Around the World - Part 1

Traveling Brings Wisdom. Find out how to travel around the world.


traveling is knowing
Illustration on the window of a wintery airport in Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland.
The Amália Glacier
Passengers crowd along the bow to admire the Amália glacier
gaudy locomotive
Kuranda train locomotive in Kuranda.
Plane over bathers-Maho Beach-Sint Maarten
Plane about to land over bathers in the sea at Maho Beach.
track in sight
Mount Cook Ski Planes Ski Planes about to land on the Mount Cook runway.
Deck loaded
Crew member enters Navimag's colorful deck.
Of departure
Inhabitants of Malekula and other surrounding islands leave Wala with the cruise in the background.
Kuranda train
The Kuranda train winds its way through the jungle of Barron Falls National Park.
a short walk
Wayne McMillan next to the Pegasus of the Mount Cook Ski Planes that has just landed in the heights of the Southern Alps.
street makeup
A woman improvises makeup on a street in Shibuya.
Erika Mother
Jeepney overloaded with passengers and cargo makes a climb near El Nido in northern Palawan.
The Earth turns on itself every day. In this series of articles, you will find indispensable clarifications and advice for those who make a point of going around it at least once in their life.

Fernão Magalhães inaugurated what became the first circumnavigation trip (round-the-world trip) of Earth ever.

At that time, the world was still largely unknown to old Europe and, as was often the case with navigators, a large portion of the Portuguese discoverer's journey in search of a route via the West for spices was done without any reference.

After arriving at what he called the Pacific Ocean, Magellan estimated that sailing to the spice islands would take a few days. It ended up taking three long months.

During this period, while advancing to the West and “climbing” towards the equator, Magellan failed practically all the archipelagos and islands spread across the Pacific, not that it mattered to him beyond that, but many of them, today considered paradisiacal.

It anchored on the opposite side of the ocean, in the Marianas, in Guam and, shortly after, in Mactanin Philippines. On this island, he slightly abused his luck.

He tried to convert a chief named Lapu Lapu to Christianity. He was killed by a raging native tribe.

These days, it has everything to prevent a trip around the world from being, instead of problematic or dramatic, a highly rewarding experience.

Here are the first of many information and tips that we will give you so that you can make your dream come true.

1- Believing in the Round the World Trip. Valuing it with Determination

Faced with King Manuel I's repeated no to his proposal, Fernão Magalhães he didn't lower his arms.

Frustrated, he decided to sacrifice the patriotism he surely had after a half-life of battles and wounds in the service of the Portuguese Crown, moved to Seville in arms and baggage.

He only rested when he convinced King Carlos I to support his project of continuing his search for Asia through the West, which was then the only way to reach “Portuguese” spices without compromising what was agreed in the Treaty of Tordesillas.

Don't take the idea of ​​going around the world as a dream. There are many ways to make the idea a reality. If you can't do it one way, do it another way but don't be defeated by its apparent complexity.

In Portugal, and in general, in the Latin American sphere, travel continues to be seen too much as a kind of adventurous whim, almost as a luxury of which we should feel guilty.

Instead, as we can see in countless periods of discovery, in the English-speaking world and in northern Europe, in general, it is common for even younger teenagers to travel in small groups of friends with parental permission.

The Mythical Gap Year

Not to mention the famous Gap Year. The Gap Year consists of an interval between the end of secondary studies and the beginning of university life that teenagers reserve to appreciate themselves as people traveling.

It can also be applied between the end of university and professional life.

And, they do it with such conviction and pleasure that many start traveling whenever they can and repeat that kind of gap year between the end of university studies and the beginning of their professional life.

Any one of these different forms of Gap Year has a mandatory place in their resumes.

Above all, don't overlook the personal enrichment gained from any trip.

In particular, for a trip around the world. Do not hesitate to see it as an experience that will bring you knowledge and open-mindedness forever.

Dismiss any fears that you are wasting time or money.

2-A Freedom and the Money Needed for Around the World

If you have already got one à financial will

enjoy a break between jobs or create it and leave à adventure. Another solution is to obtain authorization for an unpaid leave at your company.

Has a way of working on account of another, via the Internet, simply respecting delivery deadlines? So develop and expose that hypothesis with foresight and determination. fight for aim.

If you are a self-employed professional, organize yourself as much as possible and prepare all possible technological solutions for teleworking on the road.

How many times has your company not already attracted clients and projects, detected problems and found solutions as a team, using videoconferencing and others ? 

