Mother Nature not happy

Mother Nature is rumbling....

earthquakes - check
hurricanes - check
droughts - check
floods - check
global warming - check
volcanic eruptions - check
tsunamis - check



Haiti, Chile, New Zealand, Japan.....the earth's tectonic plates have been jostling for position beneath the surface of the ground we walk upon. Tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanos, floods, droughts, cyclones and storms, this world, our world, is volatile at the moment.



As volatile as it is, it is also fragile. Breaking apart, breaking open, crumbling and deteriorating before our very eyes, under our very feet.

Im from New Zealand. Its a small country. Everyone was effected someway or another by the recent earthquake. 200 dead for a small country is significant. Haiti lost hundreds of thousands and now Japan, the latest findings only hours after the quake struck is that police have found a couple of hundred of bodies on a beach. The worst is obviously yet to come when examining the death toll.



What is one to make from all this? This momentum of natural disasters. I can't help but think of the Mayan prophecy surrounding the year 2012. Next year its all meant to come to a head. The details of what was forecasted to happen on this date in the earths calendar was never recorded, only that it would signify a dramatic event or turn in the earths calendar. Reading between the lines leaves me with an empty feeling considering the Mayans were and still are one of the most respectable and intelligent races to ever grace this planet.



In the build up to this year of 2012 predictions were made that 'waves' of natural disasters would take place, presumably leading to a larger, more profound event.



Is this it?! These succession of events just a prelude of what is to come...?! Pachamama is pissed off. Mother Nature is hurting. She has awoken and she will have the last say as us humans continue to rape and pillage her soul.

This video is interesting, the guys voice is classic at the start, but hang in there..



Beware, 2011 is going to be a rocky one. If you were thinking of traveling, do it. Next year you may not be able to travel to many parts of the world, hell, even this year, a lot of the earth may not be so attractive for a backpacking destination. So dont procrastinate anymore, dont delay any of those backpacking dreams you harbour. Seize the day and get amongst as 2012 is going to be .........

World's worst places to backpack #14

Nigeria - land of milk and honey....

The most populous country in Africa, with one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

With tropical rainforest in the south, rugged highlands and valleys to the south west, a coastline dominated by the famous Niger Delta and the massive desserts of the mighty Sahara encroaching on the northern borders it shares with countries such as Chad and Niger. This sounds like an Ecopackers traveling oasis.

Amid the lakes and forests, savannahs and plateaus lie one of the worlds largest river deltas, the worlds largest diversity of butterflies and an abundence of that stuff called 'black gold'.

Sadly im not talking about the African people, it is after all the most populous country in the world in which the majority of the population is black. Rather its the vast quantities of oil that lie beneath its surface that throw this country into this list of worlds worst places to backpack.

Nigeria is the largest exporter of oil in the continent, a member of OPEC and high up there on the list of most corrupt countries in the world. Backhanders are common, wink wink nudge nudge and hows your father, may get you through most situations, but if your billy the backpacker, chances are your a bit slim on the swiss bank account department. Keep your money close and your passport closer. Chances are you will be swindled at some stage on your backpacking journey through Nigeria.

Its capital city, Lagos is officially the fastest growing city in Africa.

Flights are cheap and you can score some flashpacker accommodation for around $40US a night for a double by the beach.

You can even hit one of four beaches within 25km of Lagos, Lekki beach is one of the more famous for resort style accommodation.

The nightlife in Lagos comes highly recommended, as does a 9mm pistol under your bulletproof vest. You can hip hop you way around many bars along the beaches and inner city clubs are often set in classy hotels. This is where you will find most foreign partypackers giving it the big one.

Travel outside of Lagos and the odds of you having a close shave with either a lashing, stoning, amputation or just a long prison term are pretty high. Beware when traveling in the north about such commonplace norms such as drinking alcohol, you could find yourself the subject of some public street theatre in the central plaza.

If you plan on some ecopacking around Africa's largest mangroves, a hotbed of biodiversity, dont accidentally pack your BP petrol card. Kidnappings and extortion are some of the tactics used by the MEND, (Movement for the emancipation of the Niger Delta) against anybody foreign who may be connected to the oil industry.

