Transport for backpackers in Thailand is very easy, buses are cheap and can be booked from pretty much anywhere. So it’s no surprise really that it was a year between me arriving in Thailand and taking my first train journey. I’ve still only taken two…

The first was back in November with my visiting non-traveller friends to Nong Khai, the border crossing for Laos. I decided that an overnight sleeper train would be a perfect introduction to South East Asia, we arrived 4 hours behind schedule, not what they had in mind for their holiday. My second was a month later when Kirsty and I decided to head overland to Malaysia, luckily this one went smoother, even with a border crossing involved.

Waking in the morning on a Thai Train.

So what can you expect from a sleeper train in Thailand?

Firstly unlike some other trains we have been on in Asia you actually get a decent seat for the journey.  The bottom bed is usually folded up in to two very large seats like armchairs, giving you plenty of room to relax without being forced to lay down right away or squeeze in amongst a dozen other people.

When you want to go to sleep, you don’t have to break your back turning them into a bed.  Each carriage has its own attendant who will go around as people are ready setting up both the upper and lower beds.

When exactly is bedtime though?

This seems to differ depending on the country, when we were in China it seemed a reasonable time was the moment the train set off, 6pm? Time for bed! Luckily it’s not quite that early in Thailand, but you will notice the attendent hanging around about 11pm trying to hint that really you should be quiet and head to bed!

Food and Drink? 

If like me you’re not the best sleeper and these sort of occasions require a little ‘help’ do not despair. Waitresses? I guess that’s what they are, walk the carriages constantly offering water, beer, snacks and even full meals at pretty reasonable prices. I have nightmares about paying for a sandwich on a English train station but the prices aren’t too bad, inflated but not to crazy levels.

Toilets

With all that beer you’re going to need a lovely bathroom. Well, they may be a far cry from lovely but at least they exist right? Both trains I’ve been on have had two toilets at the end of each carriage, one squat and one western style, although I wouldn’t suggest spending any reading time in there.

Two of the biggest guys I know on the bottom and still plenty of room before the beds were made up.

All bedding is provided and although the beds aren’t quite as nice as those in our luxury room on our first Chinese train they are nothing to complain about. My tip would be to get the bottom bunk for a few extra pennies as the two seats that create the bed are huge and give you almost twice the space as the upper bunk.

Don’t worry about waking up either as your destination is jotted down during ticket inspection and you’ll be woken up when your stop is near. Best not to chance it though hey?

Have you taken any trains in Thailand and had a different experience? Did we just get lucky?

What to expect on a train in Thailand -

Welcome to round 70 of ‘Meet a Random Traveller’. The series dedicated to bring attention to fantastic people all around the world doing their thing.

Random Traveller 70

Overlooking the city of Osaka, Japan from the Umeda Sky Terrace

Who are you?
I’m John and I write over at www.travelrinserepeat.com. I’m from Denver, Colorado and I work as a consultant who travels almost full time for work.

What’s the deal?
I started Travel Rinse Repeat as a way to share some of my tips and tricks from a life spent on the road. For me, a major component of what I do is finding ways to maximize whatever travel opportunities I get. We’d all love to have all the time in the world to see and do what we want, but unfortunately, that’s rarely the case.

I try to provide useful travel tips and destination reports that show you how to best spend whatever amount of free time you do have available for travel. Often times, I only have evenings available in the destinations I travel to, and if I’m lucky, a weekend. This has helped me streamline and prioritize itineraries, and now I want to help others do the same.

On the summit of Quandary Peak, a 14,265 ft/4,348 m tall mountain in my home state of Colorado

Have you always made the effort to enjoy places you visit for work or was there a turning point?
For my first four months of traveling, I’d go back to my hotel every night, work, watch TV, and go to bed. It’s an easy trap to fall into. During this time, I was working in Atlanta every week and it wasn’t until I realized that my time in Atlanta would soon be coming to an end that I really started trying to take advantage of all the city had to offer. I’ve never looked back since, and now that I go to new destinations all the time, there is always something exciting to look forward to.

