Video of the Day: Hidden Horizons



Note: Beginning of video contains language that may be offensive to some viewers.

When was the last time you thought, “I should just pack up and go somewhere“? Did you ever act on the thought? One Redditor actually did.

Only going by “zonz1,” they claim to be 26 and to have spent their life savings of roughly $20,000 to take a year off and travel the world. The list of stops is exhaustive and includes Peru, Bolivia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Ireland and Denmark.

We’d love to feature your photos and videos on Gadling, so please add them to our Flickr Pool (with Creative Commons licensing!), tag @GadlingTravel on Instagram or email us at OfTheDay@gadling.com.

Around The World Without Flying, Irish Guy Wages War On Thoughtless Living

Traveling around the world without flying, Ireland’s Niall Doherty quit his regular 9-to-5 job a little over a year ago, choosing to pursue his passions and help others escape mediocrity. Living a nomadic life ever since, Doherty has never stayed in one place more than four months and is quick to reveal his secret to breaking away and doing life his way.

“I work online, meaning I can work from anywhere with Internet access,” says Doherty on his website, simply titled ndoherty.com. “I make most of my money from web design, but a few other income streams include affiliate marketing, donations and an online course I created to help people overcome fear.”

It’s that whole notion of helping others overcome fear that caught our attention. Based on his book, “Disrupting The Rabblement,” Doherty brings key ingredients needed in any recipe for an extended trip around the world where self-reliance is required.Teaching readers “how to think for yourself, face your fears, and live your dreams,” Doherty builds on a 1901 James Joyce essay, “The Day of the Rabblement,” in which Joyce criticized the Irish Literary Theatre for abandoning true and good things and surrendering to the popular will.

Today, says Doherty, 30, people have become the property of rabblement by watching TV regularly, eating processed foods, obsessing with celebrities and other activities.

Sound interesting? Think an around the world trip is for you? Doherty tells all on his website, detailing finances, where he has been and where he plans to go for subscribers (free) to his blog.

How does it all work?

To complete the next leg of his world tour, Doherty needed a way to continue from India, found out that Costa Cruises Romantica was sailing over the weekend and sent Costa the video below.

Costa had the space available and Doherty is currently sailing and blogging his way from Cochin, India, for six days to Phuket, Thailand. Check his Facebook for details or follow @ndoherty13 on Twitter.


[Photo credit- Flickr user Artiii]



Travel full time for $17,000 a year

If you were told that you could travel full time for $17,000 a year, would you believe it? If you had only, I repeat, $17,000 to spend on everything (transportation, lodging, food, recreation, etc.) while seeing the entire world, could you make it work? An enterprising traveler named Nora Dunn has done just that. She’s been traveling on this budget for five years now and according to Dunn, she’s spending less money traveling the world than she spent while staying put. In an article published on WiseBread.com last month, Dunn details for readers just how they can travel as inexpensively as she has been traveling. Her tips are excellent and her approach is nothing short of inspiring. Read the full article here.

Couple to visit most of planet on 424 day tour

Darren and Sandy Van Soye, a couple from Southern California, have started on a global adventure to raise awareness about world geography and make the subject more accessible to children. Visiting fifty countries on six continents in 424 days, they will share the journey with more than 700 classrooms representing 50,000 students.

“Our dream is to educate children about geography and world cultures so we’ve planned the ultimate trek around the world to do just that,” said Sandy Van Soye.

Chronicling the journey on their TrekkingthePlanet web site, they were inspired to plan the year+ trip after experiencing first-hand the positive impact of a previous family journey around the globe. Traveling a total of 12 legs by rail, bus, air and ship, they plan to see some of the most remote and unspoiled places in the world, by visiting sites of cultural and natural significance, to instill a greater awareness and curiosity about Earth geography in as many people as possible.

To make efficient use of their time and set an eco-friendly travel example, several legs of the journey will be traveled using Princess cruise ships.

“We wanted to use cruise ships as part of our travel method because they offer an efficient way to reach all the different stops on our voyage while minimizing our global footprint,” said Sandy in a statement.

Their full at-sea travel itinerary incorporates five different Princess Cruises voyages, totaling 96 days sea. Both the first and last legs of their journey, plus three legs in between, will be aboard a Princess cruise ship.
“We frequently hear stories from travelers who cruise to accomplish a goal – from celebrating milestones with family members to crossing something off their bucket list,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises executive vice president. “Sandy and Darren are a great example of how cruise travel can be both relaxing and rewarding. We’re inspired by their story and we’re honored they’ve chosen Princess to help them achieve their trekking goals.”

Their full 424-day itinerary is available on their web site, where they will be journaling their trip and fans can also follow them on Facebook.

The Van Soyes will complete their global journey in March 2013.


Flickr photo by epitomized1

Sun-loving world travelers seek endless summer

Call it a refusal to grow up, an inability to tolerate winter weather, or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but some travelers will do anything to prolong their summer vacation.

A recent CNN article profiles a handful of travelers and entrepreneurs who have planned their lives around seeking sun rather than snow. Appropriately enough, folks like this are sometimes referred to as “summer chasers.”

If the pursuit of sunshine appeals to you, the article offers the following tips:

Plan ahead
Couple Jared Heyman and Lauren Goldstein saved their money to fulfill a longtime goal: to travel the world for a year, visiting every continent without a set itinerary. Their one requirement: to only visit places with warm climates. Says Heyman, “To us, summer means freedom. Since we’re taking a year to travel…without work or other responsibilities, summer seemed like the most appropriate season to chase. Our strategy is to always be wherever it’s summertime, even if that means switching continents and hemispheres when necessary.”

The couple is currently in Italy, but following stops in Greece and Croatia, they will head to the Southern Hemisphere, visiting Cape Town, South Africa, Mauritius and Zanzibar. Then on to South America for the holidays, followed by Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives (hopefully they won’t decide to get married there), and the Seychelles.

Find a job that lets you live in endless summer
If you don’t have the savings to quit your job so you can travel, why not find a career that keeps you in a warm climate, or on the beach?

Michael Turner Winning of British Columbia is a private chef on a Florida yacht. The job enables him to travel and experience summer nearly full-time. He works 11 months a year in balmy climes like Maui and West Palm Beach.

Take your professional aspirations where the sun shines
Thanks to technology, working remotely is easier than ever, even from a private island or multiple countries.

Twenty-two-year-old (!) Colin Pladmonton of Washington state co-founded Spreadsong, a company that develops mobile applications. His occupation is enabling him to travel the world indefinitely, staying in hostels and affordable rented bungalows in temperate parts of Argentina, as well as Montevideo, Uruguay, and Panama.