countries visited during this journey include Argentina, Chile, Peru, New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, and Jordan. When you're not exploring each port, you can relax in the swimming pools and hot tubs, visit the many restaurants, bars, and lounges, or go to the spa. Fares start at $17,199 per person; find booking details on the MSC website.

Princess Cruises

111-day world cruise.

This round-trip cruise from Los Angeles on the Island Princess will visit 47 ports in beautiful places like New Zealand, Australia, Bali, Sri Lanka, UAE, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Bermuda, Mexico, and more. Fares for this 2024 sailing start at $19,497.

Holland America Line

128-day grand world voyage.

Explore the world on this 128-day round-trip journey from Fort Lauderdale on the Zuiderdam . This cruise's itinerary includes a trip down the Amazon River, stops in the Caribbean, a Panama Canal crossing, and stops in cities like Honolulu, Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, and more. Fares start at $23,599 for this 2024 cruise .

Azamara World Cruise

This 155-night itinerary to more than 40 countries kicks off in Fort Lauderdale and finishes in Barcelona. The itinerary features ports for experiencing some of the great wonders of the world, including the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, as well as Petra in Jordan and the Colosseum in Rome. Travelers can also choose to join segments of the cruise aboard the Azamara Onward for as few as 10 nights. Fares for this 2024 sailing start at $36,379.

A Little Adrift Travel Blog

My Yearlong Around the World Itinerary

Last updated on January 26, 2024 by Shannon

When I look back at my first yearlong trip around the world in 2008-2010, I am in awe of many of the places I had the privilege to visit and the honor to witness on that whirlwind itinerary.

After visiting 21 countries in 15 months on my round-the-world itinerary , I would go on to travel for ten more years, visiting 70+ countries and living in several of them . I traveled with my niece . And then with my nephews . And again with another teen niece . It’s been a long road. I settled in Barcelona in 2018 , where I now live in Spain with my toddler son—we continue to embark on world travel adventures.

As my travels continued long after my first round the world travels, for posterity’s sake, these are the highs and lows of my year+ of backpacking solo around the world from 2008 to 2010.

Table of Contents

My High-Level Route Around the World

map of my itinerary around the world on my yearlong RTW trip

How long? 16 months How many countries? 21 Which countries, in order : Australia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Czech, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, Ireland, the U.S., Mexico, Cuba, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras Dates of round the world trip : November 4, 2008 – October 2009 How many flights? 17 flights How many miles? How many friends joined? Three friends booked tickets and traveled the world with me! A friend joined in Thailand and Laos, my cousin and I spent four months backpacking through India and Nepal together, and my friend Jenn joined for Italy and Croatia.

Australia: November 4 – January 6

My overland travel itinerary through Southeast Asia on my round the world trip

Sydney Blue Mountains Kiama Bateman’s Bay Lake Entrance Melbourne

Great Ocean Road Ayers Rock Great Barrier Reef Whitsundays Fraser Island Byron Bay

My decision to start in Australia mostly stemmed from the fact that I was living in Los Angeles at the time . I booked a one-way ticket from LA to Sydney in June and then spent the next five months planning my RTW trip and downsizing my life .

My RTW trip started with a long trek across the Pacific on November 4, 2008. As a newbie to round the world travel, I landed in Sydney without a single friend and feeling a tad lonely.

world travels to Sydney was on my itinerary to see the blue mountains

Luckily, backpackers are a friendly lot. I got my travel legs under me by  exploring the Opera House , the Taronga Zoo, and the Botanical Gardens. Deciding to stay in the Blue Mountains  was a real highlight, and my penchant for getting incredibly lost  at the least convenient moments started here. This would become a recurring theme of the trip because, yeah, I get lost a lot .

Instead of taking the more common route from Sydney to Cairns, I meandered down the coast of New South Wales  (because, kangaroos !). I eventually landed in  Melbourne , where I couchsurfed for a week with my buddy Row, who had actually couchsurfed with me in LA earlier that year.

Not one to miss the highlights of any new place, I hit up the stunningly pretty Great Ocean Road , and visited the parade of tiny fairy penguins on Phillip Island.

Sunset over Uluru at the first stop on my 1 year trip around the world.

Instead of taking the backpacker bus, I splurged on a quick flight to Alice Springs, which was my launching point to the Australian outback and the iconic Uluru (Ayers Rock) , where it rained until our final day at Kings Canyon . Having seen only very brief sunshine in the outback, which is rare, I needed the coast so I jumped a flight to Cairns.

I had obtained my driver’s certification on Catalina Island near LA just so I was ready to spend several days diving the Great Barrier Reef and the UNESCO World Heritage listed Daintree Rainforest. I booked the Greyhound down the east coast of Oz and stopped to sail the Whitsunday Islands for Christmas  and to  drive across Fraser Island for my 25 th birthday. Both were gorgeous and good fun since I was on tours filled with other backpackers.

I joined up with two German women for New Years in Noosa and  surf lessons  in Byron Bay.

After two months exploring Australia, I was ready for my next adventure in Southeast Asia .

Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia: January 6 – February 19

my six week itinerary through southeast asia while traveling the world

Bangkok Vientiane Vang Vieng Luang Prabang Kuang Si Waterfalls

Hongsa Gibbon Experience Siem Reap/Angkor Wat Phnom Penh Volunteering

My flight to Southeast Asia left out of Sydney and I was psyched. Thailand here I come! Except for, no. I almost missed my flight out of Oz because of a visa issue. Just in the nick of time, I convinced the Aussie flight crew to let me on the plane and for the next six weeks I circled around Southeast Asia .

I wasn’t in love with Thailand —which is funny because I ended up living there later, spending months enjoying Chiang Mai . At the time, however, I had the happy chance to reconnect with an old friend , who I hadn’t realized was also backpacking the region!

Songrkan festivities in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Laura and I teamed up and beelined to  Laos . We did all the things.

We took the backpacker rite of passage by  tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos . Then we moved ourselves into a treehouse for the weekend and zip-lined through the forest as a part of the Gibbon Experience. Although elephant trekking has moral quandaries , we rented a logging elephant for the day and trekked through rural Laos .

Laos stood out as one of my favorite stops on the trip. Filled with gorgeous waterfalls , Buddha caves , and gorgeous karst rocks made for  rock climbing , how could I not dream of returning? There was that time I was so sick I nearly died , but even that didn’t taint my love for Laos.

And although SEA is big on the backpacker route, I stepped off of it for a week to volunteer at FLOW in Phnom Penh . Oh, and naturally Angkor Wat, Cambodia was on the list, how could I not!

India: February 19 – March 28

my traveling itinerary through india on my one year trip

Mumbai Ahmedabad Udaipur Pushkar Holi: Festival of Colors

Taj Majal Amritsar Mcleod Ganj Rishikesh

Saying goodbye to Southeast Asia left me a bit heartbroken. Six weeks was not enough time. I could have spent ages longer in the gorgeous forests, rivers, and sleepy towns of Laos, Cambodia , and Vietnam . But Southeast Asia travels had a hard and fast deadline. I needed to meet up with my cousin in India!

Although I had mostly backpacked solo up until this point, my cousin joined me in Mumbai, India . We had intentionally left our two months in India with a blank slate, so we spent our first day in Mumbai plotting a route north and learning or first lessons in Indian scams .

