My Trip Around the World in 18 days. Chris Psy.D. McKell
My Trip
Around the World
in 18 days
Visiting Ancient Wonders
by
C P McKell
Copyright 2011 Chris McKell,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0124-9
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Introduction
Traveling around the world and visiting a few of the world’s ancient man-made wonders has been a wish of mine for many years. This trip would become a type of scavenger hunt with traveling to and locating each ancient wonder during my trip.
The challenge, as it is for many people, would be to have the time, money and a traveling companion. With having the time and the money to travel, I was not able to find a traveling companion and made the decision to travel solo. I learned that solo travel offers flexibility, by being able to travel to places of my choice along with the ability of meeting interesting people more freely along the way.
It was not my intention to write this book before leaving on my trip. After I returned, I planned to write a personal report to recount my experiences. While I was writing, I found I had so many interesting and unique experiences to write about, my report turned into this book!
This book shares, from my around the world trip’s experiences: the various ancient manmade wonders I visited and details involved with traveling to each, and includes riding my first camel (which I had not planned on before), along with interesting people I met.
Various dramatic events occurred along the way, which included: my backpack malfunctioning on my very first day, missing a flight, not being able to receive help from a U.S. Embassy in India and then getting help from the Delhi Police, being taken advantage of, being confronted by Israeli airport security and bumping into objects while driving on the left side of the road in the U.K.
I have provided helpful tips along with other useful insights. Over 80 photos are included. I also developed a visual travel aid prior to leaving which I found quite useful for getting around in places I visited where English is not spoken. My travel aid is now available in a separate book I have produced called Get Around Photos (see last pages).
This book is dedicated to the memory of my Father. He would have enjoyed traveling on this trip.
1. Preparation
I began planning my trip around the world by researching and reading. This was an enjoyable time for me to dream and envision what I wanted to do on my adventure trip.
Research
I visited a local bookstore, several times, and spent time browsing in the Travel section. I researched through various books about traveling to various destinations and sights, including world wonders. I then made a list of places I wanted to visit, along with sights I wanted to see. These places and sights have been in the back of my mind for a long time, so it didn’t take me long.
My List of Places and Sights
My list of places and sights included: Beijing and The Great Wall; Agra and The Taj Mahal; Cairo and The Pyramids; Jerusalem and the old city; Athens and The Parthenon. I included Scotland, to learn more about my heritage and would include visiting two castles. I also wanted to visit Berlin and see the Berlin Wall. My list also grew to include Singapore to visit a relative. Amsterdam was added as my final destination, because it was scheduled as a layover before returning to the U.S.
My Travel Aid
While spending time in the bookstore, I was thinking about being challenged by languages spoken in each country I wanted to visit. I have heard English is spoken in larger cities of other countries. While on a previous trip to Europe, I didn’t have to worry about language barriers because I was on a tour. But now I would be totally on my own and I wanted to be prepared. I wanted to have the ability of receiving help from local people, such as asking for directions and even just locating a bathroom!
The bookstore offers various language phrase books, also in the Travel section. But due to the number of countries I wanted to visit, buying a phrase book of each language didn’t seem practical.
I created a chart of essential words. Some of the words included: airport, bathroom, bus, hotel etc., about twenty words total. I then translated each of these words into the following languages: Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek, German and Dutch. After developing this chart, I attempted to practice pronouncing each word in each language. I found it wasn’t easy, with Chinese being the most difficult. I became frustrated. I felt I needed another help source as a back-up, in case I couldn’t communicate effectively.
I thought of an idea with using pictures. I began searching for pictures to arrange with my chart of words. I then grouped a collection of pictures of essential types, such as: an airport (because I didn’t want to worry about finding the airport to catch my next flight), a bathroom, a phone, a bus, a taxi, etc.
Next, I grouped a collection of pictures of sights I wanted to visit which included the following ancient world wonders: The Great Wall, The Taj Mahal, The Pyramids, The Dome of the Rock, The Parthenon and a picture of the the Berlin Wall. After I finalized all that I wanted, I took that page along with another page that had my flight itinerary and laminated both of them together (front and back, at an office supply store) so that it became durable.
I would use this travel aid by simply pointing to a photo to communicate my need or interest, to a local person for help. By having this quick reference guide to use gave me more of an assurance to communicate with people who don’t speak English. I made a couple of copies and placed one inside my backpack and another inside my money belt.
My travel aid is now available, in a separate book I have produced and is called Get Around Photos. It contains over 350 photo aids of essential needs and world travel sights. Further information about my travel aid is available on the last pages of this book.
Selecting a Travel Agent
I first tried booking my own flights on the Internet. I utilized various travel reservation websites, but found I was limited to booking a maximum of five destinations; and, trying to find flights to certain countries can be problematic. Because I had nine travel destinations, I decided contacting a few travel agents. The prices I was quoted varied. I ultimately chose an air broker travel agency that offered me the lowest airfares.
Applying for a Passport and Visas
Having a passport is essential for travel to other countries and takes time to obtain. I first went to a local post office to complete a passport application and submitted it with an expedited
$130 fee, normally $65. I received my passport within a week. The next step was to apply for visas that are required by certain countries. For my particular trip, I needed to apply for visas for China and