One of the most common questions we get is about financing our travels. We left Shanghai, our apartment there and our jobs in May of 2009. It is now July, 2010 and we’ve traveled for over a year. It is a fair and understandable question when people ask if we are secret millionaires or if we recently inherited some money. The answer to both of those questions is a firm, “no.” How we make our money is simple.

Website funds:
We make some money on our website, but to be honest we spend a lot of time and money on the site so we do only slightly better than break even on that. Some costs associated with the website include: the hosting fee ($250 for two years, roughly) our pro flickr account ($25 a year) and the amount of man hours put into developing and maintaining the site and the blog. We make money on the site by selling some ad space on the blog, which is unobtrusive and we are very particular about who we will allow to advertise on our site. We turn down some offers for cash in exchange for links simply because the products would not match our reader’s interests or have anything to do with traveling or quitting one’s job.

Income:
Lauren makes money as a writer. She has a few solid contracts that help her make enough money to travel full time as well as cover her college loan payments each month. Meanwhile, Mike was able to save more than half of his earned income in 2008, meaning he is living off his savings. Considering we both made less than $30,000 in 2008, it is possible to travel for cheap on savings if you don’t spend money on frivolous things, or live above one’s means.

Lifestyle:
One of the main ways we save money is to live well below your means. We do this by living overseas, where we don’t have cell phone costs, or outrageous cable and internet fees. We don’t have an overpriced apartment, car payments or insurance fees due each month. Essentially, the money we spend each month living abroad is the total of our food, transportation costs and apartment. We live like the locals do (lower-middle class locals) and save a bundle by avoiding expat eateries and entertainment. For a month in Shanghai we were spending a total of around $350 each, counting everything from random purchases to rent to food costs. If you make $20-25,000 a year and only spend $350 of that each month, you are looking at quite a savings over time.

Traveling versus Staying Home:
Meanwhile, traveling full time is cheap because your only costs are lodging, food and transportation. Often, people spend most of their travel money on lodging, we avoid this by camping whenever possible or staying at hostels for less than $15 a night. In Asia, we spent around $6 a night and that often included dinner. We spend, on average, around $6-700 a month traveling full time abroad. These costs are higher than would be necessary if one traveled more slowly. However, most of these funds went to train and bus tickets. When we were moving slowly we spent roughly $500 a month. For most Americans, that is far less than they spend a month living in an apartment or home with a dozen or so monthly costs.

Traveling for the past year has been quite an enlightening experience. We left our home in Shanghai on May 1st, 2009 and are still on the road (now in America) traveling and taking in as much as possible from the world’s various and diverse cultures. One thing that has struck me recently is the extreme amount of marketing and advertising in the USA. We’re completely saturated in capitalism, and I don’t say this in a Marxist way, but in a ‘is this a product of our culture, or our political system?’ kind of way.

In China, marketing was only just emerging in full force. I remember distinctly the day cabs in Shanghai were outfitted with miniature TV screens on the back of the driver and passenger seats. They didn’t necessarily even market specific products so much as provide a venue for advertising in the hopes companies would catch on. By the time we left Shanghai come five months after the insulation, we had screeching ads blaring at us as we zoomed across the city.

In the ‘Stans we found a distinct lack of advertising, and in Turkmenistan we were standing at the bus stop one day and it suddenly hit us – “They don’t have Coca Cola here!” It was surprising, and yet wonderfully relieving. Also, the buses were not plastered in erectile dysfunction ads or maxi pad logos. It was also very nice.

Once we reached Europe we were no longer used to seeing ads at all, and were a bit taken aback by the billboards that blocked the view from the train. Although it was done a bit more tastefully than in China, the trains did contain a few little marketing stickers here and there. By and large, we were not overly saturated or bombarded.

In November we entered the USA in Florida and the wave of advertising and marketing was a choking shock. It seemed like too much, too fast, and none of it seemed relevant or even applicable to where it was being advertised. It was almost like companies plaster their logos over as much of the country as possible. Take, for example, Sonic (fast food). They advertise nation wide even though they don’t have restaurants in every state. Or, and this is what really began to irritate me when we returned to the USA, the radio seemed to play about two songs before cutting to 5 commercials, and we found the same to be true of TV. We actually timed it one afternoon while watching a one hour show—15+ minutes of commercials!

