Declare Your Independence

Vagabonding ^ | FR Post 1-10-2003 | Rolf Potts

[vannrox]

From Chapter 1

From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines, Going where I list, my own master total and absolute, Listening to others, considering well what they say, Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating, Gently, but with undeniable will divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.

— Walt Whitman, "Song of the Open Road"

Declare Your Independence

Of all the outrageous throwaway lines one hears in movies, there is one that stands out for me. It doesn't come from a madcap comedy, an esoteric science-fiction flick, or a special-effects-laden action thriller. It comes from Oliver Stone's Wall Street, when the Charlie Sheen character — a promising big shot in the stock market — is telling his girlfriend about his dreams.

"I think if I can make a bundle of cash before I'm thirty and get out of this racket," he says, "I'll be able to ride my motorcycle across China."

When I first saw this scene on video a few years ago, I nearly fell out of my seat in astonishment. After all, Charlie Sheen or anyone else could work for eight months as a toilet cleaner and have enough money to ride a motorcycle across China. Even if they didn't yet have their own motorcycle, another couple months of scrubbing toilets would earn them enough to buy one when they got to China.

The thing is, most Americans probably wouldn't find this movie scene odd. For some reason, we see long-term travel to faraway lands as a recurring dream or an exotic temptation, but not something that applies to the here and now. Instead — out of our insane duty to fear, fashion, and monthly payments on things we don't really need — we quarantine our travels to short, frenzied bursts. In this way, as we throw our wealth at an abstract notion called "lifestyle," travel becomes just another accessory — a smooth-edged, encapsulated experience that we purchase the same way we buy clothing and furniture.

Not long ago, I read that nearly a quarter of a million short-term monastery- and convent-based vacations had been booked and sold by tour agents in the year 2000. Spiritual enclaves from Greece to Tibet were turning into hot tourist draws, and travel pundits attributed this "solace boom" to the fact that "busy overachievers are seeking a simpler life."

What nobody bothered to point out, of course, is that purchasing a package vacation to find a simpler life is kind of like using a mirror to see what you look like when you aren't looking into the mirror. All that is really sold is the romantic notion of a simpler life, and — just as no amount of turning your head or flicking your eyes will allow you to unselfconsciously see yourself in the looking glass — no combination of one-week or ten-day vacations will truly take you away from the life you lead at home.

Ultimately, this shotgun wedding of time and money has a way of keeping us in a holding pattern. The more we associate experience with cash value, the more we think that money is what we need to live. And the more we associate money with life, the more we convince ourselves that we're too poor to buy our freedom. With this kind of mind-set, it's no wonder so many Americans think extended overseas travel is the exclusive realm of students, counterculture dropouts, and the idle rich.

In reality, long-term travel has nothing to do with demographics — age, ideology, income — and everything to do with personal outlook. Long-term travel isn't about being a college student; it's about being a student of daily life. Long-term travel isn't an act of rebellion against society; it's an act of common sense within society. Long-term travel doesn't require a massive "bundle of cash"; it requires only that we walk through the world in a more deliberate way.

This deliberate way of walking through the world has always been intrinsic to the time-honored, quietly available travel tradition known as "vagabonding."

Vagabonding involves taking an extended time-out from your normal life — six weeks, four months, two years — to travel the world on your own terms.

But beyond travel, vagabonding is an outlook on life. Vagabonding is about using the prosperity and possibility of the information age to increase your personal options instead of your personal possessions. Vagabonding is about looking for adventure in normal life, and normal life within adventure. Vagabonding is an attitude — a friendly interest in people, places, and things that makes a person an explorer in the truest, most vivid sense of the word.

Vagabonding is not a lifestyle, nor is it a trend. It's just an uncommon way of looking at life — a value adjustment from which action naturally follows. And, as much as anything, vagabonding is about time — our only real commodity — and how we choose to use it.

Sierra Club founder John Muir (an ur-vagabonder if there ever was one) used to express amazement at the well-heeled travelers who would visit Yosemite only to rush away after a few hours of sightseeing. Muir called these folks the "time-poor" — people who were so obsessed with tending their material wealth and social standing that they couldn't spare the time to truly experience the splendor of California's Sierra wilderness. One of Muir's Yosemite visitors in the summer of 1871 was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who gushed upon seeing the sequoias, "It's a wonder that we can see these trees and not wonder more." When Emerson scurried off a couple hours later, however, Muir speculated wryly about whether the famous transcendentalist had really seen the trees in the first place.

