It is important to travel will well polished resumes saved.  Be ready to alter and edit your resume based upon the position desired.

I typically keep four basic resumes outlining my various skills.  While traveling anywhere in the world I could stumble across a job opportunity to teach English, work with kids, an office role, or a position at a coffee shop.

Basic resumes I travel with:

1. ESL teacher
2. Will play with kids
3. Desk jockey
4. Barista or hospitality expert

Keeping these four resumes ready to submit to a future employer works for me.  These are my skills and what I do best.  Take your best skills, education and attributes.  Format them into resumes you can travel with.

Victor who I met in Spain keeps 6 resumes ready for jobs he finds along his travels.  Some of his resumes include, ‘handyman’, ‘tech-head’, and he even told me about his new one ‘landscaping’. He wrote this resume after recognizing some women just wanted him for yard work.  Why not pull weeds for the nice old lady you met in Madrid?  She paid him and gave him lunch everyday!

Wondering if you really need a resume to work in someone’s yard?  Victor described the credibility the resume gives him.  People instantly trust him to be professional and to work hard.  Plus, extra travel cash can result from what someone discovers you can do.

For example, after Victor helped a girl at the hostel desk connect a new printer for FREE, Victor gave his technology resume to the hostel manager.  They read about his talent in web design and ended up offering one month FREE lodging and $800 to redesign their hostel website.

I just got an email from Parris in Wellington, New Zealand.  He shared, “I’m registered with a job agency and working for the government at the moment.  So life is pretty sweet for this backpacker.”  Parris has been in Wellington for a few months now enjoying working while traveling.

How have Justin & Natalie (the nomad backpackers) worked while traveling:

• We used our writing abilities to receive FREE lodging while traveling and writing for an online travel magazine.
• We received FREE lodging and meals at an Irish Pub on the Great Barrier Island, New Zealand, in exchange for some landscaping and washing a few dishes at the pub on busy nights.
• We worked at a 5-star lodge in the Fiordland’s (South Island, NZ) for 6 weeks.  This paid for 4 months of travel in New Zealand.
• I have taught English to students in China and Mexico.
• I have been paid to babysit kids.  I met Sigorney from Australia living in Paris, France as a nanny for a family with 3 kids.
• Justin has built websites and received various forms of gifts/money through offering tech help.
• I have worked multiple coffee bars in multiple countries pulling endless shots of espresso.

Don’t be the traditional backpacker that runs out of cash and takes a flight home.  Instead, make yourself marketable and travel with a well written resume to land any job around the world.

Find a job while traveling!  Use nomad approved resources.

Ready to take your resume around the world?  How to write a resume. Start polishing your resume today!  It can take you around the world if you are willing to work a variety of jobs along the way.  Be creative and start brainstorming your skills.

Use a weekend as an escape from the ordinary and plan a mini-break this fall.  A weekend getaway is the perfect remedy to fight routine and be refreshed through adventure.  Just set one weekend aside in your busy life.  It will be inexpensive, spontaneous and fun!

The ideal fall adventure creates a balance of fun, while you are also able to experience rest for your mind and body.

How to plan your weekend:

1. City or Scenic: If you are craving the urban adventure a big city offers, be sure to select a crowd-free city.  Going to Munich for Oktoberfest is not going to offer the serenity a cabin in the Rocky Mountains will offer.  You know yourself best!  Would your ideal weekend include a night on the town with sushi & sake or a peaceful evening with one of your favorite books near a cozy fireplace.
2. Drive or Fly: Ensure that your destination is within reasonable driving distance or an inexpensive, quick flight. Avoid fly to a city where you will have to rent a car and spend a large amount of time being busy driving somewhere. You already spend too much of your typical week being busy, trying to get somewhere. I would suggest making the weekend as simple as possible. Think less. Allow the spontaneous adventure to unravel, instead of planning out your itinerary to the minute.
3. Avoid Fall Stereotypes: Avoid the corn maze craze and imagine a bountiful autumn harvest, like pumpkins and vineyards.  It’s important to find that atmosphere that offers the crisp color of fall, and a hint of fun.  Avoid the guy with a chain-saw at the local haunted house, unless this is your favorite aspect of fall.  In that case embrace the stereotypes, go pumpkin picking, have a haunted house/horror movie marathon and then carve those pumpkins while drinking apple cider and eating candy.  If you do intend to avoid the stereotypes, than think wine tasting or hiking through the gorgeous fall color.
4. Plan and Save: Plan ahead and save money on your adventure.  If you are driving Friday evening after work, pack up some leftovers from the fridge.  Bring healthy snacks and fresh fruit.  Then instead of searching for your next meal, you can relax and savor a sunrise or take a leisurely stroll.
5. Specials and Deals: Hunt for the fall specials and the autumn getaway deals.  [NOTE:  These are not always the cheapest option.]  You might not be interested in going to Vegas this fall.  Make sure that your destination is really where you want to be, and you aren’t just going because you got a cheap flight and hotel deal.
6. The Whole Weekend!?! If getting away for an entire weekend is going to be almost impossible due to tight schedules, children, pets, and a list of other hindering factors, try to get away for a short duration.  Just one night away, or even a full Saturday to escape the obligations of life can be just as needed and refreshing.  Make sure you plan some type of adventure just for you this fall.  Going to the grocery store, or watching the game on the couch doesn’t cut it.  Make it unique and special.  You deserve it!