We head to Ahmedabad to visit  Gandhi’s ashram and then beelined straight to charming Udaipur  renewed our faith that we had chosen a good route. We spent a week there taking it slow , but at the point that I was getting marriage proposals daily, we moved on to Pushkar , a small town with good vibes. We did a  camel safari and some hiking .

I stopped in several festivals during my world travels, including Holi in India during my 1 year RTW

We then made our way further north to Jaipur for India’s most colorful and joyful holiday:  Holi The Festival of Colors . This Hindu festival celebrates the triumph of “good” versus “evil” and involves throwing large quantities of colored powder and water on everyone within reach.

The colors died my skin pink for a week after the celebrations! I was so pink, in fact, that if you look closely at the photos of me at the Taj Mahal the next day, there is a distinct rose hue to my skin.

bucket list stop at the taj mahal

After the Taj, my cousin and I took the sleeper train to Amritsar to take in the beauty of the Sikh’s holy Golden Temple before catching a bus to McLeod Ganj, home of the Tibetan government-in-exile. McLeod Ganj is a pretty mountain town and it was a very different vibe to spend a week living among the Tibetan community there. We hiked in the gorgeous mountains and even learned how to cook tasty Tibetan momos.

I’d love to have stayed even longer, but we had just a week before our volunteer program in Nepal , so we made our way to Delhi, stopping in Rishikesh to raft on the sacred Ganges River .

Nepal: March 28 – May 19

map of my world travels through Nepal, and where my one year itinerary allowed me to explore

Kathmandu Pharping Teaching English Vipassana Meditation

Annapurna Hike from Pokhara Chitwan National Park Nepali Food

My two-month volunteer program in Nepal teaching English to young Buddhist monks  was a hands-down highlight of my entire year traveling around the world. The young monks were from the poorest regions all over Nepal. They are able to live at the monastery and receive an education, something lacking in many rural areas of Nepal. 

I enjoyed the teaching , and, as is often the case, I undoubtedly learned more than I taught my young monks while living in the charming, rural town of Pharping, Nepal .

Pokhara lake started my trek, a key stop on my 1-year world travels itinerary

My cousin and I wrapped up our time at the monastery  in late April and left our  quiet life in Pharping. Pharping is an hour+ outside of Kathmandu and it was a peaceful town with many monasteries.

Then began some proper exploring on Nepal’s best things to do, including Chitwan National Park , home to elephants , tigers, and endangered rhinos. From there, we took a bus to Pokhara for a 10-day Vipassana meditation course . It was intense, mind-expanding, and something I’m not likely to do in this lifetime. Pokhara is the gateway to the Annapurna treks, so I teamed up with others from my volunteer program and we hiked in the Himalayas for five days .

Italy and Croatia: May 19 – June 10

map of my Italy and Croatia route on my world travels

Cinque Terre Pisa Florence Boboli Gardens

Assisi Milna, Brac Island Krka National Park Plitvice Lakes National Park

cinque terre italy travels on my around the world trip

By the end of May, the Maoists began heavily protesting in Nepal, so it was an ideal time to leave the developing world and welcome my bestie Jenn to the round-the-world trip.

We met in Milan, Italy and spent a couple of weeks gorging on gelato and exploring. We hiked through Cinque Terre and supported the Leaning Tower of Pisa before landing in Florence.

Then we biked around Tuscany , snapped photos of the David (yes, he is gorgeous), and wandered the Boboli Gardens .

We trained across Italy with a stop in Assisi , before taking the ferry from Ancona, Italy to Split, Croatia .

krka national park croatia was on my itinerary

The ferry to Croatia was a debacle, but that was quickly forgotten as we  rented cottage on the island of Brac  and relaxed for a week. Then we all explored the Krka waterfalls  and the stunning  Plitvice Lakes National Park .

Jenn needed to get home, so we parted ways and I continued traveling.

Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia: June 10 – July 3

itinerary through Bosnia and Slovenia

Sarajevo Mostar Ljubljana Lake Bled

Bidding adieu to Jenn in Zagreb, I moved into Sarajevo, Bosnia  and met wonderful couchsurfers there. Sarajevo has made my short-list of my favorite capital cities in the world—it’s small and consumable with just the right touch of fun.

I had  food issues in Bosnia traveling as a vegetarian , but also some real non-issues with the Bosnian desserts ! The pretty town of  Mostar still has visible war damage  and the city’s cobbled streets and history are a more sobering look at Bosnia’s war-riddled recent past.

Traveling through Bosnia & Herzegovina was a sleeper favorite from my entire year! I had no idea I would love it so much there.

soca river in slovenia was a stop on my 1-year itinerary around the world

From Bosnia I moved into Slovenia and couchsurfed with a lovely couple . I fell in love with the sidewalk café culture  in the region.

Like Bosnia, I visited Slovenia on a whim and it wowed me. The Soĉa River  is among the prettiest rivers in the world, and Ljubljana’s Street Theatre Summer Festival  is all kinds of fun. My couchsurfing hosts took me to the Pekel Jama caves on our road trip , and I just enjoyed the unexpectedly pretty country.

Czech Republic and Amsterdam: July 3 – Aug 1

travel route in central europe on my RTW trip

Prague Cesky Krumlov Amsterdam

Leaving Slovenia, I trained to the Czech Republic to take in the peaks and churches of  Prague . And while Prague is undoubtedly pretty, I love small towns and I camped out for one week in the incredibly cute town of Cesky Krumlov, where I sampled all of the Czech desserts and went rafting down the Vltava River .

After visiting the Czech Republic, I finished out the month of July by house-sitting in Amsterdam for two weeks (for free!). Biking around Amsterdam  is the way to go, and I visited dozens of museums, parks, and farmers markets.

England and Scotland: August 1 – Sept 1

my travel itinerary through England and Scotland

London Lakes District Stirling Isle of Skye

Fort Augustus / Loch Ness Cairngorms National Park Dundee Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Popped into London for a few days on my one year trip.

An all-day from Amsterdam to London had me crashing on a couch there—I met up with friends that I had last met in India during the Holi festival.

London was pricey and fast-paced—and I had spent a week exploring London on my study abroad years earlier—so I headed north.

Highlights from my month in the UK include hiking through  the Lakes District , enjoying  Stirling (of the William Wallace fame) , and taking in the gorgeous scenery on the Isle of Skye —I loved hiking the Old Man of Storr .

I was traveling at a rapid pace, so it didn’t end there. I caught a bus to Fort Augustus to hunt down  Nessie the Loch Ness Monster , and then I might have lost my mind when I hitchhiked in the Cairngorms  before landing in Edinburgh.

hiking in scotland on my rtw trip.

I loved Edinburgh. A tweetup connected me with locals , which I squeezed in between watching a dozen shows at the annual Edinburgh Fringe Festival . This festival was a pivotal point on the timeline for my RTW trip. I structured all of my Europe travels to be in  Edinburgh in August for the Festival.

Ireland: Sept 1 – Oct 1

map of my route driving through Ireland

Blarney Castle Ring of Beara Ring of Kerry Dingle Slea Head Drive

Cliffs of Moher Aran Islands Diamond Hill Dublin

The Emerald Isle marked the last leg of my solo round the world trip—I would head home for the holidays for the first time in nearly a year before continuing to travel Central America for another five months.

