Doug Lansky is the author of The Rough Guide First-Time Around the World, The Rough Guide First-Time Europe and he has also written The Rough Guide to Travel Survival.
The world is flat. Or so the thinking went, until someone actually went off to circumnavigate it. You may not make such a colossal discovery during your own global journey, but what awaits you 'out there' is your very own adventure. Beyond your part of the planet lie mountain ranges with echo-bending canyons, tangled jungles, deserts that stretch into sanguine sunsets and yellow savannah veiling lions, wildebeest and springbok. There are retina-burning white beaches tapering off into vodka waters that serve as a playground for dolphins, turtles and manta rays. Not to mention over six thousand languages, countless botanical wonders, architectural masterpieces and geological anomalies. All that is already out there. The decision to find it is yours.
Travel is an urge best cultivated from within. In fact, one of the biggest favours you can do for yourself is to travel if and when you're ready, not when someone else thinks you should. The more eager you are to open yourself up to life on the road, the more willing you are to embrace the unknown, the more likely you are to reap the rewards.