In recent weeks the extreme and overt advertising in the US has become a real drag. I’m tired of hearing about all these products. When I finally do get to the store I’m so burnt out on this stuff that I feel inclined to buy the products that advertise the least—thus rewarding them for not annoying me. I feel like I’m a 90 year old grumpy woman with a ‘get off my property’ agenda, but in all honesty cable TV costs a lot of money, why do I still have to listen to commercials? I have to pay for internet, so why do I still have to look at ads? Isn’t there a way to get these irritating marketing people out of my life?—the temporary solution is, at least for now, to head back overseas where I happily have no idea what new flavor Coca Cola is launching, or which washing detergent has more or less H20 in it. I also don’t want to know which cell phone company covers more of America, as I’ll never get a cell phone again (those horrible, soulless companies) nor which deodorant leaves less white crap on my black shirts (they all clog your pores with aluminum and eventually cause lymph nodes to be blocked). Anyways, I want out of this world of saturated media, and back into a place Coca-Cola free.

In recent months I’ve come to realize what my psychology (and statistics) professors meant by ‘Negative Response Theory.’ Essentially, people who are unhappy with a given situation are more likely to go out of their way to voice their opinions than people who are happy with the same situation. This skews all polls (as people with a grumpier outlook on the situation will go out of their way to participate while content people won’t) and makes having a blog somewhat unnerving. Here’s what I mean:

We write a lot of posts about the places we visit, and the people we talk to or the experiences we have. Its meant to be a fun travel website that really documents our journeys and has a bit of information on what we experienced, heard or saw. Nevertheless, total strangers go out of their way to point out flaws in the website. It is very rare that a total stranger goes out of his or her way to point out something good. Perhaps our site is total crap, or perhaps this is a perfect example of negative response theory. It is depressing because our culture trains us to be critical thinkers, which most of us view as a good thing, but some people just take it too far. Now we have a nation of amateur lawyers trying to find holes in every argument, conversation or passing phrase. To an extent this is healthy, but by and large I’m starting to think that Americans can’t enjoy anything anymore because they never stop questioning things.

But, and this is why it is depressing, Americans hardly ever seem to take action. I hear people complain all around me about the government, taxes, their township, etc., but instead of taking meaningful action they vent their frustrations by leaving negative and critical feedback everywhere they visit on the web. The web is now the world’s largest therapist as it offers a way to interact with the world by venting your built up frustrations and redirecting your anger at more meaningless (and therefore manageable) problems. For example, we’ve had a lot of people attack a post we did on a one day trip to Malaga. People go out of their way to leave an ‘I disagree!” comment, often without even reading the original blog post! We reserve the right to approve or deny all comments posted on our site, and are sad to report that some comments were so full of hatred and vile that we did not ‘ok’ them. We have children reading the site for goodness sakes! But the real issue is why someone, anyone, would get so upset about a random post on a random travel site. Methinks the issue lies elsewhere, but it doesn’t stop be from losing a lot of the passion I used to have for writing these posts. In a country where freedom of speech reached its pinnacle, I feel completely suppressed because it no longer matters what I say– someone will exercise their right to speak against it, even if they have no idea why! Here’s what I mean:

See, the poor guy was just trying to play ‘Dust in the Wind’ on his fake guitar. He isn’t hurting anyone, and yet people went out of their way to be rude. If they didn’t like it they should have navigated away from the page, which is what I suggest you do if you don’t like our website.  Nobody is forcing you to read it, after all.

Trying to Hug a Redwood

I’ve always wanted to go to the Redwood National Forest in Northern California.  While we were out in the Pacific Northwest, we decided that it would be the perfect time to go.  So we packed up the car and picked up some friends in Eugene on the way down.

After the Greyback experience in Oregon, we packed up and crossed the border into California the next day.  Immediately, we were forced to pull over and go through a sort of customs.  We were a little concerned, as we had an entire car full of trash containing beer and wine bottles from the previous night of camping.  Luckily, a very mild Department of Agriculture employee walked out and asked us if we were carrying any fruits into California.  I paused, not wanting to get the apples we had saved for breakfast confiscated by the Agriculture Gestapo, but said, “we have some apples.”  Apparently, you can not transport citrus or avocados into California. Luckily we got away with the apples and continued our weekend venture down to the Redwood Forest.

The drive down to Crescent City was beautiful.  We went through several forests and drove down roads which wrapped around downs and large hills for the duration of a little more than an hours drive.  First thing we noticed was the curve speed / warning signs in California are not really recommendations like most places in the US.  You pretty much have to go exactly that speed, or less, around the curves to avoid rolling your car.  It was a pretty intense drive.  Right before you reach Crescent City, if you are coming form the North, you will go through a redwood forest grove with a small pull over area for cars.  We highly recommend you stop here and take the 3-5 mile hike through the groves.  It was well worth it and had trees that were completely different than elsewhere in the forest.