Even now, I am sure that you have thought of a handful of great locations and adventures you could have over a weekend.  Put it on the calendar and make it happen.  Say no the specialty coffee drinks, the pizza and whatever unneeded expenses you indulge in.  Save the money you will need to make your Weekend Adventure a reality.

Fall into a weekend adventure!  Experience more in life, through doing less.

Grant Lingel shares his story of backpacking through Central America, and the journey of discovering who he is.  If you are looking for the clean, light story of a backpacker, this is not it.  Grant is very open in the memoir of his adventures including details of purchasing drugs in Mexico and sex on the beach, not just the cocktail.  However, if you are intrigued by his honesty, then you would enjoy his story.

You see, Grant bought a one-way plane ticket to Mexico and only had $300 in his pocket.  Sound interesting?  Grant’s spontaneous spirit is unforgettable and extremely shocking while reading his story.

I enjoyed reading the adventure he shares in IMAGINE: A Vagabond Story.  However, I was disturbed by his brutal honesty during the retelling of the decisions he made.  Most individuals would be ashamed to retell a story of sex on a beach with a high school girl then bribing the Mexican police with cash, not be thrown into jail.  Most individuals would also be ashamed to share their tale of being caught by Mexican police (again, I know…) after purchasing cocaine, and lying your way out of it.

Grant Lingel is not ashamed.  He openly shares, without holding back.  If this is the type of book you enjoy, then go for it, and order a copy today.

As for Grant, I have to hand it to him for actually writing a book and publishing his travel adventures.  I have not written a book.  Let alone a 315 page book.  I can only imagine it took a lot of time and effort to record the journey.

I continued to read and hoped for a huge transformation of lifestyle choices and personal discovery to occur.  Even when I only had less than 50 pages left to read, I still hoped for a personal transformation.  I read hints of this transformation, but also continued to read of more drugs and sex.

• Girls from Norway go topless: “…a very cute and topless Norwegian girl named Birgit.  She was in Playa for two months learning Spanish with thirty-four other Norwegian girls.” page 266.
• The search for the magic mushrooms: “Sebastian told us that Palenque was famous for its magic mushrooms…” page 281.
• It took Grant an entire day to realize that he had already met the same traveler a few cities back:  ”She thought it was a riot that it took the two of us an entire day to realize we had already met before and told me to stop smoking so much pot.” page 308.

Now to Grant’s credit, I also read improved travel logic and some reflection during those last 50 pages:

• Considering the people he had met from all around the world: “I was still baffled by the fact that such different people could relate so well.” page 255.
• Again, Grant recognizes, its all about the people: “I was incredibly touched by his kind words and continued to realize that it’s the people along the way that you meet who make your trip, make your world and your life.  It is they who shape you into the person you become.” page 262.
• Self catering…a great way to save money while traveling:  ”We returned to a busy hostel that evening with bags of pasta and veggies in hand.  I was pretty much eating the same meal every night: pasta or rice with cooked veggies.  Oddly, I was still enjoying it night after night and loved how it kept my wad of savings intact.” page 270.

I agree with Grant that travel is all about the people you meet.  I also enjoyed that Grant shared he is a vegetarian.  Justin and I are both vegetarians and have backpacked all around the world with no difficulty finding delicious food.  In fact, certain areas of the world are a perfect match for “veg-friendly” eating.

