Today’s installment of interview with a traveller is another interesting one. From volunteering to trying to see every one of the globe’s continents, Daniel Fludgate has a severe case of the travel bug – careful, it might just infect you too.
Could you introduce yourself?
I’m a 31 year old police officer living and working in London. I caught the ‘travel bug’ when I was younger and I haven’t yet found a cure; but perhaps it’s genetic as my mother used to work for an airline and my father spent 13 years living and working in Canada and Bermuda before returning to the UK to raise a family.
You decided you wanted to “give your travels more structure” by choosing to work on every continent. What was going on when you decided that?
When I was at university studying politics I spent a summer vacation interning for a US Senator in Washington DC and it was fascinating to see first-hand how work practices in the US differed from those back here in the UK. I knew I wanted to travel more widely, but this experience gave me the idea, and the confidence, to set myself the goal of travelling to every continent and, as more of a challenge, to try and work on each one as well. Living and working abroad can seem like rather a daunting prospect, but my two months in Washington proved to me that I could adapt very quickly to my new surroundings. One of my character traits (possibly even a flaw) is that once I have an idea I can’t rest until I have achieved it. As such, as the idea of working on every continent has entered my mind I can’t rest until it has been achieved.
Andy – Sounds like a brilliant goal to achieve! Reminds me of Chris Guillebeau’s goal to see every country in the world.
You’ve completed 6 of the 7 continents. What have your work experiences been, and how would you compare/contrast them? Any glaring similarities or differences that you didn’t expect to encounter?
I counted Washington as a practice trip so my first continent as part of the ‘endeavour’ was Asia and, after completing my degree, I spent a few months working as an English teacher at a primary school in South Korea. I had planned to make Africa my next continent but the Ghanaian High Commission managed to lose my passport so I switched and spent some time in Italy working on an archaeological project near Vesuvius. I then spent a year working as a project manager for a publishing company in New York City until my visa ran out. Next stop was Uganda, to work as a field assistant for an HIV/Aids charity, as well as doing a bit of English and History teaching at a local school for orphans. I then braved the daunting 24 hour flight to Australia with a work visa stamped in my passport to try and find something resembling a job to fund my travels around the country. This proved much harder than I had imagined and I ended up picking fruit in ridiculously hot temperatures with bleeding hands for less than the minimum wage back in the UK. For the most recent continent, namely working at an animal rescue centre in the Ecuadorian Amazon, I had to save up all of my annual leave from my current job and therefore I was only able to spend a month there, but it was a wonderful month.
I have loved comparing the vastly different and often dramatic landscapes of each place that I have worked, and the little cultural details fascinate me like the difference between travelling around Australia in a comfortable coach watching a movie, compared to travelling around Uganda with twenty people squashed in a 1968 minibus that was designed for ten people, and with a live goat trussed up under my seat and a highly stressed chicken flapping around in a sack. Or going to a local deli for breakfast in New York City that only the locals know about, compared to going to the local market in South Korea and seeing the dogs and cats for sale as food next to the chickens and rabbits. I know it sounds rather trite and clichéd but the overwhelming similarity has been the welcoming nature of the people I have lived and worked with regardless of whether they have been a top executive in New York City, or an agricultural worker in the Amazon Rainforest; this I really didn’t expect when I embarked on the challenge.
There are lots of opportunities for working abroad experiences – both for college/university students as well as adults (working holiday visas, etc). Any tips on the pros and cons for readers who might be considering this option?
I would definitely suggest making the first couple of trips with a reputable gap year organiser because this gives you, and your relatives back home, the confidence to know that these trips have been tried and tested. However I would also advise people not to underestimate themselves. The first day in front of a class of students wanting to learn English was petrifying for me as I’d never done any teaching before or worked with young children. Day one in New York my boss asked me if I’d ever used a certain computer package for project tracking before, I said no but neglected to tell him that I was just about able to switch on a computer, he gave me a book and told me to learn how to use it that day, which I did as I was then helping to project manage million dollar projects by the end of week one. When the local Ecuadorian worker handed me a rusty machete in the middle of the South American jungle and indicated for me to chop down a twenty foot tree with it, I never thought I’d manage but, sure enough, after a few haphazard strokes it broke through the canopy and crashed to the jungle floor. We really are far more capable and adaptable than we think we are, so I would advise people not to limit themselves.
Andy: As I mentioned last week, there are no excuses to travel with confidence.
What’s been your most inspirational travel experience.
This is an impossible question to answer really. The uncertain spontaneity of not knowing where I would be and what work I would be doing from one week to the next whilst in Australia; building a toilet out of wet mud and sticks for an elderly one-legged woman whose children had all died from HIV/Aids in Uganda; having a half-blind Spider Monkey recognise me, and sit on my lap for a belly rub in the Amazon Rainforest; finding bits of pottery last touched by Roman hands in Italy; having students successfully pass their exams in Korea; and looking out of my skyscraper office window and seeing the Empire State Building two blocks away – it is impossible to rank one above the other.
Last but not least: once you’ve cracked that 7th continent, any idea what your next challenge will be?
Well the seventh continent – Antarctica – is proving to be a very, very tough ‘nut to crack’, as my emails to the British Antarctic Survey prove. But I am determined to find a way of achieving this. After that, the plan is to rummage around in second hand book shop travel sections to try and find some interesting Victorian travel books so that I can retrace their steps to compare and contrast the differences between then and now, unless my bank manager threatens to cancel my credit card!
Andy – Wow, that’s actually a great idea (to rummage through the Victorian travel books). You’ll have to come visit us again and give us an update on the hot Victorian trails. Safe travels, Daniel: good luck on that final continent!
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Wow, great inspiring article! I’ve traveled to all 7 continents but finding a way to work on (almost) all of them is incredibly ambitious. He is proof that you should always keep pushing yourself to accomplish your goals. I’m sure he’ll find a way to work in Antarctica eventually.
Raytheon (American company) hires people for work in Antarctica. I’m not sure if you’d need to have an American work visa, though. Here’s their website. Good luck!
http://rpsc.raytheon.com/employment/
Ooh, that’s a great tip Stephanie – thanks!
Yep – thanks Stephanie, I shall take a look, as Antarctica is still on the ‘to do’ list unfortunately!