Debunking the most common travel myths ✈️🕵🏻♂️
plus Mark Twain, Cat Lives, Bull Jumping, & the Vietnamese Flower Capital
Hey, Itchy Feet friends!
This is Daniel again.
Before we begin, thanks a lot for choosing this newsletter.
You’re part of a 66-member caravan of travel enthusiasts from 10 US states and 12 countries.
Woohoo!
It’s great to have you here.
Alright folks, let’s get to it! 🏇🏻
In case you missed it, last week we talked about some easy ways to drastically improve your next trip. Give it a read here.
This edition is just as spicy. 🌶
We’re going to talk about the biggest travel myths out there.
These “myths” are often excuses or negative thoughts we have that stop us from chasing our travel dreams.
Although each negative thought has some truth, I’m going to help give you a little positive boost by adding more truth.
Anything is possible as long as you stay positive and don’t give up.
Ok, here we go:
You need money to travel
Money is necessary, but you don’t need as much as you think.
There are countless resources for budget travelers:
• Couchsurfing
• Whoofing
• Volunteering
• Teaching (get paid to live abroad!)
• Countries with favorable exchange rates
You can get more inspiration in an article I wrote dedicated to budget traveling on Medium.
Also, budgeting is an essential ingredient here. You can be creative when saving up for a trip.
Consider these ideas: If you live in the US, save $15 a week for a year.
You’ll have a decent amount of $$ for a flight and a trip. Instead of eating out twice a week, do it once and pocket the money for a trip.
Don’t get coffee at Starbucks for a month. Instead, make your own at home.
Money can be a sensitive topic, but I think there are ways to travel with a tight budget.
Once you have kids, your travel days are over
I don’t have kids yet, but I have friends who do and many still travel. The focus, of course, will change depending on how old they are.
You’ll need to tailor a trip toward what your kids like.
Traveling with kids takes more planning and can be more expansive.
But it’s possible and doable!
Wait to travel until you retire – you’ll have more money and time
Yes, you will have time and money (hopefully) when you’re older to go exploring.
However, the older you get the more set in your ways you become.
You may only want nice things, to be comfortable, and to have more control over the results.
Your body may not have much energy or be as mobile as it used to be.
So, I think it’s best to start traveling earlier in life when you have more energy, flexibility, and willingness to be uncomfortable.
A large budget isn’t necessary.
You need lots of time to travel
This depends on how you want to travel. For instance, you can have a weekend getaway somewhere, go camping, or simply take a drive to a new town.
If it takes at least an hour to arrive, you’re spending the night, or it’s somewhere new, it’s officially a trip in my book.
You can be creative with less free time.
Hostels are where travelers get kidnapped
This is a huge myth.
The movie Hostel left a powerful mark because whenever I tell people that I stayed at a hostel, half look at me with a profound look of worry on their faces.
There are sketchy hostels out there. However, hostels can be one of the greatest travel stays if you know where to stay.
Some life-long friends were met at hostels.
They are vastly underrated as long as you do your research.
Thankfully, tools like Hostelworld make finding the good ones easier than ever.
The travel bug will eventually get out of your system
This is the biggest myth about traveling.
Sorry friend, if you’re trying to shake the travel bug it’s likely never going away.
Embrace this life-long friendship with open arms.
I promise you it will take you to some pretty cool places. Full stop. (I always wanted to write that)
⚓️ Travel Quote of the Week
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
-Mark Twain
🧐 Did you know?
In the United States, a common saying is that cats have nine lives. In other countries around the world, these sometimes friendly felines have a shorter lifespan.
In Spain, Germany, and Brazil, for instance, cats typically have seven lives. In certain places like Turkey, you will commonly hear that they only have six lives.
Where did the original story about cats with nine lives come from?
Historians think the concept of multiple cat lives stems from ancient Egypt.
The Egyptian sun god, Atum-Ra, was said to take the form of a cat when he went to the underworld. He gave life to eight other gods known as the Ennead. Hence, the concept of nine lives for a cat.
⛩ Culture Corner
All around the world, men and women experience different rites of passage.
In the US, getting a driver’s license, high school graduation, and weddings are typical rites of passage.
The Hamer tribe in Ethiopia does things a little differently.
The Lower Omo Valley-based community uses a bull-jumping ceremony to turn boys into men.
Each male participant is called a Maza. They must isolate themselves from the rest of the tribe before the day of the ceremony.
The ceremony involves a purification ritual, dancing, music, and sorghum beer. The Maza uses tree bark for protection.
A row of castrated bulls are brought into a line and smeared with dung to be slippery.
If a Maza can successfully jump onto each bull four times, then they are blessed. If they fail, then they must wait a year to try again.
The bull jumping ceremony is also where the blessed males can meet their future spouses.
🌆 City Showcase
Dalat, Vietnam. 🇻🇳
Back in 2019, my friend Jack and I were eating fried chicken from a Hanoi street vendor.
We were chatting with other travelers. As usual, the topic of where to visit came up.
Multiple backpackers mentioned the city of Dalat as a great place to go.
Until then, Dalat was a name totally unknown to me.
It took me five years to finally do some research about this place.
Đà Lạt is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province in southern Vietnam.
CNN ranks Dalat as one of the most underrated cities in Asia.
It has many names: the “City of Eternal Spring,” “City of Love,” “City of Mist,” and “City of Flowers.” Dalat boasts high altitude (4,921 feet above sea level) and cool weather.
It’s one of the top flower exporters in Asia. There are multiple flower seasons in Dalat for visitors to embrace its beautiful colors.
Visitors will get enamored by Dalat’s abundance of natural beauty – evergreen forests, lakes, vast waterfalls, rolling hills, and flower gardens.
How to get to Dalat
Dalat is a 50-minute plane ride from Ho Chi Minh City or a six-hour bus/car ride.
Five things to do in Dalat
Dalat is perfect for relaxing, contemplating beautiful French architecture, and giving yourself time to reset in nature. Here are some notable sites:
The Crazy House: An expressionist building inspired by Antoni Gaudí. Described as a “fairy tale house,” it has the form of an immense and hollow tree.
Datanla Waterfall: Ten minutes from the city center. It has breathtaking views and plenty of hiking trail options. You can go canyoning here.
Ninh Phuoc Pagoda: This a large Buddhist temple built in 1949 and is made from broken glass and 12,000 bottles.
Dalat Night Market: A must-see experience for all the senses. Try amazing local cuisine like Banh Trang Nuong (Vietnamese pizza) and Banh Uot Long Ga (steamed rice cake with chicken intestine) at affordable prices.
Dalat Flower Garden: A trip to Dalat without visiting a flower park is a major mistake. The Dalat Flower Garden has 300 species of flowers and offers a peaceful experience for visitors of all ages.
Have you been to Dalat? Please comment! I’d love to know about your experience.
Alight friends, that’s it for this week’s newsletter.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Talk to you soon!
Sincerely,
Daniel
P.S. How am I doing? If you see any way I can make this newsletter better let me know!