The most recent question was simply, “Where should we go next?”

The options were:

• Seattle, Washington
• Billings, Montana
• Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Salt Lake City, Utah

41% of people voted for Seattle!

I am really happy to be heading to Seattle.  Neither Justin or I have ever been to Seattle, or anywhere in the Pacific Northwest.  The best part of Seattle will be spending time with a good friend of ours.  We will be sure to share any local advice or insight Bryan has to offer.

We fly to Seattle in 3 weeks, and promise to write an article of our ‘Seattle, Washington Experience’.

Thanks again for voting and happy travels!

Please vote in our new You Choose poll.

Our new You Choose poll is asking, “Where should we go next?”  You Choose, where Justin and I travel to next.

• Seattle, Washington
• Billings, Montana
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Albuquerque, New Mexico

Our next adventure will be in October.  Please vote in the poll located on our home page and help us decide where we should go!

Vote, because You Choose what will appear in the future.  It’s up to You!

The You Choose poll is located in the sidebar.  Scroll down and You Choose is on the right.  If you have a better idea, that’s great!  Email us.  We would love to hear your great ideas or advice for how www.nomadbackpackers.com should transition.

Although, we don’t know where we are going next.  We love to travel, and plan to do lots of exploring in the future.  There will still be many adventures to read about.

You Choose what is next!

On another note…

Thank you for voting in our most recent You Choose poll.  We are currently unable to explore South East Asia.  However, when we travel to South East Asia in the future, we will be sure to take part in a Multi-day elephant riding trip.

FREE in Sydney:

• Sydney Harbor Bridge
• The Rocks (historical area with street theater on the weekends)
• Art Gallery of New South Wales
• Sydney Parks (tons of green space all over the city)
• Sydney Beaches
• FREE Tour (3 hour walking tour)
• Weekend markets, endless festivals and events

Justin and I have greatly enjoyed many of the FREE activities Sydney offers.

We especially enjoyed the FREE walking tour.  The walking tour through Sydney’s most popular sites proved to be a fun, educational experience.  I was able to learn about Sydney’s history, especially things I was not taught during my high school history classes.  Did you know that during WWII the United States of America fired at a tiny fort in Sydney’s harbor?  We apologized to our tour guide on the behalf of all Americans.  It was clearly our mistake as we intended to hit the enemy, but we missed.  Australians will always view Americans as people with good intentions but bad aim.  Enter a men’s public bathroom on U.S. soil and I am sure many will agree with the Aussies on the ‘bad aim’.  Needless to say, go on the FREE tour.  You will learn a lot.

After the results of You Choose (the poll on www.nomadbackpackers.com) were calculated, we were thrilled to head to the Open Air Cinema to view a movie under the stars.  Unfortunately, the Open Air Cinema is closed for the season and we are not able to do exactly what ‘You Chose’.

Since we couldn’t do what you voted on, we decided to do it all!

In second place  was swimsuit shots in front of the Opera House.  Although Justin and I forgot to wear our swimsuits, both Jerry and Rob from Ontario, Canada were enjoying sunny Sydney.  They both have the Sydney harbor blues!

In third place was creating a You Tube video of a Sydney local.   When we first created the poll I envisioned the Sydney local being a human.  Everything changed when I met Sydney’s famous talking dog.  Instead of running around the city searching for cheap, reliable internet access, to upload my video of Sydney’s talking dog, you can check out this crazy guys video instead.

In fourth place, was going to a BYO (Bring Your Own Alcohol) restaurant.  Although this came in last place on You Choose, BYO dining is popular among Sydney foodies.  Almost every restaurant in Sydney is a BYO restaurant in which you may enter with a bottle of wine (beer or alcohol of choice) that you have purchased somewhere else in the city.  The BYO experience occurs at both casual cafes as well as high end establishments.  Most restaurants will charge a corking fee (around $8) or charge per wine glass ($2.50 per head) they distribute.  Personally, being a newbie to the BYO experience and also trying to test it’s limits, we went all out and found an Authentic Korean restaurant.  Not only did the menu fail to have any English, but we were the only people in the entire restaurant who were not Korean.  It was an amazing BYO experience even though red wine does not pair well with authentic Korean cuisine.  I would recommend the Sydney BYO restaurant experience to anyone, backpacker and budget traveler alike.

