Nomadic Matt's Travel Site

I picture my addiction meeting to go something like this:

“Hello, my name is Matt and it’s been 50 days since I last traveled somewhere. Everyday gets a little harder than the last. I’ve almost booked a flight three times this week. I think next time I’ll hit the buy button.” Around me, the other travel addicts in the room nod knowingly. They feel my pain. And then, at the mention of flights, tget all take out their iPhone and check prices to out favorite destination. They almost hit buy too. We all sigh. We former nomads aren’t going anywhere, at least not right now.

I’ve been back in the states for 7 weeks now. During that time, I’ve been fulfilling my dream of spending a summer in New York City. It’s not permanent. In September, I leave for Boston and then to Canada where my nomadic life begins anew. In sense, I guess I’m still nomadic. If a nomad is one without permanent roots, then I am still a nomad. New York is only my temporary oasis – the place where I restock supplies for my next journey.

Yet every morning, I wake up in my sublet apartment, cook breakfast in my kitchen, and then take shower in a bathroom not shared with other strangers. My fridge is stocked with food. I belong to the gym. I am taking French classes (and using Benny’s language guide too!). I have a routine. I’m a regular at the cafe down the street. I’m settled. I feel settled. And that unsettles me.

I’m having a great time in New York City. It’s been amazing. It’s been productive. It’s been a dream. I’ve made new friends and reconnected with old ones. Yet I’m not used to being in one place for so long and I’m not coping well with it.

Going from being always on the move to staying put has been a harder adjustment than I thought. True, I’ve discovered something new everyday here in the city. New York has a lot to see and do. My days are full. But when you are used to changing locations every few days or weeks, suddenly putting the brakes on that can send you through the proverbial windshield.

I don’t know what it’s like to be still. For me, moving is living. The longer I’m here the worse my itchy feet get. My feet….my soul…desires movement. I like the thrill of the road. What everyone hates about travel, I love. I love airports, and finding my way, and hotels, buses, packing and unpacking. In a way, I’m getting bored. Not bored of New York but bored of being in one place. I remember when I first came back from my trip in 2008. I was ready to leave within weeks. Life in one place felt stagnant. New York is never stagnant. But I miss the act of travel.

Being here, in one place, has been a hard adjustment. When you are always on the move, you get used to it. It becomes comforting. Your lifestyle. I’m at ease in hostels. I love making my way through the airport. That life is what I know. Now, I feel out of my element. I think about how I’m still in one place.I dream of moving place to place. I think of how I can get my travel fix. What if I just fly to Bermuda for a few days? It’s not that far. Jetblue has cheap flights.

Coming home requires a lot of adjustment. Changing your lifestyle? Even more. That’s what 7 weeks feels to me- a lifestyle adjustment. Now I’m sitting in my apartment, waiting for my dinner to cook, and I begin to wonder, if I ever do settle down, if I ever do become only semi-nomadic, how will I cope then? If being in one place for 7 weeks is difficult, what about moving somewhere? If I balk at the idea of a sublet, what about when it’s my name on the lease? But in these thoughts, I realize I’m not done with the road yet. Or maybe, it’s the road that is not done with me.

Sheer walls at Australia’s King’s Canyon

One of my favorite parts of traveling is meeting so many people. Meeting them in hostels, on tours, on buses, sitting at cafes, or at bars. On the road, it’s easy to make new friends. So easy that sometimes you feel like you have friend overload. On the road, you find very little pretense. No one has their guard up. No one questions your motives or wonder what you are after. Saying hello is all you need. In the world of travel, everyone is open to meeting new people. A simple hello and before you know it, you are traveling with people for months.

Yet back home, I’m finding it’s not like that. Out at the bars or on the street, saying hell or engaging strangers in conversation is usually met with a stare. “Why is this person talking to me? What do they want?” People put up barriers. No one is as open as they are on the road and there’s always a supposed motive. Once, I was home in Boston and my friends and I had gone to a bar. While there I spotted a guy wearing the quintessential Vietnam backpacker shirt – a red shirt with a yellow star on the chest. Anyone who has ever been to Vietnam has one and you’ll spy hundreds on any trip around Southeast Asia.

