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#rtwsoon Interview: Garreth – Indefinite Backpacking

This is our second #rtwsoon interview in 2011 with Garreth Lodge from Indefinite Backpacking.

My special entrance at a hostel in Krakow, PolandWho are you?

Hello! I’m Garreth Lodge and hail from Edinburgh, Scotland. I am only a few months short of graduating from the University of Stirling with an honours degree in Politics. Unlike many of my classmates who are currently applying for graduate school or ‘proper’ careers, when I graduate at the end of June I will only have 5 days until I take off on a one way flight to Beijing with three of my closest mates. I didn’t fancy joining the world of 9-5 and have always had a thing for exploring other cultures and countries. So I decided that I’d take off on a trip of Indefinite Backpacking the moment I finish my studies. I have played basketball for the past ten years coming through various levels of the Scotland and Great Britain national teams which has, along with holidays, allowed me to travel to a lot of cool places. Some of the best places I’ve been are NYC, Malta, Vegas and the Czech Republic. I can’t wait to add more exciting place my ever growing list!

Where are you going on your RTW?

I leave Edinburgh on 5th July to head to Manchester where we fly out the next day to Beijing with a brief layover in Doha, Qatar. All we have booked so far is our first three nights in a Beijing hostel. We chose Beijing as our first stop as it’s somewhere we’ve always wanted to see. I think it will be great to begin our trip with such a great city with so many great historical and wonderful sites. We hope to then spend 4-5 months working our way through China and the rest of SE Asia until November/December where we’ll head to Australia on a 12 month working holiday visa. There is a bunch of things that are must do’s on our list along the way though (Full Moon Party and Climb Mount Kinabalu) along with endless days on the beach! We don’t want to make too many plans in advance as we want the complete freedom of being out there with the world at our feet (god that sounds cheesy!).

Me at my hero (Jack Bauer) star on the walk of fame in LA

Me at my hero's (Jack Bauer) star on the walk of fame in LA

When are you leaving?

Tuesday 5th July at 12.30pm, at the timing of writing it’s exactly 106 days away! Or 2538 hours! Not that I’m counting or anything!

Where are you going on your RTW?

I leave Edinburgh on 5th July to head to Manchester where we fly out the next day to Beijing with a brief layover in Doha, Qatar. All we have booked so far is our first three nights in a Beijing hostel. We chose Beijing as our first stop as it’s somewhere we’ve always wanted to see. I think it will be great to begin our trip with such a great city with so many great historical and wonderful sites. We hope to then spend 4-5 months working our way through China and the rest of SE Asia until November/December where we’ll head to Australia on a 12 month working holiday visa. There is a bunch of things that are must do’s on our list along the way though (Full Moon Party and Climb Mount Kinabalu) along with endless days on the beach! We don’t want to make too many plans in advance as we want the complete freedom of being out there with the world at our feet (god that sounds cheesy!).

Why did you decide to go on the RTW trip?

Myself and Ross (Jewy) had some for years about doing this type of travelling after I’d finished my degree and he’d qualified in his job as a structural engineer. But over the last two years with the date approaching we spoke more and more of it actually happening. Our other mate Gregg (Yank) then decided that he wanted out of here as well because he wasn’t enjoying what he was doing and he was still young. Then about a year ago Mikey (Ross’s cousin and my work colleague at Scotland’s oldest pub!) joined the four man wolfpack (had to get a Hangover quote in there) as he’d also be graduating at the same time as me. So last autumn we booked the flight and we haven’t looked back since. My personal reasons for taking this trip instead of going the route of 95% of people we know is that I want to go out and see the world, I want the stories and experiences when I’m young so I can look back later in life and never be disappointed in the decisions I took. I believe you can grow so much more as a person by taking a trip like this early in your adult life than you would by going from school to university straight to full time employment. I reckon this trip could be some of the best years of my life!

Me and Ross (Jewy) in Prague, Czech Republic!

Me and Ross (Jewy) in Prague, Czech Republic!

What will you be doing to pass the time before your travels?

I’ll be mainly finishing up with university work and saving. My dissertation is due in next month and I still have one piece of coursework and one exam to go before it’s all over. My basketball season finishes this weekend and it’s been a very successful one so I will just be working away at the pub before then, trying to save as much money in the last three months before I go away as possible. I’m also running the Edinburgh Marathon to help raise money for Help for Heroes, a charity that supports wounded service men and women. We’re planning a big last week before we go away (but a cheap one!) so also I’m looking forward to that and leaving Edinburgh with a bang! But I’m really just counting down the days as I’m itching to go! Oh yeah, and applying for Visa’s! Should really get on that soon!

If you could give just one piece of advice to a fellow #rtwsoon traveler, what would it be?

Fill up your Google Reader! Seriously, there’s so many great travel bloggers out there. Maybe it’s like a drug addict getting a hit. But reading those blogs keeps me going and also keeps the excitement building up inside me. Seeing these people going all these great places and being able to read about it is brilliant. The amount of places I’ve added to my SE Asia bucket list thanks to bloggers who are there right now is incredible. The travel blogosphere also seems to be a very friendly place where most people are happy to share experiences or provide answers to questions for you. Maybe it’s because of their lifestyle and being able to do something they love allows them to be so great. Get adding those RSS feeds!

Visit Garreth’s Site: Indefinite Backpacking
Follow Garreth on Twitter: @indefbackpack

If you’re heading around-the-world in the next 12 months and would like to be featured here, please contact us.

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