Pong Noi Thailand
You never see those bikini-clad chicks lazing along Infinity pools here at Blogging From Paradise.
I do not hate ’em for styling.
Give the world what it wants, right?
Yet I turned that rule upside down as a new traveler in 2011.
I always intended to be as transparent as possible to give you a clear idea of what the digital nomad life is genuinely about. Sometimes this life is amazing. Mostly this life is fun. In rare moments, this life is a shit show triggering deep fears.
Peep my experiences below to get a better idea about traveling the world.
1: The World Is Far Different than Your Hometown
After landing in Bali I recall transport drivers hawking their services at 1:30 AM local time.
Throngs aggressively pushed to the front of the masses, beckoning travelers to hire these individuals.
One kid grabbed my luggage – from my hands – and proceeded to jog towards the luggage carousel. I never hired him. He just did it. After noting that I did not require his services and had no plans to take out cash he gave me a somewhat dirty look and backed away.
In my New Jersey hometown, we would deem him a complete asshole for being rude, foolish and beyond presumptuous. In Bali, he was a transport driver following a practical, common system.
The world is radically different than your hometown.
Expect the unexpected the moment you begin to circle the globe.
2: The World Is Just Like Your Hometown
People in Bali are typically warm human beings.
Rarely have I come across such kind people.
Generous to their core, I recall the couple we rented from in the rice fields:
- finding out that it was Kelli’s birthday
- buying her a big old cake
- springing a surprise party for us
We had met them a few days prior.
Both of us were moved to tears at their mindfulness.
My New Jersey town is similar in most regards.
Kindness from friends, family and strangers abounds.
Hit the road.
You may experience that there is only one of us…..and we’re it!
3: Intense Unconscious Fears Arise at the Darnedest Times
I recall being short on scratch in Laos.
A spitting cobra crawled into the chicken coop in Bali before killing 2 chicks and a hen.
I fell severely ill in India.
One dog got quill-ed by a porcupine in Panama.
Deep, pulsating fears arise from circling the globe mainly because being *that* far outside of your comfort zone brings up the shadow in tough to predict and even more difficult to control environments.
Most humans never travel for the fear of unconscious terrors bound to arise the moment each leaves the comfortable confines of their home town.
Feeling deep fears becomes highly rare; this list details some of my intense moments since 2011. But prepare yourself to wade into the heavy travel stuff on the odd occasion.
4: Sickness Usually Occurs after Visiting Developing Nations for the First Time
I became really sick in India, Peru and Myanmar.
As for Southeast Asia and Central America, I experienced typical intestinal distress in pretty much every country for 2-3 days after we arrived. Minus a wee bit of diarrhea these garden variety deals came and went seamlessly. Yet bank on getting sick unless you are exquisitely self-aware or boast the digestive tract of a Komodo dragon.
Practical Tips
- drink only bottled water (make sure the cap seal is intact)
- eat fruit that you need to peel
- eat at food stalls with a heavy turnover
- pay close attention to hygienic practices – or lack thereof – at a food stall before you order a meal there
- take getting sick in stride; this is basically a right of passage for all digital nomads
5: Never Skip a Country Based on Negative Reviews
Minus visiting active war zones or destabilized nations suffering through severe unrest, never skip a country based on a range of negative reviews for the most obvious reason: your experience may be different.
Perhaps the travel blogger suffered through a bad day, week or month for whatever reason. Maybe the place did not meet the person’s health or general cleanliness standards.
My thinking has always been: should you penalize locals for the perspective of a travel blogger or ten?
I do not think so.
Hell yeah some places are filthy, a bit dangerous and flat out inconvenient, disorganized and maddening.
But it is up to you to weigh the downsides versus potential upsides before choosing for yourself.
For whatever reason, folks in Granada, Nicaragua did not seem as friendly to Kelli and I compared to locals from Costa Rica and Panama. Someone stole my flip flops by using a stick to fish the pair from our living room while I was in the kitchen not 30 feet away. We also came across a few truly weird expats there. But of course I had a fun time there plus know that most travelers in Granada do not cross paths with flip flop thieves, less friendly locals and bizarre expats.
With that being said, I would share that petty theft is common there, keep your eyes out for a few rough neighborhoods on the outskirts of town and the local dialect seemed difficult for this gringo to understand.
6: Explore on Foot with No Set Plans to Find the Really Cool Places
I walk out the front door to explore for hours the day I arrive to a location.
I proceed to explore – on foot – pretty much every day I spend anywhere.
I typically walk anywhere from 3 to 6 hours daily. I journey north, south, east and west from my location.
I do almost no research. I walk, watch, observe and eventually discover genuinely fascinating places usually well off of the tourist beaten path.
Most tourists plan thoroughly, go where most other tourists go and scramble back to the hotel room. I did that a few times. I had a bit of fun but it felt like I was an accountant or something in a cramped, packed, hectic setting. Basically, it felt like bookkeeping because I knew:
- where we were going
- what to expect
Everything was set up in my mind. I then watched it unfold in the world. It was OK but not terribly fascinating.
Exploring in every direction for hours on end is fun because you stumble upon the unexpected.
In tourist spots, folks move you in and out pronto for a profit. Off the well-beaten tourist path, you find the highest quality restaurants with the tastiest, and often cheapest, fare.
Kelli and I pinpoint the best Buddhist Jay Vegetarian restaurants all over Thailand with this approach. We wander and look for the yellow sign with red writing. Everything is in Thai. Owners simply point to a number on a calculator. We point to a few dishes. Nobody speaks English. We see no other farang around. But it is pretty much the best food in Thailand that also happens to be the cheapest.
Conclusion
Hit the road.
Learn some interesting lessons.
Traveling is fun because you learn about the world and yourself.
