Interview With Erik Trinidad - The Global Trip

Written on November 26, 2007 by Tezza

Monday’s weekly guide to Travel and Recreation from 4EvaYoung.com

I first came across Erik’s blog “The Global Trip” as I was researching for my own world trip. What became apparent quite quickly to me was that this isn’t just another blogger writing about his overseas jaunt. Erik writes in a personable way enabling the reader to immediately be captivated in his travels as though they were right there in the moment. Sometimes self deprecating, often times humorous, you will laugh, cry and cringe as you follow Erik on his global sixteen month trip around the world.

For those who don’t know who Erik R Trinidad is, he is a freelance travel writer whose work has been featured in the New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine, Pilot Guides’ , GlobeTrekkerTV.com and BootsnAll.com. He is a member of the National Geographic Society and has contributed news to National Geographic Traveler.

From October 2003 to March 2005, Erik traveled on a continuous sixteen-month trip around the world, blogging each day with his detailed and sometimes humorous style of storytelling. The blog, which has received over 75,000 unique hits from a global audience, originally began as a small on-line journal for a few family and friends, but evolved into an Internet phenomenon within the travel communities of Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree and BootsnAll.com, and has been recommended by RickSteves.com and USA Today. In Spring 2005, it was selected by the editors of PC Magazine as one of the year’s “Top 100 Sites You Didn’t Know You Couldn’t Live Without,” in the travel category.

1. You said The Alchemist was one of your inspirations for travel. In fact you were reading it on your flight to Ecuador on your first day. For those who haven’t read it what about the book so inspired you.

Coelho’s “The Alchemist” is a simple tale, about a shepherd that yearns to travel and eventually musters up the courage to make it happen. That is pretty much what most people get out of the book; the inspiration to travel, but one thing that struck me in the book is that it helps you realize that things and people that you are leaving behind will always be there for you when you get back; it’s comforting that somethings in Life remain constant.

2. What was your motivation for travel and why did you choose to travel solo.

Hmmm, the motivation to travel…I thought that was on most people minds. It was in mine, at least; I mean, who doesn’t dream of “one day I’ll travel the world?” Like the shepherd in “The Alchemist,” I made preparations to make it happen, and my work and savings paid off: I traveled for sixteen months through South America, Africa, Europe and Asia, mostly by myself albeit with some friends from home at certain points — and not to mention the countless friends I made along the way. I didn’t really consciously decide to travel solo — although I prepped myself for it — traveling solo was merely because of circumstance: who else of my friends would drop everything for sixteen months to travel with me? Not everyone was as disciplined to make it happen.

3. What did you pack for your trip. Could you give some must pack items that you won’t leave home without.

Two trousers that convert into shorts, a week of underwear, four t-shirts, socks, a quick dry towel, toiletries, money, passport. The usual. That doesn’t seem like much, but I was mindful I was not on a “vacation,” but on a “way of life” for over a year, which would include doing laundry regularly. On a long trip, you only really need a week’s worth of stuff, in terms of what you MUST have. I also brought my laptop, and my cameras, all stored safely (and hidden) in a lockable portable PacSafe, but that’s just what I needed to keep my blog up.

4. You write about being a Phillipino-American getting mistaken for all kinds of nationalities while on the road. What were the advantages and disadvantages for people mistaking you for a local.

Advantages… Hmmm… Well, I could blend into many countries where the majority look was tan skin, black hair and brown eyes — which is a lot of countries out there actually. Blending in was advantageous because I wasn’t hassled as much by locals trying to rip me off or rob obvious-looking tourists, although that’s not to say it didn’t happen to me.

The times when blending in wasn’t cool was when I tried to make friends with other travelers. I’d have to make the extra effort to make it obvious that I wasn’t a local — speaking English for example, which isn’t such an effort at all I guess.

