Experiences
Travel Experiences Hot Air Ballooning
“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.”
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Travel is one of the best teachers and the lessons we learn from journeys undertaken provide the richest travel experiences.
When we interact with our friends and our near and dear ones who are just back from one or other trip, there is so much excitement in the room as they share their travel stories. There is a long list of activities they might have taken like diving, sight seeing, tasting delicious food, some adventure trip up the hills, finding some off the beaten path spot, some warm interactions with local people, and so on. Each travel journey has some good and bad parts , yet they all are memorable ones.
The stories in this section reflect the range of emotional, spiritual and physical experiences one can have from a travel opportunity. Some travel experiences are deep, some are lighthearted and some are “adventurous” (referencing the night in jail story). All of the experiences shared here are impactful.
Create your experience vicariously through these stories.
I have already traveled most of Asia, but never really had the chance to see the Great Wall of China. It was the end of May, when I touched down in Beijing after traveling both Japan and Mongolia for 8 days each. Using Beijing as a 3-day layover on the way home to Germany seemed like a good idea in order to finally check-off this historical landmark from my bucket list.
Americans have recognized black history annually since 1926, first as "Negro History Week" and later as Black History Month and we greatly owe the celebration of this month of Black Heritage, more so, the study of black history to Dr. Carter G. Woodson.
After a year of being confined to my home state of New South Wales, I’m desperate to experience another culture. It was this desperation that saw me eagerly scoop up a pamphlet for the Sikh Heritage Museum of Australia when I spotted it on display at the (locally) famed Big Banana Fun Park at Coffs Harbour the day before.
Movies and television series can often open your eyes to new and wonderful locations, creating a tourist destination where previously few people visited. A classic example is Game of Thrones; the HBO show was a global success, and it created tourist hot spots of its filming locations. Forbes explains how Dubrovnik was so popular; it had to limit visitors to its old town to 4,000 per day. How did it become so popular?
Whales, it turns out, are a lot like us. They live in family groups whom they go to great lengths to protect and care for. They love to sing, and “chart-topping hits” spread quickly from group to group. They’ve even been known to stand up for other, weaker species — us — when danger threatens.
As a kid growing up near the ocean, the movie that I resonated with the most was The Little Mermaid. I wanted to be Ariel, but, in reverse. Unlike Ariel striving to transition from a life underwater to on land, I wanted to live underwater, where the fish are, to see them swimming. So it’s only natural that later in life, I finally took the plunge (pun intended) to make this a reality by getting my PADI Open Water scuba certification.
Melbourne is a Playable City; in both name and character. It is one of my favourite cities to visit, with its hidden laneways scattered throughout the bustling CBD.
The conclusion of Escape from India during COVID-19 continues with Anietra sharing more of the roller coaster ordeal that took her and Ian from hope to hopelessness and back. Now she is confronted with the memories of the traumatic experience.
In Episode One of Escape from India during COVID-19, we introduced you to veteran journalist Anietra Hamper who was trying to escape from India after COVID-19 derailed her fishing assignment trip. Anietra and her fishing guide, Ian Henderson, were left stranded in India with only a narrow window to get out.
What was meant to be a four-week writing assignment to Nepal and India for veteran journalist Anietra Hamper, turned out to be an absolute nightmare for her and her traveling companion, Ian Henderson.
Changing careers from an estate and trust administrator (think death and taxes) to a travel journalist brought me more than a flexible fulfilling career.
Bathing and onsen culture in Japan is a unique aspect to Japan’s heritage that can be easily enjoyed by both visitors and residents.
