Nomadic Matt's Travel Site

8 Great Alternative Budget Vacation Ideas

2012-02-09T16:12:26Z

While many of us dream of world travel, or, at least taking a few months off from work in pursuit of adventure, for many it’s not always feasible. While I frequently talk about long-term travel and round the world trips, I know that realistically, not everyone can travel that way. I don’t think traveling the world is hard, but I also know that what I do isn’t for everyone. For a number of reasons, people just aren’t able to do it.

But there are many other ways to travel the world and even if I won’t find you backpacking Cambodia, I still want to see you travel. The two most common reasons that stop people from traveling are time and money. But you don’t need to be rich or have three months off a year to take a vacation. There are many ways to get on the road and see the world if you are cash-strapped and time-poor. Here are eight ways to travel and explore the world when you don’t have a lot of time and are on a tight budget:

Be a Local Tourist – How often do you visit the tourist sites in your own city? Hardly ever, right? I know New Yorkers who have never seen the Statue of Liberty and Bostonians who have never walked the Freedom Trail. I once took a friend on a tour of Amsterdam because, despite growing up there, she had never seen the local attractions that lure millions of visitors per year to the city. I am also guilty of doing this. It took me 5 years to see the Jim Thompson House in Bangkok and I’ve still never been to Bunker Hill in Boston despite spending the first 24 years of my life there. We always put it off until tomorrow because when we live in the city, there is always a tomorrow.

So make your vacation that tomorrow. If you’re short on time and money there’s no better way to take a vacation than to take one in your own city. No matter what the size, your city has a number of wonders just waiting to be explored.

One important point for becoming a “local tourist” is to check out of your house and into a hotel/hostel/guesthouse. It’s important to get out of your familiar environment because, if you stay home, you’ll find something to do around the house and create excuses on why you can’t sightsee. Moving to a different location can help give you that feeling of adventure, excitement, and unfamiliarity.

Travel Regionally – Travel brings to mind far-away and exotic destinations. It invokes images of all the places we’ve dreamed of and seen in movies. Because of that, few people look in their own backyard for adventure — but your backyard offers many places to travel. I grew up in Boston and from there, I could visit New Hampshire, the woods of Maine, the bed and breakfasts of the Berkshire Mountains, or the farms of Vermont. New York was a 4 hour car ride from home. You don’t have to fly across an ocean to explore the world. Head to the bookstore and buy a regional guidebook and see what there is to see in your neighborhood. Your backyard holds as many possible travel destinations as does a country half a world away.

Go Camping – The great outdoors presents a great chance to go somewhere on the cheap. Camping, after all, costs very little money. Park fees in National Parks in America are $15 dollars. Additionally, you come stocked with all your own supplies and accommodation (i.e. a tent) so you won’t have to worry about spending money at expensive restaurants. Your food bill is whatever you spend on groceries and nothing more.

You don’t need to love camping to go spend time in the national parks either. I hate camping. I need toilets, beds, and especially hot water. I’m not the camp-in-a-tent kind of guy. Luckily, many parks provide cabins that you can use. While hiking the Grand Canyon, I stayed at a national park lodge at the bottom. I had a room in a dormitory but for a few nights, it was the cheap accommodation I needed.

Book a Last-Minute Cruise – Cruises are normally very expensive, with a 5 day Caribbean cruise costing over $600 USD. But if you’re the last passenger running onto that ship, you can get a sweet bargain. Cruise lines always offer incredible last-minute deals. A quick look at http://cruise.expedia.com/ shows last-minute cruising going for around half that at $348 USD. Plus, cruise operators always throw in some on-board amenities, free upgrades, and cash vouchers to sweeten the deal.

And now, because of the Costa Concordia cruise disaster, travelers are beginning to rethink their trips and cancel so cruise lines want to make sure people keep booking. There will be a lot of good deals right now.

