22 Headaches of Slow Travel Save Your Life

in this report I share the 22 headaches of slow travel that save your life I have learned a ton of things slow traveling the world for the last 17 years whether you intend to slow travel the world for 10 years or just go on a 10-week exploratory visit to find your dream Paradise retirement overseas here are 22 headaches slow Travelers must avoid to make life easier in this video I will assume that you have already set up your home country banking properly with two Factor authentication and that you are able to send and receive phone calls and texts for free to your home country in case one of your ATM cards or credit cards are lost or stolen while you are traveling but don't worry I'll provide you with my free ebook at the end of this video that teaches how I set all of my Banking and two Factor authentication up with that one out of the way here are the headaches you can avoid as you head out on the slow travel World highway I'll start with the things you need to think about before you fly to a new country but first I want to Define how slow travel is different than conventional travel so what is slow travel slow travel is different from conventional travel in two distinct ways ways first you slowly move forward from one destination to the next without flying home that means you rarely buy roundtrip tickets you keep moving forward second you stay in each Place longer and get to know it better before you leave that means you may stay in each place for at least a week more typically a few weeks or a few months before moving on other than moving forward from place to place and stay staying in each Place longer slow travel Behavior can vary greatly depending upon your personality needs and budget we try to keep a low budget how people slow travel varies substantially in the following ways geographical Focus I believe it's better to stay focused on one geographical region of the world and see everything of interest in that region before you fly to another region of the world this saves tremendous amount of money so after I finish exploring a country I often just go to the country next door I have friends who fly Halfway Around the World each time they move to the next destination I try not to take multiple expensive InterContinental flights per year which saves me thousands of dollars per year okay ground transportation since I'm geographically focused I often am able to to take cheaper ground transportation when I move forward between places in the same country or to another place in a country right next door ground transportation teaches me more about a country and its nuances than flying over it in an airplane so I travel on buses trains and minivans whenever possible whatever is cheapest okay local Focus I'm locally focused when I slow travel that means that when possible I try to eat local live local and entertain Myself by living like a local other slow Travelers live in what I call an expat bubble by learning how locals live and what they eat I learn more about each culture as I slow travel the world I find it more interesting when I travel because I learn more about myself and the World by focusing more on what the locals are doing people in expat bubbles pay more money for accommodations food and entertainment often because they're trying to recreate their old life in a new country trying to recreate your old life as you travel slowly can easily cost two to three times as much as I explain in this video okay before flying to a new country Visa as an American I can slow travel to 100 18 188 countries without applying for a Visa since there are 195 countries in the world there are seven countries I need to apply for a Visa before I jump on an airplane but every time before I fly I confirm what I need to enter a new country because the Law changes all the time so I always Google questions like do Americans need a visa to go to country name insert your nationality in the country you are going to in the search string instead of mine sadly many embassies around the world do not show up near the top of this Google Search so scroll down and look for a URL that ends in a.gov at the end for example the URL for official website for the Vietnam Embassy ends in v.gov in that case VN stands for Vietnam and gov stands for government web page to get the two-letter abbreviation for the country you will be visiting go to this link but don't worry about remembering all of this I'll give you a link to all of this inwriting at the end of the video for example Thailand is th and the United Kingdom is UK so the official Embassy web page for those two countries should be t.gov or uk.gov once you are on the official web page for that country read and verify whether or not people from your home country need a visa to enter how long can they stay when they get there and anything else it says you need to get entry make sure to to do everything they ask before you fly to that country so things go smoothly okay flights search on skyscanner.net to find the cheapest one-way flight to the country make sure that you're using the monthly function so you get the cheapest flight during that entire month of that you're planning that you'd be willing to fly there once you know the cheapest airline the cheapest day and the flight time buy your ticket directly from the airline if possible if you buy directly from the airline they are usually more Cooperative if you have have to make changes later now when your e tiet arrives at your email address make sure to save a PDF copy of it and save it to your smartphone also read the EET and any emails you receive from the airline because they often tell you what you'll need to board your flight to that country for example many countries are asking you to fill out arrival cards or EV Visa over the