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When arriving to a new city, I would try to find a tourist office and secure a good map. If one was not available, I would start walking towards what I thought to be the city center and look for places to stay as I made my way. Sheer intuition was my guide more than once, but when that didn't work, I became lost which more often than not had some serendipitous outcome. This approach afforded me so many great experiences of getting lost and re-directed by the kind advice of others, and again, the importance of experiencing the streets, rather than stuffy museums to add a cultural dynamic to one's travel can not be overstated.

Every day offered something new and exciting and this went on for three months. My days expanded - as time will - when they are filled with a lot of variety and change. At the end of my trip, it felt like a year had gone by and everything would have been a huge blur if I hadn't logged my day's events into a travel journal, which is something I strongly recommend for later reflection so one doesn't forget the small details.

There were days when things didn't go well and I couldn't find a room and had to hop back on a train and take a all-night trip somewhere as my room for the night. Or the time a drunk guy attempted to rob me in Cadiz, Spain and almost fell over in the process. Later this all became a necessary part of the overall experience, greatly adding to it a strange way.

In retrospect, my traveling adventure was one of the best educational experiences I have ever had and introduced me to so many wonderful cultures and friends from around the world, which I could have only guessed about if I hadn't gone out there and found out for myself. It made my world smaller, leaving me with the impression when I returned that people are essentially the same where ever you go.

So go out there and have yourselve a traveling adventure!

Learn more about this author, Gib Whitney.
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