Train Station Thusis, Switzerland

It's all my grandfather's fault, really…

He ran away to Italy when he was 15. Somebody had to keep up the tradition, though I wasn't quite as young when I ran away to Canada, actually, I was in the ripe age of 43. When I told my family I would leave, nobody was surprised, in fact, my mother's reaction was: "I thought you'd never leave." There.

Hi, my name is Fida and I am a traveler at heart. I was born and raised in Switzerland. I grew up on a farm, which meant we didn't have time for 'real' vacations. Fortunately, my father was somewhat of an adventurer himself and packed us up and into a car for Sunday rides. We spent many hours on the road, exploring hidden and remote places in Switzerland and the surrounding countries. I felt like an explorer, though the trips were short and never lasted more than a day. That feeling of excitement, to see new things and meet new people, got my travel juices flowing and they have never stopped since.

The world at large was the steady companion of my childhood dreams - I escaped responsibilities by spending hours dreaming up far flung places and reading about them, tucked away safely from everything and everybody up on the roof of my childhood home with sweeping views of the surrounding mountains and the valley beneath.

Early in my life, I worked for the Swiss Railway, which gave me the opportunity to travel for next to nothing all around Europe as well as Eastern Europe. Later I worked as an advertising and marketing executive for a Tour Operator and the Inventor of "all-inclusive city weekend-escapes" which, again, let me travel to European cities on the cheap.

In my early 20's, I spent a year in Spain and then a few months in Venezuela. From there, I hopped over to a few of the Caribbean Islands and took a supply boat up the Orinoco. Between jobs, I took off for months, and, after traveling around the United States, Turkey and North Africa, plunged into India, Nepal, Sikkim and then traveled all over South East Asia, as slow as possible with only Tiziano Terzani's Book: "A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earthbound Travels in the Far East" as my guide. Back "home" in Canada, I left my DNA from coast to coast.

Offbeat travel has always been a love of mine. Finding unusual locations, staying in quirky hotels, meeting people in strange and surreal places and dancing at a bizarre festival or sipping tea in a tree house - that is what travel is all about to me.

This website is about my love for the unusual, the quirky and the unique in our world. It's a work in progress, so, please, do come back often to check it out. In fact, you may have a story about an unusual place you'd like to share. Feel free to submit your article or sign up for the e-zine Quirky News.

Fun Travels, Fida

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