Asia/Europe Travels 2008:
Kuala Lumpur
Thailand
Laos
Vietnam
Germany
Austria
Prague (Czech Republic)
Poland
Vilnius (Lithuania)
Riga (Latvia)
Berlin
London (UK)
Amsterdam (Holland)
Dublin (Ireland)
Hamburg
Quote of the day...
"We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again -- to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more." Pico Lyer
My Travels
As a kid, I was lucky enough to be taken all over the world with my family. I remember some of these places, however I never really felt I experienced what the country was really all about being so young and confined to the tastes and movements of the parentals. I went to university in 2000 and over the next 8 years only managed to take short trips in Australia and two orchestra tours through the UK, Germany, Belgium and France. These tours were of course a lot of fun, and we played in some of the most amazing cathedrals, embassies and concert halls, although from a travelling point of view, we were quite limited in what we could see being somewhat confined to a coach for a large portion of the time.
Want to see where I've been?
In 2008 I have finally been able to do the travelling I have always dreamed of... that is, an extended holiday with friends through some of the most amazing places in the world. Below I have written a travel journal detailing my holiday if you have the time and patience to read through it all! I have also made a Google Earth Overlay which visually shows my travel route around the world and between the places we visited. I love this because you can quickly get a feel for the geographical separation of each place we visited. you will need to download Google Earth to view this file however.
Feel free to say hi!
I also love to hear stories from other travellers and the encounters they have had, especially in similar places to those I have been, so let me know if you have blogs or web pages with similar stories and I'll check 'em out.
Travel Tips
I have also done up a page of travel tips inspired by the things I wish I had thought of, and the things I did think of which became very useful. You also hear a lot of stories and good advice when you are staying in hostels, so I want share this with other travellers if they find it useful.
Asia - Kuala Lumpur, Thailand, Lao and Vietnam
In August 2008 Kristy and I set off for one month travelling through Kuala Lumpur, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. You can read about our travels, see the pics and get some tips if you are going there too. We enjoyed these countries so much we want to go back for longer next time!
Europe - Germany, Austria, Latvia, Poland...
After Kristy and I had come to the end of our month in South East Asia, I met up with Geoffrey, Siobhan, Dain and Sally for our two and a half month journey through Europe. We travelled through Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Vilnius (Lithuania), Riga(Latvia), Amsterdam (Holland) and London(UK), and I even made it for a few days on my own to Ireland before returning home to Perth in Western Australia.
As a general rule, these places are much more expensive to travel through, but offer quite a different spectrum of experiences. I think combining the two continents makes for a great contrast in scenery, culture and lifestyle, however the climate change is a little tough to get through, so if you do this, allow a few days to be sick like I was! travelling is the best thing you can ever do, so definitely get out there and do it. I am yet to meet someone who regrets it.
