Hahaha , brilliant really made me chuckle! The blond highlights from Superdrug 🤣 cracked up ! Love reading travel story’s , I was a back packer and went to Thailand before backpacking round Australia , stayed in one of those huts ! Got locked in a dodgy bar and not allowed out till handed over a large sum of dosh ! Did loads travelling in my younger days. Best days of my life , sense of freedom , gone now we have kids 😆
Ah this is marvellous! I have never been to that part of the world… it sounds like a young person’s haven, with the exception of the middle-aged sex tourists, which is not a demographic I want to fall into 🤔 is it the kind of place you’d visit now? Part of me thinks it might be hellish in my 40s 😳
Thank you for sharing, and for the mention of my post! 🙏🏻 I think it should be a prerequisite of being 30/40-something that you document your travels of your yoof. More, please!
Cheers, Katie! No worries - loved reading about your time in Madrid and was one of the pieces that got me on the nostalgic trail of thought.
Would love to visit Southeast Asia again - perhaps with the kids when they’re older. Would have to mix things up a bit though (and stay in half-decent accommodation.) I think some of the places we went to at 19 might be unbearable now! Ha.
You're very welcome, Margaret! Thanks - yeh, we had a blast, thanks. My pals and I still reminisce about it when we've had a couple of drinks and feeling nostalgic. Would love to get back out to Southeast Asia with the kids when they're older - don't think I'm capable of roughing it quite so much these days though!
This is great Andy! I didn't do anything half as adventurous as this - the closest I got was a 2-week holiday in Magaluf at the age of 19, but I also used a £2.99 highlighter kit from Superdrug for my hair to prepare! Love 'Andy’s Travel Book' 😆 Did you make any notes and do you still have it?!
Cheers, Faith - much appreciated. Blond highlights all the rage, right?! Ha, the 18-30 holiday is a rites-of-passage, isn't it? I never braved Magaluf but we went to Malia and Kavos. Fantastic (but very silly) holidays!
Yeh, I still have the book. It's pretty cringey reading it back but a nice memento.
The closest I got to gap year travel was three weeks Inter-railing around Europe with my younger sister when I was 21. The diciest bit was arriving in Brindisi on a delayed train full of young travellers late at night, to find the connective ferry to Greece had already left. The locals were not friendly. The local police took pity on us and let all us backpackers sleep on the roof of the police station to prevent us getting robbed!
Ooerrr Andy! Coincidentally, I was very much in Siem Reap in 2006, working in Angkor as an archaeologist : had I known you then, I would have scored some Beer gardens and Cambodia cuisine with you . I’m amazed you didn’t get your passports and money yanked off you in either Siem Reap or Phnom Penh, both deadly spots for rip off merchants . Used to happen regularly in Siem Reap to backpackers …. glad you had your guardian angels working for you….
My own adventures in Asia were in 1986,20 years before you , a month in India and 2 weeks in Sri Lanka …. that ll be a yarn and a half!
Yeah, if we met back then I would have given you a tour of the main temples …. Would have been epic ! I was very lucky to have worked there , was the sole Sri Lankan working among French/ Indians/ Germans/ assorted Euros in the international teams. I got very popular with my friends who all wanted to visit , and some did! But it was a tough gig, food particularly, Cambo cuisine is so unspicy compared to Thai or Lao, I had to depend on a Keralan and a Sri Lankan / Indian cafe to survive.
I also did high end tours of some temples my organization managed, Preah Khan and Ta Sohm, which were quite good : the audience was mostly rich American donors to our projects . So I learnt a lot on how to present building history and heritage ..
Mostly it was dusty and very very hot: lot of petty crime, theft and stuff. In fact I had my passport and money ripped off me in Phnom Penh once….
I should write about all that here! Maybe I will..
Great post, Andy! Having never ventured to Southeast Asia myself, this was an entertaining whistlestop tour. The bonkersness of teen escapades, however, is universally relatable! :D
Thanks, Sarah, appreciate it! This was only the first few weeks so there’s plenty more in the locker (spoiler: we did come home early having plundered all our savings!)
Haha, you’re right - don’t think it really matters where you are in the world - bonkersness wherever you are!
I was on the Khao San Road for the World Cup final in 1998, France v Brazil. Threw up under my table and just styled it out. Arm wrestled the locals until dawn. Thank you for taking me back!
