Frequently Asked Questions
I get questions. I like to provide answers. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, just use this form to ask me a question on Tumblr. Please bear with me as I continue to update and populate this page with the most recent and most accurate information.
Questions about me
Who are you?
Where are you going?
Have you thought this through?
What will you do when you return?
Why now? Why ever?
Questions about this site
What’s the purpose of this site?
How long have you been blogging?
What do you hope to get out of this site?
How can I set something similar up?
Are you a real person? And if so, can I contact you?
I’m new to the Internet. What is RSS and how can I get your site updates?
Questions about travel
Is round-the-world travel safe?
Is round-the-world travel sane?
How do you go about planning a BIG trip?
How much does a year of travel cost?
Questions about me
Who are you?
I’m Adam. I’m traveling around the world. I’ve got an About page, but it changes regularly (like myself), so I’ll sum myself up quickly here: In April 2010 I quit my job as a graphic designer at a major book publisher and left for a round-the-world trip. The plan? Well, here’s 5 reasons, though there are actually hundreds.
Where are you going?
I’ve set my itinerary too many times to properly define it, but you can read the most recent iteration here. It’s interesting, but my revised itinerary isn’t too far off from my first attempt.
Have you thought this through?
You’d have to, right? Sure, there are people who will tell you that you can simply pack up your life in a bag and pick up and go. But it’s a little more complicated than that. I tried to simplify it into 23 steps, but in all honesty, an around-the-world trip takes some serious thought and some serious planning.
What will you do when you return?
Why I’ll get a job, of course! Isn’t that what you want to hear?
Why now? Why ever?
I’m sure big trips like this aren’t for everyone. But I’m young. I’m restless. I’m eager to see and do things that I won’t ever be able to do again. Now’s the time and I’m tired of waiting around for something to happen. I’ve got to take control of the situation and make it happen—otherwise it never will.
Questions about this site
What’s the purpose of this site?
It’s an excellent way to meet new people, yeah? Also, it’s keeping me professionally active while I traipse around the world.
How long have you been blogging?
This blog started in mid-October 2009 but didn’t really start to become a decent travel blog until December/January. Once I started on my RTW travels in May 2010, things started to pick up.
What do you hope to get out of this site?
Blogging has proved to be an excellent way to meet people with similar interests. Originally, this site started as a way to better communicate with other travel bloggers & friends on Twitter. Sometimes 140 characters wasn’t enough to ask a question or get feedback while planning my trip.
Now that I’m on my trip, I’m using this site as a way to continue communicating with friends, readers & others online. It’s also a way to keep me active professionally so that when I apply for a job on my return, I’ll have something tangible to show as proof of all the hard work I’ve done while traveling.
How can I set something similar up?
My basic rules for successful blogging:
- Be real.
- Use Twitter.
- Interact with your readers and other bloggers.
- Look into purchasing useful resources on the subject. For travel blogging, I’d highly recommend Travel Blog Success. It’s a useful guide and the forum alone is a great way to ask questions & get feedback. If you’d like a less interactive (but still amazingly useful) resource for setting up a successful travel blog, than I’d also definitely recommend “How to Make Money with Your Travel Blog.”
Are you a real person? And if so, can I contact you?
Um, yes. And please do contact me! I love meeting new people and interacting with strangers. You can e-mail, @tweet me or connect on whichever social network you prefer. There are lots of ways to contact me, including the following:
I’m new to the Internet. What is RSS and how can I get your site updates?
Glad you asked! There are 4 basic ways to get travelsofadam.com updates:
- Visit travelsofadam.com directly. Consider making it a bookmark for easy access, though.
- Subscribe to the RSS feed. This is best if you use a RSS reader such as Google Reader. Learn more about RSS here.
- Get an e-mail every time there’s a new blog entry. Subscribe for the RSS e-mail list here.
- Or if you prefer, subscribe to the monthly Travels of Adam newsletter for updates & summaries of the top posts of the month.
Questions about travel
Is round-the-world travel safe?
I sure hope so. Other people have survived and enjoyed them, so it must be.
Is round-the-world travel sane?
As far as I know, yes. I don’t think anyone expected me to take this type of trip. And who knows how far I’ll go. But, right now, at this point, I have no doubt in my mind that this is the best thing I could do with my time and my money.
How do you go about planning a BIG trip?
A lot of people have done this before you and a lot will do it afterward. Luckily, travelers are generally pretty open to meeting other travelers. And we do love to talk about travel. So please feel free to e-mail me your questions and hopefully I can help out.
How much does a year of travel cost?
Of course it depends on where you’re going on a big trip, but really, a lot of the world is cheaper to live in than where you’re living today. I think you’d be surprised how little you actually need. For me, I spent $20,000 on almost 15 months of travel around the world.
One of the best articles I’ve read on the subject is this one: Travel full-time for less than $14,000 per year
