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| The Typical Traveler |
t tourist crossroads, I met many fellow travelers from all over the world. A large percentage of "budget travelers" were young people either fresh out of university or with only a few years of work experience behind them. They were single and they realized that career and family would soon make it harder to travel unencumbered. They were typically out for several months to a year. Some traveled with a companion, but many traveled alone. I was surprised at how young some of them were and how long they were out traveling.
One young lady from Germany was only 19 years old. She wasn't quite done with her university degree, but she felt like it was time to travel. "Why wait?" she asked. Traveling alone, making up her itinerary as she went, she was on a nine-month South American journey that started in Argentina and would end in Ecuador.
Andrew was a young Canadian who worked in the same industry that I work in, and even knew the name of a programmer who we knew in common. In his mid-20's, he decided that he wanted to change careers and decided to think things over while traveling for a year in South America.
Ruth from England had taught secondary school for a few years, then decided to get a degree in a different field. But first she wanted time to escape and take time to think about her life, so she used up all her savings and borrowed from family in order to fund a six-month vacation to South America.
Ella and Tess, two very lovely young women from the Netherlands, were recently graduated sorority sisters, and filled with carefree giggles and exuberance, out to see some of the world before having to go back home and delve into their careers.
Another Brit was a young woman who worked for a huge defense contractor (you'd recognize the company name). She told her bosses that she needed some time off, and asked if they could guarantee that she would have a job if she took a year off. I thought I was bold for asking my employer for two months of leave! She was on her last few weeks of her year off and had a letter from her company promising her a job with equivalent pay when she returned. Amazing!
Another large percentage of travelers were young Israeli men and women who served their time in the military and were taking a break to see the world and escape their stress before going back to Israel to make a life for themselves. Israeli men have to serve three years, women two years. It's common for them to save their earnings during service, then use that savings to travel after getting out of the military. In some budget hostels and tourist restaurants, Hebrew was the tertiary language after Spanish and English. Judith (not her real name) explained to me that she was frightened when living in Israel and serving in the military. There had been more than one terrorist attack very near where some of her family lived. But, she explained, it was almost more terrifying to be away from home, because every time she called home she feared to hear that some family or friend had been injured or killed at home or in military service.
| Note to fellow travelers: Business Cards Take along some business cards, and make sure they have your personal email address on them. It's a convenient and friendly way to trade contact information with travelers you meet along the way. NOTES INDEX |
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