The Man Behind Peru’s Culinary Ascent

Check out this article below from The Wall Street Journal's Ryan Dube and Robert Kozak. So exciting to see Peru getting this kind of attention in such a big publication!

(original article here)

Chef Gastón Acurio hosts popular TV cooking shows, writes cookbooks, pens opinion pieces for newspapers and is featured in documentaries. Max Cabello for The Wall Street Journal

LIMA, Peru—In Lima, South America’s culinary capital, Gastón Acurio is like no other chef: He has turned guinea pig into a tender delicacy and is credited with introducing ceviche, the bite-sized raw fish marinated in lime juice, into the world of fine dining.

With 44 restaurants in 13 countries, he has taken Peruvian cuisine global. So it wasn’t out of the ordinary when Mario Vargas Llosa, Peru’s Nobel Prize-winning author, quipped at a recent political seminar that Mr. Acurio would make a fine presidential candidate.

The 46-year-old Mr. Acurio says he is more interested in using food to rebrand his country. “In the end I’m not going to become a politician,” said Mr. Acurio, who wears his hair long and feverishly touts Peruvian food on television and in food fairs. “A chef can do a lot of good things for his country without falling into the vanity of believing that he is the country’s savior.”

Mr. Acurio, who opened his first restaurant 20 years ago, hosts popular TV cooking shows, writes cookbooks, pens opinion pieces for newspapers and is featured in documentaries. As a chef, he is Peru’s answer to Jamie Oliver and Anthony Bourdain.

Mr. Acurio with participants in the Mistura International Gastronomy Fair in Lima in September. Max Cabello

But he also is a businessman, and in Peru he is in a class with some of the country’s top banking and mining executives—underscoring the economic power of cuisine.

The number of restaurants in Peru has more than doubled to 80,000 in the past 14 years, as the country clocked the continent’s fasted economic growth, said the Peruvian Society of Gastronomy, a group that organizes an annual 10-day food festival here. The restaurant sector grew 6% last year and 9% in 2012, an expansion clearly evident in the long lines of locals and food tourists snaking around this capital’s most popular restaurants.

In Mr. Acurio’s case, what started out as a cozy restaurant on a quiet street is now a business empire. Mr. Acurio’s holding company, Acurio Restaurantes, doesn’t disclose earnings figures. But it attracts investors like the Dubai-based Abraaj Group, which manages $7.5 billion in assets in emerging markets and in 2012 bought a minority stake in Acurio Restaurantes.

“An IPO is a possibility,” said Hector Martinez, managing direct at Abraaj. “If it happens, it may occur in three to four years when we get the size to go public.”

Mr. Acurio’s life in the kitchen wasn’t what his parents expected. When he was 8 years old, his father, a senator, encouraged him to read Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” and works by the philosopher Karl Popper. In the late 1980s he was sent to study law in Spain.

Mr. Acurio serves a dish at the fair.

But Mr. Acurio said he ditched it all for the fast-paced heat of a kitchen. He dropped out of law school without telling his family, and moved to Paris to study cooking at Le Cordon Bleu. There, he met his German-born wife, Astrid Gutsche.

“It was very difficult to tell your parents, who dreamed you would become an engineer, lawyer or doctor, that you were going to be a chef,” Mr. Acurio said. “The chef, who has a role, a voice and influence in society today, was at that time a more obscure figure.”

Mr. Acurio and Ms. Gutsche, a pastry chef, moved back to Peru in the early 1990s and opened their first restaurant, Astrid y Gaston, in Lima’s Miraflores neighborhood. The enterprise was a risky one. Peru was just recovering from years of economic turmoil and still locked in conflict with Maoist guerrillas.

The 46-year-old Mr. Acurio says he is more interested in using food than politics to rebrand his country.

As it turned out, Mr. Acurio’s restaurant came at a turning point for Peru. In the last decade, in fact, the poverty rate has fallen to 24% from almost 60%, and foreign investment has flowed into mining and other sectors. A whole new consumer class has been born.

“The Peruvian gastronomic revolution has a lot to do with the economic development of the nation,” said Ignacio Medina, food critic for the magazine, Somos, “and the consolidation of the new middle classes in Lima and other large cities.”

