September marks the end of summer in the northern hemisphere and for so many of us it means re-entering the busy work mode. It is not different for us here at NomadMania as we are closing our Travel Awards nominations and getting ready to work with our Committee to find the 5 most worthy nominees per category.
Today is the LAST DAY for you to send nominations in our 6 travel categories. So please ensure that you use this chance to tell us who you think is worthy of awards either as biggest traveller or as most positive, most purposeful, most intrepid and biggest digital nomad.
Our Awards Committee, composed of 11 members will deliberate and shortlist the five finalists per category which you will then be asked to vote on as of October 21st.
We are happy to bring you an 'essential' new feature and some new Milestones. Read more about it in the section below.
Only a few days ago we witnessed another UN Master cross his goal line and in this edition we bring you an interview with him. We can't actually call it an exclusive because it was done months ago, but we did manage to get an exclusive photo and to add one more question answered by Romaine. Congratulations Romaine!
We haven’t forgotten our poll on ‘What is a visit’ which many of you participated in and for which we have extremely valuable results and implications. We will present these to you on October 21. Meanwhile in a ‘global premiere’, our General Manager Milana Bojinović will present these results at the Extraordinary Travel Festival in Yerevan where she will represent NomadMania.
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Last weekend in Vienna the 3rd edition of ViennaMania took place. Organised by our members Sylvia Alfery and Geri Winkler, this initiative has grown to become an institution now.
This year about 60 people met for a 7-hour event which included a pub quiz with many gifts and lots of laughs. In addition, tours of some Vienna highlights were offered including the incredible Central Cemetery (which has now been added to our Dark Side Series) and the architecturally unique Villa Fuchs.
Many of our Austrian members were present at this event, as well as quite a large international delegation including UN Masters Ildiko Szabo, Boris Kester, Damien Stack and Lubos Fellner, along with NomadMania Founder Harry Mitsidis; joining them were German couple Jürgen and Ursula Hacker who were awarded for their recent completion of 193. It was especially nice to see our Ukrainian member and director of our awards ceremony Orest Zub who joined while being on a trip aimed at getting more international help for his country.
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NomadMania members with the famous (National Geographic) photojournalist Reza Deghati |
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UN Masters at ViennaMania left to right - Lubos, Boris, Jürgen, Ursula, Geri, Ildiko, Harry and Damien |
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NomadMania members at ViennaMania left to right - Sam, Harry, Boris, Orest and Max all holding Ildiko |
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101 Essential Regions - NM and M@P and new Milestones |
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We are pleased to add a new feature into NomadMania today, our new 'Essentials' lists. These are a selection of 101 regions on both our Masterlist of 1301 regions as well as our M@P list of 1301 many quirky places.
These 101 can be seen as 'essential' for a traveller to visit; we hope the choices are not too controversial. On our Masterlists we chose at least one region from each Megaregion with an aim to focus on truly iconic places and also some more obscure but unique ones which inevitably result in a lot of debate within the travel community. You can see the content of the Essential NomadMania regions and Essential M@P regions, while they are also indicated with an asterisk within the 'normal' lists themselves for easier navigation.
We are at the same time adding 10 new elements to our Milestones, which now grow to a total of 111. Of these, two are the completion of all the 'essential 101' on our Masterlist and 50% of the essential M@P lists.
We will also be working to automate the completion of categories III to VI on the Milestones so that these are correct for all users, necessitating manual filling in of only Categories I and II; we hope to have this ready for you by the end of the year.
We hope you enjoy these new features which to a certain extent might help travellers in their travel choices of where to aim to go.
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A 'star' of our Community - NomadMania Referendum
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First there was the pandemic which definitely marked the travelling community, but then there was the beginning of year 2022. We don't hide that our community is pretty much global and this means some daily practice of rock balancing.
The beginning of this year marked another split of the world, unfortunately. NomadMania broke its neutrality for the fist time in its 10 year long existence and announced that the national flags of Russian Federation and of Belarus are to be changed; additionally, NomadMania announced that it will not tolerate touristic visits to these two countries and that all members of NomadMania travelling there while the conflict was ongoing will get their profiles deleted.
