8 (Eight) Reasons to Travel before you are 25

There are plenty of reasons to travel, both now, and when you have retired. I am of the mind set that I would rather see everything now, and here are just a few reasons why.

[1] You are (most likely) still covered by your parent’s insurance

Many family insurance plans will still cover a child until they reach the age of 25. This may not seem like a big deal, but if you get seriously injured or contract a disease like malaria – which can have long lasting and often expensive effects , the benefits of established insurance coverage can be life saving.

Rafting on the Nam SonMake the most out of these years!On my trip to Asia I purchased traveler insurance separately for a six month period at a cost of about $260. It covered many things, one of them being hospital visits, which I had to make use of. Luckily, my injuries were limited to a sprain from rock climbing, and I have no long term problems. However, if I had gotten bitten by one of those narsty mossies, the travel insurance would not cover any problems that arose after the six months ended.

My parent’s family insurance will cover them. They also covered a portion of the various vaccinations that I got before I left.

Read the rest »

The CouchSurfing Project meets the final part of the West Coast Bike Tour

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As you may have noticed, the theme of this blog has changed. I am no longer bouncing around Asia, going to random locations at whim, seeing what I want to see when I want to see it. Alaska puts images of glaciers and mountains in my mind (even if the mountains pictured above are the Everest Range), so this look seems to go with it better. It is a little simpler, and just overall more enjoyable.

The content is going to change as well. This is going to evolve into the temporary outlet for my official position of Web Content Coordinator at the Alaska Collective. Hopefully I will be able to use this to show meaningful clips, information, and accomplishments from the collective in an interesting way.

I am currently at my parent’s house in Atlanta, preparing to go to Alaska on the 29th of May. I have decided to take my bike out with me to Alaska, and attempt to finish the west coast by bicycle. After I finish up with Couchsurfing.com in August, I will head down to San Francisco and see what happens when I get there. I will once again be shipping the bike with REI, since there is now one in Anchorage.

This will be my hardest challenge yet. When I went from San Francisco to Los Angeles I was with Jason, my freshman year roommate. We were able to keep each other in good spirits, and it was great to have someone to share the experience with.  This time will be alone. Completely different trip.

Check out the blogs from the first trip here

On another note, I just finished hosting the first Couch Surfers to stay at my parent’s house, Kate and Brynn. We had a lazy weekend but got to see some of the city, then cooked out at a friend’s house. Good times.

REI Sale | Going on until Sunday

Longer, Warmer Days Ahead! Get the inside line on

You might know it already, but almost all of the gear I took on my trip was from REI. I was happy with almost everything I had with me, and the few products that wore out over the six months I used them were replaced or refunded (with cash) by REI with no questions asked.

REI is having their anniversary sale right now, and it goes until Sunday.

Hop on over to their site for some incredible savings. I have already been to the store more than once this week to stock up on gear for Alaska.

Useful Travel Sites

I was writing an update for a facebook group I am part of called “We Met While Traveling” and decided to post it here as well.

[The Couch Surfing Project]
http://www.couchsurfing.com

I have been a member of Couchsurfing.com for a while now, and will actually be joining the team in Alaska to help rework the site this summer.

I would encourage anyone who likes traveling, believes that there should be trust between people, and likes making new friends to go to and take a look.

If you have an extra bed, couch, or space on the floor, you an make it open to travelers and in return you get to stay in free places around the world. I have never failed to have a good experience when I surf, and know that you will enjoy it too.

[Seatguru]
http://www.seatguru.com

This site has an incredibly detailed view of every plane in the skies right now, and if you fly often, the seating guide here can make or break your trip.
[timezonecheck.com]
http://timezonecheck.com
If you never know what time it is, or when you will actually be able to call back home without waking someone up, this is a helpful site.

[Lonely Planet]
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/index.jspa

The mother load of travel information, right from those of us who are out there.

[WikiTravel]
http://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Page

Plenty of updated information on everything you can think of. If something isn’t there, go to the location, then add your own guide.

[The Universal Packing List]
http://upl.codeq.info/

Tell it how long you are gone, how big your bag is, where you are going, and a few other bits of information, and presto, a packing list. Some is overkill, but it is a good guide.

Hope you like these, I know I have found them useful.

-Ben

Heading North | Alaska Bound

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After two weeks of wandering around the east coast of the United States, seeing many of my old friends, I have finalized what I am going to do next. I have been offered the position of Web Content Coordinator for CouchSurfing.com and have accepted.  I will relocate to Homer, Alaska at the end of this month where the collective will begin. I am buying a one way ticket, so I will be staying there for a while after the collective ends.

This means that the rest of my time spent here will be attempting to work as much as possible and get as much money as I can in a short period of time.

Wish me luck. The adventures will continue, as will the photographs, the posts, and the stories. Don’t let my mom watch “Into The Wild.”

-Ben

1200 miles up the coast and back

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I have just returned from a trip up to UVA in Charlottesville, VA to see my brother. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend much time with him, but the trip was a lot of fun. I saw friends from all over, and stopped in Elon, Greensboro, Richmond, and UVA. We went to the Foxfield races where I was to take some photos to sell back here, but ended up having some severe camera problems coupled with the monsoons I left behind in Asia finally catching up with me. Most of the stories from the trip are good only for those involved, so I will leave them out, but I have to say the I-85 from Atlanta to Richmond is the most boring road I have ever had the privilege of driving on more than 20 times. I can probably recount every billboard along the route.

On the flip side, I have become a master of mobile tasking, taking care of a variety pack of tasks on the way home. I had a roadside phone interview with Mandie from Couchsurfing about the possibility of working with them in Alaska this summer, sent in a resume and letter to Paula at REI to see about teaching and guiding with their Outdoor School and REI Adventures program, and I managed to get someone to come pick up our old trampoline by posting it on Craigslist. All from a Blackberry.

NOTE: Posting free things on Craigslist is dangerous to your inbox. 40 emails in under 30 min.

My question is do you give it to the first person who contacts you, as I had previously thought, or do you give it to the person with the most need, like the family of two blind parents who have four children and will pay me to deliver it? I gave it to the first person who could confirm a pick up date as I was not about to go deliver a trampoline to someone else when the whole point was to effortlessly get rid of it. Plus I don’t really have a car that can carry it right now, so that would have been impossible anyway.

And the Winner is…

Anne!

You won the book. Congratulations. You can thank Excel and its =RAND()*100 function. I haven’t actually put it all together yet, as the final photo count hovers around 6,500 and it takes some pairing down, but it will be done in the near future.

For everyone else, they will be on sale soon should you want to actually purchase one. (more details when it is done)

Return To The Real World | a flurry of activity

My entry back to the United States has been anything but slow. Upon arrival, I was so wiped out from the plane flight that I was barely coherent on Friday. Saturday found me cheering on the Elon Lacrosse team (who went on to win the tournament) and enjoying the company of friends I had not seen in quite some time. Sunday was a little slower, mostly spent flying kites at a friends house and catching up on old times.

Since I have returned I have joined a gym, put feelers out for jobs, been interviewed for the Dunwoody paper (which was a first, and much more relaxed than I thought it was going to be), and have put in some good freelance time. I have several web sites to finish in the coming days and more stories to write. I am currently working on a test revision of an Atlanta guide book, doing repairs on the house, meeting with more people I haven’t seen in a long time, and heading up to North Carolina to see the people at Bluezoom Sensory Marketing, who I have only seen once since I left there in August. Follow this with a photoshoot at the Foxfield Races in Charlottesville, VA and I have a busy weekend.

Speaking of photos, I will publish the winner of the Photo Book contest tonight, so check back to see who gets it. It could be you!