Julia Dimon's Page

My addiction has taken me all over the world – more than 80 countries across six continents and I’m only in my twenties. I’ve lived as a Buddhist monk in Korea, battled through a survival course in the snake-infested jungles of Belize, jumped off one of the world’s highest towers, toured genocide memorials in Rwanda, made lip-plates with the Mursi women of Southern Ethiopia, braved radiation in Chernobyl and spent a night of “torture” in a Latvian prison.

Through good timing, hard work and I a little luck, I was able to turn my love of travel into a profession.

For four years, I wrote a regular column called “Confessions of a Backpacker” for the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily newspaper. From there, I moved on to become a nationally syndicated weekly travel columnist for METRO NEWS, the “world’s largest global newspaper” with 23.1 million readers.

My success as a young travel writer led to my own TV show. I co-host a show called Word Travels, a 39-episode TV series broadcast internationally on National Geographic Adventure and seen in over 45 countries worldwide. This series follows the real lives of two top travel writers (I’m one of them) as they jet set around the world, under pressure and under deadline.

Backpacking around the world for the past seven years, my checklist of destinations and life experiences is long, but there’s still so much more to see and discover! It’s true what they say. Once a travel junkie….always a travel junkie…and I’m thrilled to be Kayak’s Chief Travel Junkie.

In the spirit of celebrating travel, I bring you “Travel Junkie”, a regular blog that follows my adventures (and misadventures) across the globe. From the snow-capped mountains of the Chilean Andes, to the fast-paced neon nightlife of Las Vegas, I’ll take it to the extreme…exploring everything from unique customs, to historic sites, adrenaline-soaked activities, to bizarre foods, local budget getaways to high-end holidays.
I’ll also share tips and travel advice, helpful for planning your own travel adventures, international and domestic.

Read on, as I go beyond the tourist traps, venturing off-the-beaten track to bring you quirky, stories from exotic locales.