The Language Barrier

No, my attempt at a joking point is that the Hebrew is Shalom Alechem and the Arabic is Salaam Alaykum and sashac seemed to be confusing the two.

Thank You every one for the advice

I'm not confusing the 2, I'm just not spelling correctly Myanmar. I did ask that the spelling be excused. I suppose my Jewish upbringing overshadowed my scant Arabic knowledge. :)

When I first moved abroad, my mum, probably for her own amusement, sent me a little book called something like "Point". It had pages filled with pictures of just about everything you might need to ask for - food, hotels, medicines, drinks, clothing, tools, animals, transport...

I was just staying in one country, so I found it vaguely amusing but chose to learn the language rather than head into shops armed with this little picture dictionary. But it did strike me that it would be useful for the situation you describe - or travelling through many countries with many different languages.

I just found a link - might be worth it just for the health section... http://www.amazon.com/Point-Travellers-Language-Dieter-Graf/dp/3980313026

If you're going on the road for several years, you'll figure it out as you go, what suits you best, how easy it is for you to pick up languages and to what degree, maybe you'll decide to stay longer in certain places etc. As nutrax suggested, it would be very good to take a language course before you go. If you're consistent student, you can learn e.g. Spanish in a few months to a decent conversational level. Depending on how much time and money you have, you could also try something more difficult. But certainly do learn a few pleasantries and basic words in the local languages, you can do it on the way of course.

As for comfort zone, the safest approach that would also work best for most people is indeed, but if you feel adventurous, you could also just plunge into e.g. rural China. In any case don't stick too much to your itinerary :-), do as you feel, especially in places without visa obstacles for you (Americas, Turkey and on to Europe). You'll also see how comfortable you feel in "less civilized" places, some people hit a bottom and can't get below certain level... In fact that's true for many cultural aspects, but certainly try before you decide what you don't like.

The best thing about your post is that you are not starting with the assumption that many English speakers do - that is that everyone in the world should be able to accommodate you by speaking English. However I do think that you have set yourself a big task. There is no way you could learn all of the languages necessary unless you are a langugage genius.

My experience is that visiting a smaller number of places for a longer time works best. Take your time and go with the flow. I am also a big fan of phrase books to know how to say some basic things.

The area of the world that I know best is SE Asia and you will find that there are very similar systems in all SE asian countries so once you are familiar with how things work you can drop into a new country a be fairly confident of getting to the places you want to go including acquiring the necessities of life and even getting connected with the local people.

Perhaps even more than language what is needed to travel extensively is an open mind and an attitutude that the journey rather than the destination is the most important thing.

I dont think that you have to start with an English speaking or European country. SE Asia is a well trodden path and could provide you with a relatively gentle introduction to a world outside the US.

Have fun.