Choose a Country
To a certain extent the fully documented trips tell you about my views, reactions to situations and references which help me remember the essence of places. There are no murders, mysteries or extended love scenes. My perspective is a single perspective and may have as much value and validity as someone else’s. I do not claim to have encyclopaedic knowledge of countries but greatly enjoy the experience of travelling and discovering new places. Global travel is now in reach of most people and is not as prohibitively expensive and available only to a select few as was the case even 25 years ago. You can often survive comfortably on less than US$25 a day, plus a US$1500 Round-the-World ticket purchased before departure. Budget usually means more interesting! It is family commitments, habit and time rather than finance that deters most people from world travel. “What’s the point?” Folk are the same everywhere. I encourage people to visit countries where they have only basic knowledge of the language rather than automatically limiting themselves to familiar or English speaking countries – the six route maps should be a good source of ideas. Trips like the ones I have completed are being experienced by more people everyday. Any attempts at political, philosophical or social analysis on my journeys may sometimes be valuable and comments vary from naive to reasonably perceptive, as my experience and maturity as a traveller develops. From sluggish beginnings my reactions to events and surroundings on reflection gain some consistency and objectivity, increasing my cultural sensitivity and perspective. The language is honest and direct in a stream of consciousness style and hopefully you will find the pictures beautiful and truly inspiring. Please enjoy the trip!