Before Mr. Acurio’s venture took off, French restaurants monopolized Lima’s fine-dining scene. Today, local chefs are inspired by the indigenous, Spanish, African and Asian influences that simmered together over 500 years. Add in Peru’s rich diversity in ingredients—home to many spices, myriad species of fish, hundreds of potato varieties—and the country had the components for a culinary revolution.

Food critics and restaurant owners say it was Mr. Acurio who took unsung dishes and made them the focal point for a nation starting to burst with confidence.

“Without a doubt, food was at that moment a major flag bearer for the recovery in our national pride,” said Mr. Acurio, who in March relocated Astrid y Gaston to a colonial-era mansion after a $6 million renovation of the building, which still features 300-year-old wooden floors and a small chapel. “We had a very important gastronomic legacy, but like everything else, it was simply hidden.”

Take ceviche. It originated from pre-Hispanic indigenous communities living on Peru’s northern coast, with Spaniards later adding lime juice and red onions. Then there is Lomo saltado, a beef stir fry created by Cantonese immigrants. And African slaves perfected Anticuchos, the skewers of tender beef heart. Other dishes rely on everything from sea snails to cow stomachs and guinea pigs, complete with whiskers and teeth.

With all the interest in food, demand for chefs has grown, leading to the growth of culinary schools.

At the academy Mr. Acurio runs, in a poor district north of Lima called Pachacutec, about 20 students were busy peeling shrimp and sautéing vegetables on a recent day as they learned the art of preparing Chifa, dishes with a heavy Chinese influence. The school, which Mr. Acurio opened in 2007 for students from low-income homes, receives about 350 applications a year, admitting only about 25 students per semester.

Some of Mr. Acurio’s protégés have even left their mark far from Lima. In London, Virgilio Martinez, a 36-year-old chef, opened one of the first Peruvian restaurants in that city in 2012. The restaurant, called Lima, was the first Peruvian establishment to earn a Michelin star.

A few years ago there were only a handful of Peruvian restaurants in Miami, but the Peru’s consulate says there are now almost 100, including Mr. Acurio’s, recently opened La Mar cevichería in the five-star Mandarin Oriental hotel.

Not everything has been a success. In Manhattan, Mr. Acurio’s La Mar restaurant failed. But Mr. Acurio still plans to open a similar restaurant in Buenos Aires soon and others in London and Dubai over the next year. For him, the success of these restaurants—his and those of other Peruvian chefs overseas—is a symbol of the growing clout of Peruvian food.

“It is no longer just a Peruvian chef in his Peruvian restaurant,” he said, “but rather Peruvian culture is influencing French restaurants.”

Indeed, the influence of Peruvian food has even rubbed off on world-renowned chefs, like Alain Ducasse. He has made it a point to serve ceviche at his Rech seafood restaurant in Paris.

Said Mr. Medina, the food critic, “The talent of Gastón Acurio has been to turn the best chefs in the world into champions of Peruvian cooking.”

Write to Ryan Dube at ryan.dube@dowjones.com and Robert Kozak atrobert.kozak@wsj.com

The Truth About Travelers

We have been called many things. Travelers, by default. But we like to be called nomads. Explorers. Vagabonds. Adventurers. Wayfarers. Modern gypsies. Wanderers. We've adopted them all. A growing breed of humans with restless feet and the inability to stay still, the inability to stay in one place.

That is who we are. And that's just the gist of it.

We come from all walks of life, from bustling gray colored cities, sleepy beach towns, snow-covered metropolises, small villages nestled in between lush green mountains, we come from everywhere. But our inner gravity always brings us to the same place... the road.

We deem courage weighs more than money when it comes to travel. We're not rich, not financially well-off and we don't travel for luxury. Our money does not come from rich parents, trust funds, or whatever privileges you think we have in order to maintain a life of travel. We work hard, or work while we travel and save whatever means we make. We travel at the cost of sacrifices. We're happy living with just barely enough as long as we're on the road. This means that we have given up plenty of comforts for the sake of travel. We would rather choose a dorm bed in a cheap hostel, a couch, a hammock, a tent, or concrete floor. We've slept in night boats, century-old huts, train stations, in bamboo huts with indigenous tribes, in a house built on stilts in shantytowns and god knows where else.