Sadness and nostalgia were already creeping into me. Seeing the end in sight, I rented a car for my weeks exploring. This was a huge  splurge  on considering I was aiming for a budget under $20,000 for the entire first year.

More hiking views in Ireland while I traveled the world

After a year of witnessing the most incredible sites in the world, I took it low-key in Ireland, with many things well  on the tourist path , and then a lot of things  well off of that path . Kissing the Blarney Stone  and visiting the Cliffs of Moher are arguably some of the “musts” in Ireland, while Dingle’s Slea Head drive and the Aran Islands  are less touristy and filled with incredible Irish music and culture.

With just a week left of my entire first year of world travel, I spent  a week driving around Connemara  and then  hiking in the National Park . My dad sent me money and told me to treat myself to someplace nice, so I stayed in a beautiful bed and breakfast in the Wicklow mountains before ending with a day in Dublin at the Guinness Factory and one last chance to hear  amazing live music .

driving Slea Head on Dingle peninsula in Ireland

After two layovers and a handful of hours, somehow I had arrived back in Florida. Although I had travel fatigue at points during the year, I was also used to constant movement. Landing at my parents house was a shock to the senses and I had serious travel blues and culture shock as I readjusted to life back home, enjoyed the holidays, and then planned my next leg of my route around the world: Central America.

Mexico, Cuba and Belize: January 7 – February 16

backpacking Mexico, Cuba, and Belize in Central America on my round the world trip

Cancun Havana Trinidad

Chichen Itza Yucatan Peninsula Belize

As my first round the world travel ended, I realized how well I was able to work from the road . I visited home for the holidays and then set out across Central America. I landed in Cancun as a gateway to meeting up with a travel friend in Cuba.

We started in Havana and then made our way to Trinidad, a colorful city filled with vibrant music, people, and culture.

Louise headed back to the States and I flew back to Cancun, where I explored more of the Yucatan Peninsula before heading south to Belize at the Chetumal border . I had a bad allergic reaction in Belize, so although I found Belizean culture fascinating , I spent a week on Caye Caulker before heading to Guatemala .

Guatemala and Honduras: February 16 – May 18

map of my world travel itinerary through Central America

Tikal Semuc Champey Antigua Semana Santa Coffee Tour

Xela Chichicastenango Rio Dulce Copan Ruins Utila Diving

Guatemala ranks as one of my favorite countries in the world, and it charmed me from the moment I entered on the shuttle from Belize City to Flores. I marveled at the jungle ruins of Tikal and then stomped through caves and waterfalls at Semuc Champey .

It was onward by bus to charming Antigua , where I took a coffee tour , visited a macadamia nut farm , and spent a memorable Semana Santa week learning all about Guatemala’s Easter traditions .

I spent two weeks perfecting my Spanish at lessons in Xela , while volunteering in the rural areas . Then relaxed at Lake Atitlan and did some shopping at Chichicastenango .

I popped over to Honduras to briefly visit Copan Ruinas , and then get my advanced divers certificate on Utila . But then I loved Guatemala so much that I spent my remaining 10 days in the country relaxing on the Rio Dulce .

At that point, I flew to California for a friend’s wedding in Napa, spent the summer catching up with friends who had moved all over the U.S., and then decided to move to Bali by the fall . That set off a whole other adventure living in Thailand and traveling more in Asia as the years passed, as well as a six month solo backpacking trip across Africa.

I’ve now visited more than 70 countries on five continents—find the full list of countries and stories on the site’s destination page , where you can browse by stories or via themes and you can plan your own trip with these world travel resources .

I also have a detailed page dedicated to planning your own round the world itinerary .

You can find my location and travel plans here , as well as my current projects and passions.

Planning Your travels

If you’re in the early stages of planning your travels, the following resources should help.

Dreaming of Travel » Letter to Travel Dreamers | How Do You Make Big Decisions? | Why I Decided to Travel the World | Creating Transformative Travel Experiences | The Best Travel Books

Affording Travel » How to Save for World Travel | How Much Does it Cost to Travel the World | Best Credit and Debit Cards for Travel | Using Geoarbitrage to Live Abroad | How to Work Remotely

Planning Travel » Plan Your World Travel Itinerary | Pack for Long-Term Travel | Homeschooling While Traveling | How to Purge Everything You Own | How to Pick the Right RTW Backpack | Buying RTW Flights

Staying Healthy » Safety and Solo Female Travel | How to Pick the Right Travel Insurance | Travel Vaccines 101 | How to Stay Healthy Abroad

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I never had the money or time to travel. But at 64, I'm done only seeing the world through photos and videos.

  • I grew up living paycheck to paycheck and working my whole life, but I always dreamed of travel.
  • At 64, a few years from retirement, I can afford to travel and I built up the courage to go alone.
  • My first trip was to Antarctica, and I plan to keep seeing the world while I can. 

Insider Today

I've dreamed of travel ever since my uncle gave me a subscription to National Geographic magazine for my 8th birthday.

I still remember flipping through beautiful photos of Antarctica and dreaming about one day seeing such a wondrous place with my own eyes.

But travel was never really in the cards for me. I grew up living paycheck to paycheck in a large family in a small Long Island town. I've been working since I was a kid, and I never even left North America.

But I decided that, at 64 years old, my dreams have been on hold for long enough.

I finally have the money and time to travel, even though I'm not retired yet (I still have about three more years until then). I started my bucket list, and I'm determined to check things off.

First up was my dream adventure to Antarctica .

I mustered up the courage to book a long solo cruise

A cruise seemed like the best way to visit Antarctica — it's generally more cost-effective than flying — so I booked one that embarked from Santiago, Chile, this past December.

It was my first time leaving North America , and I was petrified of heading to South America, alone, for 16 nights.

But I also knew that if I didn't overcome these fears, I would only see the world through pictures and videos. I'd be depriving myself of my life-long dreams.

Fortunately, I summoned the courage and boarded the plane for the long flight to Chile.

Seeing Antarctica was as incredible as I'd dreamed it'd be

The cruise itself was quite the journey.

I bundled up and tried to maintain composure as temperatures dropped, and we sailed through the notoriously rough and rocky Drake Passage .

I felt like I was in a movie as the ship approached Elephant Island, awed by the majestic snow-covered peaks and glaciers and the enormity of where I was swept over me.

As we continued toward the Antarctic Peninsula, we sailed past magnificent icebergs of various colors, shapes, and sizes — some as tall as a 20-story building.

We even passed a research station, where the inhabitants came out and waved to us travelers as we sailed by. From my balcony, I saw penguins, whales, birds, and other sea life.

While stopping at the Falkland Islands, I took an excursion to a penguin rookery and watched thousands of penguins walking on glaciers and diving into the ocean.

It was pure magic.

The experience bolstered my courage and deepened my desire to keep traveling

The trip was everything I thought it would be, and more.

It made me more confident that I could overcome some of my fears of traveling to foreign countries, especially doing so alone.

Next on my bucket list is visiting other places my 8-year-old self dreamed of seeing, like Norway and Iceland. Later this year, I'm flying to England to board another cruise for another long-awaited adventure.

