I always wanted to travel around the world. It was very close last year when I traveled to New Zealand and back. But this year I am literally traveling around the world. The journey starts this Saturday in Paris and will end in February 2015. I am beyond excited to share this news with you and I am anxiously looking forward to this journey. Travel around the world should be epic. Not only because of places you visit but for two very particular reasons: you always go in one direction (west, in my case), and you cross The International Date Line only once. In my case I’ll cross it flying from Rarotonga on Cook Island to Auckland in New Zealand. Dream Since the lecture of Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne my imagination was dominated by a thought that one day I will travel around the world. Not necessarily in 80 days nor as a result of a bet. But reading the adventures of Phileas Fogg I was pretty sure I will share his travel. This was a powerful reading and I still like this book very much (especially because I have a very old edition that my Dad got in a primary school). Although books are really important in this story there is much more than that! Slow I always do my best to travel slow. I never count countries, national parks or UNESCO world heritage sites visited. I often go to the same place more than once. I enjoy seeing the same place in every possible season.   Slow immersion in places is my thing. And this is the project for this journey too: at least 2 weeks in every location. I stretched my stay in New Zealand to 5 weeks so I could join the summer and outstanding landscapes. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies movie premiere is also in my schedule just as a visit in Matamata filming location that I missed last time. Countries and languages I prefer traveling to countries that I think I am able to understand. Starting with the language end ending with the local celebrations. You may say: how limited your image of the world is! But I see it quite differently. Most of all I appreciate when I am able to contact ordinary people, discuss issues important to them and simply feel like at home. Tradition and celebrations – equally important – are hard to understand without the previous background. And I am not satisfied with superficial “Awww, that’s cute!”. Thus, I am not lying to myself that I can fully appreciate India or Tanzania because I can’t. There is no way I can feel close to the people and their everyday life so  I chose to visit the countries I know about in advance even if it comes for a price. Books My favorite way of traveling is reading a book first and visiting a place afterwards. The world described by somebody in the past is precious. And reading books makes my travel multidimensional. I can compare how things has changed which always fascinates me. After all, comparative education field of research was my job for years! Old habits die hard. Through books about places I visit  I can feel the place with all my senses. I can stretch my perception and imagination. I can fully appreciate of what I see. I can see the history behind objects, monuments and buildings. I can try to understand the present through the past. Now, I’m not saying I am always perfect and I am always successful but at least I am trying very hard to see not only what is visible for the eye. I often carry a book with me about a place I visit and this time it is Nicolas Bouvier masterpiece:  The Japanese Chronicles. Yes, I will go to Japan, I will walk around Tokyo and Kyoto and Nara and will be reading HIS book at the very same time. What else I could ever wanted? I hope to bring you all the places visited as close as possible. Through the social media channels you can follow my journey and share my adventures. See the map below to know the itinerary and stay tuned for more! [UPDATE] …and here is the first post after I got back home!  

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Working on stories from New Zealand took an interesting turn: I got in touch with Esther who is native New Zealander and we exchanged guest posts. Esther’s previous post on everyday life in NZ is here and a short summary of my first visit in NZ is here. We felt there is much more to talk about so we came with few questions on camping in New Zealand that might be helpful if you think about going there. And so here are 5 questions on camping in New Zealand with one reply from each of us. [E] stands for Esther and [A] stands for Agata. Q1: What is the best thing about camping in NZ that you can’t have when staying in hotels or B&B? [E]: You’re genuinely closer to nature (for better or worse – watch out for those bugs!) and that can be a truly awesome experience. [A]: I think that driving in a campervan instead of an ordinary car or public transportation transforms the holiday. It is less comfortable but at the same time you don’t need to pack/unpack every night because you bring everything with you. After a month you’re attached to your camper, no matter what! Q2: