More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
January 8 - January 19, 2023
After ten years of exploration, I had only two more countries to go before completing the whole world.
“I want to make my life worthwhile,” one woman said. “I consider myself an instrument, and if I don’t put myself to work for the greatest possible good, I’ll feel like I wasted a chance that will never return.”
In Istanbul, for example, I met Matt Krause, a financial analyst from Seattle. Matt had traveled to Turkey with the intention of walking all the way to Iran, meeting strangers along the way and understanding a different way of life. At first it was just a crazy idea, he said. But then it stuck with him, becoming something he knew he’d regret if he didn’t see it through. (Lesson: Beware of crazy ideas.)
If you want to achieve the unimaginable, you start by imagining it. Before beginning, take the time to count the cost. Understanding exactly what you need to do, and then finding a way to do it, makes a quest much more feasible.
When I found myself spending all night in a deserted airline terminal, waiting on another canceled flight, or completely out of money in a remote part of the world, I learned that things would usually be OK. I learned to laugh at my own misfortune, or at least to not panic when something bad happened.
After our basic needs are met, how do we choose a focus? For many of us, the answer is surprisingly simple: We choose to embrace a quest, and we choose to live for adventure.
A quest requires sacrifice of some kind. There is no “having it all” when it comes to a quest—to pursue a big dream, you must give something up along the way.
This perspective—“If I didn’t try, I’d always wonder what might have happened”—showed up again and again in the stories I came across.
Research shows that we enjoy planning a vacation as much as taking the vacation. Anticipation is a powerful force.
Lesson: UNHAPPINESS CAN LEAD TO NEW BEGINNINGS.
When discontent sets in, it’s time to make some changes. In a world where so much is possible, yet so many people are unhappy, there has to be another way.
“We get one ride in life,” she says. “I’m so glad I did this.”
“I just couldn’t live that way anymore.” Travis Eneix, who weighed four hundred pounds and committed to practicing tai chi and writing down everything he ate for one thousand days, describes how he finally came to the point where he had to change. “I just couldn’t live that way anymore,” he said. “I didn’t want to make a small adjustment; I had to completely shift directions to find a new way of life.”
“it’s no big deal.” Then I heard from someone who wrote in to say he’d “only” been to twenty countries. What? Twenty countries is great. Plenty of people never go anywhere.
I don’t have to live like this anymore.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT AN ADVENTURE OR QUEST THAT INVOLVES PERCEIVED RISK: Successful Outcome: brave, courageous, confident Failed Outcome: stupid, risky, naive, arrogant
We tend to judge risk based on outcome—but the outcome isn’t always up to us.
Do one thing every day that scares you. —ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
In a short book, The Flinch, Julien Smith wrote about his own series of life experiments, challenging readers to give some a try. One of my favorite passages involves a deliberate act of household destruction: Go to the kitchen and grab a mug you don’t like. Mug in hand, go to a place in your house with a hard floor. Hold the mug in front of you, in your outstretched hand. Say good-bye to it. Now, drop the cup. Whatever rationalization you’re using right now is a weak spot for you. Flag it. You’ll see it again and again. Drop the damn cup. Did you do it? If so, you’ll notice one thing:
...more
Are you busy? Join the club. Everyone is busy, yet we all have access to the same amount of time. If you want to prioritize adventure but can’t find the time, something’s got to give.
Astute readers may note that Sasha, in planning to cook a meal from every country, has two more countries on her target list than exist on the list I used for my round-the-world tour. That’s because she includes the Republic of Taiwan and Kosovo on her list. Neither are UN member states, but I’ve been to both.
What a crazy life, I thought. Here I am in Sri Lanka, watching the sunrise after staying up all night in my one-hundredth country. Yet it all felt normal.
When I made it to East Timor, my final Asian country, I went on a long run and thought about all that had happened to get me there. A few years earlier, I’d never heard of East Timor. (And a few years before that, it didn’t exist. Until the arrival of South Sudan in 2011, East Timor was the world’s newest country.)
