"Ahead of schedule" ollyf's Profile

Living the dream

When I was 23, I decided a good ambition would be to visit at least one country for every year of my life. So, if I lived to 70, I would have visited 70 countries. Well, I have now well exceeded the goal (49 in 30 years), but it's always good to have a few in the bank, especially when "boring" things like families and mortgages will presumably come into the equation down the line and slow me down! My total includes several locations from my childhood, but they're still valid!

UPDATE APRIL 2008: Moved to Thailand. It's been an ambition to live and work abroad for a long time now - this is the next level up from travelling. So now I live and work in Bangkok and am seeing more than a tourist or backpacker could hope to.

About me

Tonga

Travel has developed into my number one passion over the last five or six years. Simply, the more I do, the more I want to do! I have now been on two round-the-world trips and plenty of interesting holidays in between. My background is in publishing and I'm hoping to sell some travel writing, especially as I have recently been to some very far-flung locations.

What I like

Australia

Isolated and/or small countries

Warm weather!

... but also beautiful cold weather scenes

Asian cultures

Pacific islands

The sea

Mountains

Where I have been

Tokelau

2008: Portugal, Singapore, Thailand (now living there)

2007: Italy, San Marino, Vatican, Malta, Bahrain, Thailand, Czech Republic

2006: Australia, Nauru, Kiribati, Tonga, Samoa, Tokelau, American Samoa, New Zealand, Fiji, Tuvalu, USA, Bulgaria

2005: Japan, South Korea, Japan again, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Australia

2004: Finland, Ireland, Qatar, Thailand

2003: Japan, Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji, USA, Cyprus, Egypt

2002: Norway (twice), Japan

2001: Iceland

1998: Ireland

1997: Ireland

1996: France, Holland, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Ireland

Teens and childhood: Kenya, Nigeria, Congo, France, Switzerland, Turkey

Domestic travel: Wales, England, Scotland

Where I would like to go

North Korean border

In no particular order

Arctic regions esp. Greenland and Svalbard
Antarctica and Antarctic islands
To see Africa as an adult (long time there as a kid)
Caribbean
More Pacific islands!
More Far East esp North Korea
USA road trip
Central America

Top 10 countries visited

Japan

Japan
Thailand
Vanuatu
Kiribati
Samoa
Australia
Cambodia
Norway
Tonga
Nauru

Intro Updated Jun 20, 2008
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Comments (10)

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DaHongHua Jun 23, 2012 at 6:55 AM

A warm happy birthday greeting from Malaysia to a friend in neighbour country. I salute to you for your kindness on keeping your travel pages, for yourself and other VT friends to share your joy and happiness. I will come back to read.
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Rabbityama Jun 22, 2011 at 8:54 PM

I too love Asia! Happy Birthday!
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new_hope30 Jun 22, 2011 at 8:11 PM

Warm wishes from Texas for a happy birthday and wonderful year ahead! ~ Camille
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Etoile2B Jun 23, 2008 at 10:24 AM

Happy Birthday from sunny California! Here's to many more wonderful years!
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Ekahau Mar 16, 2008 at 4:26 PM

Hi Oliver I got a note from Tokelau gov asking for the internet connected health care solution I built in Tristan very cool -- thought of you !! do they have a football field in Tokelau??
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gilabrand Aug 9, 2007 at 3:21 AM

I like to read pages about the writer's hometown, that's all. Picked it out of a hat LOL
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CrystalBlue Jun 23, 2007 at 1:03 PM

Happy birthday, Olly! Hope it is a beautiful one for you.
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mary2u99 Jun 22, 2007 at 8:07 PM

Have a wonderful day and weekend. Happy Birthday to you.:-)
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kewo Nov 27, 2006 at 2:47 PM

so what airline do you fly with going to nauru?, I'm just curious, cuz I wanna go back there again..I keep checking the internet but I couldn't find any recent flight going over there...
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ZiOOlek Jun 5, 2006 at 10:38 PM

Hi. Nice to see you here...:) You are lucky to have visited some Pacific islands... :)