What is essential when booking a campervan? [E]: Be informed. Read all the fine print. Know exactly what you’re getting into. What does the insurance cover? Are you allowed to have another driver and what are the age limits? What will the bond cost? Is there a limit on how many kilometres you can drive? Are there any roads on which you are not allowed to drive? Will you need items like snow chains, and are those included? Is it diesel or petrol (will you need to pay the diesel fees?). Is bedding/cookware included? Is it manual or automatic? No question is too small or stupid to ask. [A]:  I agree with Esther on being informed however you can’t know everything in advance so be prepare for the unknown. I spent hours before I picked up a campervan and even though I had an impression I don’t know everything I should have. I think a bit of flexibility is necessary to enjoy camping. And obviously, do it in advance! Q3: How do I pick up the best solution for me? [E]: As you probably know, amenities and affordability generally don’t go together. Think about how many people you need to accommodate, what season you’ll be travelling in and what kind of comfort level you desire. Decide what you can compromise on and what you can’t live without – that will dictate your options. Budget campervans are basically just large vans, providing a way to get around and a place to lay your head at night. At the high end you get campervans with foldout beds, table and chairs, TV, kitchen, heating/AC, and of course, a range of campervans in between. When we campervanned around the South Island, I wanted a fully-contained campervan (ie one with its own toilet facilities) and with cooking facilities so that we could camp anywhere – the beauty of traveling this way is the sheer flexibility to go at your own pace. If your campervan doesn’t have bathroom facilities you will be technically restricted as to where you can park/camp overnight. (Camping fees, even just to park a motorhome, are surprisingly expensive sometimes.) I’m also personally wary of public restrooms, but that’s a separate issue. [A]:  Yes, knowing your own needs is essential. Don’t lie to yourself about your sense of comfort because there is a serious risk you’ll get disappointed. I would say that highly developed network of camping sites is a good way to get a bit of comfort every couple of days without quitting your camping holiday plan.  Q4: What’s most beautiful and worst camping site you have ever been to? [E]: You know, I’ve never had any terrible camping experiences. The worst was probably just being stuck inside a campervan because of rain (fortunately I’ve never been rained out while camping in tents). I’m definitely not a highly seasoned camper and camping isn’t my usual style – I’ve been to a couple of school camps, I’ve camped out a handful of times with friends for various reasons, and we camped out in our van for two weeks in 2012 around the South Island. I really enjoyed the spot by Lake Ellesmere where we parked up on our first night – the sky was glorious as the night set in – but the campsite at Milford Sound was probably the most beautiful as it’s right by the mountains.  [A]: I totally agree with Esther: the view from camping site is much more appealing than the quality of services. The best one I stayed in was Franz Josef Top 10 Holiday Park. The view on glacier was breathtaking! I saw it in early morning just from the camper window and that was awesome! There were few less spectacular. I think the one at Lake Tekapo was my least favorite. I checked each site in advance on various sites like NZ Travel Review and I excluded each camping site that users were complaining on sandflies ;-) Following Esther’s suggestion I’m giving here few more websites with camping related services: Camping Finder, Camping NZ, TOP10 Holiday Parks, Kiwi Holiday Parks. Q5: Any regrets after your camping holiday? What would you do differently? [E]: No regrets I can think of. It all went very smoothly. The only thing I would hopefully have done differently is convinced my partner NOT to drive onto the beach, because we very nearly got stranded – we got stuck in the sand and would have had to pay a hefty fee for towage if two kind locals hadn’t seen us from the road and turned up in their ute to help pull us out. That was an adventure, but a rather stressful and potentially expensive one. [A]: Although I did not drive onto a beach (been tempted though;-) I think next time...

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Another week, another guest post. It looks like an epic accumulation! But here it is: how to prepare a journey that will change your life? Tough question but if you focused on the crucial things you will come much closer to the answer on how to do it. My guest post on Thinking Nomads blog is here. Writing this post after few months made me think how much I miss Ireland. It doesn’t look like I go there in the nearest future but really hope to visit it this year. If only for few days…Let’s get back to the best memories!  

