how-to-plan-a-trip-overseas

How to plan a trip overseas.

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Last week a friend asked me how I planned my recent trip to Borneo. She asked me how I decided what to do, where to stay, how to get the cheapest flights, what tours to do, etc. On our Dad and Daughter Great Adventures I like to travel around and stay at different places, so we can explore and experience  as much as we can (and thankfully my daughter quite likes to do that too). I pretty much follow the same steps no matter where I’m going, but this is how I planned our Borneo trip: Read more →

AFL-grand-final

The world’s best sporting events.

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The AFL (Australian Rules Football) finals are in full swing here and we are only 10 days away from what I think is one of the greatest sporting events in the world – the AFL Grand Final (although my team didn’t make the finals, so not as grand as I’d like). And yes, I may be a little biased being bred on footy in Melbourne, but it definitely is up there with the best sporting events that I’ve been to around the globe. Read more →

worlds-best-breakfast?

The best breakfast in the world.

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I love a good breakfast, and whether it’s bread and cold cuts in Germany or baked cheese pancakes in Russia, each country does their first meal of the day quite differently. When I travel I will try them all. I’ve had everything from frog porridge in Malaysia to stuffed sheep’s stomach (aka haggis) in Scotland. On my recent trip to Borneo I had mee goring (fried noodles) for breakfast one morning from the hotel buffet – although my 13 year old daughter outdid me by having mee goring, roti bread, spring rolls and fried chicken all piled high on to a plate. So, what’s the best breakfast from around the world? Here are my Top 10 (and sorry Malaysia and Scotland you didn’t make the cut): Read more →

travel-entrance-tickets

Travels in my Shoebox – Entrance Tickets

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I recently went to the David Bowie exhibition at ACMI and the Melbourne Aquarium, and for both of them I bought my tickets online and got an e-Ticket on my phone. That meant I didn’t get actual paper tickets, which was a pity because I like tickets. I keep all my entrance tickets when I’m travelling and I’ve got a shoebox full of them – from museums and galleries to temples and towers. Read more →

pan-am-board-game

How Pan Am inspired me to travel.

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What first inspired you to travel? Was it exotic far-off lands you read about in a book or saw in a film? Or was it from watching Gilligan’s Island?  For me it was a board game. The Game was called Pan American World Jet Flight Game, which had the tagline ‘Pilot a Jet Clipper to all the continents of the world.’ Read more →

Are-we-born-to-travel?

My 30 year love affair.

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It was 30 years ago this winter that I first clicked into a pair of skis, and from that very first incredibly scary green run at Falls Creek in Victoria, Australia I fell head over heels in love – although there was more head over heels than love in that first week. Since then I have skied over 500 days, at 28 different resorts in 9 different countries. My love affair became an addiction – and an expensive one at that! Read more →

Survivor-resort-borneo

Brian and Jasmine. Who will be the sole survivor?

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Okay, I have to admit up front that I’m a fan of the American reality TV show Survivor. I haven’t watched all 29 seasons, but I have watched quite a few. So, when I discovered that you could actually stay on the island (off the coast of Borneo) from the first ever season of Survivor (where Richard Hatch, the naked gay guy won), we had to go. I just hoped that I didn’t have to vote my own daughter off.  Read more →

proboscis-monkey-borneo

Monkeys and scorpions and snakes. Oh my.

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It’s Part Two of our Dad and Daughter Great adventure in Borneo and, after our first few days that were jam-packed with adventurous pursuits, we spent some time with a whole bunch of cute, weird and scary critters and creepy crawlies. We met them all in Sepilok, which is five hours by bus from Kota Kinabalu. Our main reason for visiting Sepilok was to see the orangutans at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, but in our three days there we got to meet a whole menagerie of creatures: Read more →

sapi-island-borneo

Thrills and spills in Borneo.

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Borneo had always been on my hit list of places to visit – and mostly, I have to admit, because the name itself has an exotic ring to it. There are other places, too (such as Zanzibar and Timbuktu), that have been on my hit list simply because their names conjure up something mystical and exotic. Borneo, however, lived up to its name. Read more →

#holidayclicheagram

#holidayclicheagram

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I’m about to jet off to Borneo for another Dad and Daughter Great Adventure. Last year we went to Cambodia and on each day of our trip I posted a Holiday Clicheagram on Instagram. We’ve all seen these shots before on our friend’s feed – or you’ve taken them yourself! Hey, I’m just as guilty of dragging out the cliché holiday snap. So, I’ve decided to continue my #holidayclicheagram series for this trip. I was going to say that I will you surprise you with my shots…but you will have probably seen them all before anyway. Follow me on Instagram (@bthacker) to get the latest pics! And just to remind you, these are my delightfully clichéd clicheagrams from last year… Read more →