Snowdoming Around the World 2010/2011: A trip in review
Monday, January 02, 2012
Days Away From Home: 315
Countries Visited: 8
Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Vietnam, Canada, USA(I also visited Don Sak in Laos; stood at the Myanmar border; and transited through Hong Kong and New Zealand)
Flights Taken: 28
Gold Coast – Kuala Lumpur; Kuala Lumpur – Kota Kinabalu; Labuan – Miri; Miri – Kuching; Kuching – Singapore; Krabi – Bangkok; Phnom Penh – Kuala Lumpur; Kuala Lumpur – Delhi; Delhi – Kuala Lumpur; Kuala Lumpur – Hanoi; Hanoi – Danang; Nha Trang – Ho Chi Minh City; Ho Chi Minh City – Kuala Lumpur; Kuala Lumpur – Hong Kong; Hong Kong – Vancouver; Calgary – Vancouver; Vancouver – Los Angeles; Los Angeles – San Francisco; Las Vegas – Atlanta; Atlanta – Buffalo; Buffalo – Detroit; Detroit – Boston; Boston – Washington; New York – Los Angeles; Los Angeles – Sacramento; Sacramento – Los Angeles; Los Angeles - Auckland; Auckland - Brisbane
Airlines Flown: 10
Air Asia; MASwings; Tiger Airways; Jetstar; Cathay Pacific; Air Canada; American Airlines; Delta; Air Tran; Air New Zealand
Snowdomes Collected: Too many to remember.
My favourite is from Zion National Park, and contains sand rather than ‘snow’.
Longest consecutive period spent sharing a room: November 23rd, 2010 to May 27th, 2011 (185 days)
To save costs, I spent about 90% of the trip sharing a room with others. This includes:
• Sharing a bunk with Kat in Whistler for five months
• Sharing a tent for the duration of the Trek America tour
• Sharing a bed with Amanda during our Canadian road-trip
• Sleeping in dorm rooms across Asia and North America, ranging from 2-24 bunks.
Some of the Amazing Places I Visited:
• Borneo
• Maya Beach(‘The Beach‘)
• Khao San Road
• Golden Triangle
• Angkor Wat
• Taj Mahal
• Halong Bay
• Canadian Rockies
• Golden Gate Bridge
• Route 66
• Grand Canyon
• Niagara Falls
• New York
Favourite Experiences:
• Reaching the summit of Mt Kinabalu on the fourth day of my trip. It was raining, freezing and pitch-black, but the view on the way down was amazing.
• Random night out in Bangkok with an Irishman and four German boys – it started at midnight drinking on milk crates at a road-side bar, before we somehow all piled into one tuk-tuk and ended up at a sleazy dance bar until 5am.
• Getting a rip in my singlet fixed for 25c after a game of charades with an old lady in Cambodia.
• The gold medal match between Australia and New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games. Literally the best match in history, entering double extra-time – it was just unfortunate that Australia lost.
• Having my hair straightened in Vietnam – my blonde hair attracted the attention of everyone in the salon, and all for $1!
• Australia Day in Whistler – we were on the ski slopes at 9am wearing Aussie flag capes and tattoos and in a nightclub at 2pm, dancing to Yolande Be Cool and eating stale Jaffas and lamingtons.
• Attending a Vancouver Canucks vs Calgary Flames hockey match in Vancouver – very violent and very fast. We were all instantly converted as hockey tragics.
• Being rescued by Officer Petty after breaking down just outside of Bakersfield, California.
• NKOTBSB concert in New York – seriously the best concert ever.
• Lugging Amy’s shopping to the post office at Grand Central station. It took us 2.5 hours and $500 to send it back to Australia.
Some of the Amazing Things I Did:
• Saw Tom Daley (world diving champion) being interviewed on the rooftop of Marina Bay Sands Resort.
• Did yoga in Langkawi alongside water buffaloes and roosters.
• Kayaked around Maya Bay, Halong Bay, and James Bond Island.
• Read ‘The Beach’ whilst sitting on ‘The Beach’.
• Visited a long-neck tribe in Thailand.
• Abseiled and zip-trekked through the Thai jungle with a group of Russians who spoke no English.
• Experienced the x-rated nightlife on Walking Street, Pattaya.
• Met the tigers at the Tiger Temple in Thailand and saw wild orangutans in Borneo.
• Watched the sun rise at Angkor Wat.
• Went to India! I always said I would never go, so am I very proud of the fact that I went, and by myself to boot!
• Became friends with the chief of police at Tyagaraj Stadium in Delhi, earning me early entry to the stadium on gold medal day (very important as it was unallocated seating).
• Spent a night on Halong Bay.