Among travelers, there is a certain comradery. We understand each other. We’re used to talking to strangers and think nothing of doing so. So I stopped and struck up a conversation about backpacking Asia. It’s not often you meet Americans who have done it. I think I can count on both hands the number of Americans I’ve met. While we talked, I glanced over at his friends and could see the confusion on their face. Why as I talking to their friend? Did I know him? Was I hitting on him? When our conversation ended and I returned to my friends, they asked the questions out loud. No, I didn’t know him. We were simply talking about Vietnam. My friends, perplexed by this, replied with a word: weird. I had broken some social rule simply by doing what travelers around the world do everyday.

Talking to girls is even worse- the first thought is always “what does this guy want? Is he trying to sleep with me?” An innocent conversation at a bar is never innocent even when it is. Yet on the travel trail, I have and see tons of innocent conversations between the sexes that revolve anything and everything. Striking up a conversation with a girl isn’t about a hidden agenda, it’s simply about making new friends.

Coming back home into this mindset has been difficult. Your used to the openness of travelers and the conversations with perfect strangers. It’s friendly environment. But back home these situations aren’t easily replicated and people always thinks there is a hidden agenda. Every Sunday, I go to a bar in New York City’s East Village to watch HBO’s True Blood. Once after the show was over, I tried talking to some of the people about it. They seemed in rush to talk. I got the hint.

Then I think maybe it’s me. Maybe this is in my head or I’m just really socially awkward. Maybe I smell. But when I ask other travelers who are reintegrating, they speak of the same thing. They speak of the weird looks they also get and the walls people put up. They speak of it with a heavy heart. Readjusting is already difficult. This just makes it harder.

One of the greatest things about traveling the world is that it makes you comfortable speaking with strangers. It makes you more outgoing. It’s either talk or be lonely. It’s do or die. There’s a very jovial spirit about travelers. We leave to meet new friends and put ourselves into new situations. People interest us.

Coming back home to the opposite line of thought has been quite an adjustment. One I don’t really like. It’s off putting. You have to work to break down barriers. People always think the work. Few people seem interested in just having a conversation for the sake of having a conversation. Being on the road, this is never an issue. And after seven weeks back in America, it’s making me long to get back on the road.

When we tell people that we are traveling around the world, the first question I get is, “But, how do you eat?” I was raised a vegetarian, stuck with my vegetarianism through college in the South, the land of vegetables boiled with ham hocks, and wasn’t going to change my eating habits because of our round-the-world trip. At the same time, eating is one of the main reason we travel so one year of boring salads and convenience store package foods wasn’t going to cut it. The good news is that after eight months on the road, I am still a happy vegetarian backpacker because I follow these four rules:

Learn the Local Language. Many languages have a word that means “vegetarian” but, often, I have found that term is not used. For example, we are currently in Japan, where “bejetarian” means “vegetarian,” but I have received many blank looks because Japanese do not use that word. On the other hand, if I ask for “yasai” dishes then they will offer me vegetable-based meals.

“Vegetarian” also means different things in different countries. In Thailand, the translation for vegetarian can also mean fish stock. If you state “jai ka” when you begin searching for food, the restaurant will offer you Buddhist vegetarian meals, which does not include any meat products or onions or garlic.

Do Some Research. HappyCow.net contains a listing of vegetarian restaurants across the world and most guidebooks provide a “vegetarian listing.” I highly recommend finding locals who speak English to ask them where they recommend. In Florence, our hotel owner recommended La Cipolla Rossa, a restaurant that specialized in creative Italian dishes. My husband ate a perfectly cooked steak while I was served a beautiful vegetarian entrée consisting of grilled vegetables and cheese.

In addition to searching for specific restaurants, research local specialties. Nearly every country specializes in some vegetarian item, like tofu and tsukemono (pickled vegetables) in Japan, amarillos (fried plaintains) in Puerto Rico, gazpacho in Spain, and bibimbap (a medley of rice, vegetables, and eggs) in Korea. At the same time, in certain countries, vegetarian specialties have “hidden” meat products; for example, most Thai and Cambodian recipes are made with fish sauce so it is important to specify no fish sauce when ordering those dishes.

