{"id":17044,"date":"2020-04-17T21:10:37","date_gmt":"2020-04-18T04:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/?page_id=17044"},"modified":"2020-08-19T01:06:42","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T08:06:42","slug":"meet-james-thomas-boitano","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/meet-james-thomas-boitano\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet James Thomas Boitano"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JamesDreaming about the boulevards of Provence and street cafes of Paris, then 17 year old James Thomas Boitano set off for a year-long high school exchange with a French family. Though he ended up in a smoky industrial town in Lorraine<\/a>, it didn\u2019t daunt him on his love for travel. James has since visited 83 countries though he refuses to take Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and East Germany off his list even though they don\u2019t exist anymore.<\/em><\/p>\n

Along the way he discovered Europe\u2019s quintessential cultural event, the Eurovision Song Contest and since 2002 has voyaged to this annual pop music kitsch fest. It\u2019s added a new country to his list every year and so far has taken him to the likes of Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki Athens, Kiev and Istanbul.\u00a0James is no London-Paris-Rome kind of guy but would much rather find himself amidst the natives of an end-of-the road Dutch village or roaming through the Dakota badlands. Tellingly, his favorite country to visit is Iceland.<\/em><\/p>\n

1. What are your top 5 best places to travel?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Iceland<\/a>, Slovenia, the Faroe Islands<\/a>, anywhere in the Balkans<\/p>\n

\"James
Photos courtesy of James Boitano, Tom Weber, Pixabay and Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. What is your favorite food?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Ravioli<\/p>\n

3. What is it that you enjoy the most when you visit a new destination?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Meeting local people and finding out their views on the world.<\/p>\n

4. What are your best tips when preparing to travel?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Do a bit of research and find out what the national sensibilities are. When traveling, we are ambassadors for our country and being respectful and knowing something about their culture and history go a long way.<\/p>\n

\"James
Photos courtesy of Jams Boitano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

5. What are your best practices re: currency? Do you suggest wearing a money belt?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Just use common sense. Have your travel documents and credit card numbers and telephone numbers scanned and\u00a0 emailed\u00a0 to yourself. If robbed you can access all your information from your\u00a0 computer.<\/p>\n

6. How do you get by with the language barrier?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Take the time to learn basic phrases. Most people will speak some English. Asking them (in their own language) if they do starts the coversation out in the best way. Knowing how to say excuse me, please and thank you are a minimum.<\/p>\n

7. What countries would you avoid?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

North Korea. The money they earn from you is used\u00a0 for opression.<\/p>\n

8. What airline do you like the most?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Lufthansa<\/p>\n

9. Favorite film:<\/strong><\/em> Babette\u2019s Feast<\/em><\/p>\n

10. Favorite travel book:<\/strong> Anything by Rick\u00a0 Steves<\/p>\nSEE JAMES’ POSTS HERE<\/a><\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dreaming about the boulevards of Provence and street cafes of Paris, then 17 year old James Thomas Boitano set off for a year-long high school exchange with a French family. Though he ended up in a smoky industrial town in Lorraine, it didn\u2019t daunt him on his love for travel. James has since visited 83 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17044","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nMeet James Thomas Boitano: Traveling Boy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"James Thomas Boitano went on a year-long high school exchange to Lorraine, France as a 17-year old and has been to 54 countries ever since.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/meet-james-thomas-boitano\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet James Thomas Boitano: Traveling Boy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"James Thomas Boitano went 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