Ask a Globetrotter

[K.K. Slider 391]

globe•trot•ter

n. - a person who travels regularly to countries all over the world.

 

I've received enough PMs over the months to bother making an ask thread. Please be patient in waiting for a reply, I keep myself busy these days.

 

Hitchhiking backpacker and long distance (1,682 miles/2,707 km) cyclist from Michigan.

Traveling since June 2013

Overseas since October 6th

• Been to 19 countries on 3 continents with 25 more lined up for the next year
• Traveled all over the United States for 4 months
• Attended 9 brony conventions on 3 continents and going to another this year
• Spent a month riding a pedal bike across the United Kingdom and Ireland
• Hitchhiked about 900~ miles (1,448 km)
• Spent 27 non-consecutive days hiking & camping in deep wilderness
• Experienced more crazy adventures and hijinks than I care to count
• Is a nerd who likes video games, music, movies, and cartoon horses like anybody here; even if I haven't had the opportunity to game lately

Questions about traveling (or random nonsense)? I'll try to answer as thoroughly as possible. Edited August 15, 2014 by K.K. Slider

[CadetGrey 267]

[This post is hidden. No offense to anyone, but I am no longer part of the community and no longer wish to be an (active) part of the forums. I treasure the friendships I made along the way. Thank you!]

Edited March 28, 2021 by CadetGrey

[SparklingSwirls 21,268]

What's your least favorite part about traveling?

[K.K. Slider 391]

What was your most memorable experience as a traveler?

Also, did you ever go somewhere with certain expectations, but got something completely different once you got there?

Hitchhiking 280 miles (450 km) eastwards across British Columbia from Vancouver to a small artsy hippie town up in the Kootenays mountain range, over the course of 9 days. I didn't go straight there but stopped all over the province.

 

A little background; it's the end of August '13 and I flew in to attend BronyCAN, Canada's first horse convention. (Their board is hosted here on Poniverse and that's the very thing that brought me to MLPF btw. ) At first I was going to spend a week hiking and camping on Vancouver Island after the con ended but instead decided on a whim to hitch to Nelson. I've heard fellow backpackers in hostels constantly talking about it and it was the place to be.

 

Now up to this point I had hitched many times before, but never such a distance. I had a rough idea of the route I wanted to follow and carried everything I would camping so getting stranded in the remoteness of Canada wasn't a concern. I've been to Canada before, but only for weekend warrior party excursions to Vancouver from Seattle. Nothing I had experienced beforehand would prepare me for what I saw and did during this time. I even think it's against the forum rules to discuss some specifics, so I'll PM the full story when I get the time.

 

Shorthand though -

• Got picked up by a badass in a big truck who plowed through the most insane mountain weather I've ever seen, as everyone else pulled off the road. In his words - "They're a bunch of cowards!"
• Rode with a pair of car thieves and hard drug users from Surrey, a part of Van's metro known for car theft and crime. If you have seen the movie Pulp Fiction, they were just like that couple in the opening scene. I'm positive the vehicle was loaded with burgled goods. Was around them for a few days and it was one of the most insane times in my life. Learned a lot, things you could never learn sitting at home.
• Been helped out by a young husband & wife; some of the most genuine people I've met after camping out in a corn field. Bailed from the crazies mentioned above and woke the following morning, packed up in the rain and started walking down the road. They stopped and took me back to their ranch home, got a shower (after not having one in 3 days), the best organic steak sandwiches ever, directions, a dual sign to hitch with, a thermos filled with coffee and a ride back to the highway. Definitely needed it after being with the nutters.
• Stopped in a farm town to work (illegally without a visa) on apple/peach orchirds during harvest season. At least a thousand other backpackers from as far as Europe and South America were there and come every year. Epic parties on the beach squat (illegal encampment). I didn't work so much because I needed the money (I'm still traveling 10 months later) but for the life experience. The work was extremely competitive but the pay was good.
• Met some dead heads/hippies when I got stuck near a river on a Native reservation. Hijinks ensued.
• Made it to Nelson, went camping in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park right as a storm system rolled in for the next few days. The main pic in my profile is the ascent up Battleship Peak (5,900 feet/1,800 meters) in said park. I was rained on everyday, almost all the time, but I did get short periods where it was calm. If it wasn't pouring, it was usually drizzling. Did not pack adequate cold weather gear. When at elevation everything is MUCH colder, doubly so when you're damp/wet. Saw 4 people; all of them on my way back out as the weather started clearing up. Such as it is. Left after 4 days because I was running out of food. That was the hardest thing I ever experienced but I feel like nothing could ever get wetter or colder than that and so I came out a much out tougher person. Hitchhiked 9 miles (16 km) down a winding, unpaved mountain road...standing on a ladder attached to the outside of a jeep. Not as dangerous as it sounds as I had rails on the top to grip and the driver was very careful & cautious of potholes. Gave me snacks and a beer before we went our separate ways. Got another ride back to Nelson after 5 minutes.
• From Kokanee (shortest to longest) -
  Valley Walk
• Came extremely close to renting out a room in Nelson for the winter but instead went back to Seattle...so I could fly to Frankfurt, Germany. That was October 6th - I was in B.C. for a little over a month. I've only been back in the States for less a week since, and it was flying from Tokyo to San Francisco for BABSCon...then flying back to Tokyo. Here's me and Ashleigh Ball, Appledash's voice actress. I'll be attending BronyCon for my third year in less than two weeks and then returning to Europe.

