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
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Someone should add him haha
Wonder how you would prove it to them.
Passport stamps?
What perspectives on life do you think you have that are different than what you would have had if you hadn't travelled so widely.
That we are lucky people, to live in a nice stable country. Yet we are the ones who seem unhappiest. I really envy countries where despite being poor, they are happy through family.
And also there are so many poor dogs running around as strays. This always makes me sad.
I have only done a few countries but spent over a year in Fiji, my conclusion was that they seem a lot happier with far less. I also am grateful for our health system and refuse to whinge about it as a result.
I have been to North Korea, I beat you on this one!
And I even sneaked out of my hotel at night to see the real North Korea streets and people! I am proud of myself!
How was it?
That's awesome, please provide how you organised it
How did you avoid having to give an embarrassing conference where you beg for forgiveness for being arrested for doing something silly?!
I had an early question on India or Japan (thanks MishyMoo for answering that). But on India, a lot of the reviews of India I read are a long the lines…
"Love India. Here are several problems I had there…"
Given your own challenges in India, was it still worth it? Would you recommend it to a novice traveller who still has three-quarters of the world to see? If so, why? If not, are you prepared to say, "given the challenges it throws up, you can leave it for later"?
Seems like you had a few close calls.
What's the worse situation you ever got in?Stuck in a non existent country without a visa. Could not leave, could not re enter. Was just a bullsh*t way to extort money. It was called transniestra, and I just sat there till the border guards got bored. They yelled Russian at me, but I just smirked.
What's your favourite colour?
I don't really have one, but let's go with green
Hey.
Have you been to the Phillipines rice paddies at Banaue? I’ve heard it’s hard to get to but we’ll worth it. Is it?
Have you been to Easter Island? I’ve almost decided not to go. Is it worth visiting?
Some of my fav places are Mt Popa, the waterfall near Luang Prabang, site 2 of the jars at Phonsavan, Petra, Guanajuato.
Have you been to any of those? And if so, how would you rate them?
I went to the Banaue Rice Terraces in 2010. They were amazing. It is about a 10 hr bus trip from Manila. There was no ATM in Banaue in 2010.
Thanks for that.
Apparently there is a flight from Clark that can cut the time in half.
I’m not keen on night buses.
I suppose you can just hike around? Or would u need a guide? Or go on a tour when u arrive?
Clark is about 2 hrs closer than Manila. You could also go from Baguio City. It's about 4 or 5 hrs I think. I never hired a guide. Just walked myself but you can do it if you like. There is an area called Batad where there are rice terraces and a waterfall. Also the terraces above Banaue town itself.
You have been to some cool paces, I haven't heard of. I have Just been to Petra out of your list, and I thought it was really good. I hate walking , as I am ultra lazy, but walked a lot that day.
Easter island seems like a hassle to get to, but if you have the coin you could combine with French Polynesia. I think it would interesting.
thoughts on china?
Good to place to visit, I liked it. The Great Wall of china is a pretty impressive sight. I used an airline call spring airlines which was dirt cheap and cut down a lot of time.
which country's OzBargain equivalent is the best?
ukhotdeals
No comparison imho. This is the best community for tight asses
Did you find friends/family didn't "understand" the enjoyment and experiences gained from exploring and travelling?
Yes from some, I get grief a lot. Each to their own I say, I don't really listen. A person should do what they want and not what others want, as long as it is not dangerous or harmful to others.
Yeah I felt the same. Some people just don't understand travelling and don't see anything outside of Australia. I can't really talk travel with family as they just "don't get it". Don't get me wrong, I love Australia but travelling and living around the world was an enormous eye opener.
I am lucky as I met my wife in the jungles of Central America and she loves travelling as much as me and both my daughters caught the same bug.
Mind you we took them traveling for a year through Europe, around Australia, to Indonesia and South East Asia.
@driveahardbargain: They were 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 when we travelled for 4 months around Australia. They were 3 1/2 and 5 1/2 when we travelled 3 months through Indonesia. They were 7 and 9 when we took them for a year to Europe (in a small camper :-) ). and they were 17 and 19 when we travelled for a few months through South East Asia.
I’m going Middle East/Europe in June next year for 6 weeks.
Lebanon (Jounieh)
Greek Islands (inonian)
Croatia (split)
Italy (Amalfi Coast)
Do you have any advice for me in any of these countries/islands?
I haven't been to any of them, other than split. I would just look at transport passes that may combine Italy and Croatia to make it cheaper, and there is a ferry overnight from split to Italy I think called blue line. I can recommend going to hvar island off split, it was beautiful, has really nice lavender fields. I did a half day sailing which was nice which was enough for me in split.
