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Author: Sean Keener

Paul Harper – Around-the-World Traveler

  1. When did you go on your RTW trip?
    August 1999-January 2001

  2. How old were you when you took this trip?
    27

  3. Including your air ticket and other expenses (from accommodation to souvenir-buying), about how much did your trip cost?
    $3500

  4. Nationality
    Australia

  5. Where do you live now?
    Accra, Ghana

  6. Occupation
    Before your trip: loafer

    Now: loafer

  7. How did your travels affect your career when you got back?
    Haven’t made it back yet.

  8. What is the route you took/places you visited?
    Australia, Indonesia (Timor, Flores, Sumbawa, Lombok, Bali, Java), Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Iran, UAE, Oman, Yemen, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Cote d’ Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali

  9. Why did you decide to take this trip? What got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?
    Publicity campaign and personal protest for the Jubilee 2000 campaign for debt cancellation.

  10. Out of all your experiences traveling around the world, what was the:

    • Best Moment

      Cold beer at the end of a 150+km ride.

    • Worst Moment

      No cold beer at the end of a 150+km ride.

    • Biggest Hurdle, Obstacle or Difficulty?

      Being a travelling freakshow wherever I go.

    • Biggest surprise?

      That I made it.

  11. Who is the most memorable person you met on your trip and why?
    Too many to list – maybe the Rwandan paralympic swim team.

  12. How much planning and preparing did you do?
    Control Freak

  13. What was your favorite piece of gear?
    Ortlieb folding bucket (laundry bucket, bearing service bucket, vomit bucket and novelty hat all in one)

  14. What did you bring, that in hindsight you could’ve left at home?
    Deodorant.

  15. How did your round-the-world trip change your life? How did it affect and change you as a person?
    Learned about my own physical and mental limitations, and learned how to bulldoze those limitations and go one step further.

  16. If you had to sum up your round-the-world trip in one sentence, what would it be?
    Headwinds.

  17. Are you planning more trips and travels for the future? Are you planning another round-the-world trip?
    Hanging in Ghana fixing bikes and trying to come across more money to continue west.

  18. Why do you think people should go on round-the-world trips? Why not just take a regular old one- or two-week vacation instead?
    RTW trips give an insight into the diversity of cultures and peoples across the planet.

  19. What is the most valuable thing you learned?
    Never wear the same lycra bike shorts for more than 4 consecutive days.

  20. What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
    That you need an RTW air ticket.

  21. Why do you like to travel?
    I like change.

  22. What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?
    Have maximum time and minimum schedule.