A Life Of Travel - Notable Experiences
A Life of Travel - A timeline of sorts where I detail notable experiences over the years, from going to France on a day trip from school to losing my virginity to backpacking Australia, a baseball game in Toronto, sky diving in New Zealand, getting on the podium of a 10km race in Switzerland, working in Ireland and Switzerland.
But sadly, I have no access to photos pre-2010 but there are plenty of previously unseen photos to see from 2010 onwards.
NomadicBackpacker near Shangri La, China, July 2011:
But sadly, I have no access to photos pre-2010 but there are plenty of previously unseen photos to see from 2010 onwards.
NomadicBackpacker near Shangri La, China, July 2011:
There are so many notable events that have, until now, not been mentioned on Nomadic Backpacker, so keep on reading:
. First trip out of England. Calais, France on a school day trip, 1983.
. Member of Milton Keynes Cycle Club, 1985.
. Lost my virginity. April 1 1986. Yup, a truly memorable date in more ways than one. This is not an April's Fool joke. The venue was the front seat of an ancient Citroën.
I was an avid cyclist. I wanted to ride the Tour de France alongside Robert Millar:
. 5th place in the Junior SouthEast Midlands Divisional Road Race Championships (cycle racing) 1986
. Cycle touring in the UK. 5 days, 600 miles & 7 days 850 miles 1987
. Learnt to drive. January 1989
. Crashed my first car. November 1989
. Walked 1071 miles from Land's End to John O'Groats, in 54 days plus 2 days off, raising 2000 for the charity Cystic Fibrosis. April & May 1990.
. Took a commercial flight for the first time. London to Montreal August 1992. AirCanada
. Finally learnt to swim. September 1992.
In 1992, I discovered backpacking:
. Ist backpacking trip to Australia and Canada. November 23 1992
. Hot Air ballooning in the Australian outback
. 3 day 2 night outback adventure including climbing Ayres Rock
. Climbed Cradle Mountain in Tasmania
. Watched my first ever baseball game at the Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto, Canada April 1993. Seattle Mariners vs Toronto Blue Jays
. Got my first lap dance at a strip club in Toronto, ending up on stage being stripped. April 9 1993.
. Worked as a courier in England
. Member of NorthBucksRoadClub & Luton Wheelers cycling clubs with solo races:
. Fastest 10-mile time trial as a cyclist 23.19
. Fastest 25-mile time trial as a cyclist 1:05.19
. Fastest 50-mile time trial as a cyclist 2:08
. 2nd backpacking trip. Australia + New Zealand 1997/98
. Hiked Mount Kosciusko, the highest mountain in Australia December 25 1997
. Sky Diving in Wanaka, New Zealand March 1998
. Tongariro Crossing, New Zealand 4 hrs 5 minutes
. Paragliding in Queenstown, New Zealand April 1998
. ShotOver Jet, Queenstown, New Zealand April 1998
. Spectator at my first (and only) ever football match. St Gallen vs Lausanne at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern, Switzerland
. First travels to a non-English speaking country. Vietnam December 2000
. First time to go up Mt Kinabalu @4095m in Sabah, Borneo. March 2001. I made 2 subsequent climbs as a tourist both in 2003 and 3 as part of the International Climbathon 2004, 2005 & 2006.
. Worked my first season as a waiter in Grindelwald, Switzerland 2001 Winter season
. Learnt to ski Grindelwald. Thanks to Blanka 2002
. My mum died at 60 years old after a stroke
I started running again and discovered I was pretty useful, especially when going uphill. I trained in the mountains and raced on the road, with some crazy mountain races too in Switzerland and Malaysia:
. Ran my first 10 km on the track in Cebu, Philippines 48.20
. Hiked Gunung Rinjani, Lombok, Indonesia. What normally is a 5-day hike, I hiked non-stop in 12 hrs 5 minutes 2006
. First massage (of many) with a happy ending, Bali 2006
. Leipzig 10 km Lauf, Germany 2007 39.15 Fastest time 'til now.
. Winterthur 10 km Lauf, Switzerland 2007 39.23 2nd place overall.
. First (and only) half marathon. Lausanne, Switzerland 2008 1:29.03
. 20 km de Lausanne, Switzerland 2009 1:30.21
. 2 x participant Inferno HalbMarathon Mürren, Switzerland finishing at the Schilthorn. 2972m 2008 2:52.39, 2009 3:05
. During my time in Switzerland, 2001 to 2013, I ran around 20 races between 5 km and 20 km including the Bern GP, AltStadtLauf in Bern, Silvesterlauf in Zurich together with the ones listed above.
NomadicBackpacker in Red Square, Moscow, 2014:
. First trip out of England. Calais, France on a school day trip, 1983.
