Hello, I'm New and Need Some Advice

Hello, I am sort of new to this board (I think I posted a few times a long time ago....). Anyways, my name is Stacey and I am going to be graduating from high school in January-yay!!!! I am trying to figure out what to do after that. I will be quitting my job and would love to hit the road, but seeing as how most of my friends will still be in school, I most likely will not have a traveling companion. I'll probably stick around here till February. I am considering living in Colorado for a month or so. Ummmm....The only real plan I have is not until summer when my cousin and I will be loading up her vw bus for a month's travel.........So, any suggestions as to what I should do or where to travel? I would love to have someone or a group to travel with, so if anyone is up for it.......Peace, Stacey.....Oh yea, I am a dancin', vegan, nature lovin' free spirit and I can't wait to get out of here!!!!!

 

Hit the road! Check it out while you can...
Wintertime is cold as hell to be touring the Americas though...

 

Welcome, Stacy. There's lots of travelers on these here boards... You shouldn't have too much trouble finding some companions.

 

hey Stacey, welcome and enjoy the forums. On what to do, perhaps you should try some meditation (if you havent already) or travel O.S perhaps South East Asia, sooo many beautiful places, cheap, easy to live on $15 in Cambodia anyway. Youll find your path, perhaps it might take some time of doing nothing, well hope to speak to you one day, until then Peace. Conor.

 

If you're thinking about travelling around _ i assume backpacking and possibly hitch hinking or using public tansportation...
Don' go somewhere cold unless you will be driving your own vehicle. A missed train or bus, a bad connection, in a small city or town and suddenly you have no place to go for the night, stuck at a station all night long... those small town bus stations and truck stops where sometimes there's no place to hang out indoors . only places you can find shelter then is costly hotels.. brrrshiver

I mean, those things happen a fair bit when travelling around. It's easy enough to be stuck for 12 hrs and when you can freeze to death, it's not jsut a pain in the ass...

Mexico is good for that reason in winter. Ig you want to go there, check the net for the most popular resorts and avoid them , unless they have HI hostels. resort towns very expensive
Hostels are good. A very cheap place to stay at night, and a good place to meet other groovy people also travelling, looking for friends in a strange [place, exchanging info about good places to go, often forming traveling groups, breaking up, reforming, etc... They cost between 15-25US a night,(depends on the location) and they are everywhere in the world. Get a : hostelling International card (available from student travelling agencies, prob online tto. - the HI card gives a discount at HI hostels, which have to live upto certain standards.)
MOST IMPORTANT THING TO GET WHEREVER YOU ARE GOING :travell guide like Berkley's Guide(my favourite) or Let's Go (esier to find, also v good) .

The travelling guide provides a rundown of the various cities in the destination of your choice, including fun hang outs, what to avoid, reviews and prices for everything from clubs/night spots/ shelter,/eating spots fr costly to very very cheap/ places of interest like museums, famous places, local 'siteseeing', special advice for female, gay and lesbian, and lone travellers, avoiding rip offs and scams, everything you could ever possibly need to know to have the best possible time.

Also invest in a phrase book if decide to go someplace where you don';t speak the language like Mexico, Quebec in Canada, or overseas. Those little phrase books usually have just about everything you'd ordinarily need to say as a traveller, from basic hello/goodbye/thanks, onetwothree... to where can I find a ____ restaurant/_____ store/ hotel, taxi hospital, i need help, how do i get to, i'm sick, a few conversation phrases, they set you up with enough stuff to get around and stay out of trouble.

**A good backpack is very important **- one with a daypack tht zips on and off the big pack, so you can take your travel guide, water, journal,drawing book ,camera etc to capture memories , a sweater, a snack, bus schedules, brochures, etc with U for a day and leave the rest at where you're staying...
Don't pack too much stuff. most of us girls try to look like we do at home, and at first tyr to carry all that makeup, skin stuff, hair crap, casual clothes, nice clothes, cool clothes... don't worry about that.

take stuff that is *practical* only - (jeans, light warm stuff, light not warm stuff, most hting should be good 2 wash in a sink with your shampoo and dry ovr night). Then add maybe one cool shirt to go out in, and one thing you can wear if you have to dress fancy for a nice dinner or something. take very good walking shoes which go w everything and some comfy dress shoes which R light and small 2 pack.

Take your bag out for a 'test walk'. You need to be able to carry it for at least 1 mile without feeling like crap or else it will become a misery which will painfully illustrate how Christ was tortured by having to carry his crucifix... I ended up sending a big box of stuff home from Ireland when I was travelling in Europe, cuz I jsut couldn't stand hauling it around any more.

ok, i don't wanna make this into a book. mesage me if u wnt to talk more bout this.
i'm envious. am sure u will have much much fun.