Life Updates | Backpackingmatt.com

backpackingmatt January 27, 2011

January Update, Links, & The Next Step

As I write this monthly update, I’m on a US Airways flight from DFW – LAX (with a surprising amount of leg room). My 2011 is off to a fantastic start.

Fantastic, yet certainly chaotic. I’ve been balancing trips around the US to visit friends and family, with the day-to-day responsibilities of running a travel blog, along with a seemingly endless battle with an embassy to get a visa.

Though I spent longer in the US than I initially anticipated, it was an excellent refresher and break from living out of a backpack. A break that I feel is essential to successful long term travel. It’s trips home that remind me why I’m living the lifestyle I am.

I know I’m not ready to settle down permanently and will continue to make steps that will ultimately allow me to live a location independent lifestyle filled with travel and experiencing the unknown.

I’ve been humbled over the past weeks with the support I’ve received through comments, retweets, rising traffic numbers, and mentions throughout the travel blog community. It’s a rewarding community to be a part of, and anyone considering a long term backpacking or RTW trip should make sure to get involved.

Here are some mentions Backpackingmatt.com has received in the travel blogosphere over the past couple weeks:

Matt of NomadicMatt.com listed me as one of his Favorite Travel Blogs from 2010. A great mention from the guy that started it all. Matt recently wrote a book on how you can travel the world for $50 per day – an excellent read, check it out.
Johnny Vagabond listed Backpackingmatt.com as one of 10 Hot Travel Blogs to Watch in 2011.
Christine of c’ est Christine recommended my post 10 Fascinating Places I Traveled to in 2010 as an inspirational read for those looking to Travel More in 2011. Christine is off to Australia next month – stop by and wish her luck.
GoMadNomad.com featured a photo I captured in beautiful Raglan, New Zealand, in his Photo of the Week series.
My recent travel video, Exploring Bali, was featured on the new Travelfish.org Bali Blog.

The Next Step for Backpackingmatt.com …

I have a number of new initiatives in the works for Backpackingmatt.com.

I’ll be releasing these updates periodically over the coming weeks and months, so be sure to watch this space. I’m working on a minor redesign, seeking out a contributing writer, developing a partnering website, as well as adding an exciting new section to Backpackingmatt.com.

Follow me on Twitter, become a Fan on Facebook, and subscribe to my RSS feed to make sure you don’t miss out on any of these updates.

The Next Step for Me …

I’m on this US Airways flight to LAX, as once I arrive I’ll be catching a long-haul flight back to beautiful Aotearoa – New Zealand.

I’ll be returning to Queenstown on the stunning South Island where I’ll be running NZbyBike.com.

NZbyBike is the leading marketing company for cycle tourism in New Zealand – a one-stop shop for anyone considering a cycling holiday. New Zealand is one of the world’s top destinations for mountain biking and through detailed maps, ride notes, and a directory of cycle-friendly operators, NZbyBike.com promotes New Zealand as a bloody great place to cycle.

We’re based in the Queenstown Innovation Centre, and I’m honored to work alongside a brilliant group of guys who are experts in web design and well involved in the New Zealand tourism industry.

I’m looking forward to a 2011 filled with travel – around New Zealand, over to Australia, and hopefully a trip back to Southeast Asia as well. If you’re passing through New Zealand, please feel free to email me for advice and swing through Queenstown to say hello.

Happy Travels,

(Backpacking)Matt
‘Life’s a Journey‘

Do you have exciting travel plans for 2011? Let me know in the comments section below.

backpackingmatt December 8, 2010

December Update, Links, & Your Chance to Win $250

Life Updates 65 Replies

I have just lived a month of my life that I’ll remember forever. My experience backpacking in Thailand was absolutely fantastic – though drastically different than I expected.

I left beautiful Queenstown, New Zealand, hoping to ‘get away from it all;’ I wanted a place to clear my head, focus on Backpackingmatt.com, and determine what was next. Shortly after arriving in Bangkok, I began meeting fellow travel bloggers who helped to make my experience in Thailand what it was.