Nearly a century later, naturalist Edwin Way Teale used Muir's example to lament the frenetic pace of modern society. "Freedom as John Muir knew it," he wrote in his 1956 book Autumn Across America, "with its wealth of time, its unregimented days, its latitude of choice . . . such freedom seems more rare, more difficult to attain, more remote with each new generation."

But Teale's lament for the deterioration of personal freedom was just as hollow a generalization in 1956 as it is now. As John Muir was well aware, vagabonding has never been regulated by the fickle public definition of lifestyle. Rather, it has always been a private choice within a society that is constantly urging us to do otherwise.

This is a book about living that choice.

More about the book

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Excerpted from Vagabonding by Rolf PottsCopyright 2002 by Rolf Potts. Excerpted by permission of Villard, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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[vannrox]

Good read.
Can't do it with much of a career though, but who cares. Right?

[vannrox]

< chapter ten | index | chapter three >

Chapter Two

Sabbaticals, unpaid leave, and quitting your job

Six Months Off: How to Plan, Negotiate, and Take the Break You Need without Burning Bridges or Going Broke, by Hope Dlugozima, James Scott and David Sharp (Henry Holt, 1996)
A detailed, action-oriented how-to book about planning and negotiating employee sabbaticals and leaves of absence.

Time Off from Work: Using Sabbaticals to Enhance Your Life While Keeping Your Career on Track by Lisa Angowski Rogak (John Wiley & Sons, 1994)
A practical guide to planning and implementing sabbaticals. Includes tips on long-term financial planning.

I-Resign.com
Online advice on how to diplomatically quit your job, sample resignation letters, discussion boards about quitting, tips on finding a new job.

Finding jobs and careers overseas

Work Worldwide: International Career Strategies for the Adventurous Job Seeker by Nancy Mueller (Avalon Travel Publishing, 2000)
Step-by-step advice on how to research, apply for, and get an international job.

Work Abroad: The Complete Guide to Finding a Job Overseas by Clayton A. Hubbs, Susan Griffith, William T. Nolting (Transitions Abroad, 2000)
Practical guide for finding jobs overseas. Country-by-country listings of employers and organizations.

Overseas Jobs
Online information and resources regarding international jobs, careers and work. Country-specific online job listings.

Overseas Digest
Employment tips and cross-cultural information for Americans working abroad.

Teaching English Overseas: A Job Guide for Americans and Canadians by Jeff Mohamed (English International, 2000)
A comprehensive practical guide for finding English teaching jobs overseas. Includes detailed information and advice on choosing a training program, teaching without training, and how to conduct a successful job search. Useful companion website.

Dave's ESL Café
One of the oldest and most useful Internet resources for overseas English teachers and job seekers. Includes discussion forums and job listings.

International employment references

International Jobs: Where They Are, How to Get Them by Eric Kocher, Nina Segal (Perseus Press, 1999)

International Jobs Directory : A Guide to over 1001 Employers by Ronald L. Krannich, Caryl Rae Krannich (Impact Publications, 1999)

The Directory of Jobs and Careers Abroad by Elisabeth Roberts, Jonathan Packer (Vacation-Work, 2000)

Travel safety

U.S. State Department Travel Warnings
State Department Consular Information Sheets are available for every country of the world, describing national entry requirements, currency regulations, unusual health conditions, the crime and security situations, political disturbances, and areas of instability. In the event of a specific and current danger in a country, a special "Travel Warning" is posted alongside the consular information.

World Travel Watch
Travel publishers Larry Habegger and James O'Reilly have been writing this weekly travel safety and security update since 1985. Succinct, current and useful information about dangers and disturbances (and odd happenings in general) around the world.

"A Safe Trip Abroad" Online Tipsheet
Available online, this Department of State tipsheet has good, basic information for keeping out of danger overseas. Included are tips for staying safe from pickpockets and general crime, as well as political violence and terrorism. Online links lead to specific tipsheets on travel to the Caribbean, Central and South America, China, Mexico, the Middle East, Russia, and South Asia.

The World's Most Dangerous Places by Robert Young Pelton (Harper Resource, 2000)
An extensive guide to the danger zones of the world, by journalist Robert Pelton. This book evaluates the danger factor in destinations around the globe (including the United States), as well as providing relevant historical, cultural and geographical information. "The message is that travel can be dangerous if you want it to be and it can be very safe if you want it to be," writes Pelton. "Even in a war zone."

