Let me preface this post by saying that, if you are a rabid football supporter, there’s no way you will agree with anything I’m saying and I realise that. This post is for sports fans who would like to go to a big event like the Olympic Summer Games or the World Cup but aren’t sure which to choose.

I’m at the World Cup in South Africa right now, and the atmosphere is amazing. On game day in the city centre or at one of the many fan fests set up around the country, the buzz is electric. People are kitted out in all sorts of fun costumes, blowing their vuvuzelas, singing their songs and generally going nuts. It’s a great thing to be a part of but the Summer Olympics are better, and here’s why.

Two weeks of solid action – After the opening ceremony launches the festivities, there are sporting events on solidly for the next two weeks. You can always find something to watch from 8:30am each day to 10pm each night. The World Cup packs in the games, but there’s still a lot of down time between them.

Truly international – The World Cup only has 32 countries represented. The Summer Olympics has over 200. Not only does this give fans from all over the world something to cheer for, it also gives you a chance to meet and mingle with spectators from from all over the world. Sharing a group hug with Khazakstanian wrestling fans or partying with Ethiopians at a bar is probably not something you’ll get to do at a World Cup.

Tickets are affordable and plentiful – At the Olympics in Beijing there were tickets as cheap as US$5. In Athens there were loads of tickets valued at under 10 euro. London might be another story but, in my experience at the Olympics, there are plenty of affordable tickets available. True, they might not be to the marquee events, but they’re there and allow more people to get involved. Plus, with so many events on, some in huge stadiums, the number of tickets available is a lot more than at the World Cup so getting them is easier.

Festivities are confined to one city – With some exceptions, Olympics events are set in a single city which makes the logistics of planning a trip a lot easier and it means that the entire city is buzzing all of the time, not just certain cities on certain game days. Plus you don’t end up having to travel to the Rustenburgs and Polokwanes of the world (no offence to those cities but they hardly compare to Beijing, Sydney, London etc etc.) It also means that when you meet new friends, they won’t have to head off to some other city a few days later.

Get to mingle with the athletes – Many of the footballers playing at the World Cup will be famous already and raking in huge salaries. They’ll be staying in some fancy hotel and the likelihood of bumping into them in the streets is pretty slim. At the Olympics there are superstars but, for the most part, athletes aren’t household names and, once their event is over, they’re just as likely to be at the bar celebrating as you are. Plus their friends and families are there in support and you will probably find yourself in a one-way conversation as their relative beams at you with pride about them.

Better banter in the stands – World Cup stadiums are huge and loud and while the game is on, fans tend to be focused on it for 45 minutes at a time. At the Olympics, the stadiums are usually smaller and more intimate and the breaks in the action mean that there’s a lot of time to chat with the people around you. Many events have multiple countries competing on the same day which makes for a really exciting atmosphere and you will make friends easily by supporting the same athlete as the people sitting near you.

You can still watch football – If you love football then you can still get tickets to see it at the Olympics. Teams aren’t made up of the superstars you know and the tournament doesn’t hold a candle to the World Cup but, if you love watching the sport, you can still get your fix at the Olympics.

Get to experience new sports – I love the Olympics because it brings obscure sports to the forefront and gives those athletes their moment in the sun. There are so many sports on offer that you are bound to become a fan of at least a few new sports you’d never even heard of. I’m now a fan of handball, weightlifting and field hockey having seen them at the Olympics.

Lots of winners – There were 302 gold medals given out at the Beijing Olympics which means the possibility for 302 super happy experiences across a variety of countries, not just one.

Your team is never eliminated – Unless you’re from one of those nations with only a handful of athletes, you will have someone to cheer for from your country from the start of the games until the finish.

So if you’re a casual sports fan looking to head to a major event at some point in your life but aren’t sure which, take my advice and make it the Olympics!

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One of the main reasons given for wanting to travel is to meet interesting people from all over the world. I can’t tell you how to make friends and I assume that if you’re reasonably social and not a dickhead that you will meet people as you go. Then again, if you are a dickhead then you might very well attract plenty of your own kind to hang around with too. If you can play nice with others and make friends at home, then you will do fine on the road.

What I can say about making friends during your travels is that the friends I still have are not people I’ve met in a hostel over a few days of sightseeing by day and boozing by night. The friends who last, at least for me, are the people who I initially spent a good amount of time with, sharing some common experience beyond just travelling.

