NETWORKS
I've been using a variety of networks to travel. By network, I mean a loosely associated group of people over a large geography that help each other, know each other, travel, or stay with each other.
I've used Bunk-A-Biker, where you reach out to a homeowner of some sort and ask to stay in their home. Bunk-A-Bikers are invaluable to getting in touch with the local cuisine, culture, and customs. They're bikers themselves, so they know what it's like to travel on 2 wheels and will sometimes have a garage that you can use to work on your bike.
I've also used networks of Mexican biker clubs a ton. It all started with sneaking through security on the ferry from Baja to the mainland and it just kept on going. I went to a couple biker rallies and used contacts of friends from other clubs to find places to stay and even some help getting things repaired. They helped me get to know the food, understand Mexican / local slang, and just feel included in the culture of the country I'm living in. I went months without using regular English in my day-to-day.
Right now, I find myself traveling with a German-speaking couple, one from East Germany and one from Switzerland. Let me tell you something about German-speaking folks. When traveling, you're going to find them everywhere. I don't know what it is about them. Could be the culture, could be the history, it could be that they're well-off compared to their European neighbors, but these guys are ALWAYS out traveling. From broke student backpackers to wealthy house-sized land rover globetrotting millionaires, Germans are 'getting out there.'
When I was up in Whitehorse, I ran into a trove of them. Turns out, there was so much demand from Germany to get to the Canadian arctic, they were direct flights from Frankfurt into the Yukon. A direct flight to Whitehorse from ANYWHERE aside from Vancouver or a local airfield is very rare. Every hostel up there had at least a trio or two of German backpackers running together in a pack. It's incredible how much these guys get around. I honestly wish Americans traveled as much as Germans did. I think it would solve a lot of problems back home if people knew what the rest of the world was like.
THE GERMAN NETWORK
When I say Germans, I should specify. There are 5 nations that speak German has a major national language.
Germany - The majority of folk I'm talking about here.
Switzerland - A strong minority of travelers I'm also running into.
Luxembourg - Haven't found any, they're probably taking private jets everywhere.
Lichtenstein - There's only 40,000 of them total, they're almost an endangered species.
Austria - I have not really ran into these guys. They're too busy skiing.
I'm traveling with a man born in Communist East Germany, German passport, Swiss resident--- and a Swiss woman.
Now that I'm with these German-speaking folk, here on Team AF Twin, I'm finding myself entering into a new network. The German Network. They can be property owners OR fellow travelers that they've ran into on this trip. Many of them are crossing continents much like myself.
The iOverlander property I've been at for the last few nights? German owners. The long-distance sailboat I boarded the other night? Folks that are planning on crossing the "Northwest Passage" over Canada into the Arctic Ocean to get to the Pacific? Germans.
The people my friends here on Team AF Twin are using contacts to find places down the line, some of them in South America already? More Germans.
I ask these guys, why do they think Germans travel so much? It's certainly reflected in their passport power, Germans have some of the most powerful passports on Earth. A quick search shows that German passports give them access to 192 countries. Only Japan and Singapore have more, at 193 and 194 respectively. The United States by contrast has 188 countries, 7th most powerful. Germany also has, by far, the biggest economy in the EU, along with the highest purchasing power.
So far it's been pretty good running with these guys for a while. I've been learning what common grammatical and phonetic errors German speakers make, and I'm also learning their amazing language. Did you know when your tag is sticking out of the back of your pants they call it an "ass fax"? That they have special words for EVERYTHING? That special feeling you get when you watch someone you don't like have something bad happen to them? "Schadenfreude." The language similarities to Spanish is insane. European "peninsular' languages have seemed to hold onto quite a few similarities. Napkin in English is servilleta in Spanish. In German it's serviette. There's a ton of cognates Spanish and German share that English doesn't. It must be because English was lost out there on an island doing its own thing for so long.
GERMAN CULTURE
One thing to get used to with German folk, and I've known others that have experienced this, is that they are very, very direct. There are no small-talk pleasantries. I imagine two Germans that know each other walk into each other at the grocery store:
"Hello!"
"Hello, it has been a long time!"
"Yes, I agree, it's because I don't prioritize our friendship."
"Yes, myself either, I have closer friends than you."
"Same. You look like you have gained weight!"
"Yes, the winter has taken its toll on me. I saw on your Facebook you're unemployed?"
"Yes, winter has also been rough on me as well."
"Well, maybe I will run into you again!"
"Maybe you will, but I still won't reach out to you until then."
"Me either. I hope things go better for you."
"Me too for you as well!"
And it's a completely pleasant exchange.
Germans completely understand their direct nature can be abrasive, but they see that trait as an asset, not a liability. I'm starting to feel the same. With Germans, you know exactly where things lie. There are no conversationally-acceptable pleasantries you fake to smooth things over socially. If something is wrong, you'll know it. This leaves no room for paranoia. In turn, things are addressed more directly whenever they come up. That no-bullshit approach to social misalignment saves a TON of 'score boarding' where people subconsciously keep a tally of things that annoy them about others without knowing it. When something happens, it's addressed, and it's not a malicious attack, either. It's an honest, rigid, diplomatic approach. It's fantastic.
Europeans in general, or the traveling breed I run into, are much more liberal and less insecure about their cultures. In the United States, when some of us hear about the high standard of living that Europeans have, some Americans say "Well they can afford to because we defend their countries with our taxes." That kind of "small dick energy" doesn't radiate out of the Europeans I come in contact with on these travels. Europeans rubbing shoulders with so many languages and customs in such a small space humbles them. It has people subjectively look at themselves and the soup they swim in. Americans don't have that luxury. Our nation is geographically isolated in this regard, aside from people in the borderlands on each ends-- and one end is closer to us culturally anyway.
One thing many of us know is the difference between violence and sex. In the United States, violence is fine. You can have children watching a man getting shot, exploding, getting beheaded or throwing punches on screen and no one will bat an eye. The second a NIPPLE IS VISIBLE THOUGH, WATCH OUT, CENSOR IT, OH MY GOD. This is reflected in the internet media we watch, where violence has absolutely no problem being on YouTube or other social media, but man-ass will get censored or flagged for nudity.
Game of Thrones has people getting maimed, skinned alive, beheaded, choking on poison.... and yes a LOT of nudity, but an erect penis is a no-no. Gotta be floppy soft. That's still too much for American audiences.
In Europe, many nations have nudity in their TV commercials. Nude beaches are common. Showing skin is acceptable. It could be that they're just in better shape. People are more comfortable with their bodies. They eat better. Regardless, violence is more censored in their cultures, but nudity is ay-okay. As a result, I've seen a young Dutch woman walk around in her underwear at our campground, or my German compatriots change clothes or hang out in their underwear out in the open.
Latin culture also shows more skin than Americans do, but it's because of the heat. They won't go as far as Europeans, though. The Dutch girl walking around in her bathing suit definitely caught the attention of our Guatemalan hosts, myself admittedly included.
-JT
5/30/2023