Finishing off a Continent-wide Backpacking Trip Where It was Left off
As the traveler takes a comfortable and inexpensive ferry ride from Scotland to Northern Ireland, another trip-filled vacation has begun in earnest, safely and steadily. Despite (and perhaps because of) the relative uneventful-ness of the first couple of days, the traveler is given ore time to fill in the details of an ambitious travel plan that will span from the very top of the European continent to the depths of sub-Saharan Africa. Excitement lies ahead as light, knowledge, and understanding are shed on unknown lands.
To say the least, another month-long vacation means another massive cross-continental trip is in the planning. If one thought that one would be satisfied with a whirlwind “conquest” of 30 countries in 30 days in the depth of freezing December weather, one would indeed be underestimating the determined mind of the seasoned traveler. Surely, this part of the region is not that particularly big, and after some efforts, most of the unknown lands have been crossed off the check list, one would think.
Yet, the holdouts are definitely not to be missed. On the perceived “edges” of Europe are more radically different cultures, societies, and peoples waiting to be met. And the first week of traveling in the relatively safe and predictable Scotland and Ireland is but a mere exercise to get the traveler back in shape to absorb and accept foreign ideas and environments, while at the same time getting back that cautious sense of self-protection necessary to protect himself within unfriendly elements within all societies.
That “foreign environment” will be the keyword as the traveler team up with a friend and heads up to Iceland for the second week. Stepping into the Arctic regions will be a first time for the traveler since the nearly three-week long expedition to Alaska nearly two years ago. It would be interesting to compare how different cultures can emerge under similar environments, and how a tiny society on the geographic fringe of the habitable world can still have one of the highest standards of living.
After visiting the extreme north, the traveler will turn toward its extreme south in the “European Sunbelt.” The warm weathers of Spain and Portugal will be welcomed after Iceland and Switzerland, and the subsequent crossing into Morocco will mark a rather interesting milestone in this traveler’s career as first foray into the African continent will be taken. It will also be the traveler’s second time in the Muslim world, after brief stay in Turkey during the last big trip.
The amount of safety precautions will have to increase the traveler again teams up with friends to descend on Gambia and Senegal, where reputedly, tales of scams, pick-pocketing, and other forms of petty street crimes run rampant. The little definitive social regularities, provided even in the sometimes chaotic environment of Eastern Europe, will disappear, replaced by a dangerous void one can only fill with conscientious self-protection of unrelenting and permanent nature.
The rather outrageous nature of the last two weeks in Africa is already beginning to sink in the traveler’s mind during visit to a local doctor for a mandatory yellow fever shot. The doctor, pulling up on his PC the list of medical problems prevalent in the region, noted that yellow fever is just the tip of an iceberg in terms of vaccines that one SHOULD be getting. Vaccination for everything from malaria to hepatitis is listed as “highly recommended.”
The advice is further supplemented by clear comments on just how common everyday conditions like diarrhea and cold can turn deadly in a less hygienic environment. But an adventurous traveler should never let words of pessimist assessments turn into mental obstacles for travel. After all, as people always say, “what does not kill you only makes you stronger.” The traveler’s credential would definitely be boosted after a safe return from a series of varied and often dangerous journeys throughout the following month.
To say the least, another month-long vacation means another massive cross-continental trip is in the planning. If one thought that one would be satisfied with a whirlwind “conquest” of 30 countries in 30 days in the depth of freezing December weather, one would indeed be underestimating the determined mind of the seasoned traveler. Surely, this part of the region is not that particularly big, and after some efforts, most of the unknown lands have been crossed off the check list, one would think.
Yet, the holdouts are definitely not to be missed. On the perceived “edges” of Europe are more radically different cultures, societies, and peoples waiting to be met. And the first week of traveling in the relatively safe and predictable Scotland and Ireland is but a mere exercise to get the traveler back in shape to absorb and accept foreign ideas and environments, while at the same time getting back that cautious sense of self-protection necessary to protect himself within unfriendly elements within all societies.
That “foreign environment” will be the keyword as the traveler team up with a friend and heads up to Iceland for the second week. Stepping into the Arctic regions will be a first time for the traveler since the nearly three-week long expedition to Alaska nearly two years ago. It would be interesting to compare how different cultures can emerge under similar environments, and how a tiny society on the geographic fringe of the habitable world can still have one of the highest standards of living.
After visiting the extreme north, the traveler will turn toward its extreme south in the “European Sunbelt.” The warm weathers of Spain and Portugal will be welcomed after Iceland and Switzerland, and the subsequent crossing into Morocco will mark a rather interesting milestone in this traveler’s career as first foray into the African continent will be taken. It will also be the traveler’s second time in the Muslim world, after brief stay in Turkey during the last big trip.
The amount of safety precautions will have to increase the traveler again teams up with friends to descend on Gambia and Senegal, where reputedly, tales of scams, pick-pocketing, and other forms of petty street crimes run rampant. The little definitive social regularities, provided even in the sometimes chaotic environment of Eastern Europe, will disappear, replaced by a dangerous void one can only fill with conscientious self-protection of unrelenting and permanent nature.
The rather outrageous nature of the last two weeks in Africa is already beginning to sink in the traveler’s mind during visit to a local doctor for a mandatory yellow fever shot. The doctor, pulling up on his PC the list of medical problems prevalent in the region, noted that yellow fever is just the tip of an iceberg in terms of vaccines that one SHOULD be getting. Vaccination for everything from malaria to hepatitis is listed as “highly recommended.”
The advice is further supplemented by clear comments on just how common everyday conditions like diarrhea and cold can turn deadly in a less hygienic environment. But an adventurous traveler should never let words of pessimist assessments turn into mental obstacles for travel. After all, as people always say, “what does not kill you only makes you stronger.” The traveler’s credential would definitely be boosted after a safe return from a series of varied and often dangerous journeys throughout the following month.
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