Winner

Well, The Adventure Collective has come to and end. Now for the important stuff. Drumroll please...our lucky winner of $10,000 worth of mind-blowing, life-changing, envy-inducing travel is...Agatha S, from Australia! Big congratulations Agatha! You now have the almost impossible task of deciding how you and your friend will spend $10,000. Thanks go out to all our brave entrants. We wish you could all be winners, but our finance team said that wasn't really feasible. You know how it is. 

Adventure Collective - life on the road







Meet the Adventurers on our Collective

These are the most influential travellers on the planet: Instagram maestros, Youtube stars and legendary bloggers with serious credentials.


The Nomad Barber





 

The Nomad Barber

AKA Miguel Gutierrez

Barbering is a lost art, but Miguel Gutierrez is trying to change that. He’s aka’d as The Nomad Barber, and spent the last year travelling all over the world, learning how different cultures cut hair. 27 countries later, he set up shop in the trendy East End of London, but travel (and hair) still run in his blood.

 

Favourite foreign word? What does it mean?

My favourite foreign word is Namaste, you greet everyone India with this. Translated roughly, it means "I bow to the God within you", or "The Spirit within me salutes the Spirit in you" - a knowing that we are all made from the same One Divine Consciousness.

Longest you’ve gone without a shower on your travels?

I'm OCD so I've never gone more than a day. Even camping out in New Zealand in the freezing cold with no showers I was buying bottles of water and showering myself.

Sum up your job in three words.

Creative, independent, social.

City with the coolest haircuts?
London for sure. We create the trends.

How many tacos is too many tacos?

I could probably eat about 5 in one go without being sick. But I could eat them everyday for at least a few weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 


Rachel Rudwall





 

Rachel Rudwall

Globetrotting TV presenter & Youtube star

If you want to know what it’s like to climb Kilimanjaro, paraglide with a hawk (a.k.a. “parahawk”), ice climb while simultaneously shooting a PBS show, or SCUBA dive the continental divide in Iceland (and why wouldn’t you?) Rachel’s the woman to ask. An Emmy-nominated camerawoman, TV presenter, Youtube sensation with 50+ countries in her passport, Rachel Rudwall is the definition of travel pro.

 

Airplane food: disgusting or strangely delicious?
Guilty pleasure.
 
Got any embarrassing travel fashions? 
I never leave home without my Robdechi Hybrid Scarf. No one looks cool wearing a neck pillow... unless that neck pillow is hidden inside a fashionable scarf.
 
Craziest thing you’ve done on the road?
Swam at the top of Victoria Falls the same day as ziplining across croc-infested waters, flying in a helicopter above the Zambezi River, and getting charged by a hippo while canoeing. Heck of a day in Zimbabwe.
 
How many tacos is too many tacos?
Is that a challenge?
 
Number one travel app?
TripIt. I love organizing all my travel plans in one place, plus getting real-time trip updates as plans change.

 

 

 

 

 

 




Cal Snape





 

Cal Snape

Canada’s best nature photographer

Callum Snape’s photo stream is like the triple-distilled essence of pure wanderlust. You should probably put on protective goggles before checking out his page. He’s regarded as Canada’s best nature photographer, and we’re not sure there’s a peak left in Banff or Jasper that he hasn’t captured on camera.

 

You can only eat one country’s food for the rest of your life. What is it and why?
If I could only eat one country's food for the rest of my life, it would be Mexican food! Tacos might be the best food in the world and I have a mild addiction to Burritos and Fajitas. Street food in Mexico is delicious, I love powerful flavours, endless guacamole, cilantro and salsa.
 
Most obscure destination you’ve visited?
The most obscure destination I've visited is Abraham Lake during the Winter with its frozen Methane ice bubbles.
 
Your essential travel accessory?
My F-Stop Loka Backpack is my favourite travel accessory. It holds all my camera gear and laptop safely along with clothes and anything else I need for a few hours, right up to a few days.
 
Number one travel app?
My number one travel app is 'Trip It - Travel Organizer'. With so many flights and trips I lose track of when and where I'm going and rather than downloading every airline app, I can do it all in this one.
 
How many tacos is too many tacos?
Theres no such thing as too many tacos.


