Observations from the Pafford Circumnavigation 2024

I have always enjoyed learning. I have a collection of degrees that I don’t use. I enjoyed getting the degrees more than using them. That’s why I enjoy traveling. There are so many things to learn. In many cases, before I embark, I don’t even know what I don’t know. I could attempt to list the things I learned, but I could not contain that in an article of this size. Instead, I will answer some common questions.

1. What was your favorite country?

That’s an impossible question to answer. There were things I enjoyed about every place we visited, and many of them had clear detractors as well. Several countries we visited only for a day or two. It wouldn’t be fair to pass judgment on the entire country. I prefer to answer the question, “Which places surpassed your expectations?”

I knew that there were some historical sites I wanted to see in Istanbul, but I was blown away by the breadth and volume of historically significant places there were to see just in that city. Although the Turks do not emphasize Byzantine history as much as Ottoman, the Byzantine and Christian history is there if you look for it, and those sites are often cheaper because they are publicized less. Istanbul offers thousands of years of history, multiple important empires, and was at the crux of commerce, religion, and political interchange from antiquity until at least the early 20^th century. The location is stunning. Other than admission to a few of the top venues, the city is inexpensive and very easy to navigate, and the food is delicious. We just saw the tip of Turkey’s iceberg. I would love to come back and experience the rest of the country, with all of its beauty and other historical and Biblical sites.

I did not have high expectations for Southeast Asia. I wanted to see Vun, and we got a cheap flight back from Singapore to San Francisco. But I just expected a hot, tropical place with some pretty greenery and a few nice beaches. The people we met in Thailand were amazing, the temples are beautiful and diverse, the food is great, it is inexpensive, and the green scenery was, in fact, very pretty. It is also a nicely developed modern country where we visited. We didn’t even go to the famous beach destinations. The geography got only more beautiful as we traveled down the Malay peninsula. The contrast between the coastline and the highlands in Malaysia was breathtaking. The food was even better than in Thailand, and the convergence of cultures and cuisines made for a wonderful experience. Singapore was the perfect end to the trip, with its crisp efficiency and interesting example of what can be accomplished with good planning.

There were other places, too. I enjoyed Prague more than I expected. The Caucasus highland in places like Georgia and Azerbaijan were also impressive discoveries for me. I knew those countries were there, and that there were mountains, but I had never heard of Svaneti. The beauty, climate, religious history, and medieval settlements took me by surprise. These kinds of discoveries are part of the thrill of travel to less familiar places.

2. How much did it cost?

Of course, no one will ask that directly. I know you’re wondering, though. Either that, or you have already just dismissed doing a trip like this as an out-of-reach luxury. Although I have not added up the total, I did keep track. Travel can be expensive, and the portion of the trip I shared with Stephanie and Kimberly was at times eyewateringly expensive, even when we utilized economy accommodations and prepared many of our own meals.

Travel does not have to be like that, however. I frequently lampooned Stephanie a bit for only wanting to visit the expensive countries. As soon as Caleb and I hit Eastern Europe, our expenses plummeted. They only dropped further once we reached Asia. Plane tickets are potentially the biggest expense, but careful shopping can mitigate this. My ticket from Toronto to Edinburgh was just over $200. The Singapore to San Francisco leg cost just under $500. The regional Asian flights were generally less than $100. We spent between $1,200 and $1,300 per person on plane tickets.

In India and Eastern Europe we used trains. In most other places we used buses. European trains tended to be expensive. Long haul bus and train tickets were often anywhere between $10-$20 elsewhere. In cities, we often used public transportation. Those rides are usually less than $1. Western European trains, on the other hand, can cost more than air travel. In a few places where public transportation was not feasible for what we were doing, I rented cars. This generally cost less than $40/day.

Once we got to Asia, food and accommodations were very inexpensive. In India and Nepal, we often hired rooms for $10-$12/night. Sometimes we paid closer to $20, but that included a prepared breakfast. You can pay for American luxury chain hotels like Hilton in may tourist areas. We did not do so, but we also did not opt for the cheapest room we could find. We always got air conditioned rooms with WiFi and clean beds. In India and Nepal especially, I paid an extra dollar for refundable reservations so I could inspect the room prior to accepting it. In some instances I paid for luxury accommodations when it seemed like a good deal. We had a full two bedroom apartment in a high rise with a gym and a rooftop pool in Kuala Lumpur for less than $50/night.

