This intrepid woman rented her house, quit her job and took off for a year of volunteer tourism around the world.

Major’s travels provided a much-needed break from the rigors of “real life” and eventually provided fodder for her book Smiling at the World, which chronicles her year abroad and the experiences she encountered in her search for adventure and love.

Smiling at the World is a cheerful, wonderful read.

We meet Major as her life is coming to a crossroads, that do-or-die moment when the solitary traveler packs her bags to embark upon her journey, plagued – as I think all travelers are at some point – with nagging doubts and second guessing her decision to take a year off.

From Dream To Reality

Obviously Major decided to take the plunge, and in doing so, proved that there exists a vast difference between merely talking ad nauseum about a dream and actually taking the steps to make it a reality.

After all, who among us hasn’t idly speculated about leaving it all behind and going on an adventure, traveling the globe in search of new people, new places and new experiences?

Major however, took these idle thoughts, sat down and tailored a year-long adventure to suit her own personality.

Active Tourism

As you get further into the book, it becomes abundantly clear that this is a woman who knows herself well.

A relaxing stay at a beach resort might sound fantastic to some, but Majors knew that the appeal of sand and surf wouldn’t be enough for her inquisitive mind and active lifestyle.

Being passionate about animals and the environment, the Seattle-based real estate agent sought out opportunities for voluntourism, a rapidly growing sector of the travel industry where you have the chance to volunteer with non-profit organizations across the globe.

These types of trips offer much needed skills and volunteers to needy organizations in wildly diverse locales, while allowing the volunteer a connection and a base in a new environment.

Lesbian Wildlife?!

A few of Major’s selections for her year-long saga of growth and experience included a short stay at a Lesbian wildlife hospital (seriously), a stint as a volunteer at a monkey sanctuary and a few weeks as a newspaper reporter.

The variety of experiences makes “Smiling” an engaging and exciting read, not to mention the fact that it will open the eyes of many to the diversity of options at hand when planning a trip.

I have no doubt that the organizations Major visited and wrote about have loved the increased exposure, and their various causes will benefit from the publicity.

An Honest Story-Teller

One of the best aspects of Major’s book, and the part that makes reading it a real pleasure, is the honesty with which she relates her experiences.

Despite its sunny title Smiling at the World is not a pollyanna-esque story where all is sunshine and rainbows. Major does not embellish or gloss over the lesser delights of traveling; bed bugs, unpleasant hosts and travel mates, frustrating language barriers and the inevitable loneliness that afflicts a solo traveler.

Rather than lamenting the unfortunate episodes of her journey – experiences that don’t turn out as planned, personality conflicts and relationship drama – Major approaches hurdles with characteristic introspection and pragmatism. Not one to wallow, she pursues other options and cuts her losses when necessary.

It is inspirational to see another woman tackle life with such a focus on personal growth and optimism, and to walk away from a situation (positive or negative) with the question, ‘What can I learn from this?’.

This book offers a human perspective, a spiritual perspective, something bland guidebooks are sorely lacking.

Farewell To A Friend

Near the end of this book, seasoned travelers may experiences the familiar sensation of saying goodbye to a travel buddy you picked up a few towns back. Having grown intimately close in a short period of time, as is bound to happen while traveling, you feel inexplicably attached to their quirks and characteristics, becoming reluctant to see them go.

Through the pages of this delightful and engrossing travel diary, Joyce Major adeptly conveys her warm, loving and energetic personality. In saying farewell to her as a travel partner, one can only wish her luck and hope to hear about her next adventures.

Buy Smiling at the World on Amazon here.

Madeleine Somerville is a big city girl living in small city British Columbia, where she works as a newpaper columnist. She has travelled to Thailand and Japan and most recently came back from a few months of sun and sand Down Under.

One could call it the last feminist battleground. While most western women today are able to work, choose their husbands and vote – the idea of traveling abroad without a suitable chaperon still raises eyebrows.

Hopeful women travelers are regaled with horror stories about the dire predicaments that similarly minded women have found themselves as a result of traveling alone.

This advice is no doubt well-intentioned by these protective naysayers- but instead of letting their warnings dissuade you from embarking on the trip of your dreams, I recommend tossing them a copy of Beth Whitman’s Wanderlust and Lipstick: The essential guide for women traveling solo” as you head out the door, alone but for your trusty backpack.

