15 Highlights from 8 years on the road
Three weeks ago I celebrated my eight-year anniversary on the road to be. On warm morning of 26 July 06, I left home for one year trip around the world. I returned only 18 months later.
I thought I'd be happy to go back to cabin life, when I came back. I would put my MBA to good use, the promotion of renewable energy, and head down the road to the American dream (job, wife, house, retirement, etc.). But the moment I sat down again in this cabin, I realized office work was not for me, and a few months later I was back on the road to an uncertain future.
Now, eight years later, is my life, I never thought, when I waved goodbye my parents. I dreamed not even know that I would be a published author, blogger, and life-long traveler.
How do I move in my ninth year a nomad to be, I wanted to share some of the key moments I 'have experienced on the road:
lives on an island in Thailand
when I was for the first time in Thailand in 06, my friend told me they to join Ko Lipe, a hidden paradise way nicer than the touristy Ko Phi Phi I was. So I made the long journey time (now you can take speedboat) and entered on an island that I had come to call home. On the way over, I met a cranky Irishman, an English couple, and a German couple. I expected to stay on the island three days. A month later, I waved in tears my group Good-bye, when I boarded the boat back to the mainland. We had all packed in our own version of The Beach , never want to leave an island with no paved roads and tourists, where our days Thai food eat were full, to learn the language, the locals befriend , reading, relaxing, and every corner of the island snorkeling.
While I have refrained since grown by most people whose company I enjoyed on the island (although the English couple, I remain incredibly close), the month I spent in Ko Lipe remains my greatest storage of all my travels.
to teaching in Bangkok
Would in Asia more and need money to stay prolong my journey, in I the beginning of 07 I decided to Bangkok would move to learn Thai and English teaching. I knew no one. I had no idea how to get a job. I had never moved anywhere before. I spent my first week in town to play Warcraft from me in between interviews. I remember being bored on a lot, wondering if I could really make it in this new environment.
But as they say, it's always darkest before the dawn, and just when I thought that I had made the wrong decision, was a friend from home to me the name of someone in the city live. My friend and I met a friend for drinks, and he introduced me to the Expat social scene in the city. Shortly after, I got a job and a girlfriend and began to build a life in Bangkok. I've learned to take it upon myself and live on her own.
The months I spent there helped me to be independent and showed me I could be anywhere to start a life.
has failed to move Moving to Taipei
in many respects in 09 to Taipei: I have a girl hit me unloaded after I decided to stay to get her a long-term visa, I have the flu that never went away about 15 pounds and lost, I had a job I hated, and I never prospered as I did in Bangkok. But it was also a great success, because it was at this time that I decided my blog to make more than just a hobby and focus on a resource for travelers. These were the months that I mean years old blog started turning, whose original purpose was to keep my friends updated, what I did in the travel resource today.
I could not have thrived in Taipei, but I'm not even sure I had not moved there that this blog would even exist. I'd probably still be an English teacher in Bangkok.
During my first trip to Amsterdam in 06, I went to a casino to play poker
poker in Amsterdam
Visiting Africa
Go on safari in Africa have I hoped, were all that in 2012 a lifetime goal of mine, and the weeks that I spent in the southern part of the continent, where they would be: animal ~~ POS = TRUNC glow around me, stars in the night sky, fiery sunset savannah, and raw and beautiful nature. The sights that can-do attitude of the locals, the wildlife, the food - Africa was better than I thought. It was raw, unfiltered, and burned in my soul.
The continent really magic.
walking the Tongariro Crossing
One of the most famous walks in the world, Tongariro Crossing New Zealand could those be recognizable, the love the Lord of the Rings as the location of Mount doom. Combating this 22km hike would be a challenge, since I'm not a fast walker, and I was at the time of the mold. I started early in the morning, I befriended a hiker on the way and together we made hardly pulled away as the last buses back to town it. It was harder than I expected on parts, but I did it, and on that day in 2010 was the most rewarding I in New Zealand had.
to dive learning
learning was one of the scariest moments of my life to dive in Fiji - I do it almost died. During my third dive, my partner took the regulator out of my mouth, while we were looking under the surface Coral. I acted quickly and exhaled when my instructor jumped the second controller in panic gripped (or like a fish screwed) to me. I stayed there, breathing hard, while I was trying to calm down and managed to swim a few minutes before rising to the surface.
