Henry Rollins: 4 Tips on Traveling
Many people known Henry Rollins as a musician, actor and occasional media person. He is also known for being one of the punk-rock icons, spoken word performer, author, radio-host and publicist. Each of these branches served him as a platform to share with people things he discovered by traveling to various places all around the world. He’s been on the road since 1981 and visited about 100 countries throughout his life. These are some of the things he shared that you may want to consider before you decide to visit a foreign country.
Have Cash Whenever You Are Outside
In episode #606 of “Church of What’s Happening Now” (a podcast hosted by stand-up comedians Joey Diaz and Lee Syatt) Henry spoke about unpleasant scenario that may happen to a tourist if he walks outside without cash in Brazil.
“In Brazil you got to watch it! That’s the place where even I don’t want to walk around at night… Good wisdom for traveling to Brazil: never leave your hotel with no money. That’s how you get stabbed. $40-$60. Have something they can take, so they go ‘I got over on him! I’m not gonna stab him.’ Because if you have nothing he’s gonna ‘ugh [imitates stabbing]! You gave me nothing!’ Leave the watch and the ID. But bring some money so when you do get robbed – you have a little something.”
Henry was asked whether it turns him off from traveling, and he immediately replied “No… it’s part of it! And you learn the lesson. How can I didn’t see that guy? I got to go study that street better.”
North Korea and Iran are Dangerous For Celebrities
On Henry’s appearance on the episode #906 of “Joe Rogan Experience” Henry told the story on how he went to North Korea during the time of Kim Jong Il regiment.
One of the primal goals regarding his safety was hiding that he is a public person. Since he was alone he got two guides. He described it as a “propaganda tour.” At some point there was a moment when other travelers recognized him and wanted to take pictures. He asked one person to cool out his friends off of him. He told: “If I’m caught being in movies, writing books, rock’n’roll – I’m going downtown to meeting that I might not get out of.”
Joe asked why was that so important and Henry explained that they fear it: “They fear what you’ll go back to the mainland with. Same thing in Iran.” And when Rogan asked what would happen if you got caught, and Rollins replied:
“Questions… Which lead to more questions and you just don’t know. It turns into like ‘well, he’s been interrogated in last three months’ and since I’m not a hot looking girl, president Clinton is not coming to rescue me. And so those are the two countries where ‘don’t tell them what you do’ is what I was instructed before I left.”
Preparation
In spite of doing over 2 hours of talking during his shows in about 28 days a month, Henry sums up one of his best advice in a couple of short sentences. According to Rollins, the recipe for a successful journey comes down to the proper preparation process.
“Research the area before you go, so you can save time and be culturally aware of where you are. It’s always good to be as polite as possible, so you want to read up on the ways of where you’re going.”
Shyness and Communication
In Henry’s interview to uproxx he spoke about how important it is to not let social anxiety to get on your way and talk to strangers. Often times in his performances he speaks on how similar people actually. How communication brings people together and why it good for you to not shy away from everything.
“Let your curiosity overpower your shyness. I am a shy person but when I am somewhere interesting, I usually ask a lot of questions. I think humans can read other humans. If you show genuine respect and curiosity, people will often open up to you. This has been what I have found all over the world. You can’t be naïve and you have to be able to read a situation and see the end of the story before anyone else does but you shouldn’t try to block your curiosity. Humor is a key element to traveling alone in interesting places. When in doubt, smile.”
About the Author:
Zack Hargrove is an editor in charge of professional squad of economics homework help. His colleagues are also willing to anyone who Googles “write me an essay” Many of his topics are dedicated to music, fitness, education and ways of strengthening your scientific curiosity. You can find him on Twitter @zackhargrovejr.