We have learned to live in depth without comforts. The uncomfortable becomes comfortable to us. Most of us don't own homes, or if some of us do, they're probably renting it out to use that money to travel and explore. We don't spend our money lavishly on things we don't need. We don't buy many things, we don't let things own us. We've learned that the less things we have, the better we live.

We feel the most alive when we're out there. Living nomadically with nothing but our possessions in a backpack and moving as our only constant. Anything is possible when we are given a brand new day in a place we have never been as we surrender ourselves to the currents of the universe.

We are mesmerized by every culture. We act like sponges when we go to a new country we've never been to, we immerse ourselves into every experience and soak our souls with its depth. We believe that smiles are universal and no matter what language fills our ears, we can see people's stories through a smile.

We've learned to not let small annoyances, adversities, and misadventures get the best of us and we don't let it ruin our days. We believe that in any given moment, we have the choice to suffer from whatever problems come our way, or just simply accept it. We've grown to choose the latter. We're not afraid of troubles coming our way even if we are traveling alone most of the time. We've learned to face our fears and unlearn them so we grace through our days with courage. No matter whatever fears people project on us, we smile and look right past it. We have learned that if we constantly keep a sunny disposition and keep our light bright then we won't see the shadows.

We follow wherever the next sunrise and sunset takes us. We are guided by moon cycles and stardust. We look up the the night sky, gaze up at the cosmos, and know that wherever we are and whoever we're without, we are never really alone. And we are comforted by this very notion. 
We have dedicated our hearts to the road. Even when we're not on it we're working to save up for our next trip, every time we hear an airplane, we look up, smile and imagine ourselves on it. We know that the day is coming soon, and we are fueled by that thought. We go to bookstores to browse through the travel section, pick out travel guides and sit there skimming through the pages and daydreaming about our future travels. Our minds constantly drift away to the next destination on our list. Our wanderlust is insatiable and even when we feel it's slaked, it doesn't take long at all until we're hungry again. And we're hungry all the time.

We travel not just to go, we travel to evolve. Embracing new experiences, endlessly changing horizons, and each brand new day as a way of living. We live for airports, planes, buses, boats, trains, road trips. We find clarity in the blur of the places zooming past us as we look through the window. This is our home. This will always be our home.

These are the stories we will tell people, the ones we love, the ones we just met, the ones who come and ago, the perfect strangers. We will keep showing the others that we were born wanderers, that wanderlust resides within every single one of us. And that no matter who we are, where we are, what we do, and what we have we can always choose to follow it.

We're not saying that you should give up everything in your life this second, buy a ticket, and pack your backpack. Although you can if really want to, if everything inside of you is telling you to do so you should listen. But we're saying that when you choose to strip away years of unnecessary baggage, you'll find freedom. We're not saying that you should take the risk and leap, then everything will always be peachy and perfect. It's never like that. But what we're saying is, you should allow yourself to be free. You should allow yourself to stand on the fringes of life, and dive into its alluring ambiguity. Even if it means facing your fears. Even if it means making sacrifices. Even if it means letting go of things you've held onto for so long. Even if it means having to let go of people you love. Even if it all terrifies you. We're saying open yourself up to the world. Embrace all of its worth. Let its teachings seep into all that you are.

When you do that, all your layers will peel off and you will discover your true self.

And so here's the truth. We travel not just to travel and marvel at people, places, things. That's not just it. That was never just it for us. We travel to learn, to experience, and to feel all the spectrums of being human in this world.

One day, when we are old with silver hair, freckles, creases, and laugh wrinkles from many years of wandering drenched under sunlight. Our children's children will lay out with us under the stars by a campfire on a moonlit beach elsewhere. We will tell them stories of wild adventures, of lived dreams, of enchanting places, of conquered fears, of lessons that turned into gold, lessons that we've learned from the road, and a full life lived. Our journeys will inspire their own.

Our journey is our truth. It's the truth that illuminates us, as we continue on where we thrive and wander, on the road we call our home.

Visit Stephanie's blog www.infinitesatori.org for the original post and follow her journey.