last 2 years make sure you do all of that before going to the airport make sure to save it all to your local memory on your phone since you won't be able to download anything from the cloud when you first land overseas because you won't have a local SIM card in your phone until you pass immigration okay luggage or baggage fees read how much luggage you are allowed for the ticket you are purchasing if you plan on bringing more weight or bags than allowed make sure to pay for it online way in advance of arriving at the airport for travel it can cost two to three times as much at the gate if you pay for it when you check into the flight okay accommodations book the first four nights before you fly to a new country I'll share more about accommodations later but print a PDF copy of your accomodations and save it to local memory on your smartphone so you can show it to immigration if they ask for where you'll be staying when you land remember your phone won't have local internet connectivity in the new country to download that PDF from the cloud until you pass through immigration and get a SIM card more on that later okay airport transfers when you fly to a new country you need to know how to get from the airport to your first accommodations first try to find out if an internet taxi application like grab Uber or Lyft exists in that City and if so are they allowed to pick people up at the airport for example Google what are the big ride share apps in country name or in city name then Google something like can grab taxi pick me up at airport code so the airport code is on the ticket you bought above so some cities have two or more airports and two or more ride share apps so you need to be specific can grab taxi pick me up at the airport code if no ride share apps you'll have to get creative because old school taxi drivers can be very creative at overcharging you for your airport transfer plus you may not speak the local language so it might be hard to to communicate with them here are a few tips email out your accommodations and ask them can they get you from the airport to them and what will they charge number two Google is there an official taxi stand inside airport code arrivals or number three Google is there a bus from airport code to the city center okay good those should pretty much get most people to their accommodations okay Exchange rate now find out the exchange rate so you learn how much money to take out of the ATM when you land in the new country for example right now we are in Vietnam and the exchange rate is 25,000 dong to $1 us so if I want to get $200 worth of local money out at an ATM when I land in Vietnam I know I'll have to ask the ATM for $5 million now you know how much to ask the ATM for in local money when you land that's important okay prepaid SIM cards a SIM card is a little chip you install in a smartphone to get local connectivity in a new country also make sure to unlock your phone before leaving your home country so you can slip a new SIM card into it when you land trust me you don't want to roam in a foreign country using your home Home Country Sim it can be hundreds of dollars per day A friend of mine got charged a few hundred dollars for a long phone call one time when he was in Mexico roaming on his American SIM card and the new eims on the market still cost two to four times as much as prepaid local SIM cards you can get for5 to $20 per month including data at almost every Airport when you land overseas in the retired Chief countries so Google can I get a SIM card at airport code that's very possible in most of the world now most include more data than you'll need and can be topped up at a local convenience stores every month thereafter while you're in that country this means you'll be able to use your unlocked smartphone from your home country to order a ride share Taxi after you land in a new country and get a new SIM card installed at the airport in your phone okay what about safety currency make sure to bring some safety currency for emergencies such as when your ATM card doesn't work it gets stolen or the internet is down I would recommend bringing a minimum of 500 to 1,000 us or it's equivalent in Euros or Pounds with you when you travel to a new country the day you're going to the airport okay here's what you do on the day you're flying number one onward flight the country you're flying to may not let you enter unless you have an onward flight so the airline may not let you board your flight unless you have a roundtrip ticket going home or an onward flight to another country leaving that country you're flying to today so about 4 hours before you head to the airport by an onward flight you can find onward flights by Googling the words onward flights there are a bunch of companies that rent onward flights for about 48 hours for $12 for your $12 approximately they'll put your name in the system for that onward flight now you'll be able to board your flight when you get to the airport when you apply for the onward Flight online make sure to ask for a flight that's scheduled to leave the country you're traveling to before your Visa or initial Visa exemption expires in that country also ask for the Honor Flight to be with an airline other than the airline you're flying on today save the onward flight proof in a PDF document that you can pull up on your phone in case you are asked for proof of an onward flight or return flight in seven years we have only had one onward flight like this refused by the airline when we were boarding the airline refused our flight because it was booked but not yet paid for immigration has never refused our onward flight proof but go to the airport 3 hours early if it is refused by the airline step out of line and buy the cheapest actual flight to the nearest country country for as cheap as