www.natepaine.com: United States

Tangier, VA is a bit odd· Jun 2, 12:06 PM

Hello Folks!

Well, it’s been about 3 months since I’ve been overseas…and it still feels good to be back. :)

This past weekend (Memorial Day), Mom, Mike, Jen and I went down to Tangier, VA. Tangier is a pretty unique place – very isolated from the outside world.

Tangier is an island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay – about 1 1/4 hour ferry ride from the Maryland coast. The island has a population of 600 and it’s all about crabs. The Chesapeake Bay is the #1 crab producing area in the world – I didn’t know that.
We stayed in one of 3 Bed & Breakfasts. The folks are generally friendly – and many still speak with an Elizabethan (British) accent. There are 3 restaurants with dangerously short hours and most of the traffic is electric golf carts.

We had a good time… hope you enjoy the pics.

Nate

Crab shacks - one of probably 200.
Click on article title for more pictures…

Comments [212]

Video Bonanza!· Mar 8, 05:45 PM

Hi Folks,

I thougth I was all done posting on the travel log for a while…but then I got the idea to post some videos from throughout the trip. Some are goofy…some are beautiful…all require some patience while they download! Enjoy!

Paris, France – outside Notre Dame cathedral (13.17mb)

Paris, France – view from the Pantheon (15.91mb)

Paris, France – Eiffel Tower, second floor (53.48mb)

Paris, France – The Eiffel Tower is blinking :) (10.25mb)

Prague, Czech Rep. – Well, what can I say. Sometimes the backpack travel (hostel) scene is like this…young and just having a good time. (27.76mb)

Cesky Crumlov, Czech Rep. – This is a UNESCO listed town in southern Czech. (33.18mb)

Brno, Czech Rep. – Just a fountain that I like in a mall in Brno… (10.37mb)

Stary Smokovic, Slovac Rep. – The highest point that we got in the High Tatras mountains. Nice! (43.65mb)

Dubrovnic, Croatia – Another UNESCO listed town…almost completely restored after the war. Really a nice place! (50.73mb)

Poros, Greece – The “whirling dervishes” we called ourselves: Marcus, Sindy, Marlene, Laurel, and me. Riding scooters around the island. (40.87mb)

Poros, Greece – We found this run-down monestary with this crazy old guy living there slowly restoring the place. He wanted us to bring him back some cigarettes. :) (77.70mb)

Pamukkale, Turkey – Known for it’s calcium springs. (34.47mb)

Istanbul, Turkey – There are stay cats all over the city. Jen and I got some little fish by the river and walked around feeding the cats with varying success. (19.51mb)

Kiev, Ukraine – They’ve got some stinkin’ deep subways here. And I thought it was interesting to watch the humanity go by. (25.81mb)

Kiev, Ukraine – I had a fabulous time at Safe Haven. Here’s a few of the guys goofin’ around right before I left. (46.04mb)

Trans Siberian, Russia – This is what it looked like the whole time. Snow, birch trees, and my cabin companion from Irkutsk. This leg (Moscow-Irkutsk) was 3 days on the train. (24.35mb)

Listvianka, Russia – Lake Baikal: 20% of the earth fresh water and beauty to match! (23.27mb)

Trans-Mongolian, Mongolia – Here’s another window into the travel life. After my time in Russia, I was thrilled to find a few English speakers on the train! Some of these guys have posted comments: Aaron is the blond guy and Stewart is the one with the beard. (20.57mb)

somewhere, Mongolia – Our first night of 6 in the Mongolian wilderness we got a little throat singing concert right in our ger. (27.97mb)

somewhere, Mongolia – Us and our guides playing basketball with some local kids. (31.43mb)

White Lake, Mongolia – After driving west for 2-3 days, we finally got to the White Lake. A little energy release sliding around on the ice. (13.32mb)