Fallen Redwood

We also did the famous “drive-thru tree,” which the Park Ranger was pretty upset about and said they would never do that to a tree.  However, this tree is on private property and it is still a good experience to drive an entire vehicle, in this case a van, through a tree with plenty of room to spare.    There are signs all over Highway 101 for the tree; the 101 is a highly recommended as it goes right through the national and state parks.  Make sure you stop at the information center in Crescent City as the rangers there will give you the perfect trip tailored to you time schedule.

They also recommended several camping spots in the State Parks.  We chose one and drove off 101 for about 30 minutes and came to a cliff overlooking the Pacific.  We parked our car, and hiked all of our supplies up the hill to find a phenomenal campsite surrounded by redwoods with a view of the ocean.  We could hear the Pacific rolling below us all night long while laughing and talking over a few drinks.  The majesty of the redwoods and their unworldly presence was an amazing experience making it easy to understand how sci-fi and fantasy writers have used the Redwood Forest as inspiration for their books and movies.  Planet Endor, in Return of the Jedi was filmed in the Redwood National Forest.  A perfect set for what truly looks like another world.

What better way to spend the Armageddon, then waiting it out safely underground? Apparently I’m not the first person to think of this. Washington State is renown for its end-of-worlders, and recently I met someone who worked in construction, building underground shelters for folks who live in constant fear. These shelters, or “UGs” as the builders call them, cost more than most people’s primary homes, and are built to withstand large eruptions or man-made blasts. They are usually constructed under a barn or other large object to conceal construction, and are stocked with yummy end-of-days foods like dehydrated eggs and grains in large 5 gallon tubs. The end of the world business is quite a lucrative one, apparently, as these specialty tubs of food and supplies have a huge profit margin. The Sea Egg (in the image to the left) is just such an underground shelter. It is essentially a bubble deep under ground, where earthquakes, eruptions or anything else cannot penetrate. The home can be built by two people with re-bar and concrete, and the plans can be bought online or else a professional team can add the greater comforts (and style) if you hire it done.

But underground homes are not the only alternative should Armageddon strike. Underwater homes are just one additional alternative. Ocean real-estate is cheap (aka-free) and the construction costs are not as steep as you might think. Already, chic underwater hotels are attracting attention internationally. you simply run your boat or swim out to a pipe in the water, climb down the pipe into your home. An additional model has people swimming or scuba diving down into a wet room and coming up inside your underwater home. This alternative is a ways off, and in the testing stages on most designs. For now, the do-it-yourself underground sea egg, or hiring a local UG construction company may be more practical and logical.

Yes, we have a cult in my home town. No, I’m not a member. But I do find it endlessly amusing that the town literally lives and breathes because Judy Zebra Knight decided to put her spirit channeling compound smack dab in the middle of Washington’s most backward real-estate. The cult, which is based around the premise that Judy (known as J-Z Knight) channels a 35,000 year old Lemurian warrior who, like the character Lyn Cassedy in The Men Who Stare At Goats, was a soldier who decided to forgo war in favor of teaching love, acceptance and following an egalitarian dream. Ramtha taught his followers and then ascended into the clouds, only to reappear some 35,000 years later in 1977 to the Rosewell born Miss Knight.

Because the Ramsters (as they are locally known) are such a loving and kind group of folks, they’ve been telling everyone in the area about their ascended warrior-turned-preacher friend who only appears through a blond woman in her 50s.  Here are some bits of information about the cult that you wont find elsewhere: 1) There is a giant maze on J-Z Knight’s compound. The faithful are put in blindfolds and released in the maze, the spirit of Ramtha is said to guide them out. However, we know from having talked with folks in the cult, that people stand atop the maze and whisper directions to the people lost inside; 2) Ramtha claimed to be a warrior 35,000 years ago leading 2.5 million soldiers into battle. This number far exceeds the actual number of human beings alive 35,000 years ago.  Oops; 3) The Ramsters, despite their message of ‘You as God’ believe very strongly in the end of days, and to that regard are building underground shelters around Washington (more to come on that in a blog later this month). And, 4) the cult has attracted a huge following, which has expanded the town and provided us ultimately with a Wal-Mart. But to counter the surge in Ramster followers, churches of more traditional faiths are springing up all over the area, so a virtual spiritual war is taking place in the little, formerly sleepy town of Yelm. You can see this played out everywhere. In the town’s only movie theater there are ads before the films for Christian schools and church programs that follow ads about hair stylists who have the Ramster symbol on their ad, subtly in the corner but a clear signal to fellow Ramsters to get their hair cut at the Ramster salon rather than other salons.

