I was born on April 27th, 1986. My parents were travel enthusiasts and one would think that a baby would settle them down a little. Well, not the kind of parents I have. And thank God for that, because my journey began straight out of the maternity ward…

Africa – How It All Started.

My parents were fixing up their Unimog to convert it into a mini-apartment for one of their long-term African adventure – this time with me in tow. The truck would become our home for the next year (or so), so things needed to be in place for the journey to start. I quickly adjusted to the fact that my sandpit would become the Sahara desert, that my toys came out of the toolbox and that I would take my first steps between jerry cans, spare parts and sand sheets.

So we set off to Africa on a truly remarkable journey, and I was right in the middle all the time – not only because my place was mainly in the baby capsule in the middle front seat but also because I opened a lot of doors with my baby smile; even the grimmest custom officers, check-point soldiers or police chiefs couldn’t resist me :D It was always “baby first“.

I never got sick and mum had 800 nappies packed in the trunk. Actually, we had all the fun in the sun, 24 hours together with both parents – a rare privilege for a child.

By the age of one, I had 15 countries under my wings.

Those were the good times…

Back To Civilisation – but not for long.

Back in civilisation, the longing for travelling prevailed and it didn’t take long until we flew to Malaysia. This was the time when walkmans just conquered the market – omg how cool was that?! Now, even the longest, roughest bus rides through Sarawak didn’t bother me at all. It was “Bibi Blocksberg” or “Fünf Freunde” all day long. Mum also bought my first bike there – not only to speed things up (after all I was only four years old) but also to make me happy because I hated walking for hours. I was certainly the first Western kid cycling through Kota Kinabalu. We had a couple of rules like “Always stop in front of a street” or “Don’t run anyone over (not even a chicken)” and this worked really well for both of us.

Mum Knowns Best.

Yup, mum’s definitely do know best. She knew how to handle every situation, or how to keep me busy…

Giddyup Down Under.

We continued to Australia. And since Down Under is cattle country, I was on a horse by the age of five. It was mum’s idea to become a Jillaroo, so living on a farm in N.S.W. was not a problem any more. We adjusted well and blended in like all the others.

Busy Bangkok.

Bangkok train station was hot, humid and busy and we had to get tickets. While mum disappeared through the crowds, I stayed put with (or better on) our luggage. She told me that I had to ‘protect’ the bags and made a game out of it so that I would really watch out. In case someone wanted to grab them – or me – I should just start screaming. I looked pretty grim and nobody tried to steal anything after all.

Bangkok held another incident for us. I once got lost in the toy section of a shopping centre. I didn’t notice it at all, but in the meantime my mother frantically alerted the entire staff and they announced through speakers that a little blond girl was missing. After one hour they found me; I was happily playing in a changing room & mum almost had a heart attack.

At a market in Bangkok.

Sri Lanka.

We climbed Adam’s Peak and stayed at Brown’s Beach Hotel in Yala for a while. All the local kids listened to my command :D Sand, waves and sun – perfect!

Back in the days, a “white” kid was still a real attraction…

Indonesia, my second home.

School stopped travelling for a while, but mum decided it was time to learn some proper English. So she simply took me our of elementary school and decided to hit the road again. Down Under is was once more. Getting there took quite a few of months, because Indonesia was en route. All my friends where going to school back home, and I was studying on a remote island; cycling for PE lesson, Maths in the hammock and German under the stars – not too bad if you ask me :) And of course, the island kids where curiously watching as always. Oh and I’ll tell you, mum was definitely a tough teacher!

Beside the day to day school work, I learned how to fish and how to survive in a remote place, without modern gadgets of any kind. While my friends at home teased their pets, I targeted the Komodo Dragons with a slingshot … yeah, those where the good times for sure!

