I’m almost embarrassed to admit I had never been to Joshua Tree, ~2 hours from LA. This rare jewel hidden deep in the desert is fascinating and freaky and hotter than hell (in June).
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My Remote Year Marathon
12 months, 19 countries. A year of new experiences and constant stimulation. A year that can never be replicated, and never fully comprehended by anyone outside of RY3 . A year that probably seemed so luxurious on social media. But, in reality, it was just as challenging as it was rewarding. Like running a marathon.
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Floating Village and Forest
After temple running at Angkor Wat and seeing the circus in Siam Reap why not check out the “Floating Villages” tour at Kompong Phluk? I was skeptical about this at first, but was pleasantly surprised by the beauty and tranquility of the experience.
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Hot Air Balloon in Bagan
My 10 day vacation in Myanmar was marvelous! Traveled with some Europeans: Jacek, Kasia and Viktoria. Myanmar just opened their tourist doors a few years ago and it felt like the wild West. The highlight was the hot air balloon ride over Bagan, the ancient city with thousands of temples.
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Phare, The Cambodian Circus
Siam Reap, Cambodia was a breath of fresh air compared to Phnom Penh, literally and figuratively. I ventured off on a solo trip for a few days to get out of the city and see the Angkor Wat temples. Angkor Wat was certainly impressive, but it was the Phare: Cambodian Circus that captured my heart!
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The Killing Fields
Traveling the world is not all rainbows and waterfalls. It's a course in world history and sometimes history is horrifying. The hardest day of the year was visiting the S21 Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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Chiling Falls with Mr Baby
MEMORY MONDAY - One of my favorite days on RY was the Chiling Waterfalls in Malaysia. We took buses ~1.5 hours outside of Kuala Lumpur and I was lucky enough to sit in front with our driver: 'Mr Baby'.
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New Year, New Pic Process!
Month 11 of Remote Year, and I’ve only published 5 months of snaps. It kills me, cuz I want to share them! But, pic processing takes time. So, New Year, new pic process.
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Elephants on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve was quite different this year. Instead of being in Boston dreaming of sugar plums and reindeer, I was in Thailand, eating sugar cane and playing with elephants. I definitely miss family, but this was as sweet as Mom's homemade butterhorns!
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Borneo's Wicked Wildlife - Pt 3
Want to know what millions of bats flying out of a cave looks like? Check out part 3, the finale of Borneo's Wicked Wildlife, featuring the bats in Gunung Mulu National Park!
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Borneo's Wicked Wildlife - Pt 2
No trip to Borneo is complete without seeing wild orangutans. Seeing animals in a zoo is depressing. Seeing them in the semi-wild is wicked sweet!!
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Borneo's Wicked Wildlife - Pt 1
The island of Borneo boasts the most wicked wildlife! Because of the climate, the rainforest is home to the most species of life on Earth. I went to Borneo for Thanksgiving on a solo journey and here is part 1 of Borneo's Wicked Wildlife!
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Motivating Malaysian Middle Schoolers
I met some of the brightest leaders from KL at an RY networking event with YSEALI (Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative). One young lady, Sherry asked me to speak to the students at her middle school (15-16 yr olds). My mentor once told me, “Take every speaking opportunity you can get, Matthew.” CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
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Rubber Trees & Duku Fruit
Did you know rubber comes from trees? I must have been daydreaming about Kelly Kapowski back in science class when they covered this, because I thought rubber came from factories. I guess that’s synthetic rubber? Mind blown!
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Asia Travel Day and Doha
Our last big travel day for Remote Year was a >2 day, epic-long, exhausting journey from Europe to Asia. RY did a great job of breaking up the trip into digestible chunks with a sweet 7 hour layover in Doha, Qatar---which turned out to be a completely fascinating cultural experience!
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Chasing Croatian Waterfalls - Pt 2
Round 2: Krka National Park. Plitvice was pretty, but I had heard good things about Krka. Krka is literally on the way back from Plitvice, right off the E65. So, I set out and took my time getting down there.
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Serbia's Church of Saint Sava
The Serbs love them some Saint Sava! As I’ve written in a previous post, St Sava is one of the most important figures in Serbian history. And the Church of Saint Sava is one of the most treasured structures in the city. She is a beaut! (from the outside)
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Looking Back at London
I loved London. Maybe it's because it felt 'safe' after 4 months in South America? Or, maybe it's because I'm a Sherwood, and my ancestors are British? But, I loved it, and felt quite at home there. Sadly, I did not spend much time there, as I did 3 weekend side trips. But, the time I was there was lovely and here's a long overdue recap of some of the highlights!
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Serbian Sightseeing Scramble
It’s my last week in Belgrade, and per usual, I’m running around trying to see sights that I put off seeing the first 3 weeks. In one day, I visited two museums and one art gallery. Success!
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