About

the candy trail … offers you Backpacking Travel Adventures to Amazing Places: that means my first-hand experiences and travel advice to inspire and assist you on the road. It’s also an account of my nomadic, global lifestyle.

Hi. I’m Michael Robert Powell – from New Zealand AKA Aotearoa – and I guess you could say that I love travel, because I’ve been wandering this planet and living out of backpack, since 1988. And to date I’ve experienced 110+ countries & territories.

With this lifestyle comes an uncomplicated, simple life.

While I hold a university degree – in History – I’ve never had a permanent job, never owned a house or car or motorbike but once had a TV.  And today, I remain on the road – still single, never married, no children, few assets, no social circle or societal niche.

So what have I been up to all these years … Here’s a handful of travel experiences:

• Arrested in Saddam’s Iraq by the military in Kurdistan; accused of being “a spy”
• Hitch-hiking the Sahara Desert & the Sahel, from Algeria to Nigeria
• Enjoying Carnaval and later mugged at knifepoint(s) in Rio, Brazil
• Overland travelling – mostly hitching – from England to India, via Iran, where I was caught amid a deadly bus accident …
• Drugged, abducted, robbed, ditched in Siberia, Russia
• Caught amid a cyclone in Bangladesh that killed 138,000 people
• Trans-Siberian Route – numerous city stop-overs – from Beijing to London
• Antarctica by ship, enjoying much, including whisky and ice-berg on New Year’s Eve 2003
• Swimming with seals in Galapagos Islands
• Caught amid riots in Indonesia, Israel, and India
• Horse trekking in southern Colombia, thru FARC territory
• Slow boat down the Niger River to Timbuktu, Mali
• Hitching over the Himalayas from Tinggri, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal
• Escaping from Indonesia by fishing boat then hitching in a military Blackhawk from the Island of Auturo. To be the “first tourist” in the new East Timor, on 14 Jan. 2000
• Actively participating in a Voodoo ceremony in Togo

And much more …

What’s with the name ?

It’s a metaphor about the freedom of travel to find one’s own knowledge while pleasure-seeking across the world. The “trail …” is obviously the journey, the way, the path. And “the candy” is the reward that leads me along the trail: the amazing places – the monuments, the landscapes, the experiences of exotic food, sex with strangers, and a host of other crazy & beautiful encounters … And the nicest piece of candy is: what I learn from it all.

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Why blog ?

 I’d like to share experiences about the nature of travel and our world – something fresh and interesting that you may not have experienced or thought about.

MRP @ Mexico – 2009

Why travel ?

I’m driven by a fascination of history, world cultures and an appreciation of stunning scenery and nature. And I like meeting new people. Lastly, I’m addicted to the movement of the  journey – that freedom and unpredictability of the travel.

My footprint

Because of budget, the modern world, also because of the way I like to travel – I only fly when I must: usually to get out one-way to then travel onwards overland, unplanned, and making the route as I go by local transportation, staying in simple hotels or family guesthouses, spending at small restaurants or food-stalls and other local businesses so that as little of my money as possible goes to large-foreign-owned enterprises or to brutal, corrupt, host governments – so that mostly my money passes directly to the local, everyday people.

My philosophy

Be a good person and do no harm to others … it’s not what you have, but what you do, that matters … life should be fun.

Parting thoughts

One day I may ‘normalize’ – but for now I’m still addicted to the constant fresh experience that is the freedom & excitement of a wandering life.

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