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Offbeat Ways to Get Ready for Extended Travel

You’ve saved up, planned an itinerary, and you’re ready to take off on a round-the-world journey or months of extended travel backpacking. Great!

Are you really ready though for life on the road? For all the parts that are not glamorous in the least?

Most people I’ve met who are backpacking around the world end up adjusting reasonably well, but a fairly large segment struggles, especially in the first month or two. The ones who have it worst are the ones who leave London and land in the chaos of India with fresh shiny backpacks, ready to be scammed. It’s not fun getting ripped off badly within 24 hours of arrival.

Here are some novel things to do before you take off that will get you ready for an extended travel trip that is planned for months, a year, or more. Try these and you’ll have that worldy-wise, grizzled seen-it-all look about you from the start instead of the deer caught in headlights look.

1) Wear the same two outfits for a week. The wardrobe you have stuffed into a backpack will be limited. Get used to it.

2) Eat in the very cheapest ethnic restaurants in your city. Find the hole-in-the-wall places where you live, the ones where you see that particular ethnic group dining. If it’s one of the only tenants n a failing strip mall, that’s a good sign. If they failed a health inspection or two in the past, even better. They’ll give you a little taste of your upcoming dining experiences.

eating in a Thai Temple

If there’s a temple near you for immigrants from a certain country, see if they have a day where they serve food and invite foreigners, like this Thai one in Tampa does. It’ll be a cultural eye-opener.Eating at street food stalls is a good way to prepare for long-distance travel. One of 11 tips on round-the-world preparation.

3) Eat at street stalls. Whether your city has hot dog carts, falafel stands, taco trucks, or something else, spend a few days straight eating lunch at these places. You will be getting lots of meals this way when you’re a budget backpacker on the move and you’ll be getting your stomach ready for it.

4) Spend a night in the worst motel you can find, either in your own town or when you take a road trip/weekend getaway. Odds are, this motel will still be better than many of the places you will be spending your nights during an extended travel trip, especially if it has hot water and real water pressure in a private shower. Which brings us to…

5) Take nothing but cold showers for a week. Sure, it sucks, it’s uncomfortable, but it’s reality in much of the world if you’re on a shoestring budget. At the cheapie guesthouses level, hot water can double the price of your room. You won’t have it regularly, especially in tropical places. If you do it might look a little scary.

suicide shower for hot water in cheap hotel

6) Spend the afternoon walking around with a loaded backpack. Stuff everything you were planning on taking with you into your backpack, walk out the door, and keep going for miles. Don’t forget that other smaller bag that will hold your gadgets, books, chargers, etc. If you’re taking one of those, carry both. Walk for a half hour at a time, take a short break, and do it again. Stop somewhere and get something to eat, finding a place to put down that big pack and whatever else you’re carrying. If possible, come back on the public bus. There was your simulation of a day on the move.

loaded down backpacks for extended travel

7) Take (bad) public transportation. What’s the worst way to get around where you live? What’s the cheapest way to get to another city from yours? Hop on and go. You’ll be repeating that experience a lot, but with less legroom.

8) Pay for everything with cash and keep track of your expenses. You will be on a budget and you will need to keep monitoring that budget to see if you’re on track. In much of the world, cash rules. So get used to carrying it again, and figure out how you will keep it tucked under your clothing.

9) Hoard your change. This exercise will feel the silliest at home, where every store always has change, but it will be very different when you’re in developing countries (even Mexico), so get used to holding onto all those small bills and coins.

10) Turn off the phone. It pains me more than anything to see travelers staring at the little blue screen or thumbing out text messages while wonderful things are going on around them in a place they’ve never been before. It’s especially cringe-worthy when they’ve waving around an iPhone that costs more than some people nearby earn in an entire year. (It’s also like putting a sign on their back that says, “I’m distracted. Rob me!”)

Yes, I know, social media can be addictive, so break the habit now. Get some practice now experiencing, learning, and observing with no interruptions instead of cranking out more forgettable chatter. Spend a whole day having real face-to-face conversations with all gadgets turned off. (You’ll interact more if you wear a real watch and take a real camera—avoiding two things that cause you to continually turn on your phone.)

11) Navigate a new neighborhood or city. Land in a new place, bring or get a map, and spend the day finding places on foot and by bus or subway. Walk into areas that make you feel uncomfortable—though you probably want to do this in the daytime. Get lost on purpose and see what you find.

Bonus practice: If you are headed to some of the world’s cheapest destinations like India, Egypt, or Morocco, one more bit of homework is required. Go around for several days interacting with strangers and shopkeepers, all the while asking yourself this question: “What if everything they are saying to me is a lie? How does that affect my decision?” You will then be a little bit more ready for the touts, the scammers, and the low-lifes who prey on the gullible.

Last, I doubt you can find a place with a squat toilet like you see at the top without leaving your home country, but if you can, get some practice on it. If not, go camping for a weekend and practice your squatting position in the woods. Work those leg muscles in the gym—you’ll be using them a lot just to go to the bathroom.

jemidiochel

Saturday 28th of April 2018

I really loved your post.. Kinda weird if you think about it at first but the whole thing made sense :) It's a smart thing to do to get yourself conditioned before going out into a place totally different from where you live.. It's like getting into a training camp before stepping into battle.. Thank you for writing this Tim :D Will surely come in handy for people who love adventures!

jerry

Saturday 14th of April 2018

This is such great advice! I did the backpack tryout a couple times before taking off and though it felt kind of silly, I was glad I did. I ended up taking out some heavy things, getting rid of one pair of shoes, and planning better on the clothing. 10 pounds can make a huge difference when you are walking a couple miles. The same clothing thing is strange at first, but you get used to it.

Don

Saturday 14th of April 2018

When I first started backpacking in third world countries, back in the mid 70's, I didn't have to wean myself off of a cell phone addiction because they didn't exist. E-mail and ATMs didn't exist either. I would also recommend getting used to sleeping in places that are very noisy and might have a few cockroaches running around. Pack some earplugs and a roll of toilet paper as they probably will come in handy sooner or later. Oh, and have some Imodium tablets in your pack too.

Kerry Dexter

Saturday 14th of April 2018

Great advice, Tim. I had done all of these except the last one and the bonus tip before my first long term trip many years ago without even realizing they'd come in handy for long term travel. They all have, though, and now that I travel long term regularly I take most of them as a matter of course (so, for those who may be hesitant on trying out some of Tim's ideas -- you'll get used to it. or you'll find out which ones are the hardest, at least). Your advice is spot on.

I'd add, though this may be a bit harder to do in some places, go to neighborhoods in your own town or places where you travel in your own country where your native language is not the first language, and see how you get on with communicating -- and how you feel about that, too (universities can be good places to find groups of speakers of different languages to meet up with, too). It's good to take this language difference as part of the adventure, but I've far too often seen travelers become angry, frustrated, or scared when it is less natural than they expect to communicate even basic things. Which will perhaps inspire a bit of language learning and practice as part of preparation, too.