White Lake, Mongolia – Our base camp at White Lake. It’s all about yak, sheep, and goat! (36.10mb)

somewhere, Mongolia – We were on horseback for two days heading further west from White Lake. (23.98mb)

somewhere, Mongolia – I think this ger camp was the highlight of the trip. The kids here were hilarious. Even the adults would hang around until we told them we had to sleep. Amazing memories from a place very far from home…in many ways. (22.26mb)

Beijing, China – Beijing’s still got plenty of bikes! I rented one to ride to the universities that I wanted to visit. (38.23mb)

Manila, Philippines – My first experience in ‘economy’ class from Manila to Puerto Princesa. It was a blast and I still keep in touch with some people I met on the boat. One overnight. (55.85mb)

El Nido (Palawan), Philippines – The ride from Puerto Princesa to El Nido was a like a 10 hour amusement ride. It had rained a lot the week before and the roads were really muddy. Here’s the first (failed) attempt by our bus driver to get up a mud hill. (18.79mb)

El Nido (Palawan), Philippines – The second time he made it and everyone in the area scrambled to get on (their rides were still stuck at the bottom). (11.56mb)

El Nido (Palawan), Philippines – My friend and I hired a local guide to show us the trail to the top of the cliffs overlooking El Nido. (42.27mb)

El Nido (Palawan), Philippines – My buddy in El Nido. His mom worked at the restaurant. He’d follow me around until I gave up and played with him a while. (15.51mb)

El Nido (Palawan), Philippines – The diving and snorkeling near El Nido was the best I saw on my trip. This is a video riding out to the first dive site. (28.34mb)

Coron, Philippines – An afternoon riding cycles around the island with a Canadian guy I met. Earlier in the day I ran in to a mudslide up to my gas tank and (separately) broke off my gear shift pedal. A fun day. :) (11.15mb)

Bangkok, Thailand – This is that great longtail boat ride into the recesses of Bangkok…right before I got ripped off by the guy sitting next to me. (21.62mb)

Koh Tao, Thailand – Highly recommended! I spend a week on this beach. My favorite beach in the world, I’d say. (54.08mb)

Koh Tao, Thailand – A pretty nice little island off the north shore of Koh Tao. (46.09mb)

Kuala Lumpor, Malaysia – An early Chinese New Year performance in the mall beneath the Petronas Towers. (22.58mb)

Kuala Lumpor, Malaysia – A shot of the Petronas Towers from the huge park behind them. (20.80mb)

Singapore – A day after the Chinese New Year, the celebration was still going strong in Singapore. (14.74mb)

Ao Nang, Thailand – The island formations in this area are amazing. Ao Nang felt like the Jersey shore…a nice little family vacation spot…with an amazing backdrop. (21.52mb)

Bangkok, Thailand – Back in Bangkok. I couldn’t believe how long the line was for Rotiboy buns. I think I should start the first US franchise! (23.45mb)

Hong Kong – A bittersweet goodbye to the Hong Kong waterfront…one of my favorites over the past two years. (23.19mb)

I can’t believe anyone actually scrolled down this far!

Later,
Nate

Comments [671]

New web site· Mar 2, 08:57 PM

Hi All,

The new site is at www.natepaine.com/plog or simply www.natepaine.com.

See you there,
Nate

Comments [34954]

Done traveling for now...· Feb 21, 02:47 PM

Hello Everyone!

Well – it’s been a blast! I’ve really enjoyed having this site as a way to keep in touch with you all! I definitely appreciate all the comments and emails that you sent along the way….as a solo traveler, they kept me going!

So, what did I learn from all this wandering around? Well…
1) You could travel your whole life and still never scratch the surface of the diversity, beauty, and relationships that exist out there. So, early on in the trip, I had to learn to just enjoy where I was…and not worry about all the other places that I wanted to see too.

2) Travel truly is a wonderful way to gain and appreciation for different cultures around the world…and at home! I found that I learned the most by talking with other travelers…as opposed to locals. And I found that I learned more about home, by comparison, than I learned about the area I was visiting! Interesting!

