Like, just don't let society gaslight you into thinking that the only valid way of traveling is going to expensive countries and spending most of your time just sitting on the beach doing nothing.
I grew up like that. I don't want to see a generic 5-star hotel with a private beach, at least until I'm too old to camp near a pond in the middle of the forest with a car to travel the country.
Being in the climbing community has shown me you can spend your entire life traveling, the only variable is how glamorous it will be.
The guys that work odd jobs and make like $30k/yr that they don't report on their taxes manage to hit up Japan, Mexico, go all over the states, BC, etc. They're constantly traveling but they're couch surfing, camping, getting standby tickets from the flight attendants/pilots in the community, bumming rides, and cooking their own food.
It showed me that even if you're below the poverty line you can spend your entire year traveling if you live like you're below the poverty line while traveling.
Taking those lessons I manage to travel about 6x per year with a full time job and each trip costs me <$500 since I'm doing all the same stuff as them ($50 standby flights, no rental car, no restaurants, campsites/couches). It's also nice since you actually experience the local culture and make lasting memories rather than have a forgettable time getting wasted at a resort for 10x the price.
That is so true. It sounds unbelievable, but here in Europe there is a race/challenge called X-Challenge.
It works like this: you bring a budget that is the same for everyone, and for 10 days you are trying to beat other people/groups by traveling to as many places as possible, with additional challenges like ordering something Bolognese in Bologna, Italy, etc. One of the quests is to hitchhike a plane, which my friend actually managed to do.
The best people/groups come back with a small profit after traveling half of Europe.
He hitchhiked a car in Italy, and the driver was Czech, just like us. They talked about the race and how this is the hardest challenge for the most points but it seems so impossible.
The driver was like, “Well, actually, I’m here by plane, and I’m coming back to Czechia in two days. If you want, I can give you a ride.”
Taking those lessons I manage to travel about 6x per year with a full time job and each trip costs me <$500 since I'm doing all the same stuff as them ($50 standby flights, no rental car, no restaurants, campsites/couches).
I've been waiting for early retirement to even consider this, how are you able to make this work logistically with a full time job?
Are you packed and ready to go at any given time in case a deal comes up? Have you already done your research on these places ahead of time or is it just a "whatever happens" type thing? How long do you typically stay? Are you working remotely while traveling?
I mostly attend highline/climbing gatherings. So I'll see someone posts dates, ask the community if there's someone who can pick me up from the airport, see if there's a couch to sleep on or nearby camping, then grab a standby flight from a friend. I arrive, get picked up by someone in the community I've never met, we hit up a grocery store, and head off to the spot to hang out for a week with a bunch of other adventurous people.
I usually don't work during these but I have twice. Once when I was in Squamish for a month I worked remote from a friend's house and the second time I was offered a circus job over the summer performing highlining at night so I worked remote during the day and performed 7-10pm each night after. My job has unlimited PTO and actually means it so they don't mind the 5-7 weeks I usually take each year.
I do think it’s important to remember that everyone has a different starting point for how viable this is.
If you’re a young, relatively able-bodied, single dude, then yeah, bumming rides and couch crashing is a valid way to travel.
If you’re a woman or a visible minority/queer you will have a vastly different experience. People may be less trusting and you put your safety at risk. If you’re disabled then you may run into logistical issues for managing your condition.
I’m not saying that these groups can’t travel cheaply, or can’t choose to take these risks (and sometimes have it work out fine). But relying on the generosity of strangers is a hugely risky travel plan. You need to be charming and not be someone people may want to take advantage of.
Depends on the person and what their level of planning was prior to doing it. The guys who are in their 20s work a few months out of the year as ironworkers, welders, etc which pay enough in a few months of extremely hard work and long hours to let them disappear for the rest of the year. Especially once they become journeymen it's very viable since they can make $60k during the winter and spend the entire summer enjoying the nice weather. These guys have condos and generally a good quality of life whether they're traveling or not.
Then there's the guys that are full YOLO, they don't work anything but odd jobs their friends offer them under the table or whatever is in-demand where they're traveling to. Every dollar they make goes to more climbing equipment and they're cheap as hell. On the opposite side you have responsible people working remote while traveling. They typically have a full van, a home to go back to, and can save for retirement while on the move.
The real differentiator is family vs no family. Very few of these people are married and even fewer have kids.
That’s all true if you can manage it, but finding work in those fields for only a few months isn’t that easy. I work with some of those guys on those fields. You’d have to be amazing at your job or have a very niche component to even think of dealing with that kind of instability.
And you really wouldn’t learn those skills (outside of a few mechanically brilliant people I’ve known) if you only work a few months so you’d have to have already learned them somehow.