• Caught a sleeper bus in Vietnam (the seat was 80cm wide and 1m long, and I had to sleep with my bag and shoes on top of me for the 14 hour ride).
• Learnt to ski (badly). I realised very quickly that I wasn‘t very good and didn‘t like going fast downhill.
• Learnt to drive on the right side of the road in Canada.
• Drove the Icefields Parkway and explored the Athabasca Glacier in the Canadian Rockies.
• Picnicked on a snow-covered island in Jasper in freezing temperatures.
• Mountain biked in a snowstorm in Banff.
• Toured the penthouse of the Fairmont Banff Springs and ate Easter lunch at the Fairmont Lake Louise.
• Saw the Victoria Secret models in Los Angeles.
• Joined the fitness-crazed Los Angelenos with morning runs along Santa Monica Beach.
• Went to Britney Spears’ opening concert for her Femme Fatale tour in Sacramento.
• Went to Universal Studios (Singapore) and California Disney (Los Angeles).
• Trekked through the snow to see the ancient and huge sequoias in Yosemite National Park.
• Took a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon.
• Shopped on Fifth Avenue (New York), Orchard Road (Singapore), and Rodeo Drive (Los Angeles).
• Toured Harvard and followed the Freedom Trail in Boston.
• Saw the hat Abraham Lincoln was wearing when he was shot; Michelle Obama’s inauguration dress; and other famous items in American history at the Museum of American History, Washington DC.
• Visited Arlington National Cemetery and paid my respects to JFK and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
• Toured Wall Street, Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, the Natural History Museum and Times Square in New York.
• Tried to find number plates from all 50 American states (we missed out on four).
• Enjoyed the luxury of Le Meridien (Phuket), MGM Grand (Las Vegas), Roosevelt Hotel (New York) and Park Hotel (New Delhi).
Some of the Less Than Amazing Experiences:
• Being chased into the water by a pack of fighting monkeys in Thailand.
• Getting ripped off on the border crossing between Thailand and Cambodia.
• Being asked, ‘how much?’ in a hotel lobby in Cambodia.
• Day one of the Commonwealth Games. Security tried to stop me from taking anything into the stadium (including my small bag, phone, keys, camera and money); there was no food or drink available and pass outs were prohibited; and there were no spectators in the stadium.
• My hotel in Delhi – dead mosquitos at the breakfast table; a mattress that could break your back; no hot water in the shower for two weeks …
• Getting kicked by a Vietnamese person trying to rip off my travel partner and I on the train to Sapa.
• Catching a girl trying to open my backpack in Hanoi.
• Being flooded in at Diamond Bay Resort (home of Miss Universe 2008).
• Breaking not one but two cameras: the first in Thailand; and the second in Canada.
• German flatmate in Whistler - young and had never lived out of home before.
• Witnessing a man die on a hiking trail in Yosemite.
• Breaking a tooth and being diagnosed with bronchitis on the same day in Las Vegas.
• The (public) bus ride both to and from Buffalo Airport, New York.
New Favourite Foods:
• Bagels
• Dosai (Indian crepe)
• Kaya jam (Made with egg and coconut)
• Chee Khue (Radish ‘cake’)
• Chai Tow Kway (Fried carrot ‘cake’)
• Milo ice (Hot milo poured over ice)
• Flatbread from Subway
• Sweet potato fries, especially from the Roundhouse Lodge on Whistler mountain
• Thai pancakes with condensed milk
• 5c grilled rice sticks (Walking Street Market, Chiang Mai)
• Duo chocolate tarts (made by street kids in Vietnam)
• McGriddles
• Pinkberry yoghurt
• Anything from Café Central, Siem Reap
• Anything from Khan Market, New Delhi
• Anything from Hoi An or Siem Reap
Top Tip:
Combine your trip with an event or an experience. For example, my time in Borneo was made more exciting because I climbed Mt Kinabalu; and I still can’t believe I was actually there at the netball gold medal match at the Commonwealth Games.
What’s next?
In some ways, I feel I have gotten the ’year-off backpacking’ bug out of my system. I finally experienced university dorm life in Whistler and spent months backpacking across Asia with the 20-something crowd.
Living in Canada made me realise just how easy it is to move to another country though, so my aim is to move overseas by February 2013 – just as soon as I decide on a location! I would love to live in New York - my favourite destination of the trip - but living in Europe would be amazing as well. I wish I could stop time and do it all!
