And I realised something. Museums in “newer” countries are different from ones in the “old world”. And the newer the country to western settlement, the more different the museums.

Lets take two extremes: France and New Zealand. Why those two? Because I have the relevant photos and video – OK!

France is arguably the cradle of Western Civilization. France has hosted an awful lot of art and artists over the centuries. The city of Paris dates back to pre-historic times, and you can easily find castles and building dating back centuries.

New Zealand is a little younger. A  whole lot younger, even the Maori didn’t make it here until the last 1000 years. The white men (yup they were mainly men) started dropping by from the late 1700′s – but Wellington didn’t really become a town until the 1830′s. The people who came to New Zealand enduring a sea journey of months which makes today’s whinging about 24 hours on a plane as beyond pathetic. They didn’t bring a lot of Great Art with them. And when they got here they were a little preoccupied with staying alive, to actually make a lot of Great Art.

So what lets take a look at the contrasts:

New World Museum: Te Papa, Wellington, New Zealand

New World Museum Te Papa Wellington New Zealand

Website: Te Papa

Open: 365 days a year

Entry Cost: Free, some temporary exhibits have a charge.

Located: Hard to miss right on the waterfront – the whole area is worth a good wander around – on a nice day. There is a weekly market in Te Papa’s outside car park on Saturdays.

Onsite eating: A large cafe downstairs, and a smaller bar/cafe upstairs. Not bad food at a reasonable price.

Museum shop: Recommended, not cheap, but some quality NZ souvenirs here.

How Old? Actually the first “Colonial Museum” was founded in 1865, but the current building dates from 1998. Its built on Wellington’s earthquake prone water front and features cutting edge technology which allows it to survive both an earthquake an a Tsunami.

What’s To See? Well a lot of the old pictures are not on display, instead you’ll find a lot of interactive displays which feature video and  tell the story of New Zealand and New Zealanders. A lot of the space is very low light – so I couldn’t get decent photos (yes cameras are allowed, not flash) – the  antipodean UV count is VERY unfriendly for almost anything involving paint, paper, textiles etc.

Check it out in this video:

Old World Museum: Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Louvre Entrance Hall, Below the Glass Pyramid

Website: Musee du Louvre

Open: 9am-6pm – not Tuesdays! Yeah amazing – one of the world’s busiest museums and its still closed 1 day out of 7!  Also closed 1 May, 25 December and 1 January

Cost: E10 + E11 for the Napoleon Hall. Free on the first Sunday of the month plus the 14 July.

Onsite Eating: 15 cafes apparently! I think we found the cheapest one in “Les Cafes de la Pyramide” which cater for that odd thing of just grabbing sandwich for lunch and paying less than E50 for the meal! It was a classy cafeteria I must admit.

Museum Shop: Several – but I wasn’t impressed with the bookshop to be honest. Lots of books and nothing much else – all very expensive. I guess if you have a huge interest in art and art history it would be the place for you.

How Old? Actually this was the second time I’d been to the Louvre, my partner wanted to go, so I tagged along. The first time, back in 1988, two things made an impression – the impressive glass pyramid at the entrance which had opened the day before, and the walk through the historic Louvre, in the basement which includes part of the original medieval palace that the 17th century palace (the current building) was built on top of.

What’s To See? Oh some old statues and quite a few paintings, that Mona Lisa one didn’t impress much, but I do like the Dutch School. Actually I’m not a total ignoramous, and yes I do know some art history (and its well worth doing some back ground reading if you don’t). But the curious thing about the Louvre, the vast majority of the collections have nothing to do with France – Greece, yup, Germany, yup, Spain yes, Netherlands, definitely. Sure there are some French exhibits obviously, but this is a museum about European art – not about the development of France.

Check out the video – and yes I was just about as entranced by the snowfall outside as that art inside:

I think museums have evolved, the Louvre is one of the most traditional that there are. I am sure that most of the displays were exactly the same today as when I first went in 1988. Its static, very impressive, if overwhelming, but static.

Te Papa, I must admit, I hadn’t been around the standard exhibitions for a couple of years. I grabbed my camera to take the photos used in the video above, and noticed that a good percentage of the displays had changed since I’d last seen it. There is a core of maybe 50% which are always there, but a lot changes, and going back after a few years, you will see new things.

And its modern,  the photo of the multi-video screens, caught my eye, because it was news episodes from the 1980′s when New Zealand went from one of the world’s most controlled economies, to one of the most liberal, in a couple of years. I remember that!

