13 Reasons Everyone Should Travel 31


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My thanks to the Huffington Post for allowing me to blog for them. This is the first blog that I did for them: My HuffPost blog and this is my profile on their website. I should be posting something up there every couple of weeks.

On my forty-first birthday in late 2008, I left Fayetteville, Arkansas on a quest to make it around the world in a year without making any reservations or taking a single airplane. Sixteen months, forty-four countries, and six continents later I succeeded, and though I was forced to violate the ‘no reservations’ rule a couple times – I never left the ground.

I thought I’d share some of the reasons everyone should get out there and see some of the world, along with a few pictures from the trip:

1) To See the Man-Made Wonders of the World

angkor wat black and white bayon temple

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

The truly amazing thing about the world is how many stunning things there are to see. https://www.goseewrite.com/2010/04/photo-of-the-day-angkor-wat/. Mayan ruins in Mexico and Guatamala. The Pyramids and the Valley of the Kings. Manchupiccu. The Coliseum. The Great Wall of China and the Forbidden Palace. The sights are plentiful and all I can say is that most of the ones I have seen, including those listed, are spectacular. The lengths and efforts put forth by mankind over the centuries to impress others certainly did so in my eyes, almost every time.

2) To See the Natural Wonders of the World

uluru sunrise

Uluru in Australia

In addition to what our ancestors put on this planet to amaze and awe, the planet itself has managed to come up with scores of its own wonders independent of the hands of man. Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The Blue Hole in Belize. The massive dunes of the Namib Desert. The Dead Sea. The Badlands in South Dakota. The Okavango Delta. Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. There is a wonder about everywhere you look in Africa, as well as in the national parks right here in the United States.

3) To Challenge Yourself

michael hodson and guide on kilimanjaro peak

Uhuru Peak, Mount Kilimanjaro

In a massive understatement allow me to say that I am not a mountain climber by nature. Though not a technical climb at all, getting to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro was the most difficult and rewarding thing I have accomplished. Those few days made me look inward and reflect on the kind of person I was and that I wanted to be. Whether it is climbing a mountain, riding a bicycle across Ireland, or taking a multi-day hike over South American glaciers, there is a world of challenge out there for you, and perhaps you too will have a better understanding of yourself afterwards.

4) To Run Up Your First Six-Figure Dinner Tab

Zimbabwe Money, Trillion Dollar Zimbabwe bills

Zimbabwe money, before its use was discontinued

Unless you run with a crowd who are chugging down 1947 Petrus by the case (in which case, invite me next time), you are unlikely to have ever run up a six figure dinner tab. In some countries of the world, you can manage that without too much trouble. One Hundred U.S. Dollars are about 50,000 Chilean Pesos or 425,000 Cambodian Riels or 151,000 Tanzanian Shillings or 490,000 Zambian kwacha. During a casual dinner with about a dozen friends in Livingstone, Zambia, we almost made it to a million kwacha – and we paid with five different types of currency, after the waiter brought a calculator to compute the various exchange rates. Added bonus: your bank balance on ATM printouts. You are a millionaire.

5) To Try New Foods

cuy on bbq grill

Cuy in Banos, Ecuador

I am pretty open to most any type of food. I would have tried this particular dish, which is cuy, known to us in the States as guinea pig, but after asking a dozen people if they liked it, the verdict was 12-0 against. I tried fried grasshoppers in Mexico on someone’s advice – bad advice in hindsight – and some things in Africa I couldn’t identify but I simply couldn’t pull the cuy trigger in the face of universal scorn. I regret it and my temerity with be corrected in the future. On the other hand, I fell in love with dumplings in China and would eat them every meal right now. Ceviche in Peru. Falafel in Syria. Kudu steak in Namibia. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it all.

6) To Be Surprised

turtle swimming underwater

at 20 or so meters down in Dahab, Egypt

The Red Sea has been the highlight of my limited scuba diving experience. On this day, we were down about twenty meters, rounded a corner and came upon this huge turtle calmly nibbling on some coral. I had no idea turtles dove that deep to eat. That the experience was completely unexpected made it even more memorable, as was the image of a local getting on my bus in Ethiopia with a live chicken in one hand and an AK-47 in the other. Or getting picked up hitchhiking in New Zealand by a former British Navy Officer and his wife, both in their 70s, who then invited to their local pub for a few pints and stories. I can’t say this often enough – the world is bigger and better than you imagine and the people… even better than that.