Alert clients and business partners to less contact availability, prepare to wake up and work through the night due to time differences, and adjust as best you can à new reality. 

In our particular case, we made two trips of this type already counting on several one-day breaks, sometimes two, to program, create and deliver travel reports that we were delivering to various publications.

Apart from these breaks, we also systematically dealt with complementary tasks after dark and, in contact with Portugal during the night, with the sacrifice of pleasant dinners, outings and socializing at night.

Sometimes you can't have it all.

Either way, the privilege of going around the world makes up for most of the sacrifices.

In case you haven't collected enough money for Around the World

think of a plan to make it go as little as possible against your principles of life.

Many backpackers, mainly from the English-speaking world – especially travelers from the Australia – work six months or a year in a row in jobs without long-term responsibilities.

After this period of effort – let's call it that – they enjoy the reward of travel periods that they try to prolong as much as possible to maintain a healthy balance between spending, and pleasure and comfort.

Just as an example, on our travels, we met some who did it in bars in London. Others who fulfilled the painful part of that plan in the gold mines of the Australia.

The latter, gave more of themselves for short periods but earned much more than the former, and much faster.

During the NAVIMAG cruise, by the fjords of the Chile, we also met a couple of Guatemalans – yes, Guatemalans – who invested and earned money online in the stock market while traveling.

Nothing is guaranteed. But those who don't take the risk don't get anything. The most valuable secret is to make the most of the wealth of assets, knowledge and professional experience that one has.

If you have your own house, rent the house for the period you are traveling.

Ultimately, if you need to, sell some possessions that are not absolutely necessary.

Including a car that you can buy again once a work routine is established or re-established.

3 – How long should it take to make an Around the World?

It just depends on you, your financial capacity and the professional freedom you can secure.

In technical terms, if you choose to make the trip based on flights and a specific round-the-world ticket from an airline alliance – for example the Star Alliance of which TAP is a member – you will have a maximum limit of one year.

You can only extend this period if you purchase more than one ticket.

In this case, you'll be cheating the concept of around the world a bit since, as a rule, the first itinerary has to go around the real world.

Airline alliances also set minimum times to complete the turn, for example 10 days after your first international flight departs.

If you have financial and calendar availability, of course the ideal would always be to make this dream trip in a year. Carry it out with enough time to calmly explore each of your favorite places.

On Earth, scenarios and forms of life in everything different from ours. Striking raw material for discovery will not be lacking.

In our view, and still arising from past experiences, a year establishes a good psychological barrier.

Especially if you are traveling alone, it is very likely that after a year you will start to miss it.

From the family, the country, the house and the other people with whom you usually get along.

Longing and Discouragement vs Enthusiasm for Adventure and Discovery

Of course, this feeling also comes and goes and fluctuates along the journey. It fluctuates depending on the place and the experiences as you go by and, especially, the people you meet.

We have had periods of absolute ecstasy of exotic discovery in Vanuatu where fascination drowned out any other feeling.

We also had phases of greater existential emptiness and nostalgia.

It happened, for example, in certain islands of the French Polynesia ou na Grande Terre (New Caledonia) where it was more difficult for us to feel and be part of genuine local life.

On Rails

Train Travel: The World Best on Rails

No way to travel is as repetitive and enriching as going on rails. Climb aboard these disparate carriages and trains and enjoy the best scenery in the world on Rails.
Maho Beach, Sint Maarten

The Jet-powered Caribbean Beach

At first glance, Princess Juliana International Airport appears to be just another one in the vast Caribbean. Successive landings skimming Maho beach that precedes its runway, jet take-offs that distort the faces of bathers and project them into the sea, make it a special case.
Jet Lag (Part 1)

Avoid Post-Flight Turbulence

When we fly across more than 3 time zones, the internal clock that regulates our body gets confused. The most we can do is alleviate the discomfort we feel until it gets right again.
Boat Trips

For Those Becoming Internet Sick

Hop on and let yourself go on unmissable boat trips like the Philippine archipelago of Bacuit and the frozen sea of ​​the Finnish Gulf of Bothnia.
Alice Springs to Darwin, Australia

Stuart Road, on its way to Australia's Top End

Do Red Center to the tropical Top End, the Stuart Highway road travels more than 1.500km lonely through Australia. Along this route, the Northern Territory radically changes its look but remains faithful to its rugged soul.
Travel does not cost

