Trying to Travel the World and Kayak
Printed From: ProfessorPaddle.com
Category: General
Forum Name: Chit Chat
Forum Discription: Non Boating Related Discussions
URL: http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8744
Printed Date: 19 Sep 2025 at 1:40pm
Topic: Trying to Travel the World and Kayak
Posted By: STLboater
Subject: Trying to Travel the World and Kayak
Date Posted: 19 Sep 2009 at 4:08pm
Hi guys n gals!
I am trying to travel the world and kayak for a year. In the next few weeks I will be applying for the Watson Fellowship which gives around 50 graduating seniors $25,000 to travel the world to pursue their passion. Luckily for me the Watson is not Academically based, but instead they want to see people pursue their unique passions. This is a 1 in a 1000 chance that I cannot pass up.
My project proposal (although still in development) is to travel to different countries and look at how important the paddling community is to people. I know for me the paddling community has been my family since a young age.
If you have any experience in paddling in other countries, I would love to hear about it. I am curious as to what the paddling community is like, how it is similar and different to what you are used to, and how it is intertwined in the local community.
Some countries I am potentially looking at are as follows...
Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuedor, Zambia, Uganda, Italy, New Zeland who knows....
I really appreciate any help you can give me! Just know that by posting you might be helping a kid travel the world and kayak, how cool would that be?!?!
Thanks,
Michael "Gordon"
http://www.watsonfellowship.org/site/index.html - http://www.watsonfellowship.org/site/index.html
-------------
Kayak Academy Whitewater Instructor
|
Replies:
Posted By: huckin harms
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2009 at 8:25am
|
Wow Gordon - sounds like a dream job. Hope it works out, but even if it doesn't you still got a lifetime of opportunity to bring it all together. GOOD LUCK on gettin the grant!
|
Posted By: water wacko
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2009 at 6:20pm
Hey Gordon, I can only recommend the only place I've been, Ecuador. After spending almost three months mostly in Tena, I can tell you the guides down there are all known as guides just the laundry place is known as just that. The guides are all regular people just like everyone else, but are a little like celebs because the people of the area have kind of a spiritual view of the river. They look at it as a very pure thing. Anyway, the guides are all very kind and helpful. They also like to "hang out" with you and wait for you to buy them drinks and food. All part of the fun enchanting South American culture. I found it a fantastic experience to learn all of the things I thought I knew. I would spend at least a month there sometime between Nov and Jan. I can recommend some places to contact for gear also. Good luck, man!!! That is a great endeavor and opportunity.
-------------
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." ~Howard Thurman
|
Posted By: STLboater
Date Posted: 20 Sep 2009 at 6:24pm
Thanks for the info Brett, could you elaborate more on the spiritual view of the river, how the river community are like celebs etc etc etc? I will take as much info as I can get! This is my primary research for my project proposal.
-------------
Kayak Academy Whitewater Instructor
|
Posted By: JayB
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2009 at 9:41pm
Whitewater New Zealand (rivers.org.nz) is probably the best single resource for NZ paddling.
Spent six months there, and other than being awesome, the only generality I can offer is that the absence of an active message board made it much tougher to round up paddling partners. Had to start by going to a local shop and almost begging for names and phone numbers to get the ball rolling....
-------------
-Jay
|
Posted By: Gabe
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2009 at 9:09am
If you have a whole year, don't forget to get over to SE Asia. There is amazing paddling on Mekong tributaries in Laos, for instance. I'm sure Vietnam has amazing whitewater but I did not experience it while I was there. I would also highly recommend you spend some time in Malaysia and/or Indonesia. In Indonesia, your best paddling would likely be in Sumatra and Kalimantan. Of course then Papua New Guinea is only a short flight or (slightly longer...) boat ride, and then you are pretty close to NZ.
In SE Asia little pockets of "boating communities" are usually concentrated around some commercial guiding company in the tourist trade. I imagine it is similar to what you'd find in Africa or South Asia. They are also places where, like Brett saw in Ecuador, rivers are important in daily life and revered by those lucky enough to live near them and get their livelihood from them.
I was lucky enough to get a similar grant a few years ago. A trip like this happens once in a lifetime to a lucky few. Best of luck! If you want more info on SE Asia, pm me.
-------------
Pura Vida!
|
Posted By: STLboater
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2009 at 10:03am
Well I got my application in by the first, it was nicely polished, I am very happy with what I turned in, but I did not make the cut. Thanks for the help guys.
-------------
Kayak Academy Whitewater Instructor
|
|