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. The links in blue are to the race results.
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. The links in blue are to the race results.
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
. 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:
. 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
. Living in CDMX, Mexico
If you like my bio, follow me on Twitter, Facebook and show your appreciation via BuyMeACoffee
. 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
. Living in CDMX, Mexico
If you like my bio, follow me on Twitter, Facebook and show your appreciation via BuyMeACoffee