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I have just finished reading the Rough Guide on RTW trip and I think this is a very interesting book for all who wishes start their journey. First, the cross-section structure is very handy. The author has a great sense of practical issues, good advices and precise comments. It would be almost impossible to buy, read and carry single-country guidebooks when travelling the world. Even if you bought it and kept it at home and studied it before the actual trip it doesn’t make any sense: before your trip starts you forget half of the information read. I’m not saying that you know everything about RTW after reading this book but its structure makes you think about important issues and it is really helpful. The details of places you will visit are of secondary importance. Second, the proportions of information on the general issues, health issues and continent focused reviews is very smart. It gives you a general sense of what will you struggle with while travelling. It starts with preparations, packing, advise how to buy a cheap RTW ticket, how to safe money, what to do before you leave with your apartment. Further it explains a variety of difficult situations met in various countries and finally it concludes with back home, which is very rare in such publications. Third, it does not neglect the difficulties of the RTW travel. It discusses some potential threats, like diseases and how to protect yourself, cultural shock, tiredness, lack of comfort and homesickness. I have an impression that for many people the important part is just TO GO without a second thought HOW it is going to look like. I’m not talking about expectations, which is less important. I’m talking about the mental confrontation of you as a traveler with difficult situations. Late buses, unfriendly crowd, being robbed, bad weather conditions, sickness- all CAN happen. So it is wise to be at least aware of that. I especially appreciate discussing the stages of going there and getting back (honeymoon, crisis etc.). Last but not least, it brings attention of a potential traveller to the essence: what will you DO when travelling and what HOW are you going to learn the world. I think the author’s advices to stay in touch with people met, learning one of the languages to get back one day to a special place are precious. So, after reading this book I have a general plan of my RTW in mind. I will slowly develop it, starting with getting a closer look at the countries on my list to visit.  

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My first post on my RTW was published a while ago so let me get back to the issue. Just recently I got a lovely gift: a guide titled ‘First Time Around the World. A Trip Planner for the Ultimate Journey‘ written by Doug Lansky, published by Rough Guides. I have already started reading it and I must share two thoughts with you. Perspective The most striking in this book is a general perspective on travelling. What usually drive people to travel is they desire to SEE THINGS, like famous building, particular landscapes, rare animals or renown works of art. Or just SEE how other people live, what they do, how does their life look like. But the author of this book encourages to change this perspective from SEE towards DO. He actually argues for doing things while travelling rather than just watching them. I discovered this is very true for my own travels. Doing things together with locals or other tourists is very enriching. Couple examples: when I started to learn cooking in Italy the new horizon of relations with the locals and with their tradition has opened up. Through the traditional food preparations I spent many hours with the Italians and it gave me an opportunity to get known them better. The moment I drove a scooter was a sort of braking point in my stay in Italy: I finally felt like all the other drivers, enjoying the sun and the wind. The same thing happened in Canada while watching wales: this was a memorable event so I’m still talking about it. Therefore, I found this thought very persuasive and very true. And if you still consider your travel in terms of watching things you might find this guide interesting. Must-See or Must-Do List The second important thought of the first chapters of this guide concerns so called must-see spots. Even with the slightly upgraded perspective to must-do things the author argues the universal list actually does not exists. And I fully agree with it: everyone has his/her own bucket list. The tricky part is to create your own before your travel (at least the basics) so you could experience of what you have been looking for. If you go around the world just to see the famous spots there is a high probability you’ll return disappointed. Professional photos made in a perfect time of day and year rarely represents the reality to the letter. While it is true that you sometimes get surprised with the unexpected beauty you will get disappointed with many of must-see spots. It might be due to the wrong season you picked up or simply to the bad weather in a particular day, or because you felt lousy when you went there. I’m not arguing that when planing your RTW trip you should skip all things you have always dreamt of seeing ‘once in a lifetime’. All I’m saying is that you should limit this list and not make it the most important thing of your travel. Write all your dream places down and try to find out as much information as you can before you buy the RTW ticket. This activity reveals some interesting news, for example: if you want to see a cherry blossoms festival in Washington or in Japan you need to go there in very precise dates. And even if you do you can still be unlucky as the blossoming thing varies depending the weather. If you want to see the whales in Hawaii you also need to be there in a within certain dates. Sometimes you get disappointed with, let’s say, the size of Vermeer picture or the location of the Eiffel Tower, but this might be the best thing that happened to you during your travel. And even if you dislike a long awaited site this is still worthy to travel: at least you know you hate it. The thing is not to get back home solely with a list of sites and things that you don’t like, right? Senses Some travelers-to-be have no particular plans nor their bucket list. If you are one of them what should you do then? My advice is as follows: take your time and think about the way to get known the world. About your senses. Whether you enjoy watching it or rather tasting it? What do you remember longer: the sound of a jungle or a smell of a flower? If you love vivid colors and energy events your choice of RTW stops will be quite different than a person who loves listen to the music more than anything else. Each sense is a channel on how the information about the world comes to us. Therefore, this is important to think how are you going to learn the world. Like half of the world population, I am particular sensitive to multisensor experiences. This is the reason why I often take particular music pieces with me. For example: listening to the Rigoletto in front of the castle where the plot of this opera was placed is something really powerful. I could go on with the list on how to combine the senses to make a travel experience unforgettable but much more important is that you think and decide what works best for you. PLUS: I really love the title of this guide. It simply suggests that you go around the world more than once ;-) because travelling is addictive.  

