DESTINATION TRAVEL
I use Nomad Mania to determine what I see – the Series list of over 64,000 sites divided into about 60 categories is exhaustive. I stopped using Travel guide books years ago – the information is dated and incomplete.
Nomad Mania keeps track of where you have been – the 193 United Nations countries divided into 1301 regions, The Master List ranks one by region and I hope to visit at least 1000 regions. It also tracks United Nations Territories, WHS and The Biggest Traveler categories.
Because of my age, I infrequently return to any country. On that one visit, I try to see each country, region and the series’s destinations as completely as possible.
I do extensive research using Wikipedia, Wikitravel and World Heritage websites. On my website www.ronperrier.net, I write several posts for each country. General details the history, demographics, geography and culture. Today has posts gleaned from my reading, most from the Economist magazine. They inform me of the present economy and politics. The Trip details my visit and experiences. I work on this post every day and it is always up-to-date. I try to produce great travel information.
Before visiting any region, I reorganize the NM list of sites into cities and villages. I laboriously enter every site into Google Maps – red hearts (Favouites) for World Heritage Sites and regions, green flags (Want to Go) are for National Parks (Wonders of Nature), towns, cities, islands, XL, and yellow stars are for everything else. I then connect the dots in the most efficient way to see all my destinations. That’s my itinerary.
I don’t know who created the 65,000 Series items, but it is an amazing resource of things to see. After seeing a region, I feel like I have seen it as completely as possible. Without the NM Series list, I would never have seen the following “zoo”, one of my more memorable travel experiences.
• Nile Reptile Park Jinja Uganda April 2023
This is actually called “Source of the Nile Mini-Zoo”. From the outside, it was very underwhelming – a tiny enclosure behind a fence draped with tarps in the middle of a field. There were no trees. However, the entry fee of 10,000 Uganda Shillings was well worth it.
The reptiles consisted of 2 Egyptian cobras, a spectacular African cobra, 4 tortoises, an unhappy monitor lizard, a very unhappy large crocodile called “Carol”, and a tiny baby crocodile. The mammals were a mongoose “Monty”, two red-tailed monkeys, a colobus monkey, a baby baboon “Babu”, and a donkey tied up outside the fence. There were two ostriches “James” and “Jenifa”. The cages were depressing.
The real attraction was the “manager”, a very short black woman – I’m guessing she was less than 4 feet tall, but perfectly proportioned (therefore not an achondroplastic dwarf). I asked her what was the cause of her shortness. “God made me this way”. She then volunteered that her bones were very fragile and she had had many fractures (making her diagnosis osteogenesis imperfecta). She was extremely sweet and quite proud of her depressing little zoo. She came out to the car and asked how I knew about the zoo. I explained a little about Nomad Mania and she was quite excited to be included.
In cities, with the most Series destinations, I use public transport and walk a great deal. The only efficient way to see everywhere else is with a vehicle as public transport would be onerous.
In 2018-19, I bought a VW California camping van and drove over 200,000 km seeing every country in Europe and western Asia – from Iceland to Baku, Azerbaijan – with flights to Iran, Turkmenistan and Syria. I did not pay for camping or any accommodation once as I slept in the van for over 700 nights. I cooked 98% of my meals. The resale value of the California is very high so when I sold it, I lost only 9,000€. As a result, Europe has been surprisingly my cheapest travel.
Elsewhere else, I try to rent scooters or cars, ideally, ones I can sleep in. I have driven in 83 countries. In Australia, I drove 25,000 km in 80 days and again only paid for accommodation a few times.
I have a very intense travel style. I have rarely taken a day off in 18 years. In Europe, I had 16-18 hour days for over 700 days of travel, I took only one day off. I had arrived at the Portmagee Marina in western Ireland to get the boat to Skellig Michael, a WHS island off the coast. It was raining heavily with a lot of wind and all tours were cancelled. I spent a cozy day in bed reading hoping the trip would go the next day. Unfortunately, it didn’t but the rest was welcome.
My Nomad Mania Record. By September 2024, I had been to 192 UN countries and 938 regions (#41) and was #1 in Canada. I had seen 896 World Heritage Sites (#6) and 730 Tentative World Heritage Sites (#1). Of the over 64,000 Series destinations, I had seen almost 18,000 (#2) and was in the top three in most of the 60 categories. The Best Traveled (TBT) weighs about 20 factors and reflects most accurately how completely you travel (#11).
At age 71, I still have not finished my travel. I want to see more regions – most are in Argentina and India. I often revisit some regions to see more Series sites.
I am the most verified person on Nomad Mania having undergone 6 individual verifications. I have proven where I have been.