Nigeria's largest armed faction outside that of the corrupt government may have good intentions of protecting the regions' environment and calls for fairer wealth distribution, however $ is always the bottom line and the crux of most evil in this country. Nigeria is a corrupt country. Make no doubt about it.

All in all, Nigeria looks relatively exciting for a backpacking experience if your looking for one out of the ordinary. 


If you dont drink, like lots of people following you around, enjoy pollution, love corrupt officials and layers of back-handed bureaucracy then you may have found your traveling utopia.

Nigeria, worlds worst place to backpack # 14.

Is Jesus in your backpack..?

This video caught my eye mainly because it was shot in the town a few kilometres away from where i live. However, i was originally intrigued by the coverage of such a different side of backpacking that is very rarely unearthed, travel and its religious undertones.



Since the dawn of time, travellers have set out on 'missions'. Sailing across oceans, crusading across lands, all with the same intent - to bring the 'good news' to those they encounter by enlightening those that they meet on their mission. A mission bestowed upon them by a higher being.

When will the bible have a facebook fan page or does the big guy upstairs already use twitter to relay these messages?

Its all very controversial to say the least. Call me what you want, but pressure preaching is definitely not my cup of tea. Nor is the blind ignorance that someone can 'know it all' and have absolute unshakeable faith that their faith is 'the one and only' with little to no real substantial evidence.



Historically missionaries are held partly responsible for bringing death and disease to countless worldwide communities. From Africa to Latin America, the long arm of religion has spread its dirty paws. Needless to say the shaky dependence on this 'good news' that a saviour is coming or that the next life will be a cushy little number is still an empty promise. Its been 2000 years and still no cameo appearances..

I have travelled enough to see the effects of different religions on different societies, different individuals and religious organisations. I respect them all. Although I fail to respect those who blindly impose their beliefs on others. Its a fine line but i am generally skeptical of travellers with a 'religious message' for others who are generally less fortuante than them.



However, it is at the end of the day, each to their own. The slogan 'Live and let live' should be a religion. A backpackers religion. Nah, lets retweak that, if backpacking had a religion, it would read, 'live to travel, travel to live...'

So, was Jesus a backpacker? Safe to say, he was not a flashpacker....

Eco Warriors walk, Flashpackers fly - Copenhagen and travel

Copenhagen and what it means to you - the air traveler, the backpacker, the flashpacker, the mile high club tourist, whatever ticks your box. Travel is a major contributor to the excessive units of carbon that are released into the worlds atmosphere. A major part of the environmental time bomb in our hands.

As backpackers crunching up controversial carbon as we cross countries, are we part of the problem or part of the solution??



Backpacking has always been part of a larger, much more collective community of like minded people. Now the world faces unprecedented challenges, with rising sea levels, melting polar caps, soaring temperatures, irregular and extreme weather conditions, a disintegrating ozone protection and the extermination and elimination of some of the earths most precious natural resources. The worlds community must come together. They have. Copenhagen, coined the worlds most important environmental action awareness meeting ever.

The world leaders have come and gone. Resembling a parade of non confrontational appearances, acknowledging each country has a role to play, acknowledging that the earth and its 6 billion inhabitants face an environmental catastrophe.
Humans, only 200,000 years old, living on a 4 billion year old earth, have conquered this world, exploited it, sustainably abused it. In just 50 years, our earth has been more radically changed, than all previous generations of humanity.



We are all responsible, but are some more responsible for these factors than others? This was the cry from some of world's least developed countries, and a fair enough one I believe. But its too late for bureaucratic processes of accountability, its time for action. its time to stand up. Are we part of the problem or part of the solution?

Will flashpackers now think twice before taking that domestic flight to save a few hours? Hopefully travellers at the very least will attempt to offset their carbon footprint.