How I Can Afford My Life Of Constant Travel

I’m confused.

I’m simply confused as to how it’s possible that I have so far failed to properly explain how I’ve managed to travel/live/work abroad nonstop for 12 years straight (and counting).

The questions are still pouring in every single day: How do you do it? How is it possible to travel for so long? Where does the money come from?

And while I thoroughly enjoy communicating with readers (I’m being completely serious and encourage you all to continue sending your emails to me as often as you wish), the fact that these very questions are on the minds of so many of you out there has led me to believe that I need to do a better job at providing the answers.

While it’s true that I’ve already written plenty of posts on the matter, clearly all of these posts, even as one collective entity, still fall well short of proving that a life of travel is not some crazy fantasy but a perfectly reasonable and easily attainable lifestyle option instead.

I’ve even referred to other travelers who are out there living a similar nomadic lifestyle, but apparently, that hasn’t been enough either.

So what am I to do?

How do I prove, once and for all, that you do not need $500,000 or even $50,000 in your bank account, that if you are able to scrounge together $500 bucks, there’s little stopping you from becoming a full-time nomad. I’m not joking here. After all, this is exactly what I’ve done myself. Okay, I first left home with $1500 to my name but that’s not exactly a fortune either.

I’m not going to give up trying, so here’s another attempt to show you how I’ve managed to live a life of constant travel.

The following is a brief summary of the past 12 years of my life. It is a timeline of sorts that details where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing and where my money has come from at all times. Ultimately, it shows just how one ordinary person has so far managed to fund 4,195 days straight of traveling and living abroad.

THE TIMELINE

December 25, 1999:

• Left home and flew to Bangkok with $1500 in my bank account
• Planned to spend 3 months traveling around Southeast Asia

March 2000

• Decided to officially extend my trip despite having only $500 left to my name
• Taught English in Chiang Mai, Thailand, earning approximately $150 USD per week (more than enough to live well in this city at the time)

October 2000

• Returned to the US with $300 in my account (after paying for the flight home)
• Spent 2 months in Boston working as a high school substitute teacher
• Saved $2500 during this time

January 2001

• Returned to Asia and spent 12 months traveling through Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia
• While in India, volunteered as an English teacher for 3 months in exchange for room and board
• Stayed with friends for 3 months in Thailand and taught English once again in Chiang Mai
• Lived with friends for 2 months in Australia, which kept my expenses quite low
• Returned to the US with no money at all

February 2002

• Through a contact, I applied to work on board cruise ships
• Landed a job as a Tour Staff with Carnival Cruise Lines
• Worked on board two different ships during one 8-month contract
• Saved $8000 during this time and then decided not to return for another contract

November 2002

• Traveled to Australia for 4 months

February 2003

• With $4000 in the bank, I spent two months living with a friend in Los Angeles
• Found a short-term job at an advertising company through a temp agency
• Worked for two months and left LA with $5000 in the bank

April 2003

• Traveled to Thailand, Bangladesh and India

September 2003

• Landed a job as a Tour Manager for Norwegian Cruise Lines
• Worked two contracts on board ships located in Hawaii and the South Pacific
• Traveled to Europe during my 6-week vacation between contracts
• Saved $20,000 by the end of my second contract

July 2004

• Spent 7 months traveling to Europe, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan

March 2005

• With $10,000 still in my account, decided to work two more contracts as a Tour Manager for Norwegian Cruise Lines
• Saved an additional $20,000 during these contracts
• Traveled to Europe during my 2-month vacation in between contracts

December 2005

• Traveled for 8 months to South America, Europe and India

September 2006

• Was offered a job with Cunard Line (cruise line based out of the UK)
• Worked as a Tour Manager on board the Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2 ocean liners
• Spent 18 months with Cunard, saving over $3300 per month
• Traveled through Europe, Caribbean, Mexico, the Middle East and SE Asia during my vacations in between contracts

April 2008

• Traveled back to India for 3 months

July 2008

• Worked one final two-month contract for Cunard Line, saving an additional $6000

September 2008

• Left Cunard (with more than enough money saved up by now) and moved to Australia
• Spent five months in Melbourne working on creating online streams of income