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I started jogging few years ago and my direct motivation was to prepare myself to a long walk in Lapland. Before I went to Lapland with a full size backpack I knew I need to do something for two reasons: first, to not get abandoned along the track, and second, to make the time spent in the wild enjoyable. Somehow pain related to untrained muscles was enough to convince me about the necessity to do jogging. So this was MY reason why I started. I believe that everyone has one. Here is the list of my reasons why I still do jogging and let me tell you this: the longer you do the jogging the more reasons you find. Health-related reasons It seems so obvious that jogging and other physical activities are healthy but how many of us actually believe it? OK, you might believe it but it doesn’t make you eager to actually do jogging. From a vast group of health related reasons I have few favorites that I believe. #1 Jogging wakes me up better than a coffee. In terms of blood pressure jogging increases it and keeps it balanced in a best possible way. If you live in a cold country higher blood pressure means it’s also #2 warmer so this is another reasons why you should start do jogging. If you work in front of the computer, like the majority of us, after couple of years you start having some unpleasant symptoms related to the fact that the most of your day is spent on sitting. In my case the worst symptom was an ache in legs. When I started do jogging #3 all disappeared even if I’m still spending the major part of my day in front of the computer. However, for the first results of regular jogging I had to wait for at least couple of months. It didn’t come easily. Regular jogging #4 improves metabolism and if you ever had a stressful job and some stomach related problems you will appreciate this. The beauty of jogging is related to its integrity: it engages the whole body. So, your health condition gradually grows through this activity and there is a #5 very little chance to hurt yourself like in the case of workouts with weights. Mental gains Some people think that in order to do jogging they need to be well organized and strongly motivated first, but I would say this is the opposite. Jogging teaches you #6 regularity and what is really precious is the way it does. After a month (I’m talking about ordinary people with no serious diseases and health problems) your body gets use to the new regime and as a result it actually protests when you don’t do jogging! Don’t fight with it! Don’t struggle. Just continue jogging. When you do jogging your body may actually surprise you how fast it gets fit, how far you can run and how fast you can do it. Just as all mems say: it never gets easier you just get better. What I noticed was that using my jogging related success I was able to convince myself it can work out elsewhere. This was a powerful regulator of my travel related behavior. Jogging #7 has improved my self-esteem and I started to believe that my physical condition is good enough to travel. The more I was jogging the more #8 endurance and strength I had. As simple as that. What else? From the mental point of view jogging in the early morning is a good opportunity to think about the day. It creates time necessary to #9 reflect on my daily plans and the way how am I going to achieve it. Never let the negative thoughts get to you. Focus on the positive plans and your strengths. On the other hand, if my plans are fixed already and I am happy about it jogging still creates space for something, so I normally #10 listen to the audiobooks, turning the jogging activity into listening exercise. I even learn a foreign language this way. This is the sort of the modern technology achievement that marvels me. I should probably write it in the first paragraph: #11 jogging makes you trendy! Suddenly you discover during small talk at the party that jogging unites people of all backgrounds. There is always something to discuss about jogging and it also makes you feel conected to the large group of people who are struggling to wake up early to go outside and run, just like you do. It sometimes help. How about neighborhood? I was moving around quite a lot and it usually means that you don’t have deep roots in one particular place, like what normally happens if you are a kid and you grow up in one place. You know the place quite well if you spent hours with your school mates on hanging around. If you move often you might feel bit isolated and unfamiliar with the close neighborhood. While it might look weird if you walk around watching houses and people it won’t be weird if you do it while jogging. For me jogging was a #12 good excuse to know better a place where I lived. Sometimes you meet your neighbors while they do their jogging and it is always a good start for the proper neighborhood relations. What happens if you do jogging regularly? #13 It opens a new area of physical activity to think about. In my case, I started thinking about some further physical activities because I felt strong enough to deal with other exercises. OK, true, in my case almost everything is travel related and krav maga which I practice is also related to my sense of security during travels but I would never have started it if I hadn’t been doing jogging in the first place. The krav maga training is demanding and if I treated krav maga as a starting point I would failed. Jogging is both: #14 an excellent background for other sports, and great ongoing activity that #15 keeps you fit. So here is my advice: find your motivation...

