"The First Step" iwys's Profile
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Bali, Bangkok, Kyoto, Colombo, Istanbul, Samarkand, Des Moines, Ulan Bator, Rio, Marrakech….
When I was seventeen, I entered that list in the back of my diary, as I lay on my bed, looking out of the window at the pictures made by the clouds in the sky. I never really believed that I'd ever visit any of those places, but I'd just read On the Road, The Great Railway Bazaar and The Lonely Planet Guide to South-East Asia, and I was so full of wanderlust that I was fit to burst.
One day, I just stood on the road in front of my house and stuck my thumb out. It's really true: the first step is the hardest. I've been traveling pretty well ever since. I have visited one hundred countries, but I still haven't been to all of the places on my original list, and, in a way, I don't want to...yet. I want to save a few for later.
I've visited some of them though and who'd have believed that I'd wind up one day riding a bicycle around Bali, sleeping on a tatami mat in Kyoto, staying for more than a year in a house on stilts at the edge of the South China Sea, sleeping in a yurt in the Gobi Desert, or traveling overland, half-way round the world by train from Beijing to London, or by bus from Mexico to Chile?
iwys
“I came, I saw and I had a good time”
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- 2,023 Reviews
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Latest Activity
- Commented on angiebabe's Profile Page
- Wrote a Review Newest, Biggest and Best in Salalah Shopping
- Uploaded a Photo to "Newest, Biggest and Best"
- updated a Tanzania Travel Page "Tanzania"
- Replied to iwys's Miscellaneous Forum Forum Question "The Random Nature of Tip Ratings"
- Posted in Miscellaneous Forum "The Random Nature of Tip Ratings"
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updated their Profile Page "The First Step"
Top 10 Pages
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Top 5 Page for this destination
Bucharest
Intro, 95 reviews, 387 photos, 1 travelogue
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Top 5 Page for this destination
Libya
Intro, 119 reviews, 295 photos
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Nottingham
Intro, 89 reviews, 244 photos
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Malta
Intro, 63 reviews, 236 photos
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Aleppo
Intro, 51 reviews, 202 photos, 3 travelogues
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Tripoli
Intro, 56 reviews, 191 photos
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Damascus
Intro, 46 reviews, 163 photos
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Peru
Intro, 42 reviews, 161 photos
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Marrakesh
Intro, 43 reviews, 139 photos
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Top 5 Page for this destination
Salalah
Intro, 31 reviews, 125 photos
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Comments (275)
Still in Oman? Where to next? We did a great trip through eastern Turkey last year, joining the geriatrics this year to go river cruising on the Danube- Bucharest to Budapest. Still have to get to Yemen. Cheers ... Leyle
Thanks for adding me..
Hi Ian, Wishing you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2012. Hope you have a wonderful time! ~ho & pang
Amazing photos and reviews Thanks
Happy belated birthday!
Belated Birthday wishes Ian.
Hello, Ian! ~ Many happy returns of the day!.... All the best in the future! ><><>< Have many wonderful new journeys!
Happy Birthday Ian!
HAPPY happy birthday ian and have a nice day Greeting from Alexandria Egypt TAKLA
Happy Birthday, Ian! Enjoy your special day.
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