BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi all,

I'm Lisa, 33, high school English teacher on the south side of Chicago. The time off from job makes the travel habit a lot easier.

Perhaps it's not quite when I acquired travel fever, but I certainly got used to being in the car for 19 straight hours when I was on family vacations as a youngster, and I learned that the journey can be fun.

In 1990, at age 20, I went to London for a semester abroad... and that was it... I've been travelling ever since. In the past year, I have been to Spain, Ireland and Thailand. I've got a trip planned to the Pacific Northwest at the end of the month (then I've only got Alaska and Hawaii to visit!)

I've got a confession, too. No backpack (well, not one beyond a daypack). I'm lazy and I hate to carry things (I don't even carry a purse!)

Hi all!

My name is Jennifer Leopoldt and I’m a new BootsnAll intern for the summer. I have a great appreciation for travel although I haven’t done much, but that should change by August.

This summer I’m taking a massive road trip across the American West on my way out to L.A. – the takeoff point for a month-long trip to Thailand! My travels so far have been limited to the U.S. and a quick stint in Europe, so the prospect of spending a long time learning about one place excites me. In fact, the experience will give me material for a Thailand Travel Guide for BNA, so look for that later in the summer.

I’m originally from Grand Junction, Colo., on the Western Slope near the Utah border, and I spent 18 years there before heading to the Midwest for college. Although I miss Colorado’s mountains and starry skies, I’m having a great time in Chicago as a senior majoring in print journalism at Northwestern University. Right now I’m finishing an internship at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before heading back to Colorado to start the summer traveling.

Since I’m new at going abroad, I’d love to talk to people who have tips for my Thailand journey or who are interested in chatting about travel in general.

~ Jennifer

Hi, I’m Steve, damn glad to meet you. You can find the usual details in my profile and on my website, so I’ll skip it here. But here’s my story, as short and interesting as possible.

I was pretty well born with the travel bug, being in a Navy family and moving every few years. I spent those critical first few years of my life barefoot (and often naked I’m told) exploring the tropical paradise of Guam. Apparently one of my favorite pastimes was sticking my hand in beehives repeatedly week after week for a while. It takes me a while to learn a lesson sometimes.

I found myself back on Guam for my middle two years of high school (yes, that means three high schools for me over four years.) Instead of the usual “malls and movie theaters” high school experience, I became an avid SCUBA diver, a photographer and videographer, and also a licensed pilot. There was an eight hour period on my sixteenth birthday when I was legally licensed to fly an airplane solo, but I couldn’t legally drive a car by myself.

The flying and exploring bug led naturally to me joining the Navy as a pilot, and thereby escaping the cubicle job I held my first year after college. (What was I thinking?) The Navy has afforded me a raft of travel opportunities. Most recently I took an offbeat job as an exchange officer with the Dutch Navy, and that’s how I’ve come to live at present in Holland. I fell instantly in love with living overseas.

However last week I submitted my resignation letter from the Navy, but that’s a whole ‘nother story. I “should” get on with looking for an airline pilot or corporate job - or go to graduate school - but all I seem to do is spend hours reading BootsnAll and dreaming.

If I follow my soul the last place I’ll be next year is in anything resembling a conventional set of circumstances, and that’s fine by me. This site is definitely encouraging me. Well Done guys and gals – keep it up, I look forward to joining in.

Cheers!

HI all, Nice to meet you all in here,

I bumped into bootsnall by accident while bumming around the different sites and found that all you bootleggars (hehe.. hope you dont get offended) are such nice varried people. Thought it was nice to meet all the travel-hungry people here.

Well, am 45, from Gangtok, in Sikkim, a tiny Himalayan State sandwiched between Nepal and Bhutan. Born, brought up, and growin old too all the while here. I finished my Master's from Bomaby University in Modern History (now realised I should have studied ancient history as the world hasn't progressed much since). After working in Bombay for a couple of years came back to Sikkim and joined the government service. Too much pay and not enough jobs made me feel guilty and thus quit the jobs each time. Now I feel much better with a clean conscience although no more packets.

