Signing Off

My travels around Southeast Asia are rapidly coming to an end. In fact, by the time you read this, I’ll likely be in the middle of my 24 hour return trip or even back home. The money tree is in desperate need of watering – I don’t think landlords on the west coast offer layaway – and I also think I’m ready for another change of pace. One of the many benefits offered by travel is an injected change into your daily lifestyle. After six months of travel, this has become my lifestyle. Certainly not a bad one, and it’s still a blast, but it is starting to lose part of that high-level novelty.

Travel will certainly continue to be an important part of my life – hell, I already have my next 3 trips sketched out – but this particular leg is complete. My next order of business is to find a fruitful means of employment in Portland, SF, or Seattle. Interested in something “green collar” – perhaps the development of alternative energy or environmental conservation. Hit me up if you know of anything that looks promising!
My wanderings around SE Asia have been incredible and have exceeded all expectations. In addition to a break from the pencil pushing, I’ve experienced some crazy sh*t, met some wonderful people, and learned a lot about Southeast Asian life and culture. And, most importantly, I’d like to report that the finger pointer dance is alive and well throughout the remote corners of Southeast Asia. Do not underestimate the power of the finger pointer dance.

Solo travel and slow travel were new to me and have proven to be particularly rewarding. I’m certainly not averse to fast & partner travel, but this was a nice change of pace and perspective. For a better description than I can provide, see these articles from Brave New Traveler, a sweet travel commentary site, for why solo and slow travel are awesome:

• Solo Travel: 6 Reasons To Wander Alone
• 5 Reasons Why Slow Travel Beats Going On Vacation
  

The trip has also included a few moments of sadness and mourning. My two sidekicks before I left the country were my cat, Meow, and my girlfriend, Daria. If you’ve been keeping up with my posts, then you know that Meow’s feline leukemia caught up with her and she is no longer with us. While Daria is still alive and well, we will most likely not be together even if I end up in Portland. It will be strange to re-enter the world of the working stiffs without the two of them at my side, but perhaps a completely fresh start will do me good.

Random Trip Tallies

6 months of traveling through 6 countries has produced countless memorable experiences, more friendships than I’ll be able to keep up with, and far too many squat toilet predicaments. I still have my 2 original pairs of pants (and no more), I lost 3 pairs of sunglasses, missed 1 train and 1 bus for which I had a ticket, ran in 5 different hashes, and got beat up once. Miraculously, I endured zero arrests, zero muggings, zero life-threatening diseases, and even maintained my exit-hole purity. (Sorry, didn’t know how to appropriately say: “I didn’t get raped! Horray!”).

Travel Writing

I initially harbored hopes of breaking into the travel writing industry during this trip. On a small, but significant level, I achieved that with my MatadorTrips article. Although it’s a rather small publication, it got me in contact with a rock star travel writing editor who is very well connected. By staying in contact with him, the door is open to publish further writing. Now I just need good ideas for articles, which is proving to be the hardest part! I finally drafted my Jail in Japan story for a TSM contest, but first person narratives generally do not attract much interest and are difficult to sell. [Formatting for this story is actually a lot better here].

On the side, I filled up two journals full of personal musings, published 6 Associated Content articles, and have written 30 posts here, but these are mostly notes and random reflections. I’m well situated with material and contacts, just need to produce lots of polished content if I really want to do this… and that sounds like a lot of effort. So we’ll see. I can certainly work on transforming notes into potential articles if the engineering job market proves to be reluctant.
Ingrained Lessons Learned and SE Asia Traveling Advice for the Masses

The following are tried, tested, and proven traveling philosophies for me, but may not suit your traveling style or priorities. Everyone gets something different out of travel, and that’s precisely what’s so great about it. Travel is uniquely experienced so that everyone comes away with something they can call their own.

Most items below play around the same core ideas: travel is best when cheap, hard, and awkward. These traits tend deliver rewarding experiences, fresh perspectives, inspiring insights, and meaningful relationships.

• Travel is meant to be awkward at times; feeling uncomfortable and out of place is a good sign that you’re off the tourist path and in the midst of the real country you’re exploring.
  
• Real adventure involves hardship: it is only highlighted by brief, but powerful, moments of exhilaration and triumph that make it worth the effort.
• If a restaurant or bar is welcoming, it’s probably expensive and touristy. Follow the side streets to find cheap and culture-rich venues.
• Money can improve every dodgy situation or solve it if it needs solving. Money can make you more comfortable, speed up any process, and get you off the hook, but the easy way out also tends to be the least interesting option.
• With that in mind, always use the cheapest available transportation: you’ll be with the locals and have the best experiences. But, of course, the best experiences are not always the most pleasant experiences.

• Patience is imperative. The bus will not leave on time and it will break down. Multiple times. Locals will try to overcharge you and it’s up to you to barter in a composed manner. Food ordered in a restaurant may take an hour or more to be served – bring a book, a buddy, or a camera if sitting outdoors by the street. If you want food fast, go to the market. Politely decline the 57 “want moto?” offers encountered each block. Westerners who do not exercise patience embarrass themselves, and others, and only become more frustrated.
• Drinking with locals is a great way to break the ice and dive into authentic local culture. Ditch your fellow backpackers in the guesthouse bar and find local watering holes. Just don’t be stupid and wake up wallet-less in the gutter. Here’s a good article on imbibing abroad.
• Lonely Planet guides (and other popular guidebooks) are only good for maps and for telling you where all the other white people are. Damn near every independent traveler uses LP these days, so every guesthouse and food stall listed is already full and twice the listed price because of the increased popularity. Traveling without (or with less reliance) on the guide is more fun.

Bored yet? Good! This is my last post, so suck it up. I’m surprised that you’ve made it this far! Here’s Ten Reasons Why My Travel Blog Sucks, in any case.

Last ones, and most important:

• Every experience is a good experience (yes, even if it’s a bad experience).
• Live everyday of your life in love. Check the link, scroll down past the gigantic photo, and then tell me you're not inspired. Really? You’re not inspired? Ok, fine, try these:
• How to Travel the World For Free
• The 50 Most Inspiring Travel Quotes of All Time

So long, Southeast Asia. I will miss you.

Justin out.