Hello! I setup this site to log the adventures from my dedicated year of travel, tell the inspiration story and travel-write a few fun posts from the journey. Excited to share. I hope you enjoy the stories and photos, which you’ll see were prioritized over grammar and formatting.

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If you don’t know “the why” start with: The Inspiration Story & 1989 Itinerary & Photos

Travel Posts: 
(some sections are rather long, so pick a curious one or read sequentially!)       

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✈  I’m currently in Namibia, kicking off a final two months in Africa with Kial after finishing up seven weeks backpacking through Eastern Europe and the Middle East. 


Most recent route, overviewed in Post 8


Full 2023 Itinerary: 

I’ve talked about it for years, and now I’m finally doing it - embarking on nearly a year of travels. I explain the selection of destinations and the idea behind the goofy headlines on the inspiration page


Segment Two: Solo Asian Zen was an unforgettable two month journey, cruising on a motorbike in SE Asia followed by backpacking China & India. 


Segment 1: Winter Adventure Chase, Eh!? Was an epic nine week adventure with cousin Nate, living out of backcountry huts in Canada, skiing, mountaineering, and cruising highway one in Nate’s 1984 pickup truck. 


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10 - Billy’s BroMoon - Oman & Dubai

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Billy & Joe take on the Arabian Gulf Joe takes Billy on his “BroMoon”! What’s a BroMoon, you might ask? Might be first first to coin the term: BroMoon : noun,   A post-honeymoon trip with your old pal. A guys get-away, filled with bromance, exploration, and no showering for a week. If the point of a honeymoon is to spend intimate time to relax and cherish the new married life, the BroMoon is designed to ponder questions like “Damn I can’t believe I just got married” and embark on a man-y-man adventure. Looks like BuddyMoon is a an actual comedy movie, with fortunately, not the same plot line as our trip.  In a to-the-nines celebration, Billy & Jackie wed this fall. Just weeks after their Italy honeymoon, Billy took FOUR flights (yes four, full story below) from Buffalo to the Middle East for an absolute adventure with his long time high school “buddy”, as Billy calls everyone. I n a trip to Oman & Dubai that was a world of difference from sipping wine on the Italian coas
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7 - Kial Travels “Joe’s Way”

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A Cold & Wet Saga from Trekking in Norway This summer Kial and I set off on a whirlwind two weeks in Europe. Centered around seeing family, we visited MKs new flat in London, linked up with the rest of the Comer squad at the Notre Dame football game in Dublin, and spent a few nights in a castle with the siblings in Kilkenny, Ireland. We also overlapped with Lexi and Colin in London which made for quite a few English street side “Pints”,  a quintessential Abbey Road pic and endless good eats. Thirteen days across three countries, so we have a few stories to tell… but the saga from Norway takes the cake.  Desiring to plan a special Kial<>Joe trip, I found good direct flights from London to Bergen, Norway, which is the gateway to famous Norwegian fjords. The story from our week camping is “all time” and will certainly garner a laugh, as the logistics, preparedness and inclement weather truly tested “roughing it” and proved that there is little Kial hates more than being cold. I’
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8 - Europe Meets Asia: Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey

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  Previous Post:  India Next Post: Post-Soviet Nations of the Caucasus ————————————————————   Europe Meets Asia Backpacking - Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey The route Recap: The final travel segment is upon me! Four months ahead, landing just outside of Schengen in Romania, overland across Turkey through Bulgaria, into the Caucasus countries of Georgia & Armenia, a quick ten day stint into the Gulf countries of Oman, UAE & Qatar (re routing away from Israel) and two months to cap thing off in Africa. The gift of time continues, on the longest and final travel segment of the tour!  The only changes to my small 45L backpack were the addition of an extra warm layer for fall in Eastern Europe and swapping a pair of shorts for pants. Also decided to ditch the satellite phone - we’ll see if I regret that while exploring the  African bush.  In another (more peaceful) world, Russia would’ve undoubtedly made it on my itinerary. I still desired to get a feel for Soviet culture, immerse myself
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1 - Canadian Expeditions

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Next Post: Month on Moto The adventures were kicked off with cousin Nate, my longtime travel partner and childhood shenanigan extraordinaire. Nate owns a 1984 Ford pickup with a custom pop-up camper attached. In March we began an epic ten week adventure exploring the winter mountains of northwest Canada, backcountry ski touring, mountaineering and ski traversing dozens of miles across glacial ice fields in British Columbia.  Our last couple weeks were spent in BC’s Great Bear Rainforest on a 10 day self-supported kayak expedition. We had fun typing up a detailed trip report and stunning photos. Check it out on Nate’s site  here :  https://www.nateresing.com/gbr We logged over 30 ski days together, which for starting in March and nearly all of the days spent touring uphill, was quite impressive. Compiled list of ski tours:  1. Sled day. Teton Pass 2. Bear claw, Teton Pass, 800 ft ascent, 2,700 ski vertical  3. 25 short to Turkey Shoot, 3,500ft, 9 hours, 9,880 summit  4. Grand Targhee, 1
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6 - India

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Previous Post: China Next Post: Norway - coming soon ————— Destinations:     → Mumbai      → Jaipur       →   Agra (Taj Mahal)      → Varanasi      → Kolkata (An interesting note that many of these cities were renamed in the last 25 years as India sought to cast off it’s British imperial naming…  Bombay became Mumbai, Calcutta became Kolkata; Bangalore rebranded as Bengaluru and Benares became Varanasi. Caused me quite a bit of confusion as in my Dad’s journals he had all the British naming) A journey across four Indian states. Flight from Mumbai to Jaipur,  Rajasthan to explore the golden triangle, then 14+ hour overnight trains to Varanasi & Kolkata —————————- 😁High:  Varanasi, the spiritual heart of India and holy site for the Hindus. Truly a bucket-list experience witnessing the religious and cultural heartbeat of India along the Ganges river. More on the visit in the Varanasi section.  Sunrise Aarti Ceremony over the Ganges 🙁Low:   The inability to feel comfortable the ent
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3 - The Beginning: Bangkok & Northern Thailand

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Previous Post: Month on Moto Recap Next Post:  L aos & Cambodia My first destination was Thailand, Asia’s tourism hub and a country where 95% of the 70 million residents are Buddhist. Landing in Bangkok, I spent nearly a week here getting my bearings, and was even daring enough to get my vaccines at a (surprisingly) well run travel health clinic at a quarter of the cost as in the US for the identical drug. I enjoyed exploring the grand palace, “sitting Buddha” temple, “standing Buddha” temple, floating markets, and unique nightlife scene. Khao San Road, the famous backpackers and nightlife Mecca did not disappoint: nowhere quite like it among the hundreds of street vendors selling fried scorpions to now legal weed and $1 Pad Thai. Then you have the endless promoters begging you to come into their bar and the Tuk Tuk drivers itching to take you into Bangkok’s infamous Red Light District. After days of sweating in Bangkok, it was time to head north. I did just write about embracing “
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