Although, I cannot personally recommend this book as a travel philosophy book, I can recommend it to someone who would enjoy reading a book like Grant’s story.  I don’t believe that Grant set out to write a travel philosophy book.  Instead, it is a candid story of all of his adventures and mistakes along his journey.

Grant, Thank you for asking us to review your book.  I had lots of fun!  I kept reading, wanting to grab my backpack and head out to explore.  After reading about your travels in Central America, I want to talk Justin into spending our summer traveling and learning Spanish.

1. The longer one travels, the more one adapts to the culture of travel. In this culture, staying in one place for longer than several weeks is odd, washing ones clothes in a sink is common place, and being unemployed is chic and enviable.
2. Although a traveler “fits” amongst fellow travelers and backpackers, a traveler grows accustom to feeling like a foreigner or stranger in each new country or city. This feeling eventually becomes a normal part of a travelers schema and her/she quickly grows a new identity such as “globe trotting backpacker” or “nomadic beer tester”. While developing a new identity, a traveler always carries with them, perhaps unconsciously, the idea that there is a place in the world where they are not a “foreigner”. A place where they understand the cultural rules and norms. A place where they are not an oddity and where locals do not take their picture as they walk down the street. Problematically, when a traveler returns “home” they often discover that the culture and friends they left behind continued to function in a predictable manner: friends and family members continued going to work, having children, getting married, starting new jobs, graduating from college, etc. The traveler often feels out of sorts as they begin to understand how much traveling has changed the way they think, act, and relate to the world around them.
3. In many cultures, the realities that allow a traveler to spend an extended time period bouncing around the globe, are not admirable or envious when they return home. Thus, being unemployed and not having a home make a traveler feel free and adventurous on the road while at home these very concepts make a traveler appear or feel like a loser or a bum.
4. At least in many Western Countries, traveling abroad is often cheaper than living at home. Thus the traveler who wandered around Asia for $25-$45 a day (living like a king) is forcefully reminded that being a millionaire in Singapore does not exactly help when trying to rent an apartment, pay a cell phone bill, or shop for groceries.

How to Adjust to Culture Shock at Home

To begin with, simply try to relax. Remember that although you may not feel “at home” you do actually understand the spoken and unspoken rules of your home culture. This of course, does not mean that you need to stop doing your laundry in the sink, but at least you will understand when your friends look at you funny.

1. Prepare for Culture Shock: Recognize that re-entry will be difficult and that you cannot simply pick up your life where you left off. If possible, start the job hunt before you return home or consider aligning your return home with the start of a seasonal job. For example, line up a gig working the snow season in Colorado, or the the Cruise Ship season in Alaska. This will give you some time to adjust to “home” culture without the pressures of thinking that you need to go borrow money from the local land shark to buy your next meal.
2. Starting Over Money: Don’t spend every last dollar traveling. Set aside a “starting over” fund (at least $1,000 but probably more) and don’t touch it until you get home. This will make it easier to get established and will relieve some of the pressure while you start a new life.  Having the security deposit and first month of rent for your new apartment is helpful for return.
3. Expect People Not to Care: This is not mean, it is just reality. Your friends and family will be glad to see you and happy that you are not roaming the streets of Istanbul penniless and alone. However, while you were off playing amateur anthropologist, “finding yourself”, or trying to out drink your new Aussie friends under the table, they were going to work, going to school and living their chosen lives. As a result, they will be more or less the same and you will be different. What is more, although they care about you and will be polite, they really do not care how much fun you had hitch hiking your way around Malaysia or mashing potatoes with a spoon in some ill equipped hostel kitchen. They won’t understand and you need to okay with that and stop telling travel stories.
4. Plan Your New Life: Why did you go traveling in the first place? Did you hate your job and needed to see what else the world offered? Did you love your job and took a well deserved sabbatical? Perhaps you just graduated from college and took a gap year before starting your career. Whatever made you want to go see the world in the first place focus on those memories and make the necessary changes as you begin to create a “new old” life for yourself. Perhaps this means aggressively pursuing a career change or going back to school to retool your skills. Whatever this means for you, formulate a plan before you return home so you don’t wake up six months after re-entry angry with fact that you picked up the same crappy life that you had before you left.

Re-entry Culture Shock is a part of traveling the world. If you find yourself feeling lonely and missing the world, go stay at a local hostel for a few nights and get to know the traveling occupants. If that does not help, you can always put off the re-entry problems, apply for a work visa, grab your backpack and hit the road again.