Lebanon would be a great place to visit, I'd love to hear about that.
Also the World Cup is on at this time, so if you are in Croatia when they play, you may see so,e great atmosphere, even if you hate soccer it would be good.
Have you been to Iceland? Did you see any elves?
yes and no. Was a nice place, with great fresh air, and good death metal bars. I went in winter, and it was dark at 4 and sunrise at 7. i was in a bar all night and loved it. Its easy to get to using WOW airlines, if your interested.
Which 'celebratory' time of year has been your favourite and where?
i.e. Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Oktoberfest, New Years etc.Oktoberfest
hi dad
which country you from
Seen any sights that truly left you breathless?
too many to say, but I once saw a dog screwing a pig that was eating rubbish in India.
I think that's why Indians don't eat either pigs or dogs.
Welcome to the 100+ club, obviously I would enjoy having a beer with you.
I did approx a year Middle East first, then a year Asia, one year Australia, 1 year Pacific and States, 1 year Central +south America, over the next few years Europe and Australia as I met my wife on the border between Belize and Guatemala. Then travelled 1 1/3 year through Africa before settling here in Australia. We go travelling very regularly and adding to this long country list. Had my run ins along the way but not as many as you. ;-)
No more dorms for me, never really liked them but you can travel with a tight budget.man, i cant compare to what you have done. Yes i could talk all day with you, about where you have been.
How did you finance 5 years (continuous?) travel?!
Worked that year in Australia. I should also mention that I am originally from the Netherlands, but now am dual citizen.
Still, two sets of two years travelling is quite an achievement. Did you work while travelling?
Also very curious, what do you do for work?
now I am semi retired
Before I did lots of different things :-)So, spy… Hahaha
When it's time to travel, are you always more tempted by new places rather than going back to places you've been and liked?
I don't mind going back to places, however most the time it is a disappointment as it has been "discovered". Whereas the previous time it had this magical feel, now it is full of tourist shops and all the hassles that come with that. Saying that there are not many places that have not been discovered by tourism but some certainly are not over run.
One interesting fact I discovered in the last years that is that Australians travel more like herd of sheep ;-) and go generally where all other Australian travellers go. In our last 3 travels (outside of Europe) in the last couple of years we did not meet any Australians - this was Northern India, Sulawesi and Myanmar.Sometimes, but more often that not I have no repeat policy, unless I missed something, but if taking my wife or a mate etc. i will happily return to somewhere I have been before.
Worst rated countries to travel to?
For me Northern Vietnam, unfriendly people and there constantly trying to rip you off. Never had that to any extend then over there.
Same here, (only ~60ish countries so far) the place was really pretty but the few negative interactions soured the whole experience.
really? the opposite for me. Had women coming up to me wanting to take selfies with me
Png and East Timor.
What is the most friendly and unfriendly countries you've been to?
Reason I ask is I've just came back from new Zealand and everyone on the south island seems very unwilling to help others and just plain nasty to deal with compared to laid back Aussies.
Despite their beautiful country, NZ left a bad taste with me.
when I was in NZ all those years ago people were amazing, however all over the world a movement against tourism is happening.
Barcelona, Venice, Amsterdam to name a few places have had this. This as very cheap travel and unfriendly tourists from countries like Russia have soured people's perception of tourists.
In NZ the introduction of Campervans and people camping wild everywhere and leaving a mess also did not help matters.
Often we are our own worst enemies.i found people in the ukraine rude, but i was only there a week, and i am sure I just hit a bad bunch. Every country has good and bad. Maybe the same happened to you, you could go back tomorrow and meet nice people
Have you had times where mentally, you were capped out, between loneliness, stress, etc etc?
If so, what have you done to help yourself?If you travel for a long time (years) you need to have regularly spots where you can recover and take your clothes out of your backpack and hang them up. :-)
Basically stay put somewhere for at least a couple of weeks, ideally longer.yes after 3 months I was done, but like flyer said. You just check in some where for a month and chill.
Have you been to any countries that are no longer countries? I.e Czechoslovakia. What about brand new countries that have been created over the last few years? Will you be going back to visit those.
Been to Yugoslavia, East Germany, Czechoslovakia.
Would love to go to all the Stan's, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan etc and the Baltic Statesno none that come to mind, but it is an interesting concept whether they count. I am hoping Catalonia becomes a country, i guess that increases my count.
why have you been to so many countries? how can you afford that amount of international travel, especially since i assume you are australian?
no reason, other than enjoy visiting places, and I saved hard when I was younger. I never really go out during the year, and in return use that money for a holiday. For the record my wage isn't massive either.
Best travel scam encountered. After travelling to 100+ countries, you have probably seen them all.
