Travel style

craigt - please see "A Whole New Country...." topic about Rantistan...

I agree with the comment about hostels insulating one from the local community, just as big hotels do. But everywhere I've ever been in the developing world there have been lots of small, locally operated guesthouses and these are great. In fact, if you are looking for a private room or traveling as a twosome, they are just as cheap as the hostels.

We will still use hostels (private rooms these days) in a big city in North America, Europe or Australia because you cannot beat the prices for a downtown/close to transit room. We sometimes hear of hostels that have great in-house cafes and we've gone to these for a cheap "western" meal and some interaction. On those occasions we've had great conversations with the youngsters. As mentioned, they do gravitate to the "mom" types that I certainly represent :)

As to the technology, well, younger people have always been early adapters in that respect. We were in our day too. These days I cling to my ancient (7 year old) flip phone. It's been de-registered (or whatever the term is) so for about $10-20 I can flip in a new SIM card anywhere in the world and have the convenience of a phone with me. In SEA and Africa, public land lines simply don't exist a lot of the time.

But, sadly ...this phone is becoming more and more problematic. So I'm hanging my nose over the phones my sons and daughter-in-laws all have. These have great reception - including speaker phones and bluetooth ear pieces that are amazing; they can SKYPE with them; they can surf the web and make airline bookings or check the news and road conditions; check their email and send email; take and store 1000s of photos and even video; as well as store 1000s of songs on a playlist they design. Now you have to admit ....that's a lot of functionality for $60 a month. The phones were free with a 2-year contract.

Tomkat: I did read that post. Understood, but that is all part of the travel experience. IMHO, things like homestays, hostals....heck...even hotels are very different in, say, the USA vs. Nepal. In Nepal, get ready for lots of young, Israeli backpackers traveling in groups and smoking pot. You don't have that in the US. Hotels in the US are, IMHO, bland whereas in Italy they can be pretty cool and have lots of character. Big difference is the hotels in Italy are, like, 100+ years old where in the US, as it is a newer country, they tend to be box type franchises.

I do love big hotels though....when I can afford them as it is a great place to splash out for a few days after roughing it in, say, Patagonia! The one we stayed at had a jacuzzi tub in our room with a pano view of the snow capped mountains over Nahuel Huapi Lake near San Carlos de Bariloche and a fire place next to it which they setup everyday for us. Never find that in a hostal. Plus, they had room service with 4 star local food and bottles of wine delivered. King size bed, down comforter, down pillows, super quiet, movie channel, breakfast daily on your private lake view balcony....Heaven.

$60/month for a "free" phone - that's $1440 for a $400 phone. I prefer to use a purchased card for the amount I would actually use it as a phone, IMHO. The other functions are fabulous, and the major downside of having bought an I Touch rather than I Phone is that I do need to be in a WIFI environment to connect with the internet while I wouldn't need to do so with the phone. At least this is my understanding for Canada. Not sure how that would work in another country??

Re: travel style, mine has definitely changed. I used to be a frenetic traveler afraid that I would miss something. Now I have accepted that I definitely need to be re-incarnated because I will never be able to see everything that I might have wanted to see during the remaining years of my life! After a couple of lengthy touring trips (4 months during which I "covered" Thailand, Sri Lanka, China and southern India), and 5 weeks in Vietnam, realize that I prefer to go to one place, find an apartment, unpack my bags, and settle in, taking little trips from the centre. I am actually repeating a destination which I never would have done previously as I so much enjoyed where I was last year and am happy to have the familiarity of basic logistics. While I want to see the major sights, also want to dig a little deeper into the local culture, learn the language, and just wander and soak up the atmosphere.

I find the touring with having to find accommodations, unpack, figure out what's happening, and start that again in 4 - 5 days way more stressful than I used to. I no longer want to share a room with strangers, but will take a private room in a hostel for the socialization at times, or a basic hotel with private bathroom. I will be staying in a highly rated B&B in Mexico City this time which will definitely be an upward step.

Lotusland. The $60 per month covers unlimited use of the phone for either phone or web usage. My kids all have these as their ONLY phones so it works for them and their plan is for inside Canada. I've no idea what roaming charges would be.

What will work best for me I've yet to figure out because the $60 would not cover unlimited use out of the country. That is the only time I would use it a lot. So perhaps it will be better for me to buy the phone and then buy time as I need it.

Solo, stay in local guest/rest houses, sometimes in villages, sometimes with friends - depending on where I am - always use public transport, and tend to hang out with locals rather than with other travellers/tourists.

My most memorable travel moments have been with the locals. Fantastic stuff. That's the reason we travel! To see other cultures and experience them...not hang out with other travelers....

Homestay in a yurt in Mongolia
Homestay in Siberia with a guitar playing Russian, drinking until 2am and having a blast.
Homestay in Croatia where grandma cooked us great local food and told stories
Homestay in Nepal, watching daughter cook meals on a tiny fire
Homestay in Thailand in the mountains, showering under a small waterfall.
Too much fun....

The last ten years we have mostly backpacked and stayed in small, local accomodation, arranged as we went along, although we always book the first and last nights of a trip. We also splurge occassionally for something unique or special for us.

We have just booked a European holiday through a travel agent, with accomodation and transfers ready booked and a cruise. I've drawn the line at pre-arranged tours. Using an agent and pre-booking are fairly new for us. The last time we were in Europe was nearly twenty years ago with a backpack and suitcase (no wheelie cases then) and two children, so this is going to be very different.

I realised I was a travel snob when I felt too embarrassed to tell people we were going on cruise (that decison is a looong story).

The comparison will be interesting and I'm determined to keep an open mind, even with the 2,000 new friends onboard ship.

Anyone here a homeless traveler?
By homeless I mean you no longer maintain a residence, your only address being wherever you are (maintaining a mailing address doesn't count).
I've been living this way close to nine years. I did this when I was younger as well (59 now), but would eventually have to return to the home country to work when the wallet went dry. I didn't consciously plan it this way, but it looked like the goal of my one-time career was to return to this way of living.

I guess serial relocater (if there is such a word) is more apt than traveler. I had a converter backpack, and realized the only times I used the back-straps in the past five years was when taking moto-taxi rides in SE Asia. I just traded it in for a suitcase sort of thing, which came in quite handy for the kind of things I was carrying – I just transitioned from SEA to S. America. I'm a firm believer in detachable wheels/folding luggage carts. The few times I tried bags with built-in wheels the wheels turned crap within weeks, meaning having to carry the weight of the useless built-in cart. However, the wheels on my new square (interpret that as you will, but here I use it to describe its shape) bag are pretty impressive so far, but I still have my heavy-duty foldup cart. I consider my luggage my mobile home. A good deal of it is a surplus of stuff I find essential that I know is difficult to come by, like particular types of vitamins; for those of you who never had to plan for more than a few weeks supply these things can add up, in both weight and bulk.

The tactics and style of living this way would be a different topic. If there's enough interest in it we should start a new thread.

I have found that unless you return to a base at least once every three years, you tend to become embittered and shabby. After meeting a few like that I resolved to make it a rule to return to base and live the normal life for a while to let balance re establish. Many of us will have run across old travellers who complain about everything and get little joy from travels but seem condemned to travel on. I know I have....
The problem may partly be that when you are able to just move on when you feel unhappy, to another horizon, you lack the character building that facing your problems develops, and just bail out yet again....