Planning through the people you know

It always amazes me how so many of my friends (and friends of friends) have been traveling the world in recent years. I often find myself completely engrossed in the tales of someone’s recent journeys at social events. With the proliferation of photo-sharing web sites and personal blogs, the ability to enjoy a virtual vacation by living vicariously through someone else can be a welcomed escape from the daily grind.

It turns out that there are many of us in our 20s and 30s who are slowly covering the globe three weeks at a time. Take Chris and Agnes, for example. In the past two years they have traveled to China, Thailand and Cambodia. Last I heard a trip to Peru may be in the works for the summer. Then there’s Brigitte and Kyle, who have visited more countries over the years than I can count. They are off to Costa Rica in a couple of weeks. It’s nice to know that Steve and I are not the only couple with lofty travel ambitions.

Then there are other breeds of adventure traveler – those who manage to tackle longer and more ambitious trips, and those who make the decision to live and work abroad. I hope to join their ranks someday.

Steve and I met Laura when we were in Northern Argentina last October. The Scottish lass began her world tour in June 2006 in Canada and Japan. When we met her in Buenos Aires, she had just finished a six-week jaunt through Central America. I just visited her blog and she is in New Zealand today. And she still has several months of travels to go in the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. Yes, I’ll admit it. I’m a wee bit jealous. Okay, I'm very jealous. You can check out Laura’s blog for her latest adventures.

Meghan is another adventurer I admire. A water engineer who headed to Cameroon for a couple of months to work on a sanitation project after graduation, she managed to stay in Ottawa for about a year and a half before jumping on the next big international opportunity. In January, she packed her bags for Bolivia where she is based in La Paz and working on various projects for UNICEF. Her skills have already been put to very good use when there was extensive flooding in Santa Cruz earlier this year. Read more on Meghan’s adventures.

I would be remiss if I did not to mention my sister-in-law Andrea at this time. Like most Meyers, Andrea has an adventurous spirit and strong determination. Not long after I met Andrea, she was off to Bangladesh to work on a development project in Dhaka for nine months. There were many other ambitious travels before this, and have been many since. Motherhood has not slowed Andrea down. Our niece Helena is not even one year old yet and already has several stamps in her passport. Andrea works for Canada’s Foreign Service, and she and her family will be posted in Saudi Arabia at the end of the summer. That will surely be an adventure!

The travel advice you pick up through your network of friends and colleagues can be extremely helpful – and sometimes more useful than what you find in a guidebook. Don’t get me wrong – I rarely head out on a trip without taking along a Lonely Planet guide (affectionately referred to as “LP” in our house and occasionally known as “Lying Planet”).

Tour companies, hotels and transportation are always good areas to seek advice from your network.

When we went to Peru, Steve and I opted to have a travel company to make our arrangements because we were both busy and didn’t have very much time to plan our own itinerary. We opted to use Q’ente, a Peru-based company that one of Steve’s coworkers had used when he hiked the Inca Trail a few years earlier. We were certainly more comfortable wiring the company money with the knowledge that they were legit (and also had high ratings in Lonely Planet). Using a local company meant that we saved more than 30% (and closer to 40%) off the price of using Canadian-based GAP Adventures. We went on Q'ente's Condor Package, which is similar to many of GAP's offerings in the country. As an added bonus, we were the only two people with our itinerary, which had many surprise inclusions (dinner shows, meals, tours, etc.)

I was recently advised by Bonnie, a friend who lived in Vietnam for a year, that Hue is a stop worth missing despite what the guide books may say. Tianne and I will probably go there, but we may opt to “just pass through” in favor of some extra shopping time in Hoi An, or an extra day at the beach. We’ve also been warned by several people about the snail’s pace the trains move at in that country. We’ll have to look seriously at where taking sleeper trains make the most sense, and where a short plane ride is a wise investment.

Before I go, I should also mention that it can also be fun to be able to incorporate special memories of others into your itinerary. Kieran’s recommendation of Heladeria Miranda in Cafayate, Argentina is one such example. I’m happy to report that the Torrontes (white wine) ice cream was delicious. Being allergic to red wine, I can tell you that the Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon ice creams also received high billing from the people on our tour who I dragged along for the experience.