What tips would you give to someone who doesn’t think they have enough time to make business trips enjoyable?
Like with all travels, you have to make it a priority. It’s easy to get into a routine that doesn’t involve going out and exploring whatever city you’re in. To me, this is unacceptable. Business trips are FREE opportunities to travel, and most people would love to have that opportunity – so I’m not going to waste it. If that means getting up early, staying out late, or staying over for a weekend, then so be it.

Scuba diving with a green sea turtle off the shores of Wailea

What’s Next?
I’ll continue traveling around the country…my work schedule for the next year includes stops in some truly amazing cities (New Orleans, Santa Barbara, Las Vegas) and some others that I know next to nothing about (Gainesville, Tulsa, Tucson) but I’m excited to learn more. I’ll definitely be trying to work in some personal international travel as well.

A big thanks to Johnfor taking part, great to have you.

Be sure to check him out:
Blog:  Travel Rinse Repeat
Twitter: @travelrinserept
Facebook: /TravelRinseRepeat

Fancy being Random Traveller #71? Contact us.

Random Traveller #70 with John of Travel Rinse Repeat -

I like tattoos and being in Thailand and hearing all the stories about bamboo tats I promised myself that I wouldn’t be going home without them!

Last night we went out to our favourite restaurant and decided to head onto Khao San road to check out some of the tattoo shops, just for a look –  Can you guess what happened?

I didn’t just dive straight in and pick something from a book but chose something I had been thinking about for a while that I had saved on my Iphone.  The reason for going with this (other than liking it obviously) was that I wanted something small and simple, I’ve got lots of other big ideas I need to save skin space for you see.

So to get my tattoo fix for the year and experience a bamboo tattoo…

The first time my leg has ever been shaved.... sexy?

Design placement and laughing at shaving so much of my leg...

The first few 'stabs'

Carrying on with the work

Then he started show boating...

Faking pain (honest)

Nearly done.

The finished product.

The whole thing took about 40 minutes from start to finish and didn’t hurt nearly as much as I had expected.  The best thing however was how clean it was, no blood at all during of after and not nearly as sore as machine tattoo’s in the following hours/days. Very happy.

If anyone is interested in getting a Tattoo on Khao San Road I can recommend Up 2 U Tatoo on the second floor oposite Rikka Inn Hotel.  I spent a long time going through their work and the quality was very good, it was very hygienic and everyone was very helpful.

If you want to see a short clip of what it looks like being done check out our facebook page Or maybe you’ve already had one?

Getting a Bamboo Tattoo in Thailand -

Welcome to round 69 of ‘Meet a Random Traveller’. The series dedicated to bring attention to fantastic people all around the world doing their thing.

Random Traveller 69

Ali & Andy

Who are you?
I’m Ali, and I’m addicted to travel. I’ve been to all 7 continents before my 30th birthday. I love photography, the Spanish language, chips and salsa, and I’m always planning my next trip. I’m from the US, originally from New Jersey, but I spent the second half of my life living in Atlanta. For 9 years I worked in the oh-so-exciting world of aviation insurance before finally deciding I needed to travel more and find a career path I enjoy. I’m now an expat living in Freiburg, Germany, and I’m in the middle of a 5 month round the world trip.

What’s the deal?
I started blogging as a way to talk about travel and interact with other travelers when I couldn’t actually take a trip. I love to travel and it’s a great way to fuel the addiction. Now it’s a great way to let my friends and family know what I’m up to while I’m home in Germany or traveling somewhere else. I also hope to inspire others to travel. I know so many people who want to travel but are nervous about it, especially about solo travel, and I want to show them that it’s easier than they think. Learning about other cultures through travel is amazing, and the confidence gained by traveling on your own is one of my favorite things about solo travel.

We couldn’t possibly interview you without mentioning the twitter love story – Could you give us a quick run through for those who have yet to read your post?
I highly recommend the longer version of my most popular post to anyone who hasn’t already read it, check it out here. But here’s the short version: I bought a domain name in July 2010 and tweeted that I didn’t know how to import my old blog onto the new site. Andy of www.GroundedTraveler.com saw my tweet and offered to help. A week or two later I emailed him some questions about his move from the US to Germany. We decided to Skype again, and we just totally clicked. We spent about four months getting to know each other through Skype and emails, and we fell in love from 4600 miles apart. I had already planned a trip to Prague for the end of November, so he took the train and met me there, our first in-person meeting. It was wonderful! After visiting him at New Year’s, we knew we wanted to spend our lives together, and planned our wedding for June 5, 2011. A month after the wedding I moved to Germany and started my life as an expat.