Although it took decades to get here, I'm glad to finally be pursuing my travel dreams — now, there's no turning back.

they travel around the world one day

Watch: This 27-year-old quit her corporate finance job to travel the world

they travel around the world one day

  • Main content

10 Surprising Facts About Women’s History Month

Demonstrators Take Part In The Women's March On Washington Following The Inauguration Of President Trump

T he U.S. and other countries, including the U.K. and Australia, are celebrating Women’s History Month in March, featuring International Women’s Day on March 8. 

This year, President Joe Biden said in his proclamation declaring Women’s History Month that during this time, “we celebrate the courageous women who have helped our Nation build a fairer, more just society.”

Here are 10 surprising facts about Women’s History Month.

International Women’s Day was first recognized in Europe

Many reports trace the origins of a holiday honoring women to New York City in 1909, to the commemoration of a garment workers’ strike.

In 1910, German activist Clara Zetkin suggested to the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen the creation of an international holiday to honor women. Europeans recognized International Women’s Day in 1911, although the U.S. did not follow suit.

International Women’s Day’s date was chosen because of the Russian revolution 

The date of March 8 became significant in 1917, when women in the Russian capital of Petrograd protested and went on strike, demanding food and the end of the empire. A week later, the Tsar abdicated. Zetkin reportedly suggested in 1921 that March 8 become International Women’s Day as a result.

Women’s History Month started as a local week 

Women’s History Month began as a local week-long celebration in Santa Rosa, California in 1978, according to the online National Women’s History Museum. The Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women planned the week and timed it with International Women’s Day.

Local advocates then formed the National Women’s History Project, now the National Women’s History Alliance, to share women’s achievements. One of the group’s members, Molly Murphy MacGregor, participated in The Women’s History Institute at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where others were inspired to start their own week celebrations, according to the group’s website. By 1986, 14 states had already declared March as Women’s History Month.

It took years for Women’s History Month to be federally recognized

In 1980, the National Women’s History Project led a coalition of women’s groups successfully lobbied President Jimmy Carter to issue a proclamation recognizing National Women’s History Week, National Geographic reported . It took until 1987 for Congress to pass a law designating March as Women’s History Month.

The U.S. president designates Women’s History Month every year

Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed resolutions requesting and authorizing the president to proclaim the special month. Since 1995, each president has issued an annual proclamation designating Women’s History Month.

Former President Barack Obama’s 2011 proclamation paid homage to the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, saying the holiday “is a chance to pay tribute to ordinary women throughout the world and is rooted in women's centuries-old struggle to participate in society on an equal footing with men. This day reminds us that, while enormous progress has been made, there is still work to be done before women achieve true parity.”

There is an annual theme for Women’s History Month  

The National Women’s History Alliance sets a theme for the month every year. This year’s theme is “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.”

“The theme recognizes women throughout the country who understand that, for a positive future, we need to eliminate bias and discrimination entirely from our lives and institutions,” a statement from the alliance on its choice read.

Women’s History Month is celebrated differently in Canada 

Women’s History Month has spread around the world, from the Philippines to the U.K . In the latter, Mother’s Day is also celebrated in March. While Women’s History Month is generally commemorated in March, Canada holds their celebrations in October.

International Women’s Day is an official holiday in some countries 

Some countries mark International Women’s Day as an official holiday, Sky History reported. In China, many women can take a half-day holiday. In Serbia and Albania, International Women’s Day is also Mother’s Day.

International Women’s Day is celebrated with certain colors

Purple, green, and white are the colors of International Women's Day, according to the International Women’s Day website. The colors reportedly originated from suffragists in the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in the U.K. in the early 1900s and were transported to the U.S.

Actions this year will focus on abortion rights 

The Women’s March organization, which ran its first prominent march in 2017 a day after Donald Trump’s inauguration, is planning a rally in Washington D.C. on March 26, when the Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments in a case about the abortion pill .

The Supreme Court issued a temporary order in 2023 that put on hold a Texas federal judge’s order to suspend the federal government’s approval of the abortion pill. The March hearing will be the first major case concerning abortion since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

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Your 2024 Guide to Covid Symptoms and Treatment

Rest, fluids and medications are your friends.

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A woman laying in bed grabs a tissue from a box on her bedside table.

By Dana G. Smith

We’re four years into the pandemic, and by this point, most Americans have had Covid at least once. But when the virus comes for us (again), it can still feel just as alarming as your first bout.

Here’s a guide to what Covid looks like now and how to treat it.

The most common Covid symptoms haven’t changed much since the start of the pandemic, and they remain consistent for the latest dominant variant, JN.1 , said Dr. Soniya Gandhi, the associate chief medical officer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. They include fatigue, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, headache, body aches and cough.

“All or any of those in isolation can still be Covid,” Dr. Gandhi said.

Some people may develop conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, or experience gastrointestinal issues, like nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but those symptoms are rarer. Anecdotally, experts said, one of the most notable symptoms early in the pandemic — the loss of taste and smell — also appears to be less common these days.

“The biggest change is that people are having milder symptoms overall,” said Dr. Amanda Casto, an acting assistant professor of allergy and infectious diseases at the University of Washington. That’s because virtually everyone has some pre-existing immunity from vaccines, a prior infection or both.

While Covid is mild for most people, it can be dangerous and even fatal for some. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that, as of mid-February, more than 21,000 people were hospitalized with Covid, and there had been roughly 10,000 Covid-related deaths in 2024.

Severe illness is a lot less prevalent now than during the first few years of the pandemic, “but we’re still seeing it,” said Dr. Stuart Ray, a professor in the division of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. The people who are getting sickest tend to be those with compromised immune systems and underlying health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes or lung problems. Adults over age 65 are also at higher risk for severe infections.

Since mild Covid can look like a cold or the flu, it’s important to test yourself if you have symptoms or have had a known exposure, Dr. Gandhi said. Knowing what you have can affect your treatment and how long you isolate from others.

On March 1, the C.D.C. updated its guidance for preventing the spread of Covid and other respiratory viruses. The agency recommended that people isolate until their symptoms have started to improve and they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours. The agency acknowledged that people may still be contagious at this point and should continue to take precautions, like masking and physical distancing, for the next five days.

The antiviral pill Paxlovid is very effective against severe Covid, reducing the risk of death by 73 percent if taken within the first five days of an infection, according to a preliminary study conducted by the National Institutes of Health. Experts urged people who are high-risk to contact their doctors about getting a prescription as soon as they have symptoms or test positive.

“If you’re elderly or you have comorbidities, before you even get worse, you should already seek medical care,” said Dr. Bernard Camins, the medical director for infection prevention at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York. “Your health care provider will then evaluate you if you’re a candidate for antivirals.”

Paxlovid isn’t recommended for everyone. It can interact with several medications, including common ones used to lower blood pressure or prevent blood clots, and it’s also not advised for people with severe kidney disease. If you can’t take Paxlovid, the drug remdesivir could be an option, but it has to be delivered intravenously, so it’s less convenient and harder to obtain.

Paxlovid also doesn’t appear to provide much benefit to young, healthy adults whose risk of severe infection is low, so it isn’t broadly recommended for those groups.

For most people, Covid symptoms can be managed at home and treated like any other respiratory illness, with an emphasis on rest and staying hydrated. “If you have congestion or cough, you’re losing more fluids than you normally would,” Dr. Casto said. “So I would definitely recommend that people stay on top of fluid.”

