On the road for 9 months, any travel wisdom?

[seela]

In my experience banks aren't overly helpful sending new credit cards to strange countries.

This is also something where the embassies and consulates can become handy. I had my credit card sent to a consulate when I was abroad.

And remember that as an EU citizen, if you get stuck in a bad jam and there's no NL embassy/consulate in the country, you can find help in other EU consulates as well. They have to help you, although they might not want to acknowledge it at first.

You can leave your contact info at the local embassy/consulate, too. That way if something should go wrong, they can contact you and/or your family back home, or your emergency contact person can get information about you easier in a crisis situation. You can most likely do it online and it really doesn't take that long, but can prove very helpful in bad situations.

 

[Allyourbase]

Take a scanned copy of your passport and email it to yourself so if you passport gets stolen you at least have a copy of it.

Research where all of your Embassies or Consulates are so if anything goes wrong then you know where you can go for help if you need it.

Read the small print on your travel insurance and make sure it covers every single country you are going to and any activities you are planning on doing. Believe it or not most general insurances won't cover hiring a motorbike in Thailand and $80,000 to be medivacced from one country to another really puts a damper on your holiday.

If you rent any forms of transportation, take photos before you even leave the place otherwise you will get stung for damages.

Leave some oh shit money at home that a friend can Western Union over if you are desperate. Nothing worse than having your credit cards stolen and having no access to any cash to pay for food and accommodation. In my experience banks aren't overly helpful sending new credit cards to strange countries.

Oh taking a pic before you rent something is really good advice. I don't think I've encountered that before.

And yeah, oh-shit-money. And I have several copies of passport, vaccinations and airline tickets in several places.

Myanmar, by the way, is going to be an adventure where money is concerned. Cash-only economy with virtually no ATMs and an unwaivering preference for dollar bills older than 2006 entirely without damage. For real. So you have to bring in your cash for the entire trip. But! the economy is changing so fast that no travel guide can tell you what anything will cost. Not a country you want to be without money in...

And I thought getting that visa was a challenge.

This is also something where the embassies and consulates can become handy. I had my credit card sent to a consulate when I was abroad.

And remember that as an EU citizen, if you get stuck in a bad jam and there's no NL embassy/consulate in the country, you can find help in other EU consulates as well. They have to help you, although they might not want to acknowledge it at first.

You can leave your contact info at the local embassy/consulate, too. That way if something should go wrong, they can contact you and/or your family back home, or your emergency contact person can get information about you easier in a crisis situation. You can most likely do it online and it really doesn't take that long, but can prove very helpful in bad situations.

Hey and I didn't know that as a EU citizen, other consulates/embassies have to help me. That might come in handy! Let's hope it won't, but hey, just in case. Awesome.

(Ugh, Istanbul queers, please open your CouchSurfing account once in a while!)

 

[seela]

(Ugh, Istanbul queers, please open your CouchSurfing account once in a while!)

Unfortunately CS isn't what it used to be, anymore. In this past year it has changed a lot. On the discussion boards there are crazy censorship rules about what it's ok to talk about and what's appropriate to mention on a profile, a lot of the potlucks and meet-ups have become just a drinkfest for locals and a few visitors and expats instead of bringing together travelers and their hosts like they used to etc.

In this past year, a lot of active CS members went to BeWelcome.org because of the atmosphere of the CS community. Hospitality Club has worked for me in the past, as well, but I don't know how active that is anymore. CS ate a lot of its popularity at some point. But you might want to try them, as well, if you have problems finding a host on CS.

 

[Allyourbase]

Unfortunately CS isn't what it used to be, anymore. In this past year it has changed a lot. On the discussion boards there are crazy censorship rules about what it's ok to talk about and what's appropriate to mention on a profile, a lot of the potlucks and meet-ups have become just a drinkfest for locals and a few visitors and expats instead of bringing together travelers and their hosts like they used to etc.

In this past year, a lot of active CS members went to BeWelcome.org because of the atmosphere of the CS community. Hospitality Club has worked for me in the past, as well, but I don't know how active that is anymore. CS ate a lot of its popularity at some point. But you might want to try them, as well, if you have problems finding a host on CS.

Huh, that is sad.

I'm not into the whole discussion board thing there, since I have enough boards I'm periodically neglecting anyways. But I might check out those other platforms, who knows.

I have, in all probability, found a host in Istanbul and Oman. Yay.

Another thing I'm going to do today: get my teeth checked. I rarely have trouble with them, but there's one thing I don't want to risk, and that is to have to go to a dentist in a country where I really don't want to do to the dentist.

 

[Allyourbase]

*bump*

Hi peeps, from Dubai. Which is a kinkier place than I'd thought - I'm thanking my Fetlife friend for that. I'll be flying to Birma tonight. Can't really log into these sites too easily, but vpn is awesome.

Remarkable things until now:

I sat in the bus from the airport to Istanbul, squeezed into the very last seat available, in the corner in the back, next to some young Turkish guys. I was figuring out directions to my butch queer host there, and I suddenly noticed the Turkish guys next to me were discussing women. In Dutch. Utterly fascinated, they were, by scissoring. ('something women do when they are... something that starts with an L') Also, when your wife keeps saying she has a headache, their advice is to say no to her for the one time she does want to fuck. And get a second wife. A Dutch one or something.

Also, Dubai is fake and a party city, but that doesn't bother me much, because I'm staying with the sweetest kinkster ever. And his friends are adorable too, so honestly, I've been feeling right at home here. The irony! The fakest thing I did in Dubai was trying to escape Dubai, by the way. A 4x4 trip to a 'desert camp' about 15 meters from the road. Amongst the rest of the company were two black guys with muslim names from Sweden. While we were watcing an Eastern European belly dancer, they complained about their night club experience, where all the girls they talked to were prostitutes.

Travel is hilarious.

How've you been doing?

 

[Allyourbase]

Here's a short thankyou to BiBunny and midwestyankee for suggesting the Amtrak, because I took it between Los Angeles and SF and it was a fan.tas.tic. trainride. Loved it!

Lol, bumping my own thread again, sorry bout that, but hey, what else to do when you log in after ages?

I'm back home again, unfortunately, months earlier than expected. My dad has had a heart attack. We were in South Africa, flew back asap. He's ok enough right now, but ugh. :'(

 

[IrisAlthea]

Here's a short thankyou to BiBunny and midwestyankee for suggesting the Amtrak, because I took it between Los Angeles and SF and it was a fan.tas.tic. trainride. Loved it!

Lol, bumping my own thread again, sorry bout that, but hey, what else to do when you log in after ages?

I'm back home again, unfortunately, months earlier than expected. My dad has had a heart attack. We were in South Africa, flew back asap. He's ok enough right now, but ugh. :'(

So sorry about your dad, but it's nice to see you again!

 

[Allyourbase]

So sorry about your dad, but it's nice to see you again!

Thanks! It's good to be here

My dad will probably recover well. If that's the case, I might do a bit more travel.

South Africa was our first taste of that continent, and it was a bit unsettling in how we ended up locked up in predominantly white fenced off rich cheapass backpackers hostels. Mozambique was my next plan until I had to fly home. Cause there must be more to Africa than that, right?!

 

[BiBunny]

Here's a short thankyou to BiBunny and midwestyankee for suggesting the Amtrak, because I took it between Los Angeles and SF and it was a fan.tas.tic. trainride. Loved it!

Yay! Glad I could be of some assistance, at least.

Lol, bumping my own thread again, sorry bout that, but hey, what else to do when you log in after ages?

I was literally JUST thinking about you yesterday and wondering how your trip was going, so when I logged in and saw that you'd bumped this thread, I was super-excited.

I'm back home again, unfortunately, months earlier than expected. My dad has had a heart attack. We were in South Africa, flew back asap. He's ok enough right now, but ugh. :'(

I'm sorry about your dad and your trip being cut short, but I hope you enjoyed what traveling you did get to do. Maybe you'll get to do more soon!

 

[LWulf]

Advice I learned long ago.

"Never eat at a place called 'Mom's,' never shoot pool at a place called 'Dad's'"​

Which, I later learned was a take off of Nelson Algren's:

"Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own."​

 

[Allyourbase]

Yay! Glad I could be of some assistance, at least.

I was literally JUST thinking about you yesterday and wondering how your trip was going, so when I logged in and saw that you'd bumped this thread, I was super-excited.

I'm sorry about your dad and your trip being cut short, but I hope you enjoyed what traveling you did get to do. Maybe you'll get to do more soon!

Gawd!

And there I was, embarrassed to add a third post of my own, hoping I wouldn't be annoying anyone with bumping the thread. See, I have to stop thinking for other people.

I hope to be able to do more travel when he recovers. He needs a last procedure in three weeks, hopefully that goes well, but to be honest, we're all a bit anxious about it. It's been rather scary stuff, first an infarct, then a ripped artery, ugh ugh ugh....

He's a man with such a healthy lifestyle, he's the last person you expect to have clogged arteries, nobody gets it! Also, he's 74. :/

Advice I learned long ago.

"Never eat at a place called 'Mom's,' never shoot pool at a place called 'Dad's'"​

Which, I later learned was a take off of Nelson Algren's:

"Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own."​

HA! I like those!

I have a thing for places with 'Daddy's' in the name, but that's because I'm a pervert with a boner for male pronouns. Nobody in those establishments has to know why I'm there, obviously.

 

[Allyourbase]

And o.k. let's give some proper updates then:

After Antwerp, Istanbul, Dubai and Oman (see above), I went to Birma/Myanmar.

And I'll be honest, I was so, so scared the night before I left for Yangon, I wondered what the fuck I was getting myself into. Up until then I had stayed at people's places. From now on: alone, in a country that had been closed off for years, where the government randomly incarcerates or murders people, and where buddhists murder muslims.

Cash machines wouldn't take my bank card, so bring loads of cash, pristine dollars. Oh, yeah, and the Lonely Planet is outdated by three years, and prices for accomodation have tripled. Probably. Hard to tell. Internet is not something most hostels do. Also, forget roaming for your phone. Or reliable health care when something goes wrong. Did I mention: take antimalarials, and: record number of venomous snake species in Asia? Yeah ok.

And though it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, it did take me a while to get used to the country. It proved to be on the harder side to travel. People barely speak English, getting street food is intimidating, and cities are poor, grubby and have no real street lights. Also, the architecture has this unfriendly depressing soviet style thing going on.

But, one thing is for sure, it had some stunning things that I would not have wanted to miss, ever: the temple plains of Bagan, fantastic. Inle lake, wow, just wow. Mount Popa, quirky! The more quiet towns were also super nice, and people were so friendly it was unreal. A restaurant owner chased me in the street to give me back change. And when I got dropped at a 'bus station' in the dark at 2am (a wooden bench) and my hotel pick up wasn't there, there were some friendly grinning toothless guys who helped me get where I wanted to be.

I'd go back there, for sure.

 

[Allyourbase]

Thailand was infinitely easier to travel compared to that, and super queer friendly on top, but the downside was that we got lied to and scammed by travel agents to an annoying degree.

I also spent quite some time in a homestay outside Kanchanaburi, spending some days resting and visiting a Thai masseuse, because I had a backache SO bad I couldn't sit for longer than 20 minutes.

Favorites: Koh Lanta, Koh Chang, Pai! Oh man, being in New Years in triple overbooked supercute Pai, was an adventure!

Avoid Koh Samet and the waterfalls near Kanchanaburi during day time, for the absolutely overwhelming amount of Russian tourists.

Laos is still a bit like Birma. Upcoming country, hard to travel, grueling epic-amount-of-hours busrides to get anywhere. Communist architecture. A lottt of drugs. But: french influences, so delicious food. Apart from the fact they eat dogs.

Highlights: a two day boat ride from the Thai border to Luang Prabang. Trust me, the boat ride is nothing they promise you, you might end up without a seat (I did), but if you make friends on board, and you will, it's worth it in the end.

Also, laid back UNESCO heritage town Luang Prabang is super cute, and the only thing to do after midnight, when you're by law supposed to be in your hostel, is bowling.

Another recommendation: Four Thousand Islands, set in the biggest rapids in the Mekong. Take Don Khone if you want things a bit quiet and if you like waterfalls and dolphin watching close by. Take Don Det if you like weed.

Avoid Pakse and especially Vientiane. Boring as shit, bad hostels, and they don't understand the concept of doing your laundry in less than three days.

Cambodya for us was just Seam Reap for Angkor Wat. We liked Seam Reap, it's the local Las Vegas probably, we stayed in a queer run hostel even. Yay queers.

 

[Allyourbase]

Also very queer: San Francisco. Expensive city! But has cute things! I don't think I've been in such a leather friendly environment my entire trip.

US highlights: the Amtrak ride, Alcatraz, a tour of The Armory, In&Out burger in Hollywood, and getting pierced in Los Angeles by Elayne Angel. OMG. She is SO GOOD.

The retreat was pretty damn awesome. Recovering from that was more difficult. It took me quite a while. I flew to Mexico quite soon after, not sure if that was a good idea, but that was how it went. Spent a week in Mexico City, slowly getting used to travel again. Then Zihuatanejo, which was empty of tourists, the entire coast was. Nice and quiet.

Highlights: Teotihuacan, Caza Azul of Frida Kahlo, crispy taco soup, and the cutest hostel owner I've met yet.

South Africa was full of stunning creatures and landscapes, but socially speaking pretty challenging, like I mentioned above.

I hoped to see more of the continent, but now I'm back home again, and that's ok too.

 

[Airka4real]

Nice trip!