5. Can you talk about a few of your favorite moments of your trip that still stand out in your mind to this day.

Oh there are so many favorite moments… the ones that come to my mind right now as I answer this are obviously the ones that stand out in my mind to this day: taking Spanish lessons in Quito, riding on the roof of a train through Ecuador, seeing the animals of the Galapagos, camping in a hammock in a remote lagoon in the Amazon, being at the bottom of the world’s deepest canyon on New Years, seeing the surreal salt flats of Bolivia, crawling through mines in Bolivia, dancing in Rio’s Carnival celebration, great white shark diving in South Africa, sand boarding in Namibia, going on safari in the Serengeti, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, being at the supposed site of the Ark of the Covenant in Ethiopia, seeing the Pyramids in Egypt and riding on a felucca along the Nile, chilling in Dahab after hiking up Mount Sinai, seeing snake charmers in the old medina in Morocco, running with the bulls in Pamplona, being recognized as a “celebrity blogger” in Barcelona, seeing the fireworks in Paris on Bastille Day, seeing Michelangelo’s David and the Tower of Pisa, riding a bike around Berlin, marching through Red Square in Moscow, bowling in the middle of Siberia, seeing The Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors, rock climbing in Yangshou, seeing the temples and pop culture hangouts of Tokyo, going to a baseball game in Hiroshima, hiking and making it to Mount Everest, seeing the Taj Mahal, celebrating Diwali with a family in Mumbai, taking a slow boat to Laos, riding a motorbike around Hanoi, scuba diving in Thailand, reconnecting with my grandmother and family in the Philippines, hiking Mount Pinatubo, wandering Angkor Wat in Cambodia, snowboarding in Vancouver. (I’m sure I’m missing some more, but you get it; the list is long.)

These moments are special because they are moments that I’ve always heard or read about; and finally they were something that I had done myself. I’d also like to add that my favorite moments were the times I made friends on the way that I’m still friends with to this day.

6. One of the biggest concerns for aspiring travelers is managing and safeguarding their money while overseas. How did you manage your money on the road.

Use ATMs; they work mostly everywhere. Just take out what cash in the local currency you need for the week or two (or more if you know you can’t get to an ATM). It helps you budget. Keep the money safe; I had a hidden pocket for some spare cash and travelers checks, and I also kept a little in my PacSafe. It’s the best you can do, although it’s not foolproof; I’d been robbed three times. The first was scary; I was held up at knife point by an unassuming man while an unassuming boy emptied my pockets. Fortunately, they only took my wallet and not the contents of my hidden pocket, which held my passport. The second robbing was my fault; I got piss drunk and passed out on the beach in Spain and woke up with my wallet and camera gone. The third was on the Trans-Siberian Railway when two corrupt or fake cops confiscated my passport until I bribed them. There was no way around that that I could see (and I tried).

7. For someone who thinks they can’t possibly take a year out of their life for travel, what would be your suggestion and advice.

Long term travel isn’t for everyone, but if it’s on the tip of your mind, then you should go for it. Once you start to plan it out, you’ll learn about yourself — if you can go through with it or not. I felt that at the beginning of my trip and my sixteen months was a sort of experiment with myself: how would I feel and react being gone for so long? What phases would I go through of homesickness and loneliness, if any? Read “The Alchemist.” It will set your mind on how you can simplify your current life in order to save for the trip.

8. You nearly died on your Everest trek from pulmonary edema except for the fact that some well meaning people came to your rescue. What was going through your mind at the time and how has that changed you as a person. Do you have a different attitude to life. How does it feel to know that your life is valued at $785.00 USD which was the cost of your rescue to the clinic before being choppered out.

Honestly, at the time, I was so out of it, I really didn’t know what to think; I just wanted to sleep. The money value of my life didn’t bother me at all; in fact, I was just happy at the time it wasn’t some whopping $100,000 bill. (FYI, in addition to the $785, the airlift back to Kathmandu was about $4000, which my insurance covered.)

I don’t know if I was completely changed as a person after the ordeal — the notion of dying really hadn’t sunk in with me, in fact, it didn’t really cross my mind. I was only told it was life-threatening after the fact. In the end, it was just all something that happened to me.

Read Erik’s gripping life and death struggle in Everest.

9. What advice would you give to someone organizing a long term trip around the world

Plan the gist of your journey, but don’t over plan. If you do, you’ll set up expectations of yourself that may or may not be met — most likely the latter because of many, many unforeseen factors — and you’ll just end up being disappointed. If you have the luxury of time on your hands, just live in the moment, let your current situation lead you to the next.

10. What did you learn about yourself on your sixteen month world trip

That’s a funny question that I sometimes get, because coming back, I didn’t really feel transformed at all from my trip. I essentially learned that I am the same guy wherever I am, and that I’m happy with it. That’s not to say I was “transformed” by the amazing experiences I had; they did transform me in the sense that my desires of seeing things and doing things were satisfied. But generally, I came back knowing that I like who I am as a person.

Thanks Erik for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions. It was greatly appreciated!

All written and photographic content is the copyright of Erik R. Trinidad and were used with his permission. Visit Eriks photo gallery for more inspiring photos. Since his Global Trip in 2004, Erik has gone on to many more far away lands and in his spirit of writing has continued to entertain his vast audiences with his travel escapades. If you are at all interested in travel than Erik’s blog “The Global Trip” is a must read.

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Posted in Interviews, Travel and Recreation