DISQUS

Talking to fellow travelers is so ridiculously important. I always take advantage of the gossip at hostels, full of ideas of places to go. I've traveled without guidebooks a fair bit, and asking around (locals, travelers, etc.) has always worked out.

As other commenters have pointed out, creating plans that leave room for flexibility to take advantage of recommendations and word of mouth might be the most important...

I'll second Matt; most people just want answers. But we all have different goals, commitments, value structures, backgrounds and experiences, there will never be a single answer to "should I travel"; thus thank you Christine for continuing to share many of your own questions and answers.

Discovering travel is an amazing thing. I've been intermittently living that life forever; I probably discovered that life when I was 13 in the Bahamas, but I seem to "re-recognize" and value the experiences of travel in a new way every time :)

Cruising can be a great lifestyle; some people only do it for a couple years, for others it is a life. I've seen the life first-hand: my parents took my brother and I to the Bahamas for a year on the family sailboat when I was in middle school and I sampled the cruising life as a child, perhaps the best life experience I have ever had. People talk about the equipment, but it's the attitude and mindset that is far more important.

Someday I'd like to cruise for a bit myself...

When you're traveling long-term, it's no longer a trip, it's just life; and that simple difference changes your entire approach and frame.

Actually deciding what you want to do every day and doing it has an enormous impact on forcing you to determine priorities and figure out if those wishes are really nothing but wishes; it's not easy, but it's worth it.

But think if Twitter could match up substance better; everyone that uses the web (including Twitter) creates a lot of information about themselves that could be very powerful to use in matching up people.

We don't need to replace the serendipity of life, just add to it...

(an old thought: http://twitter.com/tdavidson/status/1000937745 )

Taylor Davidson's last blog post..Be Undeniably Good

Christine: Oddly enough, I think I did the exact same thing when I got to Puerto Vallarta last year: I took the right bus the wrong way from the airport and ended up in some small little town in the mountains rather than old town Puerto Vallarta. When the bus stopped in the small town and everyone got off, I tried to ask the bus driver if they were going back the other way, failed, and just waited until a new driver came in, shook his head, and started driving. There was a couple anxious minutes :)

The full story: http://www.taylordavidson.com/writing/2007/05/1...

Amazing...

Bouncing between cultures, between bubbles, even between cliques or groups of people with ingrained, inflexible shared values and beliefs, is always tough.

Perhaps the only group we really "belong to" is that group of similar travelers...

Life is an adventure if you make it a priority.

Managing priorities is more important than managing time, a point you've proved (and am continuing to prove) to many,,,

I'm with Matt: $45 is pretty easy, even staying in hotels (outside of the urban centers like Mexico City).

I agree with all the points on how to live and get around. My parents (who are by no means "backpackers") travel in Mexico for months at a time and live pretty easy in that range. Which shows how easy it can be...

Planning ahead of time is perhaps the most important point: but it's also the biggest holdup. Finding the balance between planning everything out and being open to serendipity is tough, but fun.

Right now I'm having fun convincing my parents to keep my unused (but needed at some point in the future!) stuff in their garage...

Think about it: it's a great time!

I'll admit that most of your individual situation in your job is probably unaffected by outside economic variables, but you probably won't be giving away much upside potential while being unemployed in a downturn.

Most of the upside potential (raises, promotions, new jobs at higher salaries) would come during better macro-economic times as companies use external variables to justify changes like that.

And then once (if?) the recession pasts, it'll be easier to fund a job anyway...

I would argue photographs are digital goods that reached a level of creation and distribution digitally far faster than music.

The bigger question around digital goods is how they can and will be disaggregated and recombined in short and long form mediums...

Less opportunity for the mediocre to ride the bubble, but just as much opportunity for the great. The fact remains that startups are created to solve problems and problems still exist during recessions: in fact economic turbulence creates a multitude of problems to be addressed.

It's interesting to note that this is a multi-turn game, an ongoing negotiation / arm-wrenching, not a static, one-time decision.

My bet is that Google knows they have to start prying open the carriers' control over handset applications, and that this arrangement is just the first step. Perhaps showing operators, developers and consumers the potential of a true open market will open their minds and eyes.

Remember the game Google played with the C-Block licenses in the US spectrum auctions...

Continuing down the path of existing advertising models is simply throwing more and more money at less and less attention. "VRM" is a criminally under-invested opportunity. The industry needs different, not new...