You may not end up in Guinness for it, but you’re sure to have a memorable experience.

Links to posts about each of these experience – as well as videos! – are included. Enjoy!  

World’s Most Dangerous Beach

We don’t normally think of beaches as being dangerous, but Sunset Beach in St Martin in the Caribbean will set your heart aflutter. It’s directly at the end of the island’s airport strip, and you can watch planes come in on top of you. Thrill seekers like to hold on to the fence at the end of the runway and be mangled by the prop blast as jets land mere meters away. (I settled for taking pictures from a mildly respectful distance).

The Most Dangerous Beach in the World

World’s Highest (Commercial) Skydive

As a skydiver with almost 300 jumps (from a life that seems lifetimes away now), I dropped my license when I started traveling full-time. But when I was in New Zealand, I was treated to a tandem jump that allowed me to experience the world’s highest commercial skydive, exiting the plane at 15,000 feet.

World’s Highest (Commercial) Fixed Line Abseil (Rappel)

This was an absolute highlight of all my travels. In Waitomo New Zealand, this full day event involved a 100 meter abseil (rappel) into a cave, followed by five hours of venturing through this extensive watery cave system. In our wetsuits, we squeezed, swam, jumped, and shimmied through this cave, and hung out with Waitomo’s famous glow worms (which have their own funny story).

Abseiling, Caving, and Spotting Glow Worms in New Zealand

World’s Highest (Commercially) Rafted Waterfall

New Zealand is home to all kinds of world’s [whatevers], and I experienced a lot of them whilst filming a tv show there in 2010. Even after a day of sledging (which is like white-water rafting on a glorified boogie board), I was shaking in my wetsuit in anticipation of the 7 meter (23 foot) drop that flips a good percentage of rafts. Ironically we survived the drop, and then almost sank the raft whilst caught in a rapid that is apparently more dangerous than the waterfall itself.

World’s Longest Train Ride

When I did the Ultimate Train Challenge in 2011 (30 days from Lisbon to Saigon, all by train), it included a solid week on the Trans-Manchurian between Moscow and Beijing. It’s better known as the Trans-Siberian, the difference being the particular route the train takes. Either way, it’s long.

A Week on the Trans-Manchurian Railway

World’s Fastest Train

Hot on the heels of the world’s longest train ride, I embarked on the world’s fastest train from Beijing to Shanghai. Watching the world whizz by at speeds close to what planes manage was an experience. And with stations on either side that were more like airports than train stations, at times I had to wonder if I was actually flying.

13 Random Experiences on Asian Trains

World’s Longest Wall/Biggest Ancient Architecture

You got it – this is the Great Wall of China. I’ve had the good fortune to have been there not once – but twice.

Beijing – Then and Now

World’s Shortest Ferry Ride

If you fly into Toronto’s Island Airport (officially known as Toronto City Centre Airport), a ferry will deliver you to the “mainland” downtown core of Toronto. It’s a whopping 120 meters (400 feet), and the ferry itself is about a third of the size of passage it runs.

World’s Most Isolated Major City

There are a few contenders for the world’s most isolated/remote major cities (depending on your criteria such as by population size or accessibility), including Auckland New Zealand, Honolulu Hawaii, and Iquitos Peru. Regardless of the measuring stick you use, I can say I’ve been to all of them.

But Perth Australia is most eager to wear this banner, and it’s an isolated city indeed. Bonus: it also boasts the largest inner city park in the world.

Perth in 24 Hours

World’s Most Dangerous Airport

When I was filming a television show in Nepal in 2010, we flew from Kathmandu to Lukla, which is the gateway to Everest and the Himalayas for trekkers. Tenzing Hilary Airport earns its moniker as the world’s most dangerous airport due to the short runway with absolutely no margin for error. The runway is on an incline so planes coming in can stop before hitting the mountain behind it, and so planes taking off can gather sufficient speed before the runway drops off into a valley of nothingness.