My bucket list is always growing, but some of my 'must-dos' include:
1. Hiking the Inca Trail
2. Exploring Tanzania and Kenya and hiking with the mountain gorillas in Uganda
3. Attending Wimbledon
4. Island-hopping in the Caribbean
5. Going back to New York
6. Visiting Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany
7. Attending the Olympic Games
8. Exploring Egypt, Syria, and Jordan
9. Experiencing ANZAC Day at Gallipoli
Countries Visited: 8
Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Vietnam, Canada, USA(I also visited Don Sak in Laos; stood at the Myanmar border; and transited through Hong Kong and New Zealand)
Flights Taken: 28
Gold Coast – Kuala Lumpur; Kuala Lumpur – Kota Kinabalu; Labuan – Miri; Miri – Kuching; Kuching – Singapore; Krabi – Bangkok; Phnom Penh – Kuala Lumpur; Kuala Lumpur – Delhi; Delhi – Kuala Lumpur; Kuala Lumpur – Hanoi; Hanoi – Danang; Nha Trang – Ho Chi Minh City; Ho Chi Minh City – Kuala Lumpur; Kuala Lumpur – Hong Kong; Hong Kong – Vancouver; Calgary – Vancouver; Vancouver – Los Angeles; Los Angeles – San Francisco; Las Vegas – Atlanta; Atlanta – Buffalo; Buffalo – Detroit; Detroit – Boston; Boston – Washington; New York – Los Angeles; Los Angeles – Sacramento; Sacramento – Los Angeles; Los Angeles - Auckland; Auckland - Brisbane
Airlines Flown: 10
Air Asia; MASwings; Tiger Airways; Jetstar; Cathay Pacific; Air Canada; American Airlines; Delta; Air Tran; Air New Zealand
Snowdomes Collected: Too many to remember.
My favourite is from Zion National Park, and contains sand rather than ‘snow’.
Longest consecutive period spent sharing a room: November 23rd, 2010 to May 27th, 2011 (185 days)
To save costs, I spent about 90% of the trip sharing a room with others. This includes:
• Sharing a bunk with Kat in Whistler for five months
• Sharing a tent for the duration of the Trek America tour
• Sharing a bed with Amanda during our Canadian road-trip
• Sleeping in dorm rooms across Asia and North America, ranging from 2-24 bunks.
Some of the Amazing Places I Visited:
• Borneo
• Maya Beach(‘The Beach‘)
• Khao San Road
• Golden Triangle
• Angkor Wat
• Taj Mahal
• Halong Bay
• Canadian Rockies
• Golden Gate Bridge
• Route 66
• Grand Canyon
• Niagara Falls
• New York
Favourite Experiences:
• Reaching the summit of Mt Kinabalu on the fourth day of my trip. It was raining, freezing and pitch-black, but the view on the way down was amazing.
• Random night out in Bangkok with an Irishman and four German boys – it started at midnight drinking on milk crates at a road-side bar, before we somehow all piled into one tuk-tuk and ended up at a sleazy dance bar until 5am.
• Getting a rip in my singlet fixed for 25c after a game of charades with an old lady in Cambodia.
• The gold medal match between Australia and New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games. Literally the best match in history, entering double extra-time – it was just unfortunate that Australia lost.
• Having my hair straightened in Vietnam – my blonde hair attracted the attention of everyone in the salon, and all for $1!
• Australia Day in Whistler – we were on the ski slopes at 9am wearing Aussie flag capes and tattoos and in a nightclub at 2pm, dancing to Yolande Be Cool and eating stale Jaffas and lamingtons.
• Attending a Vancouver Canucks vs Calgary Flames hockey match in Vancouver – very violent and very fast. We were all instantly converted as hockey tragics.
• Being rescued by Officer Petty after breaking down just outside of Bakersfield, California.
• NKOTBSB concert in New York – seriously the best concert ever.
• Lugging Amy’s shopping to the post office at Grand Central station. It took us 2.5 hours and $500 to send it back to Australia.
Some of the Amazing Things I Did:
• Saw Tom Daley (world diving champion) being interviewed on the rooftop of Marina Bay Sands Resort.
• Did yoga in Langkawi alongside water buffaloes and roosters.
• Kayaked around Maya Bay, Halong Bay, and James Bond Island.
• Read ‘The Beach’ whilst sitting on ‘The Beach’.
• Visited a long-neck tribe in Thailand.
• Abseiled and zip-trekked through the Thai jungle with a group of Russians who spoke no English.
• Experienced the x-rated nightlife on Walking Street, Pattaya.
• Met the tigers at the Tiger Temple in Thailand and saw wild orangutans in Borneo.
• Watched the sun rise at Angkor Wat.
• Went to India! I always said I would never go, so am I very proud of the fact that I went, and by myself to boot!
• Became friends with the chief of police at Tyagaraj Stadium in Delhi, earning me early entry to the stadium on gold medal day (very important as it was unallocated seating).
• Spent a night on Halong Bay.
• Caught a sleeper bus in Vietnam (the seat was 80cm wide and 1m long, and I had to sleep with my bag and shoes on top of me for the 14 hour ride).
