Language

When we talk with people here at home about our trip it is clear that many people are intrigued with the idea but are uneasy about certain things, the first being trip planning and the second being communicating in a foreign country. The easy answer is don’t worry.

The good news (at least for gringos) is that there are at least a few people with some basic English in most countries, especially in areas often trafficked by tourists.

There are exceptions of course – Mongolia, China, Myanmar, rural Africa and South America are a few that come to mind but with some patience, good humor, and few tricks these don’t have to detract in the least from a place.

For those countries there are a host of coping tactics.

The simplest is an organized tour. We used overland operators in Mongolia and parts of Africa – they specialize in rougher destinations and take care of most of the arrangements and include a local guide (see travel styles).

Even totally self-organized there are ways and ways. In China for instance when we were going to bicycle around the countryside we asked an English speaker to write down the names of important waypoints that we could use to communicate with locals. That worked well in China where there is almost universal literacy.

When ordering food well, you can always point to something at another table or just point to something on an unintelligible menu or throw yourself on the server’s mercy. Some surprises, not all pleasant, but that is half the fun.

Again, don’t sweat it. You always get by, sometimes with a few false starts or misdirection but nothing near disastrous.