Woman On The Road

Whitman is the kind of traveler that others don’t tell you about. A woman traveling on her own who doesn’t end up victimized and forever scarred by foreign men and foreign cultures eager to take advantage of a naïve westerner.

Instead, Whitman has a solid twenty years of travel experience under her belt and is eager to share with other women what she discovered – that yes, it is possible, and sometimes even better, to go it alone.

“Wanderlust and Lipstick” is a great read and Whitman manages to avoid the dry tone that plagues many travel guides, while not straying into frivolity as so many woman-oriented books tend to do.

She doesn’t pander to chick-lit sensibilities with references to the dangers of chipped nail-polish and even tackles the subject of romantic entanglement while traveling in a matter of fact and mature manner.

Written with a good combination of sound advice, tips from someone who’s been there herself and the strong sense that she believes you can take care of yourself, “Wanderlust and Lipstick” casts Whitman as the quintessential older sister, someone eager to share what she’s learned in her experiences to help your own.

The Benefits Of Solo Travel

The sheer readability of the content belies the amount of useful tips and information that is packed within its pages.

Whitman begins by enticing the reader with a list of several reasons to travel alone, inviting the reader to wrap her mind around the concept that there are in fact benefits.

Having done a fabulous job of explaining the “why” of traveling solo, Whitman then embarks into the meat of the book, explaining the “how”.

Travel destinations, booking trips, important safety information, connecting with other travelers on the road and even coming home again, Whitman thoroughly covers every aspect of the traveling experience and tailors it to the female adventurer.

Anecdotes from other seasoned female travelers pepper the chapters, and these tidbits serve to not only liven the reading experience but also play an important role in hammering home the reassuring fact that there are women out there experiencing the world on their own.

If they can do it, there’s no good reason why you can’t.

Whitman presents a great case for women travelers, passing on enough intelligent, safety-oriented advice to satisfy those well-intentioned naysayers while leaving room for her enthusiastic love of travel.

In short, she inspires even the most doubtful women among us to strike out and begin creating anecdotes of our own.

Further reading:

• Review of Wanderlust and Lipstick at GoBackpacking
• An Interview with Beth Whitman

Madeleine Somerville is a big city girl living in small city British Columbia, where she works as a newpaper columnist. She has travelled to Thailand and Japan and most recently came back from a few months of sun and sand Down Under.

I was reading a magazine today that claimed (in large, bold script on the front cover no less) to offer ten tips on how to have a fabulous vacation without ever leaving your house.

Intrigued, as those crafty devils who wrote the byline intended no doubt, I opened the magazine to page 42 and skimmed the article.

The conclusion I reached at the end of the brave little piece, was this (and let’s skip the niceties and be brutally honest here): people simply don’t plan half-assed vacations.

People don’t scrimp and save and book time off work to sit around their apartments and pretend to be on holiday.

I’m all for appreciating where you are and what you have and no one knows better than me that nothing beats unplugging the phone and sitting around butt-naked eating goat cheese and drinking wine – but I don’t call that a vacation do I? No, I simply call it Sunday afternoon.

We vacation on the other hand, to leave the ordinary and the known, to experience new things and new people. We vacation to get away from it all, not simply pretend that we are. My point is, the end goal of a trip is to actually go somewhere, right?

Brilliant In Theory

I’ll give the writer credit though, she was excited about this idea or very skilled at pretending she was. Her words bounced off the page as she offered tips on buying plush “hotel-quality” robes and exotic bath oils to evoke a restful spa week “right in your own bathroom!”

Like communism, this is an idea that is brilliant in theory only. The thinking is, “Who doesn’t love bath oils and plush robes?” But come on, really?

Where’s the sleek receptionist and the cool slate tiled hallway? Where’s the darkened room and massage table, the masseur with strong capable hands? Where’s the joy in plush robes and an exotic oiled bath when you’re the one laundering the bathrobe and trying in vain to rinse the oil off the sides of the tub the next morning?

The article continues in the same vein for a page and a half with well meaning advice on: ordering in all week to substitute for that “expensive overseas cuisine” in Italy and Greece.

Foreign language film rentals are subbed in for being immersed in a different language and culture.

Taking in the art at a local gallery instead of the renowned Louvre in Paris; setting up a lounge chair in your backyard, margarita in hand, in lieu of relaxing on the beaches of Mexico; a page and a half of these cheap, half-assed ideas.

Quite frankly, it was irritating. Contrary to this woman’s opinion, I, like many of you, can tell the difference between a Greek salad ordered from the take-out joint down the street and one made in Greece.