Early on in my travels I remember being eager to swap email addresses with pretty much everyone I had a conversation with. Everything was so new and exciting and everyone I met seemed to be doing something amazing and have a great story to tell. I guess now I’m less impressed by stories of backpacking and I need to really get to know a person before I decide that I want to stay in touch. For me, getting to know a person isn’t something that happens over a few days.

The friends I’m still in touch with after spending a summer living in Ireland in 2000 are the ones who also spent the summer living there, working crap jobs for beer money. Same goes for my year-long trip around Australia in 2001 - my friends from that trip are the ones I picked fruit with for several months in various spots across the country. I’ve got a gang of Australian friends from my five years living in London, plus plenty of local pals. The people I’ve met volunteering are some of the best friends I have and I chalk that up to spending not only a lot of time together but also to sharing some pretty amazing experiences along the way.

No matter which way to choose to travel, you will end up with a crazy number of new Facebook friends in a relatively short amount of time. People make friends in different ways and it takes some people a lot longer to bond with new buddies than others. All I’m saying as that, in my almost nine years of living, working and travelling overseas, all of my lasting friendships have come from encounters that went beyond spending a few days seeing some sights and hanging out in the bar together.

So if you’re heading off on a longer-term trip and making new, lasting friendships is a priority for you then I would recommend sticking around in a few places along the way or sticking with the same people for longer than a handful of days. Rent a place for awhile and get a job, volunteer, hang out in a cool hostel for a few weeks, work on a farm in exchange for accommodation, study a language, take up surfing, go on a road trip, whatever.

Don’t be so quick to speed through one place to get to the next. The places will always be there but the people in them won’t. If one of your main reasons for travelling is to meet people then take things slow and do things along the way. Give friendships a chance to develop into something more than a crazy weekend in some exotic place. When I think back on all of the friends I have from my travels, I’m glad I did

How about you… what have your experiences been? Have you managed to stay in touch with people you’ve met for brief stints on your travels? Do you have many lifelong friends from your travels? Any advice on building lasting friendships as you wander around the world?

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I am in a travel dilemma at the moment and am not sure what to do with my life over the next three or four months. It had all be settled: work in Sumatra until the end of the project on February 27th and then go to South Africa.

But things have changed drastically in the past few weeks and I’m not sure what I want to do anymore. The earthquake in Haiti has got me looking at flights to go there, a visit from a friend who is living in Islamabad has me trying to find a way to get a visa for Pakistan and an extension on the volunteering project in Sumatra has be wanting to stay until the end.

Haiti

Everyone will know by now that Haiti has been screwed by an earthquake. I left Haiti less than a year ago and, to be honest, the thought of going back there so soon fills me with dread. But the thought of being able to lend a hand outweighs that and I am finding myself looking for flights to Miami and on to Port-au-Prince when I should be doing work. I don’t have any useful skills for right now and I’m not about to head over there on my own only to become a burden. Hands On have an assessment team there and I am waiting to see if they plan to launch a project. I have been told that it’s unlikely that they won’t work in Haiti, it’s just a matter of when. In the meantime I am thinking a lot about the country and spending a lot of time looking at airfares that I can’t afford.

Islamabad

A friend of mine is working in Islamabad and I am intrigued by the place. It sounds like he has a great group of friends and he is really loving living there. He has even found a place for me to stay with a friend of his for US$350 a month. It comes with wifi, a cook, a cleaner and even a guard. I love doing relief work but I am going to need to work on my websites sooner rather than later as things seem to be sliding a bit lately. I can’t think of a better place for a bit of location independent living than Islamabad! Ok, I can… but I am suddenly extremely curious about the city. I have wanted to go to Pakistan for awhile and what better time to do it that when I already have a good friend living there? Of course there are the security concerns and all that stuff but lets just ignore those for now. The main problem I’m having is getting a tourist visa and I might have to fly back to the UK to get one. This might seem crazy but I have family and friends I haven’t seen in awhile and also need to sort out some tax things so it wouldn’t be a complete waste of time trip - just an expensive one.

Sumatra

I have been in Sumatra for about three months now and have loved it. The work we’ve done so far has been very physical and mundane but necessary. We’re removing unsafe homes from the owner’s foundations by dropping them safely to the ground and the salvaging any useful materials like tin, wood, bricks and even river rock. The work is hard and not the most exciting thing in the world and after three months it is getting a bit old, even though I know its important. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we’ve started building things instead of just wrecking things. Yay! We’ve begun building homes and they’re fun and have a great design and I am learning some new skills. The project has been extended until April 9th and I would like to see the project through to the end. Plus this is the only option that I can really afford.