. Member of Milton Keynes Cycle Club, 1985.
. Lost my virginity. April 1 1986. Yup, a truly memorable date in more ways than one. This is not an April's Fool joke. The venue was the front seat of an ancient Citroën.
I was an avid cyclist. I wanted to ride the Tour de France alongside Robert Millar:
. 5th place in the Junior SouthEast Midlands Divisional Road Race Championships (cycle racing) 1986
. Cycle touring in the UK. 5 days, 600 miles & 7 days 850 miles 1987
. Learnt to drive. January 1989
. Crashed my first car. November 1989
. Walked 1071 miles from Land's End to John O'Groats, in 54 days plus 2 days off, raising 2000 for the charity Cystic Fibrosis. April & May 1990.
. Took a commercial flight for the first time. London to Montreal August 1992. AirCanada
. Finally learnt to swim. September 1992.
In 1992, I discovered backpacking:
. Ist backpacking trip to Australia and Canada. November 23 1992
. Hot Air ballooning in the Australian outback
. 3 day 2 night outback adventure including climbing Ayres Rock
. Climbed Cradle Mountain in Tasmania
. Watched my first ever baseball game at the Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto, Canada April 1993. Seattle Mariners vs Toronto Blue Jays
. Got my first lap dance at a strip club in Toronto, ending up on stage being stripped. April 9 1993.
. Worked as a courier in England
. Member of NorthBucksRoadClub & Luton Wheelers cycling clubs with solo races:
. Fastest 10-mile time trial as a cyclist 23.19
. Fastest 25-mile time trial as a cyclist 1:05.19
. Fastest 50-mile time trial as a cyclist 2:08
. 2nd backpacking trip. Australia + New Zealand 1997/98
. Hiked Mount Kosciusko, the highest mountain in Australia December 25 1997
. Sky Diving in Wanaka, New Zealand March 1998
. Tongariro Crossing, New Zealand 4 hrs 5 minutes
. Paragliding in Queenstown, New Zealand April 1998
. ShotOver Jet, Queenstown, New Zealand April 1998
. Spectator at my first (and only) ever football match. St Gallen vs Lausanne at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern, Switzerland
. First travels to a non-English speaking country. Vietnam December 2000
. First time to go up Mt Kinabalu @4095m in Sabah, Borneo. March 2001. I made 2 subsequent climbs as a tourist both in 2003 and 3 as part of the International Climbathon 2004, 2005 & 2006.
. Worked my first season as a waiter in Grindelwald, Switzerland 2001 Winter season
. Learnt to ski Grindelwald. Thanks to Blanka 2002
. My mum died at 60 years old after a stroke
I started running again and discovered I was pretty useful, especially when going uphill. I trained in the mountains and raced on the road, with some crazy mountain races too in Switzerland and Malaysia:
. Ran my first 10 km on the track in Cebu, Philippines 48.20
. Hiked Gunung Rinjani, Lombok, Indonesia. What normally is a 5-day hike, I hiked non-stop in 12 hrs 5 minutes 2006
. First massage (of many) with a happy ending, Bali 2006
. Leipzig 10 km Lauf, Germany 2007 39.15 Fastest time 'til now.
. Winterthur 10 km Lauf, Switzerland 2007 39.23 2nd place overall.
. First (and only) half marathon. Lausanne, Switzerland 2008 1:29.03
. 20 km de Lausanne, Switzerland 2009 1:30.21
. 2 x participant Inferno HalbMarathon Mürren, Switzerland finishing at the Schilthorn. 2972m 2008 2:52.39, 2009 3:05
. During my time in Switzerland, 2001 to 2013, I ran around 20 races between 5 km and 20 km including the Bern GP, AltStadtLauf in Bern, Silvesterlauf in Zurich together with the ones listed above.
