Clayton Breeds

ClayB

Clayton Breeds

G'day! I'm Clayton, and I'm a South African born New Zealander living in London. Since this is mildly headache-inducing and I don't really belong anywhere, I prefer to consider myself a "Citizen of the World".

Thanks to my entrepreneurial globe-trotting parents, I've travelled for as long as I can remember - starting with Hong Kong at age 5. I also lived on a boat with my family during my teenage years, where we navigated our way from SA to NZ and everywhere in-between.

I don't believe there will ever be a cure for my subsequent travel bug.



Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur October 14th 2013

I woke up at 6am, ready for the train to Jaipur from Agra. Unfortunately the train wasn't ready for me and turned up a whole 2 hours late! This perplexed the shit out of me, so I asked around in that frantically stressed-out way that commuters often do, sure I'd mucked up somehow. The most comprehensible response I got was that it's "not an important train". Turns out there's only one track, and my unimportant train had to make way for all the others. As usual in India I made another friend at the station, and imparted as much info about my life as was required in a typically strained conversation, while wishing I was still in bed. Another power nap on the train left me with just enough time to skim through my Lonely Planet, ... read more
Pearl Palace Hotel
The Awesome Indian Sweet Shop
The Pink City

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra October 14th 2013

Taking the train from Delhi was a relatively painless experience, with comfy seats and even a mostly edible breakfast thrown in. It would also turn out to be the best transport I ever took in India, by a long shot. I lost my Brasillian friends from Delhi when we arrived at Agra, the solitary nature of my adventure becoming instantly more apparent. Fortunately I quickly found a new travel buddy: a friendly Belgian girl called Louise, who was a dancer on her way to Cambodia. She was to be my next door neighbour at the new hotel I'd checked into: Hotel Sheela. Checking in was also a brilliant experience for me, as I'd made no booking at all. I was just a lone man, on the road, who rocked up out of nowhere and asked for ... read more
My New Travel Buddy, Louise
A Girl Riding a Herd of Cows
Takeaway Service

Asia » India » National Capital Territory » New Delhi October 13th 2013

To tell you the truth, I was a little scared of India. I was travelling alone too, my comfort zone nowhere in sight after the cushy organised tour I was booked on got cancelled. I flew from Bangkok with the overtly budget IndiGo Airlines, expecting an overcrowded expiring plane with smoking engines on the outside and cigarette smoke on the inside. It was a pleasant surprise then, when I found a plane that was way newer than anything Easyjet has to offer, and with well dressed (and attractive!) friendly staff to boot. I'm impressed. My Indian experience also started on the plane, where I assisted a bunch of turban wearing & wickedly bearded Punjabis, who needed help with the English wording on their boarding cards (English being an official language in India, alongside Hindi). Turns out ... read more
Asha, my Awesome Hostess
My Brasillian Backup
The Red Fort

Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok October 10th 2013

Bangkok. I wasn't planning to go there. Not at all. It was money that persuaded me, as it turned out to be a lot cheaper to fly to India via Bangkok, giving me a few days of essentially free travel. A short few days that would both introduce me nicely to the other-worldliness of Asia and, through a strange twist of fate, put me on a crash course to Amsterdam over the next half a year - the Bangkok of Europe. But that's travel for you. I was struggling to decide what mood to be in on the flight over. Excitement about the months of travel ahead, or melancholy about leaving my adopted home of New Zealand yet again. Fortunately I didn't get much time to wallow due to the crazy Thai girl who sat next ... read more
Random Sightseeing
The Monk who Blessed Me at Wat Po
My Snazzy New Pyjama Pants!

