Aloha, I’m Worldwide Wilbur.
I work a full-time office-cubicle type job, with only 20 days of annual vacation, like most Americans.
I churn credit cards to accumulate big frequent-flyer mile sign-up bonuses, and then I fly around the world for free.
I plan to see the whole world before I die. All 196 countries. I’m well over halfway there.
The mission of this blog is to help YOU travel somewhere new, somewhere outside your previous “comfort zone”, someplace that changes your perspective on our small planet. I hope to inspire you to “Travel Outside the Box”. To be fearless. And to see how cheap and easy it can be when you are prepared.
Before I started traveling, I had many fears and misconceptions holding me back.
- “How will I survive in a place where I don’t speak the language?”
- “Isn’t it really dangerous in Africa?”
- “How will I get to Cape Town when flights are always more than $1500?
- “Doesn’t everyone in that country hate Americans?”
- “Can someone over 30 stay in a hostel?”
- “How do I use public transportation in a place where I can’t even read the street signs?”
- “Won’t I be robbed immediately when they can tell I’m alone and a foreigner?”
- “Won’t it be awfully lonely as a solo traveler?”
Maybe you have thought these things too. Over a decade of travel, I have pushed myself outside my comfort zone little-by-little to overcome my fears and see the world. I hope this blog can help you do the same.
FROM BACKWOODS BOY…TO WORLDWIDE WILBUR
I grew up in a small town in rural Maine. No one from my town ever traveled anywhere. My town is only a couple of hours from Canada, but my family never crossed the border until I was 11 and begged my dad to take me there. I remember the thrill of driving through border control and thinking “Wow, I’m not in America anymore!” We went to a mall for an hour, then turned around and went home. It looked pretty much just like the USA. Nothing special, but I was hooked. I knew I wanted to see more.
I didn’t take my first real trip overseas until I was 19. A college trip to the UK and Ireland for two weeks. It was the most exciting two weeks of my life. Over the next decade I got the opportunity to take a few short trips overseas on someone else’s dime by making a few US Track and Field national teams. I saw a little bit of Brazil, Japan, Denmark, Turkey. But I never imagined I could afford to go to any of these places on my own. And I didn’t have a clue how to plan such a trip.
Eventually I got a “real job” like everyone else, bought a house, started paying a mortgage, and buying furniture at Pier One. I saved up vacation until I had a whole month of it. I got one credit card that earned frequent flyer miles, and squirreled them away. I saved up a little travel fund. I studied travel blogs and learned about hostels, and how to ride trains and buses. I dreamed and planned. Finally at the advanced age of 33(!), I went on my first real trip, a month-long journey by train and bus from Berlin through Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Bucharest, Bulgaria, Istanbul, Athens, Santorini, and Mykonos. I had many “firsts” on that trip. My first hostel stay. My first overnight sleeper train. My first time in Eastern Europe. My first time navigating a foreign subway system. My first experience being completely illiterate and linguistically helpless (unable to read Cyrillic signs or find an English speaker in Bulgaria). My first time travelling alone. And I loved every minute of it.
I learned a lot of lessons on that first trip. I discovered there are places like Romania and Bulgaria where it is amazingly cheap and yet stunningly beautiful. I found that my ATM card really does work in all those countries. At the height of the war in Iraq, I experienced warm hospitality in Islamic Turkey, and found that almost no one hates Americans on a personal level, even though they might disagree with our government. I learned that people are people, and there are helpful, friendly folks almost everywhere you go. The world is not as dangerous as CNN or FOX News would have you believe. And travel is not the dominion of the rich.
Since then, I’ve traveled to 115 countries, flown dozens of airlines, eaten mountains of street food, and enjoyed many miles looking out bus windows.
I have one goal in mind with this blog: “How can I help other people discover new places?” It’s my mission now to help people expand their travel horizons, go somewhere new, be bold. I want to convince the family that keeps going to Cancun every winter to give Nicaragua a try. Instead of another trip to Paris, why not try Kiev? To spur on the couple who has always dreamed of a Serengeti safari. To show how safe, cheap, and wonderful a road trip across Africa can be.
What I’m Not and What I Am:
I am not an independently-wealthy retired vagabond, examining the finer details of the Marriott versus the Hilton. When I travel, it’s as frugally as possible. I have no need for luxury, but a thirst for adventure.
I am not a 19-year-old taking a gap year to visit ashrams to find myself. I’m not writing “Eat, Pray, Love”, and I’m not expecting to find inner peace on the beaches of Goa. I’m content just to see places, meet people, have fun, and move on.
I am not a war correspondent or working for the CIA. I’m not trying to risk death in my travels. Someday, when I am down to my last dozen countries, I’ll have to take some calculated risks to get in and about. For now, I do my research, avoid the bad parts, and I feel safe wherever I go.
I hope you enjoy the site. Thanks for reading.