So, while you try to sleep tonight, think of a place that is deep in the evergreen forest, surrounded by meth labs and poverty, and in the middle a shiny white french colonial palace full of people worshiping a 35,000 year-old warrior turned ghost.

FYI: WE HAVE AN UPCOMING INTERVIEW WITH A MEMBER OF THE RAMTHA SCHOOL OF ENLIGHTENMENT. CHECK BACK TO READ HIS RESPONSE TO THIS POST, AND MORE.

This isn’t one of those hippy diatribes about the body corporate, or a quasi-scientific spiel about the plausible connection between tumors and constant reception (although I hear that’s a serious upcoming issue). Its just a simple explanation about one person’s decision not to own a cell phone, and why.

First off, the commitment. I don’t own anything else I have to sign away years of my life for. Two year contracts! You have to be kidding! And if you move somewhere that isn’t under their coverage they’ll drag out the process making you pay for months on end while they ‘verify’ your move. And you have to send them copies of your bills with your new address on them! Why not my birth certificate, or my dental records? I moved to China and Verizon took months to let me out of my contract! No wonder commitment is scary– you no longer want a service and yet you could be forced to keep it until your contract is up. Now that’s harsh!

Second, the lack of serenity. I don’t think I’m that important that I need to be reachable at all times. Also, being able to be in the moment is hard enough with all the ADD distractions, I don’t need to be texting someone or twittering how my lunch is going in order to enjoy it. Every once in a while I can watch a TV show or take a walk without being interrupted or snapping a picture of the moment and sending it to a friend with cute little smiley faces made out of parenthesis and colons.

Third, planning is lost. Without cell phones none of my friends seem to be able to make a plan and carry it through. They say, “ok, text me directions and call when you get there” and I try to explain that we’ll have to plan ahead and just trust that the other person will be there. I know it’s a lot to ask, but hey, our parent’s generation managed to meet their friends at the milkshake café or whatever without carrying a phone in their pocket.

Finally, and this may seem pedantic, but the ring tones are just a ridiculous way to accessorize and/or feel special. I don’t need to impress my friends with a shiny bejeweled talk box that has Morgan Freeman’s voice telling me who is calling and doubles as a camera, calculator, thermometer, organizer, computer, and voice recorder. I just don’t need more stuff distracting me from real life and interrupting me when I’m enjoying it.

Good news for travel buffs, Lonely Planet now has a program that features great travel blogs. This program has exploded in the travel community and you can now see select posts from ATC on related Lonely Planet destination pages. If you have not heard of Lonely Planet, it is a company well known to most travelers for their comprehensive guides that cover nearly 100% of the world (even Antarctica!).  For the international traveler there really is not another guide company that comes close to LP in terms of information at the country and major city level. We use LP guides when traveling abroad, and have quite a collection of their books, including some of their compilation books composed by travelers who have interesting stories to share.

Sunset

Now Abandon the Cube is part of this great endeavor to make travel information more accessible. On each Lonely Planet destination page you’ll find info on each country, including links to our blog, where applicable. There are not alot of people, for example, who have spent significant amounts of time in Turkmenistan, but we have. Thus, our blog adds new information and insight to the Lonely Planet reader. That’s how we help make Lonely Planet better.

If you found our site from Lonely Planet, welcome to ATC! Subscribe to the RSS feed for weekly blogs sent to your email, or you can follow us on facebook and twitter. Alternatively, check out the photo album, our guides, newsletters and info on the 2010 Mongol Rally.

So its 2010 and to celebrate we’re looking for the top ten amateur travel sites on the internet. Help us find them!

We’re looking for competitive, comprehensive, totally awesome amateur travel sites that are more than mere narratives of people’s personal adventures overseas. We’re looking for sites with country information, maps, and relevant info and pictures on the places they have been. If your travel site matches this criteria let us know, we want to find the best, non-corporate travel sites out there!

We also support some other cube abandoning travelers on our Links page, check these guys out, they have a lot to offer.

Check back to see a top ten list once we find the best amateur travel sites on the web for you!

Dear President Obama,

In response to your recent town hall meeting, I have a question I’d like to pose to you as a concerned citizen. Why is Amtrak such a mess?