I think the experience will always be the closest to me as it was my first taste of truly being loose in the wind. I had been all over the States for 4 months prior to that and even though Canada is very similar culturally, I simply did and learned too much for it to ever be usurped. Even two and a half months in Japan can't top it!

 

Anyway, that's the short version!

 

---

 

I'd say pretty much everywhere I've been wasn't quite what I imagined in my head. This is exactly why I put so much emphasis on getting out there - you're only gonna see it (and consequently know/understand) if you leave.

 

P.S. Cadet - Your country was once again lovely to me, I look forward to coming back yet again someday! Some strange things in the Netherlands.

 

What's your least favorite part about traveling?

Not having my computer! But I do have Animal Crossing: New Leaf (where my namesake is from) to keep me company. I'll be home for exactly one week in November for Thanksgiving before heading for Mexico so I know exactly what I'll be doing the whole time!

 

I also miss my dog and American candy like York, Junior Mints, and Milk Duds. You can find Hershey everywhere though; it's like the Coca-Cola of candy! Also...Taco Bell, which I had the opportunity to eat in Japan. Was hanging with a military brony stationed there and he took me on base where they have everything you can find back home. Ate like a glutton and didn't feel one bit bad about it afterwards!

 

Also Raisin Bran/American cereal. European cereal is terrible! That's all.

Edited July 23, 2014 by K.K. Slider

[Bojo 1,171]

Okay, knowing that you're in Paris right now, I've got 2 questions for you, sir.

 

1. Have you been to Paris before?

2. Which are your main places to visit in Paris (this time)?

 

Oh, and here is the random nonsense:

 

 

[Philosopher Pone 108]

Can you tell something about your travels to Poland? What do you think about the country and people?

[K.K. Slider 391]

Okay, knowing that you're in Paris right now, I've got 2 questions for you, sir.

 

1. Have you been to Paris before?

2. Which are your main places to visit in Paris (this time)?

 

Oh, and here is the random nonsense:

 

 

Nope! The first 3 month tour of Europe I did I was intending to but ended up going east instead!

 

I'm in Cologne, Germany at the time of this post but I managed to squeeze in most of the main sights I wanted to see. They include -

 

The Eiffle Tower

The Lourve (former palace turned into a world class art gallery containing pieces like the Mona Lisa)

Napoleon's tomb

Arc de Triomphe

Notre Dame

This is a pic from Brussels, Belgium but tiny horse so why not?

 

The plush is a prize I won in a mass rock, paper, scissors tournament at Japan Ponycon Spring '14. I'd recommend anyone go to Paris at least once!

 

@random nonsense

 

Can you tell something about your travels to Poland? What do you think about the country and people?

Story time!

 

It's early summer of 2012 (before I started traveling) and I'm looking over BronyCon's forum for people to fill my hotel room. This is common practice at conventions in order to cut the costs down by splitting the bill. I spot two people who would become my roomies; an Australian and a Polish brony from Kraków.

 

This was ?ukasz Szóstak, who is still to this day the only Polish brony who has been to a convention overseas. I mention this because he is the reason why I even went to Poland in the first place.

 

I was also rooming with my friend from Michigan and we planned to do a 3 day tour of New York City after the con ended, as it's a 15 minute bus ride across the river from the con in Secaucus, New Jersey. I invited the others to come along, and being from faraway lands everybody was interested. Ended up touring with a Dutch brony and another American as well. ?ukasz and I didn't really hit it off very well; I'll mention this later in the story. It wasn't negative or anything like that, just a lack of chemistry. The con and tour ended and everyone went their separate ways.

 

Fast forward a year and a half. It's early November and I'm in Prague, Czech Republic doing my first Eurotrip. The Australian sent a mass email to people from the tour asking how everyone was doing. I then recalled ?ukasz lived in Kraków, about a 6-7 hour bus ride away. I always wanted to see crushingly depressing insanity known as Auschwitz (which is an hour from Kraków) for myself anyway so why not drop by? Unlike my current Eurotrip, I had no plans and was just living day by day (as evident by my 4 week stay in Amsterdam and Prague).