Expensive food can be found in cities and tourist areas, but eating well in Asia does not have to be expensive. Our program was usually to eat breakfast in the motel, survive on snacks, fruit, or street food during through the day, and then visit a sit down restaurant for supper. We tried to find restaurants where locals might eat on an average day – something like a local mom and pop diner. In many Asian countries, a delicious full evening meal could be had for less than $3. Sometimes we paid twice that, but almost never as much as $10. Sometimes buying boxed breakfast cereal cost as much or more than a prepared breakfast, encouraging us to opt for the local cuisine.

The expense “wild card” was always admissions. Nearly all paid attractions outside the United States – especially once you leave Europe – charge foreigners a higher price than locals. Sometimes it is 10x or 20x as much. Our guided tour of Topkepi Palace in Istanbul cost a ridiculous $95 each. The church with the best medieval mosaics was free to enter. It cost 22x as much for me to visit the Taj Mahal than it does for an Indian. But 22x the local rate was still only $13, which seems fair for a landmark of that caliber. Still, these activities require some thought and planning, if budget is a concern. Of course, sitting in a park or market and just observing the people and the culture doesn’t cost a thing. Observing the natural landscape or its flora and fauna are either free, or come complimentary with your bus and train tickets.

Even with the lower cost of goods and services in Asia, expenses eventually add up. The trip becomes surprisingly affordable, however, when compared to the “opportunity cost.” Had I stayed home, I would have gone out to the movies, bought tickets to entertainment venues, occasionally eaten out, gone on a two week domestic vacation, and generally just lived on the American economy. Traveling on a modest budget really isn’t more expensive than what I would have done if I had stayed home. In some cases, it might even be cheaper than staying home. In all cases, I consider the travel far more interesting and rewarding.

3. Why did you go so fast/slow?

I have been asked both of these questions dealing with time, and both are legitimate. Both Stephanie and my dad enjoy traveling, but neither would consider being gone for as long as a month, let alone three and a half. I was gone 103 days, which is a long time to be away from home, but not long enough to “see the world.” Most people who do these round-the-world trips take nine or twelve months. We met one traveler in Ushguli, Georgia, who had taken 18 months off to see the world. While doing an around the world trip – circumnavigating – could possibly be done faster, it would have made the trip frenetic. I wanted to experience the places we visited in a meaningful way.

Being gone for three and a half months did not really bother me. In planning this trip I was limited (kind of) by Caleb’s school schedule and the amount of time I felt comfortable managing the farm from abroad. From the start, I knew that we needed to leave just after school let out and that we should not push our return past Labor Day. So if we were going to go all the way around the world relying primarily on land travel, we were going to have to move to a new place at least every few days. This did require us to keep moving at a more rapid pace than was completely comfortable. It is more my style to research one or two places thoroughly, and then visit for a couple of weeks. Researching things to do, making transportation and accommodation bookings a few days in advance, and recording what we had done all had to be woven into our schedule in a way not necessary for a one or two week trip to a single destination. We weren’t slaves to an itinerary. I jettisoned a few countries from my original plan and occasionally just rested in place for a couple of days. There weren’t many days off, however.

The problem is that you can’t really see the world in three and a half months. But then, you can’t see the whole world in eighteen months either. We ultimately made a series of compromises that allowed us to circumnavigate while seeing a huge program of amazing places in the time we had on a budget we were comfortable with. If I do a similar trip in the future, I will probably further limit the number of stops so as to spend more time in each place, even if that requires a slightly higher reliance on regional air travel. As it was, our trip was like a restaurant sampler plate of the world. We tasted many places and cultures. Some we will return to for a bigger portion. Some I won’t need another slice of. My appetite for travel is not slaked forever. I learned a lot, though, and future trips will be better informed.

4. Did you feel safe in Oman? (Presumably asked because it is a Muslim country)

Like the United Arab Emirates, Oman is a very open, progressive Muslim country. People were very welcoming. There were some different expectations as to how you should dress to go swimming or enter a religious building. The religious building requirements were no different than what we experienced in Turkey (another predominantly Islamic country), India, Nepal, or Thailand (in Sikh, Hindu, or Buddhist buildings). The swimming dress codes were a bit more restrictive for women than men, but posted instructions required all to cover shoulders and knees. As men, no one quibbled with us about wearing shorts in the swimming hole. This same laxity seemed to apply to the Indian and Nepali (non-Muslim) women we saw swimming in Oman. We all wore T-shirts when swimming. I believe men or women would be either looked at disapprovingly or asked to cover up if swimming in just a western bathing suit or one piece, let alone a bikini. There appears to be some tolerance of non-Muslim practices by non-Muslims, though.