Started two business units from scratch on little money : one manufacturing outdoor gear like tents, sleepin bags, backpacks etc. and another running a trekking operations in the Himalayas. In the process met many interesting people who remained great friends since.

Listening to Blues and jazz music happens to be my favourite. I play the guitar, flute, mouth harmonica and performed shows while in college. My curiosity in nautral history got me interested in ornithology and botany. Too bad not anough time to do them any longer.

Travel and trek is one thing that has stayed with me. Every now and then when time allows I take my wife, a wildlife researcher and 2 daughters, 13 and 17 out on treks. I have travelled almost the whole of India and Nepal and am now lookin to extend my boundaries. Thinkin of doin some solo climbings later this year but open to companions along the way. Any of you interested?

Ciao and keep tramping.

ganden

[This message was edited by ganden on 02 June 2004 at 0:59.]

Hiya,

Just discovered the site today as a matter of fact. Thought I'd jump in. My name is Becca Howard and I was born in St Louis Park, MN. I've lived most of my life in this wonderful state. I never travelled much until the age of 22 when I decided to go on a mission. I lived in southern France for 16 months which was the best thing I ever did (up to this point). I've lived in Perigueux, Nimes, Toulouse, Aubagne, Montpellier, and Marseille. I know them well and love to talk about them. Since coming home almost two years ago I've travelled as often as possible, usually to visit friends in England. I am finishing my BA at the University of Minnesota and I'm doing it in Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, French and Hebrew. Maybe I'll even get a proper job one day. I hope to get my masters in Humanities and teach one day at some small college that will have me.

My next trip starts in less than two weeks. I will study at Stirling University in Scotland for two months and then spend a week or two visiting and bumming around in France and Switzerland.

Thanks for the welcome atmosphere and I'll see ya!

Bec Howard
Minnesotan and proud of it!

OK , I can do this one time as the instructions read.
Hi, Im Gregory, I was born in Hawaii, and currently live in Holland, 41 on 14 June. that would be yes 1963, well done!


CAN U SAY: 19 June 2004 , London, England..... PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!

greg s martin

Newbie here...recently found this site, and love it! I'm Kelly, and a university student, studying bilingual speech language pathology. After graduation in May 2005 grad school looms on the horizon. My sophmore year in college I spent studying abroad in Spain...and have been bitten my the travel bug ever since. Aside from Spain (absolutely my favorite place in the entire world), Ive spent time in England, and Northern Africa. This summer I am off to Costa Rica for a 2 month long internship- horray! Im off again....

Hi, am a newbie as well. My name is Michelle and I live in Manila, Philippines.

I love to travel and try to whenever I get the chance! My parents were the type who thought travel was an extravagance so never really did much of it when I was younger. Am trying to make up for it now!

My fiance is as nutty about travel as I am, so we both plan to keep traveling for as long as we can, and bring up the kids that way.

We're planning to take a long European trip where I'll try to trace my ancestral roots in Spain and he tries to trace roots in England.

I love coming to BootsnAll and reading about everyone's adventures because I get tips about where to go next!

Howdy! I'm Nick. Born in Greece almost 27 years ago. I hate introducting myself in self-written short-bio style, so I've been eyeing this thread with mixed feelings of avoidance and regret for quite some time. I'm bent, as is evident from this post.

I'm an IT consultant by trade. I'm also an amateur photographer, fanatic diver and pathologically travel-bugged. But I'm a geek nonetheless. I've spent sonciderable part of my life living in London, though currently I'm based in Athens, Greece.

I've been around this forum for quite a while, going on-and-off depending on a number of unpredictable factors such as workload, physical-state-of-travel (TM) and degree of internet addiction. My favourite forum-wise endeavour is the writing of exceedingly long posts touching items of controversy with sheer shamelessness and a distinct tendency of jumping into conclusions.

Forum members visiting Athens are eligible for a free beer or coffee, semi-guided-almost-lost walk around less-known parts of the city, and merciless quasi-philosophico-political discourse over just about everything I am knowledgeable of. (which in fact, is just about everything) Boring farts need not apply.

Travel Photography Blog

Hi all. My name is John Perrault and I am 25 years old. I am a proud Canadian and have live in Montreal my whole life, eh.