December 2008

• Sold my first eBook online
• Continued working on promoting my eBook while creating a second eBook to sell
• Began earning some income through affiliate marketing

February 2009

• Spent six weeks in Thailand
• Volunteered and traveled in India for six weeks
• Visited Italy for a few weeks

June 2009

• Traveled through Central America and Mexico, finishing the trip by renting an apartment in Sayulita, Mexico
• Continued working on my online projects
• Income from my online projects reached $1000 per month for the first time

December 2009

• Moved to the Caribbean coast of Mexico and rented an apartment in Playa del Carmen, where I spent more time working on my online projects
• Officially launched WanderingEarl.com

September 2010

• Spent 6 months traveling around the Middle East, Australia and Southeast Asia

April 2011

• Returned to Playa del Carmen (where I am currently living) in order to catch up on work
• Reached $2500+ per month in online income through the sales of three eBooks I’ve authored and through my efforts with affiliate marketing

Right Now

• Planning some new adventures for later this year, including a most interesting 30 day train challenge for the month of September (more details to come in my next post)
• Life as a permanent nomad continues

And that’s all there is to it. The truth of the matter is…

$2500 per month, and even $1000 or $1500 per month, is more than sufficient to achieve a lifestyle that involves extensive travel. It really doesn’t take much. Some teaching English here, some cruise ship work there, some internet marketing in your spare time and VOILA!

And this is only a tiny fraction of the opportunities to earn money while traveling that exist out there. Once you realize this, you’ll also realize that luck, miracles and having an overflowing bank account play no role whatsoever in allowing you to achieve your travel goals.

All you need is the courage to take the first step and a mind that is open to trying new experiences!

10 Backpacker Stereotypes You’ll Meet on the Road

There is no doubt that having an open mind and a level of tolerance for differences in cultures is essential for any backpacker during their travels overseas. I also believe that there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ traveler, that not all backpackers from the same country necessarily bear resemblance to each other, and that where in the world an individual comes from should not affect how they are perceived and treated when traveling.

However, in the spirit of poking fun at some stereotypical quirks and cultural differences, and with a hint of political incorrectness, below is a list of the top ten backpacker region stereotypes (including my own!) that you may have encountered during your world travels…

1 – The American Backpacker

You will hear this backpacker immediately upon entering the hostel. Loud, enthusiastic and friendly, the American Backpacker either travels in large groups of young college girls or guys, or, if a little bit older, travels hans solo. The delightful college girl American Backpacker wears pajamas during the day and tight bright clothing at night, and is never without numerous layers of make up and hairspray, and the college boy American Backpacker has usually found their way to Central or South America on a cheap flight from Miami and are ready for a week of drinking and partying.

In contrast, the older single American Backpackers are usually travel bloggers, photographers, or hippies that are trying to find the deeper meaning in their travel experiences. All American backpackers give themselves massive kudos for being one of the 20-30% of American citizens that own passports and like to brag about anything remotely ‘foreign’ they have done on their travels. Depending on the type, great for partying the night away or discussing the meaning of life.

2 – The European Backpacker

Usually travels in pairs, stays in the private rooms, and spends much of the time speaking to only each other in their native language. The European Backpacker is ridiculously good looking but very quiet and reserved, until copious amounts of red wine are consumed.

Usually has way more money than the rest of the hostel combined and can tell smug stories of expensive trips and activities which others could only dream of. Great for when you want to pretend you are not a grimy backpacker and go to a nice restaurant or bar for once.

3 – The Canadian Backpacker

Can spot these a mile away due to the prevalence of Canadian flags sewn on to their backpack and the ‘ey’ at the end of every sentence (“Canada, ey”).

Always friendly and impeccably polite (unless you mistake them for their louder cousin, American backpacker). Often stoned. If you hit them, they will apologize. Great for switching rooms to get away from the snorer.

4 – The Israeli Backpacker

The Israeli backpacker tends to travel in large packs after doing their time in the army. Easy to find as they will be the ones haggling at every spot. Friendly and always speak impeccable English, but are slightly scary and a little smelly. Great for when you want the best deal at the local kebab shop.

