First and foremost, I've pretty much never left the country. I went to a sox game in Toronto once. Even in the U.S. my travels are far from extensive. I went to Yellowstone when I was like 14 or 15 and I thought it was really great. My family was in shambles at the time (divorce was shortly after) which made the trip less enjoyable, but the area was awe-inspiring.

Now I'm no longer in school and don't have a job, I have some freedom. My sister is a big traveler and seems to love it. I think it's something I could enjoy.

Fast forward to sometime very recently when I was watching The Travel Channel's "No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain." Firstly, if you've never seen the show, give it a try. It's pretty entertaining. The premise is that each episode he visits a "place." "Places" have included China, Japan, India, Indonesia, and New Jersey. I would like to say countries but that one damn episode where he went to New Jersey makes it a little harder. There were probably others that weren't whole countries that he was visiting. I've only seen like 2.5 episodes.

In the episode I was watching he went to Indonesia. The hotel he stayed at was amazing. It looked to me like basically a small little "fort" almost. They were all on the water. Like, ON the water. I have pictures from the travel channel website below:








To me this looked amazing. Essentially, the ultimate get away. There's nothing to do but relax and enjoy yourself. Enjoy your mind. Think through the problems in your life. Relax. In the morning an employee brings you Indonesian pancakes from a boat. They pour a little syrup and a little cocunut milk on them. Delicious looking.

He also had durian in the episode, which was the subject of another recent anything goes thread of mine. Durian seems like something I would enjoy trying. I'm not planning on going to Indonesia for some smelly fruit, but it seems like a possible ancillary (???) benefit.


How can I make this happen? I want to stay at the exact place he stayed at, it seemed so great. According to the website the hotel was in "Garut, Java."

Is this a bad idea? Will English be enough to get around? Will it be expensive? Would I be wise to bring someone else, or go it alone? I can see benefits to both. It seems like the ultimate get away would probably not involve bringing someone familiar, so I am leaning towards alone. But I'm certainly a little nervous/intimidated to do something like that.

Any thoughts are welcome and appreciated.

Roy,

Thank you for telling me why I can do this as if I didn't already know. Really, super duper informative post.

my thoughts on things like this

don't be an "all talk" kind of guy. if you want to go, go.

do your homework though. Find out what places are safe for travelers, where not to go, what to avoid doing (anything illegal is usuallu obvious), etc.

but just do it, you don't need the validation of a bunch of degenerate poker players to approve it for you!

just plan your trip well and within your budget. Traveling is a great experience and really helps you grow when you see other cultures and the things people in other parts of the world struggle with on a daily basis. In some ways it makes you appreciate your life better and in other ways you will be envious of thier life.

so, go!

OK here is a quick list of amazing chill out getaways - I can personally recommend all these from my 'life before kids..'[TM] - and you don;t need anyhting but English for any of them (if you are feeling lazy)

Take an Air New Zealand flight from LA - Sydney OZ

You get stops on the way

stop at Fiji (many fantastic islands), Raratonga (so chilled out and friendly) and New Zealand itself - the best chill out bits are on the South Island - esp Abel Tasman national park and the area around Akaroa (bon's bay was great as I recall). In Oz, Sydney is an amazing city and you can then go up the east coast to the Arts Factory in Byron Bay, hire a jeep for Fraser Island (largest sand island in the world), check out the humpback whale mating grounds in the whitsundays and the greatbarrier reef (heck you could even say hi to godlikeroy) - the 'Oz Experience' buses are full of 18 years olds (mainly brits and scandanavians) which doesn't much appeal to me but might be just what you are looking for - obviously you can fund your stay with a bit of online poker too..dorms are cheapest but you can easily afford your own room when you travel which is a lot more comfortable

for next leg..
Bali is a dump to be honest, but the southern beach resorts in Thailand (Phuket etc) are great..
The most beautiful places in the world (and now safe to visit again) are the mountia ranges in Nepal - Annapurna range near Pokara is incredibly beatiful cheap and accessible, Katmandu a cool hang out at the end of the old hippie trail and you can do Everest Base camp if you feel like seeing one of the most special places on the planet ..

I have also spent a month chillin in Goa in India (haggled a 4 star hotel owner down to a pittance to stay there out of season) - lots of parties and dodgy motorcycle rides

Next leg
In Europe - Italy is gorgeous but lots of thieves, greek islands are good... Prague and the Baltic republics are cool and pretty cheap (try Estonia)
Scandanavia, Paris and London nice but expensive (I love Copenhagen but I have some really cool friends there so that helps)- Dublin well worth a visit too. Of course feel free to drop into Manchester if you like - great night life and good travel connections.

No need for anything other than English on the whole trip unless you go to Paris or off the beaten track in Greece or Italy.

That's what I would do anyway - sigh..

Pretty much everyone speaks english in the orient in the larger cities. Not sure about the indonesian countryside but if you're staying in a hotel/guesthouse-type place they're bound to speak english as 90% of the tourists will be aussies and yanks.

Crime is high-ish in indonesia if I remember, but I'm sure tourists will be treated well and I can't see any reason why you shouldn't go. Take a couple of weeks "off" and take a cheap flight...

You posted a similar question a few months back didn't you? C'mon dude, I'm gonna say the same thing I said last time. GO! Leave $5,000 at home with someone you trust to pay for bail/bribe and a plane ticket home from just about anywhere in the world.

Follow the trustafarian trail. Aimlessly wandering 18-25 year olds with more money than sense. Just go, no itinerary necessary. If you like it somewhere, hang out until you are tired of it. Bring a cheap laptop. It will probably get broken/stolen at some point, don't invest too much.

As for language, you are smart enough to pick up a 250 word vocabulary in a matter of a few days in just about any language, and English should get you by for anything more complicated than "Your daughter is beautiful" or "Officer please accept this tip as a gesture of my appreciation for your kindness, please buy your wife a nice pair of shoes" or whatever other handy phrases you might need.

Aimless wandering is inspiring. Get to it. You will regret it for ever if you don't do it now.