Think Outside The Box – Forget Mexico and go to Guatemala. Skip Paris and head to Budapest. Forget Italy and see Greece (it’s really cheap!). Ditch Brazil and see Bolivia. The list goes on and on. Travel counter to the prevailing trend. Zig when everyone zags. If people are going in the summer, you go in the spring or winter. Skip the popular destinations and head off the beaten path a bit.

Contrarian travel will save you a bundle of money. It’s like reverse commuting. Whenever one heads into the city in the morning for work and is stuck in traffic, you breeze the opposite way hassle free. The same is true for travel. Flights to Europe in the summer can cost over $1,000 dollars. In the winter? Half that. It might not be the most ideal time to go or your favorite destination, but thinking of places off the beaten path and visiting in the off season is going to save you a lot money.

Book a Last-Minute Tour – Just like cruises, tours are best booked last-minute. Tour companies need to fill the seats just like cruise companies because once that trip departs, they still have the same costs. Last-minute tour bookings work the same way as cruise bookings. My favorite company, G Adventures (I’ve been using them since my first trip abroad), often has 15-30% discounts on last-minute tours. That’s a pretty good savings.

Why are tours and cruises so cheap last-minute? Well, think about how people plan vacations. People are predisposed to planning. You get the time off work, you book your vacation, you buy your flight, and you go. Since people pre-book, prices are higher in advance because these companies understand booking patterns and then price accordingly. Hardly anyone wakes up and says “Today, I’m going on a cruise.” So as departure time nears, companies know people aren’t likely to turn up and book on departure day so they sweeten the point to increase bookings. So take the time off work, wait until the week before, see what’s cheap, and then go.

Volunteer – If you’ve been thinking about doing something positive or giving back for a while, voluntourism might just be the way to do it. The really good volunteer agencies like All Hands Volunteers will cover your room and board once you’re there so you just need to cover the cost of a plane ticket. Moreover, you aren’t going to have many chances to spend extra money either on your trip. You’ll be “working” and waking up early and, while there may be beers after work, you’re probably not going to get drunk when you have to wake up for “work” in the morning. Volunteering gives you a chance to give back to communities around the world without spending a lot of money.

House Sit – Accommodation can eat into the cost of a trip big time. You might get a good flight deal but then accommodation, even if you can find it cheaply, might push the cost of your trip into unaffordable territory. A way around that is to stay somewhere for free. While I like Couchsurfing, it’s hard to do that for two weeks without annoying your host. A unique way to overcome this is to house sit for someone while that someone else is on vacation. You get free accommodation, a kitchen to cook in, and the chance to explore one destination in depth. It’s a pretty unique way to travel and one that I know a lot of world travelers do.

Not everyone can jump overseas at the drop of a hat or wants to spend six months backpacking around Asia. Luckily, there’s more than one way to see the world. You might not have a lot of time or money, but there are plenty of ways for you to get out and see the world. Travel doesn’t always mean some fancy vacation to Mexico or some six month trip around Europe.

Travel is simply the art of going somewhere new and different and exploring everything the place has to offer. It doesn’t matter if you have two days, two weeks, or two months.

The Weekly Photo: Bath, England

2012-02-05T12:19:02Z

Looking out from the Roman baths in Bath, England

Phnom Penh, I Love You!

2012-02-06T11:41:43Z

It was 2007 and I was only meant to be in Phnom Penh for three days. I had less than a month in Cambodia before I moved to Thailand and I wanted to explore as much as possible and get off the tourist trail a bit. But three days became four, and four became seven, and seven became ten. Every day, I woke up and thought to myself “I’ll get the bus tomorrow” and rolled over and went back to bed.

I’d walk out of my room into the common area overlooking the lake and slink down next to my friends. “What movie are we watching today?” I would ask. Later, we’d go out for lunch, relax during the afternoon, and head out around town at night.

Phnom Penh was a city you just became stuck in. It sucked you in. It was laid back, cheap, filled with friendly locals, and an easy-going atmosphere. The locals were friendly, they were polite, and they were helpful. The pace of life here seemed adept at trapping other travelers and our group got bigger by the day as more people fell into the black hole that was Phnom Penh.