Haha, sounds wonderful. There was already enough drama to that final with Ronaldo’s mystery illness etc.! What a great place to experience it! Did you get the better of the locals? Bet some of the Muay Thai guys were pretty handy?!
Oof, that sounds like a hairy experience. It’s horrible feeling unwelcome in places. On the roof?!Bet that was a good night’s sleep!
Yep, it was a bit of a mad trip. The most adventurous thing I’d done before it was an 18-30 in Malia so it was quite a step up! The round-the-world tickets were really affordable back then so loads of people were doing it.
Brilliant Andy! Brings to mind my own whack Asia trip 30 years before you, to India…. got to Bkk/ Thailand / Lao after adulthood , so missed out on the Mekong tubing lark…. fun times indeed
Another doozy Andy! This was great, and I echo your other commenters by saying yes, more of this. The parent stuff is fun too, but this was one of my favourites to date. I have no experience in that part of the world so it's always interesting to hear these tales.
I learnt so much as well - so that's what Carabao is? I remember the Milk Cup, Littlewoods Cup, Coca Cola Cup, but then it all just lost the plot and I gave up with sponsors (the same with shirts).
In light of this past week's news in Vang Vien it was quite harrowing to hear about the drinking and tubing and I'm so glad you emerged unscathed, save for the cracked kneecap. Sticking to beers is always a safe bet. Usually. Maybe?
Don't lie to yourself (re: Legolas) - as a former teacher and father, OF COURSE you're making that kind of quip these days, we have to!
On my travels over the years, my biggest regrets often involve footwear - either not bringing enough or too many or the wrong ones. It seems the hardest thing to get right.
Definitely more of these Andy! It feels like an episode of the Inbetweeners
Cheers, Sara. Yep, the Inbetweeners was very, very relatable when it came out!
Hahaha , brilliant really made me chuckle! The blond highlights from Superdrug 🤣 cracked up ! Love reading travel story’s , I was a back packer and went to Thailand before backpacking round Australia , stayed in one of those huts ! Got locked in a dodgy bar and not allowed out till handed over a large sum of dosh ! Did loads travelling in my younger days. Best days of my life , sense of freedom , gone now we have kids 😆
Thanks, Francis.
Ah, fantastic. Well, not the dodgy bar bit, obvs! Yep, amazing, carefree times, right? So glad we did it.
Would you encourage your kids to do the same? I think we will but would be an anxious wreck until they got back home!
Ah this is marvellous! I have never been to that part of the world… it sounds like a young person’s haven, with the exception of the middle-aged sex tourists, which is not a demographic I want to fall into 🤔 is it the kind of place you’d visit now? Part of me thinks it might be hellish in my 40s 😳
Thank you for sharing, and for the mention of my post! 🙏🏻 I think it should be a prerequisite of being 30/40-something that you document your travels of your yoof. More, please!
Cheers, Katie! No worries - loved reading about your time in Madrid and was one of the pieces that got me on the nostalgic trail of thought.
Would love to visit Southeast Asia again - perhaps with the kids when they’re older. Would have to mix things up a bit though (and stay in half-decent accommodation.) I think some of the places we went to at 19 might be unbearable now! Ha.
Isn’t it amazing what you can tolerate when you’re young and broke 😂
Sounds like a fun trip Andy, and some very familiar characters en route (ginger ninja). I feel I have met a few of them.
Thanks for the mention too!
You're very welcome, Margaret! Thanks - yeh, we had a blast, thanks. My pals and I still reminisce about it when we've had a couple of drinks and feeling nostalgic. Would love to get back out to Southeast Asia with the kids when they're older - don't think I'm capable of roughing it quite so much these days though!
This is great Andy! I didn't do anything half as adventurous as this - the closest I got was a 2-week holiday in Magaluf at the age of 19, but I also used a £2.99 highlighter kit from Superdrug for my hair to prepare! Love 'Andy’s Travel Book' 😆 Did you make any notes and do you still have it?!
Cheers, Faith - much appreciated. Blond highlights all the rage, right?! Ha, the 18-30 holiday is a rites-of-passage, isn't it? I never braved Magaluf but we went to Malia and Kavos. Fantastic (but very silly) holidays!
Yeh, I still have the book. It's pretty cringey reading it back but a nice memento.
Nice. That's a pretty adventurous route, Andy!