I have not done much travelling, having only gond to England when I was 17, but I really enjoy living vicariously through stories of people who travel. I would like to travel through Asia at some point see all the sights. I just don't have much of an idea of how much money I would need, but then again I guess thats one of the reasons why I am here

I am a lifelong fanatical fan of the Montreal Canadians and of course I try to drown out any Toronto Maple Griefs fans who are near me I also really enjoy sailing and camping, although it has been ages since I last camped.

I guess thats it for now and I hope to see more of you guys in the near future

John

Hi Fellow Travellers,

My name is Laura Ritter. I'm 46, raised 4 kids by myself and only went on ONE vacation my entire childhood. I know it's sad and I might need therapy because of it. When I was a single mom I made sure I took my kids on vacation every year! It was never far from home but we went--mostly to Maine and other east coast locations.

My favorite sport is caving. In a way caving is like a vacation on another planet. You see things most people will never see except in the pages of National Geographic. I caved in some of the most beautiful caves in the world when I travelled to New Zealand. I'm hoping to cave in the Ukraine soon.

As a child I thought about all the places I wanted to go and now I'm going. This year I've been to Italy, New Zealand and next Jamaica. My goal is three countries a year for the next 20 years and then I retire and who knows where I'll end up. I may pack my bags an move to some exotic location or join Habitat for Humanity and build houses for poor people. All I know is anywhere is better than Connecticut!

I plan on returning to NZ and seeing the South Island in 2005 then it's Costa Rica and maybe Iceland or Holland.

I love travelling cheaply so I can travel more. I stay in hostells and love them especially since I travel solo. Hostells give me the oportunity to meet people from all over the world so I never really get lonely.

I love this site!!! I spend way too much time here!!!!

Let's go...

Hello friends,

My name is Dan, and I'm a travelholic. I'm 26, no kids, and afraid of commitments. I was born in Kansas City, Missouri and have been on the road ever since. I currently reside in Houston, Texas but not for long. I worked on the road for five years in the states so I've been everywhere but Hawaii, and Alaska. I lived in Jamaica for a year, and wish I never left. I'm glad to find like-minded individuals and hope to share a few beers with ya'll in some out of the way places.

If your not good, atleast be good at it,
Dan

Hey there everyone,

I'm luling osofsky, or lulu for short-- new to the BnA boards, and also a summer intern for this lovely online establishment!

I'm 22, and a junior at wesleyan university in connecticut.
i'm pretty stoked for this internship because i could have sworn descartes said, "proficisco, ergo sum" (i travel, therefore i am).... and thus am only reifying my own existence by indulging in travel exploits...

This summer i will be writing BootsNAll guides for reykjavik, iceland, scotland, Hawaii, Easter Island, and for the Burning Man Festival in Black Rock Desert Nevada. I've been to all, loved all, most likely been in love whilst at all... and if you have too, or want to, and want to trade and share stories and even secrets with me, that would be good times. Nothing like reminiscing, or planning the next adventure!

I've also lived in Hong Kong, Taos NM, New York for most of my life, and attended universities in Hawaii, Scotland, field school in Easter Island, and now the grandest of them all, the wondrous state of Connecticut. each like an onion- layer upon layer, peeling back, the stories.

I also have a very bizarre approach to capitalization. i promise that my guides will be properly capitalized.
Please look out for them! and nice to (halfway) meet you!!

Hello All

I'm Helen. I'm hoping to meet some of you tomorrow at the London gathering but here's a little bit about me in the meantime.

I'm a 28 year old girl (yes still a girl). I grew up near Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Travelled with my family to the usual package holiday type places but also did lots of caravaning (we were members of the Caravan Club you know). Left home at 18 to go to University near London and I've never made it back.

Over recent years I've done lots of 'city breaks' and seen some great places. However I only recently caught the real travel bug after I spent a month backpacking the west coast of the USA.

Right now I'm back at work, as a Human Resources Officer, saving for my next trip.

I love music, film and literature and you'll often find me contributing to the treads on those themes. Some of my favorite things include Red Wine, cherries, courduroy, baking cakes and making new friends.

