Where is everyone off to?
Enjoy.
Iâm off to Cape Verde apparently - according to Mrs C_S and kids.
going in July when loggerhead turtles are laying their eggs.
Anyone been? Any tips? Where the fuck is it btw?
I like the idea behind this thread, no point going on holiday if you canât make others jealous Iâm going to try and get back to Iceland in the Autumn, lots of outdoorsy stuff to do and party central in Reykjavik.
didnât our Pele play for cape Verde?
I donât like holidays as they make me spend time away from home.
As I spend 6 months of the year away from home at work or traveling to and from work.
Anyone not booked should tour Vietnam. End of.
Me? Hoping for a Gaston ticket from my mate & some major league glamping again
Marrakech, Morocco in Feb, Barcelona, Spain in May, Javea, Spain in July.
So far
Belfast (yes, it counts) at the end of the month. Melbourne, Sydney, Freo - Australia April / May. Bankruptcy court in June.
So far a Canary Isles cruise in March (ideal as the wife has mobility problems) and a few days in Prague to visit our Nephew in May. Nothing much during the high season (to avoid hoards of kids) then something somewhere warm in Sept/Oct,
Difficult to know where to post this link tbh.
The âevil oneâ in me thinks these could be suggestions for some of our, or to be more honest, SWFâs more annoying posters for summer vacations
The other side of me read the article and picked up the âVibeâ that this is another piece that reflects âthe Matrixâ that establishment now tries to get people to live in - the âfearâ espoused by the media.
But whatever it IS interesting & I guess only some of our TV types or Phil have been anywhere near most of these.
Weeell
Sudan and Iran yes but the others he mentions are a bit of the beaten track even for me.
As for not carrying a wallet madness.
Should have at least two even three.
1 with the currency of the country your in and US dollars and bank card for cash point machine
1 with usual currency and US dollars in plus credit cards.
1 with currencyâs from other places along with some out of date credit cards / bank cards to hand over to over enthusiastic customs / immigration officials and or any attempted mugggings not by officials.
The amount of clothes that he carries is about right.
The article is also bloody inaccessible from the UK bbc website
Ah ha The Conspiracy Deepens.
#thingstheydontwantyoutoknow
Just back from Mauritius. Work yesterday was a real struggle.
There has been talk of Marrakech again later this year.
We tend to go tropical in Jan, somewhere in April. 2 weeks for Glastonbury/UK holiday in June and then somewhere warmish in September/October but as we donât have tickets for Glastonbury we may go away again as it would cost about the same. There is also.talk of a trip to the US to see friends and an eclipse in August. Iâd like to visit Italy as I havenât been in years and would like a good catch up with my relatives /friends there plus dust the rust of my Italian language skills.
Moving jobs recently I lost 2 days leave so trying to fit some of these things in when your partner has 7 more leave days than you is tricky. Once I get to October I will have just 4 days less than him.
Off the west coast of the continent of Africa, in line with Senegal. South of the Canaries. We have considered heading there and know people who have been. Other half"s parents (in their 60s) didnât think much of it but others I know loved it. Believe there isnât an awful lot to see (bar those turtles which sounds a great reason to go).
Here you go
- By Dave Seminara
16 January 2017
Kolja Spori packs light. For a short trip, itâs nothing more than a travel jacket, the pockets stuffed with underwear and a toothbrush. For longer trips, he carries an attachĂ© case. The 46-year-old German likes to wear stylish blazers â always with an ascot or a silk handkerchief â because he says looking like he walked off the set of a 1920âs film set helps him meet interesting people on the road.
He frequents conflict zones, lonely ice roads in Siberia and unrecognized breakaway republics, places that he says, âdonât existâ. His passion is bringing together like-minded travellers at his âExtreme Travel Congressesâ in places like Chechnya and Somalia. For him, life is âjust perfectâ when heâs in an obscure place.
Spori views Chechnya as a âdelightful place to visitâ (Credit: ITAR-TASS Photo Agency/Alamy)
A sceptic by nature, Spori insists that Western governments and the corporate media want the public to believe that the world is a scary place. When we spoke to him at his home in Monaco, he maintained that only those who travel to supposedly off-limits places get beyond what he calls âthe official storyâ.
Q: Where does your sense of adventure come from?
I was raised in Germany. My life became interesting at age 11 when my father, who was in the Foreign Service, was posted to Istanbul for six years. It opened my eyes to the world because Istanbul is one of the worldâs most cosmopolitan cities. I visited the Syrian-Iraqi border at age 12 and became attracted to history and travel.
Q: You call yourself a gentleman adventurer. Does that mean you travel in style?
I try to look professional all the time. If you look like a successful businessperson, it opens a lot of doors and you can meet interesting people. For example, I met Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the Nobel-prize-winning President of Liberia at her inauguration party only because I had the style and the chutzpah to walk past the heavy security into her VIP-enclosure.