About one week ago, I boarded my first of four flights and 45 hours of travel that would land me back in the US of A. Despite two long-haul flights of 14 and 8 hours, it was a surprisingly painless experience (these tips on surviving a long haul flight surely helped). Since arriving back in US, I’ve been catching up with friends & family and readjusting to life in America.

In the coming weeks I’ll be trying to stay warm in Iowa while figuring out the details for the next step in my journey.

Mentions Throughout the Travel Blog Community

This past month saw Backpackingmatt.com mentioned in a couple places throughout the travel blog community:

Christine Gilbert of AlmostFearless.com included Backpackingmatt.com in The Best of 2010: 100 Inspired Travel Blogs. It’s a great honor as Christine runs one of the best-read travel blogs online. If you’re not following her and her fascinating story, you’re missing out.
Amanda of Dangerous-Business.com included my recent travel video Exploring Bali in her ‘Best Blogs of the Week‘ post.
The Never Ending Voyage recently hosted the Gen Y Travel Blog Carnival and selected my First Impressions: Southeast Asia post in the best of the month’s “Travel Stories” category.

Thank You & Your Chance to Win $250

It’s been quite the inaugural year for Backpackingmatt.com; I’ve been truly overwhelmed with the support I’ve recieved from the travel blog community & friends who have followed my journey. Be it a tweet, a comment, a shared beer, or a supportive email, I’ve enjoyed getting to know all of you.

In an effort to thank you for your support in the past 12 months, I’m giving away $250.

This $250 gift comes in two forms.

First, I’ve teamed up with HotelClub.com, and we’re giving away a $200 voucher that can be used at any of their almost 70,000 accommodation options worldwide.
Second, I’m going to send you $50 that you can use however you like. I considered an Amazon.com or equivalent voucher, but as many of you are on the road I know cold hard cash is hard to beat.

How to Enter:

First, simply leave a comment on this post telling us where you’d use your $200 voucher from HotelClub.com.
Second, tweet this: “Find out how to win $250 at Backpackingmatt.com http://su.pr/3GWLuy (cc: @backpackingmatt)”
If you’re not on Twitter, simply share the link to this post on your Facebook wall.

You can only enter once, and you have until 11:59pm (Central Standard Time, US) on December 21st, 2010 to do it. The winner will be chosen using Random.org, and then announced on December 22nd.

Thanks again for your support, happy holidays, and good luck!

About HotelClub:
HotelClub is a world leading global accommodation website offering hotel and accommodation bookings for up to 12 months in advance, listing hotels in cities big and small, from grand hotels in NYC to boutique accommodation in Madrid. Established in 1996, HotelClub provides consumers with over 69,000 accommodation choices in over 7,300 cities worldwide throughout 138 countries. HotelClub is a truly global offering with its services available in fourteen languages. The company operates three websites – HotelClub.com, RatesToGo.com and AsiaHotels.com.

backpackingmatt October 7, 2010

Update, Links, and The Next Step

Life Updates 25 Replies

Spring has finally arrived in Queenstown.

The days are getting longer, warmer, and it’s becoming very obvious that this would be an excellent place to spend the summer. Gone are the days of winter sports and I’ve been busy working with NZbyBike developing the preeminent marketing website for cycle tourism in New Zealand.

Two weeks ago I jumped head first into the world of mountain biking and rode the Rail Trail Classic – a 150 kilometer (100 mile) mountain bike ride that stretches across Otago on the Otago Central Rail Trail. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Training? Nope. I hadn’t been on a bike since wine tasting in Marlborough ten months ago. It was brutally painful – nine solid hours of pedaling with a nasty headwind for the final 30 miles. I hit the wall three or four times and somehow kept going.

It was an unbelievable feeling of accomplishment to finish.

