Here it is! My second book! And it’s called The World’s Most Traveled Man’s Top 60 Travel Tips. It was just launched worldwide this September 2021 and available on several platforms, in paperback and ebook format. Why so soon after just launching my first book Globetrotter, you might ask? Well simply because it comes hand in hand with Globetrotter! It’s more of a “How to” guide book, detailing ultimate tips and advice one could learn from experiencing 17 years living on the road and reaching all the countries in the world, half of a lifetime around the globe non-stop. I must admit, I saw it coming… And it happened! But I was prepared… When I first planned to write my memoir Globetrotter after reaching the 195/195 country milestone, I knew the book’s genre wouldn’t appeal to everybody. It is a biographical memoir, and in a […]
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Piran, the Slovenian Jewel of the Adriatic Sea
Piran, also known as Pirano, it’s Italian name, shines as one of my favorite and most beautiful city on the Adriatic coast! After visiting Rovinj and choosing it as the most beautiful city of Croatia in a previous article, Piran is toe to toe with Rovinj, probably even more beautiful! No wonder Slovenia kept this tiny opening coast to the sea where Piran is located as part of their territory. An example of Italian Gothic Architecture Piran is actually very small, just about 5000 inhabitants, but definitely boosts that amount to several thousand more during the peak summer season when all the tourists are around. Its reputation is quickly gaining some momentum and soon this tiny little town will be on everybody’s itinerary as it boasts some impressive character. Chinese tourist groups are already on the lookout as I’ve seen tons of them during […]
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Visiting The Magical Istrian Mountain Towns in Croatia
Though the Istrian Coast gather much of the fame for its pristine blue seas and beautiful Venetian towns, another side of Istria should not be missed while visiting the area. The Istrian interior, a mixture of rolling hills, fertile plains and pine forests with medieval hilltop villages is just as impressive and interesting, making a day or two visit an ideal way to gasp in the experience! If you are the kind of person who gets enchanted by Toscany style Plaines, the Istrian Interior is sure to impress you just as much. Vineyard-dotted Hills and Medieval Towns The pace definitly slows down from the buzzing tourist lifestyle of the coast, but that’s actually a good thing! The main activity in this part of Croatia isn’t tourism as much, but rather wine-making, olive culture, asparagus harvesting and most importantly, truffle hunting (which you can actually take […]
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Exploring Niamey in Niger – An Example for African Development – (My 192nd of 195 Country Visited)
Back to French-speaking Africa this time in a west-African nation. It was the peak summer season in Niamey, known to be one of the hottest cities in the world, situated in the middle of the Sahara desert! We landed at night and as soon as the airplane doors opened, we felt a wave of dry hot air invade the interior… Just a preview to what I could expect the next few days, with a thermometer over 47 degrees during the day! In General, my expectations for Niger were totally off target from what I had heard and read through my pre-travel research. It was much better than I had imagined. And here’s why… One of the Poorest Nation in the world… Really? I was on my guard when arriving in Niger since I had read a report of the United Nations ranking Niger 189th out […]
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5 Days Traveling around SYRIA during War Times
As some of you read this article, it is important to time-stamp the events at the time of writing. As fighting is still raging in some areas, the war is coming to an end and the situation is changing rapidly. With the government now in control of the country once again, I expect the situation to improve very quickly through the next 2 years, and people reading this article 2 years from now might get a very different experience on their trip. But Make no mistake, as I was visiting in mid-may 2019, the country was still at war and heavy fighting was going on in the Idlib region and around Aleppo where I stayed 2 nights… Was it worth the risk? I Beleive it did, and here’s why… I decided to come to Syria as I believed it was the right time to come […]
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Rovinj Wins the Title of my Favorite City in Croatia
I’ve travelled extensively throughout Croatia over the years as it is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. I keep coming back because I never get tired of the blue Adriatic Sea, Venetian fortified towns along the coast, the food, the people, etc… And to win the title of the most beautiful city in Croatia is a hard one to designate. Rovinj is just a masterpiece, like few there are in Europe! I can imagine Dubrovnik being this nice before tourism destroyed it, so be quick to come and experience it before Hollywood comes before you, followed by the masses! All the beauty of Istria in one single Venitian Town Istria has been under Italian rule for so long that it is still omnipresent everywhere on the peninsula. Rovinj, also officially known as Rovigno as it is a bilingual city (Italian/Croatian), […]
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3 days in Pula, Epicenter of Istria in Croatia
So many people rush to Rome to see the Romain Arena without knowing that such constructions can be found in so many other places, and such places include tiny little Pula, a city in the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia of only 90 000 people. Apart from the beachgoers coming for the Croatian sun every summer, the impressive Romain arena gets little attention to what it deserves. It is actually one of the best preserved Roman amphitheatres in the world. A Romain Capital with “Italian influenced” Croatia Arriving in Istria from Dalmatia or the Zagreb Area will be somewhat of a shock. Pula, the biggest city in Istria and eighth in the country, definitely has an Italian flavour left from its past. In fact, it was part of Italy for so long that most people will speak Italian as a second language after Croatian. The City […]
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Canadian Newspaper LaPresse Publishes my Travel Recommendations for 2019
Back in January, I was contacted by a Journalist from Canadian Newspaper LaPresse named Mrs Ballivy, concerning an article about experts recommendations for Canadian tourists to travel in 2019. Flattered by the trust and confidence giving by such a reputable newspaper, I accepted with pride! My recommendations appeared in two articles published by the newspaper, where out of my 9 recommendations, 3 were selected. You can find the link to these two articles, but I also thought I could share the remainder of my other recommendations with my loyal readers right here in this article. Two articles published by La Presse The two articles published by LaPresse were quite interesting and can be found in French at the following links. The first was published on the 12th February 2019 under the title Les destinations voyage de l’année where the authors kept Tallinn as my recommended […]
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Visiting Split in Croatia – Yacht Capital of the World
Probably the most liveable city in Croatia in my opinion, along with the Capital Zagreb, Split is a highlight on the Adriatic sea which never stops to amaze me! I have come here many times over the past few summers, and it truly feels like one of the trendiest place to be in the summer with most hotels booked out all summer long! Split is just one of my favorite place to be in the hot summer months! Enjoying its years of fame Everybody is talking about holidaying in Croatia these last few years, and this usually means flying directly to Split or Dubrovnik. The airport is constantly upgrading its infrastructure each time I fly in and enjoys a strategic advantage over Dubrovnik for being in the middle of the Dalmatian coast. But what makes Split so attractive to so many different types of tourists? It […]
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Dubrovnik – Still King of the Adriatic Sea
There is no need for a presentation to Dubrovnik, especially since Games of Thrones catapulted the city’s tourism industry out of logical proportions. The city is constantly bombarded with tourism from cruise ships to buses fully loaded of tourists to admire its beautiful old town all year round! Is it still worth a visit? An Overcrowded Tourist Experience Definitely! Dubrovnik is definitely worth a visit! Even though I wrote an article a few years back detailing “How Games of Thrones Destroyed Dubvrovnik“, I still feel it is a worthwhile city to visit. The problem is that is is a little small to fill that vast amount of tourist that come just to walk through the few streets surrounded by the walls. The result is one of a cramped experience, people walking on top of each other and even pushing to get through crowds. With the […]
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