When I was in Paris near the Louvre an old gypsy tried to pull the gold ring scam on me, however I had no intention of talking to some random gypsy lady so I just walked off.
yeh i had that one.
Also had some dude give me a leather jacker worth 1500 euros, then asked for petrol money. I said that makes no sense, just sell the jacket, and threw it back at him.
The worst for me, was I caught a taxi in brazil drunk as skunk, and when i went to pay the taxi driver pull all my notes out of my wallet. He then asl for the fare, and i said how the hell can i pay you when you just robbed me , he shrugged and I got out, not much I could do.
was it Rio or São Paulo?
Should have vomited in his car to make him use the money for cleaning.
Do you have any airline you prefer when you book your flights?
Also, what's your FF status like?
no, i just book the cheapest on offer, but will use an airline like qatar if only a little bit more than a budget. I have no FF, as i switch airlines.
Has spending money on travel stopped you doing other things? EG buying a house/car etc.
no, but i could have owned a bigger house
Follow up question: how many times did you have to renew your passport because they ran out of pages? There are only 25 odd pages so Im assuming at least 3 times (probably 4 though).
i think 4
Do you still call Australia home?
How many more ama will we get this week ?
[AMA] Which AMA should we have next?
Jokes aside.. I thought this AMA is interesting..
Sans the UK, is Northwestern Europe as incredible as it sounds for citizens? Great environmental responsiveness, weather, health care and education, tax distribution, beauty of surroundings and work life?
So that is one hundred countries down. How long before you complete the next hundred?
There won’t be next 100, as there are “only” 195 countries in the world :)
If one counts the six non-UN states with partial recognition it makes 201. ie. Taiwan, Kosovo, Western Sahara, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Northern Cyprus.
There are 206 Olympic Nations according to the International Olympic Committee.
If one goes by the list of nations recognised by FIFA for the World Cup it is 211. OP loves the World Game so he might be happy with that.
If one includes overseas territories, uninhabited islands, and even Antarctica in the list it can go up to ~250.
In europe right now and we just left barcelona last week and while we waited for a cab we almost got mugged by three gypsies robbing an apartment. Two of them came up to me and demanded our money and passports. I can speak fluent spanish and I had really bad back pain that morning so I was really grumpy. I promptly told him that I will ignore what's happening if he left us alone but that i wasn't given him shit and was ready to fight to the death and gave him a stare down. Stupid in hindsight because my wife was next to me but it worked. We also encountered the gold ring scam in Paris.
do you love it or leave it mate?
Have you been to Sealand? lol
No, is it open to guests
Sweet. how different are our morals? Over the years, exposure to different kinds of made me question these things. it's like morals aren't absolute either. also, can you tell me why japanese and chinese share this little grudge against each other? or is it just one of them and not the other?
Have you been to Israel? If so, what can you recommend?
Yes, interesting place, worth a visit. Jerusalem and Dead Sea are interesting, also go from eliat to Jordan and see Petra
I am curious to know whether you used different passports to travel to Israel or Arab countries.
i used the same one, but the only Arab countries i have been to bordered Israel, so they didn'thave a problem.
the ignorant cow at customs in the Israel airport upon leaving demanded to see my 2nd passport and stamped it as well.
but now i think i can no longer goto iraq,iran,syria,lebanon on my passport, until i get a new one.
How do you generally go about booking accommodation?
Do you use an aggregator or booking.com, or once your in the main part just walk in and get the cheapest / best?
Also, have you been on cruises? Do many of your countries visited come from cruise ports?
Hostel world , Expedia, or booking.com… I don't like to use different ones to save a few dollars.
HostelWorld give me good discount, because I have used them so much.
Expedia generally price match, but I only book if have a cancellation and pay later policy. If you can find a lower deal, Expedia often give you 50 credit,
Booking.com is the best these days, seem to be cheapest.I have done 2 cruises, so I think 3 countries from cruise ports. And few countries were quick transits or drive through. Can you count them?
Really hard to estimate, as it Depends how often you move, and whether you plan to do excursions, drink etc, eat out or whether you just want to exist, eat bread, and walk etc. for such a long trip, I used to have rules where fri - sun I'd go hard with the partying and eating out, being a little loose with the money, and then mon- thus staying off the turps, and eating cheap, just to keep costs down. I always relocated to next city on a Tuesday - Thursday as seems cheaper and I always wanted to be settled in for the weekend.
I have given rough budget below, but The answer above is the best advice, as they just did it.
Over a week I'd say a budget involving two moves would be
200-300 accomodation I'd imagine for a dorm
100 for food, extra 50 for a couple dinners out
100 for drinking
50-150 for buses, taxis, flight
100 for museums, tours
So maybe 500-600 a week