Two weeks ago, after being convinced by her soulmate, a former travel buddy, an old classmate and her cousin, @budgetbucketlist decided to introduce herself to the Steemit community.
Little did she know that decision would result in her receiving enough Steem Dollars to purchase a plane ticket for her mother to come visit her in South America.
With a few incredibly successful posts under her belt, @budgetbucketlist has become a Steem believer, and is excited to share about what it's like to travel the world solo.
Those experiences include: escaping an armed gang rape attempt, hitch-hiking for three days while exchanging cartel chit-chat in Mexico and staying in a deserted beach hotel with coke-sniffing Czech-Slovakian fugitives.
And, according to her, that's only scratching the surface.
20 questions with @budgetbucketlist
1 - For those who missed your "IntroduceYourself" post, what can you tell us about yourself in one sentence?
@budgetbucketlist - I'm a girl traveling the world solo.
2 - Your first post was incredibly successful, earning $7,900 and more than 650 up-votes. What went through your mind when you noticed the balance in your Steem wallet?
@budgetbucketlist - "Hmmm, so this whole Steemit-thing is in fact REAL?" Like everyone else, I was skeptical. But yes, Steemit is as amazing as it sounds and does create incredible opportunities for many. With my very first Steem Dollars, I immediately bought a flight for my mother so I can see her again after over a year (the 'sacrifices' of traveling full-time...)
For anyone interested, that story can be found here!
3 – You’ve said your material possessions are limited to the 15 kg in your suitcase. Other than clothes, what makes up that 15 kg?
Shoes: Hiking shoes, flip-flops and one pair of 'if-anyone-ever-invites-me-to-a-cocktail-party-I'll-wear-these' shoes
Clothes (this is about 11kg of the 15): A bag of underwear, laundry bag, 3 pair of socks, 2 sweaters, sporty clothes, a thin and a warm jacket, gloves, a bikini, some pants and the rest are dresses and skirts. I'm still female. My most precious piece is a ragged old scarf, which protects me from the cold, but when soaked into a river keeps my head cool in the heat.
Camping-related stuff: A sleeping bag (both a thin silk one for the humid rain forests and a thick one for up in the mountains), a pillowcase (you simply don't want to put your face in all of the pillows you get presented with along the way... believe me, you don't), a flashlight, poncho, water bottle, a big bottle of mosquito spray (DIEEEEE DIIEEEE, said the vegetarian) and sunscreen. A couch-surfer recently donated a light-weight tent, so I guess that's coming with me now too.
Toiletry stuff: Contact lenses and my glasses, a towel, deodorant, soap, a stockpile of tampons (WHY they don't sell these everywhere? Imagine you're in a sweltering hot jungle and you have to wear these disgustingly sticky bloody sanitary napkins... ok do NOT imagine that), shampoo, a mirror, toothbrush & toothpaste etc. I downsized entirely on make-up, can't hike a desert looking like a barbie. I'm still holding on to some earrings and yes, my hair straightener (which makes me look quite ridiculous sometimes, as many places I go don't even have electricity).
Medication: Mainly travel-related stuff, like malaria pills, dehydration tablets and loperamide, car sickness pills, height sickness pills, paracetamol... I always carry tablets with me to purify water, you never know where you get stranded. And alcohol to disinfect my nipple. Yes, I said it. At some point during my life I found it necessary to cram a piercing right through it, which was needless to say a classic example of quite poor decision-making. Not only was this the most painful moment in my personal history (imagine it, some tattooed guy slamming a piece of metal through your tit, without anesthetics), it took a full 1.5 year to cure. I guess I'm drifting off.
Hand luggage: An iron 'safe bag' with my limited electronics (an old phone, an even older music player and a laptop with a screen slightly bigger than my hand of which some of the keys are coming loose), money, credit and debit cards, my passport and travel documents. I always carry a book with me, which I exchange in book exchanges, and a notebook to write down my dreams and thoughts. Oh, and sunglasses!
Weird stuff: Coffee, a french press and the classic 'coffee sock'. Yes, I'm officially an addict. I also carry a big bottle of Mexican hot sauce, powder soy milk and a bag of flour around. That gave me some delay getting out of Colombia.
4 – Describe a typical day in the life of @budgetbucketlist.
@budgetbucketlist - I wake up, drink 3 cups of coffee, grab my daypack and see where life takes me.
Then I write it all down.
5 – Your experience escaping an armed gang rape in Chile was truly frightening. Is there anywhere in the world that you're not willing to travel to due to a high risk of danger?
@budgetbucketlist - No, because it's not related to place. Chile is one of the most developed countries in South America. People (who never actually have traveled there themselves) warned me about basically EVERY country in South- and Central-America, except for Chile. Of course, there it happens. I had bad experiences in my own 'safe' and supposedly advanced country, and had the time of my life in a feared and avoided place like Honduras. 99.99% of the people you meet and the experiences you have are positive, but if you decide to design your life in a way to get the full 100% out of it, you encounter some less cool stuff too sometimes. That's life, deal with it. You would be really missing out if you let fear guide you.
6 – You've already shared two intense stories from your travels. How many more of these do you have in your back pocket?
@budgetbucketlist - I have an endless supply. Weird stuff always seems to find me, it's a questionable gift. As a writer that has its advantages, though. Sometimes I think back about certain experiences and I can't believe it happened... that time I was stuck on an island with a psychotic lady throwing everyone's electronics in the water and threatening to kill some of us... that time I ended up in a third-world country hospital with dead bodies being carried around and people spitting blood on the walls... that time I had to escape the country with my couch-surfing host as he was threatened by armed gangs extorting him... that time I volunteered for a delirious ex-heroin addict convinced the FBI was filming us through the electricity plugs... that time I got stuck in a hotel with four escaped former Czech-Slovak tax frauds that were all to be found back on Interpol... those nights I was kept up by a woman barking like a dog and hitting herself...