Also on a weekday, outside of school holidays, outside of the tourist season, most the visitors appeared to be New Zealanders. And it wasn’t crowded, and there were no queues.  I can’t even imagine how crowded the Louvre is in July!

What do you think? What type of museum do you prefer to see when you travel? Or do you skip them all together?

Unless the town is Kawakawa.

And the toilets were designed and even partly constructued by  Hundertwasser,  - an expatriot Australian artist – who gave his adopted hometown a very valuable, and practical piece of art. The only place I’ve ever seen anything slightly similar is some of Gaudi’s work on show in buildings and parks in Barcelona, Spain. To find this amount of style and colour, in a little rural backwater in Northland, New Zealand, is a bit of a surprise!

Kawakawa is pretty hard to miss – its just a few kilometers south of the Bay of Islands, and is well worth a quick look if you are in the area.

I put together a video of photos so you didn’t have to be embarassaed walking around a public toilet taking pictures! And no I didn’t go in the boy’s side – I sent my partner in! It would be a brave man that used those urinals during tourist season I can tell you.

Its only 40km north of Marree and you will end up walking over a kilometre to see all the displays. Its all pretty bizarre a 1000km from anywhere! No entry fee either!

The Oodnadatta Track runs from Marree to to Oodnadatta  follows the route of the old Ghan railway to Alice Springs (the new railway runs several 100kms to the west).  We found the track in very good condition and you could have done the main track with a 2WD, driving slowly. The side tracks on the other hand to the various overland telegraph repeater stations and to Lake Eyre itself, were incredibly rough and definitely 4WD (with care and experience) only.

Q1 Biggest Travel Nightmare you’ve had?

I think it was the moment I realised that my partner might not get travel insurance for our next trip. I wrote about it here. Yup my worst travel nightmare was when I though I couldn’t travel.

Q2 Hotel/Hostel you’d consider a nightmare, why?

Oh I there has been some shockers, there was a cold and fairly deserted one at La Linea, Spain, which is on the other side of the border from Gibraltar - it was pretty weird. Bed bugs and other crawlies don’t really bother me – but deserted is scary. I also checked into a big hotel in India once, it didn’t feel right, but all I wanted was a bed after 24 hours on a bus. I should have listened to my instincts – I had to bar my door from the drunk night manager who wanted to be my “tour guide”.

Q3 Dreamiest Destination you’ve been to.

Hmmm tricky, several warm, tropical beaches spring to mind, but Halong Bay in the cold – was certainly quite surreal – it was like being inside a painting.

Halong Bay, Vietnam, on a cold winter's day

Q4 My trip is a nightmare when I forget …

Well frankly nothing that springs to mind! All you really need is your passport, money and cards. The rest of it is just optional. And no I’ve never left behind my money, passport or cards behind! I’d be pretty annoyed if I left my camera behind though!

Q5 Airline or Airport you consider a real nightmare ..

Well I’m sure many would talk about LAX or Heathrow. But for me this is easy, Lukla, Nepal  - wins hands down. From recent photos nothing much has changed – the airstrip has been sealed – but it still has a 20 degree slope to it, with a 1000ft drop off a the end if you’re not airborne by then … I flew out of there after my Everest base camp trek. Before the days of Google maps and Flickr, I didn’t know what the airport looked like, I walked into the village (the only option except flying) and it wasn’t until I spotted the distinct wind sock that I realised I was standing on the runway!

My flight arriving Lukla, Nepal, 1990

Q6 Adventurous experience which isn’t for the weak of heart.

Literally? Swimming with the whale sharks off Western Australia’s coast. Now don’t get me wrong – it was one of my best experiences in my life. But you really have to swim like hell to keep up with those big fish, and you are far out to sea so you need to be confident snorkling in the ocean deep. I never knew how hard it can be to see a boat when there is a bit of chop on the sea. Check out all the details over at Vi’s site: Swimming with Whale Sharks

Q7 My biggest nightmare would be travel RTW with …

An organised tour. Or a boat – I sailing around the world, I get very sea sick.

Q8 Trip that you were dreading that turned out great …

I wouldn’t say “dreading” – but  I was pretty nervous the first time I took my partner backpacking in Asia. He was 50 and had never travelled without reservations, and had never been to Asia. I turned out great though – he trusting me was pretty scary, but on the road it worked out just fine.

Q9 Scariest place you’ve ever slept.