There was a scary moment (and my buddy has never been told sorry!), But it did not ruin my love of the ocean. I have to see a whole new side of life on this planet, and I have been hooked ever since.
throwing tomatoes at La Tomatina
throwing tomatoes in Spain was just as much fun as it sounds. early waking, take the train, sangria, and people were pegging for one hour with tomatoes a once-in-a-lifetime experience (as in after it to do again, I'm OK not do it again). But I owe it all to the Nest Hostel in Valencia. Your policy during the festival stated that you need to stay for at least a week, and our small group of hostel guests was like a family. Surrounded by the same people at the hostel, you have to know all in a manner that does not happen usually. But family life was even closer than the other five in my dorm room and I tied throughout the week. We'll beat it like we had known each other for years (run out of many people of it, since we were so close). After the festival we held together in 09, and five years later to the fateful week we travel all stay connected and Incredibly Close.
Surviving Wiesn
When we plan our trip in 2011, my friend Matt and I decided should be for 5 days enough to experience Oktoberfest. We were seriously wrong - a few days is enough, and by day 3 we have the white flag waving. We have somehow to power on, and dressed in lederhosen we ticked a lifetime goal of our two lists. It was so much fun, and I met some wonderful German, ran into friends that I already knew, and learned that after four stone in a row, I pass out asleep at a table.
Discovering Eastern Europe
When people ask me where she is in Europe a bit out of the way, I recommend three countries should go: Bulgaria , Romania and Ukraine. A few years ago I backpacked through these lands and fell deeply in love with all of them (especially Ukraine). They were a new experience: rustic, less touristy, seemingly still 20 years in the past, and overall a very different feel than in Western Europe. They were difficult to navigate - I had in the Ukraine to mime to get around. They were super cheap. The people were friendly and welcoming. One of my best memories is drinking with some Ukrainian who knew only the word "cheers." We can can not communicate, but we bonded through many shots vodka.
terminal on the island of Ios
Continuing the theme, the people make places, in 2010, I decided on the island of Ios in Greece to visit , At this point I do not remember why I first decided, but I found myself somehow there. And like Ko Lipe, I ended up staying up longer than planned. A group of us on the island bonded immediately. They had come early in the season to find work (all of them did), and I had nowhere to go, in particular, so I stayed. We were like a family, meet for nightly dinner and excursions around the island. The following year, we all came back and took exactly where we left off. Although we are now spread throughout the world, from, I am still in contact with most of them on a regular basis. Time and distance do not destroy deep friendships.
Discovering Coral Bay
to the west coast of Australia go up, I moved into a tiny beach town called Coral Bay. It is a one-street town with a hotel, a bar and a supermarket. Most people come here on motorhome and stay in the RV park. This place is heaven; it's my beach paradise. The Ningaloo Reef is so close to the shore you can swim there, the water is crystal clear and sea life swims near the coast. I have found myself in this out-of-the-way destination twice, and it is my favorite place in the whole of Australia.
knew visit to the Galapagos Islands
that I was beautiful, the Galapagos, but everything I had heard about it, underestimated its beauty. The land, the sea, the sunsets - words to them can not describe. Images can. (Many pictures). My time spent on the islands are grouped by my last night: was the boat is anchored, while we were eating dinner with the headlights on the back. Fish attracted light swam around and then suddenly, Robben began to flit back and forth. Later, when we have to leave the way back to Santa Cruz in the morning, made, dolphins rode Wake for more than 20 minutes to play our boat and jump in the sea. It was breathtaking. Just like the islands.
to the Grand Canyon hiking
During my cross-country road trip in 06 I imagined walkers (I was not) and was on to wander the floor of the Grand Canyon determined. Rising early one morning I drove with my hostel dorm mate in the park, to see to stop elk grazing near. After pulling into the parking lot and admire the view, we fled the upcoming tourist bustle and was part of the small cadre of visitors who go ridge above the canyon. We hiked to the base down and stayed one night before hiking back up. On the way we stopped at a stream to cool off, and we made it just in time for one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen at the head of the canyon. I distinctly remember the feeling of victory, the rushed through me as we reached the summit.
YOU!
As twins, I'm fickle. I was not liable often long with things. But six and a half years later, here I am, still my stories to share on this site and to help others travel more. And it's all because of you. This website, more than any trip changed my life. I have some of my best friends, because it hit, and hosting meet-ups and reading your emails inspired me to be better at everything I do. I wake up grateful every day that I I get the chance, and it's all because of you.
The last eight years have left me with happy memories than I could ever write in a blog post, and while every memory is important these moments the last eight years have established and led me to where I today am quoting
my favorite movie: American Beauty .:
... but it's hard to stay mad when there in the world so much beauty. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon, which is about to burst ... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to make it to hold, and then it flows through like rain to me, and I can not feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life.
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