possible and pay for it the electronic ticket number is usually issued within an hour after purchase so if you go to the airport early enough you'll probably be able to show the electronic ticket number you will probably be able to show the electronic ticket number for the real paid for onward flight before your flight today leaves without you okay exchange $100 one time when we arrived at an airport the Sim sellers were inside the arrival Terminal and the ATMs were outside the airport so we didn't have local cash to buy the SIM card until we exited arrivals and once you exit arrivals most airports won't let you back inside so if you have never been to this country before and don't know the layout of the airport I suggest exchanging one or 200 of your safety currency before you board your flight today then you can buy little things like the SIM card or food if the ATM machines are outside the arrival Terminal okay boarding passed next go to the gate and get your boarding pass they'll ask for your onward flight and your passport before issuing your boarding pass they will o ask for any other documents they requested in the emails or listed on your ticket they will weigh your luggage if your luggage is overweight they will often charge you two or three times as much as you could have paid if you had gone online a few days before your flight and paid for more weight so make sure you understand the airline's luggage weight and dimension requirements before you go to the airport bring a coat with many different size Pockets if they tell you that you are overweight you can start stuffing items from your bags into your coat Pockets to get down to the allowed weight once you get your boarding pass you can then stuff those items back in your carry-on until you go to board your flight some of the regional ripoff Airlines will weigh your carryon again at the gate when you're boarding in that case put the overweight stuff back in your coat Pockets until you're on the airplane okay phone battery unless you print everything you will need to show immigration when you land overseas don't run your battery down to zero during the flight you'll need to pull up these documents on your phone to show immigration when you land also you need enough charge left to order a ride share taxi and get to your hotel Hotel before your battery dies okay Landing overseas most immigration entry points have signs saying not to photograph anything or or use your phones so keep your phone in your pocket until an immigration official asks for a document that you have stored on your phone attitude a soft smile and a nod is a great way to pay your respects to an immigration official when you're standing in front of them answer questions when asked but don't ramble on and no matter what do not raise your voice show any anger or be condescending typical questions sometimes you will not get any questions if you are dressed reasonably and don't have a marijuana leaf on or insulting words on your T-shirt you might go through without any questions but here are a few typical questions we get about half the time question from the immigration official what do you plan to do while you're here answer I'm a tourist on holiday question how long will you be here my flight leaves in 26 days on month date and year question can I see your accommodations and exit flight answer here is my exit flight and accommodations show them the paper or on a phone they will stamp your passport and say welcome to country name make sure to read the date on the stamp and leave the country before that date to avoid any problems many countries allow you to get extensions but don't overstay your allowed time get an extension or leave on time okay next pick up your luggage get money out of the ATM machine and buy a SIM card for your phone and have them install it make sure you are able to get on the internet while you're standing in front of the person who installed your sim card pay them once your phone is able to get on the internet with the SIM card that is what you're paying them for connectivity okay ride share app now open the ride sharing app you learned about above put the name of your accommodations as the destination and whatever terminal you are in for pickup at the airport then go to the spot where ride share taxis are allowed to pick you up the ride share app almost always shows you where to go but there is often a sign outside showing where ride share taxis pick up if people approach you ignore them and just watch for the license plate of the car shown on your ride sharing app okay a arrive at your accommodations show them your booking on your phone now enjoying a new city if you have arrived at one of the 100 or so cities where we have retired cheap report that report should help you experience a soft Landing in that City the reports often have things to do such as tours nightlife favorite restaurants grocery stores and open air markets and other helpful information such as places to stay and other time or money saving tips we also use nine smartphone applications to save time and money which we talk about in this video in addition to those nine and the retired chap reports here are a few pointers to make slow travel more enjoyable and more affordable walkability we love staying in walkable areas of town because it makes life so much easier luckily Google makes it easier to eliminate areas of town which are not so walkable notice how in the parts circled in red the ground is tan colored whereas the surrounding areas the ground is more whitish in color that is Google map's way of telling us that the white areas are not as walkable as the tan areas so if you were to book something in the tan areas you you would have many more things to do within walking distance to your accommodations okay public transportation