Be Willing to Move On. Unlike high end restaurants that can afford English speaking staff and an abundance of options, mom-and-pop restaurants frequented by backpackers may not have the ingredients available to cook vegetarian meals. If you talk to the wait staff and they can’t make anything, thank them for the trouble and move on to a different restaurant. Often times you might end up eating a dish without meat but that has been cooked with an animal based product simply due to a lack of miscommunication.

Carry Backup Supplies. On our last night camping in Australia, I was offered a baked potato and potato chips for dinner while the rest of the group ate grilled chicken and baked potatoes. I supplemented that inadequate carb-heavy meal with my backup stash of granola bars. We always carry one day’s worth of healthy snack items which we restock in major cities. Finding vegetarian products in big cities is usually fairly easy: granola bars, trail mix, nuts, and packets of dried fruit are available in supermarkets and convenience stores. In small towns where packaged produce may not be as readily available, we haunt the neighborhood markets for fresh fruits and vegetables.

I admit that it is a little more difficult to find options for me than for my omnivorous husband. Yet you can always find vegetarian food if you think creatively. In Italy, most first courses or primi piatti are vegetarian-based pasta dishes so I often ordered two first courses rather than a first course and a main course. Though most Irish meals consist of some type of beef, soups and baked potatoes are served in nearly every pub. In Japan, a notoriously seafood-driven society, most Buddhist and Shinto temples offer a reasonably priced vegetarian meal for lunch. For the vegetarian traveler, eating on the road doesn’t have to be all salads but it does take a bit more thought and work.

Akila is eating her away around the world with her husband, Patrick. There blog contains delicious pictures and write ups about the food they eat. It is a website that always makes me hungry. Follow their adventures and feasts at “The Road Forks.” It even contains recipes for healthy and easy to make dishes.

Last year, I went to Madrid during my summer European tour. Unfortunately, my visit coincided with a bad cold and I spent most of my time bed ridden. My week in Madrid – that my week I was supposed to be spent exploring one of the greatest cities in Europe – was instead more like 5 days in bed and 2 days dragging my sick self around the city because I at least needed to see something.

Madrid is famous for its museums and architecture but what it is most well known for is the food and drink. Madrid is synonymous with delicious tapas, midnight dinners, and cafes filled until dawn. Nightlife in Madrid could better be considered dawnlife as you can find people out until the wee hours of the morning here. This is not a city for early sleepers. Madrid comes alive at night. It’s a frenetic, vibrant, and moving city. Unfortunately, I was only able to catch a glimpse of it. I only saw a scratch of the excitement that makes Madrid a city on everyone’s favorites list. Madrid and I will reunite again. I suspect it won’t be too long from now either. The city beckons me. There’s much about Madrid I’ve yet to see and experience. If you find yourself in Madrid without a cold and are looking for things to do, look no further than these:

• Palacio Real: Also known as the Royal Palace, this is the official residence of the King of Spain but it is only used for state ceremonies. The palace is partially open to public, except when it is being used for official business and on Sundays it is also closed. The Palace is free on Wednesdays for E.U. citizens and guided tours in English are also available.
• Stroll Plaza Mayor: By taking a stroll through Plaza Mayor you will be able to walk the streets of historical Madrid. The Plaza Mayor is Madrid’s main square, and it located in the middle of the city. These winding streets will take you past churches, tapas bars, and give you insight into Royal history and architecture. While walking this plaza, not to be missed, include Ayuntamiento, San Pedro, San Francisco el Grande, and Calle de Cuchilleros.



