International Mankini Challenge

Whether it’s a friend or relative from home, someone just starting a backpacking trip or a seasoned traveller, one of the most popular questions to be asked is ‘what have been your best bits?’ This question is impossible to answer. For instance how can you measure the amazing natural wonders of Iguazu Falls of Brazil and Argentina against the man made breath takers of the Lost City in Colombia or the mines of Bolivia’s Potosi?

In my opinion the only way to give an accurate answer to ‘what are the best bits while backpacking in Latin and North America?’ is to categorise your experiences. And so, find below part one of what will be a fairly large collection of my Latin and North America top fives accumulated whilst trying to rise to the International Mankini Challenge (i.e. trying to get a picture of people in Mankini’s in iconic locations in every country of the world).

Top 5 Activities in South and Central America

1. Semuc Champey in Guatemala – great views, swimming in a series of natural pools, wading into limestone caves with only a candle for light, jumping off a bridge and tubing down a river all make up a day here

2. Sailing between Colombia and Panama via the San Blas Islands – if you’ve got the stomach for it, you can live the jetset lifestyle in the most beautiful of surroundings. The boat Delphin Solo provides a wonderful way to sail the San Blas Islands

3. The World’s Most Dangerous Road in Bolivia – cycling the road with the world’s highest fatality rate provides copious amounts of adrenaline and great views, especially while wearing a Mankini!

4. Volcano boarding in Nicaragua – 45 minutes up, one minute down and reaching speeds of up to 70 km/h (in a Mankini) gets the blood flowing

5. Carnival (all over Latin America, I happened to be in Bolivia) – celebrated all over Latin America, I experienced the water and foam fight of Oruro for three days

You can also follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/mankinimalph

Whilst scanning the world of twitter for Mankini chatter I came across a blog entry from www.loneleeplanet.com that says that “Borat’s Mankini Swimsuit a Hit in Japan”. Whilst the images of the ladies in question point to PhotoShop, it did make me smile and so I thought I’d share it with you.

The author, Reesan (and Aussie who spends his time between Australia and Japan), says about his blog that “whilst you are likely to find anything on this blog, the main theme is about exposing wacky Japan.” This claim is backed up by his blog post “Shūkan Asahi and the Mankini”, a popular general-interest magazine that is displaying some ladies in Mankini’s that is definitely genuine.

While these ladies can’t be classed as official entrants into the International Mankini Challenge, I’d suggest that next time you’re in Japan with your Mankini that you look them up!

I love backpacking around the world. The chance to travel to new countries, meet new people, better understand what the world actually is and undertake experiences that make me feel truely alive. Add to this the International Mankini Challenge and the last 13 months of my life have been one of the most fun, daring and enjoyable I’ve had. I also love to share my experiences and the knowledge I’ve gained with others, when asked (last thing I want to be is a travel bore), hoping it will inspire them to take the plunge and reap the benefits of backpacking. However there are three things I hear uttered by new, naive and/or non-travellers that I’m afraid drive me nuts!

1. “You’re so lucky!”

A comment that can be found on many a backpacker’s Facebook albums. Balderdash is what I say to it! Not to travel is easier than travelling and a lot of people confuse backpackers with being lucky because they’ve taken the decision and made the effort to make their dreams a reality.

“I don’t have the money”, “I’ve got a job”, “I’ve no one to go with” etc are all lame excuses as far as I’m concerned. If you really want to travel and see what the world has to offer then save money, leave your job and go on your own! I’ve met people in $80,000 of debt who’ve spent 3 years saving a travel fund and delayed repayments for a year so they can live their dream. Leaving your job is the easy part and by the time you’re back it’s likely that things will be a lot better than they are now. In fact you have have gained new skills or a new direction that elp you get a better and more fulfilling job! And backpacking on your own is the only way to travel in my opinion. You’re master of your own destiny and go anywhere you want.

In essence too many people are ready to put up barriers as to why they can’t do something rather than look as to how something can be achieved. All it requires is a change in mindset.

2. “It dangerous there”

Hearing this said is my number one pet peeve. If I’d listened to this while backpacking around South and Central America recently I’d have missed going to Colombia, the jewel in South America’s crown in my opinion – where anything you could ever want to see/do, you can here (trekking to the Lost City, the beautiful town of Salento, the Manizales coffee plantations, the salsa of Cali, the partying and stunning women of Medellin, the culture and beauty of Bogota, the extreme sports of San Gil, the Caribbean beaches of Parque Nacional Tayrona, the diving in Taganga, the history of Cartagena, the Amazon area of Leticia). and some of the nicest people you’re likely to meet).

