Tag Archives: Where I’d Rather Be

Where I’d Rather Be on Monday: Jinja, Uganda

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It’s a dreary Monday morning and you’re commuting to work and staring at this screen. If you could be anywhere else in the world where would you want to be? Tweet me at DanielMartinAdv using the hashtag #WIRBMonday or reply in the comments below.

Today, I’d rather be in Jinja in Uganda.

Jinja is a small town in Uganda on the banks of Lake Victoria and is at the point where the Nile starts it’s journey north to the Mediterranean. It’s a sleepy town with an active adventure tourism scene. People come here from miles around to raft down the rapids.


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I was there in 2006. I’d cycled from London down to Ethiopia on my way to Cape Town and had had an accident, dislocating my shoulder amongst other things. I flew to Nairobi in Kenya to stay with an old school friend and recover. While I was there a friend of mine from university, Flick, came to visit and we decided to head to Jinja.

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The bus service runs daily and is pretty good. We were dropped off on the outskirts of town and from there we headed to one of the most chilled hostels in one of the most beautiful spots in the world. It was perched on a hill over looking the Nile and was designed for the specific purpose of lounging around and lapping in the view. Perfect for my recovery.

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Unfortunately they wouldn’t let me go rafting as I still had a pin in my collar bone and I was hugely jealous when Flick and all the rest of them came back bubbling in adrenaline and glowing from having done the rapids.

Where would I rather be on Monday?

I’d rather be in Jinja, swimming in the lake and riding the rapids.

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Where would you rather be? Answer in the comments below or on Twitter using the hashtag #WIRBMonday.

Previous Where I’d Rather Be on Mondays:

Where I’d Rather Be On Monday: Jelly Fish Lake, Palau by Dan Martin
Toau by Torre Del Roche
The Trans Siberian Express by Juno
On a Journey by Brad Nicholson
Yukon Territory, Canada by Lee Peyton
Take Me To Where The West Wind Blows by Sean Newall
Waking Up All Over the World by Melvin Bocher
A Beach By Isabelle
Maurellias Las Illas by Mark Cooper
Everywhere and Nowhere by Keith Jenkins
Queen Charlotte Trail, NZ by Ben Colclough
The Amazon by Ed Stafford
Anywhere! By Al Humphreys
Dolalghat, Nepal by Dan Martin

Where I’d Rather Be On Monday: Jelly Fish Lake, Palau

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It’s another wet and windy Monday morning and once again I’m in front of a computer screen rather than out exploring the world. To get me through autumn and winter I’m bringing back #WIRBMonday to showcase the long list of where I and some of my favourite travel and adventure people would rather me this Monday morning.

I’m going to kick it off with this:

Where Would I Rather Be This Monday Morning?

Jelly Fish Lake in Palau.


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Why?

What do you mean why? Can you not see the photo? It’s incredible! It ticks the basics of my favourite things. It’s far away, it’s difficult to get to and it’s amazing.

Jellyfish Lake, Palau

Now swimming with jellyfish isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but luckily these jellyfish have evolved over millions of years of near isolation to have a sting almost undetectable by human skin so we’re safe.

Getting there would be incredible and waking up there this Monday morning would be bliss. That’s where I’d like to be today.

Where would you rather be? Answer in the comments below or on Twitter using the hashtag #WIRBMonday.

Previous Where I’d Rather Be on Mondays:

Toau by Torre Del Roche
The Trans Siberian Express by Juno
On a Journey by Brad Nicholson
Yukon Territory, Canada by Lee Peyton
Take Me To Where The West Wind Blows by Sean Newall
Waking Up All Over the World by Melvin Bocher
A Beach By Isabelle
Maurellias Las Illas by Mark Cooper
Everywhere and Nowhere by Keith Jenkins
Queen Charlotte Trail, NZ by Ben Colclough
The Amazon by Ed Stafford
Anywhere! By Al Humphreys
Dolalghat, Nepal by Dan Martin

Where I’d Rather Be on Monday: The Trans Siberian Express

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This weeks post comes from Juno. Juno lives in Korea and writes about all things Korea and travel on her amazing website here. I met Juno when I was last in Korea and it was great to meet someone who has such an incredible passion for travel and adventure and pride in her own country and culture!

Where I would rather be on Monday

I am woken up by sunshine teasing my face. My eyes are sore and my body is aching but it doesn’t bother me. I open my eyes on the crooked bed in Trans-Siberian. I put my glasses on and look. The other backpackers who I met on the train are still in bed, reading, writing, looking at photos on their cameras, and well, sleeping. I like this shared moment that backpackers have in the morning.

I’m looking out of the windows with my lazy eyes. What I see is the view of complete nothingness. Being on a Trans-Siberian Express has been on my bucket list for years and finally I’m living my dream now.
Today, we’re in the Gobi desert. I see and feel the emptiness and nothingness. I don’t know where it came from but I have a thing for two distinct parts of nature, glaciers and the desert. These two opposite things have always fascinated me. Walking on, and seeing the wide flat land is going to be memorable moment for me. The Gobi desert is not your typical desert, for example it has some and dunes-which fascinate me, but I am really looking forward to seeing the wide, flat horizon.

