We want to show people that travel isn’t just essential, it’s possible. That’s why I’m about to head out on a forty-day trip across the world. I’ll start in the United States, and then fly to Iceland, Morocco, Dubai, Cambodia, Bali, and New Zealand, before ending up back in the U.S.
What I’ll Be Doing & Why
As I go, I’ll film, photograph, and write about everything I come across. You’ll get to follow along as we go, since I’ll try to write a blog post on each destination as I travel. Airplanes make pretty good offices!
I’m new here at AirTreks, but I caught the travel bug a long time ago.
I’ve backpacked, driven, and flown all over the world for both work and pleasure. My biggest problem is getting bored easily; I’m constantly trying to one-up the high. My first backpacking trip was Europe with my brother and a friend. My first taste of true solo backpacking was in India (where a nonprofit client stranded me in Rajasthan for a week…that was eye-opening). After that trip, I rented a motorcycle to ride around Uganda. Later on, I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Costa Rica in 2014 and hitchhiked down the Pacific Coast. Two weeks after that, I went as a photojournalist to Liberia to cover the ebola outbreak.
At this point I’m a few dozen countries in, and I still haven’t had enough travel in my life. It’s enlightening. It’s educational. It’s inspirational, it’s cultural, it’s therapeutic, and keeps my adrenal glands at optimum levels.
While college was fun, in retrospect I don’t think I learned all that much. The collective three months I’ve spent traveling in any place taught me so much more than a semester of college ever did. You learn just how different (yet identical) every human on earth is compared to the people already in your circles. You meet crazy Aussies driving UN supply trucks in Africa, British students spending their gap year in New Zealand, Norwegian expats teaching school in Kenya, and Mexicans showing you around abandoned palaces in San Felipe.
So when it comes to travel, I’m a believer.
Where I’ll Be Going
Along the way, I’ll be sharing my experiences on our social media, too, so if you’ve got Facebook or Instagram, follow AirTreks for updates.
First stop, Iceland.
I’ll fly into Reykjavik, rent a car, and drive around the Ring Road (M1, the highway that encircles all of Iceland). For a large part of the week, I’m stopping in Akureyri, a town on the northern coast, and basing some exploration out of there. I’ll go on a few tours (glaciers and hot springs) but also trek out on my own to see if I can find some beautiful scenery to photograph and film. I’ll head back to Reykjavik, and hop on a flight to Morocco.
Straight from ice to fire. I’ll fly into Marrakesh.
I’ll spend some time in the city, wandering around the markets and those cool meandering streetways. Then I’ll get on a bus and ride to Merzouga, a town on the edge of the Sahara. There I’ll take one of the overnight camel tours into Erg Chebbi, massive dunes out in the desert. Then it’s back to Casablanca for a day or two before I fly to Dubai.
I only have two days in Dubai.
Which is probably good for my budget. I haven’t yet decided what I’ll choose to spend my two days on in Dubai. Tips?
From there, I fly to Cambodia.
I’m going into Siem Reap, which is the city near the temple complex of Angkor Wat. There are so many things I’m excited about in Cambodia: the floating villages on Tonle Sap lake, the speedboat ride down the river to Phnom Penh, and the temples themselves.
From Phnom Penh I’ll cross the equator on a flight to Bali.
I’m not a beach person. I love the coast, but the beaches I prefer are the rocky ones with sea ice and puffins and pounding surf. But this is Bali. Who turns down Bali? There’s a little ancient rock island palace called Tanah Lot that I plan to see…but other than that? I’ll try to learn to like margaritas.
Next I’m heading to my favorite place in the world, New Zealand.
I haven’t spent much time on the North Island, so I’m flying into Auckland and spending a week wandering around. Do you have any suggestions on places in the North Island outside of the city?
Then, trip over, I fly back to the US. I’ll be a little sad, but I’ll write a couple articles and edit a few photos from the trip and try to assimilate back into normal life.
I’m leaving in a few weeks. My destinations are set, but what I see once I’m there is still up for grabs. Any suggestions? Shoot us an email and let me know of anything unique, bizarre, and unusual!
