Every Thursday, A Dangerous Business will be shining the spotlight on a world nomad, travel blogger, armchair adventurer, or just someone really cool in the travel world. This week, the traveler is Roni Weiss of RoniWeiss.com. Roni travels the world. When he needs money, he teaches English (which he has done in France, Italy, Taiwan and Chile). He’s been to 1/3 of the countries in the world and 6 of the 7 continents.
Roni in Maastricht, the Netherlands
1. How do you define the word “traveler,” and why would you consider yourself one?
The first thing I would do is make the point that ‘traveler’ and ‘tourist’ are different things. A tourist is usually on vacation, looking for some sort of relaxation or change from their everyday life. A traveler is someone that wants to learn from the world and sees traveling as an extension and/or essential part of one’s life. That’s how I see myself.
2. What has been your favorite travel experience thus far?
CouchSurfing in general has been a great boon for me. The ability to stay with people around the world, living their lives, understanding the world from their perspective, has contributed greatly to why I still travel.
3. How about your proudest travel moment?
In general, I am impressed with the fact that I now feel like I know what I’m doing while traveling. I don’t have things planned so far in advance that I don’t have flexibility and I’m not always going by the seat of my pants. Every time I realize that everything is going smoothly, I feel proud of how much I’ve improved.
4. Have you had any travel mishaps or bad experiences? If so, have these influenced how you view the place where they happened? Would you go back?
In Chile, I arrived exhausted and without the company-arranged taxi that was supposed to pick me up. My new boss told me over the phone to go with the taxi guys in the airport and that I could trust them. In the end, I had to pay about $200 USD for a taxi ride that should have been less than $20 USD. I contacted the police, who did nothing, then the media. I ended up being a minor celebrity in Chile for a little based on the investigative report they did (which is here: http://todo13.canal13.cl/programas/v721.htm).
The problem was, I let my guard down. I hate taxis and I don’t trust people that come up to you at the airport, but having someone that I trusted tell me that I could trust someone I normally wouldn’t made it so I was not as aware as I should have been.
South America in general offered challenges that I haven’t experienced elsewhere. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t go back.
There are scams everywhere. You just need to know what they are and be alert for them. Trust your gut.
5. Name one thing you can’t travel without.
For my first two trips abroad, I didn’t bring a computer. I wanted to go home after 2 months the first time. I’ll never travel without my own computer again. It’s my connection to people and information. And having to wait to use someone else’s is hell for me.
6. Name one thing you wish you COULD travel without.
I wish traveling was free. 
So, money.
7. What do you think has been the biggest thing you’ve learned while traveling (about yourself, a destination, a culture, travel itself)?
Not to trust a map to understand what a country is. Maps tell you a small part of a story. As a kid, I grew up looking at a map and saw ‘Spain’ or ‘France’. This tells you nothing about Catalonia, Andalucia, Basque Country, Occitan, Brittany, etc. As an American, you’re first and foremost an American. That’s just not true in other places. In Naples, you’re Napolitano, then Italian. Regional identity is huge.
8. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
If and when I am ready to settle down for a little bit, I’ll be in NYC. It’s the center of the world and you can find yourself transported to other locales while still in the city.
9. Name one place you’d like to see or one experience you’d like to have before you die.
I still would like to see some more ‘postcard’ places that I’ve yet to visit, such as the Pyramids and the Taj Mahal.
10. If there was one thing you wish somebody would have told you before you started traveling, what would it be?
Stop worrying about what you’re ‘supposed’ to do when you travel. Do what suits and interests you. You can’t travel for other people. Only you will know if you’ll really feel bad about not seeing a place. You don’t need to do something just because most people do. It’s your trip. It’s your life.
Visit Roni’s site: RoniWeiss.com
Follow Roni on Twitter: @roniweiss
Like Roni on Facebook: Fans of Roni Weiss
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Are you a travel blogger who has something to say on these topics? Do you know of somebody really interesting in the travel universe that you’d like to see interviewed? Speak up! The Thursday Traveler needs some interview subjects.