Can anyone offer any advice? The only plan that makes any sense is staying in Sumatra but that’s third on what I want to do. I think the leader is heading to Pakistan but the visa issue is a problem. Haiti is a crazy plan and until Hands On decide what they will do there, I don’t want to make any moves. But I don’t want to wait around for too long, either. I have some tough choices to make.

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Happy New Year everyone! I’ve been inspired by the year-in-review type post over at Thrilling Heroics and I’ve decided to throw out one of my own.

I had a great time in 2009 but, looking back, it sort of doesn’t seem like I did much. I spent the first few months of the year finishing up a volunteering project in Haiti and then went straight down to Nicaragua where I spent two months on a feeble attempt at studying Spanish and another two months working on a farm on the side of a volcano. I also spent a couple of months at home in Canada and two months in Sumatra. Besides a couple of weeks in Australia and three weeks in New York City, all of my travels have been done in big chunks with little movement from place to place and even less time spent doing the backpacker thing. As a result it feels like 2009 was a bit of a light travel year but it still somehow managed to be the most rewarding so far.

2009 Travels

• Haiti (January to April)
• Australia (2 weeks in February/March)
• USA (a short visit to Miami, and a stint in NYC)
• Nicaragua (April to August)
• Canada (home for two months, house boating and a couple of trips to Toronto)
• Indonesia (November and December)
• Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur for a week)

Highlights

• Having some crazy experiences and meeting lots of great people while volunteering in Haiti.
• Catching up with a friend I haven’t seen for nine years in Miami.
• Heading to a wedding in Perth, Australia and having a reunion with about 20 Aussie friends from my years in London.
• Hanging out on the side of a volcano in a hammock in a treehouse - my new favourite spot in the world.
• Learning all sorts of new skills and meeting some interesting people while working on a farm on Ometepe, Nicaragua.
• Watching the evil Red Sox at the awesome Fenway Park.
• Spending a couple of weeks living in my friend’s apartment in New York City and a weekend with my mum over Halloween.
• Hanging out with my parent’s on a houseboat for a week (and crashing it twice).
• Heading to Sumatra, volunteering, catching up with old friends, meeting new friends and really enjoying the area.
• Spending New Year’s Eve on Lake Manangau in Sumatra, Indonesia with a bunch of my favourite people from volunteering in Indonesia.

Things I Learned in 2009

I learned that I love to wield a machete. Working on a farm for two months in Nicaragua meant that I got to do all sorts of cool things and hacking trees to bits with machetes has to rank up there as one of my favourite things to do. Machetes = best tool ever. It’s not just the machetes I love about life on a farm… I love the simplicity, the hard work, being outdoors, eating food grown beside your tent, the fresh air, and being around the local workers. There are lots of opportunities to do farm work worldwide in exchange for food and accommodation and it’s something that I will be actively searching out in my future travels.

I also learned that I’m not really that into travel for the sake of travel anymore. I still love to be on the road visiting new places but the actual destination doesn’t hold as much excitement for me as it once did. These days I get much more excited about travel with some sort of purpose in mind: visiting a friend, going to a festival or sporting event, volunteering, doing a work exchange, couch surfing, learning a language or some skill or even renting an apartment and attempting to do as the locals do. Hostel life and the backpacker scene is something that I’m growing less and less fond of as I get older which is surprising to me since I used to love it so much.

I have also come to the conclusion that I’m not the best at budgeting. When I have money in my bank account and some money coming in each month, I will always choose fun and worry about the financial consequences later. Evidence of this being my ridiculous two week trip from Haiti to Perth, Australia for a wedding. Ridiculous, yes, but also totally worth it. Same goes for the crazy amount of money I have already spent on World Cup tickets and will no doubt spend when I actually get there. But again, I seem to have no problem spending now and worrying later. I would always rather spend the money to do something great because I can always *gasp* get a job to top up my funds or stay somewhere really cheap as the internet money rolls in and tops me back up.

The other thing I’ve come to realise that doesn’t go well at all with my lack of budgeting is that I am not as committed to working online as I once was or maybe as I should be. I really do love the work but I also love being in remote places that don’t usually have an internet connection. This doesn’t go very well with the whole working online thing and I’m often only able to do work in short stints between trips. I’m not sure if this is something I can continue to do, but I will push it for as long as I can.

2010 Travel Plans

My new year’s resolution for 2009 was to keep advance travel planning to a minimum and I did a pretty good job keeping it. I didn’t really book any flights too far in advance and sort of rolled with the punches for the whole year. I really love not being totally sure what the next month or even the next week will hold so I’m going to attempt to stick with the same resolution for 2010. But I do still have a few rough travel non-plans to think about in the new year:

• Stay in Sumatra with HODR until the project ends in February then do a bit of travelling around Indonesia.