The closest I got to gap year travel was three weeks Inter-railing around Europe with my younger sister when I was 21. The diciest bit was arriving in Brindisi on a delayed train full of young travellers late at night, to find the connective ferry to Greece had already left. The locals were not friendly. The local police took pity on us and let all us backpackers sleep on the roof of the police station to prevent us getting robbed!
Ooerrr Andy! Coincidentally, I was very much in Siem Reap in 2006, working in Angkor as an archaeologist : had I known you then, I would have scored some Beer gardens and Cambodia cuisine with you . I’m amazed you didn’t get your passports and money yanked off you in either Siem Reap or Phnom Penh, both deadly spots for rip off merchants . Used to happen regularly in Siem Reap to backpackers …. glad you had your guardian angels working for you….
My own adventures in Asia were in 1986,20 years before you , a month in India and 2 weeks in Sri Lanka …. that ll be a yarn and a half!
Thanks, Prasanna. Yeh, we were fortunate, I think! Plenty of shaky moments and lucky escapes.
Wow, you worked as an archaeologist there? That’s amazing. You need to get posting on here - sounds like you’ll have some ace stories!
Yeah, if we met back then I would have given you a tour of the main temples …. Would have been epic ! I was very lucky to have worked there , was the sole Sri Lankan working among French/ Indians/ Germans/ assorted Euros in the international teams. I got very popular with my friends who all wanted to visit , and some did! But it was a tough gig, food particularly, Cambo cuisine is so unspicy compared to Thai or Lao, I had to depend on a Keralan and a Sri Lankan / Indian cafe to survive.
I also did high end tours of some temples my organization managed, Preah Khan and Ta Sohm, which were quite good : the audience was mostly rich American donors to our projects . So I learnt a lot on how to present building history and heritage ..
Mostly it was dusty and very very hot: lot of petty crime, theft and stuff. In fact I had my passport and money ripped off me in Phnom Penh once….
I should write about all that here! Maybe I will..
This piece is, ahem... sick bruv! Wonderful recollections and I definitely want to hear the rest. Thanks for the mention up top.
Haha. Cheers, mate! No worries - your Terrorvision tale set me on this nostalgic trail! Listened to their first album btw - really good stuff.
Great post, Andy! Having never ventured to Southeast Asia myself, this was an entertaining whistlestop tour. The bonkersness of teen escapades, however, is universally relatable! :D
Thanks, Sarah, appreciate it! This was only the first few weeks so there’s plenty more in the locker (spoiler: we did come home early having plundered all our savings!)
Haha, you’re right - don’t think it really matters where you are in the world - bonkersness wherever you are!
I was on the Khao San Road for the World Cup final in 1998, France v Brazil. Threw up under my table and just styled it out. Arm wrestled the locals until dawn. Thank you for taking me back!
Haha, sounds wonderful. There was already enough drama to that final with Ronaldo’s mystery illness etc.! What a great place to experience it! Did you get the better of the locals? Bet some of the Muay Thai guys were pretty handy?!
Unbeaten until about 6am, in my memory!
Oof, that sounds like a hairy experience. It’s horrible feeling unwelcome in places. On the roof?!Bet that was a good night’s sleep!
Yep, it was a bit of a mad trip. The most adventurous thing I’d done before it was an 18-30 in Malia so it was quite a step up! The round-the-world tickets were really affordable back then so loads of people were doing it.
Thanks for reading, Wendy!
Brilliant Andy! Brings to mind my own whack Asia trip 30 years before you, to India…. got to Bkk/ Thailand / Lao after adulthood , so missed out on the Mekong tubing lark…. fun times indeed
Another doozy Andy! This was great, and I echo your other commenters by saying yes, more of this. The parent stuff is fun too, but this was one of my favourites to date. I have no experience in that part of the world so it's always interesting to hear these tales.
I learnt so much as well - so that's what Carabao is? I remember the Milk Cup, Littlewoods Cup, Coca Cola Cup, but then it all just lost the plot and I gave up with sponsors (the same with shirts).
In light of this past week's news in Vang Vien it was quite harrowing to hear about the drinking and tubing and I'm so glad you emerged unscathed, save for the cracked kneecap. Sticking to beers is always a safe bet. Usually. Maybe?
Don't lie to yourself (re: Legolas) - as a former teacher and father, OF COURSE you're making that kind of quip these days, we have to!
On my travels over the years, my biggest regrets often involve footwear - either not bringing enough or too many or the wrong ones. It seems the hardest thing to get right.
I shall check out The Thing Is.