The Travels of Päivi and Santeri

Our site has been revamped. We changed the navigation bar to the left side where it is easier to use. There you can search blog entries by countries. You will also find information about why we left the rat race and became full-time travellers. The happiness test allows you to measure how happy you are. The test is related to the book La Habanera which we wrote about our new career choice and leaving our country of origin, Finland. In Highlights (on top of the right dock) you can explore one of the most memorable destinations of our travels so far, e.g. Samba Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Trans-Siberian Railway, and Russian Rainbow Camp. We use six categories for blog entries: Travels, Photos, Books, Articles, Boycotts, and Humor. In future, we plan to write more articles about our philosophy of traveling from the perspective of responsible and sustainable tourism. At the end of the dock you will find a link list of blogs of some our travelling friends, travel-related discussion forum...

Test your happiness using our free test. It was created for the book La Habanera: The Escape From The Rat Race.

An Orwellian vision of air travel: increased fear-driven security procedures make air-travel ever more difficult and uncomfortable. As current, fear-driven security procedures increase, travelling by air will be even more difficult than today. It might not be enough to leave all liquids, arms, blades, scissors, and lighters at home as human bodies may pose an even bigger risk for flight security. Bodies can burst into flames, plastic explosives can be swallowed or surgically implanted, and nerve gas agents can be easily hidden in any luggage. Some mighty explosives contain the same material as human body. Imagination is the only limit how those assets can be used as they have to be boarded in any case. If paranoia and fear of death escalates further, the following Orwellian vision might be inescapable. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

New tourists arriving in Sihanoukville, Cambodia get attacked by an aggressive taxi mafia mob. Watch the video and see by yourself.

An unforgettable Cambodian-Finnish friendship day in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with sauna and Santa Claus. Sauna And A Plunge Into The Mekong River One of the most memorable days during our travels was definitely the Cambodian-Finnish friendship day in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The festivities included sauna bath, a plunge into the nearby River Mekong, and meeting of Santa Claus. Here is a detailed story of the great day when we felt like kings. During the 2.5 years of our travels 3 times around the world we have never experienced such a genuine and unselfish hospitality.

Critical eye on tourism: why travel literature encourage marketing talk and critique is falsely perceived negative? Tourists returning home from their travels are often reciting familiar, positive mantras which can also be read from any tourist guide book or travel agency’s brochure: the weather was great, beaches brilliant, people friendly and smiling all the time, all the sights bigger and better than anywhere else in the world, and the night life buzzing around the clock. Critique does not have a part in this gospel despite the difficulties encountered. This raises an interesting question: Why is criticism silenced? Let us examine two fundamental factors for this behaviour: 1) travel literature and travel-related discussion forums which encourage marketing, and 2) the common misconception according to which critique is negative.

The absolute highlight of our travels in South-East Asia has been meeting our friends. First Martijn and Uswa came to see us in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and now Bill and Betty in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Bill and Betty wanted to see the famous temple area of Angkor so we joined the caravan and headed to Siem Reap. The bus ride was slow even though the roads were pretty good. The 225-kilometre-ride took seven hours.

La Habanera - The escape of the rat race in Hebrew. Free ebook. לה הבנרה

A photo blog: Rikshas and frog legs in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The capital is an interesting mix of the colonial heritage and Asian culture. Our friends, Betty & Bill came from Vietnam to see us, and we will travel with them for a while. We visited a popular square in front of the Royal Palace. Cambodia has still a king, although his position is controversial because he supported Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot. During the reign of Pol Pot over million Cambodians were terminated in the process of creating a Marxist agricultural utopia.

We have been told a few times in travel-related Internet discussion forums that when we travel outside Finland, we are guests. Therefore we must refrain from expressing any opinions on that country or its people unless our view is positive. Criticism and especially trying to right wrongs is not seen as acceptable behaviour of a guest. Are we guests or tourists? Let us consider a bit more deeply the concept of ‘guest’. Traditionally it refers to a person who is invited to a country or a home by a host. How many people have actually been invited to visit a country? Certainly diplomats, visiting governors of other nations, some sportsmen and other celebrities. But what about regular tourists on their holiday?