In Togean Islands, I had my first diving experience when dad went down to 20m depth with me in tow (just one octopus and one bottle of oxygen). Fun for me, but mum on the surface simply freaked out and tried to harpoon dad after getting me out of the water. Imagine all the Indonesian gloating over our family dispute :)

When leaving Togean Islands, we hired one seaworthy looking vessel. What we didn’t know was, that it was the captain’s first journey to the mainland, so he missed our destination by far, and we steamed along the coast to find a landing point. Right before sunset we arrived in a small fishing village, in a beautiful bay with stilt houses. When we came closer, many little canoes started paddling toward us and we got stuck between sea and shore. Everybody was screaming and welcoming us. We felt like Lady Di on Australia tour…crazy I tell you! They told us no tourists ever had been to this village before. This warm welcome preceded a week’s stay at the mayor’s house. Luckily he had just acquired a new TV with satellite connection, so I got in charge of the remote control immediately, plus the best and only chair on the veranda. Me in the chair and all the villagers on the floor around me, sitting in front of the TV watching “Cartoon Network” was a pretty funny sight for my parents. Honestly, this was actually my most memorable travel experience until today. Ever since that trip, we came back to Indo at least once a year and today I call it my second home.

On a ferry to some remote island…

In Timor with a lot of school kids.

Having fun with kids in Sulawesi…

The travelling never stopped and today, I feel very grateful for having seen so many different places of our beautiful planet.

What about you? How did you catch the travel bug?

A – Age you went on your first international trip

Nisa: I’ve been on the road pretty much straight out of the maternity ward. My parents took me on an adventure trip through Africa before I was even a year old.

Ulli: My travelling started with reading the books that I got for my birthday, Christmas or any other important reason. For example Hans Hass and his stories, Herbert Tichy and his journeys to Tibet, Nepal and Himalayas, the conquering of the Himalayas by Sir Edmund Hillary. All this formed a vague desire of far away countries at a very early age. Far away in those days meant (for my parents at least) Italy or Greece. My first hitch-hike trip to Italy with was at the age of 16. It was a big thing for me because my parents thought that I was going to a friend in the Austrian Alps. There was no mobile phone and no connections for 4 weeks so it was easy to lie. I came back in one piece and after telling them about all my experiences … well, jaws dropped but they were proud as well. So that was just the beginning of a travel-love affair which lasted until today.

B – Best (foreign) beer you’ve had and where

Neither of us drinks beer. What’s all the fuss about it anyway?

C – Cuisine (favourite)

Nisa: I LOVE food (healthy food of course – hate junk). Couldn’t say what food I like best but the Thai cuisine is pretty darn good.

Ulli: The Malaysian dish Laksa.

D – Destinations, favourite, least favourite and why

Nisa: Oh my, that’s a real tough one … but ok, I’ll try to narrow them down. Favourite: Indonesia – I call Indonesia my second home because I’ve been there so often. The people are super friendly, the landscape is stunning, the food is absolutely delicious, scuba diving is breathtaking, surfing amazing and you won’t find more beautiful beaches anywhere in the world! After Indonesia, I’d also have to say Austria – it’s my home country … and there’s no place like home :) And then of course my new favourite country: New Zealand. I went on a four-week road trip from the North all the way to the South and it was the most amazing trip I’ve had in the last years. Least favourite: Can’t say because I think there’s something exciting to explore in every country… but there are places that are not so high on my „to-visit“ list and these include: South America (except Argentina, Chile & Peru).

Ulli: Favourite is everywhere where it’s warm or hot. Least favourite I would say is Northern Siberia & Antarctica since I hate the cold.

E – Event you experienced abroad and made you say “wow”

Nisa: Can’t think of an event but there are two experiences which really made me say “wow”: 1. Watching surfers ride the waves at Teahupoo in Tahiti (holy f**king shit!). 2. Scuba diving in Raja Ampat, West Papua.

Ulli: Dancing of Sudanese tribes in the middle of nowhere for a good harvest season.

Perfect wave riding at Teahupoo, Tahiti.

F – Favourite mode of transportation

Nisa: I’d have to say trains, even though flying is much faster, I’m a big wuss when it comes to planes. What I like about trains is that you can save money when it comes to accommodation when travelling at night ;)

Ulli: Private car (though sometimes too expensive). After that, I’d also have to say the train.

G – Greatest feeling while travelling

Nisa: Being on the road. Exploring new places. Meeting new people. Having time. Doing what you love. And of course being your own boss.

Ulli: Coming to a village that is rarely visited by foreigners.