However, as the days ticked down on my visa, I knew I’d have to leave and when I finally did, I left in love with Phnom Penh.

I especially loved the gritty, Wild West feel the city had. Here the streets were still made of dirt, and cars and motorbikes raced around you in all directions as you gained upon an ox cart. People swarmed the streets. The buildings were a bit run down from years of neglect. Yet this was a city of contrasts with ritzy hotels standing next to abandoned buildings. Hell, they were still celebrating the arrival of ATM machines when I visited. The city was changing rapidly and there was such contrast that the feeling of possibility was tangible.

Now returning pretty much to the week 5 years later, so much of the city has changed and developed yet so much of it has stayed the same. Where before I had to walk miles for an ATM, there is now one on every corner.

Things are more expensive now, by which I mean meals now cost $1.50 to $2 USD instead of $1. Hotels that were once two dollars are now nine. Buses costs $5 USD instead of 4.

The most noticeable change is the lakeside district, once home to all the backpacker guesthouses, is now gone. It’s a tragedy that corruption and greed pushed over 4,000 people out of their homes and ruined one of the best areas of the city. (You can read my last post on the lake’s tragic destruction.)

There are more cars here and every shop now seems to be a mechanic’s garage. The roads of the city are now (mostly) paved; there are few overpasses now. Traffic is even worse than before.

It’s a city that has changed a lot since I was last here. There is a lot more money here, many nicer buildings, some shopping malls, and a lot more upscale restaurants. I’ve found some good sushi and Korean BBQ restaurants, which given the influx of Korean and Japanese money doesn’t surprise me much. Yes, Phnom Penh is developing.

But while the face of Phnom Penh might have changed, its heart has still remained the same.

It’s still gritty, polluted, and there is dust everywhere. Buildings are still run down, lots remain empty, the streets are still filled with chaos. People line the bars for hours on end on hot afternoons. Cars zoom past rickshaw drivers. The people still laugh on the corner like they used to and the old men play their domino games. Everyone is a hurry to get nowhere. Underneath the façade, it is still the crazy city it was those years ago.

Phnom Penh might not look like the city I fell in love with. Its exterior face has changed so much that I barely recognized it. It’s a new city. But that happens a lot in Asia. The pace of development is so rapid that years seem like decades of change here.

All those years ago, I came to Phnom Penh not really expecting much. I didn’t know a lot about the city. I simply imagined it to be a rundown city with not much worth staying for. Yet Phnom Penh became and still remains one of my favorite cities in the world. I loved Phnom Penh.

I was nervous coming back. When you walk away from a place with such fabulous memories, you can be scared to go back — because what if you only liked the place for the people and you return to find nothing but ghosts? What if the place you remember is now only a dream? I worry about that a lot when I travel but then I bite the bullet, fight the fear, and return to find that places can still be as wonderful as they were that first time around.

The Tragic Death of Phnom Penh’s Lake

2012-02-01T18:43:59Z

In my close to six years travel the world, my days on the lake in Phnom Penh, Cambodia still remain some of my favorite. I had come for a few days and stayed for a few weeks. I spent my days in the famous Number 9 Guesthouse on the lake, watching movies, having a few cold beers, meeting fellow travelers from around the world, and watching the sun set over the lake. We had a perfect view as the bank of the lake faced due west. At night, my friends (all of whom also got “stuck” in the city) and I would eat cheap Indian food, play poker, and head to our local haunt – The Drunken Frog. It was our “Cheers”. Everyone knew your name and I could put it all on my tab.

My experience was probably shared by thousands of other travelers who got stuck in Phnom Penh’s lake district. Sure, it was a bit seedy – a backpacker ghetto if there ever was one. There were the pushers, the touts, the dreads, bootleg movies, and cheap beer. But it was fun, relaxing, and a place that brought people together.

And it is no more.

Beoung Kak Lake has been completely filled in and destroyed. When I was here in 2007, there was talk about closing the area and pushing the residents out so developers could fill in the lake and build on the land. Well, the talk turned into action after I left and for the price of 88 million USD, Shukaku Inc, a firm run by the influential senator Lao Meng Khin (corruption anyone?) obtained a 99 year lease on the lake and the surrounding area.