3) Financially, it’s possible to do this kind of travel for around $30/day. That was my target and I found that I was able to hit it by living simply. Living simply is also nice because it puts you right in with other travelers and locals…not behind glass in a posh hotel or tourist bus. I’ve kept a record of what I spent on everything, so if any of you are interested in more details, just let me know.

4) I’m so glad that I took the time and effort to follow a dream that I had. The experience has encouraged me to be bolder in stretching a bit beyond my comfort point and ‘going for it’! I felt this way after doing my massive house project… and, now, as I start a business, I think I’ll look back with the same feelings. It’s always scary up front, but once you jump in, the water’s pretty warm! :)

This will be the last post for now (until I travel again), but I’m going to keep this site up as a link off my soon-to-come main page.

So again, thanks again for riding along with me!
Take care,
Nate

Comments [1399]

Back HOME for Christmas and New Years· Jan 3, 01:12 PM

Hi Everyone!

Wow – can I just tell you that it is very very good to be home! I have thoroughly enjoyed my travels so far, but I guess I forgot how good it is to return home to the surroundings and people that you know and love!

I’ve been home since the 20th – one day before Jen’s birthday. Big events at home where Jen’s birthday on the 21st, time with Jen’s family for Christmas, time with my family for Christmas, a little party to catch up with about 40 of my church friends, a New Years Eve dance, spending lots of time with Jen, and just relaxing at mom’s (where I’m staying) and catching up on details. Wow – a really nice time!

But, after all that, I’m heading back to Hong Kong in two days to resume my travel. Lots of people asked, and I’m still sticking to my one year travel schedule…which will bring me home in August.

Being at home has given me some of my best perspective on my travels. I’ll share a bit:
1) My decision to take time to travel was a really good one. Most likely, I’ll never have a chance to do something like this…and it has been a rich experience for me.
2) In general, I’ve become more of a proponent for “following your dreams”. There are always so many reasons to take the safe route, but most of them melt away after you make the decision to step out on the limb.
3) Traveling is a fabulous education that has changed many of my cultural, economic, and political preconceptions. For me, I feel like I have a much sharper sense of appreciation for life in the US. It’s not that the US is best in every way, but it is a place of wonderful opportunity and blessing…and it is my home. People say that travel will have this effect on you…but until you’ve actually been elsewhere, the appreciation is a bit shallow.

OK. So I’ve included a few pics. And also a few old entries from Turkey and Ukraine.

Take care y’all! And Happy New Year.
Nate

Click on article title for more pictures…

Comments [108]

Packing up and heading out...· Aug 9, 04:12 PM

I’m back-posting this article from London. As you might expect, I had plenty to do before I left PA…and posting to the travel log didn’t rank.

First, I’d like to thank you all for your encouragement and for taking the time to hang out a bit before I left. I got to have a meal, a good talk, or get a great email from so many of you…I should leave more often…just so we can connect up like that!

So…everything went smoothly leaving PA. I got almost everything done that I wanted to before I left. Only hitch was that my pack was a lot fuller and heavier than I expected. Check out the pics!

Take care,
Nate

Click on article title for more pictures…

Comments [493]

A new chapter· Jul 18, 01:46 PM

Today starts a new chapter in the life of my website – now rearranged as a travel blog. For those of you who’ve been here before, you can still find some of my old site content via the links on the left.

So….yeah….that’s the news: On August 10, 2005, I’m leaving Pennsylvania to backpack around the globe for a year. Rented out the house, sold the car, left my position at work…and I’m off.

I’ll be flying into London…but beyond that, I don’t have any firm itinerary commitments. I’ll post more en route.

I hope to update the blog fairly regularly as my main way of communicating with everyone back home…and those that I meet along the way. Feel free to email me or leave comments – I’d love to hear from you! And I hope to get back to you in a timely manor, but I won’t be carrying any computer equipment, so I’ll be limited to time that I get at internet cafes or on hostel computers.

Thanks for stopping by!