6. There are few, if any, universal preferences regarding
food.
For example, breakfast in Canada is often bacon and eggs or pancakes
or cereal and whole wheat toast, and we think of that as normal. Northern
Europe and especially Scandinavia has great smorgasbords, with cereal,
fresh milk and juices, a wide variety of meat and cheese slices and several
kinds of wonderful breads. But in much of southern Europe and Africa and
South America, breakfast consists of a (white) roll or two slices of (white)
bread, maybe with butter, and a cup of coffee or tea. Occasionally scrambled
eggs with perhaps a little ham chopped in is available as a special item.
If you absolutely must have a particular item for you to consider it breakfast,
you'll have to carry it with you. For Susan, it is chocolate spread for
toast, which is not always easy to find!
Reindeer, unsuspecting their fate, outside
a restaurant in Finland!
This rule also applies to: meal times; what is considered to be normal
condiments on a hamburger (to give only a couple of examples, in Argentina
it's only the meat and maybe the bun, whereas in Australia it includes
fried egg and sliced beet); and especially the definition of rare, medium
and well done in relation to meat; etc. etc.
7. In a strange city where you don't speak the language
or in any third world country, one practical thing a day is all you can
reasonably expect to accomplish.
There aren't usually shopping malls with all the stores you need conveniently
grouped together. The yellow pages are often not used by businesses because
of the cost of listings, and may be two or three years out of date. Even
if you have a map of the city, the actual streets may not be labeled (or
labeled correctly). The shops may not have signs. Opening and closing
hours are usually not published, but frequently shops are closed in the
middle of the day for several hours and/or closed evenings and weekends.
etc. etc. NOTE: You can often find things more easily in a smallish town/city
than a big city.
8. Be an opportunistic shopper, especially
for unusual items.
An example of this is Susan's particular brand of contact lens solution,
since she doesn't like to substitute. We keep at least a month's supply
ahead, and almost never pass a pharmacy or optical store in a reasonable
sized town without checking for it. Other items in this category - vitamins
(in Chile, you can't buy Vitamin C in capsules or swallowable tablets,
just chewable or effervescent), tampons, antacid, and of course, any prescription
drugs you need.
9. Paperwork and documents - be practical,
not paranoid.
For example, if your vehicle registration expires while you're out of
the country, you need not fear that the border officials in Africa or
South America will be able to log on to the motor vehicle database of
your home country/state and determine this fact. As long as you have an
official looking document you'll be right. We've met travelers with forged
driver's licenses, license plates, carnets, vehicle registrations, etc.
Sometimes you are forced to these lengths when bureaucracy intrudes, such
as if your home country won't renew your registration when you are overseas.
A tip from Jim, an Australian motorcyclist: If you have several good color
copies of your driver's license, when corrupt policemen threaten to confiscate
it unless you pay them a bribe, you can say: "Go ahead. Keep it!"
10. Be flexible, don't be in a hurry
and keep smiling!
These last three will get you through almost any situation. "Stuff"
happens, and getting upset about it gets you nowhere. If you don't have
much time, compress the area you are trying to cover rather than rushing
through. For example, Zimbabwe and Namibia will give you a good cross-section
of southern Africa, including wild animals, and can easily be done in
two to three weeks.
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Grant & Susan's RTW Trip
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