In Women’s Travel, there was Amelia Earhart, then there was Evelyn Hannon
Today I am so pleased to speak with one of my idols in the travel world, Evelyn Hannon. The title of this article may sound a bit over the top, but it’s the least I can do to shout from the rooftops about how much I love, care, and respect Evelyn, who has been promoting women’s travel so a very long time.
Evelyn’s interview answers made me stop for pause, and I certainly hope both our male and female readers will appreciate their poignancy. Without further ado….
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Try Something Different Next Time You Travel
In the quest for finding the ultimate travel experience, sometimes we are apt to follow the leader a bit. While here at Sharing Travel Experiences we try to offer a well-rounded picture of your options and alternatives, we can’t cover everything. Nor have we been everywhere (despite the impression). That’s why I love the advice of today’s special travel interview guest, Dan Haneveer. As Dan says, his travel isn’t extensive, but it’s passionate. Isn’t that what counts?
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Life on the Road is a Mystery
Everyone comes from a different perspective, and often our viewpoint is coloured by where we grew up and the experiences we’ve as we became an adult. Today’s guest, Brendan Van Son, comes from a small town but has a big world view. I’d encourage you to read on, because I think we all can learn some interesting life lessons.
Could you introduce yourself?
I’m a small town boy from a town called Rocky Mountain House, I swear I couldn’t make that up. As I grew up all I really cared about was sports, and I played just about everything. I definitely began to catch the travel bug as I grew up as well, doing trips through the US, to Japan, Central America and many other places. I am officially a Political Scientist and Human Geographer, at least that’s what the diplomas now packed away in boxes tell me. At heart I’m a traveler, an explorer, and an adventurer. I’ve always been a writer, ever since I was in junior high school I’d write whenever I had questions, or answers, about anything floating in my head. However, it wasn’t until recently, about 6 months ago due to a nice push from a relative, that I decided to give it a shot in the world of travel writing. I sent out 2 articles to about 15 different publishers and received 4 offers to publish within 2 days. It was at that point I started to think that I could make a living out of this, I’m still trying to find out if that’s possible.
You say that you hope to “paint a picture about what life is like on the road.” They say picture is worth a thousand words, but think you can give us a flavour of what life is like on the road in a hundred? 
Life on the road is a mystery that has no solution, nor do you want it to have one, the more you explore the more you want to discover. It’s like a constant roller coaster ride, some days I feel like I’m waiting in a long cue line and that it’s not worth the trouble, and then all of a sudden something amazing happens and makes me realize that the strenuous times are all worth it. The growth you gain living on the road is incredible. You can no longer hide from life, you are forced to live it everyday or it will eat you whole. But somehow, the majority of us manage to fight through and mature in every way imaginable because of it.
Andy: Couldn’t. Agree. More.
One of your favourite quotes talks about the fact that you look for travel experiences where you feel insignificant. Want to tell us a little bit more?
I was always raised to be a humble person, and I try to take that with me on the road. It’s very easy to let yourself get caught up in, well, yourself. But the moments that you look across a site, or landscape, or city and realize that there is so much more out there in the world than just us put us back in our place. People might read that and think that’s a horrible realization, but for me it’s inspiring. It reminds me of how hard I need to work to do something that matters to the world; it pushes me like nothing else could.
You have some great photography. What’s the secret about taking a great picture?
I honestly don’t think I take great pictures, I give all the credit to the places that I go. I use only a small Canon digital camera that fits nicely in my pocket. And I’ve rarely manipulate the scenery using special functions, etc., although I love the pictures that have do so. I guess my advice then, is to try to make the picture look the same way you see it with your own eye. Learning the basic functions of your camera, no matter how expensive or, in my case, basis it may be, is essential. Simple things like changing the exposure or the light settings make all the difference in the world. I’ve heard so many times people say, “if only I can get my pictures to look how the target really appears to my eye” and the truth is you can, you just need to work on it. And if all else fails, just take 10000 pictures, one or two of them ought to come out nice.
Andy: And at the end of the day, don’t forget to enjoy it. You aren’t there only to take pictures.
What’s your most inspirational travel experience?