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If you are familiar with the origins of this blog and my plans for next couple of months discussed under ‘Travel Tips‘ section, or explicitly in one of the first posts ‘Getting Ready‘ you know about my idea to learn another language. As I already know English and Italian, had been studying Chinese and Japanese, I thought it shouldn’t be THAT difficult. The language I picked up might surprised you and I bet that the first thought after reading the heading was: “Why on earth anybody would like to learn Swedish if it’s spoken only in Sweden?” There is a short story behind. As always. Couple of years ago I went to Sweden for the first time in my life.This was not a trivial city walk around Stockholm. I started from Swedish Lapland. And fell in love with this beautiful country the moment I got off the train in Kiruna. I spend unforgettable time walking along the King’s Trail mountain huts. All huts are run by the Swedish Tourist Organization and in order to pay less for each night spent in the huts I become member of this association. Being member of STF entitled me to receive their official journal titled: Turist. And so every year I was receiving all journals published and guess what: even if it was sent to my Italian address it was all written in Swedish! It simply drove me crazy! I mean, the photos were great but I wanted to understand what it says. After couple of years I thought I simply need to learn Swedish. One way or another, I visit this country regularly so there is no waste. While thinking about the way how to learn Swedish I also met one person who was fascinated with this language and it pushed forward my thinking about it from ‘perhaps-I-could-study-the-language’ towards ‘yes-I-can’. BUT I didn’t want to get engaged in any serious or formal language course. Mostly because of my travels and high absence rate. So I thought I will do it totally STRESS FREE. So… Here is what I did First, I borrowed a self-study book to make sure that Swedish is not difficult. I browsed it, listened to the tape, read some dialogues and although Swedish might sound complicated I liked the sound of it. Simply the melody of this language is lovely. Second, I browsed Internet searching for BASIC 100 WORDS in Swedish. It’s simple to find. Third, I completed a basic online course on babbel.com and… …and that’s the best part: I got an e-book of my favorite Swedish tales Emil i Lönneberga and started to listen to it all day long: when jogging, cooking, ironing and when traveling, of course. Now this is experiment and I will keep you posted on the progress I made. My target for this September is to be able to run a short conversation about the weather and general stuff. Before I go to Lapland this year I’ll be able to say hello, ask for somebody’s name, where does he/she come from, and which part of the King’s Trail she/he walked. Keep your fingers crossed!  

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You are RIGHT! I have started organizing a new trip: this May I will go to the Aran Island. There are many reasons why I picked up this particular location, one of which is the journey of Nicolas Bouvier to this island in the early 80s. I am thrilled to visit- for the first time- the place where Nicolas Bouvier was writing one of his books titled: Journal d’Aran et d’autres lieux. As I decided to go there few months ago I’m constantly thinking about it, and most of all, about my principal motivation. I simply try to answer myself WHY do I wish to go to the Aran Island. Every week I find alternative answers and my anxiety is growing slowly. I’m pretty sure that I’ll have much more to say about this trip AFTER my return in mid May, however, I thought to use this opportunity to focus on the technical aspects of travels in general. Where to begin? When planning a new trip you need to consider your destination. The way I did is slightly more expensive as I had an idea of my dream destination FIRST, and checked the travel options LATER. In this case I was determined to visit THESE islands and there was no other option. If you are less determined and more flexible the choices you have are almost unlimited. Start with the cheap flights option and check what are the most popular travel destinations from the nearest airport. This might already give you a nice bunch of interesting places to visit. And also, you get this amazing emotion of being surprised for free. If you are as determined as I was check some alternatives and do not limit the flight search to the nearest airport. It might be much cheaper to travel from a nearby city than from the nearest airport which is also true for the destination city. In my case I searched all of the Irish airports as the island is relatively small and large cities are well connected. Eventually, I will arrive to Dublin and will continue my trip to Galway by bus. The plane ticket People usually try to find the cheapest option available, often neglecting unfavorable flight time. At least in the case of the European flights this is not always true. Rather, the day of the week is what matters. Flights tend to be cheaper in the middle of the week, peaking up on the weekends, but it varies across airports and airlines. What you need to remember about is that buying a very early or very late flight often forces you to pay for an overnight stay