Category: Q&A

All of us who love travelling have at one time or another flirted with the notion of abandoning the hum-drum of our daily routines and embarking on that one voyage each of us safeguards within and considers “the perfect trip”. Even so, very few of us have taken a definitive step in that direction. Today, we’d like to share with you Iosu’s experience. Our hero is a twenty-nine-year-old adventurer who elected to leave his beloved Madrid behind in a north-to-south quest of the American continent. Ten months after setting off and just back from Ushuaya, Iosu reveals how he prepared for his perfect trip.

Q. Iosu, for those of us who’ve daily followed your blog, there hasn’t been a single day that we haven’t felt some kind of healthy envy. We imagine, however, that it was no picnic undertaking this enterprise.

A. Well, implementing a decision of this kind was a real headache. I had to sidestep fears, both internal and external; work endless hours to save up the money, and take a detour from everyday constructs which meant skirting whatever it is that our society calls “normal” — such as buying a house, having a mortgage, a car, starting a family… I decided to listen to the pulse of my heartbeat and assume whatever risks presented themselves. Would everything be the same when I got back from my trip? Would I return home or find somewhere else to set up camp? I was overwhelmed with queries and underwhelmed with answers.

Q. When you set out, did you have a clear notion of where you were headed or has improvisation been your second mate and made your destination decisions for you?

A. I began with the premise of crossing the continent from north to south, going against the usual migratory byways via the pan-American route from Prudhoe Bay (Alaska) to Bahía Lapataia (Argentina). Nowadays, it is a system of inter-connected roads that stretches over 30,000 kilometers, joining the whole continent from one end to the other. Ultimately, thanks to improvisation, I covered 45,000 kilometers of roads, from gravel to asphalted surfaces, aboard every kind of acquatic-terrestrial transport imaginable: busses, trains, bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles, canoes, boats, caravans, you name it. Planes were only permitted for crossing the Atlantic Ocean from Madrid to Alaska and, later, returning from Buenos Aires back to Spain.

Q. Usually, the main motivation for a trip of this kind is more about meeting people than seeing a lot of places. Am I right?

A. Absolutely. It’s all about the human landscape rather than tourist attractions. It centers on dialoguing with others, instead of being tourist-obsessed with accumulating snapshots. Observation takes primacy over furtive glances.

Q. What did you leave behind in Spain when you did this?

A. My job as a journalist. A girlfriend whom I loved, family and friends … To some, my idea sounded like the brainchild of a madman rather than something premeditated.

Now that Iosu’s back, he offers us evidence that there was not an inkling of madness to his decision. He’s made a documentary called “The seam of the Americas”. A trailer follows.

New York City is one of the must-see cities. No question. It’s a city that leaves no visitor indifferent. I was there for two days in September, 2005 and for a whole week in May, 2008. I hope my third visit is just around the corner. If any top honcho at Delta or Lufthansa is reading this … yes, I will gladly accept a free trip back.

To get an insider’s view of New York, we’ve asked a native New Yorker to answer a few of our questions.
Christopher is a new yorker and a close friend of Trourist who’s been living in Spain awhile, working in film and assorted other fields. He doesn’t forget the city where he was born and raised.

Q. What do you miss about New York? How’s it different from Spain?

A. New York City-style pizza, cheeburger deluxes at a greek diner (increasingly in danger of extinction), Central Park, its museums, its seemingly infinte variety of cool bars downtown, uptown, crosstown, in other boroughs, wherever. Also high on the list are Shea Stadium (yes, i’m a rabid Mets’ fan. I hate the Yankees!), the Garden (Madison Square Garden, to outsiders. And I know the Knicks suck, but I love them anyway). The list is too long to continue, so I’ll stop.

The main difference between the city and other places is THE ATTITUDE: fuck with me, i’ll fuck with you! That’s irreplaceable and inimitable. You’re born with it, you nurture it and, finally, you own it.

Q. For some, New York City is the city of syscrapers. For others, it’s the american dream. Then there are those who call it the city that never sleeps or the city of a thousand and one nights. What does New York mean to someone who was born there?

A. New York is a boot camp, a training ground that prepares you for whatever, wherever. Like Frankie (Sinatra) says in his song “New York, New York“: if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere …

I’ve been mugged, beaten up, insulted and threatened. Then, again, it’s only happened a few times, considering the amount of experiences you face daily. And i haven’t always been on the receiving end either. New York City toughens you, your reflexes become sharper and you learn to take no shit from no one. Ever.

On the other hand, I always call NYC the world’s second city. Everyone, of course, knows their town, but new york is the town they know second best. Why? Because no other city has been more written about, photographed, filmed. It’s the Mecca for media, finance, fashion, sports … Shall I go on?

Q. What NYC experiences do you feel fit in with the Trourist philosophy? What do you recommend for people to try out?

A. Like I said, New Yorkers tend to be on the tough side. They gotta be. They’re also inherently distrustful. This steel armor, however, doesn’t stop them from being open and helpful. New York has always welcomed visitors, we tend to be nicer with those people we feel can use a hand. So, I would say, if you’re looking for a great experience in New York, talk to people, all kinds of people and try to find the common denominator that unites them. After that, ask for some tips of where to go, what places to hit and, I’m sure, their suggestions will hit the mark.

Have you ever wondered what’s the best way to search for cheap flights? We’ve asked Andoni Arandia who loves flying and keeps track of every single flight (over 270) he has taken so far.

What’s your recommendation to buy cheap flights?

Being a budget traveler translates into being flexible with travel plans and going a step further when planning the trip.

As far as the flexibility is concerned, longer layovers and alternative airports may provide the best travel deal. Low cost carriers have found the operational taxes to be lower in smaller airports, usually located further from the main tourist spots and translate this saving to the seats’ prices. Travelers can choose to fly to an alternative airport such as Reus or Girona for Barcelona, Stansted for London, Prestwick for Glasgow, Bergamo for Milan or Beauvais for Paris.

As for the planning, the travelers must scan all fares from low cost airlines and even make up connections that may result in a cheaper travel option than a non-stop flight. As an example, the Amsterdam – Madrid route is operated by four carriers, one of them the low cost airline EasyJet, but the cheapest way to get there might be connecting in London Stansted.

Where do you search for cheap flights (travel portals, flight ticket search engines, airline web pages) and why?

Where to search the lowest fares depends on the route to be flown. Intra-european low cost routes and fares are best captured in skyscanner.net. For those passengers that cannot afford to fly to alternate airports and are restricted in terms of schedule, I always suggest kayak. Kayak’s US website (kayak.com) has different deals to their French (kayak.fr) website or their British website (kayak.co.uk), so I suggest checking them all; however the best deals are usually in the US site.

As a traveller who always is connected to the internet, which applications do you recommend to buy airline tickets and keep track of your flights on the go?

As an iPhone user, the do-not-miss applications for me are Kayak, XE Currency and AroundMe.

Kayak has a feature to display trips, called Kayak Trips. All your trips can be managed there, no matter whether they have been book on Kayak or not. Flight itineraries, hotel stays and car reservations are arranged by trip and can be navigated through conveniently.

XE Currency is the easiest currency convertor in the market and AroundMe allows travelers to search for bars, restaurants, hotels, hospitals and other venues around them.

Thanks Andoni for sharing your tips with us.

Photo by David