16 | T HURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2019 + THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL EDITION
travel
Some mornings when I wake up, it takes
me a few minutes to remember where I
am. I look around my hotel room, piec-
ing together how I ended up here. Then,
once I’ve calibrated my internal GPS
(coffee helps), it’s time to start explor-
ing.
Days of the week and even what
month it is matter less when your rou-
tine is one of perpetual movement. So,
the halfway point — stop No. 26 —
sneaked up on me. It came and went
without any fanfare, and before I knew it
I was on another plane to place No. 27.
But milestones lend themselves to re-
flection, so we took the opportunity to
slow down for a second and tap you, fel-
low travelers, for questions you might
have about my journey. Here are my an-
swers to a selection of the many great
questions we received, ones that we
thought would be most helpful and offer
a little behind-the-scenes peek into my
strange but wonderful day-to-day.
MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS
The most profound travel experiences of-
ten seem to come about by chance. How
do you manage to make meaningful con-
nections with people and places when
you’re only in each spot for a few days?
I feel extra pressure to make connec-
tions, considering I’m looking for
stories, not just things to see and eat.
Still, I’ve been constantly surprised how
easy it is to meet good people when trav-
eling alone.
You get from the universe what you
put into it — not in some quasi-mystical
way, but in terms of attitude. I find that if
I walk into a bar or a town square hoping
to meet someone, I often do.
We are naturally curious animals, and
more often than not, someone is going to
step in if I’m looking lost (which I often
am) or if I’m not staring into the void of
my phone. Usually, I’m not even the one
who initiates conversation. At least once
per place, I’m blown away by the gener-
osity of complete strangers.
PLANNING (OR LACK THEREOF)
How much planning do you do before you
get to a place?
Close to none. With the frenetic pace
of this trip, it doesn’t leave me much
time to plan. I wouldn’t necessarily rec-
ommend it as a travel strategy, but it
sure is fun.
I’m lucky to have a great team in New
York to help me with the booking and re-
search, but when I get off the plane, I’m
usually stepping into a five- or six-day
stretch with no concrete plans. It’s
changed the way I travel. I’m less con-
cerned with checking sights off a list,
and far more interested in going for long
walks and seeing what happens.
You’re not going to find serendipity —
that Golden Ticket of solo travel — if you
don’t give it the space to happen.UPDATES ON IRAN
Are you still going to Iran? Could you
please share the details about getting a
visa — or deciding not to go?
It looks, for now, as if going to Iran will
be impossible. Americans can still visit
the country as part of an organized tour
group, but it gets a lot more complicated
when you’re a journalist. In talking to
those with more experience in the re-
gion, it became clear that it would be
next to impossible to get a journalist
visa right now.
I still get regular messages from Ira-
nians welcoming me to their country
and offering to take me around. I hope I
get there some time, but unfortunately
2019 isn’t going to be it.TRAVEL ZEN
You seem to be in go-mode constantly.
How do you balance seeing things and re-
porting with your well-being — and being
Zen?
I don’t — but I’m trying to get better at
it. It baffles me that (knock on wood) I
haven’t gotten sick yet, and that I’m still
going strong. I’m tired. Like, very tired.
I try to get enough sleep, but often don’t;
and I try to eat well, but mostly just eat
too much.
There’s something that happens
when I arrive in each place, where
adrenaline takes over and I immedi-
ately hit the ground running. I’ve been
trying to give myself days off, but I can
count the number I’ve successfully tak-
en on one hand. Travel is just too excit-
ing; I’m constantly weighing the cost of
doing just one more thing, and “doing”
always wins.
That said, in each place, I’ll give my-
self at least one afternoon to just be in a
place for real, with no agenda other than
to soak it in.CARBON FOOTPRINTS
In what ways, if any, have you witnessed
the impact of climate change thus far?
And how have your travels affected your
sense of our planet’s future? Do you feel
optimistic? How do you reconcile the car-
bon footprint you’re creating with all
your travels?
A few places are on the list this year
expressly because they might disap-
pear because of climate change. Seeing
these phenomena — like the ephemeral
ice caves of Lake Superior — puts a
lump in your throat that doesn’t go away.
It’s one thing to think abstractly about a
problem as big as climate change, but
it’s another to see it up close and hear
how it’s affecting real places.
There’s an obvious contradiction that
comes out of this, of course: How can I
talk about climate change when my
flights are causing so much damage to
the environment? I recognize the para-dox, and I’m not encouraging everyone
to go to 52 places in 52 weeks. Nor am I
saying everyone should descend on On-
tario’s ice caves next winter.
