By Amanda Giglio
For the full college experience, many people will tell you that studying abroad is necessary. You get to take classes in a normal college setting, while living in a foreign country and immersing yourself in the culture. But, after hearing Doug Lansky’s tips and tricks to getting the best experience out of your travels, it seems the best thing to do is grab a backpack and map, and create your own journey.
Travel writer and keynote speaker Doug Lansky is also known as an adventurer and destination analyst. He traveled for over 10 years, visiting 120 countries, and spent another 10 years living abroad in five different countries. He has written books for Lonely Planet and Rough Guides, hosted a travel program and written a nationally-renowned travel column. One of his first experiences with travel was a less than satisfactory study abroad program in school, but a chance journey in the English countryside led him to love the feeling of new experiences in travel.
The main purpose of his travels is to figure out how one can get something enriching out of a trip. Going to big cities and taking photos in front of famous attractions can be fun, but to have a more meaningful trip you have to make your own adventure. It may be easier to travel nowadays, but it is harder to get a travel experience. This all has to do with perspective, because in order to be a true traveler, you have to be willing to try something new and have an open mind.
As a student, one of the biggest challenges will be budgeting your trip to sustain your travels anywhere from a few days to a few months. The best option for living arrangements is staying in hostels. Hostels are student and traveler friendly and have different ranges of comfort levels. If you want to live comfortably in a private room, the cost ranges from $75 to $100 a day depending on the country. Mid-level backpacking costs between $50 to $75 a day, while roughing it can be as low as $15 to $30 a day. Even though having your own room while at a hostel is convenient, dorms are the cheaper option, with co-ed dorms being the lowest priced.
Where you stay is only half of the trip. Transportation is important as well. According to Lansky the more modes of transportation you use, the more interesting the journey. This means going by foot, boat, train, car, bus, camel, elephant and everything in between.
And, getting around is more fun when you try transportation that is unique and authentic to the area in which you are traveling.
Another significant aspect of a satisfying experience is what to eat. Because food is so important to college students, Lansky says that the usual advice about avoiding local food and water is complete rubbish. Try new and fresh fruits and veggies.
The street food may look weird, but it can be one of the best things you have ever tasted. Challenge yourself by trying new and gross foods. The experience is part of traveling and getting to see a new culture. If you get food poisoning, which can happen, do not panic, local pharmacies can usually help. Sharing meals with people can be the best way to meet and connect with your fellow travelers.
Lansky not only gave the basics, but he also gave the best advice and survival tips. When packing, the worst thing you can do is over pack. You only need the basics, so wear the same clothes and change towns with everything in one backpack. When you take out money, plan everything in advance and make sure you are calculating everything taken out and used.
If you need more money while on the road, odd jobs can be the most rewarding. Street performing, in particular, helped Lansky a lot. When possible, try couch surfing or hitchhiking on yachts (if you are in the right place at the right time, you can get free rides for work).
Lansky’s key survival tips include: do not rely on cell phones, pack for bad weather and emergencies, tell people where and for how long you are going, travel with seatbelts, keep everything important in front of your face and have travel insurance.
With all of this advice on hand, a student’s travel experience is really up to him or herself.
Make an effort to find and keep new friends you meet during your journey, do not rush the time spent at one place and make it a journey not a trip.
In order to travel the world on a student budget, you must have the perspective of a traveler, creating new experiences every day, not just abroad.