I did it! Every Country in the World!

What an interesting month it has been. I just achieved a goal I’ve been working on for over 10 years, a goal to visit every UN Country in the world! 193 Countries! I have been recognized as a UN Master by Nomad Mania. I’m happy to say I finished them all with Libya with my friend Michael Noel. It was he who together we took on this quest to help each other to visit every single country in the…

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I ❤️ Penguins 🐧 Where are they?

The cutest little animal in the world has to be the penguin. Don't you wish you could visit them? In this post I share all about the penguins and where you can find them.

The first time I saw a penguin wasn’t in Antarctica. Is that a surprise? I thought they were only found in Antarctica. The opposite may be actually true. Despite there being millions of penguins in Antarctica they are not endemic to Antarctica, but instead found in the countries that border the icy continent all the way up to Galapagos at the equator. I wasn’t expecting to see Penguins in South…

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You've traveled the world - Can I read your book?

You’ve traveled the world – Can I read your book?

I’m down to the last 5 countries with only a couple or three trips left. People keep asking me… When is your book coming out! I’ve analyzed what that means. A book. About my Travels. I know people want to read the stories and know what I learned and what inspired me. It is to that end that I will be putting my thoughts into words. I want to inspire others to travel, to explore, to escape the…

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Land of Lemurs Madagascar: Dream Destinations Webisode 3

Land of Lemurs Madagascar: Dream Destinations Webisode 3

If you love the exotic, but cute animals you probably have dreamed of visiting the baobab trees in Madagascar. The popular Disney cartoon only popularized the idea even more, but believe it or not the island of Madagascar despite being a spectacular adventure to explore is not frequented by travelers. While I was at the most amazing Kirindy forest with 7 types of lemurs the only other people who…

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Wild Papua New Guinea: Top Dream Destinations of Explorers

Wild Papua New Guinea: Top Dream Destinations of Explorers

My friend’s grandfather was a photo journalist with National Geographic and the footage he had of Papua New Guinea tribes was incredible. I knew when I planned my trip there I wanted not just to visit the cities, but to get in deep with a tribe and my friend’s Felix and Saki who I met through facebook allowed me to do just that.

Traveling to Sari tribe near Wabag, in the Enga province in…

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New Webisode Series: Top Dream Destinations Episode 1 - Antarctica

New Webisode Series: Top Dream Destinations Episode 1 – Antarctica

Today we are in lockdown. Air traffic is way down over 70% of planes are downed. Travel has never been at more of a standstill in the past 100 years. Why would I want to talk about travel? If you’re like me, you never stop thinking about travel.

In this new series as I’m sitting at home I want to pick a few of my favorite destinations to share…

“The Top 10 Dream Destinations: #10…

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Quick Visit to Post War Syria

Quick Visit to Post War Syria

I’m not ready to declare Syria war free, but the south especially Damascus is quite safe now and with news of other travelers getting visas and some of the most exclusive visits to the war torn country of Syria had me fascinated. I was able to get over there in December before the news of the Iran and Iraq bombing and conflicts.

I missed seeing Syria about 11 years ago and it’s been high on…

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Magical Avatar Stone Forest Hallelujah Mountains in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

Magical Avatar Stone Forest Hallelujah Mountains in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

Avatar Forest, Stone Forest, Hallelujah Mountains in the movie Avatar were inspired by Heavenly Pillar in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in in Wulingyuan, China

The First National Park in China. It is in Wulingyuan, China in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. It has some of the most incredible hikes. There’s also the world’s tallest outdoor and glass elevator.

