TravBuddy Blog

Wow, August 2012 was my final "goodbye post" as the official TravBuddy blog came to a close. I never dreamed that if I had the opportunity to write for TravBuddy again, it would be a post of this nature.

As most everyone is likely aware by now, Mark (Travelman727) passed away earlier this month due to health related issues, but we only found out two days ago. It would be an understatement to say Mark impacted all our lives at TravBuddy -- for me, he was TravBuddy. Without him, I would've never been a part of the TB community or be where I am today -- living out my dream traveling the world working as a freelance travel writer and blogger. I found out about Mark's passing as I landed in Amsterdam after a 14 hour flight and I spent the entire day yesterday crying and looking back at messages, photos, and blog posts of our travels together. I reached out to Eric to ask if it would be ok to write a tribute post to him as I think it's the best way to honor a community member who was such an integral part of TravBuddy from its earliest days.

After approximately two years, I am signing off with my final post on the official TravBuddy blog as it comes to a bittersweet end today.

As many of you know, I have been actively involved in the TravBuddy community since 2007 and I’ve met Eric and David on multiple occasions at meet-ups and small get-togethers. I’ve made some incredible connections and friends through the site and traveled with TravBuddies on four different continents. From small, casual lunches to the mega NYE meet-up in Amsterdam with over 70 TravBuddies from nearly 20 different countries, it’s safe to say TravBuddy has been an important part of my life.

When I started writing for TravBuddy in an official capacity, it was to help spotlight what a great community we have. From sharing meet-up news and highlighting blogs and members, to sharing travel news of importance, I am honored to have been able to become even more involved in such a great site and community.

Just to give you an idea of some of my own experiences on TravBuddy, here are a couple interesting anecdotes --

This post will be my last ever to Travbuddy blog, and so comes tinged with a certain amount of sadness. What better way to go, though, than by looking to the future? I thought I'd do it in a big way. I hope Travbuddy will still be running in fifty years’ time, when I'll be just about 80, and I’m sure I’ll still remember the kindness I’ve been shown by the owners of this site. I’d like to be able to look back at this list and say 'oh yes, I did all that’. Or at least most of it. You guys, then, can try and hold me to this, and I hope my travel ambitions might give a few ideas to those looking for some trips of their own, too. Thank you all for reading, it's been wonderful to see a few of these posts grab thousands of views, cause discussions and hopefully give a few useful travel tips and exciting ideas along the way. Let me know if anything’s particularly grabbed you, I’ll still be around on Travbuddy and I’d love to hear what everyone’s up to. On the blog front, the highlight may have been grabbing a link from CNN not so long ago, which feels like quite an acheivement. Here's what I hope I'll be doing next... well, next in the loosest sense!

1. Visit Pristina. Kosovo's capital is a spot that fascinates me largely because of its political problems, but also because of its lack of tourism, which is said to make the locals extremely friendly.

2. Visit Chernobyl. A risk, but I'm hooked on the imagery that emerges from the disaster site - a dark depiction of a post-apocalyptic world, minus the apocalypse. Well, largely at least!

3. Visit Iceland's hot springs, and snorkel off the coast. Not as insane as you might think: Iceland's waters are some of the most beautiful in the world, you just need a good wetsuit!

4. Cycle the Camino de Santiago. Spain's notorious pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostella. I'd like to start at or the other side of the Spanish border, and cover the entire thing by bike at a leisurely pace, soaking up the vibe and collecting those stamps.

5. Party at Tomatina. Another Spanish stop off, at the infamous tomato fight festival. I've heard too much not to go.

It's hard to pin down a list of 'best' things: I struggle with music, so doing so with a topic as culturally divisive and memorable as travel is always going to be a thing that's entirely in flux. If you checked out yesterday's blog, you'd see that my most life-changing moment wasn't actually staring over some great site, or exploring some wonderful cultural dimension (okay, maybe a little of that latter one with the monks), but there are definitely elements of that which have really stood out. Today's top five is certain to be different to tomorrow's, but here's how things stand right now, with an un-numbered selection of moments I won’t forget until my memory begins to fade entirely:

Crossing the border to North Korea, twice. Throughout the five years since I set foot on North Korean soil, I've had countless heady expenses that have battered by bank account, but I've always, without exception, made sure I have the finances accessible to get on the first plane over should the unlikely occur, and North Korea opens its borders to free exploration. I visited twice, back in the days when crossing the South Korean border into the north was an option under carefully monitored circumstances, and as far as experiences go, this is really, really hard to beat. North Korea can be described as a little like going back in time. In some ways it's utterly beautiful: Kumgangsan (the Diamond Mountains) in the south west are one of the most stunning spots I've ever set foot, and I could get used to a world without advertising. Bowing down before Kim Jong Il (compulsory, but done with tongue firmly in cheek by most visitors), eating lavishly in a display of 'wealth' that feels awkward and traveling along streets where soldiers monitor your actions every fifty metres for many miles is not so positive. I still have the English translations of North Korea's version of history, which make for fascinating reading, and I'll never forget tucking into a north-of-the-border Soju, enjoying a North Korean 'spa' experience or the regulations surrounding the use of cameras, passports (all fake anyway) and communication with locals. A true 'appreciation for what you've got' situation.

Safari in Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti, Tanzania. This was my 'honeymoon proper' (we couldn't afford anywhere too extravagant the first time after paying for the wedding), and my first experience of Africa. I found Tanzania (and my brief experience of Kenya) to be both frustrating and beguiling in equal measure: the pushiness and dishonesty of the cities frustrated me, but the beauty of the countryside quickly flipped my opinion on its head. We visited the immaculate Ngorongoro Crater, where thousands and thousands of animals roam around the watering holes, and all of the pick five can be spotted within half an hour of each other on a good day (we got a good day). Then we drove to Serengeti, watching a mass migration pass in the direction of Ngorongoro, featuring so many animals filling a 360 degree view that the entire colour of the landscape changed from musty yellow grassland to the darker brown of the dominant wildebeests. We dropped in on the Maasai Mara, sharing a traditional English Christmas pudding (they're meant to mature, so they keep well!) with the confused locals after we joined in with their traditional dance and took a glance at the modest hut accommodation. We slept in tents, got stuck in muddy tracks in the middle of nowhere (temporarily, fortunately), and ate possibly the worst food I've ever paid money for, before it reappearing shortly afterwards. Sure, safari with a tour company isn't exactly the wild experience some off-the-beaten track travellers might go for, but I still found the experience utterly mind-blowing.

Unfortunately, this is the last week of the official TravBuddy blog so this will be my last post highlighting upcoming unofficial TravBuddy meet-ups around the globe. With that, there are a number of interesting meet-ups in the not so distant future and a couple of big get togethers people are looking to do next year that I want to mention.

So without further ado, here are some of the unofficial TravBuddy meet-ups in the works.

Doraemon Exhibit meet-up in Hong Kong Sept 9 - 10

Fans of Doraemon may want to check this one out. Angel_l from San Francisco is going to be in Hong Kong and wants to put together a meet-up for the 100 Years before the Birth of Doraemon Exhibit going on now through September 16. It will feature 100 Doraemon with 100 unique gadgets. She is hoping to visit some other museum exhibits on Sunday the 9th and then see Doraemon on Monday the 10th in hopes it will be less crowded. She has all the details listed on the forum so if anyone is interested, let her know.