Waking up tired is quite satisfying in some way. It feels so much better than the usual manic Monday morning. This tired feeling I am having means that I am doing something exciting enough to make me feel tired. Maybe the tired feeling would come from sleeping on the crooked bed on the train, but that’s okay. Comfortable is not necessarily high on my priority list for travelling. I would give up nice bedding for most about everything when travelling. Food, adventures, awesome souvenirs-things like that.
It is going to be a long journey. Some days are boring, some days are awesome. Either way, I’m sure I’m going to see and learn a lot of things on the way. This Monday is just the same as any other previous weeks, but except I’m happy right now.

Maybe today I’ll meet a nomadic family along the way and pet a horse, who knows? All I have to do is just put my backpack on and step outside to the desert. The whole world is mine for the exploring!

Where would you rather be? Answer in the comments below or on Twitter using the hashtag #WIRBMonday.

Previous Where I’d Rather Be on Mondays:
On a Journey by Brad Nicholson
Yukon Territory, Canada by Lee Peyton
Take Me To Where The West Wind Blows by Sean Newall
Waking Up All Over the World by Melvin Bocher
A Beach By Isabelle
Maurellias Las Illas by Mark Cooper
Everywhere and Nowhere by Keith Jenkins
Queen Charlotte Trail, NZ by Ben Colclough
The Amazon by Ed Stafford
Anywhere! By Al Humphreys
Dolalghat, Nepal by Dan Martin

Where I’d Rather Be on Monday: On A Journey

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This weeks post comes from Brad Nicholson. Brad lives in Tanzania and is an Africanist, Foreign policy professional, adjunct-professor and serious endurance athlete. I can thoroughly recommend following him on twitter to be kept in the loop on all things Africa, endurance and current affairs.

Where would I rather be this Monday morning?

If I could be anywhere this Monday it would be traveling. It is kind of my bad habit, actually an addiction. Where? It does not really matter. The last few years have taken me on extended trips to Turkey, Germany, Italy, Israel, and the West Bank. Since July 2010 I have been living with my family here on the Swahili coast of Tanzania and fully indulging my addiction.

Of course I am writing this after having been on the road every day since 3 January except for 6 days I spent at home in-between jaunts to Burundi and Senegal. These travels include 19 independent air segments, countless hours bumping down what are loosely termed roads, and spending the night in places that do not see many guests.

Like any addiction there are the outward signs-the heated family debates, hurt feelings, and promises to change. However, in the background is always the next trip-hovering just out of mind but only a few days or hours away.

Being on the road means many things to different people; for me it means a journey. A true journey can only take place on land or at sea, modern air travel just does not provide the same experience. Saint D’uxpery moments are too expensive for those of us living within our means and traveling cheaply. Journeys don’t require a lot of baggage, actually quite the opposite. Journeys don’t require a precisely planned itinerary; you would never meet it anyways – lost in the bush waiting for the repair truck. Journeys don’t take a lot of money. Journeys test our patience and broaden our experiences. They fill us with hope and leave us empty, wanting more, when they are over.

Traveling long distances overland in Africa brings you face to face with the manic highs and lows of the continent. A gorgeous sunrise or sunset bookends a day filled with exasperating corruption at border crossings, crushing poverty of children begging for empty water bottles, and a realization that despite all the good there is still a long way to go in terms of improving the average person’s life. Life at roadside markets can restore your hope in humanity because of its desire to thrive in the harshest environments. Waiting at bus stops, really just big open fields where buses may or may not stop, and watching inebriated men fight and attempt to bully women will leave you thinking critically about the darker sides of “economic” improvement.

So this Monday I will be here at home in East Africa, seeing the kids off to school, grinding fresh coffee, and heading in to the office with my wife. Mentally I will be fantasizing, dreaming, and craving my next adventure. Planning the next overland trip through some unvisited country in Africa, living out of bags and writing in Moleskines.

Where would you rather be? Answer in the comments below or on Twitter using the hashtag #WIRBMonday.

Previous Where I’d Rather Be on Mondays:

Where I’d Rather Be On Monday: Yukon Territory, Canada by Lee Peyton
Take Me To Where The West Wind Blows by Sean Newall
Waking Up All Over the World by Melvin Bocher
A Beach By Isabelle
Maurellias Las Illas by Mark Cooper
Everywhere and Nowhere by Keith Jenkins
Queen Charlotte Trail, NZ by Ben Colclough
The Amazon by Ed Stafford
Anywhere! By Al Humphreys
Dolalghat, Nepal by Dan Martin

Where I’d Rather Be: Queen Charlotte Trail, NZ by Ben Colclough

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This is a guest post by Ben Colclough, founder of adventure travel web site Tourdust. Tourdust arranges tours and treks with small local operators around the world usually at rates far below the big adventure tour operator’s prices.

