© Eric Daams for TravelBlogs, 2008. | Brooke vs. The World | No comment |
Post categories: Blogs
Post tags: Central Asia, Eastern Europe, female travellers, solo travel

At the start of this year, Brooke and her boyfriend Brian had it all planned: a long-term round-the-world trip.

But when Brian was offered a too-good-to-resist job in New York, Brooke decided to head off on her own. She flew into Poland in March, made her way through the Ukraine, and is now in Kyrgyzstan learning Russian.

I caught up Brooke to learn more about her experiences in Eastern Europe and Central Asia as a solo traveller.

You say on your site that you made a decision a long time ago to experience other cultures. Why do you think it’s important to experience other cultures?

Besides the usual answer of it helps to understand how the world works in a very global time, I would have to say that, on a personal level, it makes you see life differently.

How much has experiencing other cultures shaped your view of your own culture?

When I returned home from studying abroad in Italy during college, I visited my academic advisor. He immediately said he could tell I spent some time in that country because I seemed so laid-back and go-with-the-flow. I loved that about the Italian culture – the opposite of our hustle and bustle culture in America. At the same time, I really appreciated the fact I normally lived in a culture with get-all-you-need superstores and 24-hour food joints in every town. Was that more important to me than an intense sense of family and month-long vacations? Not necessarily. If anything travel has not made me dislike my own culture, or truly love another one. It has merely made me appreciate the positives of my own, and others, a bit more.

Your most recent travels have been through Poland, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. What attracted you to this part of the world?

My attraction to this part of the world probably stems from a combination of wanting to learn the Russian language, regretting never signing up for Peace Corps, and truly wanting to live in a place for some time with a culture extremely different from my own. After Brian got his job offer and put our round-the-world trip on the backburner, I decided that I still wanted to travel, but I also wanted to make sure I was going to visit countries that we would be less likely to just take a quick vacation to down the road. As I was researching countries for our big trip, I became more and more interested in Central Asia, so I decided that was where I needed to go. Poland and Ukraine fell into place after that, as well as my future plans for Georgia.

You had originally planned to do a 1-2 year round-the-world trip with your boyfriend, Brian, but after he received a job in New York, you decided to head off on your own. What have been some of the challenges of travelling solo?

If anything travel has not made me dislike my own culture, or truly love another one. It has merely made me appreciate the positives of my own, and others, a bit more.

Dealing with language barriers on my own has been quite the struggle. When you are traveling with someone else, he/she is there to help communicate, or at least share in that moment of stress when you can’t find your hostel, or get the taxi driver to go the right direction. This has sometimes left me feeling like I was “on the outside” until getting adjusted to a city. In the same light, I have to sometimes work a bit harder to find evening activities. Being a girl traveling solo, I feel like I have to be a little bit more on guard and going out at night to clubs, bars, or even for a walk could put me in a stressful situation. Luckily, I have been able to find other solo travelers in my hostels to befriend.

How do you afford your travels?

Since I was already planning on doing a long round-the-world trip, I had quite a bit of money saved up to pay for my current travels. Getting that money, though, is another story. I became a bit obsessed with the idea of long-term travel and so I set my sights high and let my slightly OCD-ish nature take over. I had a fairly decent job, but outside of work I pretended like my job was just flipping burgers (aka – had just enough to get by). All my extra money went into various bank accounts and Cd’s. I also did the following, all of which added a substantial amount to the travel fund:

• Took up a part-time job waitressing
• Scored essays from home
• Snatched up overtime when it came up
• Sold my car
• Gave up cable TV (but not Internet!)
• Combined cell phone plans with Brian for some more savings
• Set a weekly grocery store budget, eating out budget, and fun budget (This was tough, and by the end I was splurging more and more)
• Recycled
• Sold possessions on Amazon, Ebay, and Craigslist
• Downsized apartment

Yes, as you can probably tell I went a little crazy during this process, but in just about 14 month’s time I had a very rewarding amount of money in the bank. I won’t lie – It was not easy. However, as I sit here with my host family in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan I can honestly say that every new experience I have on the road makes any of these former saving struggles worthwhile, and then some! The fact that I had a goal and was able to follow through with it until the end is gratifying enough in itself.

Do you have the rest of your trip planned out, or are you making things up as you go?

I had my trip loosely planned up until this point since I needed to get a visa and sign up for my Russian lessons in Kyrgyzstan ahead of time. Now, however, the only other true plan I have is to be in Georgia sometime in August for at least 2 weeks to partake in an archaeological dig. In between now and then, I see myself heading to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan topped off with a lot more Russian lessons in Kyrgyzstan. After August… who knows? I’m really enjoying Kyrgyzstan, but India is definitely calling my name.

Check out Brooke’s blog to track her adventures on the road.

© Eric Daams for TravelBlogs, 2008. | Brooke Versus the World: Interview with Brooke | No comment |
Post categories: Interviews
Post tags: Central Asia, cultural experiences, Eastern Europe, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, saving money, solo travel, Ukraine

© Eric Daams for TravelBlogs, 2007. | Gone East | No comment |
Post categories: Blogs
Post tags: China, Eastern Europe, Gap Year, living abroad, Russia, Trans-Siberian Express