Sporiâs philosophy is that only those who travel to off-limits places get beyond âthe official storyâ (Credit: Kolja Spori)
I go into the deep end, and sometimes it is difficult. I visit places like the Ilemi Triangle in East Africa, which is claimed by both South Sudan and Kenya; the Ice Roads in Siberia; remote border crossings like from Igdir Province in eastern Turkey to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in Azerbaijan. But Iâm also interested in finding ways, either by invitation or chance meetings, to gain in-depth exposure to the political or economic power structure in a nationâs capital.
Q: You like to be fashionable but also travel light. How does that work?
On a weekend trip, I use no luggage at all. I store my additional socks and shirt in my special travel coat, which has compartments. Itâs very elegant but it has several inside pockets that are big enough to put my toiletries. I minimize to the max. Merino wool is anti-bacterial, so you can wear those shirts again and again.
Having a blazer with a nice handkerchief is important â that makes every man look the part. It adds not only an element of social status but also security. If you look like a businessman, you have more of a sense of belonging to a place than if you look like a tourist.
For Spori, visiting remote places such as eastern Turkeyâs Igdir Province is all part of the challenge (Credit: imageBROKER/Alamy)
Q: How do you pack for a longer trip?
One thing I will never carry is a wallet. Wallets are unsophisticated. I keep my money and keys in my pockets unorganized. Using a wallet is overestimating the value of money. Why does money deserve a special place to be stored? Itâs a fetish.
For a longer trip, I have a very small attaché case that is smaller than a typical carry-on. It fits under the seat in front of me on an aeroplane.
Q: How do you plan your trips?
I never have a fixed itinerary other than my flights. Iâm uncomfortable staying longer than one night in any place. The speed, the movement is a big part of the experience. Also, I donât think it is important to visit museums or [Unesco] World Heritage Sites. You can discover the reality of a place by travelling, but not by going to the prescribed guidebook places where youâll hear the official story. Someone once said, âOnly fools go to a museum, wise men meet in tavernsâ, and I agree with that.
I love places like Transnistria; Abkhazia; South Ossetia; Somaliland. Part of the allure is that they donât officially exist, they are not recognized. People donât know them. When youâre there, thereâs something in the air that makes them special. It makes my antenna vibrate. You are in a transitional period of history. The history books havenât reached it yet but you can already feel it.
Spori has travelled to remote places, such as Azerbaijanâs Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (Credit: Reza/Getty)
Q: Whatâs the appeal of traveling to dangerous places?
Governments want to create a sense of fear in their populations to keep their strength. The security systems depend on people being afraid of terror, criminality and so on. But in reality, danger doesnât exist.
Q: Youâre saying there is nowhere off limits?
Every country is open to us as travellers â even Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Ukraine â but you have to make the right moves. I was in Donetsk [Ukraine] last year. I heard shelling all day long, but that doesnât mean youâre in danger. In fact, I was fascinated to see how ordinary public life continued despite the mortar shelling.
But you can be in trouble going to a railway station in Germany after dark, especially if you are a woman. You have to learn to navigate dangers.
If you listen to the media, you would assume these places are like a living hell, but that is usually not true.
Q: Youâve said that when a conflict breaks out, you rush to pack your bags to see the reality on the ground. But what is the point of visiting conflict zones?
Iâm travelling to these places to see the real story. In many cases, the official narrative is wrong and you can only discover this if you go. I was in Benghazi during the uprising; I was in Donetsk last June. I was in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, in 2010. Usually the most striking impression is life seems pretty normal if you avoid the front lines. If you listen to the media, you would assume these places are like a living hell, but that is usually not true.
Spori travels to some of the worldâs most remote places (Credit: Kolja Spori)
Q: How do you explain what you do to border officials who are suspicious of your passport stamps from dodgy places?
I explain to them that Iâm a country collector and my particular passion is danger and war zones. Usually their ears get bigger and you can see they are really interested. They can tell Iâm not a dodgy character. But I do try to avoid travelling to the United States because they are more suspicious of people like me.
Q: Tell us about a few places readers would be surprised to learn are delightful places to visit?
Grozny (Chechnya), Tajikistan, Sudan and Iran come to mind. The official narrative is against these places â they are portrayed as dangerous, part of the Axis of Evil, whatever, but they are not like this at all. Grozny has changed so much; until 2009 it was still a warzone. Now itâs like a fairy tale, Dubai-style place that is very safe, even luxurious, and very interesting.
Tajikistan is still a bit rough, but immensely beautiful and not as downtrodden as I would have thought. I drove over the Pamir Highway and stayed in a beautiful Hyatt Regency in Dushanbe.
â[Grozny] is like a fairytale, Dubai-style place that is very safe, even luxurious, and very interestingâ (Credit: robertharding/Alamy)
Iran is a propaganda enemy of the West, but there is no reason to avoid this country. It is safe and beautiful, very friendly.
Sudan is portrayed as difficult and dangerous, but Khartoum is very well developed. And there is the fantastically interesting Pyramids of Meroe.
Q: These are all Muslim countries. Is that significant?
There is a much higher level of hospitality in Muslim countries, especially compared to Christian countries. The real criminality, the danger of being attacked on the street is higher in Catholic countries: South America, Latin America and The Philippines. And in Africa, when you move from the Muslim north to the Christian centre, you can tell how the attitude toward strangers becomes more hostile and the risk of being taken advantage of is increased. The official narrative about a place is often wrong.
