It’s a humbling and inspiring experience to meet other travelers.
We were lucky to have snorkeled, dined, and lazed around with six incredibly interesting people and new-found friends.
Every one of the individuals we met on that tiny ship has traversed the world in their own way — backpacking through South East Asia, South America and Europe, tackling overland trips from Cairo to Cape Town or from Beijing to Istanbul, and trekking in some of the most remote places. Some spent years of their lives on the road, with no discernible path or end date for their travels in sight.
When asked how many countries they’ve been to, they often didn’t even know. For them, it’s not about creating a checklist or highlighting places on a map, but about immersing themselves in other cultures and pushing their comfort zones to the limit.
Coming from the USA, where most vacations are to a domestic destination or a tropical locale, its eye-opening to meet people where taking a year off to traipse around the world is not just accepted but a common practice. Their society and culture allows them to travel more freely. Here most people only receive two weeks of vacation. In other countries, the norm is around a month…jealous!
If the requisite travel bug hadn’t bitten us yet, its teeth sunk in now for sure.
Thanks, friends!