Traveling allows more time to read.  It’s a simple fact.  Travel is a reason to love books.

Whether it’s on an 8 hour flight or a few days at the beach.  Traveling will even inspire a non-avid reader to flip through pages endlessly.

Books are great travel companions.  They are lightweight.  If you get tired of what they are saying you can simply close it.  If you loose a book along the way, it could be upsetting if you were at a suspenseful place in the book.  Overall books are inexpensive and easily replaceable.

As you complete a book along your travels you may give the book away, bring it home for your personal book collection or donate it to a local library.

If you want a new book along your journey, there are countless options beyond the airport bookstore.

Get new books as you travel

• A used book store
• A garage sale
• Book exchange shelves at hostels
• Ask the person sitting next to you on the train, bus or plane if they have finished reading their book, you could even offer to buy it from them.
• An Amazon Kindle or other electronic book reader – this will allow you to bring an entire library (100’s of books) along your travels.  Easily the the best item in my backpack.  I would recommend a Kindle to anyone!

As you travel and explore the new places, it is also good to explore new elements of reading.

Mix reading and Traveling

• Read a fictional novel set in the area of the world in which you will travel to in the future.
• Read a new form of literature – ex. Always reading the classics?  Try a modern tale by an unfamiliar author.
• Read a text book – learn a new language
• Read the local newspaper – attend a local activity or sporting event
• Go for a reading walk (works well in urban environments) – read billboards, traffic signs, flyers and other forms of media that have infiltrated the culture.
• Be creative!  Experiment with new forms of travel that play well with literature.

Reading and traveling can be fascinating.  Mixing the two together can often lead to even more enjoyable experiences and adventures.   Some individuals have began to combine Book Crossing in their travel adventures.  This will allow you to leave books behind at a cafe, museum or other fun location for someone else to discover and read.  You will be able to follow the books online and track who else reads them and where the books travel.

Even if you are currently unable to travel, a book can take you there.  Don’t let anything hold you back.  You too can say, ‘been there, read that’.

© nomadbackpackers.com -  All rights reserved 2009

Since Our New Office is always on the go, Jason and Sara agreed to a virtual interview.  Their advice will help anyone think outside of the cubicle and dream of working, while traveling the world.

Natalie: How did you gain the necessary skills to work remotely?  Did you read lots of books?  Experiment with personal websites and online marketing?

Jason: Trial by fire. Sara and I have left multiple broken and failed websites in our wake. From these failures we have attained enough knowledge, confidence, and skills to both make money through our own websites, as well as, help others do the same.

Of course, books, education, and experience played a role as well.

Natalie: Is it difficult to work while you are traveling?  Are the distractions endless?

Sara: Generally speaking, it is a little harder to work overseas than it is at home. Internet access is often a problem, so we usually plan around that. As for distractions, while living in Denver, I was distracted by episodes of Lost and invites to happy hour.  My more recent distractions of jungle tours in Costa Rica and shoe shopping in Bangkok are just as tempting as the Denver distractions of my past. It’s all about discipline.

Natalie: Do you have a physical home to return to?  How long have you been traveling? How often do you return?

Sara: Our address is Public Storage unit #67, Denver, Colorado…we’re definitely homeless, but surprisingly we don’t miss having a home. We just miss friends and family.  Jason and I altered our lifestyle in August, 2008. We return to the states every 1-3 months to take care of business and see friends and family, and we plan on returning to the USA at the end of May for a wedding…we almost always come back for the weddings (including our own).

Natalie: Weddings are a good excuse to return (especially your own).  Is it difficult to keep new work consistently coming in?  Do you have key clients you depend on?  Are you ever concerned that work opportunities will lessen with the global economic issues?

Jason: Finding new clients is always a concern, regardless of where we are. Still, we like to think we’re doing a good job because we’re able to depend on referrals for new business. As for the economy, we’re not terribly concerned. The Internet industry is still going strong.

Sara: We plan on working remotely through the end of the year. After that – who knows. The more time we spend doing this, the easier it gets.

Natalie: It’s good to know it gets easier.  It has been fascinating to learn about your lifestyle of travel and international telecommuting.  Your lifestyle will encourage and inspire so many others to work remotely as they travel the world.  Thanks Jason and Sara!

