The Corn Flake Traveller

Meet the Corn Flake Traveller - 2 with Fotos - 3

I grew up in the South of England and floated through the education system until I graduated with a BSc in Genetics from Nottingham University. I snubbed the prospect of joining the rat-race to choose travelling instead and 13 years and 77 countries later I have started to share my travel experiences.

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I was diagnosed with diabetes when I was 9 years old which subconsciously instilled in me a “I’m here for a good time, not a long time” mentality, I guess deep down I thought, that’s it, I’m screwed, I might as well enjoy the time I’ve got. The medical profession has always heavily suggested to me that I lead a regular, structured life in order to maintain a controlled blood sugar but I decided early on that I would be the boss of my diabetes not the other way round. Click to read more about Travelling with Diabetes

The intro to my Youtube channel for a quick glance at what I do

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I went to college in London, then at the age of 19 went to Nottingham intending to cure diseases and build a career in biomedical research. I found the course fascinating but I wasn’t convinced that I wanted to spend my life focusing on such a narrow piece of our reality and when faced with the choice of spending time studying about cell surface proteins on bacteria or going clubbing and socializing there was no contest.

With graduation came the prospect of joining the “real world” so to avoid that I worked 11 months in a call centre (creating mundane statistics) before flying to Anchorage on the 2nd September 2002 with a friend I met at Uni. This was to be a single 16 month trip from Alaska to Argentina before settling down to produce my 2.4 kids and begin paying money to the banks, but I returned 3 years later after an amazing experience, which turned out to be the springboard for the coming years. Click for more on My Travels

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Travelling on a Budget

For me variety is the spice of life, I don’t like monotony so have always funded my travels by doing a variety of different jobs. Over the years I have worked as a courier in New York, a barman, a data analyst, a lab assistant in a cancer research lab, a painter/decorator, a dive master in Honduras and many more less exciting sounding professions. Problem is if you try different jobs you always find yourself at the bottom of a ladder earning a low wage meaning I have had to fight to try and keep my spending low.

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Working for Headwater in Provence

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Camping on a wall in Rome rather than getting a hotel

 

I added up the cost of each trip and was surprised to find out I had spent so little (see table below). £36,800 sounds like a lot but it was spread over 10 years and when you consider I probably spent a similar amount on alcohol during 3 years at Uni I can’t imagine getting better value for money. Out of 3652 days I travelled for 2604 of them, 71.3% of the decade, travelling with an expenditure of £14.13 per travel day and I didn’t have to miss out on many things either, as you can see for yourself in some of the Trips I’ve Made.

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Decade Spending Table

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Some Experiences I’ve had

If you need convincing to read on, over the years I’ve slept in a Mosque, in a barn, up mountains, in the desert and outside Venice with 200 dogs. I’ve visited ancient sites such as the Angkor complex, Gobekli tepe, Machu Pichu, a lost city in the Colombian jungle and I’ve excavated pyramids in Bosnia. I’ve hang-glided over Rio, Hot-air ballooned over the Valley of the Kings, white water rafted in Ecuador and para-glided in Argentina. I’ve come across a huge variety of animals like hippos, baboons, condors, llamas, desert foxes, bears, Komodo dragons, an anteater  and loads of different monkeys. I’ve been diving with sharks, manta rays, turtles, seahorses, dolphins and I’ve ridden a camel and an elephant.

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Thailand

I’ve encountered lots of people, the vast majority good and just a few bad (usually immigration and border control). I have received random acts of kindness from shopkeepers, people on buses, an evangelical Christian and a guy in Mauritania even lent me his house.

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Egypt

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Borneo

 

I’ve seen huge salt flats, the Sahara, the jungle, walked on glaciers, taken boats down the Amazon, the Nile and the Mekong and I’ve also cycled over 13500 miles, through 22 European countries, including cycling across the Alps. I’ve modelled in a fashion show, been interviewed on Peruvian radio (in Spanish), I’ve searched for UFOs in the desert, flown over the Nazca Lines, been to a music festival in the Sahara and I was almost kidnapped by Al-Qaeda.

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All these experiences happened during my first decade which ended in Sept 2012. I spent the rest of the year writing and then in February 2013 I self-published my first book, which was followed by some media attention, me writing some short stories for magazines and a book, I formed the Modern Explorers with some friends I met travelling and I started learning how to make films. I have been written about in various newspapers, countless websites, interviewed on radio stations in Ireland, Holland, Dubai and England and I even appeared on TV in Australia. All this happened in an effort to publicize my book which features diary extracts describing my favourite experiences on the road as I try to eat a bowl of Corn Flakes in every country in the world.

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4. Interviews and Articles

Article in the Metro

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Interview on Sunrise TV in Australia

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My tattoo showing the dedication to my cause

So Why Corn Flakes??

During the hours travelling on buses I wondered if anybody has every visited every country on the planet and as my love for travelling grew I decided I would try it. I was sure somebody would have achieved it throughout the ages so to be unique I added some spice to my cause with the Corn Flake eating, which I figured was probably a unique feat in the entire universe.

The idea developed when I was in a hammock on a beach in Mexico and I suddenly got the munchies so devoured a box of corn flakes but I didn’t start taking it seriously or taking photos until the end of my European cycle. Now I am choosing beautiful locations or typical scenes from that country and having a full-on photo shoot while I eat.

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The Corn Flake Traveller in Arabic

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And so my mission continues and will continue for the next 20-25 years as I aim to explore the world with my little golden-flakey friends, and then if I have enough time see it all again eating Rice Krispies.

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For More Details

Countries Corn Flakeified Map - 77

Take a look at some of the Trips I’ve been on over the years

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Corn Flakes Films Slider - Take 4

Take a look at some of the films i’ve made in more recent years

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