WHAT I NEVER DO
These are the things I rarely do – tours, use guides, travel in groups, lay in the sun on a beach, drink alcohol, take taxis, stay in hotels, stay in resorts, eat in expensive restaurants, fly business class, use airport lounges, or go to bars or nightclubs. Those are the things most tourists do. I doubt either of us would enjoy travelling together.
BEFORE A TRIP
Research. Once I decide to come to a country, I reorganize the NM series sites for all the country’s regions and then enter them into Google Maps using Red hearts for WHS and Tentative WHS, green flags for towns, cities, areas, and National Parks, and yellow stars for everything else. I download offline Google Maps for the area to always have some navigation. it is important to update the map.
I then do all the research for that country concentrating on WHS and Tentative WHS and post it on my website. I add the NM series sites creating an itinerary. That forms the My Trip post. If I don’t get a SIM to access my website, I will print out the post to have the information I need.
Language. On Google Translate, I download the language to use Google Translate offline (only text is available).
Money. Using xe.com, I determine the official exchange rates for the currency. This may be necessary to exchange money at the border where rates may be poor. Upon entering the country, I often use an ATM to get the local currency but that usually incurs a fee and sometimes a commission. My home bank plan does not charge for withdrawals.
Cash. Exchanging cash may be cheaper. If the country has black market money, bring US$ to be exchanged preferably at a formal exchange office. Exchanging on the street or at borders is sometimes necessary. I often leave home for longer trips with US$3,000 – 4,000 in cash. I also usually have some Euros. I keep 200€ in emergency money folded into the zippered “pocket” on my belt.
I try to never exchange money at airports because of the commission.
Flights and sleeping. I book my flights trying to use the cheapest flight irrelevant of flight duration. I book a hostel, hotel, or Airbnb especially if it is required for immigration, but sometimes arrive with no reserved accommodation.
Phone. I find the phone company with the best coverage and always buy a SIM for that country with enough data to hopefully last me for the entire stay. Download the company’s app to access usage and topping up the account. SIM cards with sufficient data are usually cheap everywhere except in Canada and the UAE.
I have a Skype phone number that is useful for receiving SMS messages, often needed for 2-step verification. The number is good anywhere in the world.
On arrival, I change my watch to the local time zone.
PERSONAL FACTORS
Because of my personality, I am satisfied with the style of travel I have adopted. Several things combine to make intense travel possible.
How Many Years Do I Have? I started my serious travel in 2006 at age 53. I hoped I could see everything by the time I was 70. Who knows how long I will live? How long would my health be good enough to travel in my intense style?
Time. My main interest is travel. Little in my life requires any other time commitments. However, because of my age, I have travelled intensely with the spectre of advancing decrepitude and poor health looming over my head. After 18 years, I still have many destinations to see and am excited about seeing them.
High-Functioning Asperger’s Syndrome. The way my brain is wired is a wonderful gift. Asperger’s gives me extreme focus, curiosity, no fear, common sense, and the drive and energy to travel in my intense way.
Few things are taken on faith and I require evidence-based facts. For example, the travel advisories issued by every country are relatively useless. Proper research usually tells me what is safe and the places where extreme care or rarely avoidance is necessary.
I have no problem not following rules and regulations, especially those that don’t make common sense. I drove through hundreds of red lights in Taiwan. I jaywalk and don’t pay attention to “walk” lights – and look very out of place in Japan and Australia where people follow rules.
However, there are some rules that I would not break. For example, I would not wear clogs in Slowjamistan. The micronation Slowjamistan is as illogical as the only rule the wanna-be country forbids – wearing clogs, it all makes common sense.
I am always looking for a better way to do things and thus am often viewed as difficult. I don’t have a ready smile. My countenance looks serious.
Asperger’s people develop special interests and become obsessed with them. My entire life has revolved around special interests. Hiking and trekking are the one thing I have continued since graduating from university in 1976. Most of the rest of my special interests obsessed me for many years but many have been dropped – photography, playing bridge and golf. Travel has become my special interest for the last 18 years.
Maintaining my website requires a ton of time and energy. When actively travelling, it consumes a few hours every day. It is another special interest.
The social issues that come with Asperger’s can be a problem in groups, another reason to travel alone.
I don’t care about how impressed others are with me. I am poor at self-promotion. Most other travellers aren’t even aware I exist. My travel website gets virtually no visits even though it has the best travel information on the planet.
Money. When I retired from my medical practice, I thought I had enough money to never work again. Because of good investments and as I travel as cheaply as possible, I have more money now than when I started travelling 18 years ago. “It is not what you make, it is what you spend.”