This incredible national park…

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Worlds Largest Ancient Statue Leshan Buddha Statue and Giant Pandas of Chengdu

Worlds Largest Ancient Statue Leshan Buddha Statue and Giant Pandas of Chengdu

The Leshan Buddha just finished a long restoration. I was just there and the fantastic news is it’s now complete. I was lucky to visit when there were very few visitors due to the restoration project. The Leshan is a 71 meter or 233 ft tall stone statue, built between 713 and 803 (during the Tang dynasty). For scale comparison the giant sphinx in Egypt is 20m (66 feet) high, the Buddha is 3 times…

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Terra Cotta Warriors of Xi’an China – Warriors and Horses

Terra Cotta Warriors of Xi’an China – Warriors and Horses

The stories of the Terra Cotta Warriors is an incredible one. Ying Zheng took the throne in 246 B.C. at the age of 13. By 221 B.C. he had unified a collection of warring kingdoms and took the name of Qin Shi Huang Di—the First Emperor of Qin. He is credited for the first version of the great wall. Beijing was not the capital of China at the time.

The guards of the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi—who…

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Gateway to Heaven Tianmen Mountain China

Gateway to Heaven Tianmen Mountain China

I had a fantastic spring break in China and saw some of the most amazing places on the planet. If you’ve never been to China. Now is the time to start dreaming. In this series I will share 7 Bucketlist level places in China. It was amazing.

#1 Heaven’s Gate or Tianmen Cave at Tianmen Mountain, Stairway to Heaven

A mountain with the world’s largest natural bridge or “cave” located within…

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Prambanan Indonesian Historical Javanese Temples

Prambanan Indonesian Historical Javanese Temples

Indonesia has been my favorite country for many years.  This trip started with my son saying if he could go anywhere in the world he wanted to go to Singapore.  I had been planning that if and when I got back to Indonesia I wanted to see the incredible great temples of Java… the temple complex of Prambanan.  When built there were 1000 temples, the complex is 240 temples for which

Prambanan is…

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Year in Review 2018 – Joel Oleson Adventure Traveler Fun Photos

Year in Review 2018 – Joel Oleson Adventure Traveler Fun Photos

At the beginning of 2018, I started working at Blizzard Entertainment and visited a couple of offices in Europe as well and now two of my oldest sons started college.  Great accomplishments for which I’m very pleased.  As a result of supporting 2 in college, I’ve had to get good at cashing in airline miles.   Our big family trip this year was to Ethiopia and Tanzania and it was awesome!  The…

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African Road trip – Bissau Guinea Bissau to Dakar Senegal

African Road trip – Bissau Guinea Bissau to Dakar Senegal

I was looking for a quick African adventure, and I was not disappointed.  Bissau delivered on the feel of being on the edge of civilization. 

When we landed we went straight to a hotel and we asked them what time the bus was going to leave.  Online I’d heard it was sometime around 7, but something to do know about African buses is they leave when they are full.  The hotel front desk encouraged…

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Roadtripping West Africa: Lagos Nigeria to Accra Ghana

Roadtripping West Africa: Lagos Nigeria to Accra Ghana

I had a blast on Two recent road trips in West Africa.  Immersive experiences in cities not use to tourists.  The world’s past and future are tied up in these budding African cities.  Nigeria and Ghana are going to be so important not just to Africa, but to the world.  They represent where the developing world has been and the potential for tomorrow.

Road Trip from Nigeria to Ghana with stops in…

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Where did life begin? Traveling to Ethiopia’s Omo Valley - Early Man

Where did life begin? Traveling to Ethiopia’s Omo Valley – Early Man

My passion for understanding the past through early man caves, paleontology, archeology, encounters with ancient tribes with connections to the past and life origins and what matters most strike at the heart of meaning in travel. 

If you’re trying to connect with the past, there really isn’t any place where you’ll find more diverse tribes in such a small area than in Ethiopia.  Seriously.  If…

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Tracking THE Migration Wildebeest of the Worlds Largest Migration in the World!

Tracking THE Migration Wildebeest of the Worlds Largest Migration in the World!

When I told my guide I wanted to see the the wildebeest migration he told me I’d see so many wildebeest I’d cry.  I was up for the challenge.  This wasn’t my first African Safari, so I knew I wasn’t going to be satisfied with a herd of a few hundred wildebeest.  The family I was with was up for everything.  The Serengeti and the Crater is clearly the best places in the world to see the diversity…

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