amazing considering there are only around 20 million people in Australia alone, far less than just
the state of California.
* Everyone around the world hates George Bush. Everyone I've met, anyways. The one
exception was a drunk English guy in a bar who loved Bush and said that we should "Bomb all
those people!" I'm not sure what he meant by "those people" but was afraid to ask.
* You never meet a Canadian who doesn't have a little Canadian flag sewn on his or her
backpack.
* Bringing any white shirts traveling is a mistake.
* Polo shirts are the best, since they are versatile and they look decent when you go through
Customs checkpoints.
* Good sandals or slippers are key.
* Try not to bring too many pairs of shoes.
* Anything that was questionable to pack before my trip, I didn't really need. Anything you need you can almost
always pick up on the road, and at a cheaper price.
* Sunscreen is more expensive in every country than the US. Even in s.e. asia. I have no idea
why.
* Meeting people while traveling is extremely easy. Looking back, I was almost always with
other people and would actually have preferred to spend a little more time alone.
* Many American travelers you meet really fit the stereotypes that other countries have about us. They know
nothing about the rest of the world, are fairly obnoxious, and think everyone is envious of the US. This was
discouraging.
* I thought before my trip that most people really did like the US and wanted to go there. People I met that
were doing around-the-world trips typically had the US far down on their priority list of places
to visit.
* Controlling you budget comes down to managing your drinking expenditure.
* Negotiate for everything outside of western europe (except for Japan). Even prices that you think are set are
usually negotiable as well.
* The summer (I started in August) is a bad time to travel for several reasons.
- everything is crowded. The students are traveling so everything is full.
- everything is more expensive
- many of the people in the places you go to are also on vacation, so they leave the country.
this is especially in August. In Italy in August you see more French and English and Spaniards
than you do Italians.
-everywhere is Hot!
* Traveling is walking many many miles. I guess that's why so many Americans are fat. The rest of the world
walks so much more.
* Most drinking games are universal.
* The hardest part of traveling is packing your damn bag.
* McDonalds is everywhere - except for Cambodia and Vietnam
* Coke is everywhere.
* You don't miss TV at all when you are traveling.
* Getting sports news every other week or so is a lot more interesting than every day.
* One of the things you miss most when traveling in asia is a western toilet that you can sit on, put toilet paper in,
and flush normally. Happiness is actually finding one.
* Memorize your passport number when you travel.
* Meeting local people is much harder than meeting other travelers, but is well worth your effort. This is really
the only way you get a authentic experience in a country.