TravelBlog » PlayingForHope

PlayingForHope - Andrew Cameron

I am a 26 year old guy from Sydney, Australia, setting off around the world for two main reasons: 1) I really want to experience different cultures - I've done a lot of travelling before but only in the West, so this is my opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and see how the world really works; 2) I want to make a doco film about the ways football is being used to bring hope to individuals and communities in different places around the world. The second reason is pretty crazy because I've never made nor wanted to make a film before, but it's a really exciting challenge and will at least provide some focus to my travels.

My itinerary (starting on January 17 and finishing on July 29, 2008) is: Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, South Africa, Indonesia, Cambodia, England, Spain, Brazil, Haiti and the USA. Sounds cool hey! I can't wait...

Top Photos Blog Map

Guestbook Search Blogs First Entry Latest Entry

Joined on: March 28th 2008
Last Login: May 5th 2009

Blog Entries: 14
Photos: 99

TB Code: [blogger=66859]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by PlayingForHope, order by Date newest first.

By PlayingForHope
June 21st 2008

Seeing Stars North America » United States » Ohio » Cleveland

Hello, we're here at...

The final leg of the trip involved a journey down to Baltimore to meet up with the Cleveland City Stars, a professional mens soccer team competing in the USL-2 division of US soccer. The City Stars are a second-year franchise I first encountered last year while coaching at soccer camps in Cleveland, Ohio. The team was in Baltimore to play the first of two away games that weekend, so Jaime drove myself, Connie and Hunt down to meet them. We arrived a few minutes after kick-off so we went straight in and were met by the City Stars General Manager, Mark [View Full Entry]

By PlayingForHope
June 13th 2008

Love this city North America » United States » New York » New York

Sweet seats

Once again I took advantage of a gap in the schedule to spend a few days catching up with a friend in New Jersey, Jaime, and reacquainting myself with probably my favourite city in the world, New York. Unfortunately this meant flying on one of my least favourite airlines in the world, American Airlines. We were supposed to arrive a bit before 9pm at LaGuardia airport but ended up getting there closer to 11pm, which was about an hour and a half before our bags arrived (on the next flight). It was pretty frustrating but Jaime was all smiles and driving [View Full Entry]

By PlayingForHope
June 7th 2008

There's no place like... Haiti Central America Caribbean » Haiti

Schoolkids playing

Due to the food riots and various travel warnings, I contemplated skipping Haiti right up until about a week before we were scheduled to fly there. In the end though I figured enough time had passed since the riots and I also held on to the belief that things wouldn't be as bad in reality as they were portrayed in the media. This was the case in both Indonesia and Nigeria, and even though it only takes being wrong once to get into some serious trouble, I was prepared to take the chance on it being true again in Haiti. I [View Full Entry]

By PlayingForHope
June 4th 2008

Fun and Fantasy - this is Florida North America » United States » Florida » Orlando

Naples

Flights from Sao Paolo (Brazil) to Port au Prince (Haiti) all go through Miami (US), so when I planned this trip I thought I'd take the opportunity to spend a few days hanging out with a friend in Florida before continuing the filming. The flight itself wasn't too enjoyable, particularly cos I was still feeling pretty sick, but arriving in Miami lifted my spirits. Even the two hour delay getting through immigration couldn't shake my excitement for the days ahead. As it was Sunday morning, Benji and I headed straight out to his parents church in Naples. It soon became apparent [View Full Entry]

By PlayingForHope
May 31st 2008

Crazy extremes in Brazil South America » Brazil » São Paulo » São Paulo

Where are the fans??

We had been warned about Sao Paolo before we got here. And when I say warned, I mean everyone we spoke to immediately said "ooh, be careful!" upon finding out this was one of our destinations. We were told to expect bulletproof cars and robberies on every corner, and to avoid the dreaded favellas - places where if you made you're way into, you were unlikely to make your way out of. So it's fair to say we were on edge as we arrived in this infamous city. Sao Paolo shares some similarities with parts of South Africa - high fences [View Full Entry]

By PlayingForHope
May 24th 2008

A beautiful (re)discovery Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Granada

Albayzin by night

I had forgotten how beautiful Granada is. I first came here in February 2003 and was blown away by the views of the city and the Alhambra from the hills of Albayzin. It didn’t take long for these memories to resurface as we walked to our hostel, situated nicely as it turns out, on one of the highest streets in Albayzin. Granada truly is a stunning city when viewed from this vantage point, and the streets of Albayzin, designed as they were to confuse potential invaders of the city, add a magical feel to the experience. We arrived in the evening [View Full Entry]

By PlayingForHope
May 19th 2008

Drama, drama, drama Europe » United Kingdom » England

Pre-interview discussions - look how excited they are!!

Arriving in England always feels like a homecoming to me. It is a little known and seldom admitted fact that I was actually born in England and have lived nine years of my life there (the first eight, plus one in 2002/03). Don’t get me wrong, Australia is my home and I never think of myself as anything other than Australian, but travelling to England is different from travelling anywhere else. I feel more of a connection to the place and it is more familiar to me. On this trip I have discovered both the benefits and drawbacks of such familiarity [View Full Entry]

By PlayingForHope
April 28th 2008

Past, Present and Future Asia » Cambodia

Siem Reap

One of the biggest things that struck me as I arrived in Phnom Penh was how little attention the locals paid to Ruth and I. I’m not being vain here … the reason it struck me was because of how different it was to Bau Bau, where you couldn’t really go anywhere without being stared at. The answer was soon forthcoming from our friends Kim and Phil, who informed us that the locals are used to white people being around because there are so many NGO’s (non-government organisations, i.e. aid agencies) based in Phnom Penh. This is a country still in [View Full Entry]

By PlayingForHope
April 20th 2008

Who is my neighbour? Asia » Indonesia

Local greeting

Note: For Indonesia and Cambodia I had to leave the video camera behind, so instead of filming football projects I spent the time visiting friends with my sister, Ruth. I had many expectations going to Indonesia, few of them great. Australian media reporting is almost exclusively negative when it comes to Indonesia, focusing on the Bali bombings, Schapelle Corby, the Bali Nine and every now and then, “the great Muslim threat to the north”. Reading the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs travel advice on Indonesia isn’t a comforting experience either - you can [View Full Entry]

By PlayingForHope
March 4th 2008

Total football in the town of capes Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town

Sightseeing!

A massive sense of relief washed over me as I arrived in Cape Town. I loved the familiarity even just of the planes and airports, and then when my friend Brent picked me up from the airport I properly relaxed again for the first time in quite a while. Within minutes we were laughing and making jokes at each other’s expense - I felt normal again. I’m not even being ironic either! I’ll let others provide a critique of western male relational behaviours, but for me I was just stoked to laugh and joke and not feel like my every word [View Full Entry]

TravelBlog » PlayingForHope

PlayingForHope | Andrew Cameron | Travel Blog

PlayingForHope - Andrew Cameron

Blogs & Travel Journals