• Learnt to ski (badly). I realised very quickly that I wasn‘t very good and didn‘t like going fast downhill.
• Learnt to drive on the right side of the road in Canada.
• Drove the Icefields Parkway and explored the Athabasca Glacier in the Canadian Rockies.
• Picnicked on a snow-covered island in Jasper in freezing temperatures.
• Mountain biked in a snowstorm in Banff.
• Toured the penthouse of the Fairmont Banff Springs and ate Easter lunch at the Fairmont Lake Louise.
• Saw the Victoria Secret models in Los Angeles.
• Joined the fitness-crazed Los Angelenos with morning runs along Santa Monica Beach.
• Went to Britney Spears’ opening concert for her Femme Fatale tour in Sacramento.
• Went to Universal Studios (Singapore) and California Disney (Los Angeles).
• Trekked through the snow to see the ancient and huge sequoias in Yosemite National Park.
• Took a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon.
• Shopped on Fifth Avenue (New York), Orchard Road (Singapore), and Rodeo Drive (Los Angeles).
• Toured Harvard and followed the Freedom Trail in Boston.
• Saw the hat Abraham Lincoln was wearing when he was shot; Michelle Obama’s inauguration dress; and other famous items in American history at the Museum of American History, Washington DC.
• Visited Arlington National Cemetery and paid my respects to JFK and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
• Toured Wall Street, Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, the Natural History Museum and Times Square in New York.
• Tried to find number plates from all 50 American states (we missed out on four).
• Enjoyed the luxury of Le Meridien (Phuket), MGM Grand (Las Vegas), Roosevelt Hotel (New York) and Park Hotel (New Delhi).
Some of the Less Than Amazing Experiences:
• Being chased into the water by a pack of fighting monkeys in Thailand.
• Getting ripped off on the border crossing between Thailand and Cambodia.
• Being asked, ‘how much?’ in a hotel lobby in Cambodia.
• Day one of the Commonwealth Games. Security tried to stop me from taking anything into the stadium (including my small bag, phone, keys, camera and money); there was no food or drink available and pass outs were prohibited; and there were no spectators in the stadium.
• My hotel in Delhi – dead mosquitos at the breakfast table; a mattress that could break your back; no hot water in the shower for two weeks …
• Getting kicked by a Vietnamese person trying to rip off my travel partner and I on the train to Sapa.
• Catching a girl trying to open my backpack in Hanoi.
• Being flooded in at Diamond Bay Resort (home of Miss Universe 2008).
• Breaking not one but two cameras: the first in Thailand; and the second in Canada.
• German flatmate in Whistler - young and had never lived out of home before.
• Witnessing a man die on a hiking trail in Yosemite.
• Breaking a tooth and being diagnosed with bronchitis on the same day in Las Vegas.
• The (public) bus ride both to and from Buffalo Airport, New York.
New Favourite Foods:
• Bagels
• Dosai (Indian crepe)
• Kaya jam (Made with egg and coconut)
• Chee Khue (Radish ‘cake’)
• Chai Tow Kway (Fried carrot ‘cake’)
• Milo ice (Hot milo poured over ice)
• Flatbread from Subway
• Sweet potato fries, especially from the Roundhouse Lodge on Whistler mountain
• Thai pancakes with condensed milk
• 5c grilled rice sticks (Walking Street Market, Chiang Mai)
• Duo chocolate tarts (made by street kids in Vietnam)
• McGriddles
• Pinkberry yoghurt
• Anything from Café Central, Siem Reap
• Anything from Khan Market, New Delhi
• Anything from Hoi An or Siem Reap
Top Tip:
Combine your trip with an event or an experience. For example, my time in Borneo was made more exciting because I climbed Mt Kinabalu; and I still can’t believe I was actually there at the netball gold medal match at the Commonwealth Games.
What’s next?
In some ways, I feel I have gotten the ’year-off backpacking’ bug out of my system. I finally experienced university dorm life in Whistler and spent months backpacking across Asia with the 20-something crowd.
Living in Canada made me realise just how easy it is to move to another country though, so my aim is to move overseas by February 2013 – just as soon as I decide on a location! I would love to live in New York - my favourite destination of the trip - but living in Europe would be amazing as well. I wish I could stop time and do it all!
My bucket list is always growing, but some of my 'must-dos' include:
1. Hiking the Inca Trail
2. Exploring Tanzania and Kenya and hiking with the mountain gorillas in Uganda
3. Attending Wimbledon
4. Island-hopping in the Caribbean
5. Going back to New York
6. Visiting Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany
7. Attending the Olympic Games
8. Exploring Egypt, Syria, and Jordan
9. Experiencing ANZAC Day at Gallipoli