On the next trip, don't let your money fly

Not only the time of year and in advance with which we book flights, stays, etc. influence the cost of a trip. The payment methods we use at destinations can make a big difference.
Effortless Traveling

Book Comfortable Stays for Your Finances Too

As with flights, booking accommodation has its secrets. Find out what the strategies are to ensure a welcoming and financially rewarding stay.
Shows

The World on Stage

All over the world, each nation, region or town and even neighborhood has its own culture. When traveling, nothing is more rewarding than admiring, live and in loco, which makes them unique.
unmissable roads

Great Routes, Great Trips

With pompous names or mere road codes, certain roads run through really sublime scenarios. From Road 66 to the Great Ocean Road, they are all unmissable adventures behind the wheel.
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.
Samoa  

In Search of the Lost Time

For 121 years, it was the last nation on Earth to change the day. But Samoa realized that his finances were behind him and, in late 2012, he decided to move back west on the LID - International Date Line.
Effortless Traveling

Sync with Check In and Check Out Hours

After a long flight or sequence of flights, he arrives at the hotel on a slop, but has to wait to be admitted to his room. Find out what you can do to prevent or soften this drama.
Chã das Caldeiras, Fogo Island Cape Verde

A "French" Clan at the Mercy of Fire

In 1870, a Count born in Grenoble on his way to Brazilian exile, made a stopover in Cape Verde where native beauties tied him to the island of Fogo. Two of his children settled in the middle of the volcano's crater and continued to raise offspring there. Not even the destruction caused by the recent eruptions deters the prolific Montrond from the “county” they founded in Chã das Caldeiras.    
Passo do Lontra, Miranda, Brazil

The Flooded Brazil of Passo do Lontra

We are on the western edge of Mato Grosso do Sul but bush, on these sides, is something else. In an extension of almost 200.000 km2, the Brazil it appears partially submerged, by rivers, streams, lakes and other waters dispersed in vast alluvial plains. Not even the panting heat of the dry season drains the life and biodiversity of Pantanal places and farms like the one that welcomed us on the banks of the Miranda River.
Castro Laboreiro, Portugal  

From Castro de Laboreiro to Raia da Serra Peneda - Gerês

We arrived at (i) the eminence of Galicia, at an altitude of 1000m and even more. Castro Laboreiro and the surrounding villages stand out against the granite monumentality of the mountains and the Planalto da Peneda and Laboreiro. As do its resilient people who, sometimes handed over to Brandas and sometimes to Inverneiras, still call these stunning places home.
Big Zimbabwe

Great Zimbabwe, Endless Mystery

Between the 1500th and XNUMXth centuries, Bantu peoples built what became the largest medieval city in sub-Saharan Africa. From XNUMX onwards, with the passage of the first Portuguese explorers arriving from Mozambique, the city was already in decline. Its ruins, which inspired the name of the present-day Zimbabwean nation, have many unanswered questions.  
Izamal, Mexico

The Holy, Yellow and Beautiful Mexican City

Until the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, Izamal was a center of worship for the supreme Mayan god Itzamná and Kinich Kakmó, the one of the sun. Gradually, the invaders razed the various pyramids of the natives. In its place, they built a large Franciscan convent and a prolific colonial houses, with the same solar tone in which the now Catholic city shines.
Cape Coast, Ghana

The Divine Purification Festival

The story goes that, once, a plague devastated the population of Cape Coast of today Ghana. Only the prayers of the survivors and the cleansing of evil carried out by the gods will have put an end to the scourge. Since then, the natives have returned the blessing of the 77 deities of the traditional Oguaa region with the frenzied Fetu Afahye festival.
Fish River Canyon, Namíbia

The Namibian Guts of Africa

When nothing makes you foreseeable, a vast river ravine burrows the southern end of the Namíbia. At 160km long, 27km wide and, at intervals, 550 meters deep, the Fish River Canyon is the Grand Canyon of Africa. And one of the biggest canyons on the face of the Earth.
Tonga, Western Samoa, Polynesia

XXL Pacific

For centuries, the natives of the Polynesian islands subsisted on land and sea. Until the intrusion of colonial powers and the subsequent introduction of fatty pieces of meat, fast food and sugary drinks have spawned a plague of diabetes and obesity. Today, while much of Tonga's national GDP, Western Samoa and neighbors is wasted on these “western poisons”, fishermen barely manage to sell their fish.
hippopotami, chobe national park, botswana
Safari
Chobe NP, Botswana

