Or if you have anything to say about doing this kinda thing, I'd love to hear from you!
Hahaha.... best Original Post in ages....
Cheers,
Terry
I'm trying to think of the possibilities here... beyond dismissing it as naive or trolling as Terry did! (I'm starting to warm to Terry in his persona as the local grump! :-) )
Why would you pay someone to travel with you? They'd need to bring something to the party. So what are the problems you'd want to tackle?
Language barrier. But hiring a local guide is cheaper and they'd come with local knowledge of the place as well as the language. And most places you'd muddle through without.
Travelling with kids. Maybe you'd hire an au pair. Doesn't sound much of a holiday to me!
For smoothing out the travel, dealing with check-ins and bookings, mostly people who're bothered about that take an organised tour so it's handled for them, and those tour guides sticking to their local area of expertise have an edge, plus they work hard. Those who'd prefer more independent travel would I think value the money too much to hire someone, and again why not hire a local more cheaply and gain an insight into the destination culture into the bargain.
Sex. In a lot of places westerners are relatively rich enough to make being a local bar girl lucrative, so isn't yer man more likely to enjoy the exotic local girls than take his own? Maybe he prefers a more safe option, then you're a "girlfriend". :-)
Protection. Maybe you've some fighting skills and can protect your client from being mugged.
Driving. Someone to do the driving for you, but then just hire a local more cheaply who knows the roads, or take a tour where they're already more slick and competetive than you can be.
If it's just having some company from your own culture to share the travel experience from the same perspective, there are plenty of willing friends out there who'd pay their own ticket in return for the same companionship back - just look at these forums.
That's about all I can imagine.
So Chloe, how are your fighting skills? Fluent in ten languages? Something truly amazing in the sack? Otherwise I can't see it stacking up.
In reality people end up compromising. You labour at low rates cleaning hostel toilets to offset your costs and allow you to travel longer, reducing the amount of your day spent playing tourist. You use your capability as a native english speaker to work on a hostel reception desk or at a jetboat ride reception desk, and your fluency in english gives you an edge as it puts the customers at ease dealing with another westerner. Or be a driver/guide in one area and travel that one area for free in exchange for hard work, again it helps here if you're capable in the local language so you add some value while playing up the angle of being safe and familiar to your travelling fellow westerners.
Andy, I didn't think for a second that Chloe was trolling. Her post was legitimate.
Thanks for taking the time to explain to her how funny it is though. I hope she listens.
Cheers,
Terry
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