However, I can afford to go to or experience any travel destination or adventure. One week of diving on a live aboard boat in Palau cost well north of $5000. Rafting the 220 miles (14 days) of the Grand Canyon was the adventure highlight of my life. It was not cheap. Some countries, especially because of the security issues are expensive to visit – Somalia, Niger, Central African Republic, and Libya come to mind. The Ennedi Plateau of Chad and safaris in East Africa are costly destinations. Surprisingly, all these are in Africa.
Good health. My strong legs allow me to walk anywhere, especially in cities. I hike and trek whenever possible. At 71, I have never worn glasses.
Self-propelled travel. Besides walking and hiking, I own two sea kayaks and all the gear for two people. I have everything I could ever need to camp – four tents, three sleeping bags, a huge assortment of air mattresses, stoves, pots, dishes…..
I also have my advanced PADI with over 100 dives.
These allow me to explore every environment.
Luck. I have unbelievably good luck. I rarely worry about anything when I travel because almost everything turns out.
Medical training. As a family doctor for 30 years, I can look after health issues and illness effectively on the road. With age, travel insurance has become expensive, and it’s difficult to find insurance that covers anyone over 70. I have not had travel insurance since but I deal with that risk.
I carry drugs (especially antibiotics) that allow me to self-medicate. For example, I have developed a well-thought-out plan for malaria (I don’t use prophylaxis and only carry the treatment). I can judge medical care that may be necessary. If seriously ill in 3rd world countries, the best option is to return home as soon as possible.
What I bring. Over 19 years, I have a finely tuned gear list. I only travel with a carry-on backpack. You might be amazed at what I carry. I can sleep anywhere comfortably (often in airports) and can deal with almost any climate including down to about -10 C. I rarely buy anything on the road – I already have everything I could need. I rarely buy souvenirs.
Help at home. I need someone who can pick up my mail. That is a minimum. Usually, a neighbour or friend has volunteered. However, help for more than a year or two is not realistic. Canada Post can store your mail.
Situations still arise where help is needed. I so frequently have credit cards hacked, one of my banks will not use a courier and I have had cards snail-mailed to Anna or a future accommodation.
LANGUAGE
Wouldn’t it be nice if one could have at least conversational language everywhere you go? The ability to converse well with locals vastly improves one’s travel experience. The locals appreciate any attempt to use their language. However, for me, problems arise when they answer back. When language skills are rudimentary, understanding them can be difficult especially as fluent speakers talk much more rapidly, have a different accent, or use slang.
Everyone has a different aptitude for language. On CBC, I heard an interview with a 16-year-old New York polyglot who could fluently speak 23 languages from Farsi to Ojibwa. It is well-accepted that the ability to learn a new language starts to decline after age 12. Like any other skill, each individual has different skill sets as our brains are wired differently. I’m great at math and sciences, but poor at English as a subject and even worse at languages. This may sound ignorant, but I never spend a second even learning simple phrases of any language. My accent is so bad, that nobody would understand me anyway.
Your native language affects your ability to learn a new language. Romance languages French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian with Latin as a base are obvious examples.
Where you grow up affects language ability. Being raised in Europe where many languages are heard and taught in school makes it easier. Young people from Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium usually have great English skills. English (and other languages) are often taught in elementary school as these ‘progressive’ countries seem to understand the important role of speaking English, especially for business and industry. It is the one universal travel language. Knowledge of English will help one’s career and job prospects immensely. In contrast, in France and South Europe, other languages are less stressed and young people tend to be unilingual.
Exposure to other languages over time can be important. Growing up in Switzerland exposes one to German, French, and Italian and Swiss young people may speak all three in addition to Swiss German. In Canada, we have two ‘official’ languages but when growing up in western Canada, like me, I have never had the opportunity to speak French since high school, and my French is terrible. My heritage is French Canadian and I am 10th generation Canadian, but my ‘French’ grandfather left Quebec as a teenager to homestead in Saskatchewan, and even though he had a French accent, I never heard him speak French.
The majority of my initial travel was in Spanish-speaking countries, and my travel Spanish was barely adequate. My ability to hold a conversation with a native speaker is virtually nil. I had 2 weeks of good Spanish instruction in Guatemala and had few problems asking for directions, finding a room, making a reservation over the phone, and understanding money, dates, and time. My biggest problem is my accent in Spanish. Getting your vowels and accents perfect can be difficult, and usually don’t understand what you are saying. It can get frustrating enough to stop trying. As native English speakers, we meet people from all over the world with bad accents, we are used to it, and can usually make out what they say.