Boo

Hi everybody!

I am Lena and I am from Moscow, Russia, 24 years old. Travelled the world thanks to my parents since I was 2 and loved it. I've lived in the States for 10 years of my life, but then ended up coming back to Moscow and getting a job here. In addition to all the experiences of new people and cultures, travelling is also great because you realize what "home" means. Anyways, I have bumped into this site yesterday because my boyfriend and I came up with the idea of doing a RTW trip and both became completely obsessed with it. So here I was sitting in my cubicle typing away "Round the world travel" in all possible search engines, when your guys' site came up and got me even more addicted to the idea. So now all I do is think of all the possible ways to save up money and leave my job for at least 3-4 months. It's incredible how helpful this site is and I am looking forward to talking and maybe even seeing some of you some day on the road.

Lena

Hi Everybody!

My name is Jenny and I'm going to be interning with BootsnAll this summer (you can read my bio and the other interns' under the "Meet the Interns" topic). My travel experience is not at all extensive, but I hope to change that in the next few years.

I'm a journalism student at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN, and my writing for the site will be mostly based on finding things to do in the oh-so-unappreciated midwest. I'll also be writing a travel guide on Chicago (home of Oprah, the Cubs, and the closest thing you'll find to a seaside around, how could you go wrong?).

If anybody knows the city well and has any suggestions for me, I'd love to hear them! Same goes for anyone who's ever put serious effort into scrounging up fun in an area devoid of, well, most things.

I'm looking forward to being involved here on the boards, and hopefully I can learn enough from everyone here so when I do start traveling seriously, I'll know where to start!

Jenny D.

Welcome Jenny522.

"If anybody ... has any suggestions for me, "

While Sean is gone, can you get rid of all those sports posters?

Kia Ora!
I’m Michelle and I’ve lived in Hamilton, New Zealand all my life (=25 and a bit years). My first overseas travel was when I was 18, to Kyoto, Japan, to live for 10 months as a high school exchange student. It was absolutely awesome! While I think I’d always had a passion for travel, this trip truly ignited it, and taught me that you get out what you put in, and to make the most of each moment. This world is such a beautiful place!

That was also where I found my other passion – taiko (big Japanese drums!). A friend and I started a group together at University here, we’ve been going for five years and it is great!!

So, yeah I did the study thing and have completed my MSc (master of biological sciences) this year. I’m currently working as a technician – planning to get some funds for the big OE trip next year.

I was able to do a couple of little trips – back to Japan, and a visit to Sydney. But now I can’t wait any longer. I gotta get out there and see this big beautiful world!! So now I’m planning a RTW for next year! I’m already excited about it, even though I haven’t actually planned much yet…..so I’m looking forward to getting lots of tips from this site!

Interesting that the real old timers here haven't put themselves down to scrutiny. What's up Old Guard? Maybe you all know each other, but we don't!

D

______________________________


Aw crud...

I'm Eric Bayne (hence the very cryptic and oh-so-original "EB" moniker.) I grew up in Arkansas and grew out in Texas.

I joined B'n'A to meet chicks at home in my underwear. If you receive unsolicited big underwear at your home, you have been chosen, I'll be over later.

I am a meat-eating gun-toting LIBERAL.

I am very self-absorbed so I skipped everybody else's bios so's I could write mine.
You see, it *is* all about me.

Except for the gal from the Berkshires. Hubba. I love the Berkshire Mtns., and the best time I ever had at a gentlemen's club was in Springfield Mass, go figure.

I used to be a lawyer and now I'm a teacher (assuming I get a contract this year) although sometimes I still practice a little.

Everything I have ever said could and was used against me by my ex-wife, and I sorta expect my Blog will show up as Exhibit A on a child custody suit.

One of these days I'm gonna shut up and actually go somewhere, hopefully with James Bond (Piecar) 'cause I'm all about the drama, baby.

Free your mind, your ass will follow. - Oliver Stone
bloggylicious

[This message was edited by EB on 20 June 2004 at 9:31.]

[This message was edited by EB on 20 June 2004 at 10:02.]