NOTE:  The photos I have included are not actual photos of Jason or Sara working around the world.  Although, they look just as sharp while working remotely.  If you would like to see actual photos of Jason and Sara visit their gallery.

Check out Jason and Sara at Our New Office and follow their travels.  Jason’s latest travel discovery is bite-size bananas in Panama.  While Sara is savoring her natural alarm clock each morning, as the sounds of traffic, horns and car alarms wake her up in Panama.

As for Justin and I, we are sorting out our next step in life.  Thank you so much for all of the encouraging emails and topic suggestions for future articles we will consider writing.  Be sure to vote in our next poll, You Choose, coming soon!

On April 6th, Natalie and I returned to Detroit Michigan to encourage my father in his fight against cancer. After 3 difficult weeks, dad lost his battle with cancer and died on April 21st. This is a difficult and heartbreaking time for my entire family. Natalie and I were very encouraged by the outpouring of support from the blogosphere and fellow travelers. Thank you.

As Natalie and I are needed close to home at the moment, I am not sure when we will pick up our backpacks and hit the trail again for an extended journey. As a result, we are currently brainstorming (and taking suggestions) about the future of this site. I know that we will be traveling, on a limited basis, around the United States and articles from these up coming journeys will appear here. I also know that we will be filling in the gaps on this site with stories and advice from our 6 months abroad. However, in the next couple of days we will post a new poll regarding the future of the site. Your feedback is important so be sure to vote. For the moment however, in honor of my father and the many things that he taught me, I will leave you with something I wrote for his funeral.

He Was My Dad

Only at this point in my life, has it occurred to me that Tom Boyd was many different men to many different people.

For some, Tom was a co-worker, an employee, a salesman; the old man in the office. For others, he was a student, a teacher, a mentor, a role model. Many, found Tom to be a friend, a confidant, a calming influence in times of uncertainty. He was a loyal parishioner, a Sunday School teacher, a church board member, a Royal Ranger commander. Tom was at times a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a Papa.

But to me; to me, he was my Dad.

My father was a patient man. I grew up in a world filled with early morning soda pop and donut laden fishing trips. I spent many Saturday mornings wandering in the tall wet grass of a local par 3 golf course, vainly searching for my wayward ball. It never occurred to me that my father was actually interested in catching fish (I thought it was all about the donuts) or that a par three golf course was not exactly challenging for his golf game. I never thought about this because my father was a patient man. On the surface he was teaching me how to fish or how to golf but really, he was slowly, one golf swing at time, teaching me about life. Teaching me how to be a man.

He was my Dad.

My father was a dreamer. He grew up fast and poor in the east side of Detroit and like many members of the Detroit boomer generation, college seemed like more of a luxury than a necessity. I know Dad was a hard worker who dedicated himself to early morning paper routes and winter bridge construction projects. I know Dad eventually decided to go to college and he spent 10 years working full time and going to night school. I don’t know if he was always a dreamer or if he learned it along the way but I never knew him not be working on a dream. Dad was not a selfish man, and his dreams…they were not selfish dreams. He dreamed of buying a home in a good school district so Jason and I could obtain a solid education. He dreamed that his sons would go to college and that we would have opportunities that were never available to him. He dreamed about traveling to Europe with my mom; about building a retirement home where him and my mother could spend their retirement. He dreamed so many dreams. I loved listening to Dad’s dreams because they were contagious. His dreams were magnetic, often pulling other people along in their wake and inspiring them to dream their own dreams. Dad taught me how to dream.

He was my Dad.

My father was dependable. He could be relied on to keep his word, to honor his commitments, to be where he said he would be. Dad taught by example, demonstrating that character, like reputation, was the sum of one’s choices. When Dad said he would be there to watch my soccer game, I never doubted that he would be there. When Dad said he would find a way for me to pay off my student loans, I trusted him. In his relationships, Dad had no use for guessing games and half truths. He was dependable and he expected dependability out of the people he associated with. Like many of the people who knew him, my relationship with Dad was built on his dependability. On the value of his word. On the strength of his character.

He was my Dad

Dad was generous and trustworthy, a peacemaker, a moderator, a good listener. He was humble and, at times quiet, reflective and introspective. He was a model host, the easy guy to talk to at a party, a welcoming face in an unfriendly crowd. He was assertive without being pushy, knowledgeable without arrogance, proud without being prideful.

He was my Dad

He avoided attention and accolades. He would have been very uncomfortable with the attention paid to him at his funeral. He would have told us not bother. That people were busy and that he did not need to be honored.

