ON-THE-ROAD

We won’t leave you stranded when you are on the road. You’ll have a community of like-minded people to ease you through culture shock, how to stay in touch, and the realities of life on the road. Plus, you can share your stories and adventures with others providing inspiration for more Briefcase to Backpackers.

Check out articles in the following categories:
Culture Shock | Life On-The-Road | Staying in Touch

Recent Posts

Family on Bikes: Homeschooling on the Road

John Vogel and Nancy Sathre-Vogel were both long-time teachers with over 20 years of experience each. So what made them decide to quit their jobs? Time. “They say time is the greatest gift one can give their children. Time is why we made the decision to quit our teaching jobs and join the ever-burgeoning ranks of homeschoolers; we were tired of spending more time with other parents’ kids than with our own.”

They are now using that time and combining it with their passion for biking to cycle the Pan-America Highway (Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina) with their sons, Daryl and Davy. Along the way they are using the world as their classroom. You can follow along on their adventures on their site, Family on Bikes.

We asked them to share their experiences homeschooling their sons on the road.

What made you decide to travel with your children?
Time. My husband and I came to the conclusion that we would never be able to put time in a bottle. We can not go back to regain precious lost moments. We can only live for today. Our boys will never be this age again and, if we don’t take advantage of their childhood now, the opportunity will be lost forever.

My husband and I had traveled extensively before the boys were born (and while they were young) and we knew it is the best education there is. When we decided to take time now for the boys, it was a given that we would take off and travel with them. They’ve learned way more in their years on the road than they ever could have learned in the classroom!

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Life on the Road: House Sitting

Leigh Haugseth is a bona fide travel addict as well as a certified WellCoach (and co-founder of Vibrapreneur), so she understands the importance of keeping healthy both physically and mentally. She says “Part of being ‘well’, means having meaning in your life, reaching for your dreams, and taking risks. Traveling can help with this. It can transform your life. Often in ways you’d never expect.”

Leigh shares with us how house sitting can be a great option during your travels!

House sitting and home exchanges are becoming more and more popular these days and for good reason. They are a cheap way to explore a new destination, you have the creature comforts of a home, and you get to live someone else’s life for a while. What’s not to love?

Here’s how it works: You register on line at a reputable house sitting site (see list below), pay a small annual fee, and put up a profile. Select your preferred dates and countries and have weekly or daily assignments delivered to your in box. Simple! Some homeowners will ask that you pay utilities during your stay. Also, some house sits require your own transportation, although I’ve seen some that will allow you to use their car, bike or are near public transportation.

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Life on the Road: Away for the Holidays

Traveling long term is a gift; the ability to see and experience new cultures, to step away from your own rat race, and slow down. However, when you’ve been on the road for a while and the holidays roll around, it’s easy to get the blues. You’re away from your own culture and traditions, and you miss your family and friends, so it’s easy to get a bit homesick. I spent my last Christmas Eve alone eating leftovers watching a movie; I was so lonely in Vietnam that I vowed to never be alone again during the Holidays.

If your career break travel happens to fall during the holidays, then consider what you can do to avoid the holiday blues.

When I first traveled around the world I actually planned out my itinerary with the holidays in mind. For me Christmas is all about family. Luckily I happened to have family living in Singapore so when I planned my itinerary, I planned to be in Singapore in December. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I could have made. The familiar food, customs, and humor of my family was just what I needed. Plus, they were able to introduce me to different Asian holiday customs in Singapore – so even though I had slowed down my travel to spend time with family, I was still experiencing new things in new cultures!

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Life on the Road: Ben & Alonna

It has been three months since the three couples from our Career Breaker Round-Up have hit the road, so we thought it would be fun to check in and see how they have been adjusting to life on the road! The fun part is that all three took off in completely different directions, so they’ll have very different cultural experiences to share as well.

We’re checking in last with Ben & Alonna, who started their travels in Europe, where they visited Amsterdam, Belgium, France, Spain, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and Greece. They have just returned home to Boise, Idaho this week, where they will celebrate the holidays with family before hitting the road again.