As time passed and the world slowly lost this conflict out of its main focus, life continued to go on for most of the people. Travel was pushing further after two years of global lock downs. Then, we received first information about our members visiting where we suggested they should not go.
Each time this happened we revised our policy over and over again. Finally, we decided to stay true to our word and to block users who broke our 'rules'. Meanwhile, the rest of the travelling community, outside of NomadMania, decided to go with a total tolerance of any travel explained with one thing that kept repeating throughout various versions of this statement - that travel is the ultimate human freedom and it should not be judged.
To add pain to our self inflicted injury, we ended up blocking a dear friend because of our policies and this was a turning point for us. This event started a total outcry of the travel community within and outside of NomadMania. It became ugly and at times turned out to be a personal attack at our founder.
Amidst all the pressure, our team came up with the only possible solution - NomadMania made an urgent 'referendum' on our website. We created a mandatory poll with proper debates for each 'side' and we let our community decide whether we should block travellers.
The final result break down can be seen here. The summary is shown on a screenshot below.
Our community was very clear and we will respect its decision at all times. Please read along to see what comes out of this decision.
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NomadMania Referendum Results |
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NomadMania After the Referendum |
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1. No members of NomadMania will be blocked or have their profiles deleted as a consequence of travel to Russian Federation and Belarus. Given the results of our members' vote on NomadMania's referendum, we fully acknowledge the decision of our community. We still believe that no decision to travel to those regions should be taken lightly as everything we do has an extended impact, but we recognise travel as the ultimate freedom and travellers are ambassadors whose voice is important in today's day and age.
2. The flags of Russian Federation and Belarus will be reinstated in their original and true form. Previously we introduced the protesting flags as an alternative following our own instinct and recommendations by some of our local members. However, we recognise that every flag is a national symbol with deep meaning and long history that in no way represents just one regime.
3. We stand with Ukraine and we will continue to show our support by making positive impact wherever possible. We now invite all our members to send us recommended and checked initiatives for civil help in Ukraine which we will add to our own Donations page. Future NomadMania Travel scholarship initiatives will be created for Ukrainian students and NomadMania events held in Ukraine as soon as possible in order to help strengthen the society and the economy.
4. NomadMania will bring you two special interviews in order to better reflect to this whole experience with a wish and hope to learn and expand from it.
5. We will dedicate our time and efforts to make NomadMania more transparent and community oriented, led and developed in the future. We believe these were always our guiding forces and now we want to dedicate to them even more. We plan to extend our existing decision making instruments which include our Executive Committee, Circle of Elders and the Awards Committee.
With all said, we still want to remind you that we provide all our services completely free of charge and we still work under a set of rules which include our NomadMania's Code of Conduct and Terms and Conditions. We kindly ask you to respect our rules and our staff at all times, regardless of your personal beliefs not matching with ours at times. We are always ready to listen but we will not take insults and bullying lightly.
Thank you all for reading, participating, sharing your thoughts with us and for being there as irreplaceable parts of this community.
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Iran - Sistan and Baluchistan extreme northeast (Zabol) - M@P regions that you may not know
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Iran is for sure a fascinating country and its eastern Balochistan and Sistan province is certainly one of the lesser visited. Look at the map and you will see a 'bulge' at the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is where the town of Zabol lies, seemingly surrounded on all sides by foreign lands. This is a multi-ethnic region, where Iranians may take second place to the Baluchis.
The highlight of this region is a world heritage site - yes, there is one, so very far away, Shahr e-Sokhta or 'burnt city' and burn you will in extremely hot temperatures as you try to walk around a considerable area to explore a Bronze age settlement seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
You may wonder, given Iran's unwarranted reputation, if this area is safe and the answer is absolutely yes, if you documents are in order, you will be welcomed just like everywhere in Iran. Enjoy!