in a hotel, as public transportation might not always operate in extreme hours. If you are adventurous and you don’t mind spending night on the airport that’s fine. It happened to me once and fortunately this was a Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam (I will reveal the details of this adventure later on this blog). What’s next? If you bought a plane ticket and made sure that you’re able to reach final destination or at least one of its intermediate stops check the accommodation. I usually do it at the same time of the plane ticket purchase, just to make sure that the dates I picked up are not particularly crowded and the price for a hotel is not exaggerated. In the case of the Aran Island this was particularly important as the main island is really small and the accommodation options are limited. I wrote couple of emails with a request for information and availability. Not surprisingly one of the hotels was fully booked more than 2 months in advance. Oh yes, this is the real island that I am going to, therefore I had to check the timetable of the ferry. As you might guess it goes only 3 times a day which makes it a bit difficult to coordinate with the bus from Dublin. I hope to buy a ticket for this ferry tonight. Try to imagine the basic activities, including your favorite sports, and the renting options. While in some places it might be very attractive it sometimes is better to bring the equipment with you. This time I had to rely on the local bikes rental office as my intention is to get around by bike and flying with my own bike was not an option.   To make sure that I took all necessary things I usually write everything down in my Moleskine notepad and Moleskine calendar. This is also a good way to check the dates and make sure that there are no holes in your plan. It might happen that you buy a plane ticket and then you continue your journey by bus and you suddenly discover that the bus ticket is for the next day. This is not a pleasant thing to discover, however, it’s better this way. Even if you find your mistake while still being at home is gives you a chance to reschedule your trip, rebook the bus ride or whatever needed. If you find out after landing in unknown place in late evening you might be very surprised and it won’t be a nice surprise. Right. A month before my trip that’s pretty much everything. I am looking forward this trip anxiously. I have already some spectacular short movies and breathtaking photos in my head and please, keep your fingers crossed for a good weather. What should you remember about? check alternative airports check availability of public transportation in early/late hours check the local and national holiday to avoid peak seasons (unless you wish to participate in some local/national feasts) check the schedule of your trip and dates printed on your tickets  

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Nobody wants to spend a holiday budget on travelling and return home disappointed. We all know too well the stories starting with ‘everything what could go wrong went wrong’. Naturally, there are holidays that we remember forever and those that we wish to forget as soon as possible. Many people get discouraged with such a lottery whether the trip is enjoyable or a total disaster. While it is impossible to make ALL trips perfect it is still worthy to remember about basic things in order to avoid disappointments and make your trip stress-free. You get tired One of the basic things connected to travels is tiredness, kind of obvious thing but often neglected in travel plans. The moment you decide to start your adventure is probably full of visions of blue sky, crystal water and sunny beach. Being tired is at the end of your worries list. On the one hand that’s good: if you thought only about rough things related to travels you would stay at home rather than go anywhere. On the other hand, however, you get easily confused with your flight schedule and time zones, and as a result you have no idea how tired you become by the time of your arrival. I’m not saying that you are always able to secure your comfort while travelling and often you desire new adventures and even some challenges related to moving around. BUT between the travel ‘trouble free‘ and ‘full of troubles‘ there is a considerable difference. First, you need to be careful if you have never travelled long distance before your first trip. It is hard to imagine how your body will react to it. After crossing 6 time zones you may feel exhausted or you may feel great (I would bet the first one is more probable than anything else). It’s all up to your body condition and personal characteristic. I will publish a separate blogpost on the importance of the general fitness in travels but my experience shows that it is crucial to take into consideration you own characteristics while planning a lifetime travel. Not an opinion of the travel agent. Not the best advice of your friends who often never went anywhere. No. What matters is your current condition and the state of YOUR health. I fully agree with one of the Tweets published by @GoTravel saying: ‘Don’t plan a full schedule the day after flying in; take time to adjust to your new surroundings & time zone’ (cheers guys!). Equally important is a reasonable time gap for plane switch. Remember that it gets really hectic if you missed your trans-Atlantic