 

He was happy to invite me to crash at his apartment for a week. What was supposed to be a week in Poland turned into a little over a month. I didn't spend that whole time in Kraków though. What I didn't know at the time of the con was that ?ukasz is the organizer for the largest brony meetups in Poland, and also runs the local convention. He knew bronies everywhere and introduced me to them. Practically no foreign bronies come to Poland and especially not from as far away as the United States so people were very keen to meet and hang. Not much was going on in the dead of winter. I've made many friends during this time, who I still keep in touch with to this day.

 

Season 4 was just around the corner and ?ukasz suggested I go to Gda?sk for the Tri-City bronies' (one of the largest Polish brony fandoms) premiere event. About 130 attended. My reception was arranged by Spidi, who manages the local fandom for the Tri-Cities. I was provided with a space to crash every night for a week at a different brony's house. Drank copious amounts of vodka almost every night, something I would later learn the Tri-City fandom is well known for. The afterparty for the premiere meet was pretty crazy!

 

Sure enough, I moved onto Warsaw and did much the same. There's a gaming pub called Level Up there, definitely check it out! Eventually I decided to continue on with my tour (going to Slovakia, Austria, and Germany) but returned to party with the Gda?sk bronies in a middle-of-nowhere cabin for New Years. Here's a picture of the results. (I'm the dude on the floor )

 

 

My 90 days visa-free in the European Union ran dry shortly after, so I returned to Warsaw for a night and flew to Hong Kong. I was originally intending to pickup a visa for mainland China but instead impulsively jumped on a flight to Thailand. But that's another story.  

---

During this time I didn't just meet bronies but people from all walks of life. I was received with warmness and generosity and even regular people found a Yank being around in the dead of winter to be quite a novelty. It's different for everyone, but despite all the social (and other) issues Poland has & the jokes/bad rep people in other countries give it, I had a good time. Polish people can sometimes leave the impression of being closed off and cold but I've experienced much the same from the Czech. When you consider its history, it's not really surprising.

 

Even ?ukasz was like this at first, as far back as BronyCon. I've heard a Polish guy joke that you're not Polish if you smile, and looking back on it I can laugh too. But like anyone, once people warm up they express themselves more. You just gotta take the time to get to know them.

 

As a country you guys have come a long way and while there's always something to improve on (I found politics to be especially heated and wasn't a big fan of the widespread racism, which comes off as being acceptable depending on who's the scapegoat/target) no country is perfect. I left with such a good impression, I'm returning for a 2 week tour in only 10 days from now! I didn't mention it in the story, but I wasn't just partying and hanging the whole time. I was majoring in history before dropping out to travel full time and Poland (Europe as a whole, really) has no shortage of it. I left with a much broader understanding of its history and culture; one of the things I emphasize when traveling and the primary reason why I even do it in the first place.

 

Anyway, just my two cents. I hope my reply was adequate.

 

P.S. Kurwa & na zdrowie are the two most important phrases to know. You get mad respect.

Edited July 30, 2014 by K.K. Slider

[SCS 7,445]

Do you ever plan to visit Antarctica?

[K.K. Slider 391]

Do you ever plan to visit Antarctica?

At a time I did...until I realized how ridiculously expensive and restrictive a visit is. At least there's the documentary Frozen Planet/Planet Earth to take me there.

[SCS 7,445]

Travelling frequently is something I definitely want to get into. I don't know if I'd get into the globetrotter lifestyle specifically, but I really want to see what else is out there.

 

The thing is, I have no idea where to get started with stuff like this. How did you start?

 

Also, the money issue. Sorry if this is a personal question, but how can you afford to travel this much? There's no way I could at this point in time, unless I'm missing something.

[K.K. Slider 391]

Travelling frequently is something I definitely want to get into. I don't know if I'd get into the globetrotter lifestyle specifically, but I really want to see what else is out there.

 

The thing is, I have no idea where to get started with stuff like this. How did you start?

 

Ultimately it was the realization that the degree I was shooting for wasn't going to land me any career I'd want. Just the kind of stuff that wasn't me. I was becoming increasingly fed up with not having done or accomplished anything meaningful with my life and university just wasn't working out. I had always knew that someday I'd get out and see what existed 'Outside' and finally hit my breaking point. I dropped everything in early June 2013 to travel to Harpers' Ferry, West Virginia - the halfway point on the Appalachian Trail.

