Travelling in the third world takes patience and a certain acceptance of hardship. While the rewards outweigh the sacrifices significantly, there are a few things that you’ll need to get used to if you’re going to spend any length of time travelling in the third world. Here are a few you should watch out for.
1) Eating Mystery Food – You probably won’t know what it is and truth be told, that’s probably for the best, but you will certainly put that mystery barbequed object on a stick into your mouth. You’ll probably even enjoy it, but never ever ask what it was!
2) Ad Hoc Sleeping – You end up sleeping where you can and when you can. Sometimes it’s a chicken-bus on an overnight red-eye or sometimes it’s an opulent king size bed in the local mayor’s guest room, but you can never be sure which. If you are a fussy sleeper, you’re going to experience some pain as a regular or long term third world traveller.
3) Sporadic Power Supply – Brown outs, black outs, petrol generators – these are all going to be part of the fun. But don’t make any plans to always have your iPod or laptop charged because unless you have made very detailed and specific arrangements for that, then you will probably be disappointed at some stage.
4) Cold Showers – Steaming hot showers just aren’t a priority in some places where the local wage is $2 a day. Go figure.
5) Dirt – It will get on your skin, under your fingernails, in your eyes, between your toes and it will probably be there for days rather than hours. Get used to it.
6) Uncomfortable Transport – Whether it’s the roof of a train or the back of a pickup truck on a dirt road, there just aren’t that many options for luxury transport in many isolated areas of the world.
7) Having Small Change – When you pull out a US$50 to pay for a pack of gum… well, you’ll soon get the picture. Day to day payments for essentials like a pack of gum or smokes are usually measure in the local equivalent of cents rather than dollars. Make sure you have small change or very small notes.
Local Time – Stuff takes time to happen in the third world. Stuff happens when it happens. The bus comes when it comes. Your visa arrives when it arrives. You can spend your time getting upset about this inefficiency or you can learn to accept it and relax.
9) Hospitality – In most cases, you are going to be smothered with offers of hospitality. Whether it’s joining someone for tea or staying at their place there will be hundreds of offers. Don’t be afraid to accept when you feel comfortable because this is what we travel for!
10) Less Security – Stuff gets “borrowed” remarkably often and if you have good stuff then it gets borrowed even more often. Keep your wits about you. Keep the ostentatious displays to a minimum and don’t take anything that you’re not prepared to live without.
11) Lack of Communications – You’ll almost certainly find yourself hours from a phone and depending on where you are that might be days. Let people know where you’re going before you go and when they can expect to hear from you again, because there won’t be any way to contact them from some places.
12) Ad Hoc Transport – Public transport is great. When it exists. If you’re going a little further afield then you will probably be doing a bit of hitching, a bit of walking and a bit of riding.
13) Micro Managing Your Health – Stuff happens to bodies that aren’t accustomed to third world conditions. You’ll get dysentery, you’ll get mystery temperatures, you’ll get mystery hives and allergic reactions. Pack a decent first aid kit and get used to it. It’s just the way it is.
Many times, experienced third world travellers can tell other experienced third world travellers just by watching them. They don’t over-dress, they have basic gear, they’re noticeably patient and carry themselves in a relaxed manner. That’s because they’ve come to realise that many of the above tips are correct (and usually learned through experience only). You can get upset, or you can accept and relax.
After all, if we wanted a standard holiday, we’d go to Disney Land.
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Keep up the good work.. Love the blog.. Btw if you like traveling, you should deff visit my hometown Ohrid, Macedonia..
Yup…the first sign that I’m in a third world country is when I look at my fingernails and have black dirt underneath them…all the time…washing my hands don’t even seem to get it to disappear!
Great list – so very true…but every one of things is also why I love third world travel!
lol – that is so true!
Would love to! Home of Alexander!
Wondering where the bus picture was taken. Using the photo in a discussion and some background would help.
Click on the image for more details!