• Visit a friend in Islamabad and either attempt to get a job or just rent a room somewhere and work on my websites.

• Head to South Africa in June to meet up with some Aussie friends for the World Cup (this is the only plan that is locked in).

• Find a gig working on a farm in exchange for accommodation in South Africa (or maybe also do it in Bali before I leave Indonesia).

• Couchsurf as much as possible around Southern Africa while looking for volunteering opportunities in the area.

• Follow HODR to their next project, wherever it is and whenever it will be.

• Travel around Africa (probably mostly the East Coast for now) while gathering information for my new Africa website.

Work Related Goals for 2010

I’m not really a hugely ambitious type so I don’t have a huge list of lofty goals to achieve in 2010. But I do have a couple of things that should keep me pretty busy for the next little while.

• Volunteering Ebook - As I wrote about in a previous post, I want to raise $10,000 and I think writing an ebook and giving it away for a suggested donation is the best way to go about it. I have been working away at it but I still have a long way to go, not to mention the work that will be involved in getting the word out. It’s turning out to be a pretty big project and I want to have this thing finished and released sooner rather than later.
• Wanderstruck - This project will be huge and I might have bitten off a bit more than I can chew on this one. My goal is to create a website for independent travel across Africa. I have a vision and I am starting to get the site the way I want it but filling it with content will be a mission involving my own travels and finding other travellers to write for the site. The only place in Africa I’ve been to as of right now is Egypt which makes this whole project idea even more ridiculous. But I am going to throw myself at this site and see what happens. Getting this to work will require a big commitment from me so I hope I’m ready to give it once I get to Africa.

What will 2010 look like for you? Has 2009 been everything you had hoped it would? I’m pretty happy with life and really excited for the future. It looks like 2010 will be a busy travel year for me and a busy year in general and I’m looking forward to it!

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I spend a lot of time looking at maps, daydreaming and plotting my next move. Each time I find myself hanging out with a map, my eyes are always drawn to a handful of curious countries that seem mysterious to me and these are the places I want to go to the most.

I know nothing about this huge African nation and I want to. Anytime I look at a map of Africa, the name Chad draws me in. I don’t really know why but the place sparks my curiosity. Throw the Central African Republic and Niger into the mix as well for an Africa triple-threat of mystery. I have nothing else to say. Like I said, I really don’t know a thing about this place.

Greenland takes up a huge hunk of space on the world map but is somewhere you never hear about. The only thing I know about Greenland is that it’s big and cold. I love the idea of being whisked across the barren tundra on a dog sled, an activity that probably loses its appeal once you’re actually in the barren tundra, freezing your ass off. But, for now, the idea appeals and doing it in a place like Greenland makes it just a little bit more alluring.

Ok I guess I’m cheating because I’ve chosen three countries instead of one but they’re so geographically close that I figured I would lump them in together. South America is a popular destination but I can’t remember the last time I heard anyone include any of these three small nations on their big South America trips. Are people missing out on something by skipping these tiny, tucked-away countries?

From everything I’ve heard from anyone who’s ever been, Iran is home to some of the friendliest, most hospitable people on earth. I also feel like it’s difficult to get an opinion of the place through Western media sources and I want to break through the crap and see for myself what life is like in the country. I want to learn what Iranians think of their government and whether the anti-American sentiment is restricted to their leader or if it’s something that is felt in all levels of Iranian society. Plus there’s ski hills in Iran and I think snowboarding in a burka would make a great photo op.

The mysterious thing about Israel for me is its people. I am probably going to get lambasted for saying this but during my travels I have met very few Israelis that I’ve liked, and I’ve met a bunch. I don’t like that I think this so I want to go to Israel to see what Israelis are like on their own turf and to see if I can erase the bad impression I have of them brought on by various unsavory encounters around the world.

This has nothing to do with Borat, I promise. My fascination with Kazakhstan goes back to 2000 when I was living in a backpacker’s hostel in Ireland. There was a huge world map hanging on the wall across from the couch and I always found myself staring at it and daydreaming. The one country my eye’s couldn’t stop veering towards was Kazakhstan due to it being close to the center of the map, gigantic, and coloured bright green. I knew nothing about the place but decided then that I had to go there.

