Best four months of my life

I travelled with Xtreme to five different countries - Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and the USA. I can sincerely say that these were the best 4 months of my life.

The Thailand trip consisted of visiting temples (new, old, and even controlled by monkeys) an elephant week where you bathe, feed and prepare food for the elephants (I even ended up with an elephant tattoo), and two weeks on Koh Tao for a full moon party, a conservation day, a cross fit course and also managed to get a diving qualification. Aside from this, we also had an adrenaline-packed adventure day hiking, snorkelling, tubing, and swimming with sharks!

The staff were always friendly and detailed with explaining things, the food and accommodation were great, and the locations perfect. I definitely met some people that I'll meet up with again.

For Vietnam, I spent a month in the north of the country in a small group, visiting rice terraces, mountains, hiking in jungles and weaving in between rice fields on a boat, spending most of my weekends in charming Hanoi, with its constant traffic and pretty night markets.

My time in Laos and Cambodia was spent on a hop-on hop-off bus, where I was able to meet lots of different people. The homestays included were a great insight into local life, and we even took part in some rural Buddhist ceremonies, took a slow boat (and swam in) the Mekong river, visiting beautiful waterfalls, temples and caves, and even having a conversation with a monk. In Cambodia I learnt about the country's turbulent history - aided by a trip to the genocide museum and S21 killing fields) as well as seeing the beautiful beaches the county has to offer.

Lastly, I spent three weeks camping across the USA, spending time in places ranging from Vegas, Zion national park, the Grand Canyon, monument valley, Nashville, Austin, Memphis, and many more. Staying with a native Indian tribe was definitely a highlight. After 3 weeks as a family sleeping in tents, the minivan and under the stars, it felt like I was leaving a family behind.

Thank you to Xtreme for providing these amazing trips!

Paul