The other danger factor at this airport is the weather, which comes in out of nowhere. It took us two days of waiting at Kathmandu airport for enough clear sky to allow us to fly in, and we were stuck there for three days longer than scheduled waiting for the clouds to clear so we could take off. The only other way out would have been to hike for 2 days to the nearest city where we could catch ground transportation back to Kathmandu.

World’s Most Expensive City

Oslo Norway takes this prize, and spectacularly so. I went to a middle-of-the-road thai restaurant for lunch and paid almost $50 for a green curry and a glass of wine. This was pretty average for my meals in Oslo. Now, if you live in Oslo and earn money in the local currency, you can get by pretty well. But with Norway’s strong currency, visiting there with foreign currency in your pocket will result in your pockets being empty pretty quickly.

Travel Lessons and Surprises: Oslo

World’s Top City for Cyclists AND World’s Happiest City

Again there are a few contenders for this title (not the least of which is Amsterdam), but the prize – for both bike friendly city and happiest city – goes to Copenhagen Denmark. I don’t know that bicycling and happiness are related, but there you go.

Copenhagen: A Modern-Day Fairy Tale

Largest Beer-Producing Area in the World

If you think Germany takes this cake, think again. When I was in Boulder Colorado, I learned that it’s part of the largest beer-producing triangle in the world, with micro-breweries at every turn. Boulder tops a bunch of other lists (in America) mostly in the realm of being active, bike-friendly, dog-friendly, rich, and skinny. Guess you have to burn off the beer somehow, and with the Rocky Mountains at your doorstep it’s not too difficult.

A Curious Bubble in Boulder, Colorado

World’s Largest Techno Party

The annual Street Parade in Zurich Switzerland is actually officially billed as a political demonstration (dating back to its humble beginnings in 1992 as a demonstration for peace, love, and tolerance. Back then there were 1,000 attendees; now it sees about a million attendees, hitting the streets to party, show off their costumes, and get their groove on.

The World’s Largest Techno Party: Street Parade in Zurich

World’s Highest Bungee Jump

The world’s highest bungee jump is currently the Macau Tower at 233 metres. However in 2005 when I was in the Western Cape of South Africa, I took a leap (a few, actually) off Bloukrans Bridge which was at the time the world’s highest bungee jump at 216 metres. So considering this is a list of my own world [whatevers], I think it still counts. So there. Bite me, Macau.

World’s Highest Navigable Lake

Lake Titicaca (bordered by Bolivia and Peru) is the largest lake in South America, and the highest navigable lake in the world. I spent a few days on Isla del Sol, and even though I live at an incredibly high altitude in Peru, I marvelled at just how close to the sun this island really was.

Visiting Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia

World’s Longest Standing Protest

Since 1972, a small fire has been burning in front of Australia’s parliament building. Along with the small collection of derelict looking tents off to the side housing anywhere from a few to a few hundred Australian Aboriginals who tend to the fire, this is the world’s longest standing protest. Stumbling on to this with a friend while walking around Canberra one afternoon led to one of the most enlightening days I’ve had in all my travels.

The Australian Aboriginal Tent Embassy

World’s Worst Smelling Food

This prize goes to Surstromming, a canned fermented fish that is popular in Sweden. It’s a love-it-or-hate-it kind of food, that actually doesn’t taste nearly as repulsive as it smells. (There. I’m sure you want to try it now, don’t you)?

Northern Swedish Delicacies, Including Surstromming

Do you have any World’s fastest, highest, longest, smallest, deepest, craziest WHATEVERs in your travel repertoire?

This post 18 of the World’s Fastest, Highest, Longest (etc) Things to Do appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

But I’m ultimately so happy for that one fateful daysail I did on a friend’s boat in Grenada, because it opened up a whole new world to me of travel in an often financially sustainable (and even profitable) way.

Here is a sampling of my sailing experience to date:

This post was originally published in 2012. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content. 

Grenada

A day-sail lured me into the nautical world and tantalized me with the idea that I could live and volunteer on boats throughout the Caribbean.

