The Life Less Travelled: Adventures

The longer one travels, the more craziness they experience. The following is a growing list of the crazier of my adventures:

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1. Negotiated with my way out of a dark alley in Syria. The pimps and drugs dealers gave me my life and $3.

2. Regained control of my hand from another man's genitals, in Lebanon.

3. [Left] As a social experiment, I shaved only one side of my full beard and carried on with life as normal for three days in Barcelona. [Read more]

4. Saved a man's life in Nepal. [Read more]

5. When swimming in the Dead Sea in Jordan, I curiously wanted to see what it looked like UNDER the water. So I opened my eyes. Please note: Salt in the eyes is not your friend. Several injuries ensued in the period of blindness which followed.

6. [Left] Didn't bathe for 18 days while trekking through the Himalayas (due to risk of pneumonia). I mistakenly thought all the dirt was a beautiful tan but was deeply shocked when it washed off in Kathmandu.

7. Illegally crossed the closed border between Armenia and Turkey to get a look at the old, medieval capital city of Armenia. Unfortunately Russians soldiers were waiting for me when I tried to return. [Read more]

8. [Right] Became the red carpet at La Tomatina - the tomato-throwing festival in Buñol, Spain. [Read more]

9. Climbed a mountain in Iceland to get a better view of a glacier, but lost my orientation when running away from attacking birds on top, and so lost my way down.

10. Pretended to be an Oxford University professor all over Egypt - to get entrance discounts - until I met an enthusiastic student who insistently took me to her university to meet her professors. Poo!

11. Got into an argument with under-cover policemen and almost got arrested in Valencia when I refused to believe they were actually police. They were.

12. [Below] Hitchhiked from Switzerland to Istanbul. [Read more]

13. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, on a day that I decided not to wear underwear, I accidentally didn't zip-up properly and consequently walked 5-6 blocks with my penis poking out of my shorts. I felt a cool, refreshing breeze between my legs and finally looked down. The local, homeless woman said hello to me for the first time that morning.

14. [Right] Rafted down a 7-metre waterfall, bungee-jumped and sky-dived all in one day in New Zealand. [Read more]

15. Have somehow attained celebrity status in third-world countries. Hence there are photos of me circulating on the internet, posing with ecstatic celebrity-spotters.

16. Ripped off a portion of my toe while free-climbing in the Jordanian dessert. (Mental note: sandstone is SOFT rock.) I fell a few meters and landed on a German guy. The Bedouins quickly managed my injury with burning coals.

17. [Left] Passed myself off as a Press Photographer at a political rally in Yerevan to get within 2-meters of the former president of Armenia.

18. Won a coloring competition when I was 8 years old. I wasn't travelling at the time but it was still bloody exciting!

19. Organised a picnic for 130-140 people in Argentina on Australia Day and served everyone Vegemite (Australian food) which was sent over by random people from Australia after I placed requests in public forums. [Read more]

20. [Right] Outside a small village Brazil, I slipped on a natural, rock water-slide and had to go to hospital due to landing on my head. Instead of resting, the next day I trekked 7-hours through the rainforest with a local man - to get to the next village. Contrary to what he said, he did not know where he was going and hence we were lost for a several hours. [Read more]

21. Almost drowned on a deserted wave beach in New Zealand. [Read more]

22. [Left] While trekking up a mountain in Georgia, a group of men - who were skinning and gutting a lamb - called me over to joined their feast. It was delicious, but I had to "toilet" five times in the hour that followed.