Europe » France » Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur » Nice August 28th 2012

People often give me a hard time for the excessive amount of holidays I go on. Especially envious work colleagues, who tend to imagine me chilling at resorts with over-sized cocktails and non-stop massages. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from all my travels, it’s that there’s a huge difference between travelling and having a holiday. Traveling is exhausting! Thankfully this time we had a glorious 5 days of bona-fida holiday ahead of us. It would also be my first trip since turning 31 the week prior, so my aging body needed the rest. I flew with Hannah after work, though most of our group had already arrived earlier that day. Fortunately I’d checked the weather report for Nice and emerged from the plane wearing shorts and jandals, and even then it didn’t take 2 minutes ... read more
Villefrenche Beach
The Gang at the Top of Eze Castle
Harbour at St Tropez

Europe » Malta » Malta » Sliema February 27th 2012

It was with a small amount of trepidation that I departed for Malta. On the one hand I'd be getting 4 days away from the drudgery of London in the Winter, and I'd heard good things about Malta in the Summer. On the other hand it wasn't Summer, I was going to be by myself, and the main reason for the trip was to run a half marathon for which I'd done bugger all training (Nothing unusual there!). Upon arriving I found a multitude of first impressions awaiting me. It reminded me a bit of Spain, with that dry feeling in the air and an apparent love of similarly beige buildings. It was a bit like England too, with the same road signs, British tourists everywhere, and even ex-London buses being used (until quite recently the ... read more
The 5,500 year old ruins
View from the Citadel
A view of Valletta at night

Europe » Norway » Eastern Norway » Oslo February 12th 2012

I don't know what pops into your head when you think about Norway, but for me it's Vikings! As well as bolluck numbing coldness and chest-pain inducing prices, of course. And funny accents. Not to mention weird TV adverts with dancing naked people. But mostly just Vikings. Harbouring a worsening case of man-flu, I decided to leave the comparitively tropical climes of London and head for the fjords to investigate, this time with 2 lovely ladies to accompany me: My Welsh ex-flatmate from Auckland, Ruth, and my South African friend from London, Megs. We decided Viking names would be more suitable though, so after much deliberation we became Ruth the Battered, Megs the Awesome, and Clay the Undecided (Our plan was to wear Viking hats for the duration of the trip, but unlike Copenhagen Oslo is ... read more
Vikingeskibsmuseet
The bastard horse
Oslo Central

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome January 2nd 2012

Vini Vicci Vidi To help me break out of this blog writing lull I'm in, I've decided to regale all 4 or 5 of you lucky readers with tales from my New Years trip of 2011, where I was joined by my brother Stewart and his lovely girlfriend Katie. They were out from New Zealand for a few weeks and made the rather interesting decision of relying on me to organise a 9 day trip through Italy. As it was also the first ever trip with more than one destination that I've planned by myself, the pressure was on! It all started on the 30th of December 2011, at 3:40am (When you're the one planning the holiday, you get to make the decision to save £15 on flights in lieu of a decent night's sleep). When ... read more
Inside the Colosseum
Walking the Streets
Pompeii

Europe » Estonia » Tallinn December 11th 2011

I'm going to interupt my Oktoberfest story with something a little different, and more recent. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I can now blog as I go with the help of my amazing Claypod! It probably means a bit of a change in writing style to something more like a diary, so let me know what you think. "... Day 1: Friday After the brilliant time I had in Latvia 8 months ago, I was really looking forward to this trip to its northern sibling, Estonia. I almost didn't make it too. After getting up at 4:30am, everything was going fine until I missed my second bus. No problem, I was still early, so I changed plans to catch a train that should have got me there in time. Perfect! Except it was cancelled. ... read more
Raekoja Plats at night
The Gang.
My favourite Medieval Tavern!

Europe » Czech Republic » Prague » Old Town October 4th 2011

It was about 11am by the time our train arrived in Prague, and it had already been a long day. The unexpected all-nighter in Hof was definitely taking its toll! Still, I was happy to be in Prague, even if it was 12 hours later than expected. As I'd missed my hostel booking I had nowhere to go; I was only in town for the day, and would be catching an overnight sleeper train that evening. Fortunately Marta & Clara, the Spanish girls I met in Hof, decided to adopt me and let me use their hotel room! After a life-giving shower I was ready to explore a new city, and perhaps rejuvinate some of the memories I have of Prague as a 10 year old boy. Without a real plan for the day, me and ... read more
The Old Town Square
A View From the Top
Walking over the Vltava River




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