First, I want to thank everyone for their emails after yesterdays Bootsnall newsletter went out. I really appreciate all the wonderful comments and look forward to reading more and more as I build up this site. I try to update this site everyday and will try to get to everyones emails with responses to all of your questions. This site is a lot of fun for me to maintain and I just love talking travel and hearing other peoples stories as well because it gives me ideas and brings back memories. Thanks again, it really makes it worth it to know that people are enjoying my site, my stories and viewpoints. Please feel free to continue emailing me.

I received a lot of questions and the most common question was, “how do I afford to travel so often?”

The answer is that I have a job just like everyone else. I work very hard and try to travel whenever I get a chance. I happen to like my job very much and it gives me the freedom to do what I love to do. I try to take several long weekend trips a years and do a few long trips, 2-4 weeks per year. Of these trips; some encompass several countries that may be clustered around each other, such as the Balkans or West Africa and some may be worthy of their own 2 or 3 week (obviously you could spend months in certain places but time doesn’t always allow for that) trip like Brazil or India. Basically, it depends where I am going as to how long I spend in one place. I have also traveled for months at a time after I graduated college and in between certain jobs. I travel with friends or alone depending on where I am going, how long I am going and most importantly, what type of place I am going. It is very important to choose your travel partners well because otherwise it can be a nightmare.

My modes of transport vary with places as well, sometimes I fly and sometimes I take the train or bus just like anyone else. I love to see the country as I am moving from place to place so the bus and train are very good options for me. I will generally fly though if time is an issue regardless of the extra cost because the time value of money is the most important thing when you are on a short trip.

The final thing I wanted to address here is that some people question how you can go to certain places and spend a day or two there and say you’ve experienced the country. The truth is you really can’t but I do a lot of research for every single place that I go. I know what I want to do before I do it and usually you find some other cool stuff when you’re there from locals or other travelers. Obviously, some places are more exciting than others and you’d be surprised what you can accomplish in a short time in certain places. It makes me shake my head when people say that they spend like 3 months in a random place where there is really nothing to do. I understand the concept of getting to know the place and immersing yourself in the culture but I feel like you can get that on your own sometimes. Of course everyone’s ideas are different in what they are looking for and to do. That is what makes traveling great and forums like this are great because I get to read many different points of view.

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