ABOUT

About Wanderlustable

Wanderlustable is here to provide travel advice for humans. The tips and advice in these articles have been painstakingly accumulated over 15+ years of travelling to all seven continents. Enjoy!

Define: Wanderlustable

Adjective: wan·der·lust·a·ble (ˈwändərˌləst ābəl)

  1. having or showing notable qualities to inspire wanderlust
  2. meriting a significant desire to travel in or through as a means to experience
  3. the way in which foreign locations appear after contracting the travel bug

Similar

  1. a human possessing the intelligence or skill to want to explore far away habitats- usually those to which they are not endemic

Origin

Origin of the word wanderlustable.

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Welcome to Wanderulstable: Backpacking advice for humans 

Hello. My name is Serengeti Jade. I am a human native to the continent of North America.

Over 15+ years of travel, I’ve survived hitchhiking in Albania, being surrounded by a pack of wild dogs in Bolivia, 60’ swells across the Drake Passage, pirate attacks in Borneo, corrupt cops in Kenya, and innumerable broken busses. That’s not to mention bouts of altitude sickness, food poisoning, injury, and the most common offender: misinformation. But I did just realize that I’ve never been on a boat that sunk…knock on wood. A few months before turning 30, I reached my goal of setting foot on all 7 continents. 

I started traveling solo at 19. At the time, technology was far from what it is today: less than half of phones had gps (the iPhone3 was still considered new) and maps.me did not exist. Those were the final days of guide books and paper maps. I didn’t have plans, reservations, or experience. I just went. 

Mistakes are part of life. And I’ve made lots of mistakes. My hope is that I can help your own adventures succeed by sharing some of my own hard-won knowledge. 

Why I decided to start travelling

the story of my quarter-life crisis

With a name like Serengeti Jade, my progenitors shouldn’t have been surprised when I decided to quit my job and start travelling the world. In the early 2010s, I had the perfect life…or so it seemed on paper. I had my dream job with one of the largest investment brokers in the US and was living the life I’d always wanted in Washington DC. But I spent over 60 hours a week working and never saw natural sunlight. So I was miserable.

One day while I was walking from the subway to work, I witnessed a small accident: a car coming around a corner lightly bumped into a scooter as it crossed the intersection. Everyone, even the toppled produce, was okay and the involved parties decided to continue on their merry way. As I walked away, I thought about how nice it would be to suffer a minor accident, rather than have to go to work. A few steps later, I stopped in horror upon realizing what I had just thought. If bodily injury seemed like a better alternative to facing another day at work, it was time for a change!

For the next two months, I stewed over the fact that I needed to make some adjustments. I realized that my new car, fancy apartment, impressive job title, and handsome yet oblivious boyfriend were not the keys to happiness. Finally, I reached my breaking point. I was 25 years old and it was time for a quarter-life crisis.

Within two weeks, I kicked out my boyfriend, sublet my apartment, shaved my head down to a #2, and bought a one way ticket to Asia. Sitting in the airport and hiding the microphone from boarding calls, I quit my job minutes before I got on the plane. I had never been anywhere near Asia before and I had no idea what I was going to do once I landed.

During the next 6 ½  months, I travelled alone through 14 countries. It was a transformative experience: I learned first hand about dozens of unique cultures, had innumerable adventures, and realized that I desperately wanted more! When my funds ran low, I knew that it wasn’t the end of my travels. I returned home, found a job, and started saving my pennies for my next trip.

Anyone can backpack the world. Not a single person starts off with all the information and skills they will need during their trip. The point is to have experiences. The world will teach you everything you need to know when you need to know it.

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