- Bown’s tale of extreme travel has already made national news in Ireland, and European media outlets like The Guardian are planning features on his staggering two-decade achievement, accomplished with little more than courage and a backpack.
It’s not the 44-year-old’s first time in the headlines: Two years ago, BBC World Service and Time Magazine were among the outlets buzzing over the unexpected appearance of a tourist in war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia — the first recreational visitor in more than two decades.
Reading this depressed me a little bit. I'll probably never make it out of the USA, let alone travel around the world. In my entire lifetime I'll only see an insignificant portion of what that world has to offer, let alone the universe. Even this man, who has seen more of the world than anyone else, has barely seen anything. I'll never see everything, and I'll never know why or how any of it exists in the first place. On the bright side, at least I'm human and therefore intelligent enough to have thoughts like these in the first place.
Where I live (NZ), and probably lots of other places, there is a tradition referred to as "the big OE", which a lot of young people do after finishing school and before embarking on "a career".
It usually involves spending 6-8 weeks, longer if they can afford it, doing an "Overseas Experience". Most just bum around Europe. Lots of drinking is traditionally involved. [edit] Wikipedia knows about it : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_experience
That sounds pretty interesting. I don't think that tradition exists in America, at least not where I live. I still plan on doing something's like that. Should be relatively easy to fund if I start saving back now, right? I'm not sure how much it would cost, but it shouldn't be so much that I wouldn't make enough in 2 years to afford it.
I was overwhelmed and, of course, jealous. Traveling is my end goal in life. But why do you say you'll never leave the United States? It's so easy. I didn't realize how easy until I just up and left America last summer to backpack around western Europe. It takes some money, but what doesn't?
Out of everyone I know only a few have ever left the US. I just kind of assumed that was because it was a difficult and expensive thing to do.
I live in Illinois (not Chicago) and I'm 16. Please don't hate me for being 16, by the way. I don't know if this place is the kind of place that automatically hates anyone under 20, but reddit certainly is so you never know.
Come on. So it's a little harder for a 16-year-old to travel, but not impossible. If traveling with your family isn't an option for whatever reason, explore alternate options through your high school, your church if you have one, etc. Most high schoolers I know who were able to go to interesting places went on mission trips. I also know a guy who saved up some money and hooked up with one of those foreign exchange group programs. Or get in your car and drive to Toronto (if you have a car. you may not have a car), it's a cool place. I myself didn't travel much in high school, because it's way harder. But fuck, traveling in college is the easiest damn thing in the world. If you want to travel after college, get a job that involves moving around a lot. In no way does "being 16 and unable to get out of Illinois at the moment" translate into "stuck forever." It only seems like it. In the meantime listen to the Hold Steady and do hard drugs.Please don't hate me for being 16, by the way.
I wasn't assuming that I'd always be here because I'm young, I was assuming so because everyone I seem including adults, have been stuck here their whole life. The flip side to this is that it is a distinct possibility that I don't see people traveling much because the people who do travel have left. It's a relatively small town so we don't have many (if any) mission trips and exchange programs sound terrifying. I will try to get out of Illinois at some point though, hopefully out of country. Shouldn't actually be too hard, reading this article just made me momentarily extremely jealous.
I live in Illinois (not Chicago) and I'm 16. Please don't hate me for being 16, by the way. I don't know if this place is the kind of place that automatically hates anyone under 20, but reddit certainly is so you never know.