Salud To My Fellow Bloggers

Throughout my trip, I´ve increasingly thought of myself as a travel blogger. 

I found inspiration in a few travel blogs before I left on my trip, and I've been happy to hear from many people who are about to embark on their own trips, fully prepared to blog for the benefit of those they know, and those they don´t.

I was lucky enough to cross paths with 4 fellow travel bloggers on my trip. 

Even though our time was short for each meeting, there was already a connection with each person as we´d been reading each other's blogs all along.

Justin (blue shirt) and friends in Wellington, New Zealand

Justin (USA), the author of Corporate Whore No More, was already living and working in Wellington, New Zealand when I passed through town. 

I met up with him at his hostel, and he invited me to trivia night at a local bar with his friends who were also living and working there. 

We came in 2nd place, earning a $50 bar tab and a bottle of champagne! 

After New Zealand, Justin traveled through China, Argentina, Uruguay, and Panama before returning home to Omaha, Nebraska earlier this year.

From left: Chris, Gary, and me in Bali, Indonesia

Chris' (Germany) Nomad4ever might well have been the first travel blog I encountered and began to follow. 

He worked hard for 14 years, and took very early retirement, adopting a nomadic lifestyle by first moving to Phuket, then Bali, and now Goa, India.

Gary (USA), the author of Everything Everywhere, has just entered his 3rd year of traveling the world. 

When we met in Bali last February, he had come off of visiting every Pacific island nation there was to see, a big accomplishment in and of itself, let alone trying to visit more of the world. 

While Chris' early design inspired the first incarnation of my blog, Gary's current design gives me something to strive for now.  It looks amazing!

We met in central Kuta and walked to an open-air food court for dinner and beers. 

Unfortunately, it began to rain heavily, and while the few people there sought shelter, we were having such a good time talking, we remained under a tent at our table as the employees used a broomstick to push the buckets of water off the tarp above our heads.

Nate in his dive shop

Nate (England), the author of Ubertramp, was living on Koh Phi Phi and working as a dive instructor when I passed through that little island paradise. 

We shared a few beers on the beach one night, and I tried to squeeze the island gossip out of him.

Honorable Mentions:  I'm a big fan of Boris' (Germany) Travel Junkie website, and we came within a few days of meeting each other around Christmas in New Zealand. 

And Dan (Tasmania) over at The Lost Globe was in Thailand around the same time as me, however, we weren't able to connect.

Dave Lee

Dave is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Go Backpacking and Feastio. He's been to 66 countries and lived in Colombia and Peru. Read the full story of how he became a travel blogger.