2016 marks 15 years since I went on my first backpacking trip to the US, Europe and Asia at 21. To celebrate, I put together a little compilation of experiences caught on camera from all of those years.
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As it turns out, I became a dad a couple weeks earlier than expected.
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It’s almost the perfect fantasy. “Quit your job and travel the world!” But what if I told you that you shouldn’t? About ten years ago in Norway, I got an email from my boss back home with some bad news.
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Although I love to travel and had a good old time at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000, I have very rarely travelled for a major sporting event. This all changed recently when I headed to Brazil to get married to my Brazilian girl. We timed the wedding for the week after the 2014 FIFA World Cup, so that we and the guests could have a second reason to visit Brazil. So.. how was the World Cup in Brazil?
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Christmas is different things to different people. As travellers, we’re fortunate enough to experience the magic of the holiday season in different cultures and places, although for some of us we’re ditching the travels and returning home for Christmas. I had a walk back through time to think about all of the weird, wonderful and lonely places I’ve spent Christmas Day over the years.
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While other cities are frequently observed as having masculine characteristics, Paris is invariably described as being female. Sensuous, seductive, the unmistakeable city of light, love and romance, my affair with her began instantly as I first arrived off the train from Bordeaux in my early twenties. A frenzied and fertile breeding ground for the arts and novel ideas, Paris has at various times been the home of countless luminaries- indeed Honoré de Balzac went so far as to wildly proclaim “whoever does not visit Paris regularly will never really be elegant”. Severely in want of elegance, I recently re-visited Paris and fell in love all over again. If you’re in the mood for a worldly romance, you’ll need this hit list.
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“Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”
— Samuel Johnson
Thus spake Johnson to his distinguished biographer James Boswell, and though the words are over 200 years old, they might equally well apply to any age. For London is and has always been one of those places where you can experience the complete spectrum of human possibility. Centre of an empire for centuries, from history to the arts to the sciences, London is a place where you can see, do, and find anything- a world unto itself. If you however, unlike Johnson, will measure your stay in London in the days rather than the years, you’ll want to quickly sort the wheat from the chaff and avoid the touristy riff raff. This list par excellence will help you decide what to check out.
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Dad and I watched our TV horrified as the SUV was chased mercilessly through packed streets by police, swiping other cars and narrowly missing pedestrians. Finally, it had its tyres shot out, and it came to rest surrounded by 6 cops with guns drawn. As the guy surrendered and put his hands up out the open driver’s-side window, he was grabbed buy the police and dragged head-first out the window, face-planting the highway. “This crim thought he could get away with it,” the voiceover man said in his most badass tone. “He didn’t count on the dedication of the City’s police force.”
“Bloody hell,” exclaimed my Dad, as the “Bad Boys Bad Boys” music started. “When you go to the US, do not mess with the police. These guys are not messing around.”
But as is often the case with the USA, my expectations were opposed by my experiences. As it turned out, the police were pretty bloody nice!
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America! You’ve seen it on TV, in the movies, you think you know the USA but you really don’t until you live there. As an Australian who has lived in the US on two separate occasions in two different locations, here are the things that surprised me.
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Ah Singapore, home of skyscrapers, shopping malls, and anti-chewing gum laws. But hold the phone, there’s more! Known primarily as a popular gateway hub due to its geographical location and quality of airport, Singapore is also a damn fine place to stop for a day or three on your way to or from Europe or Asia. With so many friends and colleagues living in Singapore over the years I’ve taken plenty of opportunities to stop on the way home and put my feet up. If you’re there for a good time but not a long time, here’s what you need to check out.
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