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| martijnebben.com | music | radio | av | ict | photography | travel | martijnebben.nl |
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Travel is one of my greatest passions in life. I love to visit places all over the world. And I
do so at every chance I get. I've learned through the years that life is too short to just work and wait until you're old before you have time to travel and see places. I may be dead or disabled before that time, so I'm doing it now! On the map below you can see where I've been until now. It's quite a list.  On the right is list of albums with photo's of the places I visited during the last couple of years. They are all vacations. Sometimes a couple of days, sometimes several weeks. Some of the best trips: 1990: Peru, Equador and Aruba This was the first vacation outside Europe. It was together with my parents, since I was only 13 years old back then. It wasn't the best time to visit these counties, especially Peru was not really safe. However, we saw the beautiful people, their culture and the amazing Andes mountain range. This journey is a long time ago and I was still young, so I forgot a lot. I want to go again sometime, but I'm afraid it will not be the same. I've made pictures of Machu Picchu with no other people on it and from what I hear that is no longer possible today. We'll see. I may make a combination with Galapagos or Bolivia and Chile next time. 1999: Norway, North Cape I had been to Scandinavia a couple of times before, but never as far up as to the Northernmost point of Europe, the North Cape. It is a really spectacular landscape, and it is really impressive to drive for over a week, see the vegetation change and eventually vanish on the way and end up on a large cliff where the world seems to end while all you see is a sun that does not set above the Barentz Sea. 2000: Canada (Rocky Mountains) After 10 years in Europe I made the big crossing of the Atlantic again. Towards Western Canada this time. Despite quite bad weather during this vacation, the Rockies were very imposing. We've been driving a big round, starting in Vancouver, up via Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert. From there towards the Rocky Mountains and going down through the mountains visiting Jasper and Banff on the way. We made a detour from Banff to visit an aunt of mine that lives near Calgary. 2001: New Zealand and Malaysia The longest way one can travel from western Europe is New Zealand. This was the destination in late 2001. New Zealand is a great country to visit. It has everything packed into one destination. Mountains, fiords, deserts, beaches, plains, volcanoes, ease and adrenaline. I've tried to see and live it all and I managed to do allmost all. I've been bungy-jumping from the second highest possibility in the world and seen the country all the way from North to South. Our flights were booked via Malaysia Airlines. They were king enough to offer us a couple of days of free stay in Malaysia because whey went such a long way with them. I celebrated my 26th birthday on a tropical beach. Something I can really recommend if your birthday is in December! 2005: Tour of East and South Europe This one started as a vacation to the Czech Repuplic and Slovakia. However, the weather wasn't to good and the rain seemed to be following us. Since we were camping, we literaly fled for the rain. We started in Prague and ended up watching the Tour de France. The complete tour was The Netherlands, Germany, Czech Replublic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Italy, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and back to The Netherlands again. Quite tiresome I can tell you, but it was a nice road trip! 2006: Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama Beautiful! I can really recommend Costa Rica to anyone if you like nature. We had a guided tour that also took us to Nicaragua and Panama. It was some kind of a honeymoon, since Gerben and I married on June 21, 2006. We had a great time. The group was nice and we were very lucky with the weather. Nicaragua was a nice surprise. We didn't really expect too much from this country, but Granada (in Nicaragua) is a beatiful city and we really enjoyed it. Most we saw was nature. All kind of monkeys, birds, sloths, turtles, spiders, alligators and insects next to mountains, rain forest, active volcanoes and awsome beaches. Panama is no exception to all this beauty. 2007: India and Nepal India is a place that you must have seen though I believe it's a one-time experience for me. It has very interesting cultural places to see, but the country itself is too dirty and too crowded. Nepal is also dirty and crowded, but a bit less than India, and it has more Nature to see. During our visit, it was hazy and clouded all the time, so it was hard to see the Himalayas, so we made a sight-seeing flight. I can say that the Himalayas are really astonishing to me. I don't believe I will ever have the courage to climb any of these mountains, or that I'm ever able to, but it is a must see, so this is the perfect way. The Bhuddist and Hindu religions are intereseting and contribute a lot to your away-from-home-experience. In India we saw the Taj Mahal and people bathing in the Ganges river, as well as the buring of the Hindi's dead on the banks of the Ganges. Really impressive. As I say, a one time must-see. 2008: Cuba Although the east can be beautiful and impressive, Latin America is my favourite. I think it has to do with the people. When we heard the news in February 2008 that Fidel Castro stopped his political career in Cuba, and his brother Raoul was strting to reform the political environment slowly, we thought it was time to visit Cuba as long as it still was the Cuba as we know it. We learned that Cuba will not change that fast, but we are happy to have visited it. The culture, the people, the music, the colonial style, the rum and the cigars, they all contribute to a great time. We made a 16-day tour in which we saw virtually all of Cuba. Very busy, but fun. I believe I've seen Cuba, but I think I will return one day to visit Havana again. I think I can spend several more weeks in this great city by just walking around, making some photo's and drinking a mojito in a small bar by the sounds of a nice band. 2009: Scandinavia Scandinavia will always be one of my favourites. A very long road trip with stays in cabins this year. 8318 kilometers (5169 miles). Via Germany, with a ferry to Sweden, through Sweden and a ferry to Finland. Through Finland up North and the Easternmost border into Norway. From there to the North Cape and following Norway's West coast South again, back into Sweden, on the ferry to Germany and back home again. An absolutely beautiful road trip, in which we have been quite lucky with the weather. Nature is really stunning, in particular the Lofoten islands, of the coast of North Norway, is very impressive. I had seen all of the Norwegian coast in 1999 when I took the Hurtigruten boat from the North Cape to Trondheim, but only when you conquer the small roads and the mountains yourself, you really respect the country. So a little bit less warm vacation this year, but it's worth it! Wish-shortlist I want to see all the countries in the world if possible, but I think that is not a realistic option. Some of the countries that are high on my wish list: - Chile and Argentina, especially Patagonia - Nepal (again) combined with Bhutan and Tibet - Kenia and Tanzania - Galapagos - Iceland - Sri Lanka The list changes all the time. We'll see what the future will bring us. See the world! Martijn
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