Around the World in 80 Years - Travel Journal

[Frank Florida]

Aqui é a palestra do Hans Rosling:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/hans_r ... _seen.html

[sandrom]

Hi Frank,

I´m following your posts since they started and it is very pleasant. After your words about Phnom Penh I really became fond of there.

However, I´ll mantain my plans to espend some days in Turkey. Have you ever been there? Do you have some advices to me? I may have about 10 days to spend there.

Thanks in advance

Sandro

[Frank Florida]

Hey Sandro, thanks for that mate! Honestly, I haven't been to Turkey yet - though I have many friends from there, and many more who went there on vacation. From what I hear about the place, it has to be amazing! I would pick up a copy of the Lonely Planet Turkey... the LP books have become quite mainstream but they're still the best guide book out there and cover everything you need to know, from visa requirements and vaccinations to transportation, hotels and restaurants. Click here (not an affiliate link). Get the original - that's also a great way to practice your English.

Here are some music videos from Turkey to get you in the mood... (and no, I don't speak Turkish yet )

[felipeh6]

Hi Frank,

I´m following your posts since they started and it is very pleasant. After your words about Phnom Penh I really became fond of there.

However, I´ll mantain my plans to espend some days in Turkey. Have you ever been there? Do you have some advices to me? I may have about 10 days to spend there.

Thanks in advance

Sandro

Hello Sandro,

I was already there in Istanbul. It's fantastic! I could not visit too much, because I had to spend a big part of my travel working as a export salesman, but what I saw I can suggest to you:

- Taksim square
- Topkapi Palace
- Old Town
- Bosphorus River (and here you have to have dinner at Blackk Restaurant - http://www.blackk.net/ - you'll be having dinner and looking to the River! Awesome!)

Besides that, I suggest to you to check this address: http://www.twarp.com/guide/ist-places.htm

[sandrom]

Thank you, Felipe,

I´m sure it will help me a lot.

my best regards

[sandrom]

Hey Frank,

Thanks for the videos, they are very funny and the songs are lovely. I like turkish music. They show how passionate this people is. Almost as Latin people or even more.

On the other hand, turkish is one of the most difficult languages that I have ever seen.

cheers

Sandro

[Frank Florida]

You're welcome, sandrom - indeed, the Turks are a fiery people, no doubt! Most people in Southern countries / warm climates are, in my experience.

Alright, so apparently Phnom Penh is not perfect, and the internet connection I had at my hotel wasn't the best... Skype calls kept cutting out. And so I decided to move to a different hotel... and I figured - hey, if I'm going to move to a different hotel, I might as well make it one at the beach!

As I was waiting for the bus, I had a drink at this traditional Cambodian restaurant overlooking the river... absolutely amazing place, all open air, with fountains, hand carved decoration and a Khmer dancer on a stage. Beautiful. Now, I travel without a digital camera, believe it or not... so I googled a couple of pictures of this place and the dance, and you can see those below. I *do* have a flipcam though, so I'll shoot another video for you guys soon.

When I arrived in Sihanoukville, a nice little town at the Cambodian beach, it was already dark. I had met a couple of other travelers on the bus and we had dinner together, and then I went for a walk on the beach under the starlit night sky... and I had another one of those moments where you say to yourself... Man. Life just doesn't get much better than this.

There are some incredibly cheap hotels down there... you can get a room with private bathroom, double bed and fast internet for 5-7 dollars a night. However, there was some construction going on near the cheaper places and I felt a bit exhausted from moving around so much, and so I picked one of the Lonely Planet "Splurge" options - it was essentially the equivalent of a five star hotel and cost 32 bucks. I don't usually like to spend that much, mostly because it's not necessary - but that hotel was truly amazing... the lavish life of the rich, and all for the price you would pay for a bed in a hostel dorm in Europe!

[wender.jean]

Hello Frank, that last post was excellent.
I'd like to know what you do when you get in a new country, what you do to find a job, do you search for a job agency?

And to end, have you already been in Italy? Recommend?

Thank's a lot.

[Frank Florida]

Hello Frank, that last post was excellent.
I'd like to know what you do when you get in a new country, what you do to find a job, do you search for a job agency?

And to end, have you already been in Italy? Recommend?

Thank's a lot.

Hey mate, thanks for that! Actually, I have a bit of a process that I go through when I show up in a new country. Are you familiar with the idea that there are three pillars of success in life, namely health, wealth and relationships? You need to have all three sorted if you want to feel like you have your life on lockdown. As soon as one of the three is out of balance, it will impinge on your ability to enjoy life - so I tackle them in order, one after the other.

The first thing you're going to need is accommodation, and I like to look for something to rent on a monthly basis before I do anything else. The reason is simple - hotel rooms can be a huge black hole that suck up all your funds (except out here in Asia, of course). I usually look for something that is centrally located and not too far from a gym, and that has a kitchen and fast internet. Bring your laptop with you to test the connection!

Once that foundation is in place, I start to sort out health, relationships and wealth, in that order. I'm pretty linear and systematic in my thinking, but this process has proven very useful over the years. So I'll figure out where I can get healthy meals, or if I'm in a country where eating out is cost-prohibitive, where I can shop for healthy food, and then I sign up for a gym membership. Next, I usually start creating some kind of social network - I go out to meet some new people, it's always good to have friends wherever you go - and to be honest, that's the main reason why I travel. The people you meet on the road are the most interesting part of the journey for me, without question.

And then the final step is getting a handle on the wealth part of the equation - in other words, looking for work. No, I don't really recommend job agencies at all - they're a middleman and take a cut of your pay. Unless you're in a big rush to generate some income, I wouldn't rely on that - I'd rather talk to potential employers directly. I just wrote an article about several ways you can make money while you travel on the EE blog, check out my post here:
http://www.englishexperts.com.br/2012/0 ... s-part-iv/

Italy? Hell yeah! Highly recommended. I love that place... though maybe I'm biased, as part of my family comes from Italy. I went to Bari last year for my cousin's wedding, and I spent a couple of days in Rome after that. I really, really love that place and I have every intention of spending a couple of months in Rome at some point. If you get a chance to check it out, take it!

Hope that helps mate - if you need more advice on the nitty-gritty, just let me know. I've been through the process of arriving in a new country and setting up a life dozens and dozens of times now, so it's all become pretty much second-nature to me... but I remember that it can be intimidating the first few times, so I'm always glad to help.

Cheers,
~ Frank Florida ~

[PKdbz]

Hello Frank!

I've read all of yours articles and they are just amazing!

I need some help, me and 4 friends are planning to make a trip somewhere. Our first thought was Las Vegas but it turned out to be too expensive (about 3 thousand dollars per person for a weekend). And then I came across with you article that talked about Thailand, we searched some info about the country and we found it amazing! The beaches are stunning!

We couldn't manage to find much info about travelling agency and so far so I need your help. Do you know any agency or website where we can find infos about it?
With your experience, how much would cost per person to stay there 1 or 2 weeks?
The thing that worried us was the communication...we know nothing of their language, my question is...Is english well known there?

Thanks a lot!