5. Michael Turtle – @michaelturtle
1. What does the word “travel” mean to you?
For me, the idea of travel is about discovery and learning. While there is nothing wrong with lazing on the beach for a week, I see that as a holiday, as opposed to ‘travel’. I think visiting other countries and meeting other people should all contribute to a greater understanding of the world. It can sometimes be too easy in our busy lives to only see what is right in front of us and forget the larger context of how we fit into a global society. But the lessons of history and the lessons from other cultures can help us all in how we live.
2. Why did you decide to start a travel blog?
Before I started travelling indefinitely, I worked as a journalist in Australia. I did that job because I loved to discover and experience new things and share them with others. The travel blog was really just an extension of that. My original plan was to focus more on the travel and have the blog as an outlet for the stories I thought were worth sharing. These days it has gone the other way and most of my travels are done in order to find stories to write about. The aim of the blog is to tell people about things that may not have known before, though, so I am always trying to find interesting places or unusual angles to share.
3. What is your fondest travel memory?
Well, after more than three years of permanent travel, I have a lot of fond memories. It’s hard to narrow it down to just one but I think all my favourites involve people I’ve met. There was the 89 year old man I met in a hostel who had been backpacking for 30 years, the family in Uruguay who looked after me when I got stranded in the middle of nowhere one night, the Chinese students who decided I should spend the night partying with them (even though we couldn’t speak a word to each other), and the community in Montenegro who rescued my stolen camera from the local kleptomaniac. They weren’t all the best moments, but they’re the ones I remember the most fondly because they showed me the warm hearts of people around the world.
4. If you had to recommend two travel blogs, which would they be?
There are lots of fantastic travel blogs out there and I could recommend dozens of ones worth reading. There are two in particular that I want to mention because I think they’re being really innovative with the way they tell stories. There are so many travel blogs that it’s important to offer something a bit different and interesting. The first is Hejorama (http://www.hejorama.com) which is based in France and does a fantastic job of combining visual elements of storytelling with creating a wonderful sense of place. The other is Beers & Beans (http://www.beersandbeans.com) which is a collaborative effort between a photographer and a journalist. They have a huge following on Pinterest and really have a fantastic way of telling stories with both images and words.
