Crashing a Club Med in French Polynesia, nonpaying guest intruder John M. Edwards discovers life is no picnic. . . . I awoke on the rooftop of Tahiti’s international airport with a heavy jackboot nudging me in my ribs--! “Monsieur, Monsieur, allons-y!” All of the other sleeping backpackers, alerted by a piping yelp evocative of a vicious French poodle being savagely rogered insensate, rubbed the sleepy seeds from their eyes and gloomily … [Read more...]
Leif Harum – Author, Backpacker & World Traveler
I was originally attracted to Leif's website, Runaway Guide several years ago because of his unique adventures and the perspective he has gained from his travels on the cheap since the age of 16 - when he ran away from home. He has become an expert in extreme budget travel acquiring the skills and knowledge to survive on the road while spending as little money as possible. Oh and he makes cool in the moment, on the road travel videos to! Q. … [Read more...]
Lariam Dreams: Malaria or Madness?
John M. Edwards wonders whether taking the world’s strongest antimalarial drug might be worse than getting the dread eldritch disease itself? “I dared to dream with my eyes wide open. . . .” --T.E. Lawrence, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom In Nairobi, Kenya, a man from Philadelphia loses it and leaps from a hotel’s second-story window. . . . He is now a paraplegic. At a Waldenbooks store, an ex Peace Corps worker goes … [Read more...]
How to Make the Best of Night Buses
It was about 3 in the morning and I pulled out of the hazy half-sleep I’d goaded myself into, there was a small commotion over the aisle where my friends were sitting –hurried whispers, rearranging and by the time my brain caught up with what was going on my friend was sitting in the aisle, half asleep himself, soaking wet. I tried to steady myself to figure out what happened, but any way I shifted threw my balance. We had the last row of … [Read more...]
Visa run to Cambodia
My visa within Thailand was expiring in 2 days. Time to make another run for the border. Usually we are off in another country at some point during our time in Thailand so this is not an issue. But this year we just stayed domestic. Poipet on the Cambodia border is the closest border crossing to our village so we headed out that way. We reached this dusty chaotic border town in 2 hours. As is always the case we were met with enterprising men … [Read more...]
Special Jungle Curry: Thai Street Food, Close Encounters of the Third-World Kind
An American backpacker cannot decide whether budget restaurants or street food offer the best fetish of freshness until he visited one of Thailand’s best outdoor night markets, serving “SPECIAL JUNGLE CURRY.” As someone used to eating Thai food in New York City, with restaurants with babytalk names like “Yum Yum” and “Tastee Thai,” I was blown away when I tasted real Siamese fare for the first time in Bangkok’s Banglamphu district, an area … [Read more...]
Beirut in the Baltics
John M. Edwards is drawn into the Wild Wild East of “Europe Minor.” After the collapse of communism in the USSR, inflation in the freshly minted Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia rolled up the ruble into the cheapest toilet paper around, so I decided to go East and stock up. I needed a cheap place to wipe my ass because I was then unemployed, and an Orwellian year of freelancing in Paris had left me as restless … [Read more...]
Tasmania Travel Guide
Though Tasmania is a small island, it is packed with things to do, see, and experience. It is a must-see for any traveler or backpacker making their way through Australia. Named after an European explorer, “Tassie”, as it’s fondly known to locals, is the most mountainous state in Australia, and 40% of the island is National Forest. There are plenty of opportunities for sailing, kayaking, and hiking around the island. Tasmania is unique for its … [Read more...]
The Blue Mountains of NSW – haunted or haunting?
Stunning yes, harsh yes, unnerving, yes. There is something that is difficult to put your finger on about this area. Is it the large volume of spirits or ghosts roaming the Jamison Valley having lost their lives in inevitably tragic circumstances? Or is it the severity of the geography and the vagaries of the weather that give rise to this eerie feeling? Is it something to do with the ‘Dreamtime’ as expressed by the Aboriginal people of this … [Read more...]
Full Moon Party on Ko Samet, Thailand
John M. Edwards survives a psychedelic breakdown--and hubris--on a backpacker’s hub off the coast of Thailand. . . . In Thailand, it is not necessary to have an actual full moon shining down on you in order to throw together a “Full Moon Party”—just loads and loads of magic mushrooms. The decidedly pagan, almost “Glastonberry,” Halloweeny atmosphere of the event, featuring a wild bunch of fragrant hippies—proud of their piercings, … [Read more...]
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