 

Prior to this I had absolutely no experience long distance hiking or camping. But I did come equipped with knowledge from intensive research I started to do in late March, when I had the completely random idea to spend some time on the AT. In contrast to later ideas (going to Europe, Thailand, Japan, cycling across the United Kingdom and Ireland, etc.) it was the most thought out of the bunch. Despite this there were many things I could only learn through hands on experience. Ended up dumping 10 pounds worth of gear by the second day, haha. The major components I bought (backpack, trekking poles, tent, stove) I couldn't be happier with and I still carry it all around the world with me to this day.

 

I ended up walking about 250~ miles northbound until towards the end of the month. I'm sure I'll go back someday to hike the entire trail, perhaps even next year. Drove across the country to Seattle with one of my older brothers (in the US Army Rangers) who was being transfered to another base. I'd spend a month and a half in Washington (state) up until I went to BronyCAN.

 

One of the other major factors in leaving for me was the place I grew up and lived in, Detroit. I went through the years absolutely certain there were greener pastures out there. Frankly, I was getting fucking sick of the people I was surrounded by no matter where I went, whether it be at uni, work, or at the store. It's the kind of place where you don't walk around with more than $20 in your pocket or anything you couldn't afford to lose. It's living with paranoia. Not fun.

 

----

 

As far as backpacking in cities goes, it's definitely a lifestyle. There isn't a fixed way of doing it as everyone has their own preferences for comfort, security, expenses, etc. but there's two specifics that are a must IMO.

 

- Hostels. Accommodation with shared facilities (dorms, kitchen, bathroom/shower, common room, etc.) though most also have much more expensive private rooms. This is infinitely cheaper than staying in a hotel and usually have a very social atmosphere. You can meet people from all over the world without even stepping outside. Most also organize walking tours and pub crawls; some even have a pub in the hostel. I wouldn't be able to travel for so long if hostelling wasn't a thing. Not all hostels are created equal and you can find some for incredibly low prices but you get what you pay for. I find hostels in the United States (normally a branch of Hosteling International) to be very generic and lacking personality compared to ones overseas. I use Hostelworld for everything. Here's some pictures of Castle Rock Hostel in Edinburgh, Scotland.

 

- Eating. This can quickly become one of your biggest expenses if you eat out all the time. Most but not all hostels have a kitchen so you'll save tons by hitting the local supermarket and preparing your own meals.

 

In the end it's a question of what you like doing and what you want to see. Once you're somewhere with your backpack the world is yours. Some people operate on a shoestring, others are out for only a week and have saved up to go big or go home. Only you can decide how to do it. It's literally just going from place to place with a backpack filled with everything you need to survive, plus creature comforts.

 

Also, the money issue. Sorry if this is a personal question, but how can you afford to travel this much? There's no way I could at this point in time, unless I'm missing something.

 

Like talking about the show, this is something I almost entirely have reservations about discussing in depth online. With that said...

• I had been working since I was 15, at times holding multiple jobs. Detroit doesn't have much of a job market so you take what you can get, build up your résumé/work experience, and basically try to be a jack of all trades.
• I didn't spend money on creature comforts. Living frugally goes a long way. It wasn't out of necessity but rather intending to one day spend it on a couple of things, one of them being traveling
• Budgeting. Probably one of the things I'm best at. I only spend a certain amount and if live within the realms of the budget I can make it last a long time. If I don't spend my daily limit, I can 'pile' it into a pocket fund. I have multiple funds for specific things. Much of my money goes into a bed, getting from A to B (except when hitchhiking, but it's something I do more for adventure rather than saving money), and fun stuff.
• Investing. Stocks and a few other things. This is one of the two that ended up putting me in the black rather than the red with uni. The other I won't discuss online.
• Long range planning. Exactly what it says on the tin. Goes hand in hand with the above.

But I'm by no means rich, unlike what most people assume. I do have money set aside to move across the country (probably to California or somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, maybe Colorado when I one day check it out) and to start a new life when my roots do settle but it's not an unthinkable sum. Flying from Tokyo to San Francisco and back for BABSCon/Frankfurt, Germany to Baltimore and back for BronyCon this year really was a kick in the nuts. Any unexpected expenses (like replacing my glasses and Nexus 7) is dipping into a fund that can't steadily take heavy hits. Even throwing money at this forum could readily be spent in more productive ways but at the end of the day, it's not asking for much when compared to daily expenses. I just see it as two pints at the pub...well, more than two here in Poland. 

 

Hope I touched on enough points there, sorry for the slow reply!

[SparklingSwirls 21,268]

Of all the countries that you have "lined up" for next year, which one(s) are you looking forward to visiting the most?

Edited August 15, 2014 by SparklingSwirls