Quest: To walk the Camino de Santiago Since medieval times, pilgrims have embarked on an extended hike along the Camino de Santiago in Spain, also known as the Way of St. James. Most pilgrims walk at least a few miles a day, stopping at cheap hostels each night before continuing the journey early the next morning. Time: Approximately seven weeks. Cost: Variable, but can be done for as little as $20 per day. Obstacle Number One: Uncertain about walking long distances. (“Can I really walk 503 miles?”) Way Around It: Practice walking a few miles a day, and fit in one longer walk a week. Research
...more
Quest: To learn a new language in a short period of time The semiprofessional language learners I talked to for this book each have different methods, but they all agree on the fundamentals: Anyone can learn new languages, and it doesn’t take as long as most people expect. Time: Six months (or whatever you decide). Cost: Variable, but can be done very affordably and possibly even for free. Obstacle Number One: Lack of confidence. (“I’m not good at speaking other languages.”) Way Around It: Begin slowly. Ask for help. Accept that everyone starts as a beginner. Obstacle Number Two: Uncertain how
...more
If you want to climb every mountain, you need to know how many there are.
Does it just become about ticking things off a list? Not really—or at least it shouldn’t. But the list keeps you focused. A measurable goal is a good companion, and the numbers are your friends.
While it’s probably best to count the cost before undertaking a lifelong commitment, you can also end up mired in planning paralysis. If you’re predisposed to overthink, the answer is simple: Just do it.
Gabriel now speaks five languages comfortably and is embarking on his sixth. He also offers the same lesson as Tom and many others: Jump in with both feet. Stop making excuses.
Make your list specific! Many goals are basic and unmeasurable: to lose weight, save money, or have better posture are all good things, but they’re also somewhat fuzzy and vague. Far better are goals like “Meet the Dalai Lama” or “See the northern lights.” If you set specific goals, you’ll know exactly when you’ve accomplished them.
Experience produces confidence, and confidence produces success. I didn’t decide to visit every country until I’d been to more than fifty.
On the road, I’m frequently tired from long flights, time zone changes, and the occasional tequila drink. Upon entering my hotel or guesthouse room, the first thing I do is unpack—no relaxing or checking email just yet!
The mantra of the traveler is to make peace with waiting. The mantra of the quester is to keep moving forward. Whatever it takes, whether facing an immense challenge or spirit-sapping tedium, just keep making progress.
People sometimes ask what I’ll do when new countries crop up. Fortunately, this doesn’t happen very often. In the past ten years, only two new countries have been recognized (East Timor and South Sudan).
Ron recruited a colleague, Greg Robbins, whose contract had also been recently canceled. In a stroke of genius, Greg told his former manager that he was now reporting to Ron, and Ron told anyone who asked that he was now reporting to Greg.
“I read an article a few years ago that said when you practice a sport a lot, you literally become a broadband: the nerve pathway in your brain contains a lot more information. As soon as you stop practicing, the pathway begins shrinking back down. Reading that changed my life.
“It’s better to be at the bottom of the ladder you want to climb than the top of one you don’t.”
In this world, there are things you can only do alone, and things you can only do with somebody else. It’s important to combine the two in just the right amount.
Lesson: SOME ADVENTURES SHOULD BE SHARED.
The girl he loved was in Armenia, a place he was enjoying and where he could possibly stay for a long time. Yet the outside world, starting with the Iranian border sixty kilometers away, was calling to Tom. Was it right to be alone? What do you do when you’ve promised yourself to go on?
But Tom realized that he’d made another mistake: Though they loved each other, it wasn’t Tenny’s dream to cycle the world. A dream can only have one owner, Tom decided.
Further adventures would await them both, but the trajectory of Tom’s life had changed. “I’m no longer the most important person in my life,” he said. “Whatever the direction is going to be, it’s going to be pursued together.”
Even the most expensive parts of the world can be reached for $2,500 or less. If that sum seems exorbitant, just think of it as $2 a day for three and a half years, or a bit less than $7 a day over one year. Can you save that much? If so, you can go anywhere.2
• Is there any other way to get the money (crowdfunding, selling something, extra work, robbing banks)?
Excuse me
“I walk,” he wrote in his journal, “to challenge myself to be less afraid of the world.” He continued:
That’s the point—to do what you’re not supposed to do. To do it because it is overwhelming, because it is ridiculous.
When it comes to travel, you should create your own itinerary and not have it be dictated by others.
Why leave? “Because it was time,” she said. Just because it was a good job didn’t mean that she had to do it forever. Everything has a season.
The right time to leave is when you’re ready, not just when someone else makes the decision for you.
The more you experience something outside of what you’ve known, the more open-minded you become … but this worldview can also be somewhat alienating, especially to people at home.
