By Roadjunky, Posted Dec 10, 2006
Sections: Intro El Camino de Santiago Cape to Cairo Raft the Amazon? New York to LA Road to Kathmandu The India Rickshaw Race Trans-Siberian Train Pilgrimage to Kailash Hajj to Mecca Improvise More Travel Ideas
A journey takes you from a to z but the intervening letters can spell absolutely anything for the traveler in the meanwhile – a rite of passage, a pilgrimage or just a mind blowing trip that ensure you’ll never be the same again.
As the world gradually sheds the legacy of tradition and ritual we’re left with few ways to mark the stages and changes in our life other than to travel. Well, that and taking out a mortgage (‘a debt unto death’)…
For too many, travel is all about jumping on a plane, dumping the bags at the hotel and heading out with the camera to see the sights. Even the more conscious backpacker will tend to bum around hostels, follow the same old tired traveler route and spend more time in internet cafes than really putting himself out there.
Making a great journey is really committing to changing a part of yourself (why change perfection?). Journeying can be tough going, rough on the body and the soul and full of inexplicable delays and obstacles. It encourages faith in the unbeliever, strength in the weak and a sense of mystery and magic in the cynic.
What’s more, it helps you get laid when you finally reach those backpacker cafes at the end of it all…
So here’s ten ideas for making a great voyage of discovery – so what if thousands made it before, your journey will be unique – so take a flag and some beads with you just in case you need to trade with the natives…