âIf people want to help, they should try to travel to the places where they think people need helpâ (Credit: Kolja Spori)
Q: Do you believe that travel can be life changing?
I donât know if I believe in this concept, but trips can make you view the world in a different way. For example, I did a charity trip to the Somali refugee camps of Dadaab near the Kenya-Somali border about five years ago after a big drought. The media was full of images of dying children and pleas for the world to help. So I went to help â we delivered some $30,000 worth of food, medicine and medical equipment. But this whole business of charity â I call it crisis pornography â is overdone. The UN was there. It was all well organized. There were bigger problems elsewhere, in the Kenyan villages, places that get no money. Television crews were searching the hospitals to find crying children. The truth is you can film terrifying videos of children suffering in hospitals in Switzerland if you want to. And you can attract plenty of donations.
Q: So how are people supposed to help the needy around the world?
If people want to help, they should try to travel to the places where they think people need help. And then spend money, pay people for good work they do rather than throw around donations.
I travel overland and I buy fruit and food from markets, I buy SIM cards from boys who sell them on the streets. I spend money in their system. Even at the hotels, which might be owned by big guys, the waiter gets a good tip from me if he does a good job. Honest work deserves honest money. The whole of Africa is on a drip transfusion of charity money and it makes everyone sick.
âEvery country is open to us as travellers⊠but you have to make the right movesâ (Credit: Kolja Spori)
Q: Which of your trips are you most proud of?
First, I would say our ice road trip in Siberia. I was travelling with two of my closest friends â Michael von Hassel, a well-known German photographer, and Harald Buben, a luxury goods manufacturer from Austria, plus friends from Finland, the UK, Indonesia and Russia in an old rental car. We made it to the end of the worldâs northernmost road. Before our trip, no one knew this was the worldâs northernmost road. Everyone else thought it was the North Cape at the northern tip of Norway. No one could remember any foreigners ever driving where we went, so that was very fulfilling. It was -45C.
In 2013, Buben and I also drove on another Siberian ice road, The Road of Bones, in winter, in a throwaway car. We went from Central Europe all the way to Magadan, more than 20,000km. We reached -62C at the Pole of Cold; which is the coldest inhabited places on Earth, near Oymyakon. It wasnât easy and sometimes I was a little scared. You have to pump petrol by hand because no machines work in that kind of cold. And you have petrol stations only once every 500km. It was surreal, like going through a time warp in a tunnel, east, east, east. It was extremely intense.
Q: What are some of your travel goals?
Iâm still trying to get into Gaza with Don Parrish [one of last yearâs Travel Pioneers]. Iâm going to Luhansk, this little entity in the middle of the tug of war between Russia and Ukraine. Iâm also dreaming of visiting the South Pole and a small expedition to Antarctica. Iâm lacking just six countries to complete the UN list of 193 countries, but Iâm in no hurry to finish that.
Sporiâs Extreme Travel Congresses bring together like-minded extreme travellers (Credit: Kolja Spori)
Q: Why do you host these annual Extreme Travel Congresses?
I like to meet interesting people and connect them. Thatâs what travel is about. Travel is an ethical undertaking, thatâs why the acronym we use for the congresses is ETIC. You learn about the differences, but you see how much you have in common with other cultures. So there is a healing effect on societies. Itâs ethical, that is our play on words. Charities have good intentions but they spend other peopleâs money inefficiently. Travellers buy things and keep the economy running. This is good.
Q: What happens at these travel congresses?
The point is primarily to get together with old travel buddies, and to meet new like-minded extreme travellers. Itâs not about trumping other travellers; itâs about people who share a way of life coming together. Usually there is one seated dinner with a local dignitary, and a day trip in the region of the host city. We lead plenty of informal discussions about exotic destinations, club rules, how to define extreme destinations and so on.
I want to be remembered as a man of courage who saw things how they are and not as they were said to be
Q: Why are you having next yearâs convention in Puntland, Somalia?
There are so few foreigners in a place like Puntland, there is no real terror business there, there is no market for attacking foreigners there. There is a market for piracy but the pirates are at sea. I think the risk is calculable. Puntland is exotic. Itâs an extreme place and we have to live or die up to our expectations, donât we?
Q: How do you want to be remembered?
I have a natural aversion to writing my own epitaph, but I want to be remembered as a man of courage who saw things how they are and not as they were said to be, and wasnât afraid to be outspoken. I want to be known as someone who went to original places and met gifted and well-informed people. Iâm someone whose forte is history, but I donât learn it at museums and from books. I dig very deep. I try to find the hidden history of places.
Spori calls himself a country collector, with a passion for danger and war zones (Credit: Kolja Spori)
Cheers Intiniki - sounds the perfect place to do bugger all - my sort of holiday!
Weâre doing seven nights at the Rownhams Services resort.
We did three there last year but it wasnât really long enough to explore the whole service area.
The foodâs always good, thereâs always something to see, and the kids love paddling in trucker piss.
We looked at Winchester Services but itâs a bit too foresty for our liking.
What a catch you are.