I ask all guests a series of questions that I normally ask myself after I come home from travelling, these questions are aimed to give some insight into how these travellers accomplished what they did. These questions also will help you find out if your style of travel matches well with this guest.
What led you to this destination?
Australia and the UK are traditionally more popular destinations. But they were taken off the table for the exchange. Marley had wanted to travel there and be a part of the Hockey culture in Sweden since he was young, while there he did end up playing ball hockey as part of the school team. He also had heard the women were beautiful, which is apparently very true. The uniqueness
At any time was there a reason to leave, ever uncomfortable?
One time was when Marley had to sign up for the exam instead of at BrockU you need to actively say you will be at the exam which Marley did not know and the test retake day he was not in the country anymore so he had to work it out with the university.
Marley also was drugged during a party and had to go to the hospital where they confirmed he was roofied. These two events Marley said they were unfortunate but nothing really as dangerous or unexpected happened other than that. He made sure this didn't happen again by
exercising more caution when drinking and made sure to make sure he wouldn't miss anymore school events.
Were there any surprises during your trip that were contrary to your beliefs?
In a Russian bar they were handing out stripper cards in the bathroom, which was interesting, he did not want to bring the stripper to a hostel either so he regrets not calling the number on the card. Milan also was disappointing in some small way given that many of the stores were out of his price range, as a tourism city not being wealthy it is hard to get by. Most people come to shop and leave from what Marley saw there was not a ton of old Italian culture to be experienced on a short time frame. He ended up just staying in the villa they had and eating bread and drinking some wine. The worst food by contrast was Ukraine and Russia.
Did you run into any trouble while there?
Needed to get more money sent from back home just to meet the basic needs when in Sweden.
Got thrown out of the clubs 4 times. One time the DJ left the booth and Marley decided to take over which resulted in him being almost immediately thrown out. In Sweden also you can gamble in the club, they ended up winning about 300 euros and bought bottles of champagne which they ended up going to the front of the club and popping champagne on the other club attendees, the police took it very seriously and they got asked many questions. Marley spotted a birthday that had bottle service on a different occasion and he decided to go and try to drink their alcohol and pick up the girls that were there, needless to say security became involved again. On the last incident Marley tried to get with the servers of the club by stealing the sparklers they carry and dancing with them. Marley would recommend not doing any of these things because you will definitely be ousted from the drinking establishment you are in.
What did you discover there that was off the beaten path?
Playing for the schools ball hockey league meant he got to play in a number of tournaments in the surrounding area. He did not plan on joining the league but he said what made seeing and doing new things easy was if anyone brought up an idea for a trip he would say yes and partake in whatever the idea was. There were a few bars that still allowed smoking cigarettes which was unexpected.
Do you think you found out anything about yourself that you regularly would not have?
He thinks he matured over the course of the trip despite what the bouncers at these clubs would tell you. He noticed a shift in his perspective. Marley tries to not pass judgement on people you meet not immediately write them off as being something that pop culture tells you. He also noticed that time is more valuable, he got rid of all his video games on his return. Learning this sense of time means he is constantly prioritizing things more important to him like learning about new people or new languages. Not passing judgement also led to him meeting one of his best friends on the trip a guy from Afghanistan. He also noticed being a part of that international mindset at the school meant when they would all get together and hangout they would talk about culture and language rather than trivial things you would speak of here such as sports and news. He found himself in a european place where many people speak more than one language, talking with other young people like himself and finding out what it has been like to grow up in an environment much different than how he grew up.
If you went with anyone on this trip what role did they serve for you?
He would never change anyone he met there for anyone else, being all students they became like one big family. Even though they all had their own goals and agendas for their time there. Especially going to Russia with his friend Lucas meant going with someone Marley had only known for a short amount of time.
Did you spend any extensive time with the locals, what were they like?
Marley has a weakness for Finnish women and Swedish women. But he would say his favourite place was Stockholm overall.
Did you try to blend in to that local atmosphere, or act more like a tourist?
Marley found that many people would come up to him and talk Swedish when they first met him. Just because of his features he looks like more than a Swede than you would normally expect. His style of dress also made people think he was British.
How did your country of Origin influence your behaviour when travelling?
He would joke around and act super Canadian once in awhile as a joke during parties, something that all the Dutch and Swedish people really enjoyed. He also realized that the Swedish chef on sesame street may be racist.
Was maximizing Utility to cost a priority?
He received a student card after being enrolled there, most places have student prices he would always go out to drink on student nights for lower prices. He was also able to get a bike from a friend when he got there which allowed him to save money on the bus pass by biking everywhere and he got to stay in shape. He would always walk if the walk was under 45 minutes because most of the time he was in places where he would really like to take in the sites at every local.
Would you save or spend more in the future? What would you save or spend more on? Where would this extra saving or spending take place in the scope of your trip?
Marley would say that he could have avoided spending money on all hotels that he stayed at. He also could have drank much less but does not regret having the alcohol budget that he did
What was the approx cost of the trip, how did you save for it?
$16000-$18000 with everything including tuition at Brock but without the tuition $8000-$9000 was the cost of just the trip. $1000 was spent on transit from and to Canada. At least $1500 on alcohol he says. Food made up a considerable portion of the cost due to it being a little more expensive. He worked all summer every year between school parents helped a bit and had student loans. He also had his mum visit for a few weeks and she was able to pay for that portion of the trip.
After the experience, was it easy to justify the time spent doing what you did?
Yes
Why are you so attracted to travelling?
He likes experiencing new environments and cultures. “I enjoy the feeling of walking on the street, looking left and looking right and seeing things you have never seen before”. Seeing and meeting people that turn out to be much more similar to yourself than you would have ever thought.
Are you a vacationer or a traveller?
A little bit of both. In the UK he was a vacationer, when in Russia he was very much a Traveller. A lot of travelling can put you in need of a Vacation from time to time.
Any new technology that you used while you were there that seemed helpful?
He was very excited about the new automated ordering system at McDonalds (which he thought was only existent in Europe) XECurrency was also an app that really helped him when going back and forth between currency zones. Google Translate proved valuable he pre downloaded the languages of the countries which he was going then you don't need data. Google maps also very helpful again pre downloading the areas you know you will be in allows you to not use data.
When people ask about your trip, what do you tell them? Do you tell them what you think they will like or what you really think is worth mentioning?
Usually tells people a quick summary, difficult to sum up 6 months quickly. Usually leads with telling people how crazy his trip is telling them shortly about the 13 countries. And all the people he met when during his travels.
Where do you think you will be heading next?
Believes he will be headed to Australia or Asia. For a longer journey or Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Dubai. Needless to say these cannot be done together but are on the list of things you will need to do.