• Puerta del Sol: This is Madrid’s most famous and most central square, located just a short walk from the Plaza Mayor. Originally it was the site of one of the city’s gates, which faced the east and was adorned with an image of the sun, hence the square’s name. The square is actually almost semi-circular in shape and owes its current form to the major renovation work carried out between 1854 and 1860.
• See Flamenco Dancers: Madrid has been listening to the best flamenco since the early 19th century and has seen the best artists triumph here. Flamenco can be seen in many bars and taverns in Madrid. Normally you would go for an evening meal to one of these places, and listen to the music afterwards.
• See a Bullfight: Madrid’s main bullring is called La Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas del Espíritu Santo, or more simply, Las Ventas. The best time to see bullfights in Madrid is during the months of May and June. The world famous San Isidro bullfight festival takes place during these months and brings together the best fighters, bulls and aficionados. There are fights every day for 20 days, starting at 7 o’clock in the evening.
• Visit the Prado Museum: The Prado Museum is Madrid’s top cultural sight, and one of the world’s greatest art galleries. It;s dazzling display of works by the great European masters such as Velázquez, Goya, Raphael, Rubens, and Bosch (among other major Italian and Flemish artists), is housed in an 18th-century building that opened as a museum in 1819.
• National Archeology Museum: This well designed museum houses an incredible collection of archaeological finds from across the peninsula. It leaves the visitor with a sense of the chronology of civilization in Spain. There are also a few pieces from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.
• El Retiro Park: The main of Madrid, the perfect place to take a rest during a sunny day, or take part in the drum circles around the statue of Alphonso XII on summer evenings. There is a large boating lake where one can hire a rowing boat. There is a monument to the victims of the Madrid 3/11 terrorist bombings, the Forest of the Absent, and the Crystal Palace.

A Bird in Flight

Festivals. A place where people looking to have a great time can dance, listen to great music, celebrate, party, have fun, and relax. They happen all over the world for many different reasons. Some celebrate religion, some the new year, some art, some the harvest- whatever the reason, every month, somewhere in the world, you’ll find people descending on a location to celebrate and share a common experience. If you don’t like crowds, they probably aren’t for you. But if you feel like getting wet, dirty, staying up late, dancing, or just want to enjoy the energy of tens of thousands of people, check out some of these festivals:

Carnival (February)

Carnival is a giant party held right before the christian holiday of lent. Brazilian Carnival is the most famous and attracts the most numbers of people to it, with their dancing, parades, and floats, music, and drinking. Vegas may be sin city but this the sin holiday. Alternatively, if you can’t get down to Brazil, you can always head to Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

Holi (March)

Holi is a Hindu holiday celebrated on the day after the full moon in early March and glorifies good harvest and fertility of the land. Moreover, Holi is also celebrates the triumph of good over evil, at least according to a legend involving the god Krishna. It can last up to 16 days, depending on where in the world you celebrate it. There is music, food, and, of course, throw paint on each other.

Songkran (Mid-April)

Thai new year is one of the most fun event’s I’ve even been to. This three day water fight that engulfs the whole country, you can’t walk two seconds out of your house without getting wet. No one is safe. The most fun I ever had was riding in a Tuk Tuk and having a mobile water fight with the people in the lane over.

Bay to Breakers (May)

The Bay to Breakers is an annual footrace which takes place in San Francisco, California on the third Sunday of May. The complete course is 7.46 miles long. The footrace is more of an excuse to drink and dress in weird costumes along the way. It’s a very large event and is more like a moving party than a footrace. Also expect to see a lot of people running in the nude.

Glastonbury (June)

Every summer in June, Pilton, England becomes the stage for one of the largest music festivals in the world. Glastonbury is best known for its contemporary music, but also features dance, comedy, theater, circus, cabaret and many other arts. About 175,000 people come to this area for a few days of music, mud, and mayhem. The fields turn into giant tent cities as everyone camps out looking to have some fun!

Swedish Midsummer (June)

During the summer solstice, Swedes come out and celebrate the start of the summer. It doesn’t get warm often this far north so when it does, people like to celebrate it. Local Swedes head out into nature, dance around a pole, eat lots of fish, drinks lots of beer, and stay up to enjoy the longest day of the year. After all, the sun doesn’t set until about midnight.

Running of the Bulls (July)

During July, Pamplona is filled with white clothed and red scarf wearing people who quench their thirst with sangria and the daring few try to out run some angry bulls. It’s usually a recipe for one or two people getting hurt and not something I’d ever consider doing but the atmosphere and celebrations are not to be missed. By the end of the day, your white shirt will soon be sangria red.

La Tomatina (August)

For one hour, 20,000 people engage in a tomato fight in Bunol, Spain during the last Wednesday of august. The whistle blows and the tomatoes fly. It’s fun, it’s dirty, it’s the food fight we all dreamed about as a child. After you have your fill of tomatoes, you go wash off in the river and then join the dance party in town where the sangria and food flow.