Yes, as I said, weird stuff tends to find me. Steemit: stay tuned.
7 – What country (that you haven't yet traveled to) is top of your list to visit next?
@budgetbucketlist - Literally any country. I'm determined to see them all and if life lets me live long enough: I will.
8 – Of the seven languages you speak, which was the hardest to learn?
@budgetbucketlist - I hated Latin. The high school system in The Netherlands has 4 levels from easy & short to difficult & long: you get classified to a certain level based on IQ. As I'm quite the nerd I had the last one, which meant 6 long years among others obligated to take courses of Dutch, German, French, English, Latin and Ancient Greek. I felt like I was wasting my time with these last 2; I wondered how studying dead languages would ever help anyone. I was not motivated at all and gave my teacher a really hard time. However, when I started studying in Italy, I all of a sudden noticed how much I already understood of that language... also when traveling in Latin America, I could make sense of every single Spanish word and picked up the language in no time. I later met that teacher on a train and thanked her after all , 6 years too late.
9 – What is your favorite movie?
@budgetbucketlist - I didn't watch any TV for years, but I can appreciate some movies: Intouchables , Amélie, La Vie d'Adele, Un Chien Andalou (as you see I'm a sucker for French movies), La Vita é Bella, Cidade de Deus, Requiem for a Dream, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Hotel Rwanda... and anything from Tim Burton. As a traveler I can enjoy movies like Into The Wild, Earth and Samsara. I like musicals too. I wish life could be a bit more like that. Imagine you ask me a question and I answer you singing while the whole street suddenly starts dancing behind me to clarify my point.
10 - What is your favorite song? (Both right now, and all-time)
@budgetbucketlist - Wow, I must pick 1? You are torturing me Wade! I have Soilwork on repeat right now, I especially like the song 'Vesta'. Of all-time: I feel most relate to the lyrics of Metallica's 'Wherever I May Roam.'
"Rover, wanderer, nomad, vagabond, call me what you will... But I'll take my time anywhere, free to speak my mind anywhere and I'll redefine anywhere. Anywhere I roam, where I lay my head is home... and the Earth becomes my throne."
11 - I understand you've been to 46 countries. What are your three favorite towns or cities that you've visited?
@budgetbucketlist - Oeh, CITIES. I'm more a nature girl to be honest, but I can appreciate the art, museums and theaters that cities offer. I guess a few of my favorites would be Budapest (Hungary), Yogyakarta (Indonesia) and Mendoza (Argentina)... the last one mainly for the endless supply of sublime wine.
12 - What is your most embarrassing moment?
@budgetbucketlist - The most embarrassing moment? My life seems to be a sequence of embarrassing moments. One recent one pops up though: I was hiking in a national park in Costa Rica. I had to pee really bad. As I didn't see anyone for hours I decided to just drop my pants right where I was standing. Of course, the moment the whole process was set in motion a male hiker showed up out of nowhere. I was at the point of no return, I couldn't stop the waterfall. So I just held my rain jacket in front of my parts to prevent tunnel vision and wished him a pleasant afternoon... I'm a lady after all.
13 - Whose Steemit blog are you most entertained by?
@budgetbucketlist - I find the work of @cheetah important and the way he writes about it very entertaining.
14 - What is your greatest fear?
@budgetbucketlist - To lose my freedom.
15 - What is one food you couldn't live without?
@budgetbucketlist - Well, since I gave up all animal products I realized that all food I thought I couldn't live without, I in fact could. I was both happy an angry when I became a vegetarian (going vegan). Happy because I realized I just saved some animals' lives and made the world a bit more respectful; angry because I LOVE the taste of spare ribs, sushi and cheese... But eventually that wears off, it's just pleasure, for me that's not worth killing for. As tasty vegan stuff like soy, tofu or seitan is not found in many places, and many countries are mainly meat-centered, I got used to eating dry rice or tortillas with raw vegetables for weeks. Boring? Yes. But I lived, and that was the question right ;)
16 - You get to have dinner with three other people, living or dead. Who are you eating with?
@budgetbucketlist - I think supper with Ernest Hemmingway, Gandhi and Lemmy Kilmister would be an interesting one.
17 - Who is your biggest inspiration in life?
@budgetbucketlist - Honestly, I don't really have anyone specifically. In general I respect people that are A) smarter than me, and B) do exactly what they want without being influenced by any of our society's standards and restraints. I'm not really impressed by institutions, but sometimes certain individuals who dare to stand out from the crowd grab my attention.
18 - What are you looking forward to most about your mother's visit?
@budgetbucketlist - To have someone next to me that truly understands me, without judgment.
19 - Do you have any regrets in life?
@budgetbucketlist - No. You learn from everything, so if some actions appear to be less splendid than you thought they would be, you decide to do differently in the future.
20 - What is one thing very few people know about you that you'd like to share with the Steemit community?
@budgetbucketlist - Maybe something the Steemers don't know about themselves, but I do ;) ... That without realizing it: they are humanitarians in disguise. I spent most of the Steemit-dollars they generated by up-voting my first posts on supporting a foundation feeding the homeless. I just posted a blog about that, if you're interested reading about your own good deeds ;)
Thank you to @budgetbucketlist for giving us a glimpse of what life is like for a girl traveling the world solo!
Also, a huge thank-you to all of you for taking the time to read.
Is there another Steemit user who you'd like to see me throw 20 questions at? Drop me a comment below and I'll work on setting up the interview.
If you like what you read, be sure to follow my blog!