He was my Dad.

He was not perfect though. He was disorganized to the point of chaos. He could be reactionary and, at times, cranky. He was hopeless with technology. Dad hated shopping and was legendary for making impulse purchases. He forgot his wedding anniversary. More than once.

He was my Dad.

Saying goodbye to Dad is hard, but not difficult. It would be difficult to say goodbye if Dad had burdened me with  insecurities. He did not. It would be difficult to say goodbye if Dad was sparse with praise and difficult to please. He was not. It would difficult to say goodbye if I questioned whether or not he loved me. If I questioned whether or not he was proud of me. If I questioned whether he agreed with the man I was and the man I am becoming. I do not.

In the coming years I will miss my father. I will miss out on the relationship a son has with his dad, as the two grow older. I will miss out on seeing him become a Papa to my children. I will miss out on asking his advice and seeking his counsel as we drink wine in the dark, looking up at the stars

My father is gone and, in the coming years, I will find my own way to say goodbye. I wish….I just wish that my life was not so much dimmer in his absence.

I will miss my dad.

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The Bad

The Establishment: If you have been backpacking for any amount of time, you are accustom to doing everything  yourself. They will take your passport (all passports are stamped as a group at each port) and set the schedule of what time you must return to the ship. It is not that the establishment will make the wrong decisions, but they will make decisions that bring them repeat business. That is not you.

Ports of Call: Remember, a cruise ship is a business. As a business, the cruise ship makes most of their money selling peripherals (shore excursions, drinks, massages, etc.) Therefore, many ports of call, especially on a repositioning cruise, are not exactly set up for independent exploration. This is not to say that a port cannot be explored on foot, but rather that most ports are chosen by their proximity to attractions that are alluring to most cruisies. For example, the boat may dock at a boring city in Australia that is the perfect location to take 3 hour boat trips to the Great Barrier Reef or a full day excursion to the rain forest. Although it is possible (and much more economical) to plan your own adventures, the cruise excursions are the easiest as they will pick you up and drop you off. These excursions are also the most expensive way to see a destination as everyone is looking for their cut (the cruise ship, the bus driver, the tour operator etc.).

The People: People are not always pleasant. Repositioning cruises tend to attract retired and semi-retired people who are accustom to speaking their mind (no matter how offensive) and having their way. Develop a thick skin, be assertive and don’t forget to laugh at the drama. It is not worth the emotional energy to become outraged at the people who think your a decade older (or younger) than your actual age, the people who think you work on the ship (and order a drink or ask for more towels to be delivered to one of the swimming pools), or those who think bashing another culture (i.e. let me tell you why I hate the French) is socially acceptable.

The Ugly

Closed Economy: Many things on a cruise ship are included in the cost of the cruise. However, the items that are not (drinks, certain activities, etc.) are rather expensive. As good capitalists, cruise ships recognize that they are running a monopoly. From beer to shore excursions, a cruise ship will charge prices that make even airport vendors cringe.

The People: Cruisies are like teenage girls at a college frat party. They are eager to impress everyone they meet with their travel qualifications while, at the same time, being slightly insecure about their travel experience. This leads to more country dropping and one upmanship than a male jr. high school locker room.

“I did Italy and Greece last year in 16 days. I liked it so much, that I booked a 60 day cruise for next spring to do Africa.  After we enjoy the safari animals while we do Africa, we might cruise to Antarctica for the March of the Penguins shore excursion?  Our friend Evona did it and she loved it, you should see her pictures.  Not as good as my photos, but you know she tries, I even put all my cruise shots on flicker.  So you just did Brazil?”

This is a classic example of country (or continent) dropping. It also demonstrates the cruisies tendency to utilize different conjugations of the verb to do to describe their travels.

“I did the Mediterranean last year”. “I am going to do Alaska in the fall”. I am doing South America next year.”

Most backpackers know that an individual could spend 2 years traveling the Mediterranean without developing a comprehensive knowledge of the region. To say that you did a country or region in such a short amount of time simultaneously demonstrates a shocking combination of ignorance and arrogance. Needless to say, be prepared for a number of pissing contests.

