(For those of you who just want to see the photos, skip down past the text!)
Hey guys! I don’t usually talk about my family here, but my brother did something pretty incredible a few months ago - literally two days after our trip to India (which I posted photos of a little while ago), he repacked his bags and hopped on a plane for another trip - around the world in 3 months. In his own words:
“In the Fall of 2007, a friend and I cooked this idea. We both had a limited amount of time before starting work, and while still living within the fast paced engineering frame of mind where everything seems to get done one way or another, plans were made. One cold December day in the ECE lounge, we sat down with a world map for 30 minutes, pointed to a few places on the map with no regard for reason, and handed it off to a travel agent.
The following three months, which were completely worth every penny, euro, rmb, and sole, were also 3 of the most taxing months imaginable. We slept on buses, airport floors, couches. We traveled by planes, boats, dog sleds, and rickshaws. For me, after years in school, I finally got to see the world I’ve spent so much time reading about on Wikipedia. So many years of just reading can create some hesitation… what if nothing lives up to all the wonders you’ve read about? Well, as it turns out, the world is far more colorful than any construction of the English language.”
I think that sums it up nicely. I’ve posted a few thumbnails of photos (they all link to the main Flickr set), but you can also check out this Google Map that traces the path of his trip. It starts in DC and ends in Peru. Photos:
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 10:36 am and is filed under Rant. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
wow! I wish I could do that. Maybe once I won the lottery… I guess I’d have to start playing first. I’m so jealous.
It doesn’t take winning the lottery! It just means saving a bit up and being willing to rough it and seek the cheapest alternatives, which often means things like figuring out local transportation systems as opposed to tourist transportation.
Congrats! I bet it was fun ^^
except for the airports D:
are those roasted scorpions i see in the 5th pic? O.o
those taste good?
They are, there is a great night food market for stuff like that in Beijing.
They’re pretty tasty, have had them the couple of times I’ve been in China.
awesome experience, beautiful pictures. i’m going to try not to be too jealous … and i’ll likely fail. thanks for sharing the photos with us.
Wow! That is truly a sight to behold. Your brother is almost as cute as you!! Haha. Traveling the world is a grand experience. Truly a dream that more people should realize
Amazing. I would love to do that sometime. Hopefully my scheduale can clear up eventually.
Also, why did he skip out on most of Canada :(
(Southern Ontario does not count…)
Either way, still amazing.
This is pretty inspiring.. I’m worried about taking a gap year after college due to financial restraints so this has sort of lifted my spirits; I’m happy he enjoyed his time.
How much did your brother spend ? like a ball park estimate so I know how much I need to save up.
The ticket was about 5500 USD, and everything else (transportation, a few more plane tickets, hostels, etc) ended up costing another 2k. In total I spent around 8.5k. I saved up from summer jobs and stuff, so its pretty do-able as long as you’re pretty low maintenance and willing to do most of the legwork yourself. Hostels tend to be pretty helpful environments.
Which ticket cost you 5500? Or is that a total from several flights?
For 5500 he got 40,000 miles to spend as he saw fit.
awesome thanks for the reply 8500 is completely do able since I plan on doing it after I graduate from college so if I start working and saving up now I should have enough.
Are those…scorpions on a stick?
do you know what camera he used? those are some really spectacular photos.
Thanks, I used a Nikon D40. It can get pretty have to drag that thing around everywhere, but it was definitely worth it.
Amazing: well done! You guys both take some great shots; loved the ones from India too!
Amazing. Your brother took some simply superb photos that I would kill for if my camera could pull it off. Someone already said it, but thank you for sharing the pictures.
Scorpions on a stick? T_T Eeeewwwww…. I hope your bro found real food that doesn’t bite back. LOL. Amazing trip. That is an expirience that will last a life time! Awesome!!!! ^.^
WoW that is soooo cool and the scorpions taste nice to sort of a craby and chicken like taste to them. Wish I could get out and about more….Outside the country that is.
“It’s all about taking a little risk, but after you see the world, nothing really matters.” Your brother’s really cool.
All of your photos are beautiful, but the eighth one is exceptionally fantastic. As of the scorpions; if they’re poison free, I’d try them! Cultural differences do join a part of what makes out a wonderful journey. After viewing the bottom photos, I am now tempted to visit Peru one day.
P.S: The husky photo was TeH WIN, by the way. :P
Certainly true, but there’s plenty more of the world to see. The farther you travel, the more you meet people who’ve traveled even farther.
Those dogs were the most well behaved dogs I’ve ever seen, but when they start pulling they go nuts.
It makes me really happy that I have been to most of those places, makes me feel well traveled. Though when I went to Spain and China I was in a big group with my school band. I think it would be interesting to visit those locals again flying solo.
Cool stuff Ananth.
What a trip…I’ve been to the exact spot from the photo on the surface of the great wall. The forbidden city is just beautiful.
Thanks for sharing!
that lounge…for such a small room, so much has gone on there.
ha, I’m guessing you’re a fellow CMUer, because that’s no small statement.
hail carnegie.
Thanks for sharing the photos they were great. I could look at them so many times :) inspiring really.lol im trying not to be jealous too hehe.
wowww i hope i can do that someday! How much did he save to start this trip?
whole thing cost me about 8.5k-9k…
the plane ticket was 5500, which gets you 35,000 miles for any number of stops
Everything else cost about 3k. That included traveling around, a few more plane tickets (sydney->melbourne, stockholm->kiruna, lima->cusco), bus tickets, etc and some gear before leaving - camera, backpack, etc).
We did a lot of cooking ourselves in hostels, and we had friends in china and peru, so the cheapest countries ended up being even cheaper. We used a lot of local transportation, etc. I didn’t buy any trinkets or anything because I was trying to travel as light as possible. Basically, we shaved costs on the comforts and reallocated that money towards tickets, fees, entrances etc.
I left for the trip ready to spend a lot more. Being in student mode helps a lot because you’re trying to save money by nature. I also don’t drink, so that’s a large saving as well. When you stay at hostels, a lot of the kids are dead broke all the time because they’re boozing excessively every night.
Cute doggy =)
I’m from Peru, glad to know you came to visit! I hope you liked the food :)
That is truly amazing and I am very happy for the two of you.
I’m sitting here, reminded of my desire to travel, and I can already feel the earth beneath my feet.
Thank you for reminding I still had some things left to do.
Well, I briefly considered posting here a few days ago, at a time when I had only done that time-efficient thing and skipped to the pictures… however, now that I’ve read that which was said between the advice to skip to the pictures and the pictures themselves… I have no idea why, but the line, “…as it turns out, the world is far more colorful than any construction of the English language,” hit me pretty hard. [/emo moment] Anyway, people should really try to make trips like that. It keeps life interesting.
Around the world one step at a time.
amazing, what a great idea!
See, cool stuff like that is why I want to run the Amazing Race. My family did lots of traveling when I was younger, but somehow I managed to slip into my 30s without getting out there and doing the same.
Very cool, and congratulate your brother on a great trip!
This is an absolutely trivial question, but what did you eat? I mean, restaurants every night for three months have to be hella expensive, so I have a feeling it’s not that.
But seriously, I’m so envious. I would love to do that one day. My parents would DIE, and I probably won’t be able to afford it since I’ll have to pay back student loans after college, but hopefully, eventually…
We cooked a lot at the hostels - so 66 cents for pasta and 2 bucks for sauce and slam, dinner for 2 people.
Really though, there’s always going to be excuses. Thats why we planned the whole thing in 30 minutes - once you start thinking, the damage is done :)
Whoa how did you just buy 40k worth or miles? how does that work? now im really intrigued.