And with that, the area’s fate was sealed.

I’ve heard of its decline in recent years. The encroaching sand and the departure of its residents. Now, that I’m back in Phnom Penh, I made sure to head over to see what was left of it first hand.

And, for the first time in my travels, I became deeply sad and angry over development. Development can bring a lot of benefits to a community, but here the flagrant disregard for people and the environment was too much and as I saw the area today, my heart sank — and is still sunk. It was heart wrenching to be there.

Gone is the lake, completely filled in except for a small strip of polluted sewage water. What once looked like this:

And this:

Now looks like this:

And from another angle:

And another:

Gone are the docks that stretch over the river where you could watch the sunset and bond with new friends while being attacked by mosquitoes.

The two dollar all-you-can-eat Indian place has been demolished:

And my favorite bar, The Drunken Frog? Boarded and locked up.

All that remains of this once vibrant area is a bunch of torn down buildings, empty lots, and shacks. Buildings that once held vibrant businesses are now tenements. A few businesses have held on and I saw three guesthouses still open. But there was less than a handful of people around. The lack of touts and tuk tuk drivers spoke to the fact that crowds had long disappeared.

“That place used to have a great breakfast,” I pointed out to my friend. “That’s where we played poker.” “That pile of rubble used to be a great seafood place.” “I used to stay here,” I said pointing to another place.

I wandered through the ruins of my memory and, as I stood on the pile of sand that was once the lake, I was deeply disturbed. There is a hole in my heart where the lake once was.

I don’t mind development. Places change, towns grow, societies develop. For the most part, I think development can be a very good thing, especially when it is done right. But looking around here I saw nothing but destruction and greed. The lake area was home to thousands of people who eeked out a life in a none too glamorous part of the city. They ran businesses here. Raised families here and lived lives that have been destroyed.

But as so often happens around the world, the locals were pushed aside for big money. Residents had very little legal recourse. The legal battle over eminent domain and just compensation was a farce. They were just told to leave, given a little compensation, and if they didn’t like it, too bad. The same thing happened in Ko Phi Phi after the tsunami, when locals were pushed out to make way for rebuilt resorts. Over the years Cambodia has become rife with corrupt land deals. Residents are kicked out in blatantly illegal moves that have even some people wishing for the Khmer Rouge, because “at least they had a place to live.” The residents are left with little compensation and a lot of unemployment and debt.

I’m sad that the lake district isn’t there anymore. I wish future travelers could have experienced the great memories that so many other people have before them.

But mostly, I’m sad and disappointed in the shortsighted nature that would fill in a lake, ruin a community, and destroy a section of town in the name of money. There was no real need to fill in this lake. The only “real” need was greed.

While a few families were allowed to stay and only after the prime minister intervened, thousands more weren’t so lucky. The lake could have been developed with the families in mind and the area saved. But that was not the case.

And so as officials enrich themselves in a clearly dubious and corrupt land deal, all that everyone else is left with is a pile of sand and a lot of resentment.

Editor’s Note: Save Boeung Kak has the latest on the ongoing battle between the residents who are trying to keep what is left of their homes and the government.

How Much a Holiday in Thailand Costs

2012-01-31T09:19:43Z

Thailand can be as expensive or inexpensive a country to visit as you want it to be. This is a country where you can stay in $3 USD per night rooms or $1000 USD per night resorts. Twenty cent street food or 300 dollar gourmet dinners. Thailand really runs the gamut. When my friends came to visit last December, they budgeted $1,700 USD for their 3 week trip. “No problem,” I said, “that’s more than enough for Thailand. This country is cheap.” But what I realized as I traveled with people on a limited time frame, is that there is big difference in budgeting for a backpacking trip versus budgeting for a holiday.

It requires a whole different mentality. It’s a lot easier to do that when you can average out your expenses over a few months instead of a few weeks. On a vacation, you tend to race around trying to see as much as you can, which can drive up your costs a lot.

