Traveler Interview - David Dean
Tripfactory takes pride in presenting The Traveler Interview Series, profiling some of the world’s most respected and prolific travelers and bringing them together at one place.
We have David Dean, who had earlier figured in the list of World’s Top Bloggers, a list compiled by another rockstar traveler and blogger Nomadic Samuel.
A shameless plug for the beginners: Tripfactory is attempting to become a global destination for travel industry and travelers, connecting them seamlessly through Travel Search, Personalization and enabling meaningful and effective conversations amongst the community.
So, let's head to Dave and hear him out.
Tripfactory: Hello Dave, thanks for the interview. First off, tell our readers a bit about yourself.
Dave: I was born and raised in small town New Zealand, graduated from university with a humanities degree and somehow fell into a technology career. I started my wanderings in the same way that many Antipodeans do – packing a few things into a backpack and heading for London.
Starting was easy, but stopping has been much harder - I’ve spent as much of the last fifteen years traveling as possible. Several times I’ve tried to settle down, buying cars, houses and all of the trappings of a more traditional life. Ultimately, though, it never quite worked for me, so now I’m on the road full time.
Tripfactory: When did your passion for travel start? How did you first get that itch & the Eureka moment?
Dave: I think my passion for travel started back in high school, thanks to a wonderfully eccentric Classical Studies teacher. By the time I’d finished university, I knew that I had to travel… I just didn’t know I was going to do it for so long!
Tripfactory: How do you manage your finances? Do you really need to be rich to follow your passion for travel?
Dave: For many years I used to switch between work and travel – I’d travel for a few months, then move somewhere, find a job and save for a couple of years before doing it all again. For the last couple of years I’ve been travelling permanently, working from the road to at least cover my costs.
You don’t need to be rich to travel – or at least, not rich by Western standards. It’s easy to travel around cheaper parts of the world (eg. much of Asia, eastern Europe, Central America) on around $1000/month. Double that and you can visit much of the rest of the world as well. To put it another way, you can travel continually for a year for less than the cost of an average new car.
Tripfactory: So, how many countries have you been to and any reasons for choosing those countries over the others?
Dave: I’m not sure exactly how many countries I’ve been to, but it’s probably about forty-something. Other than cost, there hasn’t been a particular reason behind the ones I’ve chosen, although I’ll usually try to visit a few different countries if I happen to be in the same region for a while.
Tripfactory: Is there a particular country that remains your all-time favorite and why?
Dave: I don’t really have one all-time favorite country – I like many different places for all sorts of reasons. Some of the ones that stick in my memory include Malawi, Laos and Bosnia, but there are several others that I’ve really enjoyed visiting as well.
Tripfactory: What is the craziest thing that you have done during all the travels?
Dave: I’ve done a few crazy things over the years, but my time spent in the dark with a wild leopard in South Africa is right up there…
Tripfactory: How do you plan for a trip typically? What tools/websites do you use to research about a destinations and plan it?
Dave: I have to admit that the longer I travel, the worse I tend to get at planning. I travel pretty slowly these days as well, which means that I generally don’t have to worry too much about booking many things in advance. That said, I tend to use Wikitravel for basic information about a place, as well as reading blogs and other independent publications. If there’s a guidebook lying around somewhere I’ll probably have a flick through it, but I don’t travel with any.
In general I’ll probably know – or be able to find – someone who has been to most of the places I’m going, so I’ll ask them for advice on where to go, where to avoid and any other tips. Once I’m at my destination, I find asking locals and fellow travellers is a good way to get an idea of what to do next. It’s a somewhat haphazard way to travel, but since I don’t usually have a time limit, it works pretty well for me.
Thanks very much, Dave for sharing your experiences with us. We look forward to have your experiences help global travellers big way!