Thank you for voting and participating in You Choose.  I hope you enjoyed the results.  Ladies, I hope you enjoyed the swimsuit shots I got.

We are dreaming of our time in South East Asia and want you to vote on what we should to do.  South East Asia is exotic and full of adventure.  Its an area of the world with mostly developing countries.  Things are unpredictable as you never really know what you are going to get.  Therefore,You Choose: South East Asia is a variety of activities we have heard a traveler could do, however we are uncertain if all of the voting options will be possible.  Who knows?  The elephants could go on strike?  Check it out and vote.  You Choose what we do.

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With only 14 days remaining until we fly to Australia, our first “You Choose” question was, What one thing should we do before leaving New Zealand?

I can’t imagine why ‘Diving with Sharks’ won.  I don’t even like salt water, and I have always had a big fear of sharks.  If you have seen Jaws, you might know what I am talking about.  Frankly, I was hoping, “See a Rugby Match” would have won.  I’ve never seen a live rugby match.  It would have been a new experience too.  However, Diving with Sharks won and I willingly got into an aquarium with live sharks (much bigger than myself, or Justin) to dive for over an hour.

In Napier New Zealand, countless tourists show up at the National Aquarium for feeding time.  We had the option of entering the tank at feeding time for the opportunity to feed the fish, as well as the sharks.  I decided feeding the sharks sounded less frightening than getting into the tank an hour or so before feeding time.  What if they became really hungry, while anticipating their next meal, and went after me as a lovely appetizer?  Needless to say, getting into the water with a bucket of dead fish (about the size of my arm) to feed to the sharks is less intimidating than diving in the tank without offering a meal to the meat seeking creatures.  Feeding the sharks seemed like the perfect peace offering, as I aimed to keep all of my limbs attached to my body.

As I initially entered the water, and came face to face with a shark, I realized that I was no longer looking at it through the Plexiglas as the tourists were able to.  I was now in the same water as a shark, as a dozen or so sharks, and they were swimming tiny inches away from me.  I began thinking wild thoughts:

“This isn’t natural.  Humans are not supposed to willingly force themselves into a position where they are surrounded by hungry sharks.  Sharks can be seriously aggressive creatures.  I hope I don’t piss one off!!!”

Instead of entering panic-mode, I decided to resort to my recent dive training.  Stop.  Think.  And Breathe!  I was able to stay calm and actually began to enjoy myself after a while.  Then it was go time.  Time to feed my first shark.  I took one of the large dead fish from the lidded bucket we had brought underwater with us.  I kept the dead fish close to my body, as I was instructed.  Then the biggest shark in the tank began swimming near me.  I saw her eyeing me and the fish.  I realized I needed to offer the fish.  She swam smoothly towards me, opened her mouth slightly, and her clamped down on the fish with the swift motion of professional pitcher tossing the first strike of the game.  As she bit, I held the tail of the fish for a second or two.  I could feel her massive jaw vibrate my whole body as I continued to hold the tail.  I released the tail of the dead fish just before she chomped the rest towards the hundreds of teeth layered within her mouth.  Turns out, sharks are very beautiful creatures, that I can now appreciate on a new level.

I still cannot believe I actually went diving with sharks.  When we put the “You Choose” (poll) onto nomadbackpackers.com, I was hoping we would end up sea kayaking or something else less intimidating.  But now that I have my enriched appreciation for the aggressive beast, the shark, I want to personally thank anyone who discovered the poll and placed a vote.

Our next “You Choose” poll will center around Sydney, Australia.  Do you have any ideas?  We have never been to Sydney, Australia.  Should we go without a guide book.  Explore the city on foot with no other reference other than Sydney locals.  “You Choose”.  Feel free to vote now.

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