So You Think You Know... Dennis Kim

Sure, many of us have traveled, studied, or worked abroad at some point, but how many have been to 48 countries in total? I don't have statistical figures regarding the student body's travel habits (and, trust me, I'm not going to be running any regressions for insight), but I would think it's on the rare side to be quite so well-traveled. Especially for one hailing from Northern Virginia. It makes Epcot look like child's play. Oh, wait…I guess Epcot is child's play. Anyways, if you need any advice about traversing the Tran Siberian, sunbathing at Copacabana, or surfing in Bali, Dennis Kim is your go-to guy. I had the chance to sit down with him over some green tea and hear of his tales.

After growing tired of the often staid and mundane corporate world, Dennis and one of his high school friends decided to devote the latter half of 2003 to being vagabonds. For the trip, he crammed some stuff into a single backpack-not one of those big hiking backpacks, mind you, but a normal school-sized backpack-and set off. (I thought I could pack compactly, for a girl at least, but this puts me to utter shame.) I suppose a lighter load, however, is useful if you're going to have to be ducking behind hotel counters because of gunfire (we'll get to that later…).

The grand journey began in Eastern Europe. Word to the wise: if you stumble upon the president of Serbia-Montenegro playing basketball and want to photograph this vignette, definitely try not to get caught. Apparently it is highly frowned upon to capture such a moment on film. I can't imagine that the president is Amish-but for some reason, the authorities will hunt you down if they catch you taking souvenir snapshots (as Dennis found out). Perhaps the next time Mr. Kim catches high-level Serbia-Montenegrins on the court, he can foster international relations with a friendly game of pick-up, huge basketball fan that he is. So maybe you're thinking of planning a spring break trip to the United Arab Emirates…unlikely, but possible…well, here's a public service announcement: pack sunscreen. And I don't care if you claim to be one of those non-sun-burning types because apparently the temperature in Dubai can reach a brutal 119 degrees Fahrenheit with 81% humidity. Talk about a recipe for a bad hair day. Dennis describes such weather conditions as "pretty hot." I would say so. Escaping the heat and experiencing the opposite climatic extreme, Dennis spent three days hiking Mt. Kenya. Getting to the peak is arduous at best, and the sight of a crashed plane atop the mountain-almost in movie set fashion-speaks to the harsh realities of others' adventures gone awry. Luckily, Dennis made it back to solid ground where he bartered with locals in order to get rid of the heavy coat he would no longer need. A staunch supporter of the informal trade system, Dennis advocates that the practice of bartering should be accepted and utilized more widely. Perhaps the U.S. economy could profit by heeding his advice. Over the course of the trip, Dennis and his comrade ate an array of…shall we say… interesting food items. One African specialty was zebra-which, incidentally, Dennis told me, doesn't taste anything like horse. (Horse? I just let that one go.) And I know this may be upsetting, but apparently you can get a meal of roasted guinea pig in Peru. On the off-chance that you're thinking of incorporating llama, alpaca, or yak meat into your diet, well, I don't know what you're thinking, but Dennis might have useful recommendations. Some takeaways from Dennis' worldwide eating adventures: best to be a little bit leery of cheap skewered numbers, and do be sure to steer clear of beaver pie in Chile. My apologies if you are reading this before lunch. If only you had some yummy pomelo-flavored Gatorade from Argentina to wash down your vittles.

Now, for the most nerve-wracking part of the 6-month adventure. While in the Nairobi city center ("the Times Square of Africa"), Dennis was checking into his hotel when he heard gun shots. …Somewhat alarming... (Surely the travel book had said nothing about this mid-day exercise in its list of amenities.) The general chaos was certainly unsettling-and from his vantage point behind the hotel counter, Dennis could see a guy in camouflage, firing a machine gun. After the incident was over, our brave traveler inquired as to what had happened. The attendant merely replied, "Friend, this is Nairobi." I guess that explains it.

For a change of scenery and perhaps a more calming diversion, Dennis and his compatriot enjoyed rafting in the Nile. Actually, I'm not sure how calming class 5 rapids can be, but the experience was, as Dennis puts it, wholly "indescribable." From there, if you have a hankering for a really crappy airport but fabulous beach, look no further than Zanzibar; a place that everyone should go once, in Dennis' book. Locals might bestow an octopus if they find you worthy of such gift, and they will happily crack you a coconut for 50 cents. Another bonus is that accommodations are cheap ($10/night) in Zanzibar.

On to India, where, despite it being monsoon season, Dennis had the chance to bathe in the Ganges-along with the dead bodies that are known to float by. The body of water is considered holy, but it still seems a little creepy (and perhaps unsanitary) to me. And if you've ever entertained the notion of riding a camel because it seems rugged and exotic, you might want to think twice. According to Dennis, it "sucked."

If you're going to travel between Kathmandu and Lhasa, take Dennis' advice and go from Kathmandu to Lhasa and not the other way around. Sometimes buses don't quite make it to the end of their journey-particularly on the Lhasa-to-Kathmandu route that puts travelers on the scarier side of the practically one-lane road (and you thought NYC taxi rides could be frightening). If you are looking for bad food paired with great people and beautiful scenery, then Tibet is the place for you. Plus, you have to feel a little compassion for the Tibetans over the whole Dalai Lama thing. Dennis' personal fave locale turned out to be Vietnam, where the food was fabulous and the people nice. Granted, someone did threaten to kill Mr. Kim while in Vietnam, but by this point in his trip, he and his friend were hardened enough that the situation was easily averted. Phew.