With a flag as boring as Libya’s (all green), you would hope their country has a lot to offer to compensate. On first glance, it seems like they do: ancient rock art, crumbling abandoned cities, culture galore and a crazy leader thrown in to boot. For me, though, the appeal is that 90% Libya is covered by the Sahara Desert. Heading way out into the sand dunes would be an awesome experience… or maybe a boring one. But either way I want to try it out.

Possibly the most politically isolated country in the world, North Korea fascinates me. The idea of an entire nation of people being all but closed off to the outside world in this day and age is mind-boggling. I would love to get a chance to see what North Koreans think about their own country and the outside world. Given the guarded nature of visits to the country, having candid conversations with locals probably isn’t something that will happen but you never know.

Rwanda’s 1994 genocide left over 800,000 people dead in around 100 days. That regular people could be manipulated into turning on their neighbors, students, patients, and friends to commit murder blows my mind. It’s scary to think what sorts of atrocities people are capable of committing when exposed to propaganda and lies from a genocidal government in a climate of fear. I have no idea what I would hope to learn or accomplish through a visit to Rwanda, I just feel like I need to go there.

I can think of few places on earth that are more culturally interesting to me than Saudi Arabia. I have loved my experiences thus far in Muslim countries and they don’t come much more Muslim than here. The whole place seems all forbidden and secret and creepy and I want in! Visas are hard to get and there are crazy restrictions on women but it all just sounds too bizarre to resist.

Have you been to any of these places? I would love to hear about them! What tops the list as your most mysterious country?

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After spending a couple of weeks assessing the situation in Indonesia after a major earthquake hit on September 30th, Hands On have announced a relief effort. The earthquake struck in Sumatra killing at least 1,100 people and severely injuring over 1,200 and severely damaging around 135,000 houses. The earthquake affected an estimated 250,000 families (1,250,000 people) through either total or partial loss of their home or livelihood, or both.

The brunt of the devastation both in property and lives was felt in the areas around Padang and that is where Hands On are basing their project. They have done two previous projects after earthquakes, one in Jogjakarta, Indonesia in 2006 and one in Peru in 2007. The work during those projects focused mainly on knocking down unsafe structures with sledge hammers and removing the rubble with shovels and wheelbarrows. A few of my friends volunteered in Peru and say the work is even harder than it was in Haiti and, going by the numbers of damaged homes, there will be plenty of work to keep us all busy.

Anyone who reads my blog knows how much I love this organisation. They’re completely transparent, they have no religious agenda, they see their volunteers as their greatest asset and look to us for input and ideas, they choose meaningful work after speaking with the community and determining their needs, the staff are great people, they attract interesting volunteers who are passionate about helping and they even give you a free t-shirt! I am hooked and can’t wait to get there.

Having volunteered with Hands On in Haiti and Bangladesh, I know plenty of people that are planning to volunteer in Indonesia. As a solo traveller who is perpetually wandering around the world, having a family of sorts to meet up with once or twice a year is great. So I’m excited to see old friends and I’m even more excited to get involved with the small local community and to get my hands dirty again.

Adding to all of the excitement is that my next stop after Indonesia is Southern Africa. The semi-plan is to fly into Cape Town and then travel around for a few months in Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe doing a bit of Couchsurfing and maybe volunteering on a farm or two. In June it’s World Cup time and you will find me in the stands with my Australian buddies who tore up Beijing with me during the Olympics. Then more travels around Africa, possibly working my way up the east coast before heading into the Middle East. Maybe.

It’s shaping up to be an amazing year and for the first time for awhile I’m excited to hit the road. As always, if anyone thinks they’ll cross paths with me, get in touch and lets meet up! Or better yet, come lend a hand in Indonesia. We’ll be there until at least February and I guarantee you a life-changing experience.

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Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, is notorious for having dodgy taxi drivers. Cabbies in the rest of the country seem to be required to charge a set amount per ride but in Managua, it’s a free for all and they really try to milk the tourists for all they can.

Here are a few tips for dealing with Managua cab drivers that should be transferrable to any city with cabbies looking to take advantage of travellers.