Burning Man (August)

At the end of August, tens of thousands of people head out in the Nevada desert for 6 days of alternative living. Burning Man brings out the arty, the alternative, and the eccentric. It’s 6 days of camping (bring lots of water!), art, and music. At the end, a giant wooden man being set on fire (hence the name).

Oktoberfest (September)

Though really in September this two week beer festival in Munich attracts people form all over the world with its beer halls, lederhosen, giant steins of beer, and huge pretzels. No one I know ever lasted the whole two weeks but 3 or 4 days you are there will be the haziest of your life. It’s the best place in the world to celebrate one of God’s greatest gifts- beer.

Day of the Dead (November)

With paper mache skeletons and candy skulls, Mexico’s carnavelesque day of the dead is one of the world’s most familiar festivals. Participants devote a day to cleaning their family graves, decorating them with candles and flowers, having picnics and dancing to mariachi bands. It’s an odd combination of remembrance and festivity.

All around the world and no matter what month of the year, you’ll find people celebrating. I’ve been to a large number of these festivals and my goal is to see them all. Not only are festivals fun they are also a great way to do something different than the normal sightseeing we do when we visit places. The next time you are looking for something wild, crazy, and festive, plan your trip around these celebrations of life.

Budapest. The beautiful city on the Danube. It’s a city I’ve never heard anything bad said about. “If you love Prague, you’ll love Budapest” people would tell me. And they were right- I did like Budapest, though not nearly as much as I like Prague but that’s another story. This story is about Hungarian folk dancing.

Before I went to Budapest, I called a friend of mine. “Do you still have a friend in the Tourism Budapest office? Do you think I could get a free city pass?” Well, his friend did better than that. A few emails later and I was meeting Marta who not only gave me a city pass and was to be my tour guide for my week in Budapest. Marta was the office intern and when she offered to show me around a city, it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

We always dream of having a local guide and here was mine, ready to show me “real Budapest.” As travelers, we go from tourist site to tourist site but rarely get an in depth look at local life. What exactly is the local life in Budapest? Well, it involves a lot of food and dancing.

Marta and I did all the major tourist sites. We say the castle, the church, the famous bridges, the famous baths, and did the tour of the Hungarian Parliament. I was most excited to see the underground tunnels below the castle. I love “underground tourism” whether it’s the sewers or catacombs of Paris, the ghost tours of Edinburgh, the ruins under Naples, or tunnels under a castle in Budapest. While cool, the tunnels had little fake statues of people and an art exhibit on consumerism that made them feel a little cheesy.

Marta asked me what I really wanted to see in Budapest, to which I replied “I want to see how the locals like you live day to day. Show me your life here.”

Marta is an avid folk dancer and one night she took me to a local dance session on the Buda side of the city. While Pest is busy, modern and the center of life, Buda is where you find the castle, the cobblestone streets, and the old Eastern Europe you imagine in your mind. Walking down cobblestone streets lined with brick buildings, we stopped at one, entered into a large square, and was treated to a local Hungarian beer hall.

Marta did all the ordering. Beer and food were placed in front of me and I was simply told to eat. Sadly, I didn’t write down the name but the crusty bread with a sausage spread was really good. The meat was a little spicy and smoked and the bread same day fresh. I had two.

As the night progressed, the tables were cleared away, the band set up, and the dancing began. Hungarian folk dancing reminds me of Irish folk dancing mixed with a bit of Russian and Jewish folk dancing. Everyone dances in a circle or twirls around partners. There’s a lot feet stomping and singing. Here’s a small sample:

Editor’s Note: I took this at night with a point and click camera. The video quality isn’t great. Apologies.

The dancing continued long into the night. Spending time with Marta gave me a view on Hungarian life I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. I learned a lot about the food (and ate a lot too- Hungarian food, while heavy, is also quite delicious), the culture, and the history of a place I wouldn’t have been able to glean just from seeing sites listed in a guidebook. She introduced me to traditional food, took me to local markets, gave me an impressive history of the city and country, taught me some Hungarian, and of course, took me dancing. Wandering around with a guidebook would never have even given me a drop of that experience.

