[By Robert Burstow - First published in ForgePress 21 November 2008]
Travelling is without a doubt one of the foremost experiences in life. For me, experiencing the world, outside of your own existence seems an essential part of learning in life; for how can one even begin to comprehend the immensity of life if one knows of nothing but oneself?
After enduring a reasonably stressful culmination to my sixth-form experience, I felt unwilling to immediately uproot, relocate and commit myself elsewhere to further my education, so I decided to leave it all behind and go on an exotic excursion.
What followed was a gap year I am unlikely to ever forget, and the opening up of a world I am eternally grateful for.
First came the mindless full-time work in retail that thankfully rekindled my desire to move-on and continue my education, and the travelling which succeeded it was the most refreshing, liberating and enlightening experience of my teenage years. After working full-time in a supermarket for a few months, a group of us left for South-East Asia, travelling Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, China and north India with an adventure ecotourism company. The company arranged the majority of our lodgings, meals and transportation with enough independence to leave the participants feeling supported rather than overly mothered. All we had to do was commit ourselves to meeting our guide at a certain time and date and co-ordinate our flights.
Travelling with such a company was a wise choice for inexperienced travellers such as ourselves. Our guides were able to teach us more than we could ever imagine about local culture, etiquette and environment, and the places we visited and stayed in were often hidden places off the beaten track that by ourselves we would never have been able to find, let alone arrange.
As someone who had rarely left home for more than a couple of weeks, I think it was a rational choice to travel with friends, on a preset route with a travel company when flying to the other side of the world. However, the group schedule and timetables began to feel very restrictive. We would be shown an amazing place, for example, and then told we were leaving the next day without even the opportunity to truly experience everything the area had to offer.
After successfully completing my first year of studies and with a new-found interest in travelling internationally, I set off on a month long trip to Mexico. This time I would travel independently with only one other individual and found the trip a logical progression from my previous experiences. More than anything, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
We left England with nothing but a guidebook, a few ideas about places we wanted to visit and a bit of hangover, yet ended up having another eye-opening and revelatory experience. I am in the process of planning where I intend to travel after my studies; climbing Kilimanjaro and travelling Europe in a camper van appear to be the most appealing and exciting options amongst my contemporaries.
Travelling is without a doubt one of the foremost experiences in life. For me, experiencing the world, outside of your own existence seems an essential part of learning in life; for how can one even begin to comprehend the immensity of life if one knows of nothing but oneself?
After enduring a reasonably stressful culmination to my sixth-form experience, I felt unwilling to immediately uproot, relocate and commit myself elsewhere to further my education, so I decided to leave it all behind and go on an exotic excursion.
What followed was a gap year I am unlikely to ever forget, and the opening up of a world I am eternally grateful for.
First came the mindless full-time work in retail that thankfully rekindled my desire to move-on and continue my education, and the travelling which succeeded it was the most refreshing, liberating and enlightening experience of my teenage years. After working full-time in a supermarket for a few months, a group of us left for South-East Asia, travelling Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, China and north India with an adventure ecotourism company. The company arranged the majority of our lodgings, meals and transportation with enough independence to leave the participants feeling supported rather than overly mothered. All we had to do was commit ourselves to meeting our guide at a certain time and date and co-ordinate our flights.
Travelling with such a company was a wise choice for inexperienced travellers such as ourselves. Our guides were able to teach us more than we could ever imagine about local culture, etiquette and environment, and the places we visited and stayed in were often hidden places off the beaten track that by ourselves we would never have been able to find, let alone arrange.
As someone who had rarely left home for more than a couple of weeks, I think it was a rational choice to travel with friends, on a preset route with a travel company when flying to the other side of the world. However, the group schedule and timetables began to feel very restrictive. We would be shown an amazing place, for example, and then told we were leaving the next day without even the opportunity to truly experience everything the area had to offer.
After successfully completing my first year of studies and with a new-found interest in travelling internationally, I set off on a month long trip to Mexico. This time I would travel independently with only one other individual and found the trip a logical progression from my previous experiences. More than anything, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
We left England with nothing but a guidebook, a few ideas about places we wanted to visit and a bit of hangover, yet ended up having another eye-opening and revelatory experience. I am in the process of planning where I intend to travel after my studies; climbing Kilimanjaro and travelling Europe in a camper van appear to be the most appealing and exciting options amongst my contemporaries.