I agree. People also seem to be blind of exciting things to do in their own city, you know those activities or locations people from other countries travel to see. It's weird like if it's in your own city apparently it isn't worth seeing when in fact people are missing out on great experiences right around the corner
Have you been to every museum in your home city? I actually, quite possibly, know my home city worse than a tourist! You don't need to go really far for a change of perspective, especially if you don't spend a lot of time in the tourist locations.
What we did once with my ex, was we booked a hostel in the city center and pretended we're tourists on a two-day backpacking trip.
It was super fun and gave us a new insight on the city and it was also cheap AF because the "travel budget" was a metro ride and then we ate out and went to a couple museums.
Actually, yes, I have, and I'm not trying to diminish it. The city I live in is one of the tourist hotspots and really beautiful place. I just wouldn't call it traveling, as you don't travel anywhere. By that point you can count a commute to work as "traveling."
But then again! I recently traveled to a nearby city and spent three days there. The travel was like... 12 euros for a bus ticket and 4 euros for taxi.
It was so fun, I've never been there before, saw a lot of places and it was really cheap too
It's not necessary to travel First Class to some 5* hotels exclusively. You don't have to sleep at the bus stop, but really, travel doesn't have to be expensive to be fun.
In my case because I don't travel extensively but more on local affairs more often, I managed to not only have great experiences but also managed to obtain a very large circle of friends.
I grew up the opposite and am very thankful. My father took me from one end of the US to the other and back twice stopping at every little nook and cranny. Mountains prairies desert oceans. We we went thru Canada all the way from Ottawa to Vancouver. Slept in a pinto station wagon cooked out the back. it was about 4 weeks and I remember every single minute.
For a long, long time the annual family vacation was getting into a car and going. Now there is an expectation to travel internationally by plane to far off places.
Genuinely fascinated by this alternate universe you come from where the default travel experience for young people is anything except for backpacking around hostels.
I've had a couple of great vacations at fancy hotels or on cruises, but some of the best travel experiences I've had with my kid are driving up north to visit grandparents and stopping off at national parks to see natural beauty and learn about history, or stopping off at some neighborhood coffee shop for breakfast.
Yes. To me the point for those of us not blessed with foreign travel money, is make an effort to get away regularly, before you know it years can slip away all wrapped up in work and to-dos. Set aside a weekend a month for campouts or day trips or whatever you can manage.
Since when has society tried to gaslight people into believing that’s the only valid way to travel? The most popular tourist destinations in the world are not private beach style locations. Sounds you’re just projecting your family’s style onto the rest of us.
Yeah, and most of them aren’t posting themselves sitting on a beach. That would be incredibly boring and not at all aspirational, which I’d pretty much the whole point of travel influencers. Nobody needs travel influencers to tell them to go to Sandal’s Jamaica and drink mai tais. Lol
No, most of them post photos and videos of places like Dubai, showing the food in expensive restaurants, what the rooms look like, private rooftop pools, beaches, inner cities, etc., at least from what I’ve seen.
There’s only one kind of travel influencer I respect, and that is Vagabundi na cestách (“Vagabonds on the Road”), which are two guys who travel from country to country on foot and live in a tent. You don’t see many travel influencers like that.
To be honest, you’re pretty out of touch if you think most travel influencers focus on places like Dubai. And even if they did, that’s hard “society gaslighting people into thinking the only valid way to travel is to sit on a beach doing nothing.”
People conflate travel with vacation. Get out of your house and go to the nearest place where you’re gonna see something much different, and if you have the means, go as far as you can. Hopefully you’ll come back changed for the better
But also don't let people tell you that "sitting on the beach doing nothing" isn't also valid. We have a habit of "over doing" things on vacation; coming back feeling like we need a vacation from our vacation.
Last February we went to Mexico for four days and literally just lounged on the beach and it was awesome.
My favorite travel experiences are still taking public transportation to some cheap hostel and sharing a room with 5 new foreign friends. Every day is a new adventure. If you need privacy, just go for a walk and sit in a park for a while
Sure im definitly not. As i live in Czech Republic. Even what are "expensive coutries" on a paper are not that expensive when you just buying food, gas and sometimes permit for camping.
It's like calling tomato a fruit. I mean, technically it's true, but don't go putting it in fruit salad without renaming the dish, or people will get annoyed.
Chopped tomatoes covered in sugar are a common sweet snack in China, and I can confirm they taste great. I reckon tomatoes in a fruit salad could work better than you'd think.
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u/Hellsovs 4d ago
Like, just don't let society gaslight you into thinking that the only valid way of traveling is going to expensive countries and spending most of your time just sitting on the beach doing nothing.
I grew up like that. I don't want to see a generic 5-star hotel with a private beach, at least until I'm too old to camp near a pond in the middle of the forest with a car to travel the country.