Ali's favorite picture from her trip to Antarctica

You’re currently out on the road at the moment, so where are you and what have you been up to there?
I spent about two months in Southeast Asia traveling through Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. A couple of my favorite places were the Gili Islands in Indonesia, Siem Reap, Cambodia, and Hanoi, Vietnam. I’m just finishing up 10 days in Melbourne, Australia, which included an amazing two day trip to the Great Ocean Road. I took 850 pictures in two days, if that tells you anything about how gorgeous the Great Ocean Road is. Next up is three weeks in New Zealand, where Andy will meet me for Christmas and New Year’s, and then two weeks between Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Easter Island. Then I will spend four weeks in Seattle, Las Vegas, and Atlanta visiting friends and family before flying to Italy to go to Carnivale in Venice with Andy. I’ll be back in Freiburg at the end of February.

Following on from above, what’s in going to be like returning to you relatively new home in Germany instead of where your used to?
I had much more culture shock than I expected when I first got to Germany, but traveling these past few months has changed my perspective a bit. I think I’m more ready to be in Freiburg now and make it my home. I know I still have a lot to adjust to, and I still need to learn German, but I’m looking forward to being back there with Andy. I miss my friends and family in the States, but hopefully some of them will come visit us in Germany soon.

Gili Islands, one of Ali's favorite, most relaxing, stops.

And what’s next?
I know I will be enrolling in German classes when I get home. I’m also hoping to do some soul searching about what exactly I want to do as a career. In an ideal world, Andy and I would like to have jobs that allow us to work from anywhere in the world, but figuring out how to do it is a little tricky. Neither of us wants to be a permanent traveler, but we like the idea of going somewhere for a month or two, renting an apartment, and seeing the sights while still being able to work from our laptops. We have some ideas, but I think it’ll be a bit of trial and error until we each find something that works. And of course, I plan on continuing to blog about travel and life as an expat.

A big thanks to Ali for taking part, great to have you.

Be sure to check her out:
Blog: Ali’s Adventures
Twitter:  @AliAdventures7
Facebook:  /AliAdventures

Fancy being Random Traveller #70? Contact us.

Random Traveller 69 with Ali from Ali’s Adventures -

I’ve been planning to go diving ever since we left home, in fact I even started an open water course before we left in preparation.  Unfortunately after the first pool session a woman knocked me off my bike (bitch) and I couldn’t continue, who wants to dive in England when we were about to set off to the tropics anyway?

Since setting off we’ve been doing so much that I never really got round to it, I know excuses, excuses! That is until that lovely girl I hang around with, Kirsty, decided my Christmas present would be a chance to ditch all my duties, boyfriend, blog guy, cleaner and general ‘looker afterer’ and finally get in the water.

Anyone in Thailand knows Koh Tao is the place to be for diving and despite having a few dive school recommendations; Davy Jones Locker just kept coming up.  Including, a friend on twitter the other side and a random bloke I met on a tuk tuk in Laos both suggesting them… What better way to choose your dive school?

After a pretty horrendous journey between Bangkok and Koh Tao my friend and I arrived on the island about 6 hours later than expected.  Luckily the first session of the PADI open water course was only a couple of videos and we were soon in bed recovering – yes together.

The Love Shack

The next day we spent the morning going through some theory before jumping in the Davy Jones pool to go through some basic skills.  We had one instructor teaching four of us and everyone breezed through the afternoon without any problems. I’m sure Kirsty would have done something about that had she been there…

Day 3 began with another theory session before taking the multiple-choice final exam just before lunch.  After a short break it was time for what we had all been looking forward to, getting on the boat and in the salt water.

SCUBA-POI

Dives 1 & 2 took us down to a max depth of just 10 meters.  Both started with practicing some basic skills in the shallow water before swimming off to explore the dive site.  My main highlight  was probably the large jellyfish we passed and seeing my friend take a rather wide birth while gesturing “fuck that” or more accurately ‘out of air’ but I knew what he meant.  Remind me not to just assume like that in the future…

The 7am start on day four took us to Hin Pee Wee dive site, home to a ship wreck but it was not for me to touch. 18m was as deep as we would be going on our open water course and unfortunately that was a few meters off what was needed to take a seat on the gun at the front of the ship.  Still, not a bad sight at all for my third dive ever.

