"Rob MJ's" Robmj's Profile

I work so I can travel!. I have always had a travel bug and did get to travel young with my family which gave me the passion to do so; that & the fact my mother travelled as a single woman back in the 50's when it wasn't fashionable. However I have only started travelling more extensively recently as finances and family circumstances have allowed.

View my travel pages for some of the places I've been. I will be adding detail and pictures on an ongoing basis.

I certainly like to plan travel, its part of the fun!, however, even when I have created a route to follow, when I'm on the road, I don't worry too much about the detail, especially days here & there, make a plan, but then don't be afraid not to follow the plan, there is so much you pick up when travelling and talking to people, don't be afraid to change plan or just simply go with the flow!

Even though I've pushed thru the forty years of age barrier, I still like to backpack, I like to stay in backpackers, pensions or other cheap accommodation, great for meeting travellers young at heart. I do not like doing organised tours and to date have never done one, we (wife & I) tend to make our own way. However a benefit of travelling a little later in life, is that I do have the luxury of using rental cars wherever possible, its all do-able by public transport of course, but we usually cram lots in, so the freedom of rental cars is not to be underestimated.

As I said earlier, I do lots of research before I leave, much of this is on the culture and history of places we intend to visit, I also find out what the main attractions and spots are, but much of the fun is discovering places that are not mainstream. I like to learn at least smatterings of the local language before I leave or as soon as I get there, I think to gain acceptance this is important, get to know the basics, like how to order beer!!

Living in NZ, Australia is like a second home, it is so cheap from NZ, in fact much cheaper than often travelling your own country, there was a TV advertisement that said "don't leave town until you've seen the country", very true & unfortunately many Kiwi's dont heed this advice. As for myself when I was around 20, I did an extensive trip around the country & over the years have pretty much covered it all.

Aside from Australia which I've been to around 30 times over the years, my travels can be grouped into:

1997, United States, a six week family trip all over...
2002, Central Europe, a two month trip taking in mainstream Europe
2004, Fiji, 3 weeks
2005, Middle East, one month
2005, Eastern Europe, one and half months
2005, UK, half month for 3 months all up, never mind work!
2006, UK and Germany (work trip 2 weeks)
2007, South America, 3 weeks
2008, South East Asia, 3 weeks
2010, Southern France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, 5 weeks
2011, Nepal, 3 week hiking trip

This is a drop in the bucket of whats out there, there are so many places I want to get to!!

Wanaka, its as good as it gets........

Its hard to rate the places & things you do, this list will keep changing as I travel more, at the end of each trip I make myself and my wife list the top five to ten things, places or experiences and also the worst 5, its not so much having a worse list, as your worse day of travel is still better than your best day at work!!, its just some of the things you find challenging at the time!!, its interesting how much our lists differed, but then again, there are many common themes, particularly in some of the top places we list. Its also really hard to restrict it to a top ten, there are so many great things I would want to list.......I've linked some of them to other pages I've created that will give you further insight to the place.........anyhow - here's my initial go at my top ten stuff so far:

1. Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand (near home, as good as it gets!)
2. Lake Bohinj area, Slovenia
3. Treking in the Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile, South America
4. Luxor, Egypt
5. Rome & Vatican City, Italy
6. Croatia, Plitvice National Park & of course Dubrovnik
7. Cappadocia / Goreme, Turkey
8. Jordan, the Wadi Rum Desert & Petra are out of this world
9. Amalfi Coast, Italy - Positano in particular
10. Syria, full of surprises & Krak Des Chevaliers Castle + Palmyra

it seems a shame to leave it out, Yosemite National Park, California, USA is also right up there, Laos and Cambodia are great, maybe I should do a top twenty?

As I said, its not so much of a worse list, but the things that can test you, some of these are my wife's and I can sympathise!

1. Europe peak season - people everywhere!
2. Dodgy middle eastern toilets, not the cleanest!
3. Some Men & Boys that grope women in the middle eastern countries
4. Long haul flights (well, on the way back anyway)
5. Closing time at Hofbrauhaus, Munich
6. Taxi rides in the middle east can shorten your life expectancy

Heaps more travel, would like to head thru Africa, Scandanavia & into Russia appeals but next is most likely Africa for some game parks.

I also need to complete the travelpages here, post some stories, photos and tips from my experiences.

Enjoy your travels!