I have been to 100+ countries ask me almost anything, I am bored
[AMA] I Have Been to 100+ Countries Ask Me Anything
Donaldhump on 20/11/2017 - 23:07
closed Comments
I will look forward to your book… You're travels sound amazing!
hahaha….reading this made my day
was it Delhi airport? do you remember which airport in India it was?
You've dated girls from how many different countries ? (ONS included)
I can’t say
And how many STDs have you picked up and how did you deal with them?
Never engaged in that behaviour, I’m married
Wtf is that
Nephilim?
Where’s your next new country?
Does it all become a blur? Do you have a travel journal or just rely on photos?
Palau is next
I always remember everything in my head but take some photos. Never look at them though, just there to jog memory later. I don't take many though, never have. I kept a journal for about 3 days when I was 28 then threw it out. I have kept a list of the dates though.
I would recommend writing every day when you travel. I did it for an entire year, did a project 365 where I took a photo, wrote about my day and pinned the location to a map (all made on a custom wordpress build). I remember that year so much more vividly than any of my other trips after that, just writing and reflecting on the day really helped retain it in my memory. Just recently did a similar thing when I rode around Iceland for a month in July but not as religiously (wrote up a piece every several days).
Dates?
Palau is awesome. Sailed there from HK.
See the jellyfish lake and avoid the local delicacy of wild bat. They just knock them out and dump them fur and all into taro milk, tasted horrible
cool advice, unfortunately the jelly fish lake is closed. did you sail yourself
@unclesnake: Yep, yacht delivery from HK. Final destination was Australia, but I swapped out for someone else when we stopped in Palau.
That's a shame about the lake, although the "they don't sting" is BS, and they do warn you just before you go in that there could be a little sting sometimes. I got stung on the lips and it hurt like hell. Shocked me into swallowing a mouth full of the water too. You'll still enjoy Palau if you avoid the bat stew. Unique place.
Best meals in which countries?
For me Thai street food can't be beat, I love it. German meat at Oktoberfest, and well all you can eat KFC in Kentucky was the best.
Not so memorable
Albanian goat heard
Fermented milk in Kyrgyzstan. Tasted like ass sweat.
Er…how do you know what ass sweat tastes like, I wonder…
Watch Clerks 2. ;)
i've had that kyrgyz fermented milk. I agree, totally gross! :)
p.s. i've covered 40 countries. 100 is v impressive!yes, and they are surprised when you pull a face.
Fermented horse milk. Yum yum. My mate and I were walking in Terelj, Mongolia and had set up tents a few hours from the small village. We needed some drinks so walked back in the evening just to pick up some Airag, fermented horse milk, back to tent. Yum yum.
Ever been a targeted for your organs?
No, I honestly never once thought about this either, now i will be forever looking over my shoulder.
I did once get confronted by a gang of teenagers in spain, walking to the airport (to save money) at 4am. lucky someone saw it inside their house and had called cops.
Mate that's really scary, glad it turned out all good in the end
Have you been to Africa? What's to see there apart from Safaris?
i actually have never been there yet. Saving it for last, although i think that would be great to do.
Victoria falls and table mountain in the southern region. The safari was the highlight of my trip and I'd definitely recommend giving it a go!
I travelled over a year in Africa, crossed the Sahara twice, crossed almost impassable roads in what was then called Zaire, stood at the most southern point and been 3 times at the Victoria falls when you had full moon, which gave you the Night rainbow over the falls. :-)
best value for night life entertainment?
Peru and Boracay Island Philipines were where i found the best value, but all the same around these areas.
alright i'll put peru as my next dream holiday destination.
http://wildroverhostels.com/
https://lokihostel.com/here is one tip i swear by.
the hostels above have awesome drinking establishments for dirt cheap but are guest only, and noisy as hell.
Book the worst room in there for like 8 bucks a night, and then book a nicer placer not far away that has a reputation for being boring / quiet. Just bail once your done drinking back to the quiet place.i did this in Arequipa for 2 weeks.
@unclesnake: Stayed in Loki Hostel in La Paz, wasn't planning on drinking that night, but before I knew it I was on the bar drunk at 3:30 belting out some backstreet boys karaoke. Would recommend.
Why do you travel so much ? and How long will it be before you appear on "Banged up Abroad " ?
Enjoy it i guess, i like the logistics of getting to hard places now. I like combining with sport events, such as cricket and soccer.
I don't really do it that much now though just a week or two a year, I have become somewhat less energetic, and as I have gotten older, standards a bit higher.
I wont appear on banged up abroad, as much as I need money, i don't want to be anyone's bitch.
Noticed Japan not even mentioned. Have you been? Your thoughts/anecdotes good/bad?
I didn't really like it, but thats not to say it is bad, I have friends who loved it to death, i just got bored pretty quick.