Hmm, or not slept? The sleeper train to Aswan from Cairo was pretty scary, well more specifically the toilets were, and yes you can hang on 14 hours! Peru airport I was a bit nervous about, but the scary big security cards showed me a quiet “office” corner with carpet to sleep on.

Q10 Best tips to avoid travel nightmares.

Don’t sweat the small stuff. And its almost all small stuff. I travel light , not just with minimal luggage, but also with my attitude. I don’t expect every to go right all of the time. But pretty much everything is solvable given some patience. I must admit I do quite a lot to avoid 30+ hours on aeroplane nightmares these days – its called a “stop-over”.

If you want to laugh at my bumbling attempts on Twitter remember to follow me @LisTravelTips Check out next week’s Travellers’ Night in at ZipSetGo

What’s your answers to any of these travel nightmare questions? Love to hear about your experiences.

We also needed to avoid the school holidays because its unbelievably busy, well for Western Australian standards anyways.

Finally a few weeks we went over for a weekend. It was November – so it wasn’t too hot – about 30C – the sea was about 21C. Oddly thanks to a warm current which runs down this part of the Western Australia coast, the water temperature is warmer than on the coast. It does have some great beaches, and snorkeling is just off shore. There are plenty of other spots too if you happen to bring your own boat.

I believe the boat parking gets full at times though! Only in WA!

Adventure tourism is not without its issues – but generally your chance of dying while bungy jumping, jet boat riding, parasailing, sky diving or skiing, are fairly low. Although its not as safe as doing a ride in a theme park – its still pretty safe. New Zealand had safety standards that apply to tourism operators. The guides will be trained, will have appropriate safety gear, and although there is the appearance of danger, there is virtually no real risk.

However if you head out alone, or with mates to our free National Parks, things get a little more dodgy.  Maybe NZ tourism needs to be a bit clearer – NZ’s great outdoors – is world-class, but its natural, it comes with risks. We don’t have bears or crocodiles, but you don’t need wildlife to kill tourists.

The scenery will do that – all by itself.

The area of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing - from Mt Taranaki (Egmont)

And then you can do something really dangerous. Like the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. It used to be just the plain Tongariro Crossing, but it was renamed a few years ago, after a number of deaths, its kinda of a hint for the visitor: “alpine” as in mountains. Above the tree line, above the bush line, totally exposed to all the weather, where it can snow in summer. Although most brochure pictures tend towards the spectacular, the problem is, that when the weather changes, you don’t just lose a photo op, you can lose your life.

Read this post from a visitor crossing in February, one of the warmest months in New Zealand  - they struggled to find the track and struggled with the wind and very low visibility - it all ended well but the author mentions she was too scared to take photos at one point – and she was right to be.  More recently a group of 16 very nearly died, in fact almost certainly some would have died but two well equipped trampers risked their own lives to bring the group down to safety. That’s right – not only going out on a mountain dressed in jeans and cotton risk your life, it risks the lives of strangers who may help you, and the professionals who come to save you. Although I do disagree with the local debate that the transport operator had a moral duty to stop them. I do think that tourism operators have a responsibility to inform tourists that Tongariro is an alpine crossing, where you always need to carry layers of warm and water proof clothing, where you need to wear boots (not shoes) and if you can’t walk nearly 20km on flat land you shouldn’t even attempt the crossing. There are plenty of shorter and easier options in the area

Thirty percent of overseas visitors to New Zealand visit a National Park. Not one of those National Parks are a theme park. They are natural, and they are remote. I remember being very surprised the first time I ever went to a US National Park – I arrived at Joshua Tree, and was stopped and checked by officers, ensuring that I had maps and water, and this was in a park with sealed roads, and I was driving a late-model car!

New Zealand National Parks don’t generally have roads, they have no one checking that you have water with you (hint, volcanoes aren’t good places to expect to find water to drink, BYO).