If you have a fever or body aches, take acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin). You can also take over-the-counter cold and flu medicines with decongestants or cough suppressants, though the experts didn’t recommend them strongly because they don’t work for everybody and can cause drowsiness.

When to seek medical care

If you’re experiencing shortness of breath — meaning you can’t catch your breath or are taking quick and shallow breaths — it’s important to seek medical attention right away.

“The thing that I worry most about is the breathing,” Dr. Casto said. “That’s the most concerning sign, because people can get” worse really quickly. If you’re having trouble breathing, she advised going to the emergency room rather than to your doctor or an urgent care clinic. Experts also said you should see a provider if you experience confusion or chest pain.

If your symptoms don’t improve after several days, or improve and then regress, it could be a sign you have a secondary infection like pneumonia, Dr. Casto said. In that case, or if you’re concerned about your symptoms at all, don’t hesitate to call your doctor.

Dana G. Smith is a Times reporter covering personal health, particularly aging and brain health. More about Dana G. Smith

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A duo of 81-year-old women are on the adventure of a lifetime: Seeing the world in 80 days

By Ramy Inocencio, Kerry Breen

March 4, 2023 / 8:45 AM EST / CBS News

Two longtime friends are proving it's never too late to get out and see the world. 

Eighty-one year olds Sandy Hazelip and Ellie Hamby, inspired by Jules Verne's novel, "Around the World in 80 Days," are on a mission to see all seven continents, nine Wonders of the World and visit 18 countries in just over two and a half months. 

So far, they're making good progress: Hamby and Hazelip have set foot in Antarctica, and told CBS News that on Mar. 4, they saw the world from a plane flying over Mount Everest. 

Their trip was meant to start two years ago, Hazelip said. 

"I said 'Ellie, don't you think it would be fun for us to go around the world in 80 days at age 80?'" Hazelip, a physician, recalled. 

"I thought 'What are you talking about, Sandy? Are you sure?'" Hamby, a documentary photographer who runs a medical mission, added.

"And then (Hamby) said 'Well, yeah!'" Hazelip said. With that, a plan was born. The coronavirus pandemic and its restrictions forced them to delay their trip, but in 2023, the two finally got underway, packing light and traveling cheaply to see as much as possible. 

"We don't travel first class. And so when we have other ladies, especially who say, 'Oh, I would love to travel with you two,' the first thing I always do is look at their hands. If they are well-manicured, they do not want to travel with us," Hazelip said. 

Hamby said their families are supportive of their big dreams.

"My daughter is not too concerned," Hamby said. "She just says 'Well, if Mom falls out of a hot air balloon in Egypt or off of the mountain ... That's fine. She's living the life she wanted to live, and I'm happy for her.'" 

While the two are on the adventure of a lifetime, it isn't their first trip. The two actually met while traveling nearly two decades ago, finding each other on a trip in Zambia, where they just clicked.

Now, even with total knee replacements, they're seeing everything from China to Argentina. Hazelip said she hopes their story can inspire people of all ages. 

"Don't sit in that chair and waste away," Hazelip said. "If you don't use it, you lose it."

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Ramy Inocencio is a foreign correspondent for CBS News based in London and previously served as Asia correspondent based in Beijing.

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Why do we leap day we remind you (so you can forget for another 4 years).

Rachel Treisman

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A clock showing February 29, also known as leap day. They only happen about once every four years. Olivier Le Moal/Getty Images hide caption

A clock showing February 29, also known as leap day. They only happen about once every four years.

Nearly every four years, the Gregorian calendar — which is used in the majority of countries around the world — gets an extra day: February 29.

For some people, leap day means frog jokes and extravagant birthday parties. For many, it may conjure memories of the 2010 rom-com Leap Year , which harkens back to the Irish tradition by which women can propose to men on that one day. And others likely see it merely as a funny quirk in the calendar, or just another Thursday.

Leap day means several different things to Alexander Boxer, a data scientist and the author of A Scheme of Heaven: The History of Astrology and the Search for Our Destiny in Data .

Our lives are ruled by the illusion of time

Our lives are ruled by the illusion of time

Literally speaking, he says, it's an "awkward calendar hack" aimed at making up for the fact that a year isn't a flat number of days, but more like 365 and a quarter. But there's more to it than that.

"I think the significance of the leap year is that it's a great reminder that the universe is really good at defying our attempts to devise nice and pretty and aesthetically pleasing systems to fit it in," he told NPR's Morning Edition .

Leap for joy! The creative ways NPR listeners are marking Feb. 29

Leap for joy! The creative ways NPR listeners are marking Feb. 29

Boxer says it's also a great reminder that the calendar most people rely on every day is actually the product of multiple civilizations, building off each other as they share in what he calls "this great undertaking of trying to understand time."

So where did leap year come from, and what are we supposed to do with our extra day? NPR's Morning Edition spoke with experts in astronomy, history and economics to find out.

Why do we have leap years?

Most people know that a single day is about 24 hours long, and that there are 365 days in a year.

But it actually takes Earth 365.242190 days to orbit the sun, says Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

"And that .242190 days to go around the sun is the entire reason why we have a leap year," she explained.

Centuries ago, people kept track of the sun's position — such as for a solstice or the longest day of the year — to know when to do things like plant and harvest. Over time, she says, the need grew for a centralized calendar system.

The Hebrew, Chinese and Buddhist calendars, among others, have long contained entire leap months. The West is no stranger to leap years either.

The science and shared history behind the Gregorian and Chinese calendars

The science and shared history behind the Gregorian and Chinese calendars

The Julian Calendar, which Julius Caesar introduced in 45 BC, included an extra day every year. He borrowed the idea from the Egyptians, though his math wasn't exactly correct . Caesar overestimated the solar year by about 11 minutes, leading to an overcorrection by about eight days each millennium. That explains why Easter, for example, fell further and further away from the spring equinox over time.

Pope Gregory XIII sought to address that problem in the 16th century with the Gregorian Calendar , which adds leap days in years divisible by four, unless the year is also divisible by 100. To make matters even more confusing, a leap day is still added in years divisible by 400.

Why add the extra day in February? Boxer, the data scientist, says the Romans considered it an unlucky month. On top of that, they were deeply suspicious of odd numbers. Because February only had 28 days to begin with, they "just shoved it into February," though leap day used to be on the 24th.

Ultimately, says Boxer, the calendar is a compromise.

"On the one hand, you don't want a calendar that makes it so complicated to know how many days it's going to be from one year to the next," he added. "But on the other hand, you want to make sure that winter holidays, too, in the winter and summer holidays, stay in the summer, especially if your holidays are related to things like agriculture, harvest holidays and whatnot."

What does leap day mean for birthdays?

One tangible impact of a leap year is that birthdays will fall on a different day of the week than their usual pattern.

"If your birthday was on a Tuesday last year, you're going to skip over Wednesday and you'll have a birthday on a Thursday," said Faherty. "Not to mention those poor people that are born on February 29, a day that only exists every four years."

There are about 5 million people worldwide with a Feb. 29 birthday, according to the History Channel . The list of so-called "leaplings" includes celebrities such as motivational speaker Tony Robbins and hip-hop artist Ja Rule. And peoples' odds of joining their ranks are small — about 1-in-1,461, to be exact.

Several leaplings told NPR that there's no set rule on which day to celebrate their birthday in a non-leap year. Some prefer Feb. 28, others March 1 and many do both.

