Slept With Cockroaches and Swam With Crocodiles! – Meet Melvin

Recently OffAtEveryThing interviewed Melvin, the founder and CEO of Travel Dudes and COO of iambassador, is one of the top travel influencers online. On Twitter there areover 260.000 followers and he gets on over 8.500 Twitter lists recommended. That’s top 3 in travel!

The facebook page got as well over125,000 fans with a huge organic engagement on their posts. Travel Dudes is an industry leader within the field of travel influencer marketing.

In partnership with clients we create cost-effective, inspirational and engaging travel content for digital and social platforms, reaching an audience of over four million travelers each month!

Let us start with your formal introduction and your interesting story on how you developed interest for Traveling?

I’m Melvin and I’m the owner of Travel Dudes, which I run over 16 years now. Travel and our website is about sharing travel experiences and encouraging people to get out to see the world. I got the best tips from locals and other travelers. Print guidebooks are limited in space, that’s why we created TravelDudes.org, which was also one of the first online guidebooks, created by a community of travelers. Even if you have seen many parts of the world, there are always travelers who have seen more or something different. It’s just awesome if you can share “your” experience with others and inspire them to make their own.

Travel Dudes grew bigger & bigger, and it turned out to be the first Social Travel platform now.

How often do you travel?

Usually I travel once or twice per month. Nowadays this also include speaking at the biggest trade fairs and conferences and to share our story and experiences, how we created a complete new industry (professional travel blogging).

Whats your travel style?

I really love to mix different styles. If I do a road trip, I stay at cool guesthouses, hostels (private rooms), B&B’s, private apartments, but I also like to add top end luxury hotels to the same trip. Important is that each accommodation got that specific extra touch and/or atmosphere.

What is that triggers you to travel to an entirely new destination?

The world is so big and there is so much to explore. And each destination got something special waiting for you. It’s up to you to discover it. Sometimes it’s a meal, the people you meet, a stunning sight or an activity which gets your adrenaline level higher.

What you like the most about traveling?

Travel is about the different experiences. They can be so different and each is very unique and can make a trip so special. So I would not like to point one out, though usually the trips where you meet some interesting folks, stick longer to your mind.

What you dislike the most about traveling?

I dislike the journey back. I don’t mind traveling, but at the moment the trip ends, I would like to be home much quicker. The trip is over and it’s useless to hang around at an airport or be in a train a full day. It looks different when it’s at the beginning of a trip and I’m heading somewhere. That journey is fun and is part of the trip.

How do you plan your destinations?

I don’t plan too much actually. I might book an accommodation up front, depending on where you go. Then I’ll explore the internet with its blogs and see what’s there to do. But I always make sure that I don’t plan anything and explore it spontaneously. That freedom allows you to change or add spots, which other travelers or locals recommend.

What are the 3 destinations you loved the most?

My 3 favorite destinations are actually even four! But I could and should make it five!

I love Havana! The vibe in this city was enormous. The old and renovated part of the city is so colorful and a must see. But the other parts were even more interesting, as that is where you can see the real daily life. It’s not as shiny, but more lively. Kids playing baseball, men domino and women chatting… and all happening on the street.

Then I would add Tanzania as a great place to see wildlife. Especially the Southern part of the country was great, as we explored it on self-drive and it got us close to the people, but also to the wildlife without that you ‘shared’ a lion with 20 other jeeps.

Laos was my favorite country on our 3 month trip through Indochina. It’s not as well traveled like the destinations around, which got access to the sea, like Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam. And I think that this exactly makes it so interesting. It’s a bit tougher to travel and the only beach days you can spend there is the sand of the Mekong river.

Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro are the cities to fill the list! There are many great cities out there, but can you top the scenery of those two?

What were 3 destinations opposite to your expectations?

Here I would list Croatia. The cost ratio just didn’t fit the provided standard. Apart from that, it’s also a wonderful country to explore with friendly locals and great sceneries.

And then we have Slovenia (just North of Croatia), which surprised positively and my trips there were every time above my expectations. It’s capital Ljubljana is full of energy, good food, nightlife, cool activities and nice people. The surrounding regions offer lots of wonderful nature and stunning landscapes. I’ve been three times there now and I’m sure I’ll head back.

How do you manage to get perks/upgrades/etc based on your traveling lifestyle?

I don’t really try to get any. Sometimes you are lucky, usually not. I don’t like to “collect” any points and make use of them. If I see something which is worth the money, I’ll go for it or don’t.

How do you save money while traveling? Can you share any 3 tips?

Is it about saving money when you travel? I think it’s about spending the money wisely, which is “Same same, but different”. The more money you can spend on a trip, the better it gets, at least quite often. There are many things where you can save money on and sometimes I save it here or there. That could be accommodation, transport, activities or food. So sometimes I might stay in an apartment and prepare my own breakfast and sometimes I love to go out and go for a big breakfast.

Have you tried travel discount (or promo codes) such as Thomas Cook Discount codes ever?

No, so far I never used them and I doubt that I will. I look for something and then decide if it’s worth it or not. Sometimes that includes a discount, sometimes not.

How do you manage when interacting with people without speaking their language?

That works rather well, most of the time using my own made sign language or a translater app.

Any worst incident while traveling which you will never forget?

We were sailing on a small private sailing yacht for 2 days in Croatia and the captain got drunk very quickly and started to get a bit nasty, trying to cope his mid-life crisis. That was not that much fun at that time, but a good story afterwards.

What is the funniest story you experienced while traveling?

There are too many to fit in here. I’ve had a thrilling encounter with an elephant in Tanzania, slept with cockroaches in my hair in Thailand, swam with crocodiles and sharks in Australia, had an amazingly bad Delhi Belly in India, thought an old man was dying next to me in the plane, as it seems he was splitting blood, which turned out to be red wine… etc.

Any ending note for travel lovers?

One of my favorite travel quotes is: Don’t listen to what they say, go out and see.

It just fits perfect. The media does sometimes a terrible job in just showing one side of a story, which might sound so scary. It’s better to go out and see for yourself. I’ve traveled through Indochina when there was the chicken flu. A lot of people were afraid of traveling there. I had a fab time and also ate lots of chicken.

 

And with this last question, our interview came to an end.