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The Interview - Romaine Welds |
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Romaine is the only known Jamaican and Caribbean person to visit all countries in the world - a fresh success on which we congratulate him! Full time work and only 2 weeks of vacation time a year didn't stop him from reaching his goal. Although we interviewed him in June this year, he kindly shared an additional photo and replied to one more question for us. All so we could reflect on his success from only two days ago when Romaine landed in Antigua and Barbuda - his last in the count of 195 countries.
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In Antigua celebrating my final and 195th country |
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Romaine, let us open with some things about you. Where do you come from, when and how did you start travelling?
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Hi, my name is Romaine, I was born and raised in Jamaica and migrated to the USA in 2007. This was my first time flying and traveling to a foreign country.
Traveling started out slowly with my first birthday trip to Argentina, then another trip to Argentina to continue the trip to Machu Picchu with a budget travel friend. It was on that trip I cracked the code for traveling, when I realised there were budget accommodations called hostels. From there on I figured out how to travel more without breaking the bank.
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Where do you live now and how did this impact your travelling? You also work full time, right? How do you manage to combine travel with work?
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I currently live in San Francisco, California, the same location since I first migrated from Jamaica. San Francisco is a great location for traveling to Asia and The Pacific countries, but not so much for other parts of the world, but with more and more trans-Atlantic flights, along with Turkish airlines things have been ok these days.
I currently work full time as a ground operations agent for a major American airline company, which helps alot with my traveling as I get discounted tickets. The hardest part is getting the time off to travel, as I have to trade a lot of shifts in order to get time off to travel - but I have been able to make it happen for a long time now since I only get 2 weeks vacation time off per year.
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Walking through the Arch of Septimius Severus, Tripoli, Libya |
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Overlooking Detwah lagoon on the island of Socotra, Yemen |
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Seems like you are only 4 countries away from your goal of reaching all 193 countries. Which ones are you missing now?
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At the moment I only have 3 countries away from reaching my goal of 195, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea and Antigua. The first two countries mentioned have some form of Covid restrictions i.e. closed like Eritrea, but hoping to finish this year.
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In a traditional house converted to restaurant in Ghadames, Libya |
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Do you have a specific deadline to visit the remaining countries and do you expect any problems getting to the remaining ones?
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Well I wanted to finish this year 2022 before my birthday which is in August and before my 37th birthday which originally I was hoping to finish by age 33, but with work and now the pandemic I have way passed my finish age.
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At Babylon gate (Ishtar gate), Babylon, Iraq |
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How did your heritage influence your travels? Did it make it easier in some ways and more difficult in others?
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My heritage did not influence my travels as I am the first traveller in my family. I was inspired to explore the world by watching National Geographic, and that gave me the desire to see more of the world. After visiting Peru, it was clear for me that travelling was my passion and from that moment on I started travelling more intensely.
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Having coffee from the Teaman in Aleppo, Syria |
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Here is an obvious one: is it easier to travel on a Jamaican or a US passport? Can you compare the experiences?
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Generally speaking, it is easier to travel on a US passport as it gives you more access. However, the two balance each other well as I use my Jamaican passport wherever I can't use my US passport.
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At local animal market in Niamey, Niger |
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What are your biggest travel interests? What do you like to explore the most?
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My biggest travel interests are exploring local culture, cultural festivals such as Gerewol, landscapes and visiting tribes. Out of which I like to explore tribes the most as I find it really interesting to explore their way of living.
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At the Gerewol festival in Niger |
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Please share some travel stories with us. What are some of the most surprising moments that you remember from your travels?
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Story 1 - Dinner in Aleppo: While visiting Syria in February 2020, we were invited for dinner in the city of Aleppo at the Baron hotel, the oldest hotel in Syria. The city has been destroyed the most during the Syrian war. While we were eating, we could hear bombs going off from nearby. It was a very surreal experience in many ways, and very scary.
