Travelers’ Limbo

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!””

Jack Kerouac, On the Road

Lanterns in Thailand.

I agree with Jack. And luckily, it’s not hard to meet people who fit into this category while backpacking.

I love to hear tales of peoples’ travels. More importantly, I love to meet people while traveling. All strangers, soon turned friends, gathered together sharing intimate life stories. It never ceases to amaze. Magically, traveling brings together a small, scattered niche of adventure loving, answer seeking, adrenaline junkies, with an innate desire for wanderlust. Souls from all paths of life, united together in what I like to call, “Traveler’s Limbo”.

What is this “Traveler’s Limbo” and how in the hell can you sign up, you ask? And no. It is not some fantasy world you climb into through a wardrobe.

Travelers’ Limbo can be reached during that precious time of your existence when one is in between certain life stages. When one decides to seize the moment, forget about everything else, and make the investment to float about in existence by living out of a bag and gallivanting around the globe. Unbiased by age, Travelers’ Limbo applies to the young and the seasoned. Prime examples include a gap period between degrees, solitude needed to mend a broken heart, a year off after resigning from your mundane corporate job, or simply time to figure it out after a major life change. You get the gist.

Luckily, all you need to enter this delicious land, overflowing with curry spices, saffron skies, and cerulean waters, is a passport.

Okay. Reality check. And a little cash as well.

But regardless of what you think, not much. I don’t understand why the general population has the premise that in order to travel, one must have a trust fund, and/or obscene amounts of money, a generous benefactor, blah, blah, blah. This is simply not the case, merely a piss-poor excuse to hide behind in order to avoid venturing outside a safety zone of routine and monotony.

Let’s take my trip to South America back in 2008. I explored Peru for two months, and easily managed to spend less than $1,000. Let’s be real, where in the U.S.could I have even lived for two months on less than $1,000? If anything, it is cheaper to travel. Of course I wasn’t living it up at the Four Seasons, but trust me, I was indeed living it up.

The average consumer in America purchases rucks of crap that is worthless, which is particularly depressing seeing as experiences are more valuable than lead made in China. How much did that latest Ipad put you out? What about the tab at the bar you racked up last weekend? The expensive sushi dinner you just had to splurge on? If a person were to simply cut out all of their unnecessary spending for even just a meager two months, they would have enough to travel in a developing country for three fold that amount of time.

This is why you need to choose wisely mi amigo, because the opportunities are out there.

Okay, so saving money is really not an option, and there is no way you can save up the dough. Still not an excuse! There are heaps of opportunities around the world to work abroad, and get paid to travel. Some of my favorite websites are GoAbroad.com, and Dave’s ESL Café. Also, try checking the Craigslist ads from where you want to go. And remember, when in Latin America, jobs are endless. One is even able to go without a job, and I assure you (if you are looking), within two weeks a bartending or ESL job will most likely be thrown at you.

We are all lucky enough at one point or another to experience the intoxication of Traveler’s Limbo. The tangible, yet fairytale world when a person is in between careers, boyfriends, girlfriends, marriages, schools, loans, etc. This is your occasion to traipse about and indulge in the fruits the world has to offer. Let’s face it- this might be your last chance to be an island before acquiring the wife, husband, partner, two and a half children, monkeys, whatever.

So no matter what your reason for picking up and leaving your world behind- whether it be for two weeks or two years, I salute you. And most likely, you are the type of person I would like to sit down and share a beer with.

Cheers.