Doing My ABC’s (Of Travel)
I got tagged for the ABC’s of Travel post by my Belgium expat living friend Jerick of 25travels.com – it’s a fun online blog chain letter that is part networking and part learning all about your fellow travel bloggers. Let’s get to it!
Here is my ABC’s of Travel:
A: Age you went on your first international trip:
I would have been about 15 and went with my mother and sister to New Zealand (relatively close trip from Australia). It’s a pretty amazing place, and I remember hang gliding in Queenstown and boating through Milford Sound. The view over the lake in Queenstown is simply stunning – I would love to go back sometime, but I’m living in Europe at the moment so it probably won’t happen for a while!
B: Best (foreign) beer you’ve had and where:
Backpacking doesn’t get more fun than when you’re trying out all the new local beers. I love European beers, especially Belgium & German – but I also have a favourite Asian beer. Since this is my post I’m going to limit myself to three ‘favourite’ beers from three different places instead of just one 😀 My taste buds like travelling too!
German – Augustiner Beer in Munich
Belgium – La Chouffe (we have it here in Rotterdam though)
Laos in South-East Asia – BeerLao (delicious – the best Asian beer without a doubt)
Enjoying a delicious waterfall of BeerLao.
C: Cuisine (favourite):
I love Thai food, and it’s great whenever I visit Thailand and sample all of the delicious curries. Dutch-Indonesian is really growing on me too (its huge here in The Netherlands). It’s just Indonesian, but I call it Dutch-Indonesian as I’ve never tried the food in Indonesia itself.
D: Destinations, favourite, least favourite and why:
One of my favourite destinations is Laos, the people are relaxed and friendly and it’s great for those on a budget. I think almost every place has good parts to it, and if I don’t like I place I often feel like I didn’t do it justice somehow.
E: Event you experienced abroad that made you say “wow”:
New Years Eve on Kho Phan Ngan (the place that hosts the full moon party) in Thailand was pretty ‘wow’. Thousands upon thousands of people grooving and shindigging on the beach preparing for the count-down to the new year, but the party kept going way into next year too!
F: Favourite mode of transportation:
I do like trains. You can read, walk around, gaze out the window and still get to your destination for a reasonable price (most of the time). What’s not to love?
G: Greatest feeling while travelling:
Probably getting on the plane for my first 10 month backpacking trip through Europe and Asia when I was 18. It was a great feeling; it was like ‘Okay, I’m doing this. I’m really doing this’. I was naturally a little nervous, but I was excited and ready to rock at the same time.
Pretending(?) to be tired. This was a hitch hiking adventure in Ireland. I think I walked 20km that day!
H: Hottest place you’ve travelled to:
Apart from my homeland of Australia which can get pretty bloody hot, I remember Thailand and Spain getting quite heated. I haven’t travelled any of Africa yet, so I don’t have any experiences there to draw on.
I: Incredible service you’ve experienced and where:
Believe it or not, the last incredible service I experienced was at the Temple Walkabout Bar in London. We were there for Australia Day and we had a question for the staff related to a booking we had made. The staff there were awesome and could not have handled the situation any better.
J: Journey that took the longest:
Apart from the flight from Australia to London – that always takes a while, it would have to be the bus trip I took from Barcelona to Prague.
K: Keepsake from your travels:
I’m not a big keepsake sort of guy, I’ve tried before to do the keepsake lucky charm thing but it never seems to stick. The best keepsakes from my travels are all the friends I’ve made around the world (not that I ‘collect’ them like action figures or something). I guess the other keepsake I have and will continue to use is my backpack!
L: Let-down sight, why and where:
A lot of people love Berlin, but it was a let-down for me. I know I need to get back there and give it another chance – because I’m sure it’s fantastic if you have the right experiences there. But on my first visit I just found it a little lack lustre and nothing stood out and grabbed me except for some of the history. I’m hoping to rectify this view in the future.
M: Moment where you fell in love with travel:
It would have to be in a retreat in Wales from my first big backpacking adventure. It was owned by a friend of my mum’s, and was like this green welsh hippie getaway with hobbit-like log houses complete with green grass on top. I was there with my best friend that I was travelling with at the time, and I knew then that without travelling I would miss out on so much that was on offer. Things that I had not even heard of or thought about experiencing. I don’t want to miss out on all that cool stuff!
A photo of the retreat I was talking about in Wales.
N: Nicest hotel you’ve stayed in:
I rarely stay in hotels, but one time I have was in Laos because we could actually afford a ‘nice’ hotel. We did it at the end of our trip on the way back through Vientiene. It was a 4 star hotel for about $25 a night, but it was still so Laoish which was awesome. They had a little bar there for cocktails – but none of the staff knew how to make any yet, they just had all the base drinks ready to go.
