Matthew in the German Alps, 2008
I’m Matthew and soon I’ll be contributing a regular column to GoBackpacking. I’m currently planning a 4 month backpacking trip to South-East Asia and my posts will explain what is involved with planning a long term trip, everything from budgeting to visas. In the past of I’ve backpacked through Western Europe and Cuba, two experiences that I want to share with GoBackpacking readers. I had some unrepeatable and amazingly unique experiences that are just dying to be told.
I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, right in the heart of Canada. As a outdoors person I’ll always seek out the call of the wild in my travels, and I’ll try anything once. To me travel will always been about pushing myself outside my comfort zone, those sweaty palms and queasy stomachs are always worth it at the end of the night. I’m looking forward to sharing my preparation with you, and hopefully make your trip to Asia a whole lot simpler.
About the Author:
Matthew is the author of 14 posts on Go Backpacking.
Matthew is a backpacker with a sense of adventure who will always be looking for the next story to share with his fellow travelers. When he isn't on the road or scheming to get away from it all he enjoys a odd mix of the outdoors, and technology. Twitter: http://twitter.com/backpackermatt Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mfalk/
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Categories: Blogging, Pre-trip
Post tags: Asia, blogsherpa, canada, cuba, Europe, manitoba, winnipeg
12 Comments
Really looking forward to the Cuba posts!! I've been pondering traveling there next year!
I don't know if I can take advice from a Flames fan :) I guess we'll see…
Me too! Would you go before the US officially allows it (via Mexico) or do you have another passport you could use?
Well, I only have an American passport…and I did consider going before the embargo was lifted. I've heard that they don't always stamp your passport…but I will have to do a WHOLE lot more hard thinking and research before I make that choice :-)
I spoke to a few Americans who went to Cuba through Mexico and they confirmed that the Cubans don't stamp the American passport, but rather give you a piece of paper to carry around. Americans can stay up to 2 months. I think it'd be a lot more exciting to go this way then once the embargo is listed. :)
It was actually a Christmas gift, I'm a Canucks fan so it's all good!
I agree!! And I'm glad you've confirmed that its possible! And it would be more fun to go now, lol, guess we're both rebels :-) You'll have to let me know if you're heading there anytime soon…it wouldn't take a whole lot to persuade me to hop on a flight to meet up for coffees in Havana!! ;-)
The border control agents give you a stamped card that must be returned in order to leave the country, so don't loose it! I was tempted to ask for a stamp in my passport but decided against it. My reccomendation would be to do everything in your power to go before the embargo, even before I left I knew that mass cheap tourism would alter the county drastically. If your worried about problems with the US government don't worry. http://bit.ly/1wtAjE
Thanks for the additional info Matthew! That article gave me a lot of confidence actually…and w/out the huge threat of fines and jail I'm pretty inclined to go, I'll hit you up for more info if I add it to my travels next year! :-)
Hey. best of luck with your future travels. im currently based in bangkok and traveling outward until january now, and if there's any advice i want to give you, it's to just wing it. cheers, and feel free to get in touch. i look forward to following you.
I agree with the “wing it” advice and I have a feeling that's the kind of guy Matthew is too!
I use technology as well when my wife and I are travelling. we use our asus eee pc to surf for the best spot and luckily we stumbled upon LastMinuteTravel. wich gave us more opportunity to travel more and pay less than other travel guide sites