I’m not sure if this is a fair question because there have been so many. But, I remember clearly traveling down the United States when I was 7 or 8 years old. I don’t remember hating the long drives in our family van, although I’m told we, my siblings and I, complained and fought to no end. I think at one point my mom got so frustrated with us she made us get out of the van on a busy California interstate and walk a mile as cars blared their horns as they shot by us. And although on that trip I remember the pillars of Bryce Canyon, the lights of Las Vegas, the excitement of Universal Studios, and the sand dunes of the Oregon Coast there in one moment that sticks out most in my mind. As we crossed into Mexico on a day trip to Tijuana we walked by a tatter clothed woman with a young child slung over her shoulder. She sat their with a look of despair on her face and pain in her eyes as she begged for anything we could spare. I remember my parents telling us to pick up our pace as we walked by her without paying her the smallest attention. And it was at that point I realized that the world I knew from small town Canada wasn’t the the whole story. It was the moment that I realized that there was a huge world out there that I needed to explore, discover and, with any luck, understand. To this day, I am still trying to do those things.
What’s on your bucket list?
The honest truth is that I don’t have a bucket list, I have never sat down and written a list of places I need to visit before dying. The reason that I have no list is simply because I want to travel everywhere, if it’s on a map, or even better if it’s not a map, I want to visit it, from Kazakhstan to Kuwait. However some of the places that I’m more excited to check though include: Dubrovnik, Antarctica, the Asanti kingdom of Ghana, Timbuktu, and Myanmar (Borneo).
Thanks Brendan for your perspective – I’ve found it truly enjoyable and inspirational. Folks, to learn more about Brendan, connect with him either at his site, Brendan’s Adventures, or on Twitter, @Brendanvanson. Filed under Topic: Interviews § 3 Comments
Organize Your Life in a way that Makes You Happy
I do love it when we have really inspiring people here on the hot seat every Thursday, and today is no exception. Today I’m talking with Todd Wassel, who is man that has one thing on his mind: happiness. He’ll stop at nothing to enjoy life, and to put happiness first and work hard to make everything else fall into place.
Let’s find out more. Ready?
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“Spunky” Travel: Winging It and Never Looking Back
Everyone has a different way they like to travel. Me, for example, I like to have everything planned out with military-like precision. That’s not to say I don’t have any downtime or room for serendipity, but I definitely make plans for most things. But today’s guest doesn’t worry so much about the details, nor is she too concerned about making mistakes (I think she enjoys the whole discovery process, even when something has gone astray). Pam MacNaughtan is based currently in Canada and is one of my all time favoruites in the travel scene, so I’m really pleased to sit down today and talk travel with her.
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Embracing Travel with Open Arms
Today’s guest has embraced travel with open arms – at the risk of destroying other aspects of his lifestyle. It’s probably a story many of you will dismiss, and others will be intrigued. Regardless, Keith is a pretty interesting guy, so…read on and travel more.
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China: It’s Not So Foreign
Today’s guest talks about a very interesting country: China. It’s at the top of many lists of places that are “very foreign” yet really, at the end of the day, is any place any more different than the next? Sure, the languages and the sights and sounds change…but at the end of the day, we’re all human. Anyway, Jess has some fantastic tips and ideas for the first (or next) time you head to Asia. Read on…
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Trying to Cure Travel Curiosity
I met today’s travel interview guests a few months ago in their hometown of Vancouver. Known as the Traveling Canucks, they are as warm and friendly as can be – a perfect reflection of the ‘typical’ Canadian – you know, the one that everybody likes 
Despite living in such a wonderful country, they are hardcore travellers, so I couldn’t resist sharing their story. Read on.
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Avoiding the Typical Lifestyle
I am really pleased to present today’s travel interview guests because they’re very dear friends to me. Chris and Cherie I’ve known virtually for some time, but we had the opportunity spend a great deal of time together at a conference in Austin Texas earlier in the year, and I was so inspired by their radical lifestyle that I have really tried to incorporate a lot of what they are doing into my own life. So I’m just as excited as you to hear what they have to say about some of the questions I’ve given them. Read on…
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The Role of a Traveler and Life Out of the Box
Via a connection from MatadorU’s travel writing course (click here for details), I met today’s interviewee victims, and we’ve become great friends ever since. You might recognise their names as Caz wrote an article recently, What You Spend on Vacation Doesn’t Matter. Read the interview then pop over and check out that piece if you didn’t see it already – it was pretty impressive.
And with that, I’ll let Craig and Caz take the floor.
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