I was on my own there so possibly just miserable too.
Considering all you've been through, Japan would have been hell boring.
I think (for better or for worse), any trip in which you're not physically threatened once would have been considered boring.
Since this is ozbargain, approximately how much money have you spent on travelling in total?
At a stab in the dark 150k, alot of money but I don't think when i am dying i will regret it. by time i get to 70 all i will want to do is drink pots at the rsl a few days a week.
That's actually lower than I expected considering the number of countries you visited!
could be more. i really think i would be shocked if i had the figures to add up.
I have half a mind to drop everything, liquidate all my assets, and move to a completely new country on the other side of the world.
Assuming I speak only English, have no real practical/transferable skills, and have maybe 100k in total networth if I liquidated everything, which country would you recommend?
if you have no intention to work and just want to exist for as cheap as possible and have some fun, id go bali, philipines or thaliand. Safe and cheap, and you could live for 300 a week or so. only issue is visas, but just cruise between the three. I also went to belize which is english speaking and cheap, but hard to get to.
doing what you say would be very liberating. If i lost my job today and my wife did too, i would do something similar for half a year.
Thanks for the quick reply! Belize, that's a country I'd never have considered myself. Might look it up - be good for daydreaming even if I never get up the courage to follow through!
takes guts to do, thats the problem..
Hi OP, what is the best country you have ever been? thanks!
Germany i enjoyed the most thanks
Going Germany (and surrounds) for a month next year, any OZB tips you could share with me? Any places a must? am in early 30's with the misses (who wouldnt do a hostel)
Freiburg is a beautiful city in the south-west in the Schwarzwald that Germans all know about and go to on holiday but noone else does. Worth a stay for sure.
Hi Mr Unclesnake,
Was there any country you loved so much that you ended up extending your trip?
no not really, i have always had rigid dates with flights etc, and am too cheap to pay a fee to change them. i have never actually been unemployed, or in a position to stay longer than i could.
i did enjoy peru though, so i cancelled going to bolivia and stayed there instead if that counts. sucks cos i have never been to bolivia now, and i doubt i ever will.
I have a dilemma:
I did a fairly thorough trip of Japan in November 2014 (Osaka - Mt Koya - Tokyo - Kyoto - Okayama - Hiroshima - Fukoka) and have friends there. I know no-one in India and have never been but I'd probably do Delhi - Jaipur - Agra. I'm travelling on my own in early March 2018.
These are the two trips that achieve the required status credits - the airfares are $1800 for Japan and $1300 for India (inflated prices to get the SCs). With accomodation, I guess that goes to $3000 for Japan and $2000 for India all-in. Due to work I'll only be spending a week (plus both weekends) in either and therefore decided against Europe.
Should I do Japan a second time or try India for the very first time? (Or is another destination really worth considering?)
My 2cents: India (even for a measly week)
You should go to India and do the triangle.
I suggest Dehli then 2nd class AC train to Jaipur then get a taxi to Agra (but stop at the step well at Chand Baori and at Fatehpur Sikri) then 2nd class AC train back to dehli.
IMO Agra only needs 1 or 2 nights.
Have a great time.
Any interesting flight stories? e.g. bumped up to business or first? Scored free flights? etc
Or on the flip side, any horrible flights? Near misses? Airline asking passengers for money to pay for the fuel to take off? etc
The only hassle I have ever had was one flight where the airline had gone bust, but it was my fault for never checking my email as they had alerted me. I ending up have to pay $1300 on the spot for the next flight from Nepal to Malaysia via Bangladesh, so was thoroughly mad. This flight had a ~30 hour lay over in Bangladesh too, which was only meant to be 6 hours but for whatever reason the plane couldn't leave on the same day. Me and 30 nepalese blokes were refused to leave the airport and there was no internal hotel, so i had to sit in transit lounge for this length of time.
other than all flights have been on time, but flown on plenty of airlines that looked pretty horrendous
http://www.airkbz.com/
http://airmanas.com/en/index.html
http://www.somonair.com/
https://www.adriaairways.ch/en-us/
http://www.carpatair.com/
Do people get angry at you just for saying you been to 100+ countries ?
i honestly don't tell people, i don't like to gloat, i feel like a tool doing this to be honest.
How do you save $$ mobile roaming?
How do you exchange local currency and sell it?i generally dont use a sim overseas, i just go without, as i am cheap, but if i am going to spend a week+ in a place, i will consider it.
and i always get money from an ATM to get best rates, and carry USD every where. Everyone loves USD. I have no shame standing in an airport trying to sell off my left over currency.
While I'm impressed you've been to so many countries and had so many experiences, I'm more interested in the mentality that lead to those choices.
Do you have an impulsive nature? Do you embrace risk? Or does it not seem that way to you?I don't really see it as risky. I guess it doesn't bother me that much. I never would go anywhere i would think i would die or get hurt. I dont think i have been anywhere i would consider dangerous.