To reignite the joy of childhood, learn to live on 'toddler time'

Shots - Health News

To reignite the joy of childhood, learn to live on 'toddler time'.

"My answer to this question has evolved over the years," said Michael Kozlowski Jr., a leap day baby based in Belgium. "It used to be February for the reasons that I identified more with that month compared to March. But these days I honestly like to celebrate both days or even the entire week. It seems only fair and it works and it feels great."

They acknowledged both pros and cons of having a leap day birthday. Several said that while they were teased about it in grade school, it helped them develop a thicker skin and gave them a fun fact for life — plus more days to celebrate.

Plus, many online forms — including for the DMV — don't recognize Feb. 29 as a possible birth date. Raenell Dawn, the co-founder of the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies, told NPR in 2020 that those logistics can cause trouble, especially when it comes to things like driver's license expirations. But she also said there's no reason for leaplings to change their birth date.

"Humans program the computer, so the humans need to program it correctly," she said. "'Cause February 29 is everyone's extra day. And it's a day that started in 45 B.C. And it's the most important date on the calendar because it keeps all the dates on the calendar in line with the seasons."

What should you do — and not do — on Feb. 29?

There are lots of superstitions and traditions about leap day on the internet, and a few celebrations to look forward to IRL.

A decades-old French satirical newspaper , La Bougie du Sapeur , goes to print only on Feb. 29 — this year included . There are also festivities in the "Leap Year Capital of the World," as Anthony, Texas, is known.

Leapling Mary Ann Brown petitioned Congress to give Anthony, Texas — and Anthony, New Mexico, on the other side of the state line — that designation in 1988 because of the "numerous number of leap year births that happened within the two towns," Mayor Anthony Turner told NPR over email.

In years past, he said, the community marked leap day with a parade that stretched between the two towns of Anthony. This year, the Texas side is hosting a two-day leap year festival , complete with live music, local vendors and an exclusive barbecue dinner for leap day babies.

"This is an opportunity for the community to take pride in the fact that they live in the leap year capital of the world, and a great chance for everyone from everywhere to join us and enjoy the true beauty of our lovely town," Turner added.

For Leap Day Only, A Rare Newspaper Goes To Print

For Leap Day Only, A Rare Newspaper Goes To Print

Worldwide, most leap day lore revolves around romance and marriage, as the History Channel explains.

According to one legend, complaints from St. Bridget prompted St. Patrick to designate Feb. 29 as the one day when women can propose to men. The custom spread to Scotland and England, where the British said that any man who rejects a woman's proposal owes her several pairs of fine gloves. In Greece and some other places, it's considered bad luck to get married on leap day.

Katherine Parkin, a history professor at Monmouth University, said she doesn't believe any of the myths are true — but doesn't think they had to be in order to take hold, which they did in America as early as the 1780s.

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An example of one of many early 20th century postcards by cartoonist Clare Victor Dwiggins — "Dwig" — showing women pursuing men in a leap year. Katherine Parkin hide caption

An example of one of many early 20th century postcards by cartoonist Clare Victor Dwiggins — "Dwig" — showing women pursuing men in a leap year.

The real origin, she believes, is that people have historically liked to challenge gender and gender roles.

"And in the case of marriage, to have a reversal of that power, I think is really unusual," she added. "And it ties perfectly with this unusual date. Where did it come from and where did it go? And so I think it really plays well into people's imagination and playfulness."

But Parkin says her research points to darker undertones behind the tradition — namely, that it was actually intended to ridicule women.

The dark history of eating green on St. Patrick's Day

The dark history of eating green on St. Patrick's Day

She points to the proliferation of postcards in the 20th century — which people would send each other across all kinds of relationships — that portrayed women who proposed to men as desperate, unattractive and aggressive, such as holding butterfly nets and pointing guns at guys.

"It's proving to ... reinforce that it's a leap year and that this tradition exists and yet at the same time telling women, you really don't want to do this because it looks bad for you," Parkin said. "As a historian, I look back to this tradition and see it as part of an American desire to offer women false empowerment."

Of the more than 100 people who responded to an NPR callout about their leap day celebrations and traditions, several said they had gotten engaged or married on Feb. 29. Only one explicitly mentioned gender roles.

"I think this is the day that (traditionally) a woman was able to propose?" wrote Suzanne Forbes. "If so, I plan on proposing to myself in a beautiful southern setting (likely [Georgia], while solo kayaking)!"

What if we didn't have leap years?

Not everyone loves leap day.

Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, is one critic. He argues that the current calendar, in which dates occur on different days of the week each year, creates scheduling problems as well as confusion around holiday dates.

That's why he and Johns Hopkins astrophysics professor Dick Henry have created the Hanke–Henry Permanent Calendar , a proposal for a new calendar that would implement an occasional leap week rather than leap day.

"The great thing about the permanent calendar is that it never changes," Hanke explained. "The date would be on the same day. Every year, year after year after year ... January 1st is always on a Monday. July 4th is always on a Thursday. December 25th, Christmas, is always on a Monday."

How did COVID warp our sense of time? It's a matter of perception

How did COVID warp our sense of time? It's a matter of perception

Their calendar divides the year into four three-month quarters, each with the same number of days. The first two months of each quarter — including January and February — would always have 30 days, and the third month would have 31. Every six years, there would be an extra seven days at the end of December, which Hanke says would "eliminate calendar drift."

Hanke argues that his proposed calendar would save confusion and potentially money, pointing to studies in the United Kingdom that show the economic gains associated with having public holidays on weekends. And he believes it would be easy for a president to implement the new system by executive order, something that he and Henry have even drafted, just in case.

Still, he describes their lobbying efforts as more of a "soft sell" at the moment.

It seems like the current calendar system — with its leap days and years — may be here to stay, despite the many possible alternates. Faherty, the astronomer, says if someone truly wanted to keep track of their path around the sun, one could "build yourself a henge and know when the solstice is and carry on from that."

"But we don't do that," she said. "We gave it an interval and we follow that, so now we're stuck. And now you have to enter these leap days, to try and do our best to fix the human need to have a document that says where exactly you are in the position that the Earth is falling around."

And that's probably enough to think about for the year, maybe even the next three.

Adam Bearne and Julie Depenbrock contributed reporting.

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What is a customs duty.

Customs Duty is a tariff or tax imposed on goods when transported across international borders. The purpose of Customs Duty is to protect each country's economy, residents, jobs, environment, etc., by controlling the flow of goods, especially restrictive and prohibited goods, into and out of the country.

Dutiable refers to articles on which Customs Duty may have to be paid. Each article has a specific duty rate, which is determined by a number of factors, including where you acquired the article, where it was made, and what it is made of. Also, anything you bring back that you did not have when you left the United States must be "declared." For example, you would declare alterations made in a foreign country to a suit you already owned, and any gifts you acquired outside the United States. American Goods Returned (AGR) do not have to be declared, but you must be prepared to prove to U.S. Customs and Border Protection the articles are AGR or pay Customs duty.

The Customs Duty Rate is a percentage. This percentage is determined by the total purchased value of the article(s) paid at a foreign country and not based on factors such as quality, size, or weight. The Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) provides duty rates for virtually every existing item. CBP uses the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUS), which is a reference manual that the provides the applicable tariff rates and statistical categories for all merchandise imported into the U.S.

