boltonian's VirtualTourist Home Page

LAST TRIP: Ethiopia (Jul/Aug), Turkey (Aug), Germany,Switzerland (Dec), Bulgaria/Austria/Slovakia (Feb), Japan (Apr), Iceland (May)

NEXT TRIPS: USA/Mexico/Belize/Guatemala (Aug), Lithuania (Feb 2010)

PLANNED IN THE FUTURE: Vitenam/Cambodia/Phillipines (1st), Trans Siberian Express (2nd), Morrocco (3rd)

(can't you tell I am a teacher :)

Up until I went to the USA in 1999, I had never really valued the experience of travel. After this trip, I got the bug. Getting away from the UK, and UK tourists is essential to a good trip. To see the massive variation in people, culture and environment is something that never ceases to amaze. I would love to see every country, and aim to get to at least 1 new location each year.

Now that I have hit 30, the memory loss will start to set in, so here are all my trips overseas.

1988 - FRANCE (Canais Plage) - By coach, rained a lot, not great

1989 - FRANCE (San Malo) - By Coach, poor

1997 - SPAIN (Ibiza) - Britannia Air, first flight. Few good nights out, but not my cup of tea

1998 - FRANCE (Paris, Lyon, Cannes, Tolouse, Bordeuax) - 3 of us in a transit van watching the World Cup.

1999 - CANADA/USA (Toronto, Niagra, New York, Washington, Orlando, Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis, Little Rock, LA, Vegas, San Francisco, Portland, Chicago) - Canada 3000. First time outside Europe. Amazing trip. Highlights include Vegas and Orlando. Bad point, losing $100 to a con artist in Little Rock

2000 - USA (Baltimore, Orlando, Tampa) - Sebina - More reasons to love the USA.

2001 - GREECE (Zante) - JMC - Typical beach holiday. Good fun

2001 - USA (Vegas, Grand Canyon - Airtours - Freezing Vegas, beer and gambling galore. Stuck in the Flagstaff snowdrift for the first time (see below)

2002 - ITALY/GERMANY/AUSTRIA/SWITZERLAND/LITCHENSTEIN (Venice, Verona, Munich, Vienna, Alps) - Car and camping, a picturesque journey.

2002 - SWEDEN/NORWAY/DENMARK (Stockholm, Gotenburg, Oslo, Bergen, Copenhagen) - Ryanair - Some special scenery and people in this great camping trip.

2003 - USA (Vegas, Grand Canyon) - BMI - World Heavyweight boxing match made the trip. Stuck in a snowdrift by Flagstaff for the second time, all good fun.

2003 - CZECH REPUBLIC (Prague, Pardobice) Easyjet - A boozy trip, great city for sites and nightlife.

2003 - ICELAND (Reykjavik) - Iceland Express - Always on the top of my list to see, was not a disappointment. Glaciers, Waterfalls, Geysirs, and great nightlife. But take your wallet, far from cheap

2003 - ITALY (Milan) - Alitalia - Italy v Wales, don't ask for the result!

2004 - CZECH REPUBLIC (Prague) Jet 2 - A boozy trip. Took in some ice hockey and did the donuhts (Funniest moment EVER)

2004 - ITALY (Rome, Naples, Sorento) - Ryanair - A truly beautiful city and some memories that will last forever

2004 - CHINA/THAILAND (Beijing, Xian, Chengu, Kunming, Bangkok, Koh Sok, Ko Samui) - Lufthansa - Trip of a lifetime for sure. The unique culture of China, rainforest and beaches of Thailand. Imagine being served in a hotel by a paid gibbon. One place you just know you will return to.

2005 - HUNGARY/GERMANY (Budapest, Berlin) - Berlin was pretty poor, but discovered a new Prague in Budapest. Bigger, better and cheaper.

2005 - NORWAY (Oslo, Bergen) - Ryanair - School trip, they loved the glacier hiking.

2005 - EGYPT (Cairo, Sahara, Luxor, Sharm) - Alitalia - A must see on every list. The ruins, the sun, scuba, shisha. An amazing adventure, only ruined by Alitalia who were late and lost my bags.

2005 - ESTONIA (Tallinn) - Ryanair - Heard lots about this gem, puts Prague and Budapest to shame.

2005 - PORTUGAL (Guimaraes) - Monarch - BWFC in Europe, 4500 fans, tiny village and Super Bock beer. Disaster guaranteed. Return flight missed, hangover of epic proportions. Amazing trip.

2005 - USA (Vegas, Grand Canyon) - NWA - Christmas and New Year on the strip. Neil Diamond in concert. A perfect trip

2006 - ESTONIA/LATVIA (Tallinn, Riga) - Air Estonia/Easyjet - Easily the coldest trip ever. Walked across a frozen river. Riga was not great, Tallinn confirmed as the greatest site/party town in the UK

2006 - HUNGARY/USA/COSTA RICA (Budapest, NYC, San Jose, Arenal, Cahuita) British Airways, Alitalia, Continental - Bizzare trip. Starting on a mad stag do, then onto the greatest city on earth, then hitting rainforest, and beaches in a must see location. Included my 50th flight!!

2006 - SPAIN (Barcelona, Girona) - Easyjet/Ryanair - A trip to the Nou Camp. Great but bloody cold. Didn't think that much of Barca as a city.

2006 - CZECH REPUBLIC (Prague) - BMI Baby - Away with the missus, sites and cheap beer. Ice Hockey a possible highlight. A great place to spend X Mas, but far too busy.

2007 - POLAND (Warsaw/Krakow), UKRAINE (Kiev/Chernobyl) - Wizz Air - Cold, but a trip combining cheap beer and some of the saddest history of mankind

2007 - SLOVENIA/CROATIA (Lubljana/Zagreb) - Easyjet - Slow pace but nice enough

2007 - ICELAND - Icelandair - Second visit to this amazing and active geographers paradise

2007 - BOLIVIA/PERU - BA, American Airlines, Taca - Maybe the best trip to date, mind blowing scenery and amazing people

2007 - ESTONIA (Tallinn) - Estonian Air - 3rd time here. Flu ridden trip, but a memorable New Years Eve in Old Town

2008 - POLAND (Krakow) - Easyjet/Ryanair - One year on I came back. More bars, very cold, great people

2008 - SPAIN (Madrid) - Easyjet - Athletico v Bolton UEFA Cup. Great result, good beer, violent police

2008 - ICELAND - Icelandair - School Trip, usual attractions, wet and windy but great trip

2008 - ETHIOPIA - BMI/Ethiopian Air - Amazing trip of history and culture

2008 - TURKEY (Side) - Thomas Cook - Hot, nice beaches and ruins

2008 - GERMANY/SWITZERLAND (Zurich) - Ryanair - To watch Evander Holfield v Nikoli Valuev. Nice city, good fight, bad result

2009 - BULGARIA/AUSTRIA/SLOVAKIA (Sofia, Bansko, Vienna, Bratislava) - Easyjet & Sky Europe - Annual beer holiday with some skiing thrown in for good measure

2009 - JAPAN (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Hiroshima, Tokyo, Nara) - Finn Air - A packed trip of Japanese culture

2009 - ICELAND - Iceland Express - School trip, very wet but fun as always