Comments on: 5 Things to Remember While Traveling the World

By: John B

John B — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:56:12 +0000

Hi. I am an AFROTC cadet and in my junior year. Now is the time to put in for pilot slots and other rated jobs and I have been having a very difficult time making my decision to compete. For the longest time I was extremely gung ho about being a pilot but more recently, no that I am making a major decision about my future, I have taking a lot of other things into consideration. Basically I want to know if being away from you family and all the hard work put into becoming a pilot is worth the fun and enjoyment? I am in a very serious relationship and see myself having a family very quickly after entering active duty. I see that traveling the world is another great thing about flying, but do you really get a chance to enjoy it while working? I plan to vacation all around the world in my life so the travel part is not as big of a positive for me. I am racking my brain over this and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 18:51:47 +0000

Those are some great tips. Yes, travel does get in one’s blood. My parents took me on a trip west when I was a teenager and the desire for travel has stayed with me ever since. Alan

By: luggage

luggage — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:27:23 +0000

Great advice. I will remember it the next time I travel.

By: Akila

Akila — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 01:51:50 +0000

We are going to be heading on our round-the-world trip in September and these are great reminders (especially the one about saying thank you). Great tips!

By: Soultravelers3

Soultravelers3 — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:21:09 +0000

We are a family 3 years into an open ended world tour, so I enjoyed these! We do tons of walking and biking as we travel slow ( mostly over land) and don’t do too many hotel rooms, so we can skip that one, but I enjoyed the others.

Yes, indeed, be a good guest…. and spend time with the local people! Meeting beautiful people is one of the great joys of traveling and one finds them everywhere!

By: Dennis Groves

Dennis Groves — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 12:54:15 +0000

My favorite ‘hotel’ exercise product is “Fitdeck”; it is something like a pack of cards with body weight only exercises on it; shuffle and deal yourself out an exercise. Least expensive, smallest to pack and filled with navy seal exercises that done randomly will get you into shape. Check it out: http://fitdeck.com/

I swear that is not an add, I am just a happy customer.

By: Carla

Carla — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 07:51:47 +0000

I love this post. Thank you for sharing your experiences. I missed the “young and free” stage of life (full-time jobs for health insurance, medical debt, ex-husband that robbed my blind and left me in more debt), but now at 30, childless, and in a great, healthy relationship , I want to get out and travel a bit! I guess I have to take it one step at a time.

I agree with you about the hotel exercise tip. Feeling sluggish from flying, etc is taken care of by going to the fitness center of the hotel of doing some workouts in the room. For me, that makes all the difference in the world.

By: Cameron Schaefer

Cameron Schaefer — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:25:49 +0000

@ J.D.,

Many trips the co-pilot ends up doing a lot of the flying, actually. Most of the aircraft commanders are more intent on teaching young pilots then getting hours themselves which is what makes our Air Force great!

By: J.D.

J.D. — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 01:17:22 +0000

As a co-pilot, do you get to fly the plane too or is it mostly backup?

>Most of us have a natural wanderlust, but for many, the realities of airport security, lost luggage and awkward language barriers can suck the wind out of our sails — the very sails that were supposed to take us to our exotic locations.
Very well put!

By: Cameron Schaefer

Cameron Schaefer — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:14:40 +0000

@ Marc,

Tipping is an interesting thing for sure. I guess I tend to look at it more like charity than I do a payment for work. Not saying this is right or wrong, but it helps me feel a little better about giving it at least.

@ Ankesh,

If there’s one place I wouldn’t want to tick off a cabbie it would be New York, I bet that was hilarious!

@ Greg M,

Like your point about being an ambassador for the US every time you go overseas. If more people operated under this belief I think the American image may be a bit better.

@ John at Hella Sound,

I didn’t try Vegemite unfortunately…or fortunately depending on your view. My wife grew up in South Africa and they had it down there every once and a while. She told me unless you grew up with it you probably wouldn’t like it. Have you tried it?

@ Jennifer in Vermont,

Here’s a great guide to tipping overseas – http://www.magellans.com/store/article/367

@ Phui Yi,

So glad that you’re enjoying the blog. I try to produce content that others will find useful. Sometimes I succeed, other times I fail, but it’s great having readers like you to encourage me.

@ Kenzie,

Thanks for your kind words! I definitely feel lucky to get to travel as much as I do. The only downside of course is being away from Mar and Malone. But, I figure they are all just scouting trips for future family vacations. Glad you’re reading my blog. How’s Steamboat?