It has been a busy month in terms of mentions and guest posts elsewhere on the web. Over the past month Backpackingmatt was featured in the blog posts listed below:

Adventurous Kate included me in her “Best Blogs of the Week“
CollegeScholarships.org named Backpackingmatt.com as one of the “Top 150 Travel Blogs for Students“
Amanda from DangerousBusiness.com listed me in her “Best of the Week“

Lonely Planet retweeted two of my posts and after only a couple weeks they’re now two of my Top 10 viewed posts of all time. It’s always great to see @LonelyPlanet pick up a post as it results in a quick increase of views, Twitter followers, and RSS subscribers.

New Zealand’s Top 5 Backpacking Destinations – 94 retweets & 1,427 page views
20 of New Zealand’s Best Views – 83 retweets & 1,012 page views

I also contributed two posts over at the Flightster.com blog:

The Next Step …

I’m going on 11 months in New Zealand. I’ll remember these 11 months for some of the greatest times in my life – and also for some of the most challenging. The last two months specifically have been extremely difficult and I’ve decided I’m in need of a change of scenery – a chance to clear my head, experience new places, and again be challenged by travel.

One week from Saturday I’m catching a series of flights that will ultimately land me in Thailand.

I have serious mixed emotions about leaving NZ, but I’m excited for the next step in my journey. This trip will mark a series of firsts – namely my first time in Southeast Asia and my first go at solo travel.

I have three quick nights scheduled across the Tasman in Australia. I’ll be in Sydney the night of the 17th and on the Gold Coast for the 18th and 19th. The Surf N Sun Backpackers has offered to host me for two nights and hopefully I’ll get to give surfing another go.

I’ll then be catching a cheap Air Asia flight to Kuala Lumpur where I’ll spend the night of the 20th before flying into Bangkok on the 21st. The plans end there. I’ll take the days and weeks as they come and see where I end up.

If you’ll be around any of these places, get in touch with me and we can meet up.

In the coming weeks look forward to fresh new content on Backpackingmatt. I’m excited to again face the unknown, be pushed out of my comfort zone, and experience the joys that come with traveling to new places.

backpackingmatt September 1, 2010

September Update & Links

Life Updates 25 Replies

Posts similar to this one are a rarity on Backpackingmatt. I don’t typically feel inclined to bring updates about my personal life to this blog, however I do feel an update of some sort is in order – and we’ll focus on the positives. I know it’s cliche, but it’s shocking how time flies – it really is hard to believe the last time I posted an update was the 28th of May.

At that point I was still in Queenstown, the Adventure Capital of the World, looking to get somewhat settled by finding employment and accommodation. The phantom job at one of Queesntown’s ski fields never came around. While this frustrated me for some time, I ultimately stumbled into a pretty sweet job. For the past two months or so,

I’ve been running a website called NZbyBike.com.

NZbyBike is the industry aggregating website for a government promoted series of Great Rides which are in development throughout New Zealand. NZbyBike contains a wealth of information about these Great Rides and other mountain bike rides, maps, and a directory of operators throughout New Zealand involved in cycle tourism. I’ve been writing content for the website, doing research, and reaching out to businesses and encouraging them to list on NZbyBike.

It’s an exciting project to be a part of and I work with a bloody cool team. I’m employed by @Xebidy, a web-design company. Believe it or not, I managed to land the job with the help of some Twitter networking. How cool is that?

Did I also mention I work with a Lonely Planet author? Needless to say, it’s a pretty sweet place to work.

I’m also the newest blogger over at Flightster.com.

A couple weeks back, Flightster ran a contest where they were looking to hire a new paid blogger for their website. To enter the competition, you had to write a post on your own blog mentioning your interest in joining the Flightster team. I wrote the well-received 7 Reasons You Should Write a Travel Blog post and was selected as a finalist. Thanks to everyone who responded to my tweets and voted for me, as I was one of two bloggers selected.

They just published my first post, 5 Ways to Meet Fellow Travelers on the Road. Check it out and add Flightster to your Google Reader, follow them on Twitter, and sign up for their newsletter. They have some pretty exciting things planned in the coming weeks.

