Back in 2005, I quit my job, sold most of my stuff, and bought a one-way ticket to Thailand to do some volunteer work after the Tsunami. I knew the trip would continue afterward, but had no idea where to or for how long. What I did know was that there was a fire burning inside and the only way to squelch it was to hit the road for a good long while. I’m not sure if it was squelched or inadvertently fed in the end, but whatever happened, it’s been good! I’ve been all over the world and back, and there is still a lot left to see.
I arrived on the island of Koh Phi Phi five months after the tsunami, and it was still a total mess. Work was in slow progress via several loosely formed charity organisations to clean the place up. I teamed up with the Koh Phi Phi Dive Camp, which was dedicated to cleaning up the beaches, reefs, and bays around the island. Every object imaginable was to be collected underwater at about 11 meters depth. Corrugated metal roofing, pillows, mattresses, chairs, TVs, tables, lots of clothing, CDs, photo albums, bottles, and even fallen trees. It made for very interesting and rewarding diving; it certainly was not a typical “day in the underwater park.” Visibility was nil and we often found ourselves alone in the silty underwater darkness, navigating by drawing lines in the sand with a stick, only to come face to face with a lion fish (they loved the natural hiding places created by all the junk).
Koh Phi Phi Dive Camp
After about three months in Thailand, I joined the rest of the backpacker hoardes to do the typical Southeast Asia circuit of Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and a bit of Indonesia – not in that order exactly. My actual route was far more inefficient, which I think has been a theme throughout my travels.
That winter, I decided to hastily put together a visa application for working in the UK. At some point I would need to get some work under my belt again, and Britain seemed like a good place to do it. I spent New Years (2006) in London and a few weeks exploring my pre-selected new home before taking off for six more months of travel. The original plan was to hit up India next, but as usual I changed my mind at the last minute, landing in Buenos Aires instead. I still haven’t been to India!
South America involved a lot of hiking, camping, and amazing landscapes. I went from Usuaia on the southern tip up to Peru, via Argentina and Chile (uh, again, not in that order). It was good to see relatives in Argentina and spend a good chunk of time getting to know the country better. To be honest, I nearly didn’t leave. But, by then I had the UK visa waiting for me and a new adventure around the bend… Landing in the UK with nothing – no house, no job, no bank account!
Torres del Paine, Chile
Settling in a new country with nothing is lots of beaurocratic fun, but finally when the dust settled I found myself quite enjoying life in London. I found international roles at work, continued travelling (but with much shorter timelines) over weekends and business trips, and generally enjoyed drinking ales at my local. After a year of settlement, however, the feet started to itch again and I found myself on a big, dusty red truck full of rock climbers, crossing Africa. I joined the Hot Rock expedition in Namibia, crossed through Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawe, and left them in Tanzania.
Sand dunes in Namibia
After another holiday season at home and another three months working in London, I rejoined the Hot Rock expedition again in Jordan. The next few months involved climbing, hiking, and general sightseeing in Jordan, Syria, and Turkey. I finally left the crew again in June 2008.
The next adventure involved a bike ride. I began in Germany with Oktoberfest, where I bought a bicycle in Munich. Then I spent time biking and on trains in Austria and Slovenia, before heading to the Czech republic for my first-ever true bike tour, riding from Prague to Berlin. I’m hooked. It was nothing short of awesome and probably my favorite trip in 2008.
Throughout it all, I’ve met some wonderful people, launched myself into Laotian rivers from great heights, patted a lion on its belly, ridden a bicycle during a typhoon in Vietnam, body boarded on the Zambezi, had simultaneous projectile vomit and diarrhea in very uncomfotable places, eaten the best food I have ever tasted (perhaps a cause of the former?), ridden vehicles with more people on them than I ever would have thought would fit, climbed the highest peak I’ve ever reached, been bit by bed bugs, been lied to & cheated on, zip lined over a kilometer between two mountains, seen the most amazing stars EVER, been protected by a large Malaysian man with a semi-automatic weapon, drop kicked a monkey, danced the tango, fired my first gun (an M-1 carbine!), ran 10K of the Dead Sea Marathon in Jordan wearing climbing gear, and learned how to sleep just about anywhere. I’ve reached emotional highs and lows I didn’t think were possible and no longer throw away leftovers.
Have you been thinking of doing it? Take the leap! It’s not as hard as you think.