To acquire good conversational skills in Spanish would probably require at least 3 months of intensive study, something I don’t have the time, aptitude or interest in. I once had a girlfriend who worked hard at her Spanish and thought she was ‘pretty good’. But in a conversation, she was hopeless, and the conversation rarely went past basic levels.
There can also be a significant difference in the “Spanish” spoken in different countries. Chilean Spanish is notoriously different. They speak rapidly with a ‘singsong’ lilt. Most s’s at the end of words are dropped and have many different expressions not used anywhere else. I was lost there and had no hope of making sense of their Spanish.
Often having poor Spanish has been helpful. When being panhandled, ‘no hablo Espanol’, ends the interaction. When stopped at military checkpoints common especially in Mexico, “no hablo Espanol”, smiling and being pleasant, works great. They throw up their arms in frustration and wave you through.
PHOTOGRAPHY
I didn’t travel with a camera for most of my early travel and never took a picture for 15 years. I didn’t get a smartphone until 2018, but still rarely take pictures. It is surprising how differently one looks at the world when you are not looking for the next photograph. Instead of framing something in a 4×6 rectangle, one tends to see the whole picture and the minute details. One forms a better visual memory when you know you will not have a photograph to revisit the scene. Life on the road without a camera is so much less complicated – more space and less weight in the pack or shoulder bag, nothing to recharge, nothing to download, no sorting or discarding, no editing, and no emailing pictures. I use all the time saved to maintain my website.
And how often do we revisit those pictures? Great pictures are available everywhere on the internet. I have an inward smile when I see travellers rapidly moving through a site or museum taking hundreds of snapshots of all sorts of immaterial things, and not really ‘looking’ at anything. They are missing seeing the essence of a place, feeling the peace of a temple or a beautiful dawn. They have pressure to record everything on film or feel they haven’t been there. And most of those snapshots are technically poor pictures.
I am continually surprised by the proliferation of large SLRs that so many travellers have. Add a lens or two and add a few kilograms and significant volume to your pack. The vast majority don’t have a clue how to get the most out of those big cameras and lenses. Most use the P mode or think that M or manual gives them more control. They have no understanding of f-stops and depth of field, exposure control (when to over and underexpose pictures), how to deal with pictures that have excessive contrast, when to use and not use flash, and all the compositional details entailed in taking the best picture. They are taking better pictures than with a little point-and-shoot, but those pictures are rarely blown up to a size where it matters much negating the advantage of all those megapixels. E-mailing large files is difficult. And rarely do they have the best lenses that do make a difference in picture quality. Factor in the cost of all that equipment and simply having to lug it around.
These cameras are also a significant target for thieves. In Ecuador, I was using the camera of a woman I had met at my hotel, two young men suddenly appeared behind us, one grabbed the strap behind my neck and one the lens, and there was no way I could prevent them from escaping in a few seconds.
Taking good photographs is hard work – it is all about light. You should be up before dawn and be out at dusk, trying to maximize that golden glow that makes pictures shine. In the past, I have been a very avid amateur photographer, belonged to a camera club for 25 years, had a huge library of how-to books, subscribed to several photography magazines, made many large prints that I competed in photography shows all over, and won many awards. I have a box of the best lenses Canon makes, many costing several thousand dollars each, filters, and every gadget available. I have drowned more professional bodies than you can imagine at $3500 a pop. I always shot with Fugi Velvia and have a file cabinet with 25,000 of my best slides. But nothing has seen the light of day for many years. Maybe someday I will use all that stuff again, but not when I am on the road living out of a backpack.
I lost my enthusiasm for photography when digital came along (in contrast to the rest of the world). Shooting with slide film only gives you one chance, there is nothing you can do to the slide to make it better. That made me concentrate on taking the best picture as I had to understand everything about the equipment, the technical aspects of depth of field, exposure control, dealing with contrast, and all the compositional elements necessary to make an outstanding picture. My ‘specialty’ was using hyperfocal distance often in contrasty conditions (imagine sunlit mountains in the distance with a field of wildflowers in the foreground) all in focus and exposed properly. It was very technical photography. Importantly, I also have a good ‘eye’. I learned when not to take a picture. The present digital mentality seems to have negated all those things – it is now taking snapshots of everything irrelevant of light and then using Photoshop to improve the image. However, the ability to stitch panoramas, exposures, and different depths of fields is a huge advantage of digital. When digital first came out, we debated what you could ethically do to an image and not be ‘cheating’. Now anything goes. The challenge of first taking a good picture is gone. I have no interest in taking poor pictures and have lost the energy it takes to do good photography. There are so many more important things when you travel.