Duty-Free Shop articles sold in a Customs duty-free shop are free only for the country in which that shop is located. Therefore, if your acquired articles exceed your personal exemption/allowance, the articles you purchased in Customs duty-free shop, whether in the United States or abroad, will be subject to Customs duty upon entering your destination country. Articles purchased in a American Customs duty-free shop are also subject to U.S. Customs duty if you bring them into the United States. For example, if you buy alcoholic beverages in a Customs duty-free shop in New York before entering Canada and then bring them back into the United States, they will be subject to Customs duty and Internal Revenue Service tax (IRT).

Determining Customs Duty

The flat duty rate will apply to articles that are dutiable but that cannot be included in your personal exemption, even if you have not exceeded the exemption. For example, alcoholic beverages. If you return from Europe with $200 worth of purchases, including two liters of liquor, one liter will be duty-free under your returning resident personal allowance/exemption. The other will be dutiable at 3 percent, plus any Internal Revenue Tax (IRT) that is due.

A joint declaration is a Customs declaration that can be made by family members who live in the same household and return to the United States together. These travelers can combine their purchases to take advantage of a combined flat duty rate, no matter which family member owns a given item. The combined value of merchandise subject to a flat duty rate for a family of four traveling together would be $4,000. Purchase totals must be rounded to the nearest dollar amount.

Tobacco Products

Returning resident travelers may import tobacco products only in quantities not exceeding the amounts specified in the personal exemptions for which the traveler qualifies (not more than 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars if arriving from other than a beneficiary country and insular possession). Any quantities of tobacco products not permitted by a personal exemption are subject to detention, seizure, penalties, abandonment, and destruction. Tobacco products are typically purchased in duty-free stores, on sea carriers operating internationally or in foreign stores. These products are usually marked "Tax Exempt. For Use Outside the United States," or "U.S. Tax Exempt For Use Outside the United States."

For example, a returning resident is eligible for the $800 duty-free personal exemption every 31 days, having remained for no less than 48 hours beyond the territorial limits of the United States except U.S. Virgin Islands, in a contiguous country which maintains free zone or free port, has remained beyond the territorial limits of the United States not to exceed 24 hours. This exemption includes not more than 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars:

  • If the resident declares 400 previously exported cigarettes and proves American Goods Returning (AGR) , the resident would be permitted or allowed to bring back his AGR exempt from Customs duty.
  • If the resident declares 400 cigarettes, of which 200 are proven AGR or previously exported and 200 not AGR or not previously exported, the resident would be permitted to bring back his 200 previously exported cigarettes tax and Internal Revenue Tax (IRT) free under his exemption.
  • The tobacco exemption is available to each adult 21 years of age or over.

In December 2014, President Obama announced his intention to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba. The President did not lift the embargo against Cuba. Absent a democratic or transitional government in Cuba, lifting the embargo requires a legislative statutory change. Since the announcement, however, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has amended the Cuba Assets Control Regulations (CACR), effective January 16, 2015, to authorize travel within certain categories to and from Cuba and to allow certain imports from and exports to Cuba.

All travelers, including those from Cuba, must comply with all applicable laws and regulations. This includes the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) (2016) limitations on personal exemptions and rules of duty extended to non-residents and returning U.S. residents.

Persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are authorized to engage in all transactions, including payments necessary to import certain goods and services produced by independent Cuban entrepreneurs as determined by the State Department and set forth in the State Department’s Section 515.582 list located at FACT SHEET: U.S. Department of State Section 515.582 List . On October 17, 2016, the Office of Foreign Asset Control relaxed restrictions so authorized travelers, arriving direct from Cuba, are now able to bring Cuban merchandise for personal use back to the United States and qualify for the U.S. Resident exemption (HTSUS 9804.00.65, which allows up to $800 total in goods, and adults 21 and older may include 1 liter of alcohol, 200 cigarettes, and 100 cigars). This exemption also applies to travelers, arriving from any country in the world, with declared Cuban merchandise.

Declared amounts in excess of the exemption are subject to a flat 4% rate of duty, and any applicable IRS taxes, pursuant to HTSUS 9816.00.20 and 19 CFR 148.101, which impose a duty rate of 4% of the fair retail value on goods from a Column 2 country.

Regarding goods: The Department of State will, in accordance with the State Department’s Section 515.582, issue a list of prohibited goods. Placement on the list means that any listed good falls within certain Sections and Chapters of the HTSUS which do not qualify for this exception.

Regarding entrepreneurs : The Cuban entity must be a private business, such as a self-employed entrepreneur or other private entity, not owned or controlled by the Government of Cuba. Travelers engaging in these transactions are required to obtain evidence that demonstrates the goods purchased were obtained from a Cuban entrepreneur, as described above, and should be prepared to furnish evidence of such to U.S. Government authorities upon request. Evidence may include a copy of the entrepreneur’s license and/or an invoice and/or purchase order demonstrating the goods were purchased from a specific Cuban entrepreneur. Whether a traveler presents adequate evidence that a good qualifies from importation and that it was bought from a licensed independent Cuban entrepreneur shall be determined on a case-by-case basis by the inspecting CBP officer.

Imports under Section 515.582 (i.e., imports from licensed independent entrepreneurs not on the Department of State’s prohibited list) must comply with all current U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) formal and informal entry requirements, as applicable. This means that, while there is no value cap on the amount of goods that may be imported under this provision, the applicable duties in the HTSUS must be considered.

In particular, HTSUS 9804.00.65 allows for the duty-free importation of personal-use articles from a Column 2 country when the fair retail value of such goods is under $800. Also see 19 C.F.R. 148.33. HTSUS 9816.00.20 establishes a duty rate of 4% of the fair retail value for personal-use articles under $1,000 imported from a Column 2 country. Thus, any articles imported under this section for personal use with a value of under $800 can be imported duty free, and any articles imported for personal use with a value between $800 and $1800, will be subject to a flat 4% duty rate. Any articles valued over $1800, regardless of whether for personal use, will be subject to entry and should be classified, appraised, and assessed duty appropriately under the specific HTSUS Column 2 rates. Also see 19 C.F.R. 148.101 and 148.102. Any commercial importation, i.e., not for personal use, is subject to entry requirements and payment of applicable duties, fees, and taxes.

While these revised regulations may facilitate certain travel and trade with Cuba, all other laws and regulations applicable to international travel and the importation/exportation of goods remain in full effect. This means that all United States agency requirements applicable to a particular importation must be met and fully complied with, such as the regulations of the Food and Drug Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Alcoholic Beverages

One American liter (33.8 fl. oz.) of alcoholic beverages may be included in your returning resident personal exemption if:

  • You are at least 21 years old.
  • It is intended exclusively for your personal use and not for sale.
  • It does not violate the laws of the state in which you arrive.

Federal and state regulations allow you to bring back one liter of an alcoholic beverage for personal use duty-free. However, states may allow you to bring back more than one liter, but you will have to pay any applicable Customs duty and IRT.

While federal regulations do not specify a limit on the amount of alcohol you may bring back beyond the personal exemption amount, unusual quantities may raise suspicions that you are importing the alcohol for other purposes, such as for resale. CBP officers enforce the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) laws, rules, and regulations and are authorized to make on-the-spot determinations that an importation is for commercial purposes. If such determination is made, it may require you to obtain a permit and file a formal entry to import the alcohol before the alcohol is released. If you intend to bring back a substantial quantity of alcohol for your personal use, you should contact the U.S. Port of Entry (POE) through which you will be re-entering and make prior arrangements for the importation.

