Random Traveller #19

Posted on 13. Aug, 2010 by Kirsty in Meet A Random Traveller

Welcome to round 19 of ‘Meet a Random Traveller’. Once we hit the road this section will be dedicated to the people we meet along the way but, until then, we shall meet some of the guys and gals who have beat us to it and are already out their doing their thing.

Random Traveller #19

Who are you?
My name is Matt Hope and I am a recent college graduate from the University of Central Florida. I am taking a few years off before pursuing law school to get some light work experience and some heavy travel experience! I run a travel blog at Backpacking Worldwide with stories, photos, and entertaining videos from my trips.

Matt in Tikal National Park with a tarantula

Don’t you have a home to go to?
I’m actually home right now, in Orlando, Florida, U.S.A. (also known by its more identifiable name as “where Disney World is”). I grew up in Florida and have lived here all my life but I have a feeling I’ll be living somewhere abroad within the next year.

Where have you been?
This past summer I took my first trip abroad to Central America. I spent time in Guatemala (the most amazing place ever!), Belize, and Honduras. Before that I had only been out of the country to Mexico and The Bahamas. Needless to say I am a beginning backpacker which makes my blog all the more interesting as I’m constantly making dumb mistakes most weathered travelers don’t make.

A giant spider in the Lanquin, Guatemala bat cave.

Where are you heading to?
In December I’ll be headed back to Central America (not sure yet, depends on the results of this poll. After that I’ll be going to South America for 3 months and once I return home from that trip I will hopefully be making plans to move abroad.

What’s your favorite place so far?
As I sort of already hinted at earlier, Guatemala. Guatemala is the gem of what I’ve seen so far in Central America. There are literally an endless number of amazing sites to see from Semuc Champey, to Tikal, to the lovely villages of Lake Atitlan. There really is something for everyone there.

An island Matt spent the night on off the coast of Belize

What’s in your bag that you are yet to touch?
I actually used every single thing in my bag, which was surprising. There was one item, however, that I rarely used and probably could have done without. I brought a Kensington Notebook Lock for my Macbook as I anticipated sitting in restaurants and public places with it but way more often than not I just used it in my hostel rooms. Honestly… I probably will still bring it next trip just in case.
A big thanks to Matt for agreeing to take part in this. Check them out on Twitter at @backpackingww

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Tags: Meet a Random Traveller