This is how we do it!
I’m standing in the passport line in Bangkok after a very long business trip in the asian wonderlands, and I’m striking a conversation with the guy in front of me boasting and showing off my latest visits to Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei and Bangkok. Suddenly this cool American 30 something guy kills me right there and then with his trip details! “ Well you see I’m here for as long as they allow me, How long do you think they will give me on a an airport tourist visa?” “ I guess you can get away with 30 days”” I wish I could stay for 6 weeks I have a lot to cover” So, one thing leads to another and the line is long and slow, it turns out this young man has just sold his shares in a major internet company in the US and is traveling the world for 2 years! He had covered every country from Australia & Japan to Thailand in the last 6 months or so. Thats what I call travel my friends.
As I was listening to this wonderful travel details in a nutshell, I couldn’t quite get over the feeling of a sad truth we have in our part of the universe, sorry planet( I was always a bad student in math :-p). In each country, the people or citizens of that country have a certain travel pattern they take every year. In the west there is no pattern, it is more of a discovery of our wonderful planet. Budgets are decent and well studied & planned early before the time to travel arrives. They would save and really stretch their travel Dollars or Euros to cover as much milage as possible. They are professional users of Expedia Travel and cheap tickets.com, They take advantage of their airline & credit card miles.
Now, enough of the good life. Let’s go to the ultra good life, ladies & gents I am about to reveal the naked truth on our unique, repeated, no brainer travel routes and destinations and everything in between.
First off, let’s start with the budget: There is no budget. Grab as much as you can, in whatever form of cash or credit cards, by hook or by crook, get that Money!
Financial Techniques used: One of the famous ways to get fast cash in the country was the quick “ Buy a car on installments and sell transaction” Here the buyer is in no need of a car, he needs cash to travel. You need an escape goat to complete the transaction, by this I mean a very close friend that will endorse you at the bank or car company( by signing the complete installment documents in his name as a guarantor). After the purchase of the USD40,000- car, it is sold for USD35,000- on the spot with a small loss of only USD5000- in less than 3 hours!( who said I was going to pay anyway says the buyer!). Now let’s not go to the dark area where this close beloved 12 year old friend goes to jail for being an idiot to trust his only friend, we are talking about the journey here.
Clothes used during travel: VERSACE, POLO RALPH LAUREN, ARMANI SUITS( in summer for the pool), anything that looks exactly like the catalog, I swear I used to see them holding the catalog of this years fashion, and say proudly to the salesman” I will have one like this page, and one like that page, and give me another catalog I need more”. They would cost on average a trips worth to any normal human. Remember, he sold the car and is not paying for it( excuse my exaggeration, not all sell cars, other just ask for it or beg well in advance of summer).
Now the fun part, all the travel agencies in the country are fighting for 5 destinations for 80% of the population: Marbella, Cannes, Paris, London, Cairo/Beirut in that exact order. And here’s the funny part, when you ask them where they are going they try to misguide you. “ well you see I don’t want to be where there is too many Arabs, something far and new”. All of them end up kissing as if its a holiday gathering back home in the streets on the champs elyses and Edgware road. OK Oxford street and Porto Bunos.
The most important thing for these poor suckers is to be seen, not to discover and enjoy the wonderful destinations that this round thing called earth has to offer. Prestige is the most important end result. It is very important that when he gets back home, he can boast for the 18th time in 18 years he has been to Marbella,Cannes,Paris,London,Cairo/Beirut( Repeated intentionally) and met Ahmed and Mohammed and saw the girls from the last 15 years on the same streets and night clubs. He also had a few meals at the Entrée cottes in Paris, and had the famous cannes fresh fruit ice cream and danced at Jimmies in Monte Carlo. He also shopped for some pair of shoes on Oxford street and got ripped off again at Edgware road for the third time!
Fake, Dumb and numb is what I feel when I hear their stories every year. The other funny thing that I don’t get is the financial planing they do to appear richer than life.Let’s say the budget for a 30 day trip like this costs around USD30-40,000- the trick is to actually raise the average spending per day by reducing the total days
on vacation. So if you reduce it to 2 weeks, you would be spending $2700 instead of $1600/ day. Imagine what these smart travelers can do with the extra cash? I can’t believe I said smart there, I meant masterminds.
Now the car thing seemed to fade away, so the Banks jumped in and started vacation loans, the country needs housing loans and we give away vacation loans and credit cards, since there is demand I have no problem with marketing such no brainer loans to people that need the brains to think!
The aftermath: Home sweet home, isn’t really that anymore. “Now I have to start rejecting and giving busy signals to my best friend! I can’t believe he is sending me messages stating that the Bank is calling and he is asking if I defaulted 3 installments, the nerve of these people! what are friends for!?” says the rich traveller of Arabia.
For a change people, just once try something new, I swear its cool and rewarding.
I wonder what it would be like if all these people were denied travel visas to these destinations? would they stay home or make me hate the Far East? or Africa? or neighboring countries to France or Spain… I wonder?
Enjoy the Journey I say.
Mamdooh Al-Radadi
Great Blog post. I am going to bookmark and read more often. I love the Blog template
You know, I have to tell you, I really enjoy this blog and the insight from everyone who participates. I find it to be refreshing and very informative. I wish there were more blogs like it. Anyway, I felt it was about time I posted, I
well thank you so much Susan so nice of you to pop by! please let me know if you would like to talk about any subject, so we can all enjoy open discussion :-)
Aaron, its the people like you that are refreshing and keep me on my feet, and all the other great people that share with us their insight, i feel so energized when we all have a say on things that shape our daily lives, great to know you!
For me there are 3 important things about traveling change, discovery and freedom (to be able to enjoy the sun, the sea, walk down the street). But unfortunately ,the discussed topic applies almost on every little thing we do round here. We tend to forget the essence of everything and only focus on prestigeous matter (our shiny images).
I hear someone saying I want to work to make more friends, afford a good living. After a while his focus is lost, the purpose has been forgotten. And now he works to be called this or that, he works so he can bosses people around , he works 4 the bonus , he works to be in a higher position than his friends…. Is it what he just started with?
We need to re-focus our attention. and that is only my humpple view.