Is travel meant to be continuous or is it better to just do 2

>>1202481

That really just depends on you, senpai.

I could travel for months and be happy. The problem in my case is that I'm not content with bouncing around for a while, going home, working my ass off, and then doing the same thing over again. I'd prefer to have a career that integrates travel rather than having to slave away to afford a break each and every year.

Some people - like my ex-girlfriend - genuinely don't mind working in an office 9-5. She's smart and she's accomplished, but her culture and her parents raised her to prioritize financial achievements and stability. She has no interest in traveling other than taking a vacation or two per year. When we were dating, she said that retiring early and moving to a cheap, tropical place would be a "compromise" on her part.

Different strokes for different strokes, right? There's nothing wrong with wanting to fit into the system. If anything, there are more people who do that than who don't. Society would fall apart if we all wanted to travel constantly and continuously.

If you have the means to support yourself, travel for as long as you want. If you don't, then you still can, but you might regret your choices later on in life.

>>1202481
Depends, I do a major 2 week trip somewhere big once a year and do lots of little weekend trips to save money.

I find it better to spread it out but like >>1202486 said comes down to your life and job.

For me continuous travel is expensive and can be a headache sticking to schedules. I'd rather go somewhere like Japan, Singapore, Europe <country>, etc for 2 weeks and plan it out for that and focus on that place.

>>1202481
I find that the magic of travel loses it's allure after a while on a trip. You see so many new places that it becomes plain. A mountain becomes a mountain, cathedrals become cathedrals. You're constantly meeting new people and having the same conversations over and over. You get tired as shit of being on buses, trains, planes and not having a familiar bed to sleep on. You become overstimualted in a sense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzoxZbVx9hM

I've noticed that a lot of long term travelers that are going on for months seem to be very odd and dull. One Swedish dude in Madrid who had been traveling for 2 years had told me that his most exciting moments are when he's smoking pot with strangers in an alley. He was really aloof and just read articles on his phone all day, not saying much to anyone.

Some just seem fucking burnt out. One guy in Barcelona said he'd been on a RTW for 10 months and partied most of it. All he did was sleep on a couch and moved sluggishly around the hostel. I never saw him go out.

Travel fatigue is very real and it's very observable in other people. I find that most people in hostels who are long term travelers are impossibly difficult to connect with.
I would rather have 3 week trips spread out when I'm making great friends, having a good time, and really digesting the culture as opposed to 6 months where I just become numb to all the things that make travel so important.

>>1202494

I'm the first poster.

Whenever I'm traveling long term (more than a few months), I try to find something to do. In my opinion, just bouncing from place to place and seeing new things loses its appeal very quickly. For instance, when I was in India for half a year, I really started to focus on getting my freelance writing business setup. I did a lot of projects, published a few articles in Indian magazines, and did odd-jobs that had me working as a club promoter or extra in Bollywood movies.

I definitely don't want to lead that lifestyle forever, though.

I always tend to sort of base myself in a particular city or locale. Maybe I'm just autistic, but I always have an easier time making friends with "the locals" than hostel folks. In India, I know a ton of people between New Delhi, Jaipur, and Mumbai. I can work, exercise, and hang out with folks just like home.

But again, that's just me. I think my lifestyle goal for six or seven years after I graduate (I'm 23 now and have no intention of marrying until I'm in my 30s) is to do the Peace Corps for two years and then get a job (or two) overseas. I'd rather learn a new culture inside and out by living in a place than explore a dozen new cultures in the same period of time.

To each their own, though.

>>1202500
I can understand that. Living in a place and doing interesting things like that would be enjoyable for a bit. I suppose what I was aiming at was more of backpacking for extended periods of time rather than sitting yourself in a location for a while.

I'm pretty well grounded back home and have a fear of going abroad for long periods of time due to most of my family being in old age. If they were younger and healthier, I'd be in Switzerland right now working in a hostel and taking trips every chance I get.

>>1202494
Long term traveler here, just ending a 13-month trip.

>his most exciting moments are when he's smoking pot with strangers in an alley

Yeah, it's because very quickly the tourist sites get boring. The thing that stays interesting is the random connections you make with people, the random conversations. But I'm not going to go out of my way to make a connection with someone... I just lost the energy for that a while ago. Unless they're hot.

I should say that hostels in particular, and the people that stay at them, get very very old after a while. It's always the same conversations, the same bullshit. Super fun at first but it gets lame. If I didn't have the budget to stay in private rooms and AirBnBs, meeting local girls for socialization, I would have gone home in month 3.

It really depends on the person and their lifestyle. Being a vagabond as a lifestyle choice seems like it can only work for a select few individuals, and at some point you have to wonder, What is their purpose for constantly being on the move?

I'd love to try out the vagabond lifestyle but I've gathered far too much shit in my life to simply let it go so I can wander around the planet "Having fun". I've got a cat, loans to pay, a bunch of shit that I'd rather not sell or put in storage, and some health issues that I need to sort out. With all that combined and the fact that I live in a city that pleases all of my interests I've realized that it's better for ME to do smaller trips instead of packing my bags and ditching everything else to see the world.

I also have an impeccable ability to cram everything I want to see into a trip so I won't need to visit that place again for a number of years. It's much easier to accomplish this if you're travelling alone as you will only need to please yourself instead of catering to others interests. So going for a 2 week adventure can turn out to be far more fulfilling instead of a month long backpacking adventure. There's also the benefit of having close friends and family within your city that you can see more often than every 5-6 years.

>>1202481
Personal preference really. I like to do a couple small trips within the U.S. in a month and then like 2-4 out of the country big ones over the year.

>>1202520

I figured you were getting at backpacking, but I wanted to throw my two cents in anyway.

My first two trips were basically just me cavorting all over Europe, the Middle-East, and India. After that, I started to appreciate getting to know the feel and rhythm of different cities. I rented two apartments on two separate occasions in New Delhi, and stayed in a private flat when I was in Bogota. I've always liked spending a week or two in a place and getting to know my way around the neighborhood. It's silly, but I always smile when I go to a certain cigarette vendor enough times that he takes my brand out without being asked, or when a waitress knows how I take my coffee.

Even though the same things happen at home, when they crop up abroad, I begin to feel like I'm fitting in.

Like >>1202522 said, hostel life gets very old very fast.

I spent a hefty portion of my last trip in a Jaipur, India, hostel. I was earning but didn't have enough in the bank to justify paying a month's rent and a security all at once. After a few weeks went by, I stopped socializing so much with the other guests. The constant features of my life were all outside - I was dating a girl who lived in the southern part of the city, had made a few local friends, and knew where all the good bars and restaurants were.

When you stay in hostels for too long, the conversations and noise and lack of privacy gets frustrating (or at least it did for me).

I love traveling and loath being home for too long, but I always, always look forward to finding a place on the road to relax. I'm planning a trip funded primarily by my freelance writing income in Africa from March or April through the end of the year, and will be staying for several months with a friend in Zanzibar.

Finding different "homes" in faraway places is the part of traveling that I really love. That's a lot more appealing to me than seeing monuments or castles or pretty beaches, however nice all of that may really, truly be.

>>1202481
ive stayed with relatives in romania (im from canada) for the entire summer and its pretty fun even though i did get homesick.

one observation is you end up wasting a lot more days doing nothing but had it been a 14 day stint you would try to be more productive and have more fun.

i also felt really sad when i finally had to return to toronto after 3 months on the road.

would like to try something that involves hopping countries and maybe staying like 2 weeks in 4 different countries.

I prefer long term traveling. Like getting a job in another country and once or twice a.year go on some vacation trips.

Visit back home every once in awhile.