If no work or family commitment, how long is your dream trip before returning home?

If not tied down, when will u return to home comfort?


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For me it is no more than 4 weeks. I just came back from a 4 week trip in Xinjiang, China.

After a few weeks, I began to miss my bed, my food and my comforts. I did not find hotel living that interesting. My bedroom may be in a mess, but it is still my bedroom.
 

I read somewhere that Antartica will stop receiving tourist from 2012, dunno if this is true. If this is your dream, better make it happen fast.


from 2012, meaning only about one year or so left.. so it might be super-expenisve to go as there is only about 6 months of a year when tourists can visit. (Oct-Mar)..I would love to go again and this time I will pack all the POWER camera equipment rather than my D80 and 18-200mm. I will also learn how to photo white snow.. my all has a blue tinge to it..and with the overcast skies...*baaaaah*
 

from 2012, meaning only about one year or so left.. so it might be super-expenisve to go as there is only about 6 months of a year when tourists can visit. (Oct-Mar)..I would love to go again and this time I will pack all the POWER camera equipment rather than my D80 and 18-200mm. I will also learn how to photo white snow.. my all has a blue tinge to it..and with the overcast skies...*baaaaah*

need to confirm on the info. I cannot verify it.
 

euterpe, my friend... hahaha...
We were all thinking if you would just go on and on and on...
But I think these four months must have been quite an experience...
Nothing that I think I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing before.
Eh... you tahan a little bit more and 'dong' a little bit more lah...
don't come back so fast yet leh.

Haha - I have to come back now, the return ticket is booked for next week - my fault in not preparing my parents for their child disappearing into the world for a longer period than two months.

Having said that, this trip really only awakened in me a thirst for more of the same. I am just going to work darn hard for the next five to six years, and then take a year or two off to travel :-) While I am not really ready to come back home, I am looking forward to seeing all of you again - you all have been having adventures too!!!

I was warned by a friend who did the round the world trip before, to be prepared that it will hit me hard between the 6-8 months zone. I said "baaah".. i was having too much fun and enjoying the freedom of time and space. Truth enough, it hit me at the 7th month and I was crying myself to sleep.. nearly went home (nothing shameful about that ,really:) but in the end I plough on and after a few weeks of rest, I regain the same enthusiasm and excitement just like the beginning..

You have been warned:devil::devil:

Haha, it actually did hit me when I was in Buenos Aires - I was feeling the aimlessness of it all and I thought what the heck I was doing with my life to be just wandering around like this - and what I am going to do when I get back home! But I got over it once I had a good break (and great wine) in Mendoza! :p You are right about the freedom of time and space though - that is the best part of this trip... own time own target, no one to answer to, and the whole world is out there to be explored ...
 

No, Antartica will still have tourists, but limited per season - means it will get more expensive... The ship getting there has to be of some standard that is supposed to be more environmental friendly, so as to make sure the eco system there can survive. This means a lot of ships will not qualify for the permit due to this standard imposed, also means less trips available, and also more expensive, naturally!
 

Just signed my life away to the bank aka buying a place
Guess wanderlust has to take a back seat for now ;p
In the heady days of youth not too long ago (okay I exaggerate), it was a possibility
But now I can't see myself wandering around without my wife, even if she is more 'fragile'
I would prefer to stay at a location for 2-3months and use it as a base for exploring before moving off to the next
Not sure if it sounds ridiculous, but I like the mundaneness of life in a different place, however weird that may seem
 

Home is where the heart is. If you are not where your heart is, then even one day is already one day too long.
 

No commitment,if this the case..... i would return to my home once i had completed travelling to every single corner of the world..
i guess this is a "DREAM" .... imagine an "Ant" travel around your house, take how long time to return to their nest..
 

Truth enough, it hit me at the 7th month and I was crying myself to sleep..

if it is so bad, why force yourself to continue on the route? if have not prepaid for the route, isn't it ok for come home first, and continue on the journey when u feel like it again, supposedly if u can afford to do them in two trips, instead of on a single trip?
 

zoossh, good that you brought this topic up.
[and good luck on that Ethiopia trip]

i feel so curious becos i feel that i'm usually an odd one out. and indeed i am, belonging to the 20% that dun seem to like to travel more than a month, though i badly need at least 12 days to do any purposeful trip, especially for places that takes long flying time. i find 20 days a comfortable time to plan any small area trip, but even that is difficult to get leave from. more than 60% of those who likes travelling are keen to embark on long trips more than 6 months.

i'm going portugal next jan, partly for a course. ethiopia got to shift back cos of that, but i will most likely cover ethiopia and central america later next year.
 

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if it is so bad, why force yourself to continue on the route? if have not prepaid for the route, isn't it ok for come home first, and continue on the journey when u feel like it again, supposedly if u can afford to do them in two trips, instead of on a single trip?

