A year ago almost to the day we Couch Surfed with Matt and Rachel in Azerbaijan. At the time they were both Peace Corps volunteers but now they have returned to the USA and are living in Knoxville Tennessee. As we were just a couple of hours drive away over the Smoky Mountains it would have been rude not to call in and say hello.According to our guide book Knoxville is the erstwhile underwear c

There is no limit to the number of versions the same story can be told. As is my audience and as I have chosen to tell here is one of them. I dedicate this letter to the expecting Simon because he will best understand it because we shared the entire story because it would have been completely different without him and because he is my best friend.Maybe 4 Weeks in India A Tale of 9 CitiesIt w

We crossed from Carmelo Uruguay through the Tigre Delta to Tigre in Argentina. The Tigre Delta starts there and some of the land close to the town has houses on stilts some of them clearly the holiday homes of welltodo Argentinians. As we got close to the town there were countless shipwrecks rusting near the banks of the river we wondered why they were left there as they were really an e

Since I've been back in New Zealand I have been mostly focusing on getting a job. Spending my days sending out as many resumes as I can. While the weather is cold not really if you ask me it's been a nice change from Thailand's heat. It's been not very exciting.However I had bought tickets to an All Blacks rugby game back in March. Pete and I planned a weekend away from Auckland to go see the

Matt Gibson is a travel writer and photographer who has melded his work in both fields seamlessly. On Matt-Gibson.org, you can share his experiences from “riding the crocodile” (literally) to ex-pat life to interviews with other travelers. So, who’s up for the crocodile ride?!

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Post tags: Adventure, Asia, cultural experiences, expat life, Guatemala, living abroad, photography, travel writer

The last few days have been off the chart of enjoyment levels. We had a really enjoyable night out in Sydneys trendiest bars with two gappies from last year Henry and Emily. Henry drove us back to our hostel giving us a night tour of all the main sites like the opera house and bridge etc. all lit up and it paid back all the lifts i gave him back to kc. Then we left next morning for surf camp whic

I head back to Reno to pick up some packages at my UPS mailbox. As I planned I check out meetup.com and scope out some meetups. The first hiking meetup group I find in Reno is something like Sierra Nevada Adventurers Group. Now I'm thinking this is going to be some serious mountaineering but the next upcoming event is.. bowling. Ah well it'll be a change of pace at least so I rsvp.I hang

Saturday June 19th our group went to a tea house and learned about the tradition of tea in China and had the opportunity to try the 6 different kinds of tea. After the tea we had a dim sum lunch together which consisted of many different kinds of Chinese appetizers like dumplings pastries buns and spring rolls. We then went to Avenue of the Stars which is a walkway that looks out over the h

Summer is upon us hot hazy skies and cool buggy nights. This Shabbat I went to visit my friend Tamar and we went swimming in the warm Mediterranean. Summer often brings medusahs huge jellyfish to the shore and although we didn't see any traces of their stingingness was in the water and left little electric shock welts on my legs. Still it was worth it for the cool air and the saltiness

We woke up this morning in Taos New Mexico to a chilly breeze coming through the windows and even though I slept like a baby Advil does that to me I still didn't feel good. My headache was pretty much gone but my head was stuffy and I was just feeling tired. Tim and I decided we were going back to bed and we would just get up whenever we felt like it. Well whenever we felt like it was about 1

Blogs are like buses you wait 2 weeks for one then 2 come along at once I'm blogging this now as Verlie is off to Singapore tommorow and I will be Sans Laptop for a few days so..............At the very start of this blog a few months back I wondered what tales the coming pages would hold the highs but also the inevitable lows that we would document. I was and still am fully committed to

Still feeling angry after the performance of England last night. The big consensus over here apart from the feeling of total let down is that Joe Cole should start and Heskey goes home Rooney should channel his aggression onto the pitch and Super Frank should go back to basics and learn to pass a ball. The cobwebs were blown out of our system on the boat ride to Robben Island. Again we met so

Audi Drivers day IngolstadtI want to start by saying that Kath has said that this is a pretty boring blog. I am hoping that she will write another blog to cover this for all of those that don't like talking cars. I apologise in advance. GregWell actually it was a 3 day driving event and it went from Ingolstadt in Germany through Austria to a hotel called Arosea Life Balance Hotel near St Wa

Our last day in Denmark was the best day ever in terms of weather. Bright blue skies and temps in low 70's. Drove north of Copenhagen about 10 miles to Rungsted a small town on the coast to the homemuseum of Karen Blixen. Her life in Africa is portrayed in the movie Out of Africa. This is the house she grew up in and returned to after her time in Africa. Interesting information on her lif

As I siad yesterday during the night the rains came not a typical thunderstorm but more like British rain continual shower. It was raining when I awoke at 630 and looked like it had been for hours and the sky was dark grey everywhere you looked. I had obviously come to Corfu expecting some rain during my walk to have had none during 16 days late May early June would have been very lucky. I de

We are sitting here at Clark airport after catching the night bus from Banaue reflecting on the last 25 days in the Philippines. Our last week has ended differently than it began. Two more nights in Port barton and we were soooooooooooooo relaxed. There is only so many books and hammock lying a girl can take so we set off through this small town to see how the locals really live. First stop was t

We arrived in Sucre 2800m asl late afternoon with the sun shining yippeeWe checked into our nice hotel in the centre of town after our seven hour bus journey.We went out for dinner in a place where you could watch movies so we saw a film about the working conditions of the Potosi silver mine we had visited called Devil Miner.Next day we took the opportunity to get our laundry done and chill i

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Monday June 14 2010 KimpeseWhile my travel companions did adult things like attend meetings I decided to hike to the Vampa Falls at the base of a great rock outcropping near Kimpese called Bangu. It looks like a miniature Kili. Most of the water that feeds Kimpese comes from this location. Two guides from the Bible Institute accompanied me to show me the way. My most vivid experience was wa

This morning is a bit of an orientation day as we get ourselves a bit organised. The first plan is to go for a walk and get an Octopus card each for our travels around Hong Kong.We went for a walk down to the Star Ferry terminal and along the waterfront of Victoria Harbour where we found a Starbucks and had a cup of coffee. I thought we may be able to get the card at the ferry but couldnrsquot f