• Have an idea of the fare in advance - One of the hardest things about arriving in a new city is knowing what a fair price to pay for taxis is. Many cabbies who pick you up at airports prey on new arrivals into the country (drivers in Manila, I’m talking to you!) so asking someone at your accommodation in advance what the fare should be from point A to point B will make bargaining much easier.
• Know your destination - Printing out a map or learning how to say the address in the local language is handy. It’s also a good idea to find out if there is a landmark nearby that taxi drivers will know. Most times cabbies are good about knowing hostels in smaller, more touristy towns but in bigger, less touristy places it isn’t the case and communicating your location can be difficult. It also helps to have a phone number for your accommodation on hand in case all else fails.
• Learn a bit of the language - Knowing how to say ‘it’s very close’ and ‘that’s too expensive’ has helped me many times with my taxi fare negotiations. If you want to get a bit more advanced, learning how to say somethig along the lines of ‘I’ve taken this trip before for x price’ is helpful too… even if you haven’t.
• Negotiate with a smile - Don’t let the crazy prices they ask throw you off. Keep your fare negotations friendly and remember that, even though it’s scummy to take advantage of visitors, an easy buck is a hard thing for many people to pass up.
• Don’t be afraid to walk away - If you feel uncomfortable when dealing with a taxi driver, just walk away. If you feel uneasy for any reason, trust your instincts as there are usually plenty of other rides around. Don’t be afraid to venture a bit outside the bus or station either to taxis on the street where there will be more choice and a chance at a better fare.
• Be wary of drivers who quote fares in US dollars - Unless you’re in the US or somewhere that only accepts US currency, it is very likely that taxi drivers who ask for the fare in US dollars are out to scam you big time. In Nicaragua US dollars are widely accepted, but I doubt very much that drivers quote their fares to locals in dollars. I expect cabbies in Managua to ask for more money but the ones who ask in dollars almost always out-scam those that give a fare in cordobas by a large margin.
• Think about what you’re bargaining over - If it comes down to haggling over a small amount, I usually just suck it up and pay extra, even if I know I’m getting ripped off. It’s not worth my time to haggle over small amounts and preserving my bargaining pride is something I haven’t been worried about for a long time.
• Make them turn on the meter - This tip is more for Manila but it probably applies to other places as well. If a driver refuses to turn on his meter, just get out of the taxi because you will end up paying much more. In Manila they will say that traffic is heavy and they are doing you a favour… they’re not. I took enough cabs in this city, with meter and without (going back and forth to the Bangladeshi embassy) to know that you will always be better off on the meter.
• Don’t give aggressive cabbies your business - I have been in many situations where drivers have all out tried to grab my stuff or even pushed other drivers out of the way to get my business. I used to just go with them just because it was easier and the situation was a bit intimidating but these days I don’t. There’s no reason to give your business to a dickhead. If someone grabs my bag, I grab it right back off of him. If I’m being surrounded by loads of aggressive drivers, I will often push past them to someone who seems more laid back hanging out in the background.

Taxi drivers in many cities will try to take advantage of travellers but with a bit of preparation you can guard against their scamming ways. In my travels the worst places for taxi driver scams have been Manila and Managua. Which cities have you had your worst taxi ripoff experiences in?

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Over the years there have been a few travellers that have captured my imagination. People who go beyond the typical backpacking trip in favour of doing something truly unique or interesting. Some make me laugh, some make my jaw drop, and they all inspire me in some way. Here they are, in no particular order:

Andrew Morgan, Teacher on Two Wheels
Not only is this guy doing the biking thing which always impresses me, he is combining it with the educating children thing which is also very cool. He’s got a great attitude and outlook on life and is just a generally inspiring guy.

Conor Grennan, Conor’s Mildly Thrilling Tales
Conor and wife have had their first baby and he’s gone a bit goo gah over the kid, as is to be expected. So not a lot of new posts but have a troll through his old stuff for some very funny writing and inspiring tales involving not-so-typical backpacker fare such as starting orphanages.

The Vogels, Family on Bikes
I admire anyone on along distance bike trip so adding a couple of 10 year olds into the mix and choosing a route from Alaska to Argentina definitly got my attention. When it’s all said and done, twins Davy and Daryl will become the youngest people ever to cycle the Pan-America highway.

Brett, Amtrekker
One big ‘to do’ list and two rules: No going home until everything is crossed off the list and no spending any money on lodging allowed. This guy has recently finished his mission with lots of crazy adventures in between. His trip is proof that the kindness of strangers can still be counted on and it’s a great story.

Brook Silva-Braga, A Map for Saturday
His trip by itself isn’t really that exciting. Just your typical backpacker fare of travelling from place to place, hanging out in hostels, seeing some stuff, making some friends etc. What I love about this guy is that he carted a video camera around the world with him, filmed his adventure and made a career out of it.

Sonia and Alexandre Poussin, Africa Trek
This French couple spent three years walking from South Africa to Isreal dodging lions and malaria in the process. If that’s not impressive enough for you, they also managed to film the whole thing and have turned it into a TV series that looks very cool.