Simply seeing the top sites or activities listed in a book doesn’t tell you about how life in a destination is lived. For me, I travel to know that. Big Ben is great but how Londoners live is more important to me. It makes me appreciate an organization like Couchsurfing even more. Couchsurfing connects you to locals who will let you stay in their home or simply meet for drinks. In Munich, I met locals who took me to a local rock festival- an experience I never would have done or known about if not for them. In Broome, I learned about Australian politics. In Denmark, I was taken to a families sunday dinner.

Traveling to a destination doesn’t mean you need to visit place X, Y, or Z in order to have seen it. Sometimes it means closing the guidebook, skipping all the must see’s and do’s you read or were told about, and simply spending time folk dancing in a beer hall with a group of strangers.

Last year, I released my book on how to successfully make money from your website so you can break out of the cubicle and fund your travels or just have more time to do what it is you like. Since then, I’ve experimented with a lot of different methods and techniques, learned new things, plus the nature of the internet has changed. I decided it was time to update and greatly expand the book to be more current, morein depth, and include some NEW strategies that I figured out to gain readers and advertisers.

A lot has happened in the year since I first created the book. Google has changed how they rank websites, methods to monetize your site has changed, there are new ways to gain traffic and readers, and the importance of Facebook has grown. I’ve learned a lot and I want to share it all with you. This still has all the sections that made it great in the first place like:

• Starting a Blog- Basic but necessary information about picking a niche (what are you an expert in?), choosing what kind of travel blog to have (there is more than one), and the number of websites to run.
• Installing Your Blog- All about choosing the right website name, picking a Wordpress theme, and installing SEO plugins.
• Getting Traffic- How to use sites like Stumble Upon, gain followers, find other bloggers, and use Twitter and Facebook to your advantage to build a community around your blog.
• Search Engine Optimization- Detailed information about SEO, how it works, site optimization, link building, and where to find those valuable links to rank high in Google.
• Monetizing Your Blog- Covers the main types of advertising, which work best for different sites, how much to charge, and where to find willing advertisers.
• Putting it All Together- What to expect from all of this and how to best utilize your time.

But I have also added new information and tips like:

• More SEO Information. Google has changed how they rank people and I changed the tips and tricks you need to rank higher in search plus I added in a few tips I didn’t include before.
• How to Pick Keywords. Picking keywords is a very in depth topic that I’ve never touched upon before. I’ve included a little section on how to pick keywords, how to figure out what are good, and the Google Keyword Tool.
• Facebook Fan Pages. Facebook has grown in importance now and is a big source of traffic for me. Learn how to use Facebook fan pages to attract new readers, market your site, and increase your brand.
• Newsletter Marketing. Newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with readers, increase your brand, and tell people about deals.
• How to Promote Ebooks. Ebooks are a great way to monetize your site if you are an expert on the subject but poor writing and marketing can lead to a big failure. My experience in launching 4 books will help you repeat my successes and avoid my blunders.
• Updated Resources on Links. The nature of the web has changed and now I’ve listed new resources and got rid of some old resource on how to gain links for your website.

The book is now going back to it’s original price of $37 USD. That might seem like a lot of money so I added in a great bonus (scroll down to see!) that pays for the book many times over.

Why the Price Increase?
Any serious attempt to make money requires an investment. This book is that investment. With the new information, this book is even more complete and in depth than ever before and will help you succeed in making money and gaining traffic. If you aren’t willing to invest in your site, you won’t succeed. Moreover, this book has one amazing offer to help you make money RIGHT AWAY:

FREE ADVERTISERS!!!

Yes, if you buy this book you get 3 advertiser names- people who WANT to buy ads on travel websites. This offer alone pays for the book many, many times over.  

Paying $27 dollars to gain access these names PLUS all the information on how to successfully gain more traffic and more advertisers is an investment anyone who really want to bring money from there website should make. Whether you have a travel blog, finance site, hotel booking engine, or family blog, the tips in this book will help you. They are all the things I do to live off my websites. And if I, a former high school history teacher, can do it, I fully believe you can too!