7) To Have Uncaged Animal Encounters

elephant at sunset watering hole in namibia

in Etoshia National Park, Namibia

The variety of life to experience out there is plentiful, whether it be looking up in the Colca Canyon in Peru, seeing condors soaring in the thermals or having dolphins play in your sailboat’s wake in Australia or seeing a horde of zebra, kudu and giraffe at an African watering hole. It is still possible to see animals being animals, without seeing them caged up in a zoo. And perhaps seeing how these magnificent creatures in their natural environment will prod you to encourage others to take up the cause of their preservation with a little more fervor.

8) To Find the Best Sunset or Sunrise

sunrise zanzibar with a beached boat

Sunrise over the Indian Ocean, Zanzibar

Little can put me at peace more than quietly watching the sky and broken clouds explode in color as the sun dips below the horizon. Or the total calm of a sunrise, here over the Indian Ocean on the island of Zanzibar. I am on the quest for the world’s best sunset or sunrise. Luckily, many of the best I have witnessed have been located near beaches that rival the sunsets in beauty. This is a quest worthy of a lifetime’s effort in my opinion.

9) To Get a Foreign Adrenaline Rush

michael hodson bridge jumping banos ecuador

Bridge Jumping in Banos, Ecuador

The person who just strapped a few bungee cords to your ankles has his hand on your shoulder as you shuffle up to the edge of the bridge a few hundred feet above the river below and says “I’m going to say three, two, one, bungee – just jump as far as you can – or your friends back there are going to never let you hear the end of it.” Jumping out of a plane over the glaciers of the South Island in New Zealand. Cage diving with great white sharks in South Africa. White water rafting the Nile in Uganda. Or simply crossing the street in Cairo or trying to buy a bus ticket at the Dar es Salaam bus station. There are plenty of experiences out there that will get your heart racing.

10) To Witness the World’s Great Religions in their Homelands

man praying ummayad mosque damascus

in Ummayad Mosque, Damascus

You are not likely to forget the first time you are woken by the Muslim call to prayer. Mine was in Stone Town on Zanzibar. It was hauntingly beautiful and such a wonderful way to awaken, even at 5:15 a.m. Because I was traveling overland and would have had major visa issues, I wasn’t able to go to Jerusalem, but I can’t wait to go and see the cradle of the monotheistic religions. Add some time in India and Tibet learning about Hinduism and Buddhism and I better get going soon.

11) To Cook with the Ingredients of the World

spices in damascus grand bazaar

Grand Bazaar, Damascus

Food and cooking have blown up in popular culture in the last few years by the advent of celebrity television chefs and channels devoted to cooking, but we still have much to learn from the rest of the world. Try taking a cooking class in Chaing Mai, Thailand or in Shanghai. Or see if you can hook up a homestay in Peru or take a guided camping trip through the Sinai and pick up some cooking tips from the locals as they cook over an open flame. There are more new and interesting dishes out there than anyone will have time to sample in a lifetime.

12) To Experience Unadulterated Joy

kids playing on zanzibar beach

kids playing on Zanzibar beach

Perhaps the one universal truth I experienced on my trip was the joy of life in children’s eyes. This particular picture is one of my favorites – I made the camera motion with my hands to ask kids on a Zanzibar beach if I could take their picture. When I looked up after pulling it out of my pocket, they had spontaneously broken into dance. On down days, merely closing my eyes and thinking of how much happiness I saw ‘out there’ brings a smile back to my face.

13) To Encourage Others to Get Out and Travel

Rotorua, New Zealand

Let’s face it – we are all in this together. In today’s times, the world is interconnected at a level unimaginable a decade or two ago. Travel offers an opportunity to see this first hand and hopefully will spur further understanding and tolerance of those things that make us different and that make us the same. Plus, there is simply great fun to be had. So get out there. See a slice of this big, wonderful, spectacular, extraordinary planet.

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About Michael Hodson

I’m an attorney that took off on my birthday in December of 2008 to circumnavigate the globe without ever getting on an airplane. After 16 months, 6 continents and 44 countries, I made it all the way back home. Right now, I am back on the road writing about it all.

31 thoughts on “13 Reasons Everyone Should Travel

  • NancydBrown

    Awesome adventures. Congrats on writing for the HP. However, I have to add that I think HP should be paying bloggers for their content.

    • Michael Hodson Post author

      I wish they´d pay also, for sure! But then again, if I was in their shoes, I wouldn´t pay either. Unfortunately, travel bloggers are a dime a dozen. But I´m happy to get the exposure.

    • Michael Hodson Post author

      I never thought I´d like bungee jumped, then pretty much got shamed into it by three girls I was hanging with for a few days. And loved it…

  • Jenny

    I really enjoyed this post. I went bungee jumping spontaneously in Ecuador. At first I was terrified, but once I jumped I felt like it was no big deal. Incredibly insane feeling!

  • Charukesi

    what a lovey post! and superb photographs – I agree with all your reasons – personally for me, when I travel, I discover the limits to which i can push myself (in a nice way 🙂 – my first time here – enjoyed going thru your blog…

    • Michael Hodson Post author

      many, many thanks. Glad you liked the post and the blog. I am hoping to get some of my photography up in the coming weeks. Thanks for following!

  • Michael

    Wonderful piece M and congrats on the Huffington Post association! I wanna’ be like you when I grow up!

  • Natalie - Turkish Travel

    I loved this list. Sounds like you have experienced so many things that are out there for so many people but they just don’t realize it. A motivational list.

    re the cuy, could they not chop the heads off before they cook them!!?

  • Gloria

    Wow! I’m a huge fan of this post. These are all things I wanted to do anyway but I just love the way you simply described it. Definitely has me excited about my own RTW adventures. Adding you to my blogroll!

  • Dina VagabondQuest

    Great reasons to travel, Mike! Like Nancie, I will skip the bungee jumping though 🙂
    I often get response from people when I say seeing animals in the wild, why don’t just go to the zoo. Well, while I like visiting zoos too, seeing animal in their natural habitat is totally different experience, It gives me happiness that zoo can’t give. Seeing them doing what they do in nature, not inside a cage, is just great.

  • Rebecca

    Inspirational! I certainly don’t need this list to encourage me to get out and see the world, but it did give me a happy feeling as I read through and remembered some of the things I’ve done and seen while travelling. Thank you for sharing! I hope that this post encourages people to get out and experience travelling! 🙂

  • johnny

    hey mate,

    thanks for this – you really nailed it and i couldnt agree more! I’ve been on the road for 4 years, more than 50 countries and every day i think about these points =) good work!

  • Andrew Murray

    Wonderful post, that sums up most of the reasons I love to travel. Like others have already mentioned, I’ll pass on the bungy jumping!

  • Sankalp Agarwal

    You have nailed the right reasons to travel. I thought I knew them all except when I read, “To Run Up Your First Six-Figure Dinner Tab”. Amazing read and amazing pics.

    • Michael Hodson Post author

      many thanks for visiting — and yea, I do love those crazy countries with their out-of-wack currencies!

  • Allen

    Michael,

    Love to get your advice on how you started writing for HP. Did you “cold call” pitch them? What was the process?

    Love the blog! Keep up the great work.

    • Michael Hodson Post author

      many thanks, Kerry. Appreciate you finding the blog and hope you follow along and keep commenting!

  • cosmoHallitan

    What a wonderful post! There are so many excellent reasons to travel, but I’m a bit of a nerd so my number one reason is to LEARN. So many events have happened to shape our world history, most of them happening before the United States was even born! The early seafaring nations introduced new ideas and foods during their explorations. Countries got rich off the silk, spice and tea trades and some lost it all centuries later. Amazing temples and cathedrals have been built out of religious furor. Wars have been fought, governments have been overthrown and countries have been colonized by the west. It’s all so endlessly fascinating! I believe that understanding the history of a place provides for a much richer travel experience.

  • Vagabondette Mandy

    This is a great post and I really loved how well the photos matched the sentiment. I agree with all of your reasons and they’re pretty much why I travel. 🙂 I’ll be featuring your post in my weekly roundup to be published on August 29.

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