Chobe: A River on the Border of Life with Death

Chobe marks the divide between Botswana and three of its neighboring countries, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. But its capricious bed has a far more crucial function than this political delimitation.
Herd in Manang, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 8th Manang, Nepal

Manang: the Last Acclimatization in Civilization

Six days after leaving Besisahar we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). Located at the foot of the Annapurna III and Gangapurna Mountains, Manang is the civilization that pampers and prepares hikers for the ever-dreaded crossing of Thorong La Gorge (5416 m).
Visitors at Talisay Ruins, Negros Island, Philippines
Architecture & Design
Talisay City, Philippines

Monument to a Luso-Philippine Love

At the end of the 11th century, Mariano Lacson, a Filipino farmer, and Maria Braga, a Portuguese woman from Macau, fell in love and got married. During the pregnancy of what would be her 2th child, Maria succumbed to a fall. Destroyed, Mariano built a mansion in his honor. In the midst of World War II, the mansion was set on fire, but the elegant ruins that endured perpetuate their tragic relationship.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Adventure
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
Camel Racing, Desert Festival, Sam Sam Dunes, Rajasthan, India
Ceremonies and Festivities
Jaisalmer, India

There's a Feast in the Thar Desert

As soon as the short winter breaks, Jaisalmer indulges in parades, camel races, and turban and mustache competitions. Its walls, alleys and surrounding dunes take on more color than ever. During the three days of the event, natives and outsiders watch, dazzled, as the vast and inhospitable Thar finally shines through.
Fort São Filipe, Cidade Velha, Santiago Island, Cape Verde
Cities
Cidade Velha, Cape Verde

Cidade Velha: the Ancient of the Tropico-Colonial Cities

It was the first settlement founded by Europeans below the Tropic of Cancer. In crucial times for Portuguese expansion to Africa and South America and for the slave trade that accompanied it, Cidade Velha became a poignant but unavoidable legacy of Cape Verdean origins.

Meal
World Food

Gastronomy Without Borders or Prejudice

Each people, their recipes and delicacies. In certain cases, the same ones that delight entire nations repel many others. For those who travel the world, the most important ingredient is a very open mind.
Big Freedia and bouncer, Fried Chicken Festival, New Orleans
Culture
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Big Freedia: in Bounce Mode

New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz and jazz sounds and resonates in its streets. As expected, in such a creative city, new styles and irreverent acts emerge. Visiting the Big Easy, we ventured out to discover Bounce hip hop.
Swimming, Western Australia, Aussie Style, Sun rising in the eyes
Sport
Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

In 1853, Busselton was equipped with one of the longest pontoons in the world. World. When the structure collapsed, the residents decided to turn the problem around. Since 1996 they have been doing it every year. Swimming.
Bark Europa, Beagle Channel, Evolution, Darwin, Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego
Traveling
Beagle Channel, Argentina

Darwin and the Beagle Channel: on the Theory of the Evolution Route

In 1833, Charles Darwin sailed aboard the "Beagle" through the channels of Tierra del Fuego. His passage through these southern confines shaped the revolutionary theory he formulated of the Earth and its species
Creel, Chihuahua, Carlos Venzor, collector, museum
Ethnic
Chihuahua a Creel, Chihuahua, Mexico

On Creel's Way

With Chihuahua behind, we point to the southwest and to even higher lands in the north of Mexico. Next to Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, we visited a Mennonite elder. Around Creel, we lived for the first time with the Rarámuri indigenous community of the Serra de Tarahumara.
Rainbow in the Grand Canyon, an example of prodigious photographic light
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Natural Light (Part 1)

And Light was made on Earth. Know how to use it.

The theme of light in photography is inexhaustible. In this article, we give you some basic notions about your behavior, to start with, just and only in terms of geolocation, the time of day and the time of year.
Trycicles, Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Filipinos
History
Bacolod, Philippines

Sweet Philippines

Bacolod is the capital of Negros, the island at the center of Philippine sugar cane production. Traveling through the Far East and between history and contemporaneity, we savor the fascinating heart of the most Latin of Asia.
São Tomé Ilha, São Tomé and Principe, North, Roça Água Funda
Islands
São Tomé, São Tomé and Principe

Through the Tropical Top of São Tomé

With the homonymous capital behind us, we set out to discover the reality of the Agostinho Neto farm. From there, we take the island's coastal road. When the asphalt finally yields to the jungle, São Tomé had confirmed itself at the top of the most dazzling African islands.
Boats on ice, Hailuoto Island, Finland.
Winter White
Hailuoto, Finland

