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.PlayingForHope
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...
Travel Blog Posts
June 21st 2008
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 Geissbauer. The game didn't go the City Stars way but we got the chance to go into the locker room at half-time and see a bit of the behind-the-scenes action, which was exciting. After the ... read more
June 13th 2008
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 through the city quickly picked me up again. Three highlights of the week stand out... Yankees I slept in on Monday morning and awoke to find a text message from Connie on my phone informing ... read more
June 7th 2008
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 rejoined Connie and Hunt in Miami for the flight to Port au Prince, and we also met up with Rich there, our contact in Haiti, who was returning from visiting family in the US. As ... read more
Fun and Fantasy - this is Florida
Published: August 6th 2008North America » United States » Florida » Orlando
June 4th 2008
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 I had entered another world - not only is the church massive but it is full of famous people, such as Christian authors, film studio executives and Major League Baseball owners. Coming from Sao Paolo ... read more
May 31st 2008
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 and security guards in suburban areas, and large slum areas (favellas) located throughout the city - just on a far greater scale! The more we drove the more we got a feel for just how ... read more
May 24th 2008
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 and after settling into the hostel, quickly made our way to the nearest tapas bar. The free tapas of Albayzin is legendary and Hunt in particular was very excited to partake of it. Arriving at ... read more
May 19th 2008
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 - on the one hand there are friends, family, a UK mobile and bank account; on the other there is … a complete absence of photos to show for my time there. Yep, that’s right, ... read more
April 28th 2008
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 recovery from decades of war and the disastrous rule of the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970’s. We explored a little of Phnom Penh on our first night there, courtesy of a few tuk-tuk’s and ... read more
April 20th 2008
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 check it out for yourself at www.dfat.gov.au. So I’ll admit to coming here with some reservations. I also had hope though, prompted by friends of mine who love both the place and the people, that I would discover a different Indonesia to the ... read more
Total football in the town of capes
Published: April 4th 2008Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town
March 4th 2008
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 was being scrutinised. Cape Town is an incredibly beautiful city. Maybe living in Sydney has predisposed me towards coastal settings, but in any case the mountains and coastlines of the Western Cape are spectacular. Irvine ... read more
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