Thailand is a very cheap country to live and travel around. I hardly spend much money here. But that changed when my friends came and why that changed is important for anyone planning to come to Thailand. While my friends were here, I spent a lot of money. For the 24 days we traveled, I spent $1,596.27 USD or $66.51 dollars per day. Here’s the numbers breakdown (all prices are in in Thai Baht):

Accommodation (cheap guesthouses, nice beach bungalows, luxury jungle huts) – 13,565
Flights around Thailand – 4,200
Transportation (public buses, trains, taxis) – 1470
Ferry to, around, and from the islands – 1875
Diving in Ko Tao – 800
Hiking in Khao Sok – 1200
Movie and Popcorn (Sherlock Holmes 2 – don’t see it!) – 320
Misc (bug spray, toothbrush, etc) – 363
Drinks (it was the holidays!) – 10,115
Jim Thompson House (museum in Bangkok) – 100
Medicine (I popped my ear drum scuba diving!) – 1,890
Food (street food, seafood dinners, international meals in Bangkok) – 11,000
Web stuff – 890
Water – 100

Total Spent: 47,888 Baht or $1,596.27 USD

Note: $1 USD = 30 Baht.

For Thailand, I think that is a lot of money. I tell people that backpacking around Thailand costs $30-35 USD per day depending on how much alcohol you consume and how many days you spend on the islands, where costs are higher. Most of the time, I spend less than that. I just stayed a week in the northern city of Chiang Mai and I only spent about $25 USD per day. That included accommodation (private room with bathroom), local food, Starbucks, the occasional Western meal, and a few drinks.

So Why Did I Spend Double?

Though my intention was to do “Thailand on a budget”, as I traveled with my friends, I realized something I forgot long ago. When time is limited and this is might be one of two big trips all year, you don’t want to scrape every penny. Vacations don’t need to cost a fortune but if you aren’t traveling all the time, then staying in the cheapest place to make your money last becomes less of an issue. You want nice things.

You travel faster. You take planes, not 12 hour trains. You cram more activities into your day. You pamper yourself more. You eat nicer meals.

And my friends definitely wanted all the above.

How Much Do You Need?

That’s not to say I don’t think a vacation in Thailand can’t be done cheaper. It can. I think a budget of around $50 USD per day would be perfect for a short vacation to Thailand. You don’t need to spend as much as I spent. I spent a lot of money going out, using the internet for work, and seeing a doctor. If I cut out those expenses, my average drops to 1,421.16 Baht or $47.31 USD per day. That’s more expensive than a backpacker budget but really good for a trip to Thailand.

Throw in some extra money for shopping, and a maximum of $55 USD per day would give you a very, very nice budget vacation in Thailand. For that price, you would get:

Flights so you don’t have to spend time on long bus rides.
Meals that include local restaurants and cheap street food as well as delicious seafood dinners and some delicious international food in Bangkok.
Budget guesthouses with a few “splurge” nights thrown in.
Some tours and activities.
A few drinks.
And a little extra wiggle room just in case.

Pretty much the essentials of any good, relaxing holiday.

While all the money-saving tips mentioned on my website can be applied to any style of trip you decide to take (saving money is universal), the speed in which you travel on a vacation changes the dynamic of how you spend money. We could have saved a lot if we skipped the flights and took the train but my friends didn’t have the time to spend 12 hours on a train. We flew, which during peak season, is expensive.

This experience brought reminded me how accelerated travel requires us to be more vigilant in our efforts to save money. In the rush to see everything, you can spend a lot of money before you even realize it. I’ll admit that the budget traveler I normally am went out the door on this trip. I would normally never fly around Thailand, would skip the expensive resorts, and wouldn’t eat as much international food as I did with my friends.

A three-week vacation in Thailand might not be as cheap as a three-month backpacking trip but it can still be inexpensive so long as you watch where your money goes and don’t forget about budgeting in your quest to see everything.