I hope that by reporting what I’m see-
ing, I’m helping bring more attention to
the threats of climate change, beyond,
for example, weather patterns or food
systems. The beauty of our planet —
what inspires us to get off our couches
and see it with our own eyes — is at risk
of extinction, too. Little things, like trav-
eling with reusable bags, water bottles
and cutlery, and buying carbon offsets
for the thousands of miles I’m flying this
year, do make a difference, even if it’s a
small one.STAYING HEALTHY
Have you gained weight or lost any
weight? How do you stay healthy?
Considering the amount of food I con-
sume on a daily basis, I was surprised to
find that I’ve actually lost quite a bit of
weight. It comes from being on the move
most of the day, instead of sitting at a
desk. I try to eat healthily, though some-
times that sixth serving of cheese fo-
caccia is just too good to pass up.
After I threw out my back and was
bedridden for a day in Uzbekistan, I’m
stretching and doing strengthening ex-
ercises most days. I still haven’t figured
out how to get enough sleep. But that’s
what 2020 is for, I guess.COPING WITH LONELINESS
I’ve found that loneliness can be a chal-
lenge on extended travels. What advice
do you have for making friends and meet-
ing people in unfamiliar surroundings,
especially when language may be a bar-
rier?
I still get nervous meeting people. But
the potential rewards — new friends, a
local’s perspective on a place — always
outweigh the initial feeling of discom-
fort. So just go for it, even if you don’t
speak the language. You’ll be surprised
how far pointing and translation apps
can go. Of course, putting yourself out
there is a lot easier as a straight, ethni-
cally ambiguous man, and I fully ac-
knowledge that privilege. Sadly, not ev-
eryone can take down those barriers.
Loneliness happens. I’ve felt it many
times. There was that time on a highway
in Wyoming when a John Prine song
came on the radio and punched me right
in the gut. Or when I was sitting under
the most beautiful night sky I’ve ever
seen in Chile’s Elqui Valley and I just
wanted my partner to be there, to share
it with me. But it’s feelings that make us
human, and I’ve learned to lean into
loneliness when it comes. It makes the
moments you’re surrounded by people
you could never even imagine that much
more special.TRAVEL ESSENTIALS
What gear and clothes have you found es-
sential?
Merino wool is still my biggest travel
revelation. I hate doing laundry, espe-
cially on the road, and so anything that
increases the number of times I can
wear something without washing it is a
godsend.
In terms of tech, I couldn’t imagine
this trip without my noise-canceling
headphones. I love the full immersion I
can have while on flights, which is some
of the only time I have to really relax,
catching up on music and creating my
own little cocoon of peace.MANAGING RISKS
You take a lot of risks that I would/should
not take as a solo/single female traveler.
For example: I would meet new friends
for dinner, but I probably wouldn’t get
into a car with them. Have you gotten
into any situations on this trip that made
you nervous? What safety tips do you
have for solo travelers?I have tried to emphasize that the de-
cisions I make and the things I do should
never be a boilerplate “how to travel”
manual for everyone. The risks worth
taking are going to be different for every
person. I’m fine with getting blind drunk
with a bunch of Georgians in the middle
of the woods, but I wouldn’t necessarily
advise that for everyone.
There are some common sense things
you can do to minimize any risks you do
take, though. I always know the emer-
gency number for the country I’m in.
I’ve shared my location on my phone
with a few people back home so that ifthey haven’t heard from me for a couple
of days they can make sure I’m where
I’m supposed to be. If I’m going into a
potentially risky situation — barhop-
ping in Slovakia with some dude I’ve
just met, say, or going on a full-day solo
hike in Norway — I’ll tell someone back
home about it first.
But it really comes down to your com-
fort level. You can have a perfectly
pleasant and highly rewarding trip with-
out taking the kinds of risks that I do.IMPROMPTU TOUR GUIDES
Where and how do you meet the peoplefeatured in your articles who show you
around or act as impromptu tour
guides? Do you know them in advance or
are you just super friendly?
Most of the time it’s by pure chance —
a run-in at a cafe, or a smile that turns
into a conversation. Or they’re friends of
friends, sometimes three or four times
removed. I also get messages on social
media that lead to in-person encounters
with locals.
The people who really deserve the
“superfriendly” designation, though,
are the ones who let me into their
worlds.Among the sights that The Times’s 52 Places Traveler has seen so far this year, clockwise from top left: the ice caves of Ontario; sunset views in Zadar, Croatia; the historic center of Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SEBASTIAN MODAK/THE NEW YORK TIMESHalfway through a long, strange, wonderful trip
THE 52 PLACES TRAVELER
BY SEBASTIAN MODAK
A stop in Vestlandet, Norway, at Bergen’s fish market, which has existed in one form or
another since the 13th century.
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