< chapter ten | index | chapter three >

[vannrox]

< chapter three | index | chapter six >

Chapter Four

Online travel research portals

Johnny Jet
This internet travel page is little more than a listing of links — but it's probably the most relevant and well-organized list of topical travel resources online. Links to air travel, weather, money, travel warnings, insurance, packing, guidebooks, and dozens of other specialty topics.

BootsnAll.com
Billed as "the ultimate resource for the independent traveler," this online travel community features trip planning advice, advice from regional "insiders", a useful message board to post and answer travel questions, and a fine collection of travelogues from everyday vagabonders. A recommended resource in planning and researching your travels.

I Go U Go
Another dynamic online travel community, featuring message boards, photo galleries, and "travel journals" to over 2000 destinations worldwide.

Travel-Library.com
One of the oldest homegrown travel sites on the Internet. Features travel news, destination guides, travel advice, links, and one of the best collections of personal travelogues online. A good starting point for general trip research.

WorldSkip.com
News, information, and services from every nation on earth. Excellent country-by-country tipsheets that link to relevant local newspapers and magazines, arts and music sites, tourism tips, economic statistics, and cultural information. A great starting point for specific country research.

World Travel Guide
Basic travel information on destinations worldwide, including city and country guides that you can download to a handheld computer.

General travel planning guides online

How to See the World: Art of Travel
Twenty-five well-organized chapters about all aspects of budget travel, including passports, visas, accommodation, transportation, hitchhiking, and equipment needs.

Round-The-World Travel Guide
A popular section within Travel-Library.com, this online guidebook was originally written by vagabonder Mark Brosius, then updated with suggestions from travel newsgroup participants. In addition to sound travel advice, it contains good tips on financial planning, as well as the practical considerations you must attend to before you leave home.

Vagabond Globetrotting
A full online version of Marcus Endicott's 1989 travel guidebook, including tips on money, gear, food, transport, health, accommodation, and overseas work opportunities. Brief introduction by Ed Buryn.

Online government travel resources

Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. State Department
Link page of official travel information for U.S. citizens.

Canadian Consular Affairs
Link page of official travel information for Canadian citizens.

Passport Services, U.S. State Department
Everything Americans need to know about applying for and receiving a passport.

Canadian Passport Office
Everything Canadians need to know about applying for and receiving a passport.

Foreign Entry Requirements
A U.S. State Department tipsheet listing entry and visa requirements for Americans traveling to nations worldwide.

Your Trip Abroad
An extremely basic tipsheet from the U.S. State Department, listing passport and visa needs, immunization tips, health and money matters, safety information, and general tips.

CIA World Factbook
A database of basic political, geographical, demographic, economic, communication, transportation, military and transnational statistics about every country in the world.

Guidebook publishers

Lonely Planet Publications
Australia-based Lonely Planet is the biggest and most well known franchise in the budget travel world. These well-researched and well-organized travel guidebooks cover every region of the world — and the series also includes language phrasebooks, trekking guides, wildlife viewing guides, travel health guides, international food guides, maps, atlases, and travel videos. The Lonely Planet website is a great portal for travel research, with basic tipsheets for every country in the world, columns from travel experts, an online health guide, "Theme Guides" to give you travel ideas, international news, and the massive "Thorn Tree" message board, where you can post and answer questions about all manner of travel.

Moon Handbooks
Based in the USA, Moon Handbooks are an excellent resource for destinations in North America, Mexico, Central America, and some Asian regions (including Southeast Asia, South Korea, and the authoritative Indonesia Handbook).

Let's Go Publications
Updated yearly by Harvard students since 1960, Let's Go guides have a young emphasis, and address the basics for beginning travelers. Strong on European and North American destinations. Website includes travel articles, links, and a message board for destinations and specialty concerns (older travelers, gay and lesbian travelers, etc.).

Footprint Handbooks
Footprint's South America Handbook (now in its 78th edition) has been considered the authoritative independent travel guide to the continent since the 1920's. Excellent individual guidebooks for Latin American countries, as well as destinations in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. Emphasis on cultural and historical information. Website includes basic travel tips on all countries and regions covered by Footprints books.