It was a mixed bag of emotions at that time- I just completed 6months in Africa , which has fill me with so much excitement and eye opening experience, so getting back into the developed countries in Europe had me landing with a thud ! I missed Africa and I hated being back in the city life..there was no denying that I was also worned out from travelling in west Africa - with the rough and long bus rides and difficult living conditions,coupled with homesickness which hit me when I arrived in the city, it was really unbearable!

Yes, I have Pre paid my round the world ticket but that wasn't the reason why I didn't go home.
I contemplated my move- buy a return ticket and go home, rest and then back to London to continue my round the world ticket OR go back to paris, my favorite city where I have friends there. I decided on option 2- on the day at the airport changing my itineary with plans to stay 2-3 weeks in Paris and then to America after, was suddenly hit by another feeling...
Instead of going to Paris, On the spot, I changed my ticket and left the following day to San Francisco , feeling excited again of my journey to the central and south america. Dunno what caused it but it came and I just followed my gut feel.
These unpleasant feelings come and go and I usually don't react immediately to the first feeling. I'll let the bad feelingsevaporate on their own ( usually it goes away)
 

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Without any work and family commitments, I would certainly go all over the world and maybe even settle down elsewhere. Not that I don't love Singapore (I still do), but I truly see the whole world as my home (even though foreign authorities might not agree with such a simple thing).

I am happiest when I am exploring new places, especially alone, and I have been travelling a lot in recent years, but mostly in short trips. As a budget backpacker, there's always been a limit to how far I could go. But I believe I can just keep going if I have the means. I have already opted out of the regular day-job working system, and am confident I can do freelance work anywhere else in the world. Or I could be a busker or street artist. :)

If the opportunity arrives right now, I would literally happily drop everything else and just leave. I just can't wait for my see-the-world nomadic dream to come true. But I have absolute faith that it will! :)

In fact, I'm sure my whole family would wanna come along and join me too, if they could! :)





I agree with you that the whole world is my home.. Though we are all humans born to this world but yet we still have such different treatment from varies countries, because of different races.. Maybe "we" might think the whole world is "my" home but, some just don't.
 

I'd love to stay from 6 months to 1 year for most places. To really know the culture, learn the language (if not English or Mandarin), explore every corner of the place, learn the cuisine (very important!! :bsmilie: ) and just be at 'home'. :)
 

Question: If no work or family commitment, how long is my dream trip before returning home?
Answer: Umteen years or until money runs out or really homesick like missing badly my char kuay teow, chai tow kuay and roti prata!:bsmilie::bsmilie::bsmilie:
Cheers.
LEW
 

If you have such idea, you should be in the navy. My workmate who used to be a navy warrant officer has a case of being oversea for almost 1 whole year if he hasn't been back for few weeks here and there to settle some admin stuff. Your chance to go certain places will depends on the assignment, but I heard from him, he even go as far as Russia (I wish to visit that place someday). Also you all should know about the oversea allowance (")($.$)(")
 

If you have such idea, you should be in the navy. My workmate who used to be a navy warrant officer has a case of being oversea for almost 1 whole year if he hasn't been back for few weeks here and there to settle some admin stuff. Your chance to go certain places will depends on the assignment, but I heard from him, he even go as far as Russia (I wish to visit that place someday). Also you all should know about the oversea allowance (")($.$)(")

but what is the point if most of the time on board the ship. eg out for 3 weeks, then 2 days on land... possible?
 

but what is the point if most of the time on board the ship. eg out for 3 weeks, then 2 days on land... possible?

From what I heard, he have some other stuff he need to do on land. Even resupply and servicing will take sometime. As such, he definitely for more than 2 days on land. His isn't like my sad arti unit (NSF time) oversea trip where even if I go quite a number of oversea, actual R&R is around 2 days and some are quite CMI.:(
 

7 years ago I got on an airplane. Haven't been back since. As for money? Get a job while abroad.
To those who get homesick on a trip here is my advice.
Suck it up!
If you give up halfway through a trip because you miss home, food, gf, etc you will regret it. You'll go home at the end anyway so that part can wait.
Food you can make. Look hard enough and you can find most ingredients. It's that key one that you won't find. You'll survive.
GF can come with you or visit. If she doesn't want to or won't wait for your trip to end then she's not worth it.
When friends and fam ask when I will go back I ask then when they will visit me. Guess what the answer is most of the time lol.
These days with internet, skype, mobile phones and cable tv there is no reason to miss home. Think what it was like back when you had to get on a sail ship and set off and possibly never come back. No way to communicate. It must have rocked! :cool:
And after all this time I have found out that home isn't where the heart is. It's where you feel comfortable going to the toilet. ;)
I love traveling. Yes, I know I'm odd. Left my country 22 years ago. Still consider it my home but I wouldn't give up the traveling for anything. Plus the feeling you get when you fill up a passport is great.
がんばって Y'all!
 

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