Interview of the Month April

Another month, another interview with a fellow traveler. This month we are talking with Paul Ram from gobackpackgo.com!

Lisanne from CHAPTERTRAVEL: Hi Paul. Really happy you agreed to take this interview. You’re the first solo male traveler to participate in an interview with us! Don’t know why that is, as there are many guys who travel – but I guess you can feel a bit special today. 

According to your website you are a freelance WordPress developer from Amsterdam, who loves to cycle and go on adventures. You’ve made a trip with your bicycle from Amsterdam to Pisa in 2013, and in 2014 you biked from Amsterdam to Berlin and back – very cool! Currently you’re on your biggest adventure. Maybe you can give a short introduction about yourself?

Paul: Sure, I’m just a normal guy born in the center of the Netherlands, moved to Amsterdam for my study and stayed there eight years before I started traveling. Before my travels I was a freelance web developer and helped businesses online. My trick is using WordPress, the right content and keywords to end up high in Google.
When I started traveling my idea was six months of Asia and six months of South America. Now one year later I eventually traveled eight months in Asia, three months in Europe and one month in the Netherlands. The reason for this is that I surprised friends to come to their wedding! In Asia I backpacked, in Europe I cycled from the Netherlands to Trondheim, Norway and did a road trip through Scandinavia, the Baltic States and Poland.

Thank you for your introduction! So let’s start this interview. What is the favorite place that you’ve traveled to?

Myanmar, I expected that Laos would be my favorite but the people in Myanmar are so extreme friendly and Bagan looked like a filmset! In Europe it was Norway. The nature there is crazy beautiful.

Can you name five places in the world where you haven’t been, but really want to go? If you want, you can explain why it is in your top 5.

1. New Zealand. Because of the nature.
2. Philippines. Nature, blue sea and white beaches.
3. South America. I like to discover other cultures.
4. Africa. Again, another culture to discover.
5. One big wish: Antarctica.

What can people expect and find on your website?

I try to keep it simple. I want to inspire and give valuable information. What does an activity cost, how long does it take and what can I expect? On those criteria people can decide if they want to do the activity themselves.

Your motto is “Help other travelers, life is a journey not a competition.” How do you help other travelers?

 Try to give them easy information and inspire them. It isn’t hard to travel alone but you have to believe in yourself. You can build confidence by traveling with the right information. For example, the border scam from Thailand to Cambodia: it sucks when you are scammed and you feel like shit. When you read the right article you get a list what helps you through this process and it helps you build confidence.

Can you afford all your travels with your freelance work, or do you work abroad sometimes as well?

Last year I didn’t work at all. Just saved up and enjoyed life. Next year I have to work again to travel more.

What is your favorite picture on your Instagram feed, and tell us something about this picture.

I have a couple:

The one with the motorbike in Vietnam
I never drove a motorbike but it was one of my main goals in Vietnam. In Cambodia I connected with three kiwi guys and we rode our motorbikes together all the way up in Vietnam. Pure freedom! The moment I sold my bike I promised myself that I would go for my motorbike drivers license when I’m back in the Netherlands.

Mount Hua Shan in China
China was my first destination on my trip, Xian my second city. Here I discovered something about Mount Hua shan and decided to go. We slept on the mountain, saw the sunrise and did the plank walk were you could look 2000 meters down! Awesome feeling!

Cycling Norway
I like challenges and adventures, this cycling trip was both. Everyday challenging myself and everyday I didn’t know where I should sleep that evening. Just ride and see. Those view in Norway I’ll never forget.

Do you have something else to share with us? This can be anything!

You know my motto. I want to help other travelers. But also want to help other travel bloggers to spread their information the right way and promote their blog. That is the reason I wrote some articles to learn about search engine optimization and why you should write guest blogs. So I would like to share some of my blogs:

Search engine optimization for travelbloggers
Benefits of writing guestblogs
SEO do’s and dont’s for a travelblog

Thank you so much for participating in our Interview of the Month. Keep up the great work. Happy travels!
Thank you as well!

Check out some travel pictures from Gobackpackgo!

Are you interested in being traveler of the month? Sent us an e-mail why you should be traveler of the month at info@chaptertravel.com.