The Weekly Photo: St. Stephen’s Basilica

2012-02-02T03:47:39Z

The inside of St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest, Hungary

Unusual Place of the Month: Mini Holland

2012-01-27T15:02:43Z

As if Holland wasn’t small enough to travel around, if you are really pressed for time, you can visit the whole country all in one day by visiting Madurodam. Madurodam is a miniature “city” located just outside The Hague, Netherlands.

Madurodam is a scale model of the country and all the attractions and geographical features that make Holland famous. You can see the canals of Amsterdam, the Red Light district, Rotterdam harbor, Maastricht, Utrecht, the dikes that made Holland famous, castles, government buildings, and windmills. Madurodam even has an airport, beaches, little cars, tin people, and trains running through it. In fact, there’s pretty much a scale version (built to a scale of 1:25) of anything of importance or shows the daily life of the country.

There is even a mayor. In 1952, the teenaged Princess Beatrix was appointed mayor of Madurodam. Today, the mayor is elected by a youth council consisting of 25 students from schools in the region.

This major Dutch tourist attraction (it sees millions of visitors per year) was first built in 1952. It was named after George Maduro, a Jewish law student who fought as a member of the Dutch resistance and died at Dachau concentration camp in 1945. His parents donated the money to start the Madurodam project and since then it has just grown.

Thirty five people build and maintain the city. Every year one or two new buildings are added, while older ones get taken away.

I visited Madurodam with Guido from Happy Hotelier. I had heard about the city on a previous trip to The Netherlands and Guido, who lives in The Hague, agreed to indulge my inner child and take me. (Knowing someone with a car is wonderful.) Arriving there, I expected this amazing Legoland version of the country and, though I didn’t find that, I thought the “town” was still pretty interesting to wander around. The detail on the buildings is exquisite and they really put a lot of work into the smallest details. At night, 50,000 miniature light bulbs light up the city.

If you take photos at the right angles, the buildings can fill the frame enough to look like the real thing and you can pretend you actually visited the place. Mostly, I liked watching the airplanes “take off” from the Schiphol Airport, though the décor inside is a bit dated from the 70s. I just wanted to run on the tarmac and play with the planes like an eight year old boy.

Madurodam is open all year round. It is open from 9am to 9pm and tickets cost €12,50 for adults; children are €9, and adults aged 65 cost €11,50. You can get here by car or take the tram from The Hague Central Station. It is tram 9 or bus 22 in the direction of Scheveningen.

I wouldn’t make the half day journey from Amsterdam to see this site. It was interesting but to eat up a whole day for this? I’m not sure it was that interesting. But if you are looking for something a bit more off beat in a country where you end up seeing lots of canals, historic buildings, and art museums, make your way out here when you get to The Hague.

Has My Advice Helped You? I Want to Know!

2012-01-26T03:32:03Z

I need your help. Over the last four years I’ve produced over 1,000 pages of content on this website, which I can only assume have been helpful to people since my Google Analytics tell me I get return visitors and I don’t think my parents can hit refresh that many times!

So as I dot the I’s and cross the T’s on my book, I would like to include you in it.

If you have used this website and it has helped you to travel better and cheaper, I would like a quote from you about how my website had helped you.

If you have used any of the companies I’ve recommended in this book (tour companies, hostels, backpacks, booking sites, etc.), and liked them as much as I have, I would like to hear from you.

I’m going to create a section in the book quoting readers who have used any of my advice to improve their travels and I really hope that is you!

If you send me your thoughts, you’ll get a credit in the book for contributing. If you have a website, I will list your website too.

If you are interested in providing me a quote (and I really, really hope you are), e-mail me at:

nomadicmatt@nomadicmatt.com

Please title your e-mail “Nomadic Matt Book Quote”

I don’t often ask for things from you all but if you have used my website, it would mean the world to me to get a quote from you. I will be forever grateful.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

- Matt

P.S. – Penguin Books requires you to sign a release giving me permission me use your quote in the book. Apparently, it’s a legal thing.