NomadicBackpacker in Red Square, Moscow, 2014:
NomadicBackpacker rode the Iron Ore train from Nouadhibou all the way to Zouerat, as I missed the stop at Choum, Mauritania, 2013:
NomadicBackpacker arriving at the Kievskaya station in Moscow, Russia, 2014:
NomadicBackpacker nearing the end of 4 days 3 nights on the Trans Siberian from Irkutsk to Vladivostok, Russia, 2014:
. 549 days of straight travel, June 1 2010 - December 1 2011
. Hiked the Annapurna Base Camp trek
. Crossed the Kunjerab Pass between China and Pakistan. This remains the highest point I have been to @ 4693m 15,397ft
. Started my first blog 'whitemonkeytravels' a complete disaster but a big learning curve
. Worked in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, Republic of Ireland as a barman
. Rode the Iron Ore train out of Nouadibou, Mauritainia 2012
. 1423 days of straight travel, December 3 2013 - October 23 2017
NomadicBackpacker out training in the Atlas Mountains, 2008:
. Hiked the Annapurna Base Camp trek
. Crossed the Kunjerab Pass between China and Pakistan. This remains the highest point I have been to @ 4693m 15,397ft
. Started my first blog 'whitemonkeytravels' a complete disaster but a big learning curve
. Worked in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, Republic of Ireland as a barman
. Rode the Iron Ore train out of Nouadibou, Mauritainia 2012
. 1423 days of straight travel, December 3 2013 - October 23 2017
NomadicBackpacker out training in the Atlas Mountains, 2008:
NomadicBackpacker in Rabat after getting the Mauritania Visa, 2012:
NomadicBackpacker at Kasprowy Wierch, the border in the mountains between Poland and Slovakia. 3 days later I carried my pack 4 hours up and over the pass and a further 3 hours to Liptovský Hrádok, June 2010
NomadicBackpacker trekking in Bcharre, Lebanon, 2010:
NomadicBackpacker on the Qurnat as Sawdā 3088m, highest peak in Lebanon, 2010:
NomadicBackpacker floating in the Dead Sea, Israel 2010:
NomadicBackpacker near St Katherine's Egypt 2010:
NomadicBackpacker Mt Sinai November 2010:
NomadicBackpacker getting a shave in Hampi, India, 2010:
. Moscow to Vladivostok on the TransSiberian Winter 2014
. Lived in Hong Kong for 2 months
. Completed Cairo to Cape Town as a backpacker 7 months 19,000 km 2015/2016
. Nearly disappeared in a small village in Kenya
. Attacked by 2 guys with knives in Cape Town, South Africa
. Lived and worked 2 Summers in Karakol on the shores of Lake Issykul in Kyrgyzstan
NomadicBackpacker at the Tsomgo Lake View Point near the Nathu La Pass in Sikkim, India 2011:
. Lived in Hong Kong for 2 months
. Completed Cairo to Cape Town as a backpacker 7 months 19,000 km 2015/2016
. Nearly disappeared in a small village in Kenya
. Attacked by 2 guys with knives in Cape Town, South Africa
. Lived and worked 2 Summers in Karakol on the shores of Lake Issykul in Kyrgyzstan
NomadicBackpacker at the Tsomgo Lake View Point near the Nathu La Pass in Sikkim, India 2011:
NomadicBackpacker visiting the Afghan Mosque in Turpan, China, September 2011:
. Worked 2 years for the Royal Mail delivering mail in England. This is where I earned my travel money.
. April 2019 restarted blogging, under the name NomadicBackpacker
. Began my present Journey, when Covid was still in Wuhan January 6 2020
. Arrived in Tunisia
. Arrived in Senegal
. Arrived in Mali
. Arrived in Côte d'Ivoire
. Arrived in Kenya
. 103 days stuck in Naivasha
. Escaped on a KLM evac flight to Amsterdam
. Ended up having to isolate in Skopje
. Travelled to Mexico, Country 98
. Got naked in Zipolite, Mexico
. Travelled to Guatemala for my 99th country, May 25 2021
. August 4 1st shot AstraZeneca Covid vax
. October 2nd shot AstraZeneca Covid vax
. Living in CDMX, Mexico
. Travelled to me 100th country: El Salvador
. My father pass away when I was in El Salvador, returned to England for 2 months
. Booster shot Moderna
. Probably the first traveller to Backpack Bletchley
. Visited Bletchley Park museum
. Returned to Mexico
. Watched a baseball game in CDMX
. Visited one of the most famous football stadiums in the World
. April 2019 restarted blogging, under the name NomadicBackpacker
. Began my present Journey, when Covid was still in Wuhan January 6 2020
. Arrived in Tunisia
. Arrived in Senegal
. Arrived in Mali
. Arrived in Côte d'Ivoire
. Arrived in Kenya
. 103 days stuck in Naivasha
. Escaped on a KLM evac flight to Amsterdam
. Ended up having to isolate in Skopje
. Travelled to Mexico, Country 98
. Got naked in Zipolite, Mexico
. Travelled to Guatemala for my 99th country, May 25 2021
. August 4 1st shot AstraZeneca Covid vax
. October 2nd shot AstraZeneca Covid vax
. Living in CDMX, Mexico
. Travelled to me 100th country: El Salvador
. My father pass away when I was in El Salvador, returned to England for 2 months
. Booster shot Moderna
. Probably the first traveller to Backpack Bletchley
. Visited Bletchley Park museum
. Returned to Mexico
. Watched a baseball game in CDMX
. Visited one of the most famous football stadiums in the World