And so Copenhagen comes and goes. There has been a deal reached. A flimsy framework has been floated. World leaders from the 5 major seats on the UN security council are hailing it a success. The developing countries and countries most at risk from immediate global warming repercussions are not so enthused. Understandably.

It is non binding, there are no numbers or dates, it sets no target or timescale for curbing greenhouse emissions. It is what it is. A political catwalk with a lot of talk and little action.

Its too late to be a pessimist. Eco warriors keep fighting the good fight. Backpackers, travel with a collective conscious. Politicians stop talking. Leaders, start acting.

Part 2 of 2. The Colombian Knee Buckler

It was two hours and thirty minutes into the ride when my hangover really started to kick in. The cumbia music thrashing out in the tinny speakers somehow had eluded my attention thus far, now it was grating my the side of my head. I hadn't taken sleeping pills before on a long distance bus journey, but somehow the next few hours of fatty brmm brmm driving his toy car up and down my leg and this ear piercing music was not going to cut the mustard.

The trump card came in the form of two white pills, small and tablety, knock out nuggets of saviour in this hour of need, several hundred kilometres from Quito in a loud rickety bus with the stifling midday heat creeping up on us all. I reached into my pocket, leaning up on one arse cheek hanging out the aisle and all of a sudden fatty brrm brrm falls through the non existent gap between us and made this a horizontal three seater. I pop him back out as I settle back down, and in one smooth motion, drop the pills in my mouth as I chug on some of my luke warm apple postobon.

'Later gator' I smurk down at El Gordito, catch you on the flip side chunkster. My head must of lay dormant for a period of ten minutes, trying to shut everything off and slip into sleeptopia. I flipped over to look out the window. Cows in the fields were gazing up at the bus roaring past, I tried to think of sheep back in New Zealand, waiting for them to start jumping and take me to those white fluffy clouds and sleeeeep sleeeep sleeep



And the cumbia band played on. It felt like an hour and my pill action had bore no harvest, I was still awake. Fatty brrmm brrmm had been restless as per usual and the cows were still passing in the blurry rush outside the finger marked window. I felt hungry but I felt sick at the thought of food. A wave of nausea sweept over me. Ahh, could this be it I optimistically pondered, I dropped the shutters on my eyelids and lay my head back to rest.

No matter how much you butter it up, there is no way to describe the feeling when a sudden surge of diarrhea grips you.
An inferno roars within you, tears through your innards and shoots down through your intestines at a lighting pace. Your stomach tightens and your sphinixter is overcome with a sudden urge to relax, to release the pressure building up behind it. And its that very urge that you must combat and defeat within the 10 second onslaught of a flush of instantaneous diarehea. If not, kiss your dignity goodbye.

No, this cant be happening, I frantically tried to regather my composure. The young mother and Andreas had looked up at me, I must of lurched, squirmed or maybe even let out a terrified yelp. I was so focussed on keeping the back door locked that I lost any sense of my movements and/or vocals. Wow. What the hell just happened. It took me 1.5 seconds to not only realise the gravity of the situation ahead of me but the cataylist responsible. I had been done. I had slipped down two doses of laxitives.

The joke was on me. My thoughts were climbing over top of one another, I tried to sit up straight, I started to smile, I gripped the aisle hand rail, I took a deep breath. Thats actually quite funny. I bet they are pissing themselves with laughter right now. Oh my god, what a numnuts I am. Oh shit, Here goes, here it comes, its on....

This was going to be the mother of all battles. Fighting off a double drop dossage of laxitives whilst sweating out a hangover with loud music and an uncomfortable and irritating seat partner called El Gordito.

I took my breathing down and tried to scramble some thoughts together for a plan of action. I needed a toilet. Sweat started to gather on my brow. I needed toilet paper. Nah first things first. No amount of Colombian one ply toilet paper is going to mop this badboy up if the dam bursts.

Another surge started to swell within me. The tide started to turn somewhere deep in my tummy. I started thinking, this is it Den, your all over here, its the laxitive express hurling down the tracks hard and fast.....