Which country i can make the most money with the cheapest human resource and cheap everything else?
Aside from china.you mentioned your married .. and you seem to go places solo too ? is that due to work ? or you have a really cool missis that doesn't mind you going off for the odd jolly on your tod ? no kids i assume ?
In general she hates travelling anything non western, and likes the time alone (hopefully not too much and not with someone else), so she lets me go when i like within reason. i do feel lucky she doesn't mind, and yes no kids.
You have been to 100 countries, how many days/months/years in total have you spent travelling ?
Where would you Not go again?
Have you even been to Northern Ireland?
Are you good at doing accents?~500 days total, from what i can remember.
i would never go to east timor or PNG again.
yes i have been to N.I. allbeit for one day
and i cant do accentshmmm, my next trip is going to Komodo, Flores and West and East Timor, so why don't you like East Timor?
Can you elaborate on PNG? I plan to travel there in the near future.
Curious about Timor as I had a fantastic time there last July. Care to share your experience?
Oh and how many people that you have met whilst travelling have you stayed in touch with - not just Christmas card but class as 'good' friends.
Most excentric/ memorable person you have met,,where and why ?How did you go about Travel Insurance, Passports running out of pages, and your packing list?
Having travelled a fair few countries, I'm usually keen to see what's essential.
With passports I always get the largest passport possible. i have a second nationality (Canadian) so am able to use whatever is better for free visas etc, and leave one at en embassy for a few days and so on. I always encourage the passport stampers to use a page already used as it annoys me to all hell when they just stamp a fresh page.
I always have get travel insurance, generally TID, and always get the promos off here. However in the first 3 years or so , I did not know there was a such thing, so lucky nothing happened.
With packing if it is just me I usually pack 30 minutes before. As long as i have my passport, wallet, and phone, and let the banks know where i am going I am good. Just shove jocks, socks, thongs, few of everything in a bag and out the door. If my wife is coming, then i watch her pack for a week in advance, and then join in 30 minutes before.
Why tho?
Why do anything
To survive
so you eat, drink, and breath and that's it
haha comment unpublished…. clearly mods don't get the ANYTHING part of "Ask me Anything"…. but cool, carry on!
Hi OP I'm gradually trying to work through as many countries as I can and I find it tricky to balance a work life and travel life without all the saving causing to much stress. Anyway just wondering how often you travel and do you recommend traveling often or spacing out trips. Regards Tas.
Hi Tas
I just use my annual leave to travel, so generally just once or twice a year. I put aside a couple hundred a week and use it as required, I personally enjoy doing it bit by bit, as being away now (maybe because I am older now) for more than few weeks gets to me. Doing in small chunks allows you to spend more and feel less frugal, and gives you something to look forward too imho.
I have taken 3 months off work unpaid to travel South America about 10 years ago, and I got made redundant not long after, and I drove straight to an airport and left again for two months, other than that just few weeks once or twice a year. Have to use public holidays at Easter and Xmas but more expensive.
I am lucky in that I can work weekends, to buffer up toil.
Hi mate thanks for the answer. I agree with travelling less often as well I think. It's nice to actually enjoy the time away. Regards tas.
Can you take me with you next time?
Sure, where do you wanna go. Maybe we should have a drink first
What destination strikes the best balance of cost, quality, beauty, experiences etc for a holiday? You can give multiple destinations of you want. Thanks :)
Hard to say really.
I think if you went to Italy or France would be the best places for a good balance.
A. If you would have "groundhog holiday" every two years where would you go?
B. What is the most underrated destination
C. What cheap great holiday would you recommend?
A.) World Cup Germany, when tim Cahill scored against Japan.
B.) Solomon Islands, close to home, and beautiful, but no one would ever go. Don't blame them the flights are a rip off. Also Malta
C.) Philippines I loved, Boracay island was paradise and dirt cheap once your there. If you live in Sydney Cebu airlines is ultra cheap too.
Thank you for sharing, enjoyed reading this thread. I am almost the same age as you but have only ever been to a handful of countries. Look forward to doing B) and C) in the near future.
I agree Boracay is cheap but I wouldn't call it dirt cheap. It is very touristy these days.
What year were you there? It has changed a lot in recent years.
Thank you very much! Will visit Solomon Islands if someone here will find cheap flight :)
In your opinion, how much $$ do you think would cover travelling in Europe for around 4 - 5 months?
I'm not the OP, but with the cheapest hostels and mostly cooking my own meals, I did that same length of time for around $10-12K. And I'm frugal as fu$k
Well at that stage complying with any request is required. I don't stress about much when travelling, as no one wants to hurt you, they just want some money, but I put my wife in danger so I wasn't proud of myself.