Max Grant

I'm currently travelling around the world. So far, I've just been to Thailand and Laos and I still have Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Bolivia and Peru ahead of me. This is my blog - I'll update it regularly!

I'm having the most incredible time - I'm doing great things in really cool, far out places. I recently finished a book called The Backpacker,by John Harris. It was a really good read, and there were a few paragraphs which sum up what I'm feeling whilst travelling:

".. we hadn't stopped grinning since we'd met. Every day was different, often spent with different people from every conceivable background, and usually in a new place, which I loved.

"You get that same buzz when you're introduced to someone you fancy for the first time. It's addictive. I couldn't get enough, it's like the best Friday night you've had, when everything clicks; people and chemistry, mood, drink - except suddenly it's every day. Freedom, in its absolutely purest form, freedom from any ties whatsoever.

"It's the compass; not just little head ruling the big head, though that's part of it. It's the natural instinct of following your heart, your eyes, to find out what you feel inside. How can you find yourself if you stay in your country of birth? It's important, vital, to stand aside and take a look from a different angle, to look with a fresh pair of eyes. As a friend of mine said from the safety of his office in Greenwich, when I'd called him from Hat Rin, 'Go for it, John. You only live once, and when you're dead, you're dead for a very very long time.'"

I'd recommend backpacking to anyone!