Rough Guides Travel
England's answer to the Lonely Planet, with an emphasis on Europe, Asia, Central America, and North America. In addition to guidebooks, Rough Guides Travel also produces phrasebooks, world music guides, and reference titles regarding travel health and women's travel. Website includes a "Travel Talk" message board for questions about destinations worldwide, "Travel Journals" by everyday vagabonders, and "Spotlight" articles on various regions of the world.

Bradt Travel Guides
Literary British guidebooks, with excellent coverage of Africa and South America, as well as unusual destinations like Iraq, the Arctic, and the Falkland Islands.

Travelers' Tales
This series of destination guidebooks and literary anthologies doesn't give much practical travel advice. Rather, its various volumes are lively collections of stories from travelers (famous and otherwise) worldwide. Good inspirational and informative reading before you start your travels.

Travel idea books

Wild Planet! 1,001 Extraordinary Events for the Inspired Traveler, by Tom Clynes (Visible Ink Press, 1995).
A thorough listing and description of festivals, cultural events, and holidays spanning the globe, from the Swedish Crayfish Festival to Thailand's vegetarian monkey feast.

100 Things to Do Before You Die: Travel Events You Just Can't Miss, by Dave Freeman, Neil Teplica (Taylor Publications, 1999)
More travel-event ideas, from Australia's Nude Night-Surfing Contest to Oklahoma's World Cow Chip Throwing Championships. Companion website.

International information and news

The Economist
This London-based magazine offers the best international reporting of any major English-language newsweekly. Widely available overseas. $129 for a one-year subscription.

World Press Review
Drawing on newspapers and magazines around the world, this monthly magazine examines international issues often overlooked by the U.S. media. $27 for a one-year subscription. Many articles available online.

World News
A network of online newspapers and radio stations covering all regions of the world.

OnlineNewspapers.com
Database offering quick access to online newspapers from countries worldwide.

DailyEarth.com Newspaper Directory
Quick links to online newspapers from countries around the world.

Independent travel magazines

Outpost Magazine
Toronto-based magazine written by adventurous independent travelers. $20 for a one-year (six issues) subscription. Many articles archived online.

Tales from a Small Planet
Homegrown online travel 'zine featuring book reviews, "trip reports", message boards, and resources for expatriates.

Wanderlust
UK-based magazine for the independent traveler. 21 British pounds for a one-year (six issues) subscription.

World Hum
This online magazine features first-person literary travel tales, comprehensive links to other online travel publications (including newspaper travel sections), and the best travel-oriented weblog in cyberspace.

General travel magazines

Conde Nast Traveler
Well-written stories with a strong emphasis on upscale and luxury travel. $12 for a one-year (12 issues) subscription. Website features photos, travel advice columns, and contests.

Islands
Stories by top writers about travel to the islands of the world. $20 for a one-year (8 issues) subscription. Some features archived online.

National Geographic
This classic, beautifully photographed magazine has probably inspired more vagabonders from childhood than any other American magazine in the last 100 or so years. One-year (12 issues) subscription costs $34 and includes membership to the National Geographic Society. Interactive website features archived photos and stories, as well as resource links for international issues.

National Geographic Adventure
Travel and extreme sports reporting from America's top adventure writers. $12 for a one-year (ten issues) subscription. Website includes online features, discussion forums, and travel advisories.

National Geographic Traveler
Travel stories and tips for North American and world destinations. $15 for a one-year (eight issues) subscription. Website contains exclusive online features and discussion forums.

Outside Magazine
Travel and adventure writing with an emphasis on outdoor sports. $18 for a one-year (12 issues) subscription. Website features online articles and advice about travel destinations and gear.

Travel & Leisure
An American Express publication with an emphasis on luxury travel. Well-written articles on foreign cultures and destinations. $30 for a one-year (12 issues) subscription. Travel advice, classifieds, and some features available online.

Student travel resources

Student World Traveler Magazine
Magazine designed to motivate and prepare students to travel around the world. Excellent coverage of relevant travel destinations and issues. $15 for a one-year (12 issues) subscription. Website contains useful links for student travel research.

Council Travel
Catering to student travelers since the 1940's. Formed "to help individuals gain understanding, acquire knowledge, and develop skills for living in a globally interdependent and multi-culturally diverse world." Discounts, insurance, and help for students wanting to travel, work, volunteer and study abroad.

Student Travel Association
Specializing in travel discounts and overseas work visas for students.