Colombia isn’t the only country to suffer from the dangerous tag. I could name countless other countries that travellers miss out based on what they or a friend/family can remember reading in the media in the past. Unfortunately people are too quick to dismiss on this basis and don’t take the time to find out more about what a country is like now. Seemingly they then are in the habit of propagating this viewpoint until it becomes ‘fact’.

The best way I’ve found to illustrate the case for Colombia and countries like it is this. If you only believed what you read in the press about the USA then you wouldn’t go there either. Ater all, who would want to go to a country that declares war on others at the drop of a hat, where kids are all fat and shoot each other at school everyday, where street crime is rife and where you’re probably going to die in a hurricane or forest fire?

The fact is we know there’s more to the USA as information is more readily available. If people spent a little longer looking into countries where it wasn’t, they may not looked shocked when I tell them that in the five weeks I was in Colombia I didn’t meet one traveller who had either been mugged or had things stolen when there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying break the bling out, I’m saying even in your own country there are dangers, just use your common sense.

3. “Back to the real world”

What is the real world? Where is it? Why does the life you left to go backpacking have to be the real world and the one you experience travelling be fantasy? Your life is what you make it, we all have choices. If you want a conventional life with a career, house and family, then fine – good luck to you. But if you want something else, like my friend Alex who left his career as a Management Consultant behind to sail to Latin America and start a hostel in Bogota, then all the best to you in creating your new ‘real world’. You have my upmost respect.

So get your video camera out, make the best film for the STA World Traveller Intern, pack the mankini and send us the pictures!

You can also follow us on twitter and/or join the International Mankini Challenge Facebook Group.

Just a brief post to wish you all the best for 2010 and to let you know that a new Mankini unfortunately didn’t make it into Santa’s sack this year.

Undetered however, and joined by a 6ft man in a all in one blue lyra Morph suit, I played Mankini Santa to a group of fellow backpackers in San Telmo, Buenos Aires in Argentina. The pictures below are a brief snapshot of the joy brought by Mankini and Morph Santa. Who says they’re not real?!

Happy New Year!

On December 8th 2008 the International Mankini Challenge was launched. By Christmas it was still in its infancy with only France and Brazil having been Mankinied leaving a list of 16 countries(ish) left to do. Now, a year on, 15 countries in total have been visited by Mankini Malph with a further two, Australia and England, completed by you guys. So what is the Christmas message for 2009?

While you’re at home ripping open the wrapping paper hoping for the STA Travel vouchers you wanted, the new backpack or the Merrel walking boots, spare a thought for me as I sit with my new travel friends in Buenos Aires (Argentina) hoping one of them has had the forsight to buy me a new Mankini.

The old green lycra number with its loose threads, questionable stains (not my doing, a symptom of being stuffed in a backpack with random other stuff) and perishing elastic has seen better days. Travelling in my backpack and going through numerous hot washes at local Lavanderias has not helped matters. However it’s done me proud and no doubt will continue to hold its own (and mine) during the festive period, but like everyone, it needs a break at some time.

And so as you start to think about making your New Year’s resolutions for 2010 please could you please promise me one thing… that you’ll either actively join the revolution that is the International Mankini Challenge, bringing a smile (although more often it’s a grimace) to others’ faces, or that you’ll encourage others to take up the challenge by buying them a Christmas Mankini (there’s a link on the site for you to be able to do this – you’d be amazed at how often I’m actually asked where you can get one)?!

At the end of the day there are 172 countries left to do, and unlike Santa I can’t get around these all in one night and so need your help. Remember, we’ll both benefit. I’ll get the satisfaction of completing a very difficult challenge and you’ll get to see the pictures that always raise a smile on those hard days in the office.

Happy Christmas to you all and thank you so much for all your support and comments. Find below a taste of what will be happening in San Telmo, Buenos Aires this Christmas as it was last. These mankini pictures were taken at Hostel Clan in Buenos Aires in 2008 as I was acclimatising to the mankini.

So this has nothing to do with the International Mankini Challenge, but more with the funny things you see when you´re travelling – so please bear with me.

As you´ll all no doubt have seen, a lot has been written in recent weeks about Tiger Woods and his infidelity. Most recently, and following his announcement that he is to take an indefinite break from playing golf, attention has been focussed on his sponsors and whether they will continue to support him. With a reported $100m of Tiger´s income coming from sponsor endorsements and ‘only’ $23m coming from golf tournaments, their decisions are important ones to the world´s number one golfer as he looks to repair his public image and to a far lesser extent, maintain his income while out of professional competition.

