The Hitchhiker’s Guide to traveling the world

“The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.”
– G.K. Chesterton

When people ask me about traveling, I am always amazed how many want to hitch a ride and travel like I do. Next to the unlimited enthusiasm of making travel plans, also lots of questions are raised about how and where to travel: destinations, how to travel with kids, safety and so on.

It’s like Life itself: there will always be more questions than answers.

Could it be possible for me to write a Guide that provides the answers to all travel questions? An ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to Traveling the World?

Well, sorry, but writing such a Guide is just as useless as trying to explain cricket to a die-hard soccer fan and convince him that one century is quite an achievement and not only a period of 100 years.

I have read lots of (travel) guides in my life. More and more these guides remained unread. In my opinion they deserve a better life, for example to support a crooked table leg.

But the question remains: if the ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to traveling the world would be written, would it then solve all travel problems and answer all travel questions?

Well, the ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide would most probably describe fabulous destinations: all places you so badly want to visit. What it cannot describe however is the real secret about travel. If you really want to hitchhike to the far ends of our world (and maybe beyond), the answer lies in opening your eyes and ears. Not just to wake up, but to start seeing what others can’t see. Yes, invisibility is the answer to all things travel. Confused?

You don’t have to have be clairvoyant or something (although it would be great to predict results of important cricket games and become filthy rich). It’s just that some travelers see it and some don’t. Some for example see something special in an old man looking for food in trash bins in Milan….  You can teach yourself how to enter all these mini-universes happening all around you. Let’s check out how you can do that.

Traveling the world: the Opportunity Factor

How can you make the most out of your travels? The answer to all things travel (seeing what other’s don’t) ignites a new power. This power I have called the Opportunity Factor.

When you see what other’s don’t, you will always discover something new. For example: you can just see a market with meat and vegetables, or see more opportunities and start talking to the lady behind the market stall and ask how she prepares her favorite meal. Another example: you can see just a regular Indian boy….or you can start a conversation and learn about how this student in architecture wants to change the life of people in India.

In this new travel order there is no such thing as a missed opportunity anymore. There is always something interesting to be found, as long as you see it.

A missed opportunity is nothing more than looking back. It’s history. As we cannot time-warp ourselves back to try and seize the missed opportunity in a second attempt, we need to embrace the Opportunity Factor. If you have just missed a religious festival because you took a cab to a wrong part of town…bummer. But it doesn’t matter anymore. You can sit down and cry your eyes out, or let the Opportunity Factor do it’s work. There is a thin line between what’s missed and what is available to discover. There is great stuff everywhere and great people to meet. Talk to that person who has attended the festival and enjoy his enthusiasm. Go the festival venue and ask if you can help clean the place!! Why not?!

“The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.”
– G.K. Chesterton

A real Hitchhiker will not cry when he or she missed something. The Opportunity Factor* will immediately provide new opportunities. And from now on you will see them where others still won’t. Others will still wonder when the ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to traveling the world will be written….but it won’t.

* When you travel in a strange country the Opportunity Factor is actually far bigger compared to your life back home. This has not been proven scientifically, but the mere fact that there is so much more to discover increases the Factor by at least 75%. [smiley]