ben_england's VirtualTourist Home Page

Hi I'm Ben. I was born in 81, and brought up in Africa, in Malawi and Botswana for three years each, and then moved back to where I was born, in England. I enjoy most sports, and meeting mates (mostly down the local pub!), as well as experiencing different places and cultures. My favourite use of what little money I find in my possession is travelling.

Last year I travelled from Thailand to Australia to the Cook Islands, and stopped in LA on the way back. I have also had a fair few family holidays in Europe as it is just on our doorstep, and I have a fair few good mates around the continent.

PS- I've got no scanner so this set of pages is going to take forever to be its full glory!

Can I just finish with a rather long quote from a book I've read called "the backpacker" by John Harris. I really think theres nothing you can say to sum up travelling completely, but this passage sums it up quite well:

I had very little cash, none of us had, but we were the three happiest people alive; we hadn't stopped grinning since we'd met. Every day was different, often spent with different people from every conceivable background, and usually in a new place, which I loved.
You get that same buzz when you're introduced to someone you fancy for the first time. It's addictive, I couldn't get enough, it's like the best Friday night you've had, when everything clicks; people and chemistry, mood, drink-except suddenly it's every day. Freedom, in it's absolutely purest form, freedom from any ties whatsoever.
It's the natural instinct of following your heart, your eyes, to move from place to place, country to country, and do what you feel inside, to find out what you feel inside. It's important, vital, to stand aside and take a look from a different angle, to look with a fresh pair of eyes.

There you go, as I said a long old passage, but I found it accurate. Especially the freedom in its purest form part.