Phil, Unicycle Across Canada
What’s better than biking across a country? Doing it on one wheel, doing it across somewhere HUGE like Canada and doing it for a great cause. Phil is about to finish his epic journey and he’s inspired me to add ‘learn how to ride a unicycle’ to my life list.

Sean Aiken, One Week Job
Sean had one of those ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ type ideas. I’m not sure about all of the ‘my generation’ stuff but the concept of a new job per week for a year was unique and fun and I enjoyed following his adventure almost from the start and am looking forward to the book and documentary.

Tom Blancart, Karaka
I love this story. French guy rescues decrepid ship from Hong Kong harbour, does it up, finds crew as he goes and generally has an awesome time sailing around the world. Except for when he was recently attacked by a baraccuda. Serious adventure on his own terms and I love it.

Kinga Freespirit
Kinga and her boyfriend left Poland with only a few hundred bucks and no plans back in 1998 and proceeded to hitchhike around the world for five years, heading wherever the wind took them. Sadly, she died in 2006 in Africa of malaria but her story continues to inspire me and I re-read posts on her blog from time to time.

Christine Gilbert, Almost Fearless
Christine’s travels aren’t what inspires me about her. It’s her attitude of ‘I want to be a travel writer’ and her actually going out and doing it that really got my attention. Not a lot of people these days seem to follow their dreams and it’s been refreshing to see her go after what she wants and do it successfully.

Dan and Audrey, Uncornered Market
This couple seem to keep going and going and going. Each time I visit their site I always expect their trip to be over but for them, there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. They’re covering a lot of ground, doing some interesting things and producing some great blog posts and photography in the process.

Karl Bushby, Goliath Expedition
Walking around the world… I love this crazy stuff. Karl Bushby has been walking for 10 years (!), one footstep at a time, from the southern tip of Argentina to, well I’m not sure where he is now but wherever he is, it’s infinitely impressive.

Chris Guillebeau, Art of Nonconformity
Part writer, part motivational guy, part traveller. I’m not that into his county counting mission but his actual adventures themselves are pretty cool. The stuff he’s done in Africa is pretty interesting and he generally just inspires me with his writing, even on topics beyond travel.

Nathan Shipley
Nathan is just a funny guy. I can’t help but smile after reading some of this blog posts. He’s got a knack for getting into odd situations and an even better knack for writing about them in a really entertaining way.

Gary Arndt, Everything Everwhere
This guy really does seem to be striving to go everywhere and his blog is living proof of it. He just keeps going and going and he’s amassed quite a following with over 6,000 RSS subscribers and 72,000 Twitter stalkers. That’s a lot, and for good reason.

Erden Eruc, Around and Over
Erden is a self-powered traveller and as if cycling and rowing his way around the world isn’t enough, he is also planning on reaching the summit of the highest mountains on six continents. Holy crap.

Jo and Antonia, Tuk to the Road
Two British chicks, a tuk tuk, a crazy dream and a good cause add up to a great story. Driving a tuk tuk anywhere would be an adventure but these two go the whole hog and drive one home to the UK from Thailand, raising funds for a great charity along the way.

Stephen Gaugh, The Naked Rambler
I love eccentric people and this guy has to be one of the most quirky. Dude just doesn’t like wearing clothes but loves walking over really long distances. I’m a pretty ‘by the rules’ type but I love seeing people buck the trend and face off with authority about something they believe in.

The World By Road
Driving your own car around a country is a great way to get off the beaten path and to explore things at your own pace so how awesome would it be to do that the whole way around the world? Well these guys are doing it, picking up passengers along the way and documenting the whole journey on their website.

Dave Cornthwaite
Dave first grabbed my attention awhile ago when I read about his trip across Australia on a skateboard. Yep, a skateboard. Yep, Australia. Pretty impressive. He has since taken on long distance adventures on the water.

Benny Lewis, Irish Polyglot
After five weeks of attempting to learn Spanish I am now officially in awe of anyone who has learned another language. Well Benny boy speaks seven and is currently working on his eighth and reading about his language adventure has inspired me to attempt to say goodbye to my monolingual ways.

Steven Savage, The Savage Files
This is an old school site (complete with terrible fonts and offensive colours) from and old school kind of guy. It’s one of the first bloggy type websites I ever came across with someone posting updates and photos and reading it got my feet itchy.

Jim Stone, Fliptophead
Jim seems to be the ultimate Couchsurfer and has been crusing around the US on his motorbike with his inflatable red couch staying with strangers the whole way. He’s a real ambassador for the Couchsurfing movement and his blog is a great read.

