Every Thursday, A Dangerous Business will be shining the spotlight on a world nomad, travel blogger, armchair adventurer, or just someone really cool in the travel world. This week, the traveler is Cailin O’Neil of Travel Yourself. Cailin is first a filmmaker and second a traveler, traveling around the world one trip at a time, blogging and making travel videos as she goes.
1. How do you define the word “traveler,” and why would you consider yourself one?
A traveler is anyone who makes it a point to continually travel in life and/or is currently on a trip whether its their first or last. I definitely define myself as a traveler, I’ve got the travel bug in a bad way.
2. What has been your favorite travel experience thus far?
Pretty much an impossible question. However one of the experiences I am most proud of is when I paid (out of my own pocket) for myself and a camera man to fly to Spain for La Tomatina in Bunol along with visiting Valencia, Madrid and Barcelona to film the first episode of my own travel TV show. It was quite the experiences and was really the beginning for the awesome life that I am living right now.
3. How about your proudest travel moment?
Ha! I swear I didn’t read the questions ahead of time… ok my favorite travel experience then… switchin’ it up like a rebel, that’s right… I have been lucky to make some great friends through traveling, one of them being Candice Walsh. In June 2011 we traveled across Canada by train and car together, and not only was it a trip that I have been wanting to do for a long time, but I also got to do it with a great friend. We had a great time and I don’t think we hated each other by the end of it…. We even gave it our own twitter hashtag, #CCCC, had shirts made and even had a logo. It was epic.
4. Have you had any travel mishaps or bad experiences? If so, have these influenced how you view the place where they happened? Would you go back?
Knock on wood, I haven’t really. There are often the times when one person can put a bad taste in your mouth about a place, but clearly I’ve purposely forgotten about them. Recently in Berlin I had the flu and it made me hate the city, but then as soon as I felt better I realized it was awesome and I was just in a funk. There are also places I have visited that I have felt “meh” about and would live a happy life if I never visited them again, but not “meh” enough to tell anyone else to never visit. I think its best for everyone to have their own opinion of a place.
5. Name one thing you can’t travel without.
My video camera and/or camera and/or iPhone at the very least. I always need to be able to visually capture my travels in some way. Yes, I’m an electronics geek.
6. Name one thing you wish you COULD travel without.
Money!
7. What do you think has been the biggest thing you’ve learned while traveling (about yourself, a destination, a culture, travel itself)?
Do what you love and what makes you happy. I know far too many people who are in jobs that they thought they had to get after they graduated with the degree they thought they needed after doing in life what they thought they were supposed to do without ever stopping and thinking about if it actually made them happy or other people happy. Whether it’s traveling or something else, just make sure you are doing what you love and what makes you happy. (Cliches not intended.)
8. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
I really love Australia. I’ve been there technically 6 times now, I love the weather, the friends I have there, the accents, the food and more. However I love my friends and family, so here at home in Canada is great too. There are a billion places I have yet to visit so maybe I’m not even sure yet.
9. Name one place you’d like to see or one experience you’d like to have before you die.
I want to see all of those crabs migrating or whatever it is they do on Christmas Island, I want to see penguins in Antarctica, enjoy the Holi Festival in India, go shark cage diving in South Africa… I could go on. I want to do it all. If I have to pick just one, for real, in all honesty I really really want to go to the Moon! and if I must, I’ll accept at least just a visit to outer space. I’ll even consider the trip if someone says to me “you can go to the moon but we can’t guarantee you will make it back…”. Yes, I’m crazy.
10. If there was one thing you wish somebody would have told you before you started traveling, what would it be?
Maybe not something I was told but rather taught or learned how to do would be to manage my money better. When I travel I aim to never miss out on a great opportunity for monetary reasons, so often if one is presented in front of me, I will spend more money to do something that I might not have decided to do before. I don’t want to miss out on anything. My bank account often gets mad at me for that, but I never have regrets.
Visit Cailin’s site: Travel Yourself
Also check out: Cailin Travels
Follow Cailin on Twitter: @cailinoneil
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Are you a travel blogger who has something to say on these topics? Do you know of somebody really interesting in the travel universe that you’d like to see interviewed? Speak up! The Thursday Traveler needs some interview subjects.
Thanks for asking me to contribute Amanda!
cailin recently posted..Best Travel Videos of 2011 Part 1
It was my pleasure, Cailin!
I agree with Cailin! If I could live anywhere it would have to be Australia! There is so much to do and see on one continent!
Rachael Sena recently posted..Travel Cheap in Paris, France
That part of the world is great… but I’d definitely pick New Zealand over Australia! Still close enough to visit.