The Bad Trip in Amsterdam – Part 2: Losing Control

November 22, 2014 by Dan Leave a Comment

This is part 2 in a series of posts about a trip to Amsterdam, part 1 can be found here.

Part 2: Losing Control

If you ever have a good idea and it includes taking drugs, then stop. Take a moment to think. It’s not a good idea.

Our “good idea” was so perfect that it didn’t warrant discussion. Wake up, eat breakfast. Early morning joint. Head to a smart shop. Buy some magic mushrooms. Go to a coffee shop, another joint. Have lunch, then back to the hotel to take the mushrooms.

That was the plan. But it all went horribly wrong. [Read more…]

The Bad Trip in Amsterdam – Part 1: Arrival

November 15, 2014 by Dan 3 Comments

I’m walking down the main street of Amsterdam when suddenly the drugs kick in.

I stop and laugh, my friend Chris stopping beside me. “The space cakes have just hit me!” I giggle with a thumbs up. He smiles back and we continue walking. After a few more steps my smile starts to waver as the feeling starts to sink in.

Oh shit, I think, the space cakes have just hit me! [Read more…]

Getting Your Travel Injections – When the Worst Happens

October 4, 2014 by Dan 2 Comments

Before I left England to travel, my only experience of injections came from school. Once a year every class would get rounded up for injection day – which sounds like the worst holiday imaginable.

This was one of the days I feared the most, I’d stay awake the night before worrying, trying to convince myself it would all be ok.

Back then I was mostly just afraid of the pain. Injections are somewhat painful, there’s no way to get around it. Nobody enjoys getting an injection, even those of us with no real fear of getting them.
[Read more…]

Avoiding Social Interaction While Traveling

September 27, 2014 by Dan 6 Comments

I pace quickly up the hill. My feet slamming into the mud of the trail.

My heart is racing, my body sweating. Legs ache, lungs burn. I can’t stop though. There’s something in the trees behind me. Something scary. Not a bear or a monster. Much worse than that.

My housemates.

Now you may think from my last post about socialising while travelling, that I’m a lover of conversation. The truth is, I hate it. I am a level 99 ninja at avoiding it. There’s a lot I’d go through to get out of a conversation. Including climbing a mountain.

[Read more…]

Fear of Heights: Going To The Top of Tall Buildings

August 26, 2014 by Dan 2 Comments

As long as tall objects have existed, there have always been people stupid enough to go to the top of them.

Whether it be massive trees, huge pyramids, or gargantuan mountains, throughout history it seems one thing all humans share in common is a zest to reach high places.

My question is: why? Are we as a species completely fucking nuts? It’s built into all of us is an innate sense of curiosity when it comes to heights. In me, that curiosity also seems to lead to fear. It’s only rational though. Tall places mean falling, falling means death. Why I wonder do we constantly put ourselves into positions where falling is more probable? Where death is more likely.

Why do we love to go so high?

[Read more…]

What it’s Like for an American to Drive in New Zealand

August 2, 2014 by Jamie 6 Comments

Imagine that you have flown over 13 hours to the other side of the world and are in this new, foreign land. You’re ready to explore and see everything New Zealand has to offer. You want to discover the geysers in the north and the fiords in the south.

But however will you get around?

On a tight schedule with an unlimited budget? Plane. Want to see the country in a unique setting? Train. Can sit for hours upon hours without needing a toilet nearby? Bus. Found yourself on a one-year visa with the freedom to go wherever and whenever you please? Car.

But there is one problem–they drive on the left in New Zealand.

[Read more…]

The thing I thought I’d never do in Vietnam (but ended up doing).

July 26, 2014 by Jamie 2 Comments

“There’s no way I’m getting on a motorbike in Vietnam,” I said.

Fast forward five days into our Vietnam trip: there I was putting on a helmet, and swinging my leg over to get on the back of a motorbike.

How did I go from saying that I’d never get on a motorbike to actually getting on one? Let me explain.

[Read more…]

Dealing With Toilet Anxiety While Traveling

July 24, 2014 by Dan 8 Comments

One of my strongest fears while traveling is that I’ll need the toilet, but there’ll be nowhere to go.

It’s a strange fear, but a common one. I don’t know how it came about for me, but it can turn traveling into a nightmare and spoil a holiday if I don’t keep it under control. Often that’s impossible.

Whenever I need to take a long bus ride I always have that voice in my head screaming, “WHAT IF! WHAT IF! WHAT IF!” I don’t worry about the bus falling off a cliff or a car crashing into us, I instead worry about the bathroom. [Read more…]

Taking Your First Steps in Traveling Alone

July 19, 2014 by Dan 2 Comments

Traveling alone takes balls. Big balls.

We spend our whole lives with a support group around us. For years our parents look after us, stepping in whenever we have a problem or need help.

Soon we gain friends to take over from our parents. If trouble pops up there’s always somebody to lean on. Somebody to listen, give advice, to help.

Traveling alone means giving up that support network. It means complete reliance on one person–yourself. Once you learn to depend on yourself you gain a deeper sense of who you are. You experience true independence, but taking those first steps can be hard. [Read more…]

Dealing with Bed Bugs in Vancouver, Canada

July 15, 2014 by Dan 12 Comments

magnified bed bug on hair

Before I moved to Canada, I wasn’t really aware that bed bugs were real. They were a foreign idea and I never considered that I could get them. My sole experience of bed bugs was that oft used phrase “Goodnight, sleep tight…don’t let the bed bugs bite.” To my mind those little insects were a fairy tale, up there with the tooth fairy and Easter bunny. [Read more…]