Dive four at White Rock was to be our last dive and despite the ‘good chance’ of seeing a turtle it was not to be.  However even going that little bit deeper enabled us to see a lot more underwater life compared to the shallower dives of the day before.

And that was that, our open water course was complete.  Dives done, exams passed and we were open water certified.

I enjoyed diving just as much as I had expected to and maybe even more.  Koh Tao is a gorgeous island and I’m sure that helped a lot.

Koh Tao - Not bad eh?

Everyone we dealt with at Davy Jones Locker was incredibly friendly and a very good laugh, from the shop staff to the instructors and even the guy who took us in the side car of his moped to our bungalow on the first day, apologising after every speed bump.

Now I just need to get back there and get the advanced open water course under my belt.  But which dives to choose?

An open water course with Davy Jones Locker costs 9,500 baht ($300) booked online which includes all course materials, equipment, 4 nights accommodation and certification. A big thanks to the Davy Jones Locker for inviting us.  As always all opinions are our own. 

Diving on Koh Tao with Davy Jones Locker -

Yup, I think the title gives most of it away… it’s all coming to an end.  However, it’s not for the usual reasons, we haven’t run out of money, we’re not splitting up and we’re most definitely not bored of travelling or living abroad.

What’s Happening?

Can you remember back in October Kirsty left me and jetted off back to England for a month? Well the purpose of her trip was to gain the experience she needed to apply for various teaching courses.  But during that time she also managed to slip in the interview and test stages for her preferred choice – Teach First.

Teach first places highly attaining graduates in deprived schools where they work full time whilst learning on the job. It is a very popular course in England, mainly because it eliminates the need for spending thousands of pounds of tuition fees, unfortunately this also means places are in high demand and it’s a notoriously tough course to get on.  

Despite there being other teaching courses available Kirsty decided this was the only one for her and put all her energy into making it work. The thing is she was so unsure whether she would be accepted, supposedly it’s 1 in 30, we immediately started making other plans. We decided after finishing work in Bangkok we would apply for our Australian working holiday visa’s and head over that way for a year and then maybe the same in New Zealand.

The adventure begins: Departure- 25th August 2010

10 days later whilst we were visiting a friend in Phuket Kirsty received a call from England…

We’re not going to Australia.

Kirsty was as surprised as anyone, especially as they told her they would get back to her within a week, but it was simply a case of they couldn’t get hold of her.  She was half way round the world after all…

Kirsty has been accepted to the Teach First program for 2012! The bombshell, instead of working with younger children like she expected, she will be working in secondary school teaching business (she has a business degree by the way) to GCSE and A-Level students for two years – a far cry for kindergarten here in Bangkok.

So where in England? Can you be more specific?

Well, We have no idea…  Part of the teach first program is agreeing to be placed anywhere in the country, anywhere.  We should find out the region in the next few weeks and then the specific location a couple of months later – scary stuff.

Our first day travelling in Beijing, China. Since then I have aged a lot (thats a good thing) and Kirsty has lost a lot of weight.

What about between now and then?

Once Kirsty has finished teaching in March we will be doing a bit of travelling around here, checking out a couple of places we’ve missed so far, most notably heading to Bali for three weeks of beach time right before we fly home. Of course we’ll be back in Bangkok for Songkran as well!

Then we’ll head back to England and enjoy catching up with friends and family for a while before the next chapter starts.

Does this mean the end of travelling?

Nope, the whole reason for doing this is to allow for more travel.  After two years Kirsty will be a fully qualified teacher and be in a far better position to find (better paid) jobs abroad. As for me, I’ll do whatever to make money for a couple of years and try and figure out what I want to do with myself once we set off again but I’m thinking something along the lines of sky diving/scuba/windsurfing/canyoning instructor…

Our first stop will be Australia and New Zealand again to make sure we qualify for our working holiday visa’s before we hit 30 but after that who knows.  I cant plan two weeks ahead let alone a few years, right now I’m just looking forward to proper fish ‘n’ chips…

We’re Going Home! -

When visiting anywhere new you want to get a good feel for the place and what better way than to see the whole place?