sometimes public transportation is much faster and cheaper than a ride sharing app like grab Uber or lift in heavy traffic a raised rail system or water taxi can get you across town in 20 or 30 minutes whereas a grab or Uber taxi could take an hour or more more plus the public transportation might only cost 15 when the grab taxi is $5 Google Maps can help us determine that also you just put your desired destination in Google maps and click the bus icon as shown Google Maps will show you where to walk to catch the nearest public transportation that will take you to your desired destination okay Google Translate Google searches often work much better if you translate your search into the local language for example if I start with what is the most famous traditional dish that originates from dong Vietnam Google replies mikong is a famous dish from dang Vietnam so now I know the dish mang if I then translate that dish into Vietnamese Vietnamese I'm more likely to get the name of a restaurant near me that is known only to the locals which means a better price and a more authentic experience as shown I put in what is the best mang near me and I get the VA the Vietnamese version of that so I paste that translation into Google and it gives me more local results and it often gives me more local results Google will even translate the reviews back into into English for you then you just pick the one with the best reviews and walk over there using Google Maps Okay even in places like the Philippines the locals may be able to speak to you in English but when they go online and leave reviews for their favorite local restaurants they write in their local language so you may find a few great places and things to do by translating your queries into the local language even when the locals speak some English we also use Google Translate when we're trying to communicate specific ideas with a local who does not speak English we just type our questions in English and they can type their replies in their local language and we can each read what each other is thinking with Google Translate Okay deciding where to go next when you're slow traveling pick places no matter how much we love a place we eventually get the it to discover a new place when thinking about where to go next you will save time and money if you begin to think about all the places you want to see in a country before you even enter that country we often find where we want to go in a new country by asking our followers where they want us to go and by watching YouTube videos about all the places in a new country for example we have almost a thousand videos of us with our feet on the ground all over the world those videos are grouped by country so you can pick where you want to go in each country by watching videos shortest path once you decide where you want to go in a country you should travel through them in the shortest path possible so you don't waste time or money going backward to visit places you missed the first time okay ground transportation we use buses trains and min Vans to travel on the ground between places in a country we save a bunch of money that way and we get to see the landscape as we move around the country we get a much better understanding of a country when we see the landscape on the ground you can't see much from an airplane to find ground transportation all over the world we often start with Rome to rio.com they usually have great information about buses trains and fairies all over the world but they usually don't find everything so another trick is to walk into a large youth hostel in whatever City you are in and ask them how to transfer to another city in that country also travel agencies sometimes know about minivans that can take you where you want to go but be careful when searching online for ground transfers there are often third parties that will charge you much more than the actual cost of ground transportation a big red flag is if they ask you to give your credit card number verbally over the phone when you're dealing with a new online company always check Google trip advisor or trust pilot to see if they have a bad reputation once we slowly complete our shortest path through a country then we move to a nearby country often right next door once we've slowly traveled through all the countries we want to see in that part of the world only then do we jump on an InterContinental Jet and fly to another part of the world then we slowly travel through that part of the world finally I promise to share how we find cheap accommodations in many countries Airbnb is no longer as affordable as it once was so we don't book long-term accommodations on Airbnb very often anymore now we book four nights in an area of town that seems most promising and then we put our feet on the ground to find a better deal than we can get on Airbnb it's been working pretty well but this video is already too long so watch the video appearing in the upper right hand of your screen right now to learn how we find perfect apartments around the world as we slow travel for a link to everything I just shared with you in writing click the first link in the notes below this video and remember to set up your banking properly as I describe in my free ebook available on vagabond buddha.

Channel: Vagabond Awake

Views: 15,129

Keywords: Vagabond Buddha, Vagabond Awake, FIRE, Qiang Hui, Qiang Hui of Hobo Ventures, How to slow travel the world, 22 slow travel headaches to avoid, things all slow travelers must know, my secrets to slow travel with fewer headaacches, don't slow travel before watching, slow travel, full time travel, slow travel retirement, retirement planning, minimalist lifestyle, digital nomad lifestyle

Id: N1KQj3oHhqM

Length: 29min 11sec (1751 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 13 2024