5 – The Asian Backpacker

Very rare breed of backpacker. Quiet and courteous (until they have a beer), the Asian Backpacker usually travels in small packs with large cameras and a multitude of electrical equipment in a Hello Kitty backpack. Great for when you need that s150 charger you left at home.

6 – The English Backpacker

The English Backpacker travels in a massive group with other suntanned/burnt/fake-tan orange English Backpackers. Friendly but often spends time whinging on a hostel balcony.

Usually has enough money to find English booze and fried food thanks to the pound. Usually on a Gap Year. Always up for hostel drinking games, and able to drink nearly as much as the Australian Backpacker (and often goes home with one). Great for having a laugh at the pub.

7 – The South African Backpacker

Another rare breed. Usually men. Very arrogant and most have the crazy eyes, but they come complete with a divine accent and amazing abs. Can handle a shotgun. Great for when you need a handyman to fix the hostel bunk, someone to protect you in a dangerous part of town, or when you have a hankering for a backpacker fling.

8 – The Australian Backpacker

Friendly, adventurous and laid back, but can be annoyingly loud and is the centre of every party once drunk. Always the one that does the stupid dares.

Can be found traveling in packs, pairs or alone, but if alone will often have run into a cousin/friend/acquaintance at every stop, however remote (“maaaaate, didn’t realise you were over here in the middle of the amazon jungle. lets go for a drink.”).

Great for when you want to start drinking at 9am and have a skinny dip in a public fountain.

9 – The New Zealand Backpacker

Often confused with its Australian cousin; can be distinguished by their questionable fashion sense and hilarious pronunciation of the phrases “fish and chips” and “six, please”. Very friendly but usually a little reserved in large groups. Well experienced in camping and ‘tramping’ (hiking) and is at home in cold and mud and snow.

Extremely loose on the booze and has the ability to do even crazier things than the Australian Backpacker when provoked, especially if from Dunedin. Great for a laugh when ordering six beers, or for borrowing clothes when the weather is chilly.

10 – The Irish Backpacker

Not to be confused with the English Backpacker, the Irish Backpacker is usually a little older and travels in pairs or by themselves. Like a homing pigeon, this gem of a backpacker always manages to find the best deals on a pint at any time of the day and is friendly and inclusive of all other travelers.

Loses the ability to speak English after a few alcoholic beverages but good at miming their usually hilarious drinking stories. Great for a friendly face if traveling alone.

Check it out

12 Types Of People You'll Find In Every Hostel

When some people travel, their accommodation involves words like plush, champagne, spa, pamper, terrace, aroma, stunning, marble, spacious, and robe.

And then there’s you.

You’re the kind of person who ends up on a site like Wait But Why, and your travel is far shittier.

You may even be acquainted with the wide world of hostels, a world that embodies both the human race’s best qualities and its most annoying. A culture that manages to simultaneously be a liberal utopia of open-mindedness, acceptance, and diversity—and a factory of cringiness. If Gandhi mated with the douchiest guy you went to high school with, their offspring would be hostels.

Hostels are everything the world should be and everything the world shouldn’t be, all at once.

And while every hostel is unique, the crowd passing through tends to be more or less the same. We’ll scratch the surface today by breaking down 12 of the common characters:

1) The Guy Who Plays The Guitar In The Hostel

Defining Characteristics: Making serious facial expressions; Thrilled with self
Length of Their Trip: 10 weeks

He had to find a place for it in the overhead bin on the plane, which wasn’t easy. He held it on his lap on the crowded bus. He carried it for a mile and a half from the bus station to the hostel.

But sitting there on the backrest of the couch, plucking those sweet strings, embodying literally the best aesthetic ever—it was all worth it for The Guy Who Plays The Guitar In The Hostel.

2) The 38-Year-Old Guy Who’s Pretending He’s 24

Defining Characteristics: Down to party; Wrinkles
Length of Their Trip: 2 weeks

There are three kinds of guys you’ll find in hostels:

1) Dudes (age 19-32)
2) Men (age 33-70)
3) The 38-year-old who’s gonna just go ahead and pretend he’s still a dude and he’d really appreciate it if you would just roll with it and not say anything about it

Every hostel has one dude who’s a little too old to be acting like a dude. He knows he’s 38, you know he’s 38, and this is just kind of his move. He doesn’t really care what you think because he’s never gonna see you again anyway.