I am well aware of the fact that real life does not occur within the frame of a 27″ television screen, nor does it have subtitles. Perhaps most importantly, nothing, nothing is better than real Mexican tequila.

So. Where does that leave a poor workhorse who longs for some time off?

Well I won’t write a page and I half on the subject but I will tell you this much, if you are broke and have no money for a vacation, you needn’t spend what little you do have on take-out and movie rentals.

The Real Budget Getaway

There are indeed other options and rest assured they don’t involve you leaving a cringe worthy message on your machine to the effect of “Sorry, I’m not in right now. I’m spending a week at the exclusive resort ‘Chez Moi’…”

In order to truly tackle a budget getaway you either choose an inexpensive vacation or you simply pool what funds you can, pop it into a higher interest bank account (ING has a great one offering 3.5% as opposed to the .05% most banks offer) and save until you can afford a proper trip – complete with actual air travel.

But if your cubicle is closing in on you and you think you might fatally injure your alarm clock tomorrow morning, consider the budget travel options.

Enlist your trusty car or a greyhound and visit the friends you’ve been promising you would since they moved three years ago. Accommodation is free, food is usually provided and all you have to shell out for is cash for drinks and a nice thank-you gift (being broke is no excuse for being rude!)

Alternately, pick a place about a day’s drive away and spend some time taking in the local colour. If you have a car and your seats fold down, you won’t need a hotel and if you’re taking the bus just splurge on a $50 pup tent and you’re set.

Speaking of tents, I’m not so much the outdoorsy type (I once brought stainless steel martini glasses on a camping trip) but I hear that some like it rough, so if you’re up to it, tackle a hike in the backwoods of your area.

You’ll be getting a great workout and I have a girlfriend who swears she never sleeps better than on the hard ground under the stars.

Whatever you do, for the love of vacations promise me it won’t involve turning up your thermostat to simulate a tropical climate or writing postcards to your family and friends from your living room.

Madeleine Somerville is a big city girl living in small city British Columbia, where she works as a newpaper columnist. She has travelled to Thailand and Japan and most recently came back from a few months of sun and sand Down Under.

Previously, I wrote about working abroad and I offered many helpful and practical tips (if I do say so myself).

Now I am going to bestow some more financial advice regarding how to save money while traveling, but with one important difference – these are tips you’re not likely to read in any Lonely Planet or Rough Guide. Intrigued? Let’s begin.

First of all, if you’re a man I am warning you now that some of these strategies will require trust and flirting.

Accordingly they may be a little more easier to wield if you are a creature with breasts and sleek shaven legs, but don’t get discouraged – perseverance is key! A little cologne couldn’t hurt either.

“Borrow Food” In the Hostel

Please note that I said borrow, not steal. Borrowing implies two things, (1) permission from the owner and (2) replacement of the item.

You already know that it’s usually cheaper to buy food and cook yourself rather than dining out, but are you really going to use a whole stick of butter or carton of milk before you move on?

If your conscience prevents you from committing a possible sin, instead make an attempt to befriend other hostelers and see if they would be willing to lubricate your cereal in exchange for a few slices of bread.

It works most times and you get a lovely feeling of being back in the golden age of the barter system, before that pesky money was invented.

If that falls through, most hostels have a communal food shelf in the pantry and fridge, help yourself liberally to any items stored there – just be sure to check expiry dates.

Flirt For Free Minutes At the Internet Café

This tip only applies to cafes that have a human being recording your used time and charging you accordingly; pre-paid cards and computer-run systems won’t be influenced by your generous display of cleavage.

If you are bright and charming and chat with the guy or gal running the café, they will shave a few minutes off your time spent, saving you a few bucks in the process.

Why? Well in all likelihood they are travelers as well and know how tight money is, plus they think that if they help you, you might help them (wink!).

Whether or not you decide to shack up with them is totally up to you – strictly speaking you don’t owe them anything, but if they’re cute…why not?

As a rule of thumb, a few well placed smiles and coy giggles can save you a massive chunk of change over your trip.

Meet Friends With A Car

If you’re always moving about, sightseeing and touring, you’ll be looking for a way to get to get around.

In most locations there are tour companies and bus lines willing to transport you and your backpack wherever you’d like to go, but these delightful services cost money – sometimes a lot.

A cheaper (not to mention more fun) option is to post ads that say where you want to go and when, asking for a ride share. Besides being kind to your wallet, this option is also kind to the environment – give yourself a pat on the back for that one!