Quick Facts About New Zealand National Parks 

• They are free for all to access, including tourists. Some of us think this is fairly outrageous – but there you go, take advantage while you can.
• They are not controlled. They are not closed because the weather is bad. There are no guides for walks – unless you arrange for a guide in advance (which is entirely possible on many of the more popular walks). But if you chose to do it yourself and on your own – you, and only you are responsible for your safety.
• A cell phone is a not a reliable form of communication, anywhere in NZ, particularly not in a National Park. If you have coverage that’s a bonus, not a given. If you want reliable communications in the New Zealand bush you need either a radio, or more realistically a personal locator beacon (which can be hired for under $10/day).
• There are cheap camp grounds in many parks, the more accessible ones are VERY popular, you’ll need to book anywhere near a New Zealand school holiday. There are huts on some tracks, they are reasonably priced but can be very busy and are basic (no cooking facilities).
• If you are walking, anywhere, you notify someone of your intentions.  Now some parks require you to do this online, this is stupid at many levels, starting with the lack of cellphone coverage in many parks. It also requires the person you tell your intentions to, to take responsibility for informing NZ Police if you don’t return. Given the time zone issues, plus the form is only in English – it should work REALLY well!
• The good news is that if you are rescued you won’t be charged (though this is hot topic for debate in New Zealand).
• If you are injured in a National Park (or anywhere in New Zealand) you are covered by New Zealand’s no-fault accident insurance cover ACC. That means that you will get free hospital and medical care. It also means you can’t sue anyone over your accident.
• Just because “everyone else” is doing something doesn’t mean its safe.  Up to 1000 people a day walk the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, mostly overseas visitors, that doesn’t make it safe, or easy.

In the spirit of the popular travel blogs here’s some popular reasons why many priviledged citizens of rich countries can’t travel:

• I’m too young – I need to get some career experience first;
• I’m too old – its irresponsible;
• I can’t leave my parents/friends/partners/dog/cat;
• I can’t afford it;
• I need to go to/finish college/school/uni;
• My employer needs me;
• I have children;
• I have a partner;
• I have no one to go with;
• My boy/girl friend doesn’t want to travel;
• My family doesn’t want me to;
• I don’t know how to.

Reason 1: You Can’t Get Travel Health Insurance

Until one day. I had just booked a 2-month trip through Thailand and on to Europe. We hold a platinum credit card for the simple reason that it gives me not just free air miles, but one I’ve booked the flights with it – it also gives us free travel insurance. But 6 months earlier my partner had had an angina attack. I thought I should mention it to the insurance company. After a series of questions they thought they probably couldn’t cover him for any heart related issues – but they’d consider it if I got a specialist’s report sent through to them. Over the next few weeks we arranged a further appointment with the specialist (at our cost of course), and we got the cover for a trivial addiitonal charge.

Now I’ve travelled uninsured before, and I would again. But with someone who has a known heart issue, even a low grade one, not so much. The survival rate from heart attacks is all about good quality medical assistance within hours. I have a stuffed knee which has never been covered for travel insurance, it doesn’t stop me travelling. I’d travel with cancer too, if I was well enough, you are unlikely to collapse and end up in hospital with no chance of returning home for treatment first. Hearts are different.

That’s not the story. I came off that  first phone call, almost in tears, gasping for air, shaking, yup sounded like a heart attack – it wasn’t probably more like a panic attack – I don’t know I’ve never had one. I didn’t sleep for weeks, I felt like I was in prision. I had the horrible realisation that if this company turned him down – he’d probably never get travel insurance again.

I faceless entity at the end of the phone had threatened to take the freedom I’d always taken for granted, the freedom to get on a plane with a one way ticket to the world.

Now don’t get me wrong – if either of us were seriously ill, we’d probably not be wanting to travel anyways. But having a single angina attack is not seriously ill – well not according to the doctors anyways. Just the insurance companies.

Packing to Leave London 1990, the right to work in the UK was critical for my travelling at the time

Reason 2: You Have the Wrong Passport(s) 

I am the very happy owner of three passports (Australian, New Zealand, British). I don’t always have each them current and in my drawer, but I know I can always get one if I need it. Like the time I travelled in South America, and my NZ passport would have cost me hundreds of dollars in visa fees, my British one saved me a fortune with visa free entry everywhere including Argentina, who had been at war with Britain a few years earlier.

But the critical difference is with my passports I can travel almost anywhere in the world. According to Wikipedia the visa requirements for the following citizens allow visa free or visa on arrival to:

• New Zealand – 166 countries;
• UK – 171 countries;
• Australia – 166 countries.

Plus a whole lot more countries just require me to get a straightforward visa in advance (Myanmar/Burma, Cuba, Vietnam, China), which requires nothing more than some planning on my part, and trivial fee.

Other big winners on the passport lottery include citizens of:

• US – 169;
• Canada – 164;
• Singapore – 164;
• Malaysia – 135;
• Israel – 142;
• Russia – 116.