3) The Americans Who Are Kind of Acting Like It’s The First Day Of School 

Defining Characteristics: Loud; Excited; Eager to say a lot of words to a lot of people about a lot of things
Length of Their Trip: 8 days

You’ll know them when you see them. They’re young, wide-eyed, and they’re pretty sure this is everyone’s first backpacking trip, not just theirs. When they leave the hostel, they head to a restaurant to be five times louder than the second-loudest table there.

4) The Guy Who Brought Only Two Changes Of Clothes

Defining Characteristics: Friendly; Wafting
Length of Their Trip: 6 months

Amateur travelers pack a lot. Pro travelers pack light. And then there’s the guy who brought two changes of clothes.

There are things you may doubt in life, but you’ll never have a doubt about whether this guy is in the room with you.

5) The “Make You Feel Bad About Yourself Cause You’re Not In A Cool Group Of Friends Like Those People” People

Defining Characteristics: Laughter; Telling stories about last night; Having fun plans ahead that night; You’re not invited
Length of Their Trip: 5 Weeks

There they are, having fun, enjoying the shit out of each other, and all you can do is stare longingly. No, you’re not in the group, and no, you’re not invited to wherever they’re going next. As you head up to bed alone, the sounds of their incredibly hilarious drinking game serve as a reminder of how alone you are in this country, planet, and universe.

6) The People Who Say Local Places With The Correct Accent

Defining Characteristics: Tongue rolls; A straight face as they do tongue rolls
Length of Their Trip: One month

You'll find these people all over the world, but nowhere do they thrive like Latin America.  To be clear, they do notvisit Buenos Aires, Argentina, they visit Buenos Aye-des, Adhentina.  They won't be caught dead in Nicaragua, but love a good visit to Neecadagua.  They top off their act with 0% self-deprecation about pretending to be foreign.  They will look you dead in the eye without a trace of a smile as the local sounds roll off their tongue.

7) The Lonely Planet All-Stars 

Defining Characteristics: Reading their Lonely Planet at all times
Length of Their Trip: 15 days

You know one of these when their Lonely Planet looks like it’s from 1936 even though they bought it a week and a half ago. Their relationship with the book is intimate, mutual, and all-encompassing.

8) The Smily European Girl Who You’d Spend The Rest Of Your Life With Even Though You’ve Never Spoken To Her But She Smiled At You And Now Your Day Is Ruined

Defining Characteristics: Smily; Day-ruining
Length of Their Trip: 2 months

Let’s move on.

9) The “I’m The Kind Of Guy Who Knows The People Who Work At The Hostel” Guy

Defining Characteristics: Calls the staff members by their first name
Length of Their Trip: 3 months

Just so you know, this guy is in the inner circle at the hostel. He basically works there—he’ll direct you to the bathroom, correct your misguided placement of the communal olive oil on the non-communal rack, and he even helped a staff member bring out the trash last Thursday, so.

10) The Jaded European Who Doesn’t Want To Be Your Friend

Defining Characteristics: Quiet condescension
Length of Their Trip: 4 months

This is her 83rd country, she’s not that impressed by it, and she’s certainly not that impressed by you. She rolls her left eye at the Lonely Planet All-Star and her right eye at the over-excited American.

11) The Obnoxiously Happy Couple

Defining Characteristics: Being a happy fucking little team
Length of Their Trip: 2 weeks

Well aren’t they cute, with their matching backpacks and their shared experiences. Oh, and look who has too much chemistry to sleep in the communal dorm bedroom. These people have little consideration for any dramatically lonely solo travelers in the vicinity, just plowing ahead with their public bonding.

12) The Guy Who’s Maybe Been Traveling A Little Too Long

Defining Characteristics: Knows the people at the local grocery store by name; Not that into questions about his life
Length of Their Trip: 2.5 years and counting

He’s adventuring less than he used to, he gave up sightseeing long ago, and he’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t really ask him about his job, his life back at home, his relationship with his parents, or the law in his home country.