Singapore is one of those places with so much for your excited eyes to feed on that viewpoints are a must.  Whether it be night or day think about hitting these great viewpoints for some amazing views across clean (yes the rumours are true – it’s very clean) Singapore!

Singapore Flyer
We wrote last week about the Singapore flyer and the various ways of experiencing it.  As the largest observation wheel in the world it’s definitely worth a visit and even going VIP if you have the cash.  The wheel is perfectly positioned to give you great views of our next recommendation…

Marina Bay Sands
Arguably the most famous landmark in Singapore, Marina Bay Sands is famous for it’s sky park which can hold over 3,000 guests.  Most of the park is reserved for guests of the hotel (bit too pricey for us dirty backpackers) but can be viewed on guided tours. The main viewing area and bar however are available to everyone and offer incredible views. This would be an amazing place to watch the annual Formula 1 race from but good luck getting up there during that…

Marina Bay Sands

Singapore Cable Car
Since it’s re-launch in June last year Singapore’s Cable Car has already received two awards in the Asian Attraction Awards.  The ride begins at the Jewel Box on Mount Faber (an attraction in itself) and takes you across to Sentosa via Keppel Harbour. The views throughout the journey are fantastic and there are a number of ways to travel including a brand new VIP car as well as dining options. On arrival you can take a look at the museum which shows the development of the cable car and how it used to look and how it was built – health and safety wasn’t so good back in those days!

Inside the cable car

Tiger Sky Tower Sentosa 
After stepping off the cable car you’ll find it hard not to notice the Tiger Sky Tower, formerly the Carlsberg Sky Tower and I’d recommend a beer for those of you not so fond of heights.  The cabin on the tower rises you up and rotates you at 131 meters.  As the cable car obviously has to come down for you to depart at Sentosa this tower is the best way to get a good view of the island and the surrounding area.

1-Altitude  – Raffles Place
Although we didn’t get round to visiting 1-Altitude it looks worth a visit. Not only because it’s on the roof of Raffles Place, the apparent birth place of the Singapore Sling cocktail but the 63^rd floor bar and Gallery offers great views over many of Singapore’s main attractions including those listed above. Of course mainly I just wanted the cocktail…

There you have it, take a bit of time out from all the endless shopping available and get yourself up there with the birds taking a birds-eye view over Singapore.

Viewpoints in Singapore -

The next stop on our whirlwind tour of Singapore was Sentosa Island. I’ll admit I knew nothing about this place before arriving in Singapore, other than the fact it was home to Universal Studios Singapore, which is of course why Kirsty was so desperate to go.

The only problem, it was raining… Unfortunately when you’re only in a country for four days (that sounds like a terribly short time but I did go into Spain for five minutes once…) you don’t have a lot of time to spare.  That means if you plan something and the weather is shit, you still have to go!

She can't help herself...

I really wanted to give the street luge they have on the island a go but the rain just wasn’t stopping, so I was dragged away towards Universal Studios and hopefully some dry entertainment.

There’s a lot going on in Universal Studio’s and obviously a lot of it’s aimed at kids, however there are plenty of things to keep the big kids entertained as well, so here’s my highlights for the grown ups (I’m by no means putting myself in that category)

Battlestar Galactica: HUMAN
This ride along with it’s partner, cyclone, are the real rollercoasters of the park. We ended up on this one first and enjoyed it a lot.  Straight after exiting we ran round the other side to jump on it’s partner and compare the two…

Battlestar Galactica: CYLON
Well, this one is the better of the two by far, in an upright position with your feet dangling below you set off in tandem with the ‘Human’ but the ride is much more thrilling. Big dips and loops seem a lot more fun when your not sitting normally!

Transformers: The Ride

Transformers: The Ride
We were lucky enough to visit the park the day before this ride opened, I say lucky because they were giving a short test run and of course we jumped at the chance.  It’s hard to describe this ride other than saying it’s awesome and like nothing I have been on before.  The 3D animation is insane and put together with the movement of the car it’s hard to remember you’re on a ride. You genuinely feel as though you’re flying round the streets and at one point as we fell from the roof of a building I honestly felt I was going to smash into the ground. I can’t do it justice at all in writing so make sure if you get the chance you check it out for yourself. Amazing.

Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride
I fully expected this ride to be complete pants but I was pleasantly surprised.  High speed loops through the darkness, sudden stops and unexpected backwards sections make this probably my second favourite ride in the park.

Lights! Camera! Action! Hosted by Steven Spielberg
At the time of visiting this was the only real attraction in the New York section of the park other than having your picture taken with a ‘celebrity’ or as a remember just some women in a sexy outfit – just as good. Basically you’re in a warehouse and shown how, what looks like a real life dramatic scene, can be created using special effects. It’s interesting to see how it’s done but after the transformers ride it just doesn’t quite meet the standard anymore.

Waterworld
To be honest this is really cheesy and pretty outdated but like all these shows the staff are really (do I mean overly?) enthusiastic and there are plenty of stunts and explosions to keep you entertained without wasting half your day. Worth a watch.

Waterworld Show

Our trip to Universal Studios Singapore fell midweek when the weather was pretty terrible – the bonus? The park wasn’t very busy and judging by the snaking lengths of some of the barriers it wouldn’t surprise me to be waiting an hour on a peak day for many of the attractions. The worst we experienced was half an hour for a ride that was literally open for the first time ever – not bad eh?

The whole park is set out well. It has different themes for different area’s that form a natural circle for you to follow.  The park isn’t too big either which means unlike a lot of these parks you don’t spend half the day walking between attractions.

Our verdict?  Well worth a visit providing you’re not one of those freaks that hates fun? I mean rides…

Also did I mention how good Transformers: The Ride is??

Universal Studios Singapore -

One of our must visit locations before we set off on our trip back in 2010 was Singapore! Following our original plans we should have been there about the same time we settled down in Bangkok last March… Since then we’ve had a couple of chances to go but being told over and over again just how expensive it is, we were a bit apprehensive.

Back in November Kirsty had over 5 weeks off work due to the flooding in Bangkok – so we had plenty of time to get out of the city and explore some new places.  We discussed a few different options but Singapore just kept popping up…. no more excuses – it was time to tick Singapore off the list.

Obviously Singapore is expensive and for that reason we chose to only stay for four nights, which meant making the most of every second. Beginning shortly after arriving with –  The Singapore flyer.

The Singapore Flyer

It’s the largest observation wheel in the world and you can learn all about it while waiting to board  - but we weren’t there for that. We weren’t only there just for the views either. We had been invited on a special “flight”  the VIP Singapore Sling flight to be exact.

What makes the VIP ride different?

Instead of piling into a capsule with a group of strangers we were led from the VIP waiting room past the queue into our own one. The  car was nicely decorated to give a more luxurious feel compared to the normal ones. And best of all, We were each handed a Singapore sling to sip on the ride round!

The views are pretty spectacular from the top of the wheel, especially on the second half of the trip as you are treated to views across the most famous area of Singapore including Marina Bay Sands.

We’re not usually the type to take the luxury option but having the freedom to move around the car and take pictures without getting in anyone’s way was well worth it, we also got to act like little kids pretending to be posh which is always fun.

Singapore Sling Flight

The flyer was a great way to start our trip – and I would recommend it to anyone coming here. We had great fun taking in all the sights while sipping away on our cocktails and snapping photos.

A normal ride on the Singapore Flyer costs S$29.50 for adults or you can have a more private experience with the Singapore Sling Flight for S$69. You can find out more about the flyer and other flight options here: Singapore Flyer

A big thanks to the Singapore Flyer for organising this for us.  As always all opinions are our own. 

Ain’t no Party like a VIP Party -

Welcome to round 68 of ‘Meet a Random Traveller’. The series dedicated to bring attention to fantastic people all around the world doing their thing.