Final Word

Before you get on a cruise ship, here is what you need to know

• If you want to drink, sneak your wine and liquor on board. Some companies have policies that prohibit this but the astronomical cost of a beer should provide you with sufficient motivation to overcome these restrictions.
• Always have cash with you. Some ports you stop at may not have ATMs or businesses that cash travelers’ checks. The cruise ship can sell you money, but they will charge you a processing fee upwards of (30%). Even loan sharks are not so cut throat.
• If you don’t know how to handle older people, take a plane.
• Cruise ships are not designed for backpackers. Get over it and adapt.
• Don’t take part in the country dropping pissing contests.  If someone asks, share a travel experience that you have enjoyed.
• Remember that at the end of the cruise you get to keep traveling and many of the people you have met will be  going back to their lives. Be sensitive.
• Think of the cruise ship as a ferry. Your job is to get from one place to another while preserving the majority of your travel budget so you can get back to traveling. Don’t get drawn into spending a bunch of money at the bar or on shore excursions.
• Be prepared for awkward personal questions.  i.e. How can you afford this? How old are you? What do your parents think? Do you miss your family? Old people are curious and more willing to ask questions than most people. Try to remember than they are simply curious, not judgmental.
• Get your visas before getting on the ship. You need visas for every port where the ship will stop. Buy them yourself or pay loan shark style prices for the ship to do it for you.

Now go forth backpackers, fully armed with cruise ship knowledge, and enjoy!

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Backpackers be warned. Although, a repositioning cruise (a cruise that starts in one port and ends in another) may be an excellent and cost effective way to move from one destination to another there are several things you should know.

The Good

Eating Olympics: If you have been on the road for several months, your inner hobbit is likely grumbling about all of those days in Europe where you skipped a meal or lived on cheap pasta or bread and cheese. (I have an external hobbit. Natalie likes to eat 6-8 meals a day so every time I skip a meal, she skips 2.5.) Any cruise ship will allow you to eat like a gluttonous hobbit and you get a well deserved break for washing all of those dishes and making daily runs to the grocery store.

Private Room: Thin mattresses, loud neighbors, and snoring bunk mates are an annoying part of budget travel (not to mention streaking down the hall at 2:00am to use the bathroom). Most days, the overall good experiences of travel allows me to put a thick coating of white wash over these small annoyances, but sometimes I really miss a quiet room and a hot shower. Even if you are sleeping below the waterline, a cruise ship will consistently provide a clean comfortable bed and your own hot shower.

The Ocean: The ocean is an enthralling and beautiful mistress. Try as you might, you will never grow tired of her seductive beauty.

Free Stuff: Especially on “days at sea” (days when your the ship is not in a port) the daily itinerary (it will be delivered to your room) is full of everything from bingo to Texas Hold’em tournaments. Be adventurous and go to odd activities such as the Art Auctions. It may be a bit stiff, but you can usually get free Champagne out of the deal. Remember, you cannot really afford to buy anything on the ship so take advantage of the free stuff.

The People: Cruise ships are filled with interesting and adventurous people. Take the opportunity to talk to the people you meet about places they have traveled. Although you may disagree with them about how to travel, their experiences could help to guide you towards or away from a destination.

Check back in a couple of days for the Bad and the Ugly parts of cruise ships, as well as the nomad backpackers’ final word on what you need to know before getting on a repositioning cruise.

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Tom was originally diagnosed with anal cancer.  Cancer has now been found in other places throughout his body including the liver and lungs.

There are so many uncertainties in life, and health is a huge element that we cannot control.  We are not sure what the future will bring.  Although we are currently not traveling, we will pick out trip up again some time in the future. I trust that South East Asia will still be there. For the time being, I am certain our current place in life is right here, in Detroit, Michigan with family.

This is a very difficult time for Justin especially.  I am not sure what you personally believe, however we are choosing to pray to God.  You may join us in prayer for Tom as we believe he has a fighting chance.

We look forward to writing about our recent experimental transportation (the cruise ship) as well as sharing our thoughts on Singapore.  If you are currently traveling and would like to share your ideas, advice, insight or adventures, please let us know what you’ve been up too.  Justin and I will continue to post travel articles and information as we reflect on the last 6 months and plan for the future.

If there is an aspect of our backpacking journey that you would like to hear more about, please let us know.  We love to entertain questions.  Be creative.  We have had all sorts of questions, and have not been offended yet.  Hit me with your best shot.

And as for Tom, we know he is being hit hard, but fighting back hard too.  Please email us if you would like to be updated with Tom’s status, in efforts to pray for his fight against cancer.

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