lynnstephenson1288

It’s been wonderful writing my blogs, re-living all of my memories. When I did my 1st round the world trip in 1993 there were no mobile phones, no e-mail, no internet, no Google. You were armed with a book ‘Lonely Planet on a Shoestring’. You turned up somewhere and wandered around looking for a place to sleep. Now 138 countries later I’m still travelling.

If someone wanted to contact you, you had to try to figure out where you would be in a few weeks, find a post office address and get them to send a letter. It may arrive or you may have already left or you might have changed your plans.

It’s so easy now and there are pros and cons for both. I wish I’d been able to keep in contract with some of the amazing people I met when I was first travelling.

It was much more of an adventure back in 1993 and also places were unspoiled. I’ll never again go to a place where they’ve never seen a white person. Where they want to touch me to see if I’m real or have old ladies stroking the blond hairs on my arms, or frightening old men because they think I’m their ancestors coming from the forests to haunt them.

There was also more spontaneity. If you got on the wrong bus you went somewhere else. You had a plan but you’d meet someone who’d just been somewhere fantastic or was going somewhere fantastic and everything would change.

Now everything tends to be pre-booked. It’s good and bad. I think it’s great that I can book a room in a hostel in Tonga. I remember turning up a hostel in Quito I’d heard about to find it was full. I was wandering around at midnight trying to find a place to stay. Even the hostels had armed guards and there was an air of tension. On the flip side I also found some really hidden gems that weren’t in any of the guide books. Of course, trip advisor didn’t exist.

I’m glad I saw both sides. It’s nice to have a bit more luxury now. My 1st room in Thailand had a bed on the floor with an inch gap to each wall and a 2 inch gap at the top, now hostels have swimming pools and spas, I like that. Won’t go into some of the toilets I’ve experienced – you learn to breathe through your mouth and not your nose.

I’ve had some amazing times, seen some amazing sights, met some incredible people and the experiences I’ve had I’ll always remember. It’s also been really nice being able to share some and I hope you don’t think I’m being self-indulgent. I just want to share with people, make them laugh and make them want to travel. There is so much to seeand experience with. Do it now. Don’t wait for retirement or make excuses, go out and explore. Happy travels

suze

Everyone travels differently. Plenty of people still go the spontaneous route without everything pre-booked. You could even be a real renegade and travel "unplugged" without electronics at all if you chose to.

TDudette

138 countries is amazing, lynn. I looked quickly at some of your blogs and your photos are gorgeous. Does your work coordinate with all your trips?

The computer/kindle/phone freed my DH and me from packing books. Unfortunately, we replaced the books with medicine and charging devices. Credit cards have certainly streamlined buying and getting cash, eh? Although I must ask if you have encountered any places that don't yet have ATMs.

I will try to get to page 1 of your blog and work to the current dates. What's next? Thank you for sharing this.

lynnstephenson1288

Thank you. At the moment I'm a civil servant so can take career breaks. Previously I've done 2 round the world trips and spent several months in Africa and South America. Some jobs have kept my positions open. Otherwise, I've just found another job on my retuen.

I've been to lots of places in jungles and with tribes so no ATMs. At times I've had to carry a lot of cash on my personal.

Next is in less than 2 weeks to Puglia in Italy staying in a cave house and a trulli. Then October I'm off to Iran.

Happy travels.

evecolorado

I do like your thoughts, and how you can verbalize so well how you've seen things change over the years.

What year were you in PNG? I was there in 1998 and met many of those folks. They looked about the same as they did in your photos--maybe we were there at or close to the same time!

Have enjoyed your trip reports to Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, most especially since I'll be leaving for those countries and three other Stans next week. Have learnt some very useful information, and enjoyed your photos.

I'm trying to put together something similar to your blog with my travels over the years, but am having a heck of a time struggling with WordPress. Just when I get it working well, it comes up with another blip to slow me down. Grrrrr.

Eve

lynnstephenson1288

Hello, thank you.
I was in PNG in 2003, so not much later.

​​​​​You will love the Stans, so beautiful and so friendly.

I have had exactly the same problems with WordPress and some of it might as well be a foreign language. I picked a theme but when I loaded my content it looked nothing like it. My friend who designs websites is now setting up a new site for me. Persevere, there are people all over the world who will want to hear your stories. I have many more to write from over 25 years of travels.

Have a great time.

jacketwatch

Traveler_Nick

Email,internet and mobile phones all existed in 1993. Okay it's much easier to access today while you travel but plenty of people exchanged information even then.

lynnstephenson1288

if you had hundreds of pounds in the UK in1993 I'm sure you could have bought a mobile phone the size of a house brick whose battery lasted half an hour. I didn't know anyone who owned a mobile phone. Cordless landline phones were the height of sophistication. None of those I travelled with had mobile phones and don't think we would have got coverage in Fiji.

As for e-mail, I worked for a bank and we didn't have even e-mail accounts there. If you wanted someone in another department you rang their extension, or you got up off your chair and went and had a conversation with them. Google wasn't launched until 1998.

The advances in technology at the end of the 1990's were phenomenol and changed so many things. The differences in my 2 round the world trips in 1993 and 2003 was incredible. This was the point I was trying to make. There are pros and cons for everything being made more accessible.

TDudette

I'm trying to remember when DH and I were very surprised to see "everyone" in Italy with cell phones when they weren't much around where we lived in the U.S. DH said that the cell phones there were the result of a lack of infrastructure for land lines.

We were in Sicily when we thought we'd be smart and get our American Express Travellers Checks in Euros. DH was a long time in the bank with the bank manager calling American Express and figuring out the exchange rate.

Keep traveling ls1288!

Fodorite018

Your post reminds me of what my grandparents used to tell us about their travels. They used to go to another country for a month at a time, back in the 60's. Then in the early 70's they did a trip around the world for 2 years, never coming home at all during that time. They also had my paraplegic aunt with them. I remember my grandfather telling how they would write letters asking hotels for reservations as it was so expensive to call. Then to wait for letters to return to find out of they could book or not.

TDudette--There is a still at least one place here in the US that does not have an ATM. Stehekin, WA. Also no cell service there either. We were there again this summer and once you leave Chelan, cell service drops off quickly. There is also no grocery store there, minus a teeny tiny snack section in the gift store. So staying in a cabin you need to bring everything with you, and any money as there is no ATM. Of all the vehicles we saw there, to one had current tabs even. Many didn't even have plates on them. One trucks tabs expired in 1963. It is a total throwback in time, but an amazing place! Also, I remember Italy in 1999 when everyone there was had mobile phones. Ours was still a fairly big model, but when we got back from that trip, we got a smaller one, which was still huge compared to what we have now of course.

mlgb

Thanks, will check out your blog. Saw your post on Cartagena. Fodor's at one time was against links to blogs of any sort, so I will have to copy it just in case they remove it.

Last year I went to Flores, Indonesia birdwatching. There was a small village where we stopped and all the kids and even a motorcyclist wanted to have their selfies taken with us. I think there are still a few places left where you could still be the first "white person" they've seen.

janisj

kja

I had the same experience in many parts of Java and even parts of Bali in 2016, even though I was certainly not the first "white person" seen by these people -- but it may have been the closest they had come, or just rare enough to have been an unusual experience for them.

That's been my understanding, too.

And while I find the OP's comments very interesting, I find the bold font so off-putting that I can't bring myself to read it. My loss, I'm sure.

HappyTrvlr