A million thoughts crossed my mind. Kiss goodbye to all the dignity you have stored away whilst on this trip Denis, in fact, explain to the raging bus driver in your fumbling spanish that his seat is soiled, explain to those around you who are pulling out handkerchiefs fasting than you can scramble your words together. Look the young mother and Andreas in the eye and say sorry, i shat myself.

And it burned, burned burned....that ring of fire... that ring of fire.....

Hey, your cramping my style...

Travel is about acceptance. Its about tolerance. Understanding and assimilating. These are some of the common threads that bind the seams of travel.

We do and we be, we travel and we see, but theres nothing quite like being free. Free from criticisms, free from persecution, free from ridicule. If someone choses to flashpack their way around the world, are they really missing out on the 'adventure' aspect of backpacking travel? If someone choses to stay in one destination because they don't want to see their carbon footprint spiral out of control, are they any less of a traveler? Who am I to critique this valiant Eco-Warrior? This Eco-packer. This is their style. Their spin on backpacking. Their perception on how they should travel.

Under the umbrella of backpacking exist many styles of travel. What I have been reading on the internet of late has been concerning me. I touched on it in my last blog post but felt compelled to write more as I trawled more and more comments on this distinction between "tourist" v "traveler" and even to some extents this "flashpacker" v "real backpacker".

Over 100 years ago, G.K. Chesterton laid it down, his distinctions on this issue were summed in one of his famous lines - "The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see”
One of my favourite authors Paul Theroux’s famous line, “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” touches on the contentious issue many young travellers ponder over.

I believe it can be all whittled back to one word. Respect. I respect your style of travel as I respect your personality. The cliche "Live and let live" is ringing in my ears.

I believe the diversification of travel styles and personalities is a progressive one. Embrace it, don't fight it. After all, wouldn't this world be a boring place if everybody looked the same, if there was only one language, one way of doing things, one 'type' of backpacker. It would deny the very existence of what this world is - a mysterious unity held together through the web of diversity.

Amen and goodnight.




Donkey or Camel - Your choice....

The Most Famous Backpacker Of All Time

Who is the most famous backpacker of our time? Its a question worthy of some debate i believe. If there had to be one backpacker who was the 'pin up' or the one to go down in the history books, who would it be.....


One of the earliest free spirited travelers i thought should get a mention was Marco Polo. The legend traveled for 24 years. 24 years. I dont know if the term backpacker was probably appropriate, more of a 'slackpacker' - Where some travelers take the high road and some take the low road, Marco Polo took the long and slow road, setting out on a quest to really understand a place and its people. Legend.



Ibn Battuta - This 13th centuy Moroccan traveler covered 75,000 miles in 30 years around the world. He almost makes Marco Polo look like he was out for a casual stroll. He traveled mainly around the Middle East and Asia as a raggety camelpacker, although become an affluent member of the Muslim world during his later years, presiding as a judge until his death caught up with him.

So those dudes are long gone. Their legacies live on though. But who is still alive that could possibility be the backpacker pin-up traveler?? Could it be.....

• Charles Veley of San Francisco, who has visited 600 plus of what he counts as 673 territories. Or is this guy just a part time hero out for some fame?? Does he truly capture what it means to be a backpacker, someone prepared to travel the road less traveled, in an independent manner for nothing more than the satisfaction of understanding the world we live in.


• How about traveling Matt. The guy who zipped around the world in six months, visiting 39 countries and dancing a crazy little dance in each one of them. Check out the link, its a beautiful and inspiring clip however, he falls short of what in my terms would be one of the most famous backpackers. His travels although started genuine, have turned somewhat commercial. Credit given where credit due, he followed through on a great idea.





He reminds me of another famous traveler i looked up to as a kid. Uncle traveling Matt from Fraggle Rock.





I think the conclusions we can all draw from is that people travel for different reasons. There are so many types of backpackers its hard to "pin up" just one. Where traveling matt might be a bit of a flashpacker and marco polo a slackpacker, i think we all have a bit of backpacker in us, we just execute it with a twist.


Your comments on who is the most famous backpacker are more than welcome....