Traveling alone is both liberating and an experience. Unlike traveling with a friend, you have the complete freedom to do what you want, when you want. The only downsides I can think of is that you don’t have someone to talk to. You can easily meet people along the way, but it seems like it’s the casual conversation and you don’t get the deep connection you would when traveling with a friend. Regardless, you learn a lot about yourself, and I think you’re going to love it.

What to do? Check out Lonely Planet for guides on the places you will be. If you’re on a budget (who isn’t), i’d recommend staying in hostels or couchsurf (couchsurfing.org). It’s definitely a lot cheaper and offer a better experience than staying at a hotel or something like that.

Best tips: bring locks, earplugs (lot of people snore), music player, perhaps a deck of cards (great way to start a conversation with another traveler or even for a couple drinking games).

Pack light. Depending on what you bring, you could probably pack your backpack then unpack about half of it. I often found I wore the same stuff and just brought portal laundry detergent and did laundry along the way.

Definitely can be a once in a lifetime experience so live it up. Of course we are always on a budget, but at the same time I always feel like.. when is the next time you’re going to be doing this? You can make the money back later, but this experience is probably very rare.

Pick up a travel creditcard, use it and don’t carry much cash (that can be stolen).

Probably not the safest advice or something a parent would like to hear but…take some risks. Life is full of adventure. I also found that by doing that outside the norm (perhaps jumping a couple boundaries), I found myself discovering a lot more and experiencing a lot more than if I just did a tour and did the tourist stuff.

Keep in mind, security and safety won’t be the same, so of course use your best judgement. Usually you can find someone who speaks english, hostels can be booked the same day, don’t worry. I’ve had probably the scariest thing happen to me on one of my trips where I was robbed and left with nothing but clothes (no passport,money,identification,communication). You can bounce back and keep on your trip, just don’t freak out and figure out what you need to do.

Some good links:

• Nomadic Matt – Awesome travel blog with good tips
• Laundry kit (pack less clothes, do more laundry)
• Exofficio – awesome travel clothes that dry quick. washed in the morning and was dry when I got back.
• Couchsurfing – stay on people’s couches for free. also get to know a local.

You’re going to have a blast!!

As I child, my parents always took me on new adventures to see the outdoors. Whether it was camping at the big sur or taking me fishing by the lake. I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors and trying new things; however, come college it wasn’t the case.

I was at a crossroads graduating high school. I was looking at either going to University of Oregon or San Diego State University. As many of you may know, I went to San Diego State. At first impression, it was a party school and a total beach city. Boy was I right! The beginning of my college years were spent studying and socializing. It wasn’t until I started Forward Motion when I really took to the outdoors. As an organization we did skydiving, bungee jumping, hikes, kayaking and more! It started to fill the longing to be outdoors and explore.

I came across this video by one of my favorite videomakers, Devin Super Tramp. I thought I’d share this because it might inspire you as it has inspired me. Who wants to visit Moab, Utah? This guy! Perhaps something to add to the ‘ole bucket list.

A cette époque, environ 2 ans, j’étais à Paris. Il fut un temps que je n’oublierai jamais. Rencontrer de nouvelles personnes. L’apprentissage de la culture.Manger de la nourriture incroyable. Je veux revenir en arrière. J’ai besoin derevenir en arrière.

“Tout arrive en France.”

1 ) Bring shirts without skulls on them. Skulls are seen as the sign of satan and not a lot of parisians have shirts (or at least I didn’t see many) with skulls on them.
2 ) Only really need 1 pair sandals, 1 pair casual shoes, 1 pair nice shoes
3 ) Parisians dress more “metro”. More polos, more button-up shirts.
4 ) If you don’t use travel books often (or when you’ve traveled elsewhere), don’t bother bringing them. I found I googled most of the time or just walked around and stumbled on restaurants, bars, clubs, etc.
5 ) Cheap wine is your best friend. If you plan going out, it’s much better to buy wine to drink before as drinks in a club/bar are usually 7 euro+ for a bottle of beer whereas a bottle of wine will be 1.50+ euro.
6 ) Metro face. I know we like to smile, but especially for girls, if you smile, that means you are interested and then guys will stare at you non-stop…like creepy staring. They won’t look away. I don’t think it’s as big of a deal for guys.
7 ) Americans talk loud and take up the whole walkway and walk slow. Don’t shout. Notice the level that others talk in, try to be polite and stay around the same volume. If you are traveling in groups, try to stick to one side. Don’t take up the whole sidewalk.
8 ) If you usually drink a lot of water, bring some with you. Restaurants aren’t always so generous on water as they are in the United States. They usually expect you to drink wine or something.
9 ) Be patient. I went to a “fast food chain” called Quick (french mcdonalds). It is NOT quick. Markets are NOT quick. The pace of life is much slower, so be prepared.
10 ) A lot of people smoke cigarettes, so be prepared.
11 ) French people dance farther apart from one another. Also they listen to mostly electro music. Good thing, they listen to a lot of American music.

There is this one french bridge by the pont neuf that is kind of the local student spot/late night hangout where younger people go and drink wine and have a picnic. The bridge is called “LE PONT DES ARTS”. Tuesday night a couple of us went to this bridge to drink some wine, eat some food, and I brought my guitar. Let me just tell you that everyone brings a guitar..usually.. but this night I was one of only a few. It was funny that weird random strangers would walk up and listen, some asked if they could play, and some sang along. The night ended with a french rap duel. There were 2 pairs of french people that just went at it. It was awesome! French rap sounds really cool.

Also on a side note. The fast food hamburger resturant in paris called “QUICK” (the french version of mcdonalds) is not quick at all. It was very deceptive. I would name it l’escargot.

These are my last few hours in Paris and France for that matter. Thank you to all my new friends for all the great memories. I look forward to hanging out with you all in the states!

bon voyage mes amis

EDIT: Here is a video of the french rap session!

French Rap on LE PONT DES ARTS