Feeling Lost: My Fork in the Road

2012-01-24T04:56:32Z

With the end of my trip coming hard and fast, I’m at a crossroads. As I prepare to move on to the next stage of my life, two roads lay ahead of me and I’m not sure which one to take. I’ve always had this dream of living in Europe. I’ve traveled Europe a lot but I want to live in one place, learn the language, and experience European life as a local, not a tourist. I’ve always envisioned myself living in Paris, enjoying cheese, wine, smoked-filled cafes, and strolling down cobblestone streets at night with pretty French girls. But I think the life I imagine in Paris is the one I’ve seen overly romanticized in the movies I too often see. The Paris of the silver screen is different from the Paris of everyday life.

As I’ve come to that realization, the other city that most appeals to me in Europe is Stockholm. Paris pulls me with its mystique but really, Stockholm is more a realistic option. I have many friends there, the city is one of my favorite in the world, and I love and want to learn the language. (Plus, Swedish girls aren’t too bad on the eyes either!) The thought of living there over the spring and summer really excites me. Sweden in the summer is bursting with life and energy. After all, they don’t get a lot of nice weather up there so when they do, the Swedes take full advantage of it.

But the fork in my road is not between Paris and Stockholm. It’s between Stockholm and New York City. Or as my friend Jason has told me, it’s a choice between a veiled attempt at extending my trip and coming to terms with finally settling down.

And, in a way, he is right.

My soul burns for the Big Apple. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think about it. When people ask me where I call home, New York bursts out of my mouth without thinking. There’s nothing I don’t love about New York City. Seeing status updates from my friends and events I’m unable to attend makes me homesick for it even more. As I write this now, I can’t help but feel sad not being there. I belong there and when all my journeys do end, it is there I will reside.

But you don’t get do-overs in life. Opportunity knocks once. Doors open and close all the time but when a door closes, it locks itself. As Robert Frost once wrote in the The Road Not Taken, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.” Once you go down a path, there is no turning back.

If I move to NYC and skip Stockholm, will I ever get another chance to live in Europe as a (semi) young, carefree guy? Will I end up settling down, finding a girlfriend, putting down roots and then missing my chance to, just for a bit, be wild and carefree in Europe? Will I regret the missed opportunity?

Or will I move to Stockholm and hate it? Will I long for New York while I am there? Will I resist putting down some roots because I know Stockholm wouldn’t be forever? And would that become a self-fulling prophecy where it’s not forever because I resist making it that way?

As the clock ticks down to zero, I wonder if I’m really just trying to prolong my trip. Maybe I just want to be Peter Pan forever. When I go out, I see young backpackers, wild and carefree, and I think to myself, “Can’t I just stay in this world a little longer? Just one more month won’t hurt.”

After all, when my book comes out next year, I’ll have to come back to America anyway. Stockholm would just be temporary. Is spending 6 months in Sweden just a way for me to spend another 6 months living out of my backpack, trying to be Peter Pan a little longer?

I know I want roots. I want to have a gym. I want friends to call. I want restaurants where I can become a regular. I want the local hangout.

But as the end nears, I’m afraid. Travel is all I know. It’s part of who I am. I haven’t settled in one place since I started traveling. Even when I stop for awhile, I always know I’ll be moving on again. While I’ll never stop traveling, I’m worried I won’t deal well with being settled in one place and having roots.

Maybe Stockholm is my “bridge” from traveler to semi-nomadic.

I had hoped that as I wrote this article, I might come to some conclusion. I’ve agonized over this post for weeks but as I write this, I’ve realized I’m just as lost, unsure, and confused as ever. Writing out my thoughts and feelings didn’t help to decide which road I want to wander down.

As I weigh both options, I want them both. I wish I could create a clone!

But I know how way leads to way, there’s only one road I can take.

As January rolls into February and February rolls into my flight home, I’ll have to decide soon which road I want. I just haven’t figured out which road that is yet. I guess I’ll just stare out at the fork in the road a little longer, waiting for a sign.

The Weekly Photo: The Secluded Beach

2012-01-22T13:42:35Z

A secluded beach in the Buccaneer Archipelago of Western Australia