Welcome to my site! I would like to introduce myself. I am maintainer, developer, writer, photographer for traveladventures.org. On this page I would like to tell you a little bit more about the background of this site. After years of travelling, I decided in 1999 to make use of the Internet technology to make a lot of pictures and stories about some of my travels available for a world wide audience. Travelling is my passion and large part of my life. Making this site available to all of you, I feel that I can give something back from all the input I get on my travels.
Some of you might wonder how it is possible that someone travels so extensively. Well, I have always felt that travelling has somehow been fed into me since I started drinking milk as a baby. When I was only 5 months old, my parents decided to take me to Greece, which took some 50 hours by train. In Greece, instead of spending holidays on the beach, they decided to wander around the island of Crete with me. Apart from a lot of local curiosity, this also prepared me for a restless life of travelling. Indeed, when spending more than a few hours at a beach, I am bored and wish to move on....
Anyway, when I grew up I kept my travelmindedness. My father's work in an international institute implied that our house was often filled with exotic people from around the world, but mainly so-called developing countries.
Whenever I saw a plane, train or boat, I was excited. When I reached adulthood, I went on an Interrail tour of Europe 9 times. After ending my office life as a computer programmer, I went to Africa and Spain where I worked as a computer consultant and student of Spanish, respectively. Both events further increased my restlessness and yearning to explore the unknown, and when I started studying International Relations at the University of Amsterdam, I felt almost dead: I felt a strong need to explore more of the world, no matter how interesting my university was - I needed to be on the move! So, I applied for a job as flight attendant for a major European airline. And that's where I still am, for over 29 years now. Currently, I am working as a Senior Purser on intercontinental flights, so I will continue to add pictures from all over the world.
After arriving from a long flight, I am still thrilled and have a goal to pursue. I take my camera and lenses, and hit the road to explore a country, a city, a neighbourhood - whatever I feel like doing - even if it is the 20th time I am there. Each and every holiday I leave my home continent Europe to explore new countries, or travel more in countries where I have been before. Sometimes, I make short trips in between flights - there are a lot of interesting places I still have not seen in Europe itself. This has allowed me to build a huge collection of pictures from over 193 countries and territories now.
Often, already on the way back home, I start thinking about my next trip. It is all too easy to get infected by travellers I meet on the way, talking about their experiences in other places. With the Internet providing access to the world, getting a picture of any country in the world can take only a few seconds - providing new ideas for a next trip. There are still so many places I want to go to - countries I have never been to - or in countries I have already visited (many times) before. Hey - there are even places in my own country that I have not seen yet!
Is travelling tiring? Yes, it can be. But in the end, it almost always gives me a lot of energy. It makes me feel excited, sometimes in the way a child can be excited. In short, travelling makes me feel alive. What is more: travel is life. Travel is about yearning, about realizing dreams, being excited about new discoveries, about cherishing special memories of an experience. Travel means to meet people, to discover habits in far away places, to connect. Travel means highlights, but there is always the possibility of adversity, of problems, of lows - basically, challenges on the road ahead. More often than not, these have the potential to turn into the high of your trip after you have dealt with them and come home. With travel, you can learn from your mistakes, and if you are open to it, you can not only learn a lot about the incredible world we live in, but also about yourself. Travel can be as straightforward as visiting a unique sight, seeing a magnificent mountain, or a city. To me, it more often than not is vital to keep an eye out for the ordinary, for the small things, the peculiarities that make a place special. To me, that is what makes travel equal life. Ultimately, my aim is to visit all countries in the world, and represent them on this site in both pictures and words. On June 3, 2017, I stepped across the last border I had not crossed yet, and visited my very last UN country in the world: Ireland, and thus completed my goal. Read more about this personal project or read about my very last border crossing which I celebrated with dearest friends and loved ones.
Pictures taken before June 1993 were taken with a Minox camera; for those taken between June 1993 and August 2000 I used a Pentax Espio115; those taken between September 2000 and October 2004 are taken with a Sony DSC-F505V digital camera. Pictures taken since November 2004 are taken with my new photography companion, the Canon EOS 20D, while those taken since November 2007 are taken with a Canon EOS 40D. In October 2011, I started using a Canon EOS 5D Mark ii, buying a second body in June 2016. In March 2017, I bought a Canon EOS 5D Mark iii to replace one of the Mark II's which became faulty beyond repair. I currently use a Canon 17-40mm 4L USM, a 24-105mm 4L IS USM, a 70-300mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM, a 10-22mm 3,5-4,5 EF-S USM lens, a 50mm 1,4 EF lens, and a 70-200mm 2,8 L IS II USM. If I take that last lens (it is big and heavy, so it normally doesn't leave home), I add a 2X extender for added zoom possibilities. At the same time, I remain a convinced light traveller, although I recognize the needs of a good lens for great pictures: a dilemma! On most trips, I take three of the lenses mentioned here.
Keep coming back to this site, as it will continuously expand. My travelling will only stop when some higher force so decides.
The stories on this site were all written with the enthusiasm I feel when I travel, the curiosity, the marvel I feel when I visit one of those many magnificent places around the world. My goal is to inspire you to travel yourself. Even though there are some practical tips included, to facilitate finding a place yourself, I have chosen not to include directions. First of all, they might not be valid a day after my visit. Secondly, I don't want to spoil your fun of finding a place. If, however, you have a question ("how did you do it? where did you organize this?") - feel free to contact me. On the other hand: if you find errors, misspellings, incorrect or outdated information, missing pictures.... this site is human work! Let me know!
Boris Kester
This site seeks to inspire travelers, to inform people about places they might have never heard of, through images and text. Here, you can find thousands of pictures taken all over the world - all for you to explore. All are accompanied by personal travel impressions.
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The sandy beaches, the laid back atmosphere, the underwater world, the remoteness, the different atmosphere from ... more
[Visited: December 2022/January 2023]