Random Traveller 68

Bungeeeeeeee

Who are you?
I am Michael Hodson, a.k.a. mobilelawyer, the writer, photographer and publisher behind Go, See Write. Before I started full-time travel late in 2008, I was an attorney in Northwest Arkansas for about ten years. My law practice was focused on litigation, so I dealt with the types of cases that got me in the courtroom as much as possible, such as criminal defense, employment discrimination, personal injury and commercial litigation. I loved the challenge of convincing twelve total strangers (jurors) to agree with my client’s position, which probably is a reasonable segue to my current career, which focuses on trying to get total strangers to read what I write about travel, life and things hopefully worth pondering.

What’s the deal?
My blog was originally intended for two purposes, to keep family and friends informed about my RTW- no planes trip I took in 2009-10 and also to serve a note taking purpose for the book I am finally going to write about that journey. Over time, it has evolved into someone a lot more professional — at least I hope — and more serious than anything I originally envisioned. Travel blogging has come a long way since 2008 and I’m happily and hopefully ensconced deep in its future.

You have been on a few trains recently no?
Why yes I have indeed, though a few months back now. Then again, you did send me these questions months ago, right when I finished the Ultimate Train Challenge that I did with the wonderful Jeannie Mark, a.k.a the Nomadic Chick, and Nora Dunn, a.k.a. The Professional Hobo. We each did almost 15,000 miles in trains during the month of September, going from Lisbon to Saigon solely by means of rail transport. It is my single favorite way to travel and although the trip totally wiped me out, body and mind, I wouldn’t give back a minute of it. In fact, I think I might make it an annual event, so if anyone out there reading is free next September…

working away on the Trans-Mongolian

How long do you spend coming up with the answers for your 13 questions interviews and roughly how many do you have to delete after being too invasive?
I have spent about 10 or so hours coming up with about 100 questions that I rotate in for my Lucky 13 interviews. I like to think that most of them are fairly unique questions that give a little bit of insight into the travel bloggers I subject them to (like you two here) and allow readers to get a totally different perspective on the bloggers they read. Shockingly, I haven’t had too many complaints from the interviewees about the questions, which can be pretty personal sometimes, but I hope not overly invasive or rude. I do love a good embarrassing story though — then again, I’m more than willing to tell those on myself also, so perhaps the karma is just working for me there.

Do you plan on relaxing now after your long journey and if so, how?
Well, let’s pretend that I didn’t lose these interview questions in my inbox for a few months. I do plan on relaxing (and did) in SE Asia until the end of the year. Singapore and Malaysia for the first time. Meeting up with some great travel bloggers in Chiang Mai, the haven for us types. Seeing Angkor Wat again. Enjoying almost daily cheap massages and excellent street food. I even managed to buy a reasonably priced box of Romeo ´y Julietta cigars in the Siem Reap duty free shop. And… got to have some beers with you two, which in my eyes was one of the highlights of the entire three months I kicked around there.

On top of a lorry that I hitched a ride on in northern Kenya. And yes, I even enjoyed that bumpy and dusty ride

What’s Next?
Well my main goal is to keep traveling. Basically, I’d like to do this forever. I simply love the whole feeling of movement. Sure, I love seeing new places, and some old ones, and meeting up with friends along the road, but for me, I really revel in getting on a bus or train or hitchhiking a ride somewhere and just feeling the world go by my window. Sitting here on my parents’ back porch in Southern California as I answer these questions, smoking a cigar, I am wishing I was typing this up on a train from somewhere I’ve been to somewhere new. I can’t think of anything better.

Bigger picture, 2012 is going to be a big year for me on many fronts. I have committed to writing the book about my RTW-  no flights trip which I am currently calling One Lap, No Jetlag. I also have a movie screenplay, not about me, God, that I want to try to write this year, which will be an especially difficult task since dialog is not a forte of mine. I’ve also formed up a social media consulting group with a couple other great friends and we’ll hopefully have some announcements on that front soon. I’m working with a couple dozen amazing travel bloggers about forming up a non-profit Professional Travel Bloggers Association, to help everyone out that wants to travel and write for a living. There are a couple internet businesses I am getting close to finishing. And ‘o yea, I am going to be on the road for hopefully about 50 weeks of 2012.

I love my life.
A big thanks to Michael for taking part, great to have you.

Be sure to check him out:
Blog:  Go See Write
Twitter:  @mobilelawyer
Facebook:  /goseewrite

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Random Traveller 68 with Michael Hodson from Go See Write -