Destination: United States (usa)

The Truth about Flying

Cool clouds somewhere over central Brazil

Griping about the discomfort of flying is a thoroughly modern first-world phenomenon. Here’s how you can relax and enjoy the magic of flight, whether you’re a frequent or infrequent traveller. Read more →

How to Get the Money to Travel

Don't Talk to Strangers, Cool sign in Vancouver, Canada

The difference between people who travel, and those that want to but never do, is not just determination (which is also important), but creativity in determination. Travel can be a regular feature in your life, if you’re creative and motivated enough. Before my 22nd year was done, I had visited the USA, Thailand, much of Europe, had been all over Scandinavia, Singapore, Tahiti, Estonia and the Maldives! How did I do it? Read on for some further ideas! Read more →

List of Countries I Have Visited … Plus a Photo for Each

Rational Matthew, Glen Affric, Scotland

I awoke from the deepest, darkest sleep on the softest pillow and found myself staring out the window of a hotel in disbelief as the last red rays of the sun drifted below the clouds. Wow, I thought, that’s the most beautiful sunset I ever saw. But the bed was unfamiliar and it was far too early in my mind for the sun to be setting. Hang on a second, I thought- where am I?

I am often asked where I have been. But over the years I have done so many oodles of trips that the answer is blurry- several countries I have been to several times, with little rhyme or reason- sometimes I’d need to travel for work, sometimes I followed my heart someplace and sometimes my heart yearned for someone I’d met on a distant continent. I make this list as a little catelogue of memories and moments as much for myself as for you. Read more →

Whatcha Gonna Do? My Run-Ins with American Police

Police Cruiser, New York City

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! Read more →

18 Strange Observations of America (from an Australian Living in the USA)

Statue of Liberty, New York City, USA, America

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. Read more →

Cruising in Alaska

The majestic College Fjord, Alaska

We cruised out of Whitter late afternoon with the water a deep blue sheet of glass. My sister had managed to get me a balcony cabin upgrade and what a cabin it was. I was in cloud nine as the attendants brought me a cheese platter and a bucket of beer bottles, also courtesy of my wonderful sister. I ate and drank watching the mountains, glaciers and the ice as the sun went down. Read more →

Chasing the Northern Lights – Aurora Borealis

A typical green curtain of the aurora.

It’s funny that with arctic locations, the peak season for visitors is generally the middle of summer. While I accept that midsummer in these cold parts of the globe is crazy good fun due to parties, saunas and the general excitement of the local people who become set free from the extreme climate that traps them for most of the year, I never really understood why you would visit a cold, icy, mountainous part of the world and then try to avoid the cold, ice and mountains. Sure, in the colder months the North is dark and forboding and the extremely good looking inhabitants are obscured by excessive clothing. But on the plus side, you experience life as it is most of the year in these parts…. and you “might” even get to see the Northern Lights. Read more →