Offer to share the cost of the car rental and any necessary gas and you might just have a few responses in time to hit the road.

Extra Tip:Be sure to lay our the financial arrangements before rubber hits asphalt, you don’t want any misunderstandings to leave you stranded along the way. (Also having a great roadtrip cd helps to secure your spot).

Skip The Laundromat And Go Commando

That’s right, eschew underwear for your wallet’s sake. How, you ask, will feeling the sweet breeze on your nethers help you save money? Why without pesky underpants, you won’t have to launder as much!

Let’s be honest, we all know the signal that it’s time to do laundry is when you run out of clean underwear.

BUT, if you don’t wear those lovely cotton pieces, the trusty timekeeper is gone and you can continue to wear your two stanky shirts and pair of sweat-drenched socks indefinitely. (So save the panties for special occasions).

Alternately, if you’re living the beach life, wear your swimsuit as bra and panties/briefs. This way when you go swimming, mother nature will do the washing for you.

For intense cleaning, scoop a handful of sand into your drawers and do a two or three minute underwater jig, the sand will scour away any unsightly stains. Quick, fun and oh-so eco friendly!

Beg For Cash On Your Blog

If you’re going on a trip, you probably have a travel blog. You’ve sent the link to all your family and friends and even Grandma is logging on to read about your adventures.

You’re providing hours of entertainment for the folks back home, who flood your comments with praise and adulation. There’s only one problem: those rotten free-loaders are getting it all for nothing!

While making family members pay to read your blog is a cruel thing to do, setting up a Paypal account in case Uncle Ned ever opens his wallet for his favorite globe trotting nephew, can be a good idea.

It takes a little time to do and involves transaction fees, but it’s also more secure than posting your banking information online or leaving it with your mother to lose amid her famous choco-chip recipes.

Extra Tip: If donations aren’t flowing in as you’d hoped, start posting erratic missives detailing your “dinner” of rice and watery soup, and wax melancholic about the sights you’d see if only you had the cash. Sigh.

The Bottom Line

Generally if you are kind to people, they will want to help you. Dust off your manners and put a smile on your face, get to know the person booking your flight or making your meal, you’ll be surprised at the outcome.

Not convinced? On my recent sojourn to Australia I needed to rearrange some travel dates – something the fine print on my plane ticket said would cost a minimum of $200.

I poured my heart out to the woman at the airline, flattering her pants off. As it turned out she was in a similar situation a few years back – she waived all the fees and I got to change my flight for free.

Smiling yet?

Madeleine Somerville is a big city girl living in small city British Columbia, where she works as a newpaper columnist. She has travelled to Thailand and Japan and most recently came back from a few months of sun and sand Down Under.

One of the biggest obstacles standing in the way when people begin to think about traveling, is money.

Do you have enough saved? Do you have anything saved? Will you need to supplement your savings by working while abroad?

And if so, how long do you intend to work? Will you get a working visa, or look for cash-in-hand jobs?

These are crucial questions to ask yourself in planning a trip. And the answers bear a good deal of weight in deciding the length of your trip and what you decide to do once you’ve embarked.

First of all, the amount you have saved is usually the main determining factor in deciding how long your trip will last.

There are a few fixed expenses, such as airfare and gear for your trip but the majority of your funds will be gobbled up by daily expenses such as hostels, transportation, food and entertainment (i.e. alcohol).

This amount increases with the amount of time you travel, so the length of your trip is usually decided by constructing a rough daily budget and determining how far your dollars can take you (hint: overestimate the cost of everything, just to be safe.)

Alternately, if you’re like me and decided to take a fairly long trip on short notice, you will probably be planning to work while traveling rather than relying on your meager savings to tide you through.

There are two ways to go about doing this, either (1) apply for a working holiday visa or (2) look for jobs that pay cash under the table.

Applying For a Working Holiday Visa

Rules differ in each country so make sure you read all the fine print before applying, but usually you are eligible to receive a limited amount of working holiday visa’s in your lifetime – in some cases, only one – so plan to work for at least a few months in order to make it worthwhile.

Why get one at all? Well, many “regular” jobs require you to have one in order to legally employ you, your job pool is increased by being able to legally work and the ease with which you’ll be able to find employment will increase with the amount of jobs available to you.

The downside is that you will be taxed on your earnings. Some countries are eligible to apply for this tax back but it can be quite a lengthy process.

