So this is my home on the Internet – my very own properly-structured and, heck, relatively ‘neat and tidy’ travel-based website. From travel updates on my journeys, to thoughts on places I’ve been, to opinions on methods of travelling and places I’ve spent the nights, there’ll be enough here for even the most confirmed stay-at-home. And don’t forget to sign up for my #LetterACountry project, and enjoy the ride 🙂
On the site I have: “Me, Myself, I” – an introduction to who I am, “Radio Waves” – my podcast (‘Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure’), “I’ll Find My Way Home” and “Trans-Europa Express” – blog posts about the UK and Europe respectively, “Life During Wartime” – Tales of places I visit, so you don’t have to :p, “Crossing The Border” – my experiences of crossing international borders, and “All The Small Things” – posts about the smaller aspects of travel, eg travelling alone, being older than the average backpacker, and thoughts on travel itself.
And why am I a “barefoot backpacker”? Well:
- I’m a solo traveller.
- I travel as light as I possibly can – usually only with hand luggage.
- I like to visit the unusual and ‘darker’ parts of the world – I like to see places where people haven’t ‘necessarily been nice’ to each other.
- I take photographs of the interesting and unexpected, as well as landscapes. (Not so much people, working on that!)
- I write. A lot.
- I’m an introvert (which counteracts a lot of the above).
- I’m British. This is apparently a self-evident fact amongst anyone who’s ever encountered me …
A “barefoot doctor” is someone, usually a local farmer, who is trained in basic medicine and operates with few resources, but serves as the only local doctor in rural areas (mainly in China) where more qualified doctors generally can’t, or won’t, practice.
I kind of see myself similarly when travelling. I have a basic knowledge and skills around travel, carry very few resources with me, am not great with languages, but am prepared to go right down to the local level when I travel, and see a country from directions other than from outside the window of a 4-star hotel.
Travelling literally barefoot is not obligatory. But happens from time to time. As you will see!