The losers – well the ones that stood out to me included citizens of:

• Philippines – 62;
• India – 71;
• Indonesia – 60;
• Egypt – 45.

And that’s not even considering the countries who still control how and if their citizens can leave at all (China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Cuba, Nepal and Czech Republic (for foreigners with work permits).

And remember while a Pom or American will have few issues getting a visa to visit Australia, the same won’t be the same for a citizen of Egypt, India, or anywhere else the Australians consider might be at risk of not going home. Ditto every other developed country in the world.

And then of course there is the other issue – if you are trying to save money while living in some countries – its hard because a) your income level is so much less and b) the currency is weak. I don’t think that’s a total show-stopper now. I know people who make a living online who are natives of developing and less developed countries. And they are paid in US$. Its a new opportunity and you generally need access to a good computer and to have good English skills – but there are opportunities online, which didn’t exist a decade ago.

For an eye-opening account of these issues from an Egyptian travel blogger – check out No, Not Everyone Can Travel.

And quit whinging about not being able to travel – unless those two reasons apply to you, its all about priorities.

Anyway here’s one that has always been close to my heart. It was taken in April 1990, that’s Everest in the background and I’m lying on the shingle which makes up Kala Pattar.  It was the highest point I reached on the Everest Basecamp trek and in my life.  I’d been posed on the ground for a while, waiting for my companion to get back from the top, to document the moment.  Oh OK, I was absolutely stuffed and wouldn’t have made it to the top for all the chocolate, or gold in China. The top is 5500m so I always claim to have made it to 5300m. I’d finally surcumbed to altitude sickness and was too dizzy to keep walking – even a wide gravel slope, and I knew I’d have to walk a ridge at the top – too dangerous.  I couldn’t even stand and wait – so that’s why I’m lying artistically!

I did consider jobs that would let me travel easily: working on being a nurse, cruise ships, even a travel guide.  Nursing wasn’t an option because I don’t like sick people very much.  The cruise ship bit the dust as I recalled how terribly sea-sick I get. Travel guiding didn’t seem an option, as I had little respect for someone who actually needed to go on a tour of an English speaking country – and my poor language skills didn’t give me the option to be a travel guide elsewhere.

Instead I decided that being a Geologist would be OK because I could travel to really remote places. After a few too many boring years in really remote mining towns I switched to being an IT geek, so I could stay in town and have a life! And I still travelled – but only as a hobby.

The writer, not writing, camping, Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia

However during a bit of a midlife crises, in 2007, it seemed that yes, maybe I could make money from a travel blog. So I started one, just a few months before I left on an epic trip which saw us driving 35,000kms  on Australia’s outback roads.

The trip was amazing. The blog less so. You see, I forgot to take into account a couple of fairly basic things:

• 95% of Australia’s land area doesn’t have mobile coverage. Outside of the cities and the Eastern Coast you can travel for days without a mobile signal. Yes country towns have Internet access – usually out of the shire’s offices and usually open Monday-Friday office hours only!
• Its pretty full on driving most days, pitching a tent and camping. It takes quite a lot of time – all of the daylight hours anyway (which are only about 12 a day in most of northern Australia).  Although I’m a touch typist and we had some lighting, given the choice between blogging at night and drinking… the Aussie beers won most nights.

The travel blog’s content gathers electronic dust on my hard drive, but I’m glad that I chose to start a travel in quite possibly, still today, one of the most difficult places in the world to get online, the Australian Outback.  Because now I see lots of new travellers start and try to run a travel blog from the road. Most of the blogs fail, which is the nature of the business, but far more sadly, I think many of those would-be bloggers also compromise the delight of their first experience of real travel.

Because if there is one thing that is truly incredible about travel, is the ability to be immersed in the moment. Spending over 3 weeks doing nothing but walking every day on the way to Everest Base Camp, I’d still rate as one of my top travel experiences. There was a revolution happening in Kathmandu at the time, but I only actually heard any direct news about that a couple of times when a village I was travelling through happened to have a short wave radio picking up Voice of America or BBC World.  As it was I just walked and talked to the people I met both coming and going (there is only one track for most of the trek). I understood what its like to see the world at walking pace, an experience I’ve never had again.

So if you are thinking about travelling and blogging about it to make money. Can I seriously suggest that you don’t, expect to make money that is. Blog to let others know your progress, if you want. But don’t stay too connected. Turn off the electronic noise and just travel. Really, you’ll have a much better time!