About this site: behind Around the World in 80 Clicks

• Introducing myself

  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. In 1999, after many years of travelling, I decided to use 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 means 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 five 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. As I grew older, they continued to take me (and my sister) on trips to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. I started writing travel diaries to record my travels. 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...

  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. I have always felt at ease with people from whichever background. And yes, I thought those people who looked very different were super interesting. They made me realize what a rich variety of people we have on our planet - and I hoped I would one day travel to their country, too.

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• Keep on moving

  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 simply because I was way too restless for an office job, I went to Africa where I worked as a computer consultant, and Spain where I studied Spanish. 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 33 years now. Currently, I am working as a Senior Purser on intercontinental flights.

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• After arriving from a long flight, I am still thrilled and have a goal to pursue. I take my camera gear, 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.

  Making travel plans

  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. Hey - there are even places in my own country that I have not seen yet!

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• Ultimate goal

  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, often the way a child can be excited. In short, travelling makes me feel alive. What is more: I believe that travel is life. Travel is about yearning, about realizing dreams, being excited about new discoveries, about cherishing special memories of an experience, about better understanding the world we live in. 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 highlight 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 is a huge boost for feeling secure about yourself. Especially if you travel independently, travel makes you feel confident and proud. 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. For years, my ultimate aim was 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.

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• The long road to Cullaville

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  Wanderheart

  Soon after visiting my last UN country, I decided I wanted to share some of my adventures in a different way than through this website. I started writing them down, but it would take another few years (and a pandemic) before my book saw the light. I wrote the book in my native Dutch, and then translated it to English (an editor then corrected my translation. The result: The long road to Cullaville: named after the small village where I crossed my very last border. It is a collection of sixteen adventures in countries like Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, Nauru, and Cameroon. Through the book, I hope to inspire people not to be scared, to show them that perceived dangers should not stop you from travelling, that the reward for those who dare to thread out of their comfort zone is beautiful experiences and an increased self confidence.

  You can read more about the book on the website thelongroadtocullaville.com. Not only will you find reviews, you can read the full preface, introduction as well as excerpts from all chapters, you will also find pictures for each chapter, and links to places where you can order the book. It was so well received, and I liked writing so much, that I soon started writing a second book. It will be out early 2026. Curious? Read more about Wanderheart. You can download the first chapter for free, and samples from every chapter on the relevant country and story pages on this website. Meanwhile, I have started writing a third book.

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• Hardware

  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. When my Mark iii got drenched in a storm in Sardinia in 2022, I moved to mirrorless, and I now travel with a Canon R6. I currently use a Canon 17-40mm 4L USM, an RF 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.

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• Asking for help

  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

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