David Lee - one of the "godfathers" of travel blogging

Tell us about yourself.  Who are you?  Where are you from? How long have you been travelling? What is your favourite flavour of ice cream?
I'm a full time travel blogger and web entrepreneur, however in a former life I worked as a Customer Service Manager for a few start-up companies.  I'm originally from Pelham, a small town just north of New York City.

I've been travelling all my life, but it wasn't until late 2007 that I kicked things into high gear with a dream trip around the world. After that concluded in 2009, there was no going back to my old way of life so I've continued to spend my time travelling and living abroad.

You are the founder of gobackpacking.com, and one of the "Godfathers" of professional travel blogging. What was the inspiration for starting the site?
I spent the summer after college graduation backpacking around Europe. It was my first time travelling alone, staying in hostels and living out of a backpack. I loved the freedom and independence it afforded me, plus it was exciting to see so many new places in such a short amount of time.

After the trip, I learned HTML and transcribed my 50-page written journal onto a free Geocities site to share my experiences, and encourage others to travel in the same way. When people actually started emailing me with travel questions, I decided to buy a domain and add additional travel tips to the site.

I worked on it for a few years, but then lost interest.  The site sat idle for five years, until I wanted to begin updating it again in advance of my trip around the world. Once I discovered WordPress, and that it was possible to make money blogging, I quickly became addicted and have been updating Go Backpacking several times a week for over four years now.

You are known among friends for your love of very small portions of sushi. What other "worldly" foods do you seek out regularly?
Thai food is my all time favorite.  I love the classics like pad thai with chicken, panang curry - or any curry made with coconut milk for that matter.

I'm also a fan of Indian food, which is just as good in restaurants across the US as it is in India. I wish I could say the same for authentic Chinese food, but what I experienced in Shenzhen and Chengdu is far superior to most of what I've tried in the US.

Speaking of sushi, I had the best sushi of my life in Kyoto earlier this year.

Your home base is in Colombia, correct?  What is it about Colombia that makes it stand out? You're allowed to say the girls if you want.
I've spent the last year living in Medellin Colombia, so I do consider it my home for now. I'd wanted to visit since hearing it was safe in 2005, but I didn't get there until the end of my round-the-world trip, at which point I immediately fell in love with Medellin, and stopped dead in my tracks to spend six months there.

I love the climate and constant spring-like temperatures, the mountain views that surround the city, the paisa culture, Latin music and nightilfe, visiting pueblos and learning to speak Spanish.  And of course, the women are among the prettiest I've ever seen!

In Colombia you take salsa lessons.  What is the key to being a great salsa dancer?
Practice. You can take lessons for a few weeks and learn the basics, but if you're not going out to salsa bars and clubs to practice what you learn, you'll quickly forget everything but the basics. I'm convinced if you want to continue progressing and improving, it requires more and more time practicing. Luckily, salsa is so much fun that I really use the term "practice" loosely. 

When I was living in the US for 11 months after my round-the-world trip, I'd go out dancing 2-3 times per week, partly because I missed Colombia but also because I wanted to continue progressing.

Latin America is full of great music.  What is one type of music found in Latin America that isn't yet popular in the "western" world that probably should be?
Vallenato music originated on the Colombian coast, so you'll hear it throughout the country. The telltale sign that helps distinguish it from other genres is the accordion.  It's a lot of fun, and very easy to dance to.

Carlos Vives helped popularise vallenato with songs like "Gata Frio" and "Carito" however my personal favorite is Silvestre Dangond, whose hits include "Me Gusta, Me Gusta, Me Gusta" and "Que No Se Enteren."

As one of the godfathers of modern travel blogging, give your number one tip for people hoping to follow in your steps.
Be persistent, and patient. While social media now allows new bloggers to build traffic, a following and income much faster than when I was getting started, it still takes a lot of time and energy to build a name for yourself and your blog. It won't happen overnight, but more likely, over several years.  Getting to the point where you can support yourself financially as a full time travel blogger may require far more work than your typical office job. 

That said, having a web-based business that allows you to live a location independent lifestyle (from anywhere in the world) is truly awesome, and well worth the effort required. To help those who want to get started down this path, I set up an online community called Travel Blog Success.

What is one place you have yet to visit that you're focused on getting to?
Brazil. I've been meeting a lot of other bloggers who've been there, or lived there, and they all say it's amazing. They talk of Brazil with the same enthusiasm I have when talking to others about Colombia, so I know it has to be a special place.

What are your top 2 travel destinations? What were your 2 least favourite?
In terms of where I've been already, and Colombia aside, I'd say Nepal and New Zealand were two of my favorite destinations. I went to Nepal to trek in the Himalaya, which was absolutely beautiful, and I stayed for the cultural experiences, including a weekend meditation retreat, and visits to 5 of the 7 World Heritage Sites in the Kathmandu Valley. 

New Zealand is another scenic country, and it's well deserving of its reputation as the adventure (and backpacking) capital of the world. There are so many fun activities available throughout the country, it's easy to blow your budget very quickly there.

I can only think of one country I'd consider my least favorite, and that's Egypt. Cairo is far more polluted than I expected, both the air, and what little I saw of the Nile River there. But mostly, the touts and need to constantly bargain for even the smallest things got on my nerves. It was on par with India in that regard, which could be just as aggravating at times. I'm still glad I went to Egypt though, as visiting the Pyramids, tombs and temples made it all worthwhile.

What's next in your plans?  Where are you heading?
As I type these answers, I'm a few hours away from flying to Quito, Ecuador to begin exploring the rest of South America. I plan to start with a cruise around the Galapagos Islands, and then work my way south through Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and ultimately Brazil in time for the 2012 Carnival!

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