O: Obsession—what are you obsessed with taking pictures of while travelling?:
Oh I tend to take pictures of everything and anything (not very well though). What I would like to do is be more organised on my next trip and come up with some sort of stop motion film idea with my girlfriend (who is, I’m happy to admit, a much better photographer than me).
P: Passport stamps, how many and from where?
Not big into the whole passport stamps thing, but that’s mostly because when I travel Europe I do it on a UK Passport – so I don’t even get any stamps! I would have a bunch from Asia, but I lost my Australian passport from my big trip through there and my new one is not as filled. As my sister would say, sad face.
Q: Quirkiest attraction you’ve visited and where:
The quirkiest attraction I’ve visited would actually be in my hometown of Coffs Harbour in NSW, Australia. It’s The Big Banana – and that’s exactly what it is.
Here it is, The Big Banana in all its glory.
R: Recommended sight, event or experience:
The Big Banana, haha, just kidding. Travelling and swimming through the Dalmatian Islands in Croatia was stunning, but places like Angkor Wat in Cambodia and meandering down the Spanish coast from the Pyrenees to Barcelona cannot go unmentioned.
S: Splurge; something you have no problem forking over money for while travelling:
Good local beers! I love trying out the local brew, so I’m always happy to fork out for that.
T: Touristy thing you’ve done:
Oh I’m sure I’ve done loads of touristy things over the years. Eiffel Tower? Check! Madame Tussauds in London? Check!
U: Unforgettable travel memory:
Camping in Paris and meeting a friendly kleptomaniac yet oddly charismatic French man who ended up stealing from the store at the camping grounds and getting kicked out. He did offer to share the liquor he stole though the friendly fellow! Dealing with the Neo Nazi German who hated Muslims and Turkish people whilst camping in Spain was also a bit hairy. They’re a bit negative though, a positive memory I have is tubing in Vang Vieng in Laos – done correctly (that is, don’t get completely off your face unable to swim drunk) it’s a lot of fun.
On a swing that can be found Tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos.
V: Visas, how many and for where
No idea how many! Having a UK passport for European travel helps a lot in that regard, and I can use my Australian or UK passport to get at least 30 days without a visa in the majority of countries.
W: Wine, best glass of wine while travelling and where?
There have been a few, but the one that springs to mind was in Valencia at a little local restaurant sitting in the courtyard. The waiter couldn’t talk English and our Spanish isn’t too great (I was there with my girlfriend) – but we made it work. We had a delicious Paella with a beautiful drop of Spanish red.
The elusive red, I can't even remember what it was called!
X: eXcellent view and from where?
This post has brought back a lot of memories from my trip to New Zealand when I was younger, and the view across the lake in Queenstown looking at the snow capped mountains was simply amazing. It may have been because I was younger and on my first international trip, but it left quite a profound impact on me at the time. The views in Croatia were nothing to sneer at either.
Around the islands of Croatia.
Y: Years spent travelling?
Well I did almost a year long trip when I was 18, and have recently been travelling and moved overseas since August last year. Including all of the 3-4 week trips I did whilst still living in Australia to Asia etc, I would probably put it down to about 2 years travelling. There are, however, going to be many years more!
Z: Zealous sports fans and where?
I love football (lucky I’m now in Europe, right?). So of course I support the Australian ‘Soccer’ Team (which people only seem to care about during the World Cup). I’m also a Holland National Football Team fan, and since I’m in Rotterdam now it would be blasphemous of me not to support the local Feyenoord team.
We’ll finish the post with an incredibly bad mustache infested cocktail infused wink.
No-one needs to see that, Tom. Put it away.
Oh yeah, I tag the following people to do their ABC’s:
Ed Rex (awesome name) from RexyEdventures.com
Anthony from TheTravelTart.com
Simon from Wild-About-Travel.com
Juno from RunAwayJuno.com
That’s all, folks!
7 Responses to “Doing My ABC’s (Of Travel)”
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Nice to see your post live!
I have to disagree BeerLao being the best Asian beer, I’m sorry. But the Philippines’ Red Horse is hands down the best one in Asia. Beer Lao is nothing compared to that 😉
But Laos is definitely on my list of places to visit!
Hah! Thanks Jerick 🙂
Well I can’t really disagree with you as I’ve never tried Red Horse! But you’ll never steal away my love for BeerLao 😛
Wait till you’ve tried the Red Horse! BeerLao means nothing anymore after that 😛
Yes, i agree with Jerrick, Red Horse is the best beer in Asia. I also agree with Tom also that Thai food is also great, in fact i am always salivating for tom yum goong. LOL
Oooh, another vote for Red Horse, it’s got a lot of competition! I better try this beer sometime soon! Thanks for your comment, Tony 🙂
Cool ABC’s Tom! That Wales retreat looks amazing. Kind of like the bad wolf ate grandma in there though!
Thanks Roy! Yeah, the place in Wales was a little bit ‘fairy tale’. I didn’t see any wolves though 😉