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Name:: Planet Backpacker

Location:: Traverse City, Northern Michigan - USA

Your Blog/Website:: http://www.planetbackpacker.net

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Type of Blogger: Travel Journalist

The Destination(s) You Blog About and/or Areas of Interest: My website offers travel tips, stories and vignettes from backpacking around the world, including India, Egypt, Peru, Europe, Southeast Asia, Central America, Alaska & more in support of my book, Planet Backpacker -- a nonfiction adventure which was written in 100 internet cafes.

Travel Type:: Adventure, Backpacking, Hostelling

Some stuff about my book...Planet Backpacker

Warning: This book could cause your feet to wander...

Planet Backpacker is a round-the-world celebration of the backpacking lifestyle enjoyed by an estimated 100,000 travelers at any given moment. The nonfiction book about a global journey packs everything from a love story to encounters with wild women and dangerous men, history, myth, humor, and thoughts on the traveling life.
I like to think of it as 'On the Road' meets 'A Walk in the Woods.'
The book was written one excerpt at a time in 100 internet cafes as part of a blog I wrote on a five-month solo trip around the world. In 2007, I pedaled a mountain bike across Europe, backpacking on through Egypt, India and Southeast Asia -- around the world.
Planet Backpacker offers an optimistic view of the world and its people with a 'go for it' spirit. If you love literature and travel, you'll enjoy this rallying cry to visit some of the most exotic countries on earth. Completely revised for 2009, with the addition of maps and a 'how to' section for traveling on a budget.

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Robert Downes's Blog

The Flight to Oz

(Follow Bob Downes and Jeannette Wildman as they travel 7 months around the world.)

The Flight to Oz

Nov. 1, 2 a.m. We're leaving Los Angeles for Sydney, Australia... 7,500 miles to go on a 14-hour flight. Our double-decker jet is packed with 400 passengers and crew and it seems a miracle that we'll be able to haul this load that distance across the Pacific.  We've already flown from Traverse City to Chicago and on to L.A. My messed up back feels like an icepick is probing my…

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Posted on June 29, 2012 at 12:20pm

Toodleoo Kangaroo

Follow Robert Downes and Jeannette Wildman as they backpack for 7 months around the world. Downes is the author of "Planet Backpacker -- The Good Life Bumming Around the World," available as an ebook at Kindle and Apple iBooks.

My wife Jeannette had a little fun with me recently. She started hiding a big, black plastic spider in unexpected places, like in my coffee cup or on my pillow. It's about two inches in diameter and each time I saw it, I'd about jump out…

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Posted on June 25, 2012 at 9:29am

7 Months Around the World -- Getting Ready to Go

There are so many things to do to get ready for a 7-month trip around the world. Starting with saving up $30,000, for instance.

After 2 1/2 years of saving -- along with some of the proceeds from my book, Planet Backpacker -- i'm starting to see my 30 grand dwindle rapidly with the advance purchase of plane tickets (to and from Tasmania, to Bali from Darwin, etc.), advance fees ($450 to hike Tasmania's Overland Track),…

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Posted on October 10, 2011 at 3:24pm — 1 Comment

The 27 Club

“They tried to make me go to rehab and I said no, no, no...”

-- “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse

Some 2,500 years ago, Buddha offered the advice that the best path through life is the “middle way.” The…

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Posted on August 1, 2011 at 3:20pm

Getting Organized… how planning for a trip can shape up your home style

While planning a six-month trip around the world, i've been thrilled to find that my travel plans are also helping to organize my stay-at-home life.

It's no secret that planning a trip takes a lot of time and thought, even if it's just a weekend out of town. But a spin-off of that planning is the potential for putting many housekeeping duties in order before you depart.

These are some of the improvements i've made in my life in advance of my travels:

--…

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Posted on July 15, 2011 at 10:41am — 1 Comment

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At 3:20pm on May 1, 2009, Robert Downes said…: Hey, i'm a brand new baby boy to this site... trying to figger it out. Anyone out there? Seems like i hear an echo...