Snippets - Number 1 - India - A memory

I was 14 years old when I went to India for 10 weeks. It is the greatest experience that I have ever had. Imagine that for one moment: a 14 year old adolescent who had only been to England before who then goes to the great sub-continent. I arrived in Delhi a boy and left Delhi a man. India was my rite of passage, my intiation into a relentless, travelling life. Others have their teams, their sports, their friends, and I had my India. God, how I was shaken up and thrashed about by the people, the religion, the infinity-in-a-country. It was a sustained, spiritual journey. It was overwhelming for me, the girls with dripping tar hair and olive eyes, the fading impressions of English colonialism and the layer upon layer of religion, legend and fable. Go to India, it is a great land, an epic place, where every boyhood fantasy comes alive, a place of spice and jungle, a place that will smash you head in like a drug. Most of the impressions and emotions I have of the place are too fleeting and eternal to be placed into words. I felt both young and older-than-time in a country that seeps with so much vibrance, poverty and soul. I am haunted by all that is India.

India made me realise that it was my destiny to be a writer, and, for this, I am eternally grateful to it.

madcaptraveller celebrates 1,000 blog hits!

Wow! My blog has now had over 1,000 hits since the time I sent it up at the end of 2006. Thanks to all who have visited, I hope you have enjoyed the posts as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

Snippets - A series.

I have decided to write a series of snippets about small, random events that have happened to me on my travels. These will be short and full of colour, so it will feel like you are taking a short holiday!

Upcoming stories- Amsterdam and INF youth rally!

Keep checking my blog for two new posts to be published soon. One about my experiences in Amsterdam and the other about the INF naturist youth rally at Vrije Vogels, Holland.  

The naked spa

Every third Sunday of the month I head to the Chamartin Metro station in Madrid, Spain. I go up the escalator, past the bus terminal and into a gym tucked away at the back. I go past the cafeteria into the change rooms. And, when I come out, I am as naked as the

I am in Madrid, Spain - and almost 750 hits!

I am currently in Madrid, Spain working as an English language assistant/English teacher. I have been here for six weeks! I am living a wonderful life at the moment, its relaxed and I have plenty of free time.

 On the blog front - I am pleased to announce that this blog is fast approaching 750 hits! Thanks to all who have dropped by.

Look out for some fascinating new articles about Spain - including a series on naturism/nudism in Spain!

I am officially a SAFREA member!

To further my travel writing career I decided to become a Full Member of the Southern African Freelancers Assosciation (SAFREA). At least in this way, my rights will be protected and I stand to make some good contacts and learn *insider* things! yeeeeeeeeh.

UPDATE!!

My travel articles have AT LAST been published! Yippee! Look out for them in the October 2007 edition of The Blue Train Magazine and the November2007  editions of Indwe, Abouttime and Altitude magazines.

Riding with the donkey cart men

By Michael Kaeflein

The donkey cart makes its way up the hill. Slowly. The donkeys are dusty and tired, but they walk on with the encouragement of their owner’s handmade whip. The cart is carrying firewood, and Patric chats

India-A retrospective

The single event that changed the course of my life was my 2 and a half month trip to India at the tender age of 14. I had been overseas previously, to England with my mother when I was 10 years old, but looking back, India was the first time I had really travelled. In my memory England was quaint, pleasant, efficient and homely. Of course the English experience did nothing at all to prepare me for what India