If you are serious about succeeding then this book is for you. GET IT NOW!

Last weekend I met some old friends from college who I haven’t seen since graduation. They wanted to know one thing about my travels: “What were my crazy stories? What were the wild things that have happened to me?” I don’t often think about the crazy things that happen while I’m traveling. To me, they are just part of the whole travel experience- stories no good or worse than all the rest. Even the bad is still good. Yet forced to think about it, I’ve realized a lot of random, crazy, and interesting things have happened to me over the last 4 years, highlights of which include:

I got lost in the jungle. While taking a trip to Costa Rica, my friends and I ended up reading the map wrong and wandered lost around Arenal national park without a flashlight, food or water. What was supposed to be a quick trip to see the sunset turned out to be a 5 hour ordeal. As night came, we used our cameras as flashlights and tried to follow our tracks back. We eventually found a road, flagged down a car, and bribed him to take us back to the town.

Also, my bus broke down in the outback. While traveling in Western Australia, our tour bus broke down in the middle of the outback right after we had lost cell phone reception. We waited 3 hours for a car to take our driver to the nearest town and 2 more for the tow truck. It was a great time though- we drank our beer, played trivia games, and worked on our tan. It was a bonding experience.

My dive partner kicked out my regulator. While learning to scuba dive, my partner accidentally kicked my regulator out of my mouth 15 meters below water. Luckily, I remember to breathe out and grab my regulator. Within seconds my instructor was assisting me but it was a scary experience and it took me about 10 minutes and half the oxygen tank to calm down. I never breathed so deep in my life.

I almost got in a fight with an Amsterdam cab driver. Coming back from the Amsterdam casino, I split a cab with two Russians who were heading in the same direction. I got out first and paid my portion of the cab fare to them. The driver wanted me to pay the whole fare. No way, I replied, we are splitting it. This is what I owe and I got out. The Russians were fine with that and took my money but the cab driver was not. He got out too and decided he wanted something of this. I stood my ground, the Russians wide eyed in the car, and the driver threatening me. Seeing his scare tactics weren’t going to work, he yelled at me in Turkish, got back in the cab, and drove off.

I permanently scarred a friend. Years ago at a beach party in Thailand, my friend (whose the size of a small truck) and I (not the size of any truck) decided we should film ourselves where I beat him wrestling. Running into frame, I tackle him and we wrestle for a bit. A friend from my guesthouse runs over and breaks it up. “Dude, what are you doing? He’s huge!” “Don’t worry- we’re friends.” I replied. At that time, I noticed my friend was bleeding. Apparently, I tackled him onto a few beer bottles and sliced his arm open. Rushing him to the hospital, we got him stitched up but to this day he has 3 large scars covering most of his left arm. I guess I don’t know my own strength.

Thai police officers got me drunk. On multiple occasions. One of my favorite streets in Thailand is Soi 11 and at the beginning of the street is a food stall where every night these cops drink. One night they called me over after I finish my soup and offered me some whiskey. You don’t say no to cops in Thailand so I drank. And drank. And drank some more. After that, every time I walked by, we would drink and eat. I would teach them English, they taught me bad words in Thai. It was a great experience.

Speaking of Thailand, I got drugged there once. For my last night in Thailand in 2007, my friend Dan and I went out for a few drinks. We started with our customary red bull and vodka. After that, I don’t know what happened. The next thing I remember is waking up on Dan’s couch the following morning. Knocking on Dan’s door, he opens it and goes “What are you doing here?” We had no memory of the previous night but I still had my ID and all my money. Whoever did drugged us did a poor job of doing so but I make it a point to watch all my drinks being made now.

Two M87 grenades blew up near me. A few months ago, Thailand had political unrest that led to a multi-day street battle in Bangkok. Much of the city center was set on fire. I got out weeks before that but before I did, while eating dinner in the Silom area, 2 M87 grenades went off right near me. It’s the closest I ever plan to get near anything like that again.

Traveling is about taking the good with the bad. On the surface these stores might make you wonder why I would go back to these places, not get scared away, or continued on a journey. It’s because the unexpected makes life interesting. Nothing is risk free and each of these stories led to an opportunity or bond that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise.