Hi, I'm Aaron, a novice traveler who is in the process of preparing to become a professional. My dream that I am working on making come true is to backpack around the world. My ultimate goal is to find the perfect place in the world that I would like to call home, if such a place exists. If it doesn't, the road will be my home.
Novice traveler,eh? Where have you travelled before?
Most of my previous travel experiences have been in Asia so far : Japan, South Korea, China and India. I have also taken trips to less exotic places as well, in Hawaii, New York and British Columbia, Canada.
You don't sound so novice to me! Were these short holidays or backpacking adventures?
Most of them were more in the middle. My first trip out of the country was to Japan for 15 days, so that was definitely a short holiday. The same could be said for my 2 trips to Hawaii and Vancouver. Every other trip was anywhere from a month to two months, but none of them were actual backpacking experiences. New York was more of a living situation. I moved there temporarily for two months to do an internship. I paid rent, and had an official address while I was there. However, I have not so far taken the dive into backpacking. That experience will likely be one where I just jump into the deep end.
Deep end, I like the sound of that. So, what's your plan to jump into the deep end of the pool without a arm floaties or a life jacket?
Haha, actually my plan is constantly morphing from day to day. One of the more persistent ideas is taking a road trip southwards through all of Central America and proceeding onwards by foot, after donating my car in Panama. At other times, I consider just looking up the cheapest flight I can find to get me out of the Americas as a beginning destination and follow where the wind blows me. Regardless of my final plan by the time I'm ready, I am just going to have my first backpacking trip be one that involves me being out of the US for 3-5 years. The start-point is the least important part.Many people say that your first backpacking trip should be a short one in a place that is easy to traverse, but my roommate's first backpacking experience lasted 9 months. Granted he was in his own country, but he stayed off the main path for 95% of it, so that is a major influence in my backpacking plans. I throw out conventional wisdom in favor of following my heart.
I like your style and how you think! Very inspiring! I see you've recently started a travel blog, The Open Road is Calling. Tell me about that.
My blog is a forum mostly dedicated to documenting the steps I am taking to prepare for my journey. Through the process, I am also documenting tips I have learned, either from other people, or just my experience on how to make my travel dreams come true. I hope anybody who reads it will be inspired to live their travel dreams as well as feel empowered to know how to go about doing so. Along the way, I eventually will be posting some of my favorite stories from my time on the road, and offering my world philosophy as it concerns travel. Open Road will also give some helpful guide advice to those who are interested in coming to visit my own home town of Seattle.
Very cool, my friend. Well, it has been great speaking to you. I wish you the best and I hope to see you on the road!
It would be my pleasure!
Best of luck on your Journey Aaron!
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