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Peter Barkan
Boston, Massachusetts

¹ú²ú³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Adviser: Great plan. I just have one question: How did you manage to save money? That said, I think the first question you should ask yourself is “What do I want to get out of this six-month time period?” Taking off and traveling around the world is one thing, and taking an intense, outdoor education course is a whole different ball
game. As far as structure is concerned, they couldn’t be more opposite. World travel is whimsical, and spur-of-the-moment, whereas a NOLS course could be the most structured few months you’ll ever experience. Also, in my mind, the two serve an entirely different purpose. World travel will allow you to experience different cultures, whereas a NOLS course would give you an
advanced outdoor education which you could draw upon in the future.

Enough preaching from the choir. Either plan sounds great. The unfortunate thing about New Zealand, which would be on the top of my travel list, is that March is the beginning of fall there. Not that fall and winter in New Zealand is such a bad thing. There’s plenty of amazing skiing, but you might be limited in your ability to camp out and hike anywhere you desire. The
true bonus about New Zealand is that it’s a microscopic North America. It features coasts as beautiful as British Columbia, mountains as majestic as the Rockies, and fields as lush as Vermont — all within biking distance from each other. Plus, most people who take bike trips in New Zealand end up staying with local sheep farmers and gain wonderful insight into the
country. Before you rule out winter in New Zealand, I’d get in touch with the New Zealand Tourism Board (310-395-7480). The employees there are nicer and more helpful than your average Minnesotan. Plus, most are very tuned in to the outdoor opportunities that their country presents. You may also want to call the following New Zealand-centered adventure outfitters: Outland
¹ú²ú³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏs (800-411-5724), Black Sheep Touring Company (800-206-8322), Mountain Recreation, in New Zealand (011-64-3-443-7330), and Adrift (011-64-3-442-5458).

Someone swiped my NOLS catalog, so I don’t have a list of their courses handy, but I’d recommend looking into their programs, as well as Outward Bound’s. NOLS can be reached at 307-332-8800, Outward Bound at 800-243-8520. Before you sign the dotted line for a NOLS or Outward Bound course, be sure to get a list of names of people who have done the course before, and call
them with a list of questions. You should know what you’re getting into before you commit your dollars.

Two other ideas: I’d consider buying an around-the-world airline ticket. Most major airlines offer them (with the exception of American) by teaming up with partner airlines throughout the world. The bonus to an around-the-world ticket, obviously, is that it would get you to a lot of different countries for a pretty reasonable rate. That way, if you didn’t care for, say,
Burma, you could hop a jet to Indonesia. The only drawback to this type of travel is that the gear you are able to carry is limited. Also, if you have any interest in geology, archaeology, biology, etc., look into the organization called Earthwatch. They offer travel to exotic places, and give you the opportunity to do some pretty useful and amazing things. Call Earthwatch at
800-776-0188 for their mouth-watering catalog.