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After the big trip They came, went... and did it! But where are they now? DID that big trip change their lives? What to do with all the travel experience and how to use it? How to get a job afterwards! Was the trip the best - or worst - thing you ever did?
Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #16  
Old 3 Oct 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by markharf View Post
I've met overland riders whom I've got no interest in discussing this with, despite their own apparent sense of overwhelming importance. Others I could spend weeks with, just comparing notes and trading stories.
Mark
Now ain't that the truth.....


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  #17  
Old 3 Oct 2013
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I've had a couple of polite "oh where you been" after a trip but realized they were just being polite so they could insert their own travel woes.

what does tick me off is at work my holiday plans crop up as they have to arrange cover & end up inevitably questioning my destination & or sanity then end with a promise to send me a link to easyjets website.. ho ho 1st time but but boring now..

last year I bumped into a guy I know through work, his opening gambit was "oh your back" me .. yep appears so.. him "you been gone ages where you go?"
me .. prison but not for anything serious all sorted now.

he smiles and nods knowingly when he sees me now.. ha.. what an asshat.

regards all
Gren
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  #18  
Old 21 Oct 2013
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I stay on the road most of the time, one trip flows into the next one...Nobody wants to see the pictures, nobody seems to care. Life goes on, we have our adventures and they stay caught up on the soaps and football and work M-F. They are busy with their lives, no matter how boring they seem to us. I think it is all about fulfilling your expectations of your life, if you find somebody that is interested, good luck with that...Life is short, better go for a longer ride next time! Ride the wind!
Smoke
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  #19  
Old 21 Oct 2013
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There are uncountable amount of reasons to do an extended trip. There are too uncountable amount of situations from where the people start.

All of these combinations will give you an completely different start when you come back I guess.

Surfy
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  #20  
Old 14 Nov 2013
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Has it not happened to all of us overlanders?
It is so true what I read here and both me and my husband have had the same experience. As my husband said to me: 'you have to be able to tell your whole trip in 5 minutes, no matter how long you have been away!'
It is also true that when you listen to what 'normal' people have to say, they tend to listen to you brag about your adventure. Because lets face it, if you tell people about your trip, in their eyes you are bragging. They just want to hear that the food sucked, all the people were mean to you and you got ill and will never leave your comfort zone again....
We are so looking forward to going to the next HUBB UK meeting, so we can finally share our stories with likeminded souls!
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  #21  
Old 15 Nov 2013
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Ha - enjoyed reading this, esp the first post by Habari. The thread has moved elsewhere since, but I well remember coming right back to earth on my 1st day back @ work after an 18 month sabbatical when someone came up to me and said "Did you have a good trip? Glad to see you back - when you've a moment, could we have a quick look at what's gone in and out of this cost code?"

Mind you, he was an accountant, so perhaps one shouldn't be too harsh
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  #22  
Old 15 Nov 2013
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Originally Posted by Oo-KIM-oO View Post
As my husband said to me: 'you have to be able to tell your whole trip in 5 minutes, no matter how long you have been away!'
I do hope the story will last a little bit longer than 5 minutes in 2 weeks. I don't mind if it lasts well into the night.
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  #23  
Old 16 Nov 2013
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Thumbs up Heart of Darkness
"I found myself back in the sepulchral city resenting the sight of people hurrying through the streets to filch a little money from each other, to devour their infamous cookery, to gulp their unwholesome grog, to dream their insignificant and silly dreams. They trespassed upon my thoughts. They were intruders whose knowledge of life was to me an irritating pretence because I felt so sure they could not possibly know the things I knew. Their bearing, which was simply the bearing of commonplace individuals going about their business in the assurance of perfect safety, was offensive to me like the outrageous flauntings of folly in the face of a danger it is unable to comprehend. I had no particular desire to enlighten them, but I had some difficulty in restraining myself from laughing in their faces so full of stupid importance."

(Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad 1899)
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  #24  
Old 16 Nov 2013
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Finally I found some people who wanted to hear it all. You will never guess who?

I started to send out CV´s. In the beginning I wrote for the last two years "Sabbatical... bla bla..." - not many responses.

Ok, I changed my tactic. I wrote: "Travel Journalist and Photographer. Details look at page 3"

Page 3 of the CV had all information of the trip, photos and, "last but not least", a lesson learned section with 10 bullet points.

Whow, some days later I got my first interview invitations. From 1.5h talk we talked half of the time about the trip and the lessons learned. They loved it. Within a week I got a very interesting job in an interesting location. Moving on, trip continues, just different.
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  #25  
Old 17 Nov 2013
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I've experienced the same thing. One of my first eye-opening experiences was on the first time I traveled far from home. I was backpacking at the time, and not overlanding.

I'd traveled to Nicaragua, and was quite proud of myself because Nicaragua always seemed so exotic, dangerous, and inaccessible.

When I found a room and went to an internet cafe, I found my niece online, who was about 15 at the time. She asked me how I was. I said, "Awesome! I made it to Nicaragua today."

She replied, "Cool! Me and Grandpa are going to Walmart this afternoon. I can't wait."

And I realized that like anyone, the things she does in her life are very important to her, but not so interesting to others. Like my trip to Nicaragua was a life goal of mine, but she merely thought it was "cool."

On a related note, I've done bits of travel off and on over the past ten years or so. I've found that almost nobody (except for very rare individuals) asks much about the trip, and nobody ever asks to see photos. But they all want to know what I'm doing next.

Jamie
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  #26  
Old 23 Nov 2013
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Originally Posted by duibhceK View Post
I do hope the story will last a little bit longer than 5 minutes in 2 weeks. I don't mind if it lasts well into the night.
You bet it will last waaaaayyy longer than that!! We have already got everything we need to make sure nobody dies of thirst….
See you soon
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