Bargain air travel information

Fly Cheap by Kelly Monaghan (Intrepid Traveler, 1999)
Strategies and contacts for saving money on airfares. Monaghan also runs a companion website at Intrepidtraveler.com.

The Travel Detective: How to Get the Best Service and the Best Deals from Airlines, Hotels, Cruise Ships, and Car Rental Agencies, by Peter Greenberg (Random House, 2001)
Entertaining guide for saving money on travel arrangements, though the emphasis is on vacation (as opposed to long-term) travel. Lots of air travel advice.

Consolidators: Air Travel's Bargain Basement, by Kelly Monaghan (Intrepid Traveler, 1998)
Consolidators, who unload extra seats for airlines at prices over 50% off normal fare, offer great air bargains to travelers. This book contains tips on buying tickets from consolidators, and a comprehensive directory of consolidator companies.

Airline Ticket Consolidators and Bucket Shops FAQ
Online tips on finding cheap air tickets, from air travel "guru" Edward Hasbrouck.

Online air ticketing services

Cheap Tickets

EconomyTravel.com

Expedia Travel

Hotwire

LowestFare.com

Travelocity.com

Other online air ticket resources

Air Hitch
A cheap system for finding last-minute airline seats, primarily to European destinations.

Air Tech
Offers a discounted, standby-style "FlightPass" service for travelers with flexible plans.

Priceline.com
Name-your-own-price style bidding system for air tickets and other travel services.

SkyAuction.com
Bid on available air tickets to destinations worldwide.

Travel insurers

Highway to Health, Inc. 1-888-243-2358

Insurance Services of America 1-800-647-4589

Specialty Risk International, Inc. (SRI) 1-800-222-4599

Travel Guard Group, Inc. 1-800-826-4919

Travel Insurance Services 1-800-937-1387

WorldTravelCenter.com 1-800-786-5566

< chapter three | index | chapter six >

< chapter eight | index | chapter ten >

Chapter Nine

Publications: Overseas work and volunteering

Transitions Abroad Magazine
A bimonthly magazine detailing affordable alternatives to mass tourism. A fantastic practical resource for anyone looking to mix overseas work and travel for months and years at a stretch. $28 for a one-year (six issues) subscription. The companion website makes a great portal for researching travel and volunteer opportunities. Transitions Abroad also publishes an annual Alternative Travel Directory, which outlines current travel, study and living opportunities worldwide.

The Back Door Guide to Short-Term Job Adventures: Internships, Extraordinary Experiences, Seasonal Jobs, Volunteering, Work Abroad, by Michael Landes (Ten Speed Press, 2001)
Insider tips and resources for finding short-term work and volunteer opportunities overseas.

Work Your Way Around the World, by Susan Griffith (Vacation-Work, 2001)
Advice on how to find short-term work around the world. Much of the resource information is geared more toward UK (rather than North American) travelers.

How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering Overseas, by Joseph Collins, Stefano Dezerega, Zahara Heckscher, Anna Lappe (Penguin USA, 2002)
Useful resource information on volunteering in Latin America, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. Includes case studies, worksheets, and quotes from international volunteers.

Volunteer Vacations: Short-Term Adventures That Will Benefit You and Others, by Bill McMillon, Edward Asner (Chicago Review Press, 1998)
A listing of more than 250 charitable organizations and 2,000 projects worldwide that are looking for volunteers.

Volunteer agencies

Peace Corps
Sending Americans off on worldwide volunteer projects since 1961. "The toughest job you'll ever love."

Institute for International Cooperation and Development
Trains and sends volunteers abroad for development and aid work in Africa and Latin America.

Volunteers for Peace
This Vermont-based organization offers inexpensive short-term voluntary service programs in over 80 countries.

WWOOF — Willing Workers on Organic Farms
This exchange organization gives you room and board in return for your help in working and managing an organic farm or smallholding. Membership is inexpensive, and programs are available worldwide.

Overseas work and volunteering resources online

The Frontier Club
Online resource for short-term work opportunities around the world, including cruise ships, bartending, kibbutz labor, fruit harvest, and carpentry.

Idealist.org
Online database for overseas jobs and volunteer opportunities worldwide.

International Volunteer Programs Association
An up-to-date search site for international volunteer opportunities.

EscapeArtist.com
Online portal for information on how to live, work, and invest overseas.

iAgora.com, Work and Study Abroad Solutions
Online community for overseas work, study, and travel. Emphasis on Europe.

< chapter eight | index | chapter ten >

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