Story 2 - Sleep over at a Mundari village: after visiting the Mundari village, I was planning to go back to my tent which was just across the river. However, the river was very strong which made it impossible to cross, so I had to find another place for the night. I was offered a place to sleep in the Mundari camp with the boys and sheeps and ended up sleeping on a makeshift bed, covered with goat skin and an AK47 under me, surrounded by Mundari children who were sleeping directly on the ground with the goats, sheeps and the dog.
Story 3 - Sleeping on the rooftop in Mali: while arriving to Djenne in Mali during night hours, we checked into our hotel and once we saw the room, we quickly decided that it was not possible to sleep in as it was too filthy. So we took our mattresses and went to the hotel rooftop to sleep under the open sky, full of stars, hoping that no one would notice us, as Mali is a quite dangerous place for foreigners.
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At the Grand Mosque in Djenne, Mali |
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None of the travellers like to be asked, but if you would have to pick, what would be your top 3 countries on each continent (where applicable, of course)?
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In Africa:
- Ethiopia
- Tanzania
- Madagascar
In Europe:
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
- Malta
In South America:
In North America:
In Asia:
In The Pacific:
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Vanuatu
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Holding a crocodile in Bazoule complex, Burkina Faso |
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How did your general view of the world change with travelling?
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Coming from the US where racism is widely spread, I was assuming that I would experience racism during my travels. I was, however, surprised to discover that there is not as much racism as I thought there would be.
Generally, I have been positively surprised with people as most people around the world are very welcoming and helpful. Especially in poor countries and more dangerous places, I found that people are extremely hospitable.
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On top of Samara spiral minaret, Iraq |
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After finishing your goal to travel to all countries, what is next? (This question was asked/answered in June 2022, about 3 months before Romaine visited the last of the 4 remaining countries.)
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After visiting all 195 countries, my goal is to explore many of the countries in more depth. I want to experience more local festivals and see more tribes around the world.
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Under a blood dragon tree in Socotra, Yemen |
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How does it feel now that you have achieved your goal? Did anything change and do you wish to continue travelling as before? (This question was asked and kindly answered in September 2022, only 3 days after Romaine visited the last of 195 countries.)
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I am feeling beyond excited and very grateful to have accomplished this goal which less than 300 known people in the world have accomplished, and to be the first Jamaican, and first known Caribbean person, is even more impressive.
Nothing will change except I might get more sleep now moving forward. I will still continue travelling the world visiting festivals, tribes, and other bucket list places that I've always wanted to see.
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At a museum in Herat, Afghanistan |
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What can travel teach us about the world? Do you imagine our world would be different if more people saw more of it?
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Travelling teaches us a lot about life. It teaches us to be more open minded towards other people and their culture in the sense of being more understanding. It makes us better human beings.
I imagine the world would be different if more people got to explore more of it as people would be more understanding towards each other's differences.
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In front of The Royal Museum of Bamoun, Cameroon.jpg |
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What would you recommend to fresh travellers who might want to replicate your story?
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Set your priorities straight and start small. There is no reason to rush your way to see all the countries. It takes time and a lot of money. Work hard and save up.
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At the Door to hell (Darvaza gas crater), Turkmenistan |
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We have a signature question that we ask all of our guests: if you could invite 4 people from any era to dinner, who would your guests be and why?
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My guests would be:
Mandela - because I think we share the same common values such as equality, freedom and democracy. We could have some good talks about these subjects.
Oprah W. - because Oprah is a very inspiring person. I've been following her career and love the way she interviews people and the topics she covers. I have a lot of questions for this woman.
Obama - because Obama is a cool person, down to earth. I believe we could have some good conversations about world politics, his time at the White House and the food on Airforce One.
Halle Berry - because who wouldn't want to have dinner with Halle Berry?
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Did you like reading this? |
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We thank Romaine for sharing his personal photos with us here at NomadMania.
We only send two emails a month and every time we share new features and NomadMania plans for future. Be the first to find out what's happening next.
Our next 'shorter' issue will be out on the 5th of October with another 'not alone' travellers' interview!
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