plane. And believe me: these things can really piss you off. And can turn your travel experience into a nightmare. You (sometimes) get sick Yes, you can experience some minor health problems while travelling. Medicines taken from home often fail to cure you as the bacteria and viruses heavily depends on the climate. I’m not talking about the chronic disease that you should think about in advance. I rather think of stomach flu, bacterial infection or food poisoning. These are usually easy to treat but also a can ruin your holiday if you don’t get a suitable medicine. While it is always smart to take sticking plaster, bandage and disinfectant with you to deal with minor injuries, taking dozens of pils against frequent in your normal setting diseases makes no sense. I remember a stomach flu I caught in Egypt and a local medicine that helped me. This sort of disease happen to the majority of the tourists so the local pharmacies and drug stores are well prepared to help. In some exotic countries, you can even buy a proper medicine without knowing the local language! Particular regions of the world have their own specific threats. Therefore, it is always important to check if the area you are going to visit is a risk zone and if so what the health risks are. It is absolutely essential to get immunized long in advance before the trip to the exotic countries. There is a very useful article on immunization on the Lonely Planet website. I just want you to bare in mind this is very important. You are exposed to rough climate Long distance travels imply dramatic changes of the climate: starting with the humidity, through the sun exposure, ending with extremely high and low temperatures. This is why we travel for, don’t we? To get amazed with diversity and to feel the exotic heat. A perfect picture of white beach or rough desert seam to be fascinating while sitting on your couch but it might be much less so in +40 degrees heat, in strong wind and send everywhere including your eyes and ears, when you are sweating and (probably) swearing all the time. There is nothing wrong in extreme conditions experienced during travels but you need to be prepared for it. At the stage of planning you need to purchase some smart equipment in order to deal with the climate extremities, like: sunglasses with very high UV filter,  light clothes to cover and protect your body from drying in the desert, very warm sleeping bag to survive low temperatures, etc. You need to consider your travel keeping the climate conditions in mind. This is true that (almost!) everywhere you go you will meet local people who live in extreme climates and are able to survive. However, their adjustment is usually a result of a long time exposure to the rough climate that you don’t have being on site for a week. So don’t neglect the necessity to deal with the climate challenges by buying necessary stuff. You need to get back to routine After you get back home it might be difficult to get used to your everyday routine again. If you experienced a fascinating trip that increased the level of adrenaline in your blood getting back home will be painful. Unless you have a tough and stressful job you might sense a sort of emptiness. Exotic places are usually full of colors, flavors, smells and totally...

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If someone is telling you that learning any martial art won’t hurt he LIES! Naturally, if you start thinking about the new skill you probably imagine yourself as a person who already has successfully acquired it. If it comes to martial arts you have no problems to imagine a lovely picture with a combat that you have just won. Yes, you are prepare for an effort but somehow deep inside your head there is this little irritating thought that you’ll become a local hero within a month. When I started my krav maga training I was prepared for a physical effort but I wasn’t aware that someone will really kick my ass. The group of krav maga apprentices I have joined is mixed of experienced guys and the beginners. Such a mix is a good opportunity to learn fast. Really fast. Because if you don’t you just get your nose punched. For last couple of weeks my nose was bleeding at least three times, and between two workouts weekly the bruises on my legs and arms have not enough time to heal. Ironically, I’m more and more engaged in my training. Sounds crazy? Well, maybe it sounds crazy but not insane. Each sport you do is demanding. Let’s think about skiing: if you don’t learn how to fall you will never ski well. Why? Because you will be always afraid to fall. The case of martial arts is only different because what you get is pure pain. To survive it you need to think about two important issues: first, that pain is temporary and it allows you to learn how much pain you are able to cause in a fight to the others. That’s instructive. Second you need to mentally prepare to get hit during the training. This was a real challenge for me: I haven’t thought I’ll be beaten so many times before I acquired the basic self defense skills. What is really great about krav maga and intensive workout is that increase of your strength, condition and precision is visible. A unique skill to protect yourself from the punch in the nose keeps you smiling for the whole evening. And keeps you going.  

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