The people we met in Oman were personally very welcoming – far more than was the case in Paris or Georgia. Many locals who knew some English were eager to practice it on us. They also seemed genuinely excited to share with us their favorite local places to visit and experience. Muscat was too spread out to attempt to use the local bus system and we wanted to explore more distant areas, so we rented a car. Navigating the traffic in Oman was straightforward and stress-free, nothing like the chaos of attempting to drive in India or many of the Latin American countries we have visited. The roads were in excellent condition. The traffic rules are strict, which is probably what keeps driving so orderly.

On the whole, Oman was one of the safest, most welcoming places we went. If there was any danger at all, it was from visiting in July. The heat was oppressive. To avoid risking heat injury, visit when it isn’t summer.

5. Were there places you didn’t like?

I am glad to have visited every place we went. Several places had some annoying aspects, however. Western Europe was unnecessarily expensive. Parisians lived up to their inhospitable reputation. Former Eastern Bloc and Soviet countries retained vestiges of their communist heritage by not being very customer service oriented. Budapest was an imitation of an established European capital city. The Romanian national train was miserable, and so was the KamilKoc bus in Turkey. Bus drivers repeatedly refused to let people use existing bathrooms. Many places require you to pay to use the toilet. Georgians were rude, and yelled a lot. Dubai, Oman, and Amritsar were oppressively hot. India was a constant press of people. No one respected queues. It was smelly, and there was garbage piled everywhere. Vendors and taxi drivers were aggressive swindlers in India and Nepal. Most of the complaints about India could be applied to Nepal. The roads were absurdly bad in Nepal. Thailand had a massive sex tourism industry that was almost unavoidable. Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur had ridiculous public transportation systems made up of parts that did not connect well and were run by separate companies. You couldn’t even use the same card as payment from one type of train to the next. Many places charged a lot more for foreigners to see their country’s special attractions.

Most of these things were mere annoyances. I got angry over things a couple of times, but I consider that all a part of the experience. I wish people were nicer in a few places. But on the whole, I found people to be generally welcoming. Even in India, as soon as the swindle attempt was over, even the swindlers themselves were genuinely happy to see tourists and eager to learn where we were from and what we were up to. I probably won’t go back to Hungary, Romania, or Bulgaria, but I’m glad I saw them.

6. How did you communicate?

I was worried about this before I left. Most of my previous international trips were to Spanish speaking countries, and I speak enough Spanish to get by. As part of my trip preparation, I would have learned a few tourist phrases at least had I been only going to one or two countries. Since we visited 24 countries, this just wasn’t possible. I learned a couple of Thai phrases, but that’s about all. How would I navigate public transportation? How would I order food or communicate with hotel staff? What if I got lost or missed a connection somewhere?

Most Western Europeans speak some English. Even Parisians, when put to the test, will speak some English to you. Even in Eastern Europe, places that tourists frequent often have an English speaking staff member or two. It turned out that colonization also really worked in our favor. During the 19^th century, it was said that the sun never set on the British Empire – and this was true. English influence overseas was so common that we very often found signs posted in English, and at least some locals who spoke our language. The Emirates and Oman had been British protectorates. India was of course a British colony. Malaysia and Singapore were part of Malaya, which had been under British rule. Much of the infrastructure in these places retained some English communication. Ticket vending machines and ATMs nearly always had an English option. There is often an English speaker around, somewhere.

Whenever we failed to find English speakers, Google Translate proved remarkably helpful. We could type questions in English and translate them to just about any language. We could take pictures of menus or documents to be translated. We could even have other people speak their own language into a microphone to be translated into English for us. More than once, this tool prevented us from some major misunderstanding. Reading body language is also a useful skill. GoogleMaps usually gave us good directions. When it failed, it was because someone had entered the incorrect location of a business, not because the map was bad or the directions wrong. Once we figured out which ride sharing app to use in each country, these eliminated the need to communicate with cab drivers (who very often did not speak adequate English, even in tourist areas).

English truly is the closest thing we have to a global universal language. That’s why it is taught in so many different places. When you can’t find an English speaker, the tools on your phone can nearly always get you through. I always took a backup power source for my phone in case it ran out of charge, since I understood its importance as a communication and navigation tool.

7. How do I go about planning a trip like this? Follow the link below.