Mary Hill

Home: Omaha, Nebraska

Expat Homes: "Lived in Japan a little more than two-and-a-half years. Germany for about a year. Plus, does living in California count as a foreign country?"

Age: 27

Job: English teacher.

Longest trip: "I lived and worked in Japan for two and a half years. As far as straight traveling goes, I backpacked across Europe once for six months."

Places visited: Ireland, England, Germany, Czech Replublic, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico and Canada.

Favorite country and/or place to visit: "In Europe, I enjoyed heading out into the Czech and Hungarian countryside. We went to some smaller towns and tried to go horseback riding with the Hungarian cowboys but kept ending up at English style resorts. People were kind and did their best to help us and would nearly always buy us a drink and teach us some Hungarian or Czech. We were outsiders, but not so very obviously outsiders. The countryside in Japan was also fun because we were such a novelty and everyone was enthusiastic and entertained by our Japanese language ability."

Inspiration for traveling: "My folks took me to Ireland for several weeks, in that time we drove all around and stayed with friends and in B&Bs — no tour groups or guidebooks. We had a really great time, possibly because we were usually with someone from the area — or knew someone who knew someone. My parents have always encouraged me to travel and do the things that I want to do, so even at 18 they sent me off with nary a fuss."

Biggest challenge on the road: "I will never feel comfortable bribing people like train conductors, customs officials, hotel staff and other people in countries where it's the norm. I am a terrible haggler as well, so that is really draining."

Biggest sacrifice of the vagabonding lifestyle: "Time passes when you are away and people don't always wait up. Babies grow, friends marry, and people develop friendships and relationships that don't involve you. You might come back after a few years to find that you are still bumming off of family members and old friends when most of your friends own houses."

Biggest reward of the vagabonding lifestyle: "Learning to appreciate the things that I never fully recognized I was lucky to have; seeing things that others have only read about; witnessing the incredible/astonishing/amazing/shocking things that human beings are capable of; the excitement that I feel before every trip."

Travel advice: "Talk to people who have done what you want to do — they love to talk about their experiences and will often be your best resources. Know that there is only so much that you can learn about a place before you just have to go there. Write up an itinerary — even if you don't follow it, your grandmother will feel better (mine did). Practice with maps in your home town. Learn to relax about getting lost. Use common sense, use caution but don't let paranoia destroy your trip. Don't let the 'hard-core backpackers' arbitarily shame you or belittle into spending less money on an experience. (I am so glad, for instance, that I paid the cash for para-gliding lessons, hired that private tour guide in Bali, and ate a $150 15-course Japan). Don't get hung up on the traveler/tourist distinction so much that it makes you a snob. We're all tourists, get over it/yourself and go have a good time!"

Recommended travel websites: "If I am going to visit a country, I like to find websites written by either expats living in the country or people from that country who want to share it with the world. I don't use one single site as a reference but try and get a variety of opinions. There are some good sites for women travelers and I find that they're less likely to one-up other travelers, so the sites might have good info for you males who are afraid of asking your fellow man."

Exchange rates:
http://money.cnn.com/markets/currencies/

Japan information:
http://www2.gol.com/users/pbw/

For female travelers:
http://www.HERmail.net/

Good grrl travel info:
http://www.journeywoman.com/

If you can sift through the hormonal jerks, there are a few sincere people who can help you out at the Lonely Planet Thorn-Tree:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/thorn/thorn.htm

I learned some good packing technique from these sites:
http://www.travelite.org/
http://www.oratory.com/travel/

For health worries:
http://www.tripprep.com/

This one speaks for itself — links to SOOOO many travel sites:
http://www.travel-library.com/

This is a free book about travel with all sorts of goodies for the first time traveler:
http://www.artoftravel.com/

Transitions Abroad, which is a great print magazine for vagabonders, budget travelers, and overseas job-seekers, also has a website:
http://transitionsabroad.com

To see what The Man has to say about where you're going:
http://travel.state.gov/travel_warnings.html

The WTO — the World Tourism Organization:
http://www.world-tourism.org/