Where I’d rather be: Queen Charlotte Trail, New Zealand

My Monday mornings are a whole lot better than they used to be since I’ve been working for myself. Unfortunately, I still spend most of them in front of a computer screen, so pretty much anywhere is the easiest answer to this question. I’d swap my middle England location (which appropriately is grey and freezing right now) for somewhere, anywhere, that offered even the briefest moment of warm sun and wilderness.

So many places appeal given the comparatively dire state of the alternative Monday in a freezing office. A simple beach hut on Kho Phangan, or better the Pehrentian Islands in Malaysia (no alcohol-so no hangover…) immediately spring to mind, but I’m not sure they would quite cut it.

You see on a Monday morning, it is important you hit the week running with a little forward momentum, a day lounging by a beach would leave me feeling a little too lethargic for this early stage of a new week. Instead, a rich blast of exertion and fresh outdoors would be just the ticket. Picture it, you’ve woken in your tent on the second day of Queen Charlotte’s Trail in New Zealand. The camp-site looks down on a small stony bay. After a quick brew on your camp stove and a breakfast of slightly stale bread (no matter you are hungry) you set off on one of the most beautiful coastal trails in the world. Your reward at the end of a further two days of hiking and camping is some quality time exploring the wonderful vineyards of Marlborough. This more hedonistic pursuit will then fall in the latter half of the week when your intrinsic psychological conditioning will be far more comfortable with wasted afternoons awash with Sauvignon Blanc.

To feel really smug about your place in the world, you do need to be doing something a little bit worthy and I can think of nothing better than striding out on a crisp Monday morning up out of the bay, miles of coastline in view, full of the smugness of the outdoors and healthy pursuits, whilst I picture my friends and colleagues back in their cubicles.

Where would you rather be? Answer in the comments below or on Twitter using the hashtag #WIRBMonday.

Previous Where I’d Rather Be on Mondays:

The Amazon by Ed Stafford
Anywhere! By Al Humphreys
Dolalghat, Nepal by Dan Martin

Where I’d Rather Be: Anywhere! by Al Humphreys

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This is the second week of Where I’d Rather Be (#WIRBMonday) and this week it’s from my old mate Al Humphreys. I e-mailed him asking if he could write a short piece about where he’d rather be on Monday morning with maybe a couple of photos but he has pulled out all the stops with this video:

It seems Al would rather be just about anywhere! I know the feeling….

Where would you rather be? Answer in the comments below or on Twitter using the hashtag #WIRBMonday.

Previous Where I’d Rather Be on Mondays:

Dolalghat, Nepal by Dan Martin

Where I’d Rather Be: Dolalghat, Nepal

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If you could be anywhere in the world right now-where would you want to be?

I, like you, am sitting here on Monday morning staring at a computer screen. This isn’t the life I signed up for-I even managed to avoid the normal 9-5 routine and yet I still seem to spend the majority of my time trapped behind a keyboard. Monday mornings are the worst and this is a little chance to daydream about where you’d rather be. For some it’s fancy beaches and hotels and for others it’s mountain peaks or deserts. There are a thousand places I’d love to be now but the first one that came to mind was Dolalghat in Nepal.

Dolalghat is a small village on the Friendship Highway, the main road from Lhasa to Kathmandu. It’s main feature is the bridge crossing the SunKosi River. I was there on Friday 23rd November for one night. I was cycling from South Korea to Cape Town and had just crossed the barren bleak Tibet and dropped into the warm hug that is Nepal. Over the last two days I’d dropped down 3500metres in altitude from La Lung La at 5124m down into Tibet. Seeing vegetation and smiling people for the first time in weeks was such and energising experience. I had joined up with four Spaniards the day before and was enjoying cycling slower and all the breaks they take!

We rolled into town with the sun’s late afternoon glow added an amazing warmth to the colourfully painted buildings. Straight opposite the bridge is the one hotel in town called ‘Hotel Fish Kitchen’! It was an amazing building leaning up against a cliff, the first floor was a shop, the second a restaurant, the third was possibly the dingiest, dirtiest two rooms I’ve ever seen and the top floor were these two amazing rooms looking out over the mountains and river with comfortable clean beds and little windows with shutters and bright blue curtains! We split up between the two groups and headed down to the restaurant for the local Dolalgahti dish which as hot as the sun, luckily there was a steady supply of ice cold Fanta (which is my guilty pleasure on long bike rides-I love the chemical orange taste!).

After the meal we wandered down into the town and bought some supplies for the next day-it was dark out and there were only a few people in the streets, we persuaded the lady who own the shop we were in-which was about the size of a big cupboard to put her TV onto the Indian music channel and we staged Dolalghat first ever dance party using head torches and lighters and strobes and the whole empty street as a dancefloor.

The next day we woke up had an amazing breakfast of hot, milky, sweet tea and bread and spreads and headed back out into the town. There was slightly more than the usual amount of pointing and Hello-ing and it was until later that they laughing and recreating our dance moves from the night before. This whole town just seemed to be full of smiling people laughing at us and dancing around-it really makes me feel happy just thinking back about it and that’s where I’d like to be now, at 9:15am this Monday.

Where Would You Rather Be?

Comment below or reply on Twitter with #WIRBMonday in the post.