H – Hottest place you’ve travelled to

Nisa: India in the summer. After that trip, I knew what „hot“ really meant.

Ulli: The Sahara desert in summer. We travelled from Tunis to Lome in Togo with 58 °Celsius – you needed a towel to touch the steering wheel or the camera and had to wrap yourself in wet towels at night (but it was still darn hot).

The Sahara desert is one of the hottest places.

I – Incredible service you experienced and where

Nisa: Hmmm … I couldn’t really tell. I mean, I’ve had a lot of incredible services but I can’t think of one that would stand out. What I do know is that service is always good if you have the cash. Think of this: You arrive in front of the latest club in town, driving the newest Porsche. The bouncer would never ask you if you’re on the guest list because you must either be a.) rich, b.) very important or c.) both. Do the same without a Porsche, be a ‘normal’ person, don’t brag with material stuff and you can be sure not to get in. Don’t get me wrong, I think this is pretty shitty but very often it’s reality … I think that it always depends on how you act and behave. If you’re nice & friendly, you’ll (mostly) be rewarded with the same.

Ulli: On the way to the Gibbon Tree House in the jungle of Laos. Due to heavy rain, the Land Rover couldn’t pick us up and we had to walk through the jungle for 7 hours … Nisa just shouldered my backpack on top of hers and carried it all along the way without any complains … I was stunned and that was definitely a great service!

J – Journey that took the longest

Nisa: 6 months of travelling through Indonesia with my mum when I was 9 years old.

Ulli: Travelling through Africa with our own 4×4 truck for 12 months, just after finishing high school when I was only 19 years old.

Travelling through Africa in the late 70’s by 4×4 truck.

K – Keepsake from your travels

Nisa: I try to bring something home from every country that I visit. One thing that’s still on my mind was a bicycle my mum bought me while travelling through Malaysia. I was only 5 years old and not ready to walk such long distances, so I got this cute little red bike. Ulli always told me to wait for her at every street crossing, and so I did. That bike was the most important gadget for me (and my mum) when travelling.

Ulli: Memories, memories and memories. Plus every time loads of whatever – I really don’t want to count all the overweight costs or parcel shipping; every single piece in our house tells a story…

L – Let-down sight and where

Nisa: I don’t get what all the fuss is about the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Or the Empire State Building in New York … oh no wait, now I’ve got it! The most let-down sight was the Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum – it’s tiny!

Ulli: The worst for me is animal cruelty (even if it’s only fish). Where I have seen this? Unfortunately in too many countries …

An Orang Utan in the zoo of Padang in Sumatra. Stop animal captivity!

M – Moment where you fell in love with travelling

Nisa: The moment I feel in love with travelling is when my mum and I travelled through Indonesia for 6 months in 1995. Back then, I knew that travelling was going to be the greatest passion I would ever have.

Ulli: At the age of 16 when a friend and I stood on at the outskirts of Vienna, trying to hitch a ride to Greece, It took us 4 days but we got there at last. Our parents thought we were visiting a friend in Lower Austria.

N – Nicest hotel you’ve stayed in

Nisa: I’m not a fan of big chains (I like to call them „sharks“). I actually hate big hotel chains! I prefer little guest houses, or boutique hotels. You’re much closer to the people, it’s so much more cozy and personal. I had a wonderful stay at „The Times Hotel“ in Amsterdam, „Hotel Josef“ in Prague and the beautiful Golden Banana Hotel in Siem Reap; beautiful rooms, wonderful service and the perfect location.

Ulli: I’ve been to many nice hotels, but a few stood out. Alka Hotel in Varanasi for the amazing view over the Ganges river and Allipore guest house in Kolkata, which is a small local place but with an overwhelming warm hospitality.

O – Obsession – what are you obsessed with taking pictures of while travelling

Nisa: Markets from around the world.

Ulli: Odds bits and pieces … the daily life in the streets, food vendors, craftspeople, hairdressers, rubbish bins, workers, transport – whatever I zoom in is pictured forever.

Fresh fish at a wet market in Vientiane, Laos.

P – Passport stamps, how many and from where

Nisa: Seriously? Far too many to count. I have to get a new passport every couple of years.