St Martin

I lived on a boat that was anchored, commuting to shore by dinghy, and sharing in the provisional expenses with the other two people on-board.  (See also: Getting my Feet Wet in St Martin)

St Martin (Take 2)

I met a friend who took me on a day sail up the west coast of St Martin, snorkelling and swimming in the crystal-clear waters (after recovering from an ugly bout of seasickness).

British Virgin Islands

I met yet another friend in St Martin (the Caribbean sailing community is a small one and it’s easy to meet people) who was sailing over to the BVIs to host a couple of visiting friends for a charter experience. I joined the boat and sailed the 12 hours from St Martin (an experience that earned me my “sea legs” after another agonizing bout of seasickness – which thankfully never returned).

For the next week, I cooked delicious meals for the four of us while we island-hopped around the BVIs, snorkelling, swimming, and making landfall on idyllic deserted sand islands and exploring tiny artsy communities on larger islands. And I even earned some extra cash for this experience!

St Martin (Take 3)

After the BVI charter finished, I hopped on a ridiculously cheap flight back to St Martin to rejoin the boat I was on before for a week. Then, I moved to yet another boat (again, somebody I met through my increasingly large circle of friends in the sailing community) to sail up and down the windier east coast of St Martin to enjoy more fun in the sun, including kite boarding, surfing, and paragliding.

St Martin (Take 4)

Lastly, I crashed for a few nights on (yes, another) friend’s tiny boat near the airport before flying out to Florida to spend my first night on terra firma after two months.

How Much Does This Lifestyle Cost?

As you know, one of the ways my full-time travel is made financially sustainable is by not paying for accommodation. (In 2011, I spent a grand total of $173 on accommodation – read more about my 2011 full-time travel expenses here).

And I’m happy to report that sailing is a very financially sustainable – and even profitable – lifestyle. Most of the boats I stayed and sailed on were similar to hospitality exchanges or couchsurfing, where you are expected to take care of your own expenses/share in the common expenses, and as a guest in somebody else’s home (er, rather – boat), you respect it as if it were your own and put in a helping hand wherever you can. (See also: How to Get Free Accommodation Around the World). 

Then, there’s the whole world of chartering – on anything from small sailboats to large mega-yachts – where crew members are needed as anything from deck-hands to cooks, hostesses, and even engineers or technical hands. Some positions are formal forms of rigorous employment, while others are more casual. In all cases, it’s a great way to make some extra cash. This is exactly what I did in the BVIs. (See also: 7 Surefire Ways to Make Money While Traveling – including on boats). 

For your viewing pleasure, here’s a montage of some of my Caribbean Sailing experiences in the last couple of months:

Can’t see the video? Click here to view it on YouTube.

This post 2 Months of Sailing the Caribbean [Plus Video] appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

Welcome to daily life on a sailboat in St Martin.

How I Got Started

After a day-sail with some friends in Grenada, I was hooked on the idea of finding out more about sailing, and living on sailboats. I had discovered an entire lifestyle and world that exists on the seas that I hadn’t previously known about; and as a full-time traveler I realized I was amiss not to try my hand at it, since it can be a very financially sustainable way of seeing the world.

So I hopped on Find A Crew (one of a few sites that connects wannabe crew members with captains looking for anything from an extra set of hands to skilled sailors to cooks – and yes, sometimes “female companionship”), to look for a boat I might like to sail on (that didn’t require my “companionship” services).

Lo and behold, I found a couple of fellow Canadians on a boat in St Martin, sailing around the Caribbean and running a few videography businesses (Ambient Real Life and Land and Sea Video). Given my television production experience and social media outreach, we saw a mutual fit of skills, and Captain Rick was unfazed by my lack of sailing experience, saying in some ways it’s better because I don’t have any ingrained bad habits.

The situation got even sweeter when (thanks to Facebook) we realized we had a mutual social circle in Grenada (where he weathers hurricane season each year), so we both had the confidence of solid character references by our friends.

Rick’s boat was in St Martin, so that’s where I headed.