What has been the most difficult thing to adjust to on the road?

Alonna: Two things….

Trip planning on-the-fly. I’m the travel planner of the two of us, and in the past I loved planning every detail of our 1-week vacations. However, for 3 months that’s not possible, and we wanted to allow flexibility to our schedule anyway. But finding somewhere to stay, transportation, and food is a decent amount of work while you’re traveling. At first it was an adjustment and I spent way too much time planning head. But now I’ve gotten used to finding a “good-enough” hotel, and I even think it’s better for negotiating rates when you’re booking last-minute.

Figuring out the right pace. Our initial itinerary seemed pretty relaxed – at least 3 nights in each place, and we prioritized where we wanted to go. But very early in our trip we realized that we needed to slow down. This meant staying in places longer, and also not packing too much into a single day. Instead of trying to see everything the guidebook tells us to, now we just pick a couple things and spend the rest of the time walking around and enjoying the city.

Ben: Everything. Living out of a suitcase, moving constantly, choosing from the same 5 shirts, trying to figure out what to eat every day, figuring out basic communication and orienteering in every new country, etc. It’s not as bad as it sounds, but it’s a lot of adjusting.

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Life on the Road: Bert & Patty

It has been three months since the three couples from our Career Breaker Round-Up have hit the road, so we thought it would be fun to check in and see how they have been adjusting to life on the road! The fun part is that all three took off in completely different directions, so they’ll have very different cultural experiences to share as well.

We’re checking in next with Christine and Paul of Bert & Patty, who started their travels by getting married in the Cook Islands! They have just started exploring Australia after spending that past couple of months in New Zealand.

What has been the most difficult thing to adjust to on the road?

There are so many things to adjust to while traveling for an extended period of time. For us, the most difficult thing has been having to continually carry around our food, and creative menu planning. While we were traveling in the US, we had a rental car and could keep a cooler in the car and transfer our groceries to the refrigerators once in a hostel. That was really convenient. Now that we’re traveling by the Stray Bus, we have two bags of groceries that we carry with us. One bag is for food that needs to be kept cold (milk, etc), and one for food that can be kept at room temperature (apples, oatmeal, etc).

When we were at home, like most people, we would shop for 3-4 weeks worth of groceries at a time. On the road, we aren’t getting that wonderful Costco buy-in-bulk discount. We can only shop for 2-3 days of groceries since we only have two bags for storage. We’re eating a lot of the same staple foods as well: muesli and oatmeal for breakfast – rice and pasta dishes for dinner – Leftover rice and pasta dishes for lunch the following day. It can get very monotonous.

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Life on the Road: Two Backpackers

It has been three months since the three couples from our Career Breaker Round-Up have hit the road, so we thought it would be fun to check in and see how they have been adjusting to life on the road! The fun part is that all three took off in completely different directions, so they’ll have very different cultural experiences to share as well.

We’re checking in first with Jason and Aracely of Two Backpackers, who started their travels in Central America. So far they have experienced Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

What has been the most difficult thing to adjust to on the road?

JC: The constant get up and go, packing and unpacking. I can easily adjust to a new location, but right when I do, we have to get back on the road again. Constantly traveling does take a toll on the body and mind, and some days you just need to rest and recuperate.

AS: I don’t think I did a good job at picking the right clothes to bring. I have 3 hiking shorts that I never wear. I should have kept it to one hiking shorts and more casual clothes. We have done quite a few hikes but we are in towns most of the time. And I just wish I had a different selection of clothes. Such a girl answer, I know.

Are there any thoughts of what you left behind that keeps you up at night?

JC: Nothing keeps me up at night because I know I am not traveling forever. Other travelers that I have communicated with describe their homecoming as if they never left. I also believe that not much will have changed in a year’s time, except for my two young nephews that are growing up as I type.

AS: I have a teenage brother that I worry about. He’s at a difficult age, I worry about him often.

