Restless
What do you all do when you're not travelling or is that all you do..? I'm close to giving up uni and I'm really stuck with what to do. I've travelled quite a lot and taught English in both Sri Lanka and Thailand, and not only have I become completely uninterested in the degree that I'm doing but I in no way want to live and work in the UK for the rest of my life. I enjoyed teaching but I don't really want to end up doing that for ever. How do you all manage to travel? Do you travel with your jobs and work abroad or have a well paid job and make do with a few weeks travelling a year?



My husband and I would like to travel in India for seven weeks this coming June and July. We have heard horror stories about the oppressive heat, continuous rain, filthy toilets, bouts of diarrhea, etc.. We each have a budget of $30 per day. With this budget will we be able to find:
1. reasonably clean, safe and air-conditioned accommodations
2. sanitary food.
3. bearable toilet facilities?
We are not looking for fancy or posh accommodations!

I recently went to the Taj Mahal and found that the local government has started charging foreigners Rs500 for a general ticket for local sights plus Rs5 entry fee (the Rs500 isn't optional. Indians pay only Rs10 plus Rs5 entry fee). The Rs500 doesn't actually go directly to the Taj. Actually it goes to the Corporation who "spend" it on local improvements (they say). Although it is free on Fridays, I find this sort of discrimination to be racist. Many foreigners have more money than many Indians, but not all......look at all the cash waved about by anyone here with a car. It also causes very bad feeling with the local businesses that rely on backpackers, etc. Also, it encourages locals to see you as a walking wallet.

(for those with >180day visa)
How come......
Created by: Curious
The hi-jackers of the Indian Airlines place got on board with all those weapons??? I had to give up nail scissors and fruit knife in my cabin luggage at Kathmandu airport.
Must be some conniving going on, sad to say.

The End of the Road...
I turn 30 next week. Is this too old to be part of the Indian back packing scene ? Am I gonna be rejected by all you younger spring chickens when I get there in October? Am I gonna be able to cope with the pace in India at my age ? Are the best of my travel years over forever? Seriously,........this is really bothering me. I still want to be a part of the scene..............

I had the best time of my life backpacking through Nepal, India and Sri Lanka. but it was to India I returned 4 times since. Later back in Holland I ended up buying a house (what the hell did I do that for?) and have what one calls a "permanent" job. Now I am at home feeling so miserable, and I just have this overwhelming desire to leave everything and go again. Only this time, I can't afford it . I keep wondering what it is, after backpacking, that makes one want to go and hit the road again? Not just the thought, but the conviction that it has to be that way? Not many people around me really understand this deep desire, and I myself have not yet figured out why it is. One of the most important things I noticed was that making new friends whilst travelling seemed to be so much easier than it is at home. Maybe travellers are just more open to the new and different. Just knowing that you probably will never meet most people again, makes it easier to be completely honest and open to them, it takes away the fear that things will slap back in our face. Why is it that one never seems to be able to find at home what one finds travelling? Besides the beautiful sites and culture shocks, sunsets, beaches and mountains that are nothing like one has ever seen before? Has anyone ever found something "at home" that equals
Is there life after backpacking?
Created by: Lou

The incidence of coincidence is so prevalent, that it cannot be considered coincidence:

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters. Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both their wives lost their children while living in the White House.
Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. Both were shot in the head. Both were shot in the presence of their wives. The Secretary of each President warned them not to go to the theatre and to Dallas, respectively. Lincoln's Secretary was named Kennedy Kennedy's Secretary was named Lincoln. Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners. Both successors were named Johnson.
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908. John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839. Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.
Both assassins were known by their three names.
Both names have 15 letters.