Interested in the nautical life of St. Martin? GetMyBoat is like the worldwide AirBnB of boat rentals, and they have a huge selection of boat charters and rentals in St Martin.

First Impressions of St Martin

After the raw Caribbean flavour and relatively undeveloped landscape of Grenada, St Martin was a shock to my system. Known as the “Las Vegas of the Caribbean”, I was immediately bombarded with lights, casinos, traffic (oh god, the traffic), and people. From the music to the food to the people, I didn’t feel any Caribbean flare in particular; it felt much more American than West Indian to me.

The sheer prevalence of mega-yachts screamed of an over-indulgent life, and money – oh, so much money – being sheltered from taxation in this tax-free haven.

This was certainly not the “Caribbean” I had come to know and fall in love with. (But eventually after a few weeks, I must admit it grew on me, due in large part to my having met a wonderful group of people – which truly, can make or break any destination, no matter how it may seem from the outside).

One Island, Two Countries

St Martin is actually half Dutch (Sint Maarten) and half French (St Martin). (Spell it which ever way you choose). You can drive freely between the two sides, but the currency changes from US Dollars to Euros, the language from English to French, and the culture from American to European.

The Dutch side (despite a European heritage) spoke nothing of Dutch culture to me, and instead is home to the lion’s share of the casinos, luxury shopping, and hopping nightlife. And with an airport in the middle of the action around Simpson Bay, “peace and quiet” is not exactly what you come for (as evidenced by the most dangerous beach in the world).

The French side is a little more subdued, and more authentically French; the perfect place to get a great cup of coffee and a fresh croissant, and go for a beautiful hike or enjoy some outdoor sports.

Misconceptions About Living on a Sailboat

My first misconception about living on a sailboat was that space is limited. In fact, boats make amazing use of space, and can be quite roomy below deck. In addition to a decent living space and galley (kitchen), Rick’s 50ft sailboat had four cabins (bedrooms), each with their own head (bathroom) – complete with shower, toilet, and basin. It’s a little cramped, and certainly not for those who are claustrophobic, but let’s just say in my five years of full-time travel, I’ve made due in smaller spaces with less luxurious accoutrements. (Since then I’ve lived and sailed on a few other boats including a 43ft boat, which has one less bedroom but doesn’t particularly sacrifice on space or comfort).

My second misconception about living on a sailboat is that anybody who lives on a boat….sails it. To the contrary, I was informed that likely more than half the boats anchored in St Martin don’t go anywhere; they’re simply floating houses for people who live and work in St Martin. This applies to other Caribbean islands as well, but to what degree I’m not sure.

Life on such a “floating house” is a little more complicated than on land; fresh water has to be brought on-board (or replenished at a water/fuel dock if the boat can get there on its own steam), so water conservation is of prime importance. And many boats rely solely on solar and/or wind generators, which usually generate plenty of power – as long as you’re conscious of what you consume.

Similar to the life I lived off-the-grid in Hawaii, life on a boat makes you keenly aware of many of the things we land-lubbers tend to take for granted.

Dinghy Hopping

My first real adjustment to the nautical life was the use of a dinghy as commuter vehicle. It is your passage between the boat and shore (or other boats), and getting my “sea legs” and sense of balance has taken quite some time. I still struggle to hop gracefully in and out of dinghies like obviously experienced people do; rather I lumber out by practically rolling onto the dock hanging on to anything (or anybody) within reach, and getting back on I usually need to sit down and inch my way on tentatively, ever-nervous of unintentionally ending up in the water. (Knock on wood; it hasn’t happened…yet).

Even more harrowing is the dinghy-hopping experience; if too many dinghies are tied up at the dock, sometimes the only way to get to yours is to hop from one to another. All those years of professional dancing seems to have done nothing for my sense of balance on the water.

But with practice, comes perfection (and the occasional soggy bottom from landing ungracefully on the wet floor of the dinghy).