This focus has sharpened in the last week with the news that Gatorade is to drop a Tiger Woods-endorsed product (though they say the decision to do this was prior to recent events), Gillette are to limit his role and Accenture are to drop him altogether.

It´s not all doom and gloom for Tiger though as sponsors including Nike, Tag Heuer, TLC Vision, Electronic Arts and Netjets have publically stated they´ll continue their sponsorship of Tiger. Although in saying that, while Tiger currently seems to be enjoying support from the majority of his backers, US media figures show `the last prime-time advert featuring the 33-year-old golfer was a 30-second Gillette item on 29 November´.

So while the majority are backing Tiger Woods verbally, sponsors don´t necessarily seem to be following that up in the way they’re using him publicly. However having seen this Accenture billboard advert in San Francisco airport on December 4th, he may well be better off without their backing at all!

If you can´t read the strapline at the bottom it says “We know what it takes to be a Tiger. Talk to us to see how we can help.” Obviously this offer isn´t now open to Tiger himself. Indeed if Tiger is to follow Accenture´s example, running away may seem the best option. And so I would beg to differ with Rick Burton, a professor of sports management at Syracuse University, who told the Associated Press “(Accenture) had tied everything in their campaign to Tiger Woods. If he’s not golfing, those ads don’t make sense.” I don´t know about you, but it seems to make sense to me!

At 28 years old I set out on my first extended backpacking adventure taking in South Africa, South East Asia and California (USA) in a little under five months. At 32 I decided to travel for longer still undertaking the International Mankini Challenge and being an STA Travel Explorer in Latin America and beyond. As I come towards the end of this trip I wonder if this will be my last as a backpacker or if I have any more travelling in me given my age.

In 2006 I left the UK for what turned out to be a great adventure. Compared to a lot of friends my trip was overdue by 6-10 years as they had travelled either side of university. Despite having 6 months free after university before I started on a graduate programme however, I decided to work in the university bar to extend my student life rather than check out STA Travel to see what was on offer overseas. Why you may ask? Because I didn’t have a latent desire to travel at the time and, to be honest, the thought of backpacking around the world scared me.

Nine years on and I wonder if my second trip will be my last as a ‘proper’ backpacker. During my first trip I noticed in hostels, on tours and on the buses in between that I was either the oldest or one of the oldest travellers in my group. This didn’t worry me unduly as I often get aged four years younger than I am and I was still below the magic 30 barrier. Also, aside from the occasional friendly jibe, I was accepted without question by my fellow explorers. Second time around and it’s rare that I’m not the oldest out of the travellers in my posse. While Latin America, especially Central America, attracts a generally older crowd than SE Asia and South Africa, there are still a small number of people in their 30’s travelling.

As I mentioned in my earlier post The changing face of backpacking – travelling in 2009, on this trip I’ve noticed a trend of second time backpackers, like myself, and generally a much larger percentage of older travellers i.e. early 30’s and above. But I wonder if this trend will continue in line with my ageing or if it will soon reach a plateau and I will be considered to old to backpack in the traditional ways?

Now I’m sure there are people out there who will say that you’re never too old to backpack and you can do anything you want no matter how old you are. Others will say mid to late 30’s nowadays isn’t even old. And to those people I would say I largely agree. However for me backpacking is about travelling around the world by staying in hostels (or camping, couchsurfing etc), using public transport (or ridesharing on craig’s list) to get from A to B, not denying yourself any new experiences or opportunities to submerge yourself in a country’s culture (whether that be going to the Carnival in Brazil or Volcano boarding in Nicaragua) and meeting people from all over the world. While using public transport generally isn’t too much of an issue whatever your age, though some journeys I’ve experienced definitely suit the younger and fitter person, there are certain challenges to staying in a hostel and meeting new people and not denying yourself the opportunity to undertake new experiences when you are older.

Whether you’re 18 and just left home, or 21/2 and just finished university, you revel in being away and not having your parents looking over your shoulder. There is a lot that goes on while travelling that never makes its way on to Facebook statuses and twitter feeds for fear of others deeming it not appropriate. From my perspective as a 32 year old, it matters not how old you are, but what you’re like as a person as to whether I want to hang out with you or not when I’m backpacking. But as a younger person the perceived age of someone undoubtedly plays a part in whether you’re invited to the bar or asked if you want to join them on a tour or excursion.