Also, state laws might limit the amount of alcohol you can bring in without a license. If you arrive in a state that has limitations on the amount of alcohol you may bring in without a license, that state's law will be enforced by CBP, even though it may be more restrictive than federal regulations. We recommend that you check with the state government about their limitations on quantities allowed for personal importation and additional state taxes that may apply. Ideally, this information should be obtained before traveling.

In brief, for both alcohol and cigarettes, the quantities eligible for duty-free treatment may be included in your $800 or $1,600 returning resident personal exemption, just as any other purchase should be. But unlike other kinds of merchandise, amounts beyond those discussed here as being duty-free are taxed, even if you have not exceeded, or even met, your personal exemption. For example, your exemption is $800 and you bring back three liters of wine and nothing else, two of those liters will be dutiable and IR taxed. Federal law prohibits business-to-private consumer shipping of alcoholic beverages by mail within the United States.

How to Pay Customs Duty

If you owe Customs duty, you must pay it before the conclusion of your CBP processing. You may pay it in any of the following ways:

  • U.S. currency only.
  • Personal check in the exact amount, drawn on a U.S. bank, made payable to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. You must present identification, such as a passport or U.S. driver's license. CBP does not accept checks bearing second-party endorsement.
  • Government check, money order or traveler's check if the amount does not exceed the duty owed by more than $50.

In some locations/POEs, you may pay duty with either MasterCard or VISA credit cards.

Increased Duty Rates

Items from certain countries.

Under what is known as its "301" authority, the United States may impose a much higher than normal duty rate on products from certain countries. Currently, the United States has imposed a 100 percent rate of duty on certain products of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, The Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the Ukraine. If you should bring more of any of these products back with you than fall within your exemption or flat rate of duty, (see below) you will pay as much in duty as you paid for the product or products.

While most of the products listed are not the type of goods that travelers would purchase in sufficient quantities to exceed their exemption, diamonds from the Ukraine are subject to the 100 percent duty and might easily exceed the exemption amount.

For information on countries that may become subject to a higher than normal duty rate, check the Department of Commerce Web site.

Countries With Free or Reduced Customs Duty Rates

The United States gives Customs duty preferences-that is, conditionally free or subject to reduced rates-to certain designated beneficiary developing countries under a trade program called the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Some products that would otherwise be dutiable are not when they are wholly the growth, product, or manufacture of a beneficiary GSP country. Visit the Office of United States Trade Representative website for additional GSP information.

  • Many products from Caribbean and Andean countries are exempt from duty under the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act, Andean Trade Preference Act and the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act.
  • Many products from certain sub-Saharan African countries are exempt from duty under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
  • Most products from Israel, Jordan, Chile and Singapore may also enter the United States either free of duty or at a reduced rate under the U.S. free trade agreements with those countries.
  • The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect in 1994. If you are returning from Canada or Mexico , your goods are eligible for free or reduced duty rates if they were grown, manufactured, or produced in Canada or Mexico, as defined by the Act.

Additional information on these special trade programs can be found on the CBP Web site.

Household Effects & Personal Effects - Customs Duty Guidance

Household effects conditionally included are duty-free. These include such items as furniture, carpets, paintings, tableware, stereos, linens, and similar household furnishings; tools of the trade, professional books, implements, and instruments.

You may import household effects you acquired abroad duty-free if:

  • You used them abroad for no less than one year.
  • They are not intended for any other person or for sale.

For Customs purposes, clothing, jewelry, photography equipment, portable radios, and vehicles are considered personal effects and cannot be brought in duty-free as household effects. However, duty is usually waived on personal effects more than one year of age. All vehicles are dutiable.

Mailing and Shipping Goods - Customs Duty Guidance

Unaccompanied purchases are goods you bought on a trip that are being mailed or shipped to you in the United States. In other words, you are not carrying the goods with you when you return. If your unaccompanied purchases are from an insular possession (IP) or a Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) country and are being imported within 30 days and sent directly from those locations to the United States, you may enter them as follows:

  • Up to $1,600 in goods will be duty-free under your personal exemption if the merchandise is from an IP.
  • Up to $800 in goods will be duty-free if it is from a CBI or Andean country.
  • Any additional amount, up to $1,000, in goods will be dutiable at a flat rate (3%).

To take advantage of the Customs duty-free exemption for unaccompanied tourist purchases (mailing/shipping) from an IP or CBI country:

Step 1. At place and time of purchase, ask your merchant to hold your item until you send him or her a copy of CBP Form 255 (Declaration of Unaccompanied Articles), which must be affixed to the package when it is shipped.

Step 2. (a) On your declaration form (CBP Form 6059B), list everything you acquired on your trip that is accompanying you. You must also complete a separate Declaration of Unaccompanied Articles form (CBP Form 255) for each package or container that will be sent to you after you arrive in the United States. This form may be available where you make your purchase. If not, you may find the form on the CBP website.

Step 3. When you return to the United States, the CBP officer will: (a) collect Customs duty and any tax due on the dutiable goods you have brought with you; (b) verify your list of unaccompanied articles with your sales receipts; (c) validate your CBP Form 255 to determine if your purchases are duty-free under your personal exemption ($1,600 or $800) or if the purchases are subject to a flat rate of duty.

Step 4. Two copies of the three-part CBP Form 255 will be returned to you. Send the yellow copy of the CBP Form 255 to the foreign shopkeeper or vendor holding your purchase, and keep the other copy for your records.

Step 5. When the merchant gets your CBP Form 255, he or she must place it in an envelope and attach the envelope securely to the outside wrapping of the package or container. The merchant must also mark each package "Unaccompanied Purchase." Please remember that each package or container must have its own CBP Form 255 attached , the most important step to follow in order to gain the benefits allowed under this procedure.

Step 6. If your package has been mailed, the U.S. Postal Service will deliver it after it clears Customs. If you owe duty, the Postal Service will collect the duty along with a postal handling fee. If a freight service transports your package, they will notify you of its arrival and you must go to their office holding the shipment and complete the CBP entry procedure. If you owe duty or tax, you will need to pay it at that time in order to secure the release of the goods. You could also hire a customs customhouse broker to do this for you. However, be aware that customhouse brokers are private businesses and are not CBP employees, and they charge fees for their services.

If freight or express packages from your trip landed in the U.S. before you return and you have not made arrangements to pick them up, CBP will authorize their placement into general order bonded warehouse or public storage after 15 days (days for perishable, flammable, explosives). This storage and all other related charges (transportation, demurrage, handling) will be at your risk and expense. If the goods are not claimed within six months, they will be sold at auction.

Per U.S. Postal Service regulations, packages sent by mail and not claimed within 30 days from the date of U.S. arrival will be returned to the sender unless the amount of duty is being protested.

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  29. Customs Duty Information

    This exemption also applies to travelers, arriving from any country in the world, with declared Cuban merchandise. Declared amounts in excess of the exemption are subject to a flat 4% rate of duty, and any applicable IRS taxes, pursuant to HTSUS 9816.00.20 and 19 CFR 148.101, which impose a duty rate of 4% of the fair retail value on goods from ...