Life on a Sailboat in St Martin

Very quickly on arrival to St Martin, I fell into a pleasant routine with my crew mates, and adapted to life aboard a boat quite nicely. We didn’t do much sailing (as the videography businesses have required a constant presence in St Martin), but I got my chance to do a day sail aboard another boat, and my next move (to join a charter boat in the BVIs) involved some hefty sailing.

It seems that St Martin was the perfect place to get used to life on a boat, gain my sense of nautical balance, and – literally and figuratively – get my feet wet.

On to the next nautical adventure! In the meantime, check out the video below featuring my three months of sailing experience (or click here to see it on YouTube):

See also: The Creative Guide to Free (or Cheap) Accommodation
And if you’re keen to learn more about the specifics of getting volunteer gigs on boats (including some crucial due diligence advice), you’ll want to read my book: How to Get Free Accommodation Around the World.

This post Getting my Feet Wet on a Sailboat in St Martin appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

See also: 18 of the World’s Fastest, Highest, Longest (etc) Things to Do

This post was originally published in 2012. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content.

At the beachside, people were studying a chalkboard with what looked like airline arrivals information. Being close to the airport, I presumed that many of the beach-goers were awaiting friends arriving by plane and were just killing time near the airport until the plane landed.

Little did I know…

While settling into my beach chair, suddenly there was increased activity. People stood up and grabbed their cameras, looking expectantly at the ocean. Some people even ran to a point in the middle of the beach, and positioned themselves carefully and strategically near a fence post.

My gaze followed the collective’s, to discover that coming straight towards us over the ocean was a very large airplane. A very large, very low-flying airplane.

Like, I-could-see-detail-on-the-landing-gear sort of low.

Panic struck me. Is this normal? A plane like that, flying so low? Is it making an emergency landing somewhere close by? Will the plane even make landfall, or are they preparing for an emergency water landing?

And for god’s sake, should we not be moving out of the way?!

Before I had a chance to save my own life (much less the hundreds of other beach-goers who were way-too-casually contemplating their own impending deaths), the plane flew directly overhead with a deafening roar and landed 100 feet away on St Martin’s airport runway, which perpendicularly meets the beach.

I could have practically touched the plane. I could see individual bolts on the belly of the plane. The sound of the jet engines was so loud I had to cover my ears. A small sandstorm erupted beneath the plane’s flight path and a wall of sand flew violently and horizontally towards the ocean. People tumbled into the ocean along with the sand.

The plane touched down on the runway and cacophonously turned all thrusters on to slow its thunderous body down.

A wave of gratitude washed over me for surviving such a near miss, along with the other beach-goers and plane passengers. We all survived.

Then people cheered, and raced back to the “arrivals” board to see when it would happen again.

Welcome to Sunset Beach in St. Martin – the most dangerous beach in the world.

I’m not sure there’s anywhere else in the world you can go and actually find yourself standing directly underneath (and so close to) the flight paths of landing aircraft. The blast of air that gets displaced from a plane landing is incredibly dangerous, and can knock you off your feet – or worse.

But here, despite the warning signs, some people are brazen enough to grab onto the fence and brace themselves for this event, as if it were an amusement park ride. If the plane is big enough (and low enough), its final approach will actually lift these thrill-seekers off the ground, their feet waving almost horizontally behind them as they hang on to the fence for dear life. Other people stand closer to the water and allow the airflow to carry them into the surf where they tumble and giggle.

It’s surreal.

I don’t know about anybody else on the beach that day, but with each landing, I had to work hard to ignore the knowledge that if something should go just a little bit wrong with the landing, we all could be in a world of trouble. I do believe that Sunset Beach in St Martin must be tops among the world’s most dangerous beaches.

So it was with gritted teeth and a charge of adrenaline that I joined the ranks of the other beach-goers with my camera in hand to capture an experience that I wasn’t likely to see again (assuming I survived).

For your viewing pleasure (or terror, depending on how you see it), check out this video of the experience!

Check it out here on Youtube.

This post The Most Dangerous Beach in the World appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!