Cash Under The Table

If you choose not to apply for a visa, you’ll be relying on finding cash-in-hand work. This means you’ll get paid in cash for any work you do and accordingly, you won’t be taxed on your earnings.

Strictly speaking, this is illegal in most countries, but it’s also a commonly used way to earn extra cash while traveling – whether or not you’re okay with that is a personal decision.

Cash-in-hand jobs are usually for shorter durations and the work tends to be casual, but it is usually possible to find steady employment that pays enough to finance your nightly accommodation and bar tab.

Finding these jobs is a bit tougher as they can’t be advertised through regular channels like help-wanted ads or online postings. Hostel job boards are a great resource, as are other travelers – when they move on they often leave a job opening in their wake.

One last tip: be open minded. Jobs you have while traveling don’t need to be career-advancing, life-fulfilling work; they just need to pay enough to feed and house you for the duration of your trip.

It’s always useful to draw on your experience, interests and talent, but don’t be afraid to leave you comfort zone and try something new.

If nothing else, a weird and wonderful job will make a great story to take back home.

Madeleine Somerville is a big city girl living in small city British Columbia, where she works as a newpaper columnist. She has travelled to Thailand and Japan and most recently came back from a few months of sun and sand Down Under.

Do you have any tips for earning income on the road? Share in the comments!

Two weeks into my four month trip to Australia, I was sitting in Mission Beach with some guys at my hostel talking and playing drinking games.

In between rounds were the usual questions about countries of origin and travel plans, where we were from and where we hoped to go. As the game wore on and empty bottles began outnumbering full ones, talk turned to travel sex and with it came the revelation that I hadn’t yet had any.

The men feigned shock and started heckling me (good naturedly, of course). I laughed and threw up my hands, “I can’t!” I cried in defense, “I’ve caught monogamy!”

What I thought was a pretty good excuse drew essentially the same reaction from all of them, “So?”

One even went so far as to claim that three quarters of the women he slept with while traveling had boyfriends back home. They then asked how long I’d been gone, upon hearing my answer, one shook my hand while simultaneously shaking his head “Good luck with that” he said smiling.

Doing Time Without The Ball And Chain

I know I wasn’t alone in that situation. For many people traveling is an exciting opportunity to meet someone new, for others it is the beginning of many long weeks – or months – apart from the one you’ve already found.

And while you’ve already got the easy part of the equation (being the one leaving is always easier than being left behind) it’s still a tricky road to navigate.

First of all, it’s heartbreaking to leave someone.

The airport goodbye with the heart wrenching hugs and kisses, the looks that are the last for months, and the tears are because both of you know it. This kind of chosen absence leaves a different kind of emptiness.

Keeping in touch isn’t the hard part, as internet cafes are plentiful and you probably won’t ever be far from a phone. Calling cards are cheap and there’s always the old standby of a postcard or letter – slow, but a nice touch for the romance and nostalgia of getting something in the mail.

It’s not about infidelity either. Despite what the men in Mission Beach say, if you want to stay faithful, you will. You know what you have to do. You know the lines you’ll have to draw, the tightrope you’ll have to walk.

It’ll mean a lot of saying no and carries with it the potential of awkward situations when you do. It involves listening to another’s accent, as they try to convince you that staying faithful is cheating yourself out of the real experience of the trip.

It means being predictable instead of dramatic, but if you want to do it, you’ll do it.

The Balance Between Loss And Excitement

There will always be that nagging feeling that since you’re on the trip, you should be on the trip, not standing with a sweaty telephone pressed to your ear or typing an email that strikes just the right mix of sounding like you’re having fun but also missing them terribly.

It’s important to miss someone, to reflect on what they contribute to your life and how their absence affects you- good and bad.

It’s also a great way to reconnect with someone especially if you’ve been together a long time (this is why I am a strong believer in the occasional separate vacation).

However, you can’t spend your entire trip crying into your filthy hostel pillow or glued to the phone. You have to find the balance between loss and excitement. And that my friends, is the difficult part, striking out on your own while still managing to keep the home fires burning.

To put it plainly, it’s just a matter of doing it.

Choosing to stand outside a bar talking to the one back home, rather than in the bar talking to the ones you’re drinking with. Realizing that the few hours when your time zones overlap and are able to talk, are always the most inconvenient times of the day but making the call anyway.

Occasionally missing out on things where you are, to be part of moments taking place thousands of miles away. And occasionally saying no to someone you love, to say yes to yourself.

