Rants/Thoughts

A Milk Bottle Just Told Me it’s Time to Get Excited About My Trip

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A bottle of Australian milk

Don’t worry; I haven’t started having conversations with inanimate objects. Anyway, if milk bottles could talk I doubt they’d be wasting their time giving me wisdom, they’d probably be more interested in talking about cows or cereal.

I haven’t gone crazy just yet, but I recently received a sign that it’s time to get excited about my trip. In the past I looked forward to certain things so much that it started to have a negative impact on the time in between. Sometimes it felt like I was treading water waiting to finish university or finish a contract. I decided that I couldn’t live in the future so much, so now when I buy a bottle of milk that has a use by date that is past the date I’ve been looking forward to, it’s time to let my mind wander. Before that time I’ve tried my hardest to live in the moment and enjoy each day.

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Should Travellers Be Working for Free in Guesthouses and Bars?

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The main street on Koh Rong, Cambodia

“Are you looking for workers?” asked a weary looking couple at a guesthouse/restaurant in Koh Rong, Cambodia. “Not at the moment” was the reply from the offbeat Italian owner, and on they went. I heard this conversation twice in the 5 nights I spent there. I wanted to get to the bottom of why she was turning down free labour, as everyone else on Koh Rong seemed to be lapping it up; in pretty much every bar and guesthouse I saw travellers happily plying their trade.

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The Perils (and Perks) of Getting a Haircut in a Foreign Land

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The Perils:

They might forget to cut one side

Maybe the guy had been having a few beers, or hairdressing wasn’t really his passion in life, but still, getting half a haircut for the price of 1 isn’t such a good deal. This was in Singapore, and arriving home for the customary post-haircut mirror check was a horrific experience. In his defence, the haircut did cost about $3, so I couldn’t complain too much, and it didn’t look as bad as the above photo, from the TV show Nathan Barley.

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7 Tips on How to Be a Real Traveller

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Tuk tuk village on Samosir Island, Lake Toba, Indonesia

Are you sick of being wrongly classified as a tourist? Not getting the recognition for travelling that you feel you deserve? Study these tips on how to be a real traveller and all your dreams will come true.

Constantly one-up everyone you talk to

Is someone telling a boring story about how they went on a safari in Africa? This is your chance to tell them, and anyone within listening distance, about the time you also did one, but instead of doing it in a truck you walked, and instead of staying in a lodge you stayed in a hut in a tribal village, and instead of being yourself you mysteriously morphed into an African for 2 days.

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Why I Should Be the First Travel Blogger in Space

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Hello NASA, Richard Branson and anyone else who might be reading this; I’m Jon, and although I might not seem like the ideal candidate to be shot into space for tourism (or scientific) purposes, I’m about to outline why I’d be an invaluable part of any future space crew.

I like monkeys

Based on a small amount of research (Planet of the Apes and space race documentaries) it seems as though space is crawling with monkeys. Chances are these monkeys have become hostile, so someone who shows them a little bit of respect and understanding could be very important.

I have seen pretty much every space movie

Who needs years of training, endless flight simulators and strict psych tests when I’ve already lived vicariously through every possible space disaster. I basically know how to space walk, fix broken antennas, attack enemy ships with lasers and listen to George Clooney’s pointless stories. I’ve learnt how to guide an Apollo rocket back to Earth and I know what it takes to journey into the sun.

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8 Travel Terms and Trends that are Starting to Annoy Me

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Little things annoy me, they always have. I started my travel blog nearly 4 months ago and it’s been an interesting experience. I love most things about it, and I’ve interacted with some great people so far, but the travel blogging world (and the wider travel world) is home to some fairly annoying terms and trends, and I can’t bite my tongue any longer.

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My Travel Fears (Including Rats, Bats and Drowning)

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I hope you aren’t looking for a deep, philosophical piece about loneliness or missing out on a normal life. Those things don’t scare me; my travel fears are much more concrete…

Rats

As a kid I was always scared of mice. Maybe it’s the way they scurry, or the fact that they can get anywhere they want to, but they always stressed me out. I never saw many, but just like the show Mad Men, I saw enough to know I wasn’t a fan. Rats are just like big mice, so I guess it’s natural that I’d be scared of them as well. I’d heard horror stories of rats in beds, eating through backpacks and even on plates served as dinner.

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5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Quit Your Job and Travel

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Everywhere I look in this virtual world are inspirational travel quotes, interviews with perpetual travellers and just straight out abuse of the 9-5 lifestyle – all designed to inspire people to leave their old life behind and travel. I’m fine with the inspirational stuff, even though it’s not really my thing (you’ll never catch me repeating any travel quotes), but what I really can’t stand is someone denigrating another person’s lifestyle choice because it doesn’t align with their own. I have seen a lot of call to action slogans like “Quit your shit, soul sucking 9-5 job” and to me these are just completely insulting to the millions of people who choose, and probably enjoy, this lifestyle.

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