Want to squeeze every last drop of mind-opening possibility from your next adventure?
While how we travel has changed, why we travel has not - and in his new book Travel Your Way - Rediscover the world on your own terms, Nathan James Thomas urges us to go beyond the narratives "fed" to us to experience the world directly.
Thomas says that with the right techniques and attitude, travel can open our eyes to new cultures and dispel stereotypes. It can force us out of our comfort zone, but lead to an increased understanding of the world, greater courage and better connection between cultures. However, he says truly experiencing foreign cultures is something we need to work at.
"The mechanics of travel may have changed, but the principles remain the same," he writes. "Travel teaches you to study for the test, to treat each border guard like a snobbish school teacher, and present yourself to them like a preppy prefect.
"It teaches you to do your homework. To have the inane forms filled out. To know your rights. To look the part so you get waved through and spend as little time in administrative limbo as possible."
From advice on how to accurately understand new places, to practical tips on meeting with locals, overcoming the language barrier and asking the right questions, Thomas shows you how to discover the world on your own terms.
The result is a more rewarding journey and a greater sense of connection to everywhere you go.
Thomas has been travelling since he bought a ticket for 20,000 kilometres over the Greyhound Bus network when he was 17.
He has lived in China, Spain, Poland and Hungary, visiting dozens of other countries along the way. In 2014, he founded digital travel magazine Intrepid Times.
Travel Your Way - Rediscover the world on your own terms (Exisle Publishing) RRP $29.99 - available HERE or wherever good books are sold.
