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Wanderlusst - Michael Holmstrom

In late 2006 I fulfilled a lifelong dream of traveling around the world by purchasing a one-way ticket to Cairo, Egypt. From there, I wandered through exotic lands, where I met many fascinating people and experiences amazing cultures.In less than three months I was able to cover not only Egypt, but Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines.

Through the trip, I rediscovered my long pent up ambition to become a writer and photographer by "travel-blogging" my entire experience here at travelblog.org. I'm currently planning my first exhibition of photo's from the trip - with a show at Alcazar Tapas Restaurant in Santa Barbara, California opening February 17th and running through May 1st.

To view my personal photo gallery, please visit: http://www.wanderlustphoto.ifp3.com/

Thank you for reading about my travels and I hope you enjoy the journey.

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware"

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Joined on: October 20th 2006
Last Login: October 11th 2009

Blog Entries: 23
Photos: 546
Recommended by 1

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Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Wanderlusst, order by Date newest first.

By Wanderlusst
January 15th 2007

An El Nido Ending..... Asia » Philippines » Palawan » El Nido

"Lifes a beach man"

Wednesday January 12th Together with Oliver, Juliane, and Mike, I left my private paradise of Coco Loco Island today and headed out for the bus station in Roxas for a four hour bus journey to El Nido. Once we stepped foot off the boat in Roxas, a man appeared and offered us a private min-van to El Nido for the bargain price of five-thousand pesos. We eagerly accepted his offer, knowing that riding in a minivan would be like taking a limousine compared to the hot, sweaty and jam packed busses running up and down the dirt island roads. This time, [View Full Entry]

Doing my best "Derek Zoolander" Impression

By Wanderlusst
January 11th 2007

Lost at Sea Asia » Philippines » Palawan

View from the lobby

Tuesday, January 9th The exciting overland transportation fun continued this morning when I joined three Italians from Mary’s in organizing a minivan to take us further Northward on the Island of Palawan. Leaving Sabang early in the morning, we sped down the RFH (Road from hell) until we reached a rain slicked muddy incline and the van came to a spinning, wheezing stop. Instinctively, we all got out and started pushing from behind while the driver spun the wheels and plenty of mud onto us trying to break the van free and get up the hill. After about fifteen minutes of [View Full Entry]

By Wanderlusst
January 8th 2007

Simple Pleasures of Sabang Asia » Philippines » Palawan » Sabang

Sabang Coastline

A short one hour hop from Manila lays one of the really pristine treasures of the Philippines, the island of Palawan. The elongated island stretches from the Mindoro Straight down to the tip of Borneo and its isolation and distance from the other islands in the Philippines has enabled it to maintain unspoiled beauty. The gateway to Palawan is through the small town of Puerto Princesa which for me was nothing more than a jumping off point to the scenic treasures I hoped to see further North on the island, including the largest subterranean river in Sabang and the the town [View Full Entry]

By Wanderlusst
January 5th 2007

Bonus Photos! (Boracay & Manila) Asia » Philippines » Boracay

Fishes of the sea

NOTE: These are some photos from my last day in Boracay and a night in Manila last week before Jimmie left back to California and I continued my island hopping adventure to Palawan. I never got around to writing a blog for these last few days, but I figured the pictures were worthy of inclusion here. Enjoy! [View Full Entry]

By Wanderlusst
January 4th 2007

Living Island Style Asia » Philippines » Boracay

Epic Sunset

We’ve settled into a groove here and as of yesterday have purchased a beachfront bungalow with a few mopeds, opened a joint called the Sand Bar, enrolled in Filipino language class, and have been taking our catamaran out to sea every morning to fish for our lunch. Okay, well at least the last one is true but the rest of it also becomes such a tempting possibility when you’ve spent a week on Boracay. It’s the type of place where a two day visit can easily turn into two weeks or even two months. The highlight here is “White Beach” a [View Full Entry]

By Wanderlusst
December 31st 2006

Happy New Year from Boracay Asia » Philippines » Boracay

Happy New Year from Boracay

After about forty five days of globetrotting, my body was telling me it was time for a break. On Christmas Eve, we arrived into Bangkok at the Dream Hotel and I spent the better part of three days ensconced in my room sucking down fluids, watching movies and trying to get well. I had to make an exception to venture out of the hotel on the night after Christmas to meet up with Vegas buddies Adam and Oleg who were looking mighty tanned and relaxed - fresh off a ten day stint from the island of Koh Samui. They probably added [View Full Entry]

By Wanderlusst
December 24th 2006

Awe Inspiring Angkor Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor

Bayon Man

Our available options for transport to Siem Reap included air, overland by bus or high speed boat up the Tonle Sap river, the latter two options we were told taking about five hours or so….lies, lies, all lies. There is no more scenic way to travel through a country than by boat we thought, so without further research we purchased tickets for the Rambo Express boat and showed up on the docks early the next morning. The Rambo is a long narrow low slung boat that speeds up with river crammed with up to 100 passengers sitting side by side in [View Full Entry]

By Wanderlusst
December 21st 2006

Ghosts from the past Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh

Killing Fields
Ghosts from the past

Sadly, after an insufficient amount of time spent in Saigon I boarded a flight bound for Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Not sadly, I had my dear pal Jimmie waiting on the other side to join me for the next few weeks in doing what we do best together, having a good time. Checking into the hotel in Phnom Penh five hours later than Jimmie, I was not surprised to be informed by the front desk staff that he was next door receiving a manicure and pedicure. Jimmie likes to travel brilliant far off lands around the world, and he likes to do [View Full Entry]

By Wanderlusst
December 20th 2006

Beach time and twenty something hours in Saigon Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City

Beach Scenes Nha Trang

My anticipated visit to Nha Trang turned into a few days of braving out the wind, clouds and occasional shower while sipping mojitos by the pool and doing plenty of reading. Nha Trang is a medium sized city situated towards the southern end of Vietnam, and showcases some of the nicest beaches in all the land here. Long stretches of white sand are lined with palm trees and loungers covered by big thatched umbrellas. The two plus mile beach runs parallel to the main boulevard behind which a vibrant neighborhood of hotels, restaurants, dive centers and tourist shops thrive. Nha Trang [View Full Entry]

By Wanderlusst
December 16th 2006

Lovely Hoi An, the sweetest place in Viet-nam Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Hoi An

Squirmy things...
Eels, snakes? not too sure.

The overnight train from Hanoi down to Hue was about twelve hours, but less painful than I imagined, due in part to the abundance on Heineken onboard the train. My sleeper cabin fit four people snuggly on two bunk beds. Aside from the two local Asian speaking cabin mates (one of which I had to scold for trying to smoke a cigarette in our tiny compartment), I was lucky enough to be accompanied by a friendly Dutch PhD student traveling on two week holiday. We had a surprising amount in common and spent the first portion of the trip knocking back [View Full Entry]

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