You only have to people watch while in a hostel to see how lone older travellers are treated with a sense of trepidation, and I’m no different from from an 18 year old in this. They are spoken to initially in the same way that a friend of your parents may be. While this is polite, it generally lacks rapour or results in an invite to your current backpacker social group. You’ll often see the older traveller eating on their own, being the one who speaks to the travel guide more than anyone else as they seek some sort of companionship (the guide has to talk to them as it’s their job) and the one who goes to bed early.

Rarely is this treatment malicious, but hostels are seen as a reserve of the young. Questions are asked as to why older backpackers are staying in hostels and not hotels. Unfair stereotypes can also be applied as people shy away from any social interaction or try to limit the amount of time they spend with the more mature traveller. A lot of times this is because younger travellers feel they can’t relax and say and do as they please.

Apart from the opportunity to socialise with fellow younger backpackers in a way that is genuine and not awkward, I wonder whether a lot of the activities I’ve undertaken in Latin America I’d still physically be able to do over a sustained period, or even want to do, in 5 years time. Trekking to the Lost City in Colombia, cycling the World’s Most Dangerous Road in Bolivia and climbing up Volcano Villarrica in Chile to name a few (and all wearing the Mankini may I add), is not for the faint hearted. Experiences like this have been a key part of why I love to travel and why I have had such an amazing trip. Like a professional athlete, the idea of undertaking lesser challenges doesn’t hold the same appeal.

And so as I sit here in San Francisco 11.5 months into my trip and after what has been a great two weeks in the United States so far, I’m left to wonder if my first Thanksgiving will be my last as a proper backpacker and if the International Mankini Challenge will have started and ended with this trip or if as a future lone older traveller I’ll be able to find other backpackers to take the pictures without thinking I’m a weird old pervert!

What started out as a bet by my friends seems to have caught the imagination of the world. Let me share some stats from The International Mankini Challenge (IMC) website.

Number of countries Mankiniied to date – 18 (and 4 more soon to be announced)

Number of people who have taken up the IMC to date – 3 (another couple to be announced soon)

Number of countries from where people have visited the website – 72

Number of new (i.e. doesn´ t include returning) unique visitors per week – 104

Number of sites with links to the IMC – 99

Average time spent on the site – 2 minutes 18 seconds

Average pages viewed – 3

This is a great start, but there´s obviously a long way to go. Thanks very much for your support so far, but please keep telling people about the The International Mankini Challenge and please countinue to show your support by following us on www.twitter.com/mankinimalph, on Facebook by joining the IMC group and on the Mankini on a Mission page at statravelbuzz.co.uk.

Having backpacked around South Africa, South East Asia and the USA three years ago and now 11 months into travelling around Latin America as an STA Explorer, I was asked by the folk at STA Travel how things have changed and how I think backpacking may change in the future. My views, and those of other travelers, are a small part of them celebrating their 30 year anniversary of helping send young people to the far reaches of the earth.

It maybe surprising to some that in the three years since I last decided to grab my backpack and head to pastures new that the way people travel has changed significantly. There’s the obvious changes in technology that keeps everyone up to date with your latest adventures, but there are subtler changes too in terms of the kind of people you meet, where they are from and which countries they are going to.

Equally as there are noticeable changes, there are also a number of things that seasoned travelers will only be too familiar with that haven’t altered at all! In no particular order I’ve listed below what I think’s changed, what hasn’t and what I think the future may hold for backpackers. Id be interested to hear your comments.

What’s changed?

The backpacking of tomorrow – the next 3 years

N.B. As a caveat to what I’ve said above, traveling around South East Asia as opposed to South America is a completely different kettle of fish. Therefore some of these changes I’ve noted maybe influenced by location rather than time.

To close, while reading Between a rock and a hard place (the true story of Aron Ralston cutting his arm off to survive when it gets trapped by a falling rock) I came across a quote Aron likes from Jon Krakauer’s book Into the Wild that I think sums up what those who have backpacked have realised.

“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”

My hope is that those that haven’t yet traveled have the good fortune to realise this too. I’m sure STA Travel would only be to happy to help you realise these great new experiences. With 30 years behind them they seem to be fairly successful at it!

It´s with great excitement that I draw your attention to the report on the BBC website on September 1st 2009: ´Lexicographers prefer a mankini´. Yes that´s right people, the word ´Mankini´ is now in the dictionary!

One of 267 new words added to the new edition published on September 3rd 2009, it´s great to see recognition for this small piece of neon nylon. We can only hope that having been welcomed into the literary world more people will see sense and take up The International Mankini Challenge. If a Mankini is now acceptable in the library, why not on the street, in the park, at various tourist attractions …. the list goes on.

It´s official, the Mankini exists!