Tonight I attended the Skillshare social class “How To Travel Around the World Before You’re 65“, taught by Kit Hayes and Matthew Johnson. Also, with appearances by Kerrin Sheldon of Wanderfly, and Daniela Papi of Pepyride.org. We were in the Studiomates coworking studio space in Dumbo, Brooklyn. A few brief notes, taken on my iPad…
About Skillshare:
Skillshare is a community marketplace to learn anything from anyone. Our mission is to flip the traditional notion of education on its head and democratize learning. We are challenging the assumption that learning only occurs within the four walls of a classroom. Instead, we’ll tap into existing communities and networks, which are the world’s largest universities.
About the class:
In partnership with travel inspiration engine Wanderfly and PEPY, an NGO which funds educational initiatives in Cambodia by leading learning tours, we’ll talk through the logistics – step by step – of putting together a responsible long-term travel plan.
First, we’ll discuss travel inspiration and how changes in the professional world are making it easier for professionals to travel for extended periods of time.
Second, you’ll learn how to budget for the trip, plan your route, find accommodation, pack and document your experience.
Lastly special guest Daniela Papi, founder of PEPY, will discuss how to leave a responsible, socially conscious travel footprint. If you’ve ever wanted to ‘do good’ while traveling, you’ll need to do your homework first. Learn how from a pioneer in the field!
Pepy Tours:
PEPY Tours offers responsible adventure travel options which fund educational programs throughout Cambodia. We started by offering “voluntourism” and service-learning trips, but we now realize that educating ourselves is the first step to being able to help others. Our goals are to offer travelers a chance to learn from the people and programs that their funding supports, and to inspire these travelers to realize their own potential to create positive change.
Wanderfly:
Wanderfly answers this basic question: “Where can I go?” We are a personalized recommendation engine that helps you discover new and exciting experiences, based on your budget and interests. We suggest more than 1,200 destinations worldwide, and match them with thousands of activities. We help you find, organize, share and book your travel – all in one place – so you can get going and start discovering new places.
Notes:
Saving Money
– Save up 20-30k for overal 6 month travel expenses
– It’s worth it to live simply now, so you can have more cash to travel with later.
Career Track – It’s often difficult to find a way to abandon/suspend your career, but often there are natural breaks – between jobs, taking a sabatical, etc.
Planning the trip – Plotting your route
– Get rough guide “How To Travel Around The World”
– Pace – good to travel skeleton trip, and leave the rest to chance, according to Matthew Johnson
– Seasonality – avoid monsoon season, check when festivals are happening – great idea to plan travel around local and national special events
– Check travel advisories – State department
– Unesco world travel sites – def worth checking out if you can
– Check out cultural immersion classes – cooking, language partners, etc.
Transportation
– Local trains are fun
– Ride in cargo areas of ships
– Around the world tickets – restrictive and limiting, recommend doing one way flights.
– The art of nonconformity blog – all about travel hacks
Accommodations
– Hostel World
– WWOOF-ing
– CouchSurfing
– AirBnB
– Starwood
– Sleeper Trains
Gear
– Don’t overpack!
– bring water filtration – steripen
– headlamp is the best thing ever
– Bring a drybag
Money
– HSBC and citi are common
– be wary of intl fees. Capital one card doesnt charge fees. British airways doesnt charge
Communication
– Turn phone voice plan off
– Get reduced international text message plan
Tools
– rolf Potts
– Legal Nomads
– Nomadic mat
– wanderfly
– World nomads
Insurance
– Flights through airtrek.com, also get travelers insurance through them
– Posted via iPad and BlogPress-