Ulli: My passports are always full long before the expiry date, so I’m sorry but I couldn’t tell you how many stamps I’ve collected during my many years of travelling.

Q – Quirkiest attraction you’ve visited and where

Nisa: Angkor Forest Lodge in Sen Monorom, Cambodia. It’s like a little Cambodian Disneyland.

Ulli: Nothing really quirky comes to my mind at the moment but the Chuchi Tunnels outside of Ho Chi Minh City was a strange experience; imagining all these people living underground during the Vietnam War with only a few tiny exits so they wouldn’t be seen (where a middle fat Westerner would have no chance on fitting in).

R – Recommended sight, event or experience

Nisa: Seeing the Komodo Dragons (back in 1998) left quite an impression on me and I’d love to travel there again.

Ulli: Hmmm … the world is so beautiful and exciting, so this is really not that easy. Sleeping under the stars in the middle of the Sahara desert, knowing the next village is hundred miles away, is something that will stick in your mind for a lifetime.

S – Splurge; something you have no problem forking for over money while travelling

Nisa: Massages and hair appointments. If possible, I do one of these every day when on the road.

Ulli: After long and exhausting trip (the of local style), upgrading to a business seat on the flight home is the best.

T – Touristy thing you’ve done

Nisa: A pre-booked tour to Halong Bay in Vietnam. Not a fan of booked tours!

Ulli: A booked tour from Beijing to the Great Wall of China with my sister. A real horror trip! We were dragged into a jade selling factory, to a Chinese medicine facility/clinic,  where the doctor was more than upset when I told him that I had no back pain, no aching muscles and no stomach problem … therefore I didn’t need any of his remedies at all. The Great Wall itself was fabulous and good fun though. But never ever again would I do anything like that!

A bunch of happy officers at the Great Wall in China.

U – Unforgettable travel memory

Nisa: Not too long ago I wrote an article about my most memorable travel experience, which took place back in 1996 while travelling through Indonesia for six months.

Ulli: Unforgotten is every single trip but the most exciting and exotic adventure was the trip from Lisala to Kisangani on a Congo river ferry. The ferry transformed into a floating city while travelling: 2.000 people on barges tied together and we where “stuck” on there with friends and our two trucks for 6 days. We saw people giving birth, dying or slaughtering animals. Infections & drownings where the order of the day. This trip was truly one of a kind and I’d love to do it all again one day.

V – Visas, how many and for where

Nisa: Again, too many to count…sorry :S

Ulli: As an Austrian you need a lot of Visas and since I travel often, I need a new passport pretty much every year or so…

W – Wine, best glass of wine while travelling and where

Nisa: I’m not that big of a drinker. And I usually don’t drink wine when travelling (mostly because there is none at the places I travel to). So sorry, no answer for this question …

Ulli: Wine can be tricky to get sometimes so I rather buy a bottle of Whisky in the duty free. Mix it with some limes and you have good compromise for a nice sunset on a remote beach.

X – eXcellent view and from where

Nisa: The Peak in Hong Kong. One hell of a view of one of the most thrilling cities in the world.

Ulli: Adams Peak in Sri Lanka, with hundreds of worshippers around you. And the view out of the Alka Hotel in Varanasi – if you’re patient, the occasional body will float by…

The view from the Peak in Hong Kong.

Y – Years spent travelling

Nisa: I’m 26, so … 25 1/2.

Ulli: In my mind I’ve been travelling all my life. For real since I was 14 years old. And no, I’m not gonna tell how many years that is :)

Z – Zealous sports fans and where

Nisa: I’m a huge sport junkie. I’m a huge fan of skiing (of course) & snowboarding in winter. In summer I prefer my racing bike, running shoes and surfboard.

Ulli: I like trekking, horse riding and rafting. Sports without too much technical equipment is ok for me.

After this, I want to hear the full ABC’s of the following wonderful travel bloggers, who have always inspired me!

• Nate of Yomadic
• Rika of Veganmiam
• Shivya of The Shooting Star

Me and my mum.