I’m sure I’ve missed some pretty amazing people and would love to hear about them so if you’ve got an inspiring person to add to the list, feel free to leave a comment!

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I don’t think I’m that easily impressed and I’m not one to spend my time looking at the ‘must sees’ everywhere I go. I’m actually sort of notorious amongst friends for not seeing the things I’m supposed to, for example skipping seeing the Statue of Liberty in favour of sledding down a hill on a baking tray somewhere in Westchester. I guess I always assume I’ll go back to places and the ‘must sees’ will always be there whereas the random moments will not.

But that doesn’t mean I haven’t seen some beautiful places in my travels. The places that really strike a chord with me most are the ones where I feel totally at ease, completely chilled and make me say ‘wow… this is what it’s all about’.

Here are my top five most peaceful places so far:

The Nile, Egypt

Lying on a felucca as it drifts down the Nile is one of the most relaxing things I’ve ever done. The sunsets and stars are stunning and the whole experience is capped off with the calls to prayer coming from the darkness of the banks as you chill out on what is essentially a floating bed. Beer and sheisha were both plentiful and I was surrounded by good friends which made the experience even better.

Noosa River, Australia

Noosa River snakes up to the Cooloolah National Park where tea trees line a narrow, still river. The tea trees put oil into the water that makes it black and, combined with the stillness, it makes a perfect reflection. It’s amazing to float down the river in a canoe with all of the trees and even the clouds being reflected on the water. The best part is taking the canoe out on a clear night. The reflection of the starry sky makes it feels like you’re floating in space and it is one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced.

Ometepe, Nicaragua

I am currently living on a farm on the side of Madera volcano and it’s one of the most stunning places I’ve been. There are plenty of opportunities to kick back and enjoy the views but my favourite spot is the hammock in a treehouse watching the sun set behind Conception Volcano. Once the sun goes down things are still amazing with fireflies lighting up the ground, frogs making crazy noises and the stars filling the sky on a clear night. Last night was spent in the treehouse watching an electrical storm which wasn’t quite as relaxing but pretty amazing in a semi-scary kind of way.

Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces, China

Rice terraces have been built into the hills in this area and rise up from the small town of Dazhai. I was staying an hour’s hike up into the hills and the view looking back down on them was surreal, especially on a misty day.

Middle of Nowhere, Bangladesh

Bangladesh is super flat and you can see a long way across the countryside which makes for some huge starry skies and fantastic sunsets. I spent some time there living in a cyclone shelter in an extremely rural community spending each night on the roof staring at the stars, attempting to listen to music over the call to prayer and laughing with friends. By day we were building a playground too so overall it was a pretty amazing week.

So those are five of my most peaceful places. Spots where I remember being totally in awe of everything around me, loving life and enjoying the moment. I would love to hear about other people’s experiences… what places have had this sort of effect on you?

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I’m not sure if this is a sign of my full on transition to a flashpacker but these days I am happy to pay more to avoid extra hassles. This can be anything from airfare to airport pickups to getting a single room at a hostel.

In the past when I would search for airfares online I would almost always go for the cheapest, no matter what. I wouldn’t even glance at the other options and I never went to the next page of fare results. Now I tend to value good connections, early arrival times and airlines I hve miles with over the ultimate cheapie. Often better flights aren’t tha much more expensive, it’s just that, in the past, I wouldn’t even look.
I’m currently planning my exodus from Haiti and have been looking into Nicaragua as my next destination. I could fly Spirit Air on two separate flights for around $400 plus a night at a hostel in Fort Lauderdale or I could pay $500 to do the trip with American Airlines in one shot and get airmiles to boot. In the past I would have gone Spirit Air all the way just to save the extra $50 but now, that amount doesn’t seem like much to sacrifice to get me to my destination as quickly as possible.

This new attitude of mine doesn’t just apply to airfares. I plan on spending a night or two in a hostel in Managua and will be springing for a single room and even an airport pickup. The old, backpacker me would never have gone for these options. The single room is $20 which is more than I want to pay but my logic is that I have been sleeping in a dorm room for five months in Haiti on an air mattress and think I deserve a couple nights of good sleep before returning to dorm land. The airport pickup is only $15, Managua has a reputation for being dangerous, I speak zero Spanish and I would be due to arrive after dark so this choice might be a no-brainer.

Are you more likely to go cheap all the way or is paying more for a bit of comfort something that has snuck its way into your travel style like it has mine?

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