About

Hey there, and thanks for coming to find out a little more about me and my adventure. My name is Joel and I started this website called Travel Explored. There are many different labels that you could use for me, but no one label covers it.

What I do with Travel Explored is share the journey that I travel. Both from the perspective of on the road travelling and at home planning, dreaming and inspiring others to travel.

When it comes to travelling, I write to record my journey and blog to share the journey with the world. I capture the journey through the lens of my camera to add character and interest to the story beyond my words. For me, the goal of travel, writing and photography is to share a story and inspire others to step beyond where they are and to explore themselves and their world.

The Inspiration To Travel

The inspiration to travel is the result of losing faith in the modern framework of both school and workplace. The first experience was at the age of 17 when studying in the 11th year of education. I had a wake-up call when I found that my grade could very much be based on the opinion of my teachers more so than my actual assignment work. Almost ten years to the day later I discovered a similar loss of faith in the traditional workplace environment. The work I was doing did not fulfil me or inspire me, and I was looking for something more.

In the first week of September 2010, I looked to the team calendar at work for the best time to take annual leave. It turned out in just five weeks there was a period of six weeks when not one else in my department was on leave. It took a little bit of convincing to get the manager to agree, but soon enough it was on. I had five weeks to plan where I would go and get it booked.

Starting The Adventure

On the 10th of October 2010, I boarded my first international flight, bound for Los Angeles. With this single flight, it started a 43-day adventure through six countries (USA, Canada, Germany, England, Switzerland and Hong Kong). The trip was a humbling experience. There were high emotions at times. I made friends that I am still in contact with today. With so many amazing manmade and natural landmarks all visited.

Above is one of the very first photos I captured and shared to this blog from my first trip overseas.

Where Will The Adventure Take Me?

Sometimes we do not realise the chain reaction that one small action can trigger. Who would have thought on that day in September 2010 when I looked at that calendar, where I would be today. The places I have seen, the people that I have met, the experiences that I have had. In many ways, the best way to describe it is the Butterfly Effect. One very small cause created a rather large effect.

I have now travelled outside of Australia on seven occasions and have visited 35 different countries. Cruising became a favourite way to travel, and I have crossed both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans by cruise ship. The number of cities and towns that I have visited would be difficult for me to recall. I have flown on more flights over a two year period (40+ I think) than some people take in their whole lifetime.

Where will the adventure take me? It is a question that I ask myself every day and the answer, well it changes every day. Life is a rather grand adventure that will almost certainly take me to places that I never expected. But I can be sure of one thing it is an unknown experience that I am happy to be following. An adventure that I want to share every step of the journey with you here.

In many ways, the above image is representative of my view on the experience of life. Sometimes we look back to see where we have been. But no matter which way we are looking our life is pushing headlong into the unknown of tomorrow’s destination. Just like when you are on a cruise ship, from the aft of the ship you can see the wake which shows where you have been. But the bow of the ship continually pushes forward through the ocean to new horizons and new destinations of tomorrow.