I have been travelling all my life. As you might already know, my first years were spent on the African continent and ever since then, the travel-fever struck me. Today I’m 25 years old and still trying to get around as much as possible. I have visited over 70 countries and I’m planning to see many more. In 1995 my mum decided to take me out of elementary school for a year to travel to Indonesia. She has always wanted to go there and decided that this was a good (and easy) time to take me out of school (since I was only in 3rd grade).

Getting ready to board the plane.

Our travels took us to Flores, Komodo & Timor before we decided to visit Sulawesi. My mum loved (and still does) travelling off the beaten path, so the Togian Islands where the right destination for us. Togian is situated right in the middle of the Sulawesi “mouth” and getting there was far from easy: First we had to fly to Mandao, then down to Gorontalo and from there we went on a 6-7 hours boat ride.

But it was all worth it! Togian is paradise as you know it: White sandy beaches, palm trees, crystal clean blue water and no tourist in sight. It’s also a real diver’s delight with some of the most amazing reefs. We’ve been to Togian three times, last in 1998 so I don’t know if this is still the case today. Anyway, we stayed for about three weeks and not only did I make friends for life but I also started my acting career ;) Some Indonesian movie was being filmed there and I guess the director quickly made a chance in the script … Quite an experience. But this was not my most memorable moment after all. It actually happened when we left the island.

Getting ready for the big moment…

It was so much fun being a part of the movie.

I made a couple of really good friends during our stay.

There was no regular ferry to and from the Togian Islands, so we decided to set sail with a local fisherman. His medium-size boat looked sea-worthy and therefore nothing could stop us (yet). Turns out, the boat was fine but the captain seemed to have his first day on the job. As I said earlier, the trip usually takes about 6-7 hours. After the 9th hour, we started wondering and soon realized that we were lost at sea … After about 11 hours, land finally was in sight.

We steered into a cove and right after we did, a giant whale surfaced in front of our boat (and I really mean in front of our boat: maybe 2-4 meters at the max).  I’ve never seen a whale before, so you can imagine how exited this 9 year old girl must have been ;) Later we found out that it was a humpback whale … No, still not the most memorable moment.

After the excitement with the whale, land in sight and the obvious relief of the captain and crew, we came closer to the shore. A little (at least it looked little from the boat) village called “Tilamuta” was going to be out “docking station”. At first, all we could see were these huts made out of cardboard, wood and corrugated iron, when all over sudden heaps of canoes started coming our way (there must have been 50 – 60 of them). We had no clue what in the world was going on and were just told to get our belongings – and we did. One of the crew members (who spoke a bit of English) told us that we had to get onto the canoes, since the boat couldn’t go any further because the water was too shallow. Ulli wanted me to  go on land with one boat and she would take another (I think she didn’t trust the tiny little canoes to hold us both). I did as she said.

When arriving at the beach, I could already see hundreds of people waiting there. As soon as I lay a foot on land, everyone started touching me and my hair. I was used to people touching me and especially my blond hair but never ever like this … It seemed like there were a millions. Ulli came up behind me, took my hand and we started walking … with the entire village in tow, still touching us on every single body part. Later we found out, that we were the first white people to ever set foot here.

We walked for about 10 minutes until we arrived at the chief’s house. He invited us onto his patio, brought us tee and offered me the only white plastic chair there was. While Ulli was chatting with some of the guys, I sat down and started zapping through the Indonesian TV channels (If you have travelled to remote places you’ll know that there is one thing that cannot be missing: a TV and a gigantic satellite dish). So I was sitting in this white chair, with the only remote control in the entire village and hundreds of kids watching me. It all must sound really decadent but they actually wanted to me to do so.

Little Nisa watching TV.

Anyway, we would have liked Tilamuta to be our home for the next couple of days because we wanted to explore the area and watch the whales. But, we knew that there would be no such thing as a hotel … As soon as the chief realized that we were planning on staying, he offered us his house. Of course we couldn’t accept but he insisted. Before we could say anymore, his wife was already preparing dinner. So we accepted his generous offer and stayed for the next week or so…

The days in Tilamuta were so much much fun!

This experience was the most memorable of all my travel moments until today. Thinking about it, makes me a little nostalgic because we never managed to go back there again…

What about you? I’d really love to hear about your memorable travel moments…