Making the sacrifices and the phone calls, writing the emails and making sure that flirting doesn’t go beyond flirting. It’s the same blend of compromise and compassion that makes a relationship work when you’re together.

Madeleine Somerville is a big city girl living in small city British Columbia, where she works as a newpaper columnist. She has travelled to Thailand and Japan and most recently came back from a few months of sun and sand Down Under.

It’s likely many of you have your own stories to tell of love and loss on the road. Please share in the comments!

Nicole was tall and blonde with a face that could be described as horsey if one were unkind. She had a long jaw and teeth that were too straight and showed too much gum when she smiled.

Her fun and vibrant nature however, more than compensated for these slightly equine attributes.

When she spoke her voice was loud and laughing, it carried so that everyone in the immediate vicinity could hear just what she thought of her meal or the man sitting across the room.

It was by listening to her loud conversations with girlfriends that I first discovered the game which has occupied my mind on every trip since, a game called 7-7.

The Young and the Clueless

I was sixteen and very naive, she was nineteen and we were in Chang Mai, Thailand on a group trip. We didn’t know each other, didn’t hang out much or speak to each other except to exchange pleasantries and ask for various items at the breakfast table.

We had spent the day with the rest of our group riding elephants to get to our destination: a small hilltribe village which was presented to us as untouched by modern life – despite the Timex watches and Nike shoes that peeked out from the traditional clothing worn by some of the villagers.

The entire group had moved to sit around a fire after dinner and we met the other travelers who had made the trek. Among them were a middle-aged couple clad in khaki, a couple on their honeymoon who looked irritable and exhausted and three men from England on their gap year.

There was a lot of flirting going on between Nicole and her friends and these young English men and near the end of the night Nicole was seen walking towards the river with the loudest of the three.

The next morning, in the hut the girls shared, we were in various states of undress preparing for the day ahead. Nicole was talking quietly in the corner with her girlfriends, when they all burst into laughter, “Nicooole!!!” one squealed, “I can’t believe you!”

She stood up still laughing and slapped her hand over her heart, started in on a mock rendition of God Save the Queen, only to collapse onto her straw pallet smiling with satisfaction, “Well, I’ve got Europe” she crowed, “only six continents, six men to go!”

Seven Continents, Seven Encounters

From what I could glean over the next few days, the game went like this: While traveling, one was to try and hook up with one person from each of the seven continents – hence 7-7.

Sex was not required, there were to be no repetitions, no substitutions and bonus points if the person was on their home continent at the time (i.e. a German in Europe).

To the best of my knowledge, no one has yet achieved the full 7-7. The problem you see, lies in Antarctica. No one has ever got Antarctica.

I lost track of Nicole’s progress on the Thailand trip, but over the years I have seen many women and even more men, attempt the full 7-7. I’ve even attempted it myself, though I played more on home-turf than is properly allowed.

North and South America are always easy, especially if you’re in a really touristy destination like Mexico or Europe, young American guys are easy and South American men are so sexual – think Enrique post mole-removal.

Europe is a cinch, you can always find a cute French or Irishman and if not, an Italian man will emerge and in such situations it almost always proves more difficult to resist their advances than to submit to them.

Asia has proved elusive over the years, although while in Japan I was flashed by a man on a subway – unfortunately I don’t think it would be kosher to claim that one. Africa usually ends up being South Africa since the accents are so delicious and thus, it really isn’t much of a chore.

An Unnatural Obsession

To date, I am still lusting after Antarctica, cursed place. It occupies my mind more than it should. The worst part is that barring an unforseen encounter with one of the literally hundreds of people living on that continent, I will never attain the full seven. This will irritate me forever.

Let my obsession serve as a warning to the rest of you, 7-7 is a cruel mistress.

7-7 is a lofty goal and it is not to be taken lightly. It requires a lot of time and a lot of effort, even occasionally, a lot of money – I see nothing wrong with wining and dining your way into one more continent if that’s what it takes.

But I for one, feel that it’s important to have goals in life and surely none can be more fun to attain than this!

And if, IF by some incredible feat you manage to attain the full score, the holy grail of international sluttery, drop me a line.

You will have earned my eternal respect and admiration and in return you can give me the name and number of your lover in Antarctica, so that I too might share in the glory.

Madeleine Somerville is a big city girl living in small city British Columbia. She has travelled to Thailand and Japan and most recently came back from a few months of sun and sand Down Under.