Sharing Travel Experiences

Stephanie Yoder says Life is Not a Race, Nor is Travel

by Andy Hayes

Today we’ll be taking a bit of an inward look, as one of our summer interns, Stephanie Yoder, goes under the spotlight. You’ll see lots of Steph in future editorials and column features, but I thought it might be fun to learn a little more about her. She’s about to embark on a big journey and has a lot to say about travel.

Could you introduce yourself?

Hi! My name is Stephanie Yoder and I like to tell people “I’m a girl who can’t sit still.”  I’m 25 years old and since I graduated from college three years ago I’ve been either traveling and living abroad or planning to travel. I’ve spent time living and working in London, backpacked around the Balkans and road tripped through the US and Iceland.  I have a penchant for literary landmarks, ancient ruins, and skinny-dipping.

About nine months ago I started a travel blog, Twenty-Something Travel, I the hopes of encouraging other young people to travel. It turns out I really love writing about travel and all the social networking and strategy that goes into having a travel blog.

I’m also in the midst of planning a year long (well, at least a year) backpacking trip around the world. I’m focusing mainly on Oceania, Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe… although who knows where the winds may blow me!

Andy: Ooh, I love that answer!  For me, when people ask what I do, I usually say “it depends on the day.”  Perhaps “can’t sit still” is more descriptive.

Your site talks about twenty-something’s and travel.  What’s unique about this particular era in one’s life as relates to travel?

I’m a firm believe that your twenties are an ideal time to travel. You haven’t yet accumulated most of the obligations (career, house, kids) that deter most people from traveling. You will never have as much time, energy and freedom as you do when you are young.

I think that, in America particularly, recent college grads are fed this idea that you need to jump into a career right away, and that you can’t waste any time or opportunities will pass you by.  There is this tremendous pressure whether you actually know what you want to do with your life or not.  It’s very stressful and confusing and in the end it’s a complete myth. I took a year off after college and it didn’t hurt my employment prospects on bit. In fact it only took me three weeks to find a job once I started looking. My travel experiences made me MORE attractive to employers, not less.

The thing is life is actually not a race. You can’t win it by career advancement. The only way to win at life is by doing things that make you happy. And traveling is a really great tool for figuring out what those things actually are.

Andy:  ABSOLUTELY.  ABSOLUTELY.  ”Life is not a race” – for sure.  I actually think Americans are rushed to figure out where they want to be in life at a very early age – raise your hands, folks, if you had a over zealous ‘guidance counselor’ in your school trying to guide you into a career you knew nothing about?

You’ve said London is your favourite city (and I have said I hate London).  Tell us what parts of the London experience make it your fave?

You hate London Andy?? That’s so sad! People seem to either love or hate it. I’ve been in the throes of an epic love affair with the city for years now. London was the first international city I ever visited. I ended up returning to study for a semester as an undergrad and came back once again to work after graduation. I probably would never have left if it weren’t for those pesky immigration laws. I still miss it, almost like you would miss a person.

I love London because it’s just so vast.  It’s not just that it’s physically sprawling, although it is. It’s a city full of folklore, stories and past. The history is so epic (particularly coming from the US) with remnants of old roman walls hiding just blocks from shiny skyscrapers. The streets of London are full of secret treasures; you never know what you’ll find in the next block: a market? An old pub? The house where Virginia Woolf lived?  I think I could spend my entire life exploring London and never get bored. I’d probably spend a couple years in the British Museum just to start.

Andy:  As one will note in the article we’ve linked to, I don’t like London but acknowledge it does have some great aspects.  Perhaps for me it’s just too vast and so damn expensive.  But I will  not interfere with your love affair

Right now you live outside DC.  I know there’s lots to see and do in that area.  Any top tips?

There is this misconception that DC, as the nation’s capital, is all boring business. It’s often overshadowed by more glamorous cities like New York. In reality though, DC is about a lot more than just government; it’s a really vibrant, historical and multicultural city.

While the Smithsonian and the monuments are pretty neat, if you really want to experience what DC is all about, you need to get out of the downtown area and explore some of it’s other neighborhoods.  Head over to Capitol Hill on the weekends to enjoy the hip and funky Eastern Market. Or check out the U street corridor, which has a rich history- it used to be known as Black Broadway. Or head out for a night on the town in Dupont Circle or Adams Morgan. This is the real DC that has nothing to do with museums.

What’s been your most inspirational travel experience?

I bring this up a lot, but visiting the Balkans, particularly Bosnia, really taught me a lot about what travel can be. I’ll never forget sitting in an outdoor café in the center of Sarajevo, sipping a Sarajevsko beer and just being so impressed by the variety of things all happening in that on moment.

Sarajevo is planted in a valley surrounded by these enormous green hills. Some of the hills are covered in these gorgeous orange roofed houses that contrasted so perfectly with the blue sky on this sunny day. Some of the hills are covered in hundreds and hundreds of gleaming white tombstones- constant reminders of the Siege of Sarajevo that happened only fifteen years ago. These are the same hills that snipers once hid in, trying to pick people off on the streets I was now relaxing on. The Islamic call to prayer was echoing over loudspeakers around the city while locals smiled and laughed in the café. It was all just such a powerful, cohesive picture of the complex, beautiful and often-heartbreaking story of this city.

Andy:  Wow.  Gorgeous.

You’re soon going on a round-the-world (RTW) trip.  How are you feeling about that?  Could you give our readers any advice on if a RTW is for them, or how they can figure out if that might be a good idea for them?

Honestly, at this point I am so ready to get back on the road!

A RTW trip is a very intense experience compared to a lot of travel methods. It’s constant travel over an extended period of time and it’s a whole lot of experiences in rapid motion. I expect it to be exhausting but also exhilarating. For me this trip is the culmination of a lot of saving, planning and consideration. By the time I leave I’ll have been working on this trip for two years. I’m excited to get out traveling again, and to see so many new places and meet new people.

I would encourage anyone considering a trip like this to be realistic about their motives and expectations. It’s kind of a buzz kill to say: but a RTW trip is a huge time and money commitment. So you want to be sure that you’re doing it for the right reasons. It’s not going to be a relaxing vacation and it’s probably not going to answer all the unresolved questions in your life. It IS going to be pretty fun (most of the time) and educational (all of the time). Travel is going to change your life and your perspectives but it’s impossible to predict how.

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Thanks for taking time out of your busy intern schedule to join us, Stephanie!  :) I’m so glad you reminded us that life is not a race, and it sounds like RTW isn’t either – it sounds like that kind of travel is a marathon, not a sprint.  I hope whatever kind of travel you are planning, dear reader, that you keep this advice in mind.  Weekend getaways, two week jaunts or a month-long escape: slow down.  There’s no winner for who is the fastest.

For those who want to connect with Stephanie, be sure to follow her on Twitter or visit her website.

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