A Refuge in the Gulf of Bothnia

During winter, the island of Hailuoto is connected to the rest of Finland by the country's longest ice road. Most of its 986 inhabitants esteem, above all, the distance that the island grants them.
José Saramago in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain, Glorieta de Saramago
Literature
Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain (España)

José Saramago's Basalt Raft

In 1993, frustrated by the Portuguese government's disregard for his work “The Gospel According to Jesus Christ”, Saramago moved with his wife Pilar del Río to Lanzarote. Back on this somewhat extraterrestrial Canary Island, we visited his home. And the refuge from the portuguese censorship that haunted the writer.
Sunset, Avenue of Baobabs, Madagascar
Nature
Morondava, Avenue of Baobabs, Madagascar

The Malagasy Way to Dazzle

Out of nowhere, a colony of baobab trees 30 meters high and 800 years old flanks a section of the clayey and ocher road parallel to the Mozambique Channel and the fishing coast of Morondava. The natives consider these colossal trees the mothers of their forest. Travelers venerate them as a kind of initiatory corridor.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Vila Velha Paraná, Paraná Tropeirismo Route
Natural Parks
Vila Velha Park a Castro, Paraná

On the Paraná Tropeirismo Route

Between Ponta Grossa and Castro, we travel in Campos Gerais do Paraná and throughout its history. For the past of the settlers and drovers who put the region on the map. Even that of Dutch immigrants who, in more recent times and, among many others, enriched the ethnic assortment of this Brazilian state.
UNESCO World Heritage
Volcanoes

Mountains of Fire

More or less prominent ruptures in the earth's crust, volcanoes can prove to be as exuberant as they are capricious. Some of its eruptions are gentle, others prove annihilating.
Correspondence verification
Characters
Rovaniemi, Finland

From the Finnish Lapland to the Arctic. A Visit to the Land of Santa

Fed up with waiting for the bearded old man to descend down the chimney, we reverse the story. We took advantage of a trip to Finnish Lapland and passed through its furtive home.
The Dominican Republic Balnear de Barahona, Balneario Los Patos
Beaches
Barahona, Dominican Republic

The Bathing Dominican Republic of Barahona

Saturday after Saturday, the southwest corner of the Dominican Republic goes into decompression mode. Little by little, its seductive beaches and lagoons welcome a tide of euphoric people who indulge in a peculiar rumbear amphibian.
holy plain, Bagan, Myanmar
Religion
Bagan, Myanmar

The Plain of Pagodas, Temples and other Heavenly Redemptions

Burmese religiosity has always been based on a commitment to redemption. In Bagan, wealthy and fearful believers continue to erect pagodas in hopes of winning the benevolence of the gods.
Train Kuranda train, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
On Rails
Cairns-Kuranda, Australia

Train to the Middle of the Jungle

Built out of Cairns to save miners isolated in the rainforest from starvation by flooding, the Kuranda Railway eventually became the livelihood of hundreds of alternative Aussies.
Nissan, Fashion, Tokyo, Japan
Society
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's fashion

In ultra-populous and hyper-coded Japan, there is always room for more sophistication and creativity. Whether national or imported, it is in the capital that they begin to parade the new Japanese looks.
Casario, uptown, Fianarantsoa, ​​Madagascar
Daily life
Fianarantsoa, Madagascar

The Malagasy City of Good Education

Fianarantsoa was founded in 1831 by Ranavalona Iª, a queen of the then predominant Merina ethnic group. Ranavalona Iª was seen by European contemporaries as isolationist, tyrant and cruel. The monarch's reputation aside, when we enter it, its old southern capital remains as the academic, intellectual and religious center of Madagascar.
Pisteiro San in action at Torra Conservancy, Namibia
Wildlife
Palmwag, Namíbia

In Search of Rhinos

We set off from the heart of the oasis generated by the Uniab River, home to the largest number of black rhinos in southwest Africa. In the footsteps of a bushman tracker, we follow a stealthy specimen, dazzled by a setting with a Martian feel.
Napali Coast and Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii Wrinkles
Scenic Flights
napali coast, Hawaii

Hawaii's Dazzling Wrinkles

Kauai is the greenest and rainiest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is also the oldest. As we explore its Napalo Coast by land, sea and air, we are amazed to see how the passage of millennia has only favored it.