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Manali & Terry – Adjusting to Life on the Road

For many experiencing long-term travel for the first time, the first few weeks on the road can sometimes be the most emotional time. You may feel like you’re on an emotional roller coaster as you feel excitement about your new environment one moment, and stress about what you left behind the next. But it’s all part of the journey!

Manali and Terry, a couple from Atlanta, Georgia who started their one-year career break in August of 2009, shared with us the emotions they experienced in their first weeks of travel in Asia.

1. What has been the most difficult thing to adjust to on the road?
Manali & Terry: Routine things taking two or three times as long as before. Certain small everyday things themselves are not difficult, but we feel that the general departure from the familiar to something new can be challenging at times. For example, at home we would hop into our car, drive to our favorite grocery store, pick up our favorite flavor of ice cream, know the price and pay.

This now becomes: figure out how to communicate that you need something to eat, act out that you want to go to a store, get directions, reconfirm the directions on the internet, reconfirm again with a local that you are walking in the right direction, get to the store, try to figure out where the ice cream is located, make sure it’s mint flavored (not green tea or lime or any another green item), make sure it’s not expired (most items we have found are way past expiry!), haggle over the price, then pay in local currency. Although, still fun, it can be exhausting when it occurs multiple times a day. Whew!

It feels like no matter how flexible you are and whatever lifestyle you live currently, you will still have to expect a departure from your routine and be prepared to be patient for everything from finding a place to eat to finding a new way to unwind after a long day.

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Culture Shock: Language Barriers

Many people seem hesitant about traveling to foreign countries because of language barriers, but those same barriers can actually enhance the experience. August Flanagan offers some tips on how you can still experience a culture when you don’t speak the language.

A couple of years ago I wandered into the bus station in Vientián, Laos, and promptly hopped on the wrong bus. I eventually got to where I was going after 26 long, uncomfortable hours. For those 26 hours I was alone on a bus where not a single person spoke a word of English.

When I look back on the experience what I remember most is not the 26 hour journey, or the fact that I was completely lost and had no way to communicate with anyone. Instead, I remember how much I bonded with the people around me during that ride.

At one stop I worked up quite a sweat helping the bus driver unload several tons of tile, stowed in the underbelly of the bus (for my effort I was rewarded with a hearty pat on the back, some words of thanks, and a big bottle of ice cold water).

At four a.m. when I awoke to find the bus stopped on the side of the road, the driver asleep in his seat, I climbed off the bus and stood huddled with the only three other men who were on the bus at this hour. While they smoked cigarettes and told jokes I found myself laughing at words I did not understand, and genuinely enjoying myself.

Over the years of traveling I’ve had a lot of similar experiences – ones that have taught me that there are a lot of ways to communicate and share with others. Speaking a language is just one of these ways. Here are a few of my recommendations on how to travel, experience a culture, and bond with others, without ever speaking their language.

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Life on the Road: Staying in Hostels

When most people hear the word “hostel” they think of the run-down, over-crowded dorm rooms filled with college-aged partiers. And I must admit – I used to as well. In fact, I was one of them!

I was fortunate enough to study abroad while in college and took full advantage of that opportunity to backpack through Europe beforehand. I spent six amazing weeks Eurailing from country-to-country and was there at an exciting time to be in Barcelona for the Olympics and Sevilla for the World’s Fair. And friends I met along the way introduced me to some unique cultural experiences like watching the final day of the Tour de France in Paris and a football match in Salzburg. Read more

Culture Shock: Overview

If you search the internet for culture shock, chances are you will come across a number of sites and studies detailing the “Phases of Culture Shock”. It has been conveniently broken down into four phases:

1. The Honeymoon Phase – the period in which you view every experience in the new culture in a romantic and wonderful light.
2. The Negotiation Phase – this tends to be the most common and expected phase as you start missing the creature comforts of home and may be annoyed by what used to be so “romantic”.
3. The Adjustment Phase – you’re finally starting to feel situated and the experiences you have feel “normal”.
4. Reverse Culture Shock – because this is usually the most unexpected phase, it can sometimes be the most difficult one, as you don’t expect you have to adjust to life back at home.

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