As for me, I’m not entirely what I have planned in the coming weeks or months. Some things have happened recently that have more or less flipped my life upside down. Dealing with life’s blows are never easy when you’re miles away from friends, family, and familiarity and this past month has been a challenge. My deepest thanks to those of you who have sent your thoughts my way.

Today is the first day of Spring in New Zealand and it’s slowly getting warmer. Queenstown is a beautiful place, yet I’m getting itchy feet and would like to get out of town – if only for a long weekend. Short term, I’m going paragliding which should be sweet as – look forward to a post on the experience. Longer term, I’m looking for a cheap flight across the ditch to Australia or maybe the other way to a Pacific island. Who knows?

What about you? Do you have any trips planned in the coming weeks? Share them in the comments section below.

Photo Credit: Prabhu B

backpackingmatt May 28, 2010

An Update & Travel Question

Life Updates 24 Replies

I rarely bring specifics of my personal life into this blog. I’d prefer you visit Backpackingmatt for destination specific travel content, backpacking advice, and travel reviews. However, this glimpse into my life at the moment ends with a question I hope you can help me answer. I imagine we all struggle with this as backpackers, so hopefully through comments we can gain some new advice.

I’m currently in beautiful Queenstown on New Zealand’s South Island. It’s the start of winter here in the Southern Hemisphere. I’m here along with my girlfriend Nicole (the photographer behind many of the photos on Backpackingmatt) and about 2,000 other backpackers. We’re all here essentially for the same reason:

We Want to Experience a Ski Season in Queenstown.

Along with this comes the need for two things: Accommodation and Work. And both of these are in short supply in Queenstown at the moment.

I came to Queenstown about two weeks ago after a brilliant six week tour of the North and South Islands. In the coming weeks on Backpackingmatt, look forward to:

A write up (and potential video) on my third bungy jump – the most recent with AJ Hackett here in Queenstown
Pictures and my experience Whale Watching in Kaikoura
A photo essay with pictures of sea lions in Dunedin’s Otago Peninsula

Most of these six weeks were done in my campervan, Max – he served us well for almost six months in New Zealand, unfortunately he took his last ride from Cardrona into Queenstown about three weeks ago. It was a big hit for Nicole and I – both personally and financially. It was shocking how connected we became to a bloody van in five months time, yet Max was our home for much of our time here in New Zealand.

So we’re in Queenstown looking for work and accommodation. I hoped to land a job working the lifts at The Remarkables ski field just outside of Queenstown. I thought it’d be a great way to spend the winter. Unfortunately, I didn’t get accepted for an interview. Why? I’m not sure. Clearly they haven’t met me. This blow has made me question whether or not I’ll be in Queenstown for the entire season. A job on the mountain would have included a season pass – without the job, I’m not sure I can afford a season pass ($800+), having my snowboard sent over from home, and investing in all the winter gear required for a ski season. I’m tentatively planning a trip to SE Asia in the coming months.

Today, Nicole and I moved from an cozy little hostel where we’ve been paying nightly to a sort of backpackers which offers weekly rates on double en suite rooms. As we were trekking across Queenstown with most of our Worldly possessions on our backs and the rest in carrier bags, I didn’t once question, “What am I doing with my life.” Instead, I said,

“There has got to be a better way to carry a backpack AND a laptop.”

This is where you, my readers, come specifically into play. While backpacking, how do you find it best to carry your backpack and your laptop? I’m the proud owner of a Macbook, however it’s often a thorn in my side when I’m on the road. From what I can tell, there are three main ways to carry your laptop:

In a smaller backpack carried as a frontpack.
In a side carrying messenger bag.
In your main backpack.

Do you use one of these methods? Or do you use a method not listed above?

I’m convinced there has to be a better way to carry my laptop, and I’m excited to see your comments below.

Depending on the number of responses, I’ll post a roundup next week with the best laptop carrying tips. Cheers!

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