I am an avid traveler. I have traveled extensively in countries across Asia and Europe. Our blog and route maps act as a testament to how far we have gone. We travel only by land, thus we experience the transportation networks of Asia and Europe, and the waterways of the Atlantic. While we have had some amazing adventures (and some misadventures) on international rail, I’m here to report, Mr. President, that the American rail network is one of the most pathetic, antiquated, and embarrassing systems I have ever encountered. Since I travel for a living, this is no small statement.

To solve the problem of why Amtrak is in such horrible disarray, we must take a step back form the problem at hand to assess the environment around it. America is so spread out that its citizens almost require a car to get from home to school or work. Since the citizens of the country live so far apart, and so far from necessities, having one’s own mode of transportation became imperative. Add to that the American sense of independence and you have a nation of people who ignored the rail network after the “west was won.” But ignoring the rail can no longer be afforded. Now is the time to fix it, and, as you have mentioned at tedium, your social programs are aiming to surpass your hero’s, President Roosevelt.

Inner city communities are being reclaimed across America and real-estate prices downtown are now surpassing the suburbs. Could it be that middle-class Americans actually want to dwell in America’s cities again? This would be a huge feat that owed thanks to many people. To complete the picture, however, these people need a way to get around inside the city without their cars. A way that is more convenient, not less so, than driving. We have bus networks in most major cities in America that at the least attempt to run hourly routes. Let me assure you, Mr. President, that buses in Shanghai, China run ever ten minutes making it the most convenient and least expensive way to get from home to work, or anywhere for that matter. Should that example displease you, consider the tram network in Sarajevo where anyone can get from anywhere in the city to another place simply using the city’s extensive tram and bus networks (and all for a VERY affordable price and with timely, rotating schedules). Do you consider those destinations third world? In terms of transportation they surpass us.

As an American hoping to get from Seattle, WA to Austin, TX I was left with few options. I could take an Amtrak train from Washington to Chicago, and then transfer to a southerly train or rent a car. The trip would take roughly a week. That same distance could be traveled in Russia in 2-3 days on the ground without renting a car. Where does that country fall on your “progress” scale?

As we lead the world in carbon emissions (no small feat since China seems to want to beat us on that score) your government could help by expanding the Amtrak network, making it more efficient and prioritizing it over the cargo trains that dominate the US tracks. Amtrak trains are the last priority on America’s rail network, and often spend hours waiting for cargo trains to leave the tracks before they can chug along lamely behind. And never mind that the Amtrak cars were designed to move cargo themselves, not humans. Having spent several days on Amtrak trains, I can testify that it is a trial no human should endure. The car in which I was seated to cross from Seattle to Milwaukee (a 40+ hour journey) had no heat in the middle of January, no functioning toilet, no electrical outlets, and a flickering light overhead. Does that remind anyone else of a cattle car? Trains in Mongolia have bunks stacked three high that are comfortable and clean, have hot running water, heat, electrical outlets and even food services passing through the cars. Riding Amtrak, I felt like a convicted felon (and indeed I was traveling with several recently released felons it turned out, since Amtrak attracts so little attention by our government it is often used to transport illegal items and questionable folks on questionable missions). The train in Mongolia, on comparison, was a Hyatt next to a Howard Johnson.

It was only after several accidents that the American trains were equipped with safety measures to protect the human cargo. Finally, why does the amazing experience of riding the rails cost nearly as much as a flight? Where is the money going? It certainly isn’t going into prioritizing passenger transport over cargo, or in the upkeep of the trains. The trains I rode in Uzbekistan were cleaner, more equipped and better staffed, and that country certainly isn’t on first world status in the US government’s opinion. So, where is the money going? Mr. President, your government wants accountability- account for why our transportation network is in such shambles that the only real option for a working adult to get across the nation is to fly- thus increasing carbon emissions, using precious fuel, bankrupting our citizens, and making holidays a nightmare? Why do third world nations have better transportation systems? Buying a car in America (and thus putting yourself further in debt) should not have to be a requirement to have a job, but in most cases there are no other options. This makes recent college graduates start off in debt, rather than ahead, and sets them up for financial failure; especially in this market. You have already bailed out the auto industry, how about helping out an industry that could actually revitalize transportation, help citizens who cant afford or don’t want to be burdened by a car? How about helping out the American rail network instead of the car companies that continue to squander government funding and then overcharge for poorly constructed machines? How about giving Amtrak a fighting chance?

Any responses you might have to my sincere questions, or any movement you could make in revamping the American rail system, would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
ATC