 


 

 

 

 


Allan Hinton





 

Allan Hinton

Sold possessions. Now Instagram legend

Allan Hinton did something we’ve all dreamed of. Fed up with his London desk job, he gave his notice, sold all his possessions and decided to travel the world. It worked out pretty well, as he’s now an Instagram superhero with 156k followers and one of the most beautiful feeds we have ever seen.

 
You can only eat one country’s food for the rest of your life. What is it and why?
I think it would have to be Japanese. I am a huge fan of fresh and healthy food, especially if I have to eat lots of it on a consecutive basis, so sushi is perfect. Japanese cuisine is also more than sushi however and nothing beats a hearty ramen on a cold day and then there is the bento option so you would never get bored. Japanese food also offers a spicy option to its food and that is kind of key for me.
 
It’s 3am and you’re in the airport layover from hell. What do you do? 
I think I would need to put my headphones in, play my favourite music and try to zone out and find my zen. Then perhaps I would go get a whisky to take the edge of things!
 
What tunes do you travel to?
I have a ridiculously eclectic taste and I bore easily of music so I subscribe to a lot of playlists that update once a week. Spotify's new personalised "Discover Weekly" is a great way to find new music to your taste. Right now I am mostly listening to new albums by Chvches and Ryan Adam's cover of Taylor Swifts 1989 album.
 
Worst travel habit? 
Always leaving my most cherished, and often most expensive, possessions in the hotel room. I once took a 2 hour detour in the Mid West USA to buy the "best beef jerky" in the whole of the country and left it in the hotel fridge. Gah.
 
How many tacos is too many tacos? 
Silly question... there are never enough tacos! :) If this answer comes round to bite me lets go for 20.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Lauren Bath





 

Lauren Bath

Ex chef turned Instagram pro

In the primitive days of early social media, when people were still ‘poking’ and sending sheep to one another, chef Lauren Bath found a little-known platform called Instagram. A few years later she is Australia’s greatest user of the platform, with 441k followers and clients queuing up to send her to far-flung destinations.


How many countries have you visited?
Surprisingly I have only been to 19 countries but I have probably been overseas forty times, I tend to go back to destinations that I love. 
 
Best thing about traveling for a living?
Traveling for a living. haha. I love to travel so to incorporate that love into my job is a dream come true. I also love being looked after, because I am traveling for work I often get hosted on the best experiences and don’t have to concern myself too much with logistics. 
 
Team Paperback or Team Kindle?
Both! I still prefer the feel of reading a paperback but ibooks are becoming increasingly more convenient. My last two reads have been on the iPad and the two before that were paperbacks. 
 
How many tacos is too many tacos?
There is no such thing as too many tacos! As an ex-chef and also teenage vegetarian I learned to make tacos when I was young and they remain a favourite in my household. 
 
What’s your worst travel habit?
Well personally I think it’s my best habit but my traveling companions disagree, I can sleep ANYWHERE! Great for me but annoying for the 99.9% of people that struggle to sleep on planes and in airports. If looks could kill I would have been killed in my sleep one million times.



 

 

 

 



 


Pauly Vella





 

Pauly Vella

Ex repairman turned pro photographer

Pauly Vella’s story is the sort that gives hope to cubical drones and wage slaves the world over. An ex air conditioner repairman, he was introduced to this newfangled Instagram thing by a girlfriend and immediately gained a huge following for his dreamy shots of the NSW central coast. These days he’s got almost 300k followers on the platform, and is essentially paid to fly around the world and make it look pretty.

 

Best thing about travelling for a living? 
The people you get to meet! It’s amazing how many good, honest people I’ve met through travelling. It really gives you appreciation for the way two completely different cultures can relate
 
Best road trip snack?
Chocolate, Tiny Teddys, Almonds and lots of Red bull! 
 
Longest you’ve gone without a shower on your travels? 
TOO LONG!
 
What tunes do you travel to?
Eighties mixes are the go to with big groups but when I’m by myself lots of songs turned up all the way, singing and dancing around…
 
How many tacos is too many tacos?
The question is not how many tacos, but how much and how hot the hot sauce is! I love hot sauce! The more the better!



 

 

 

 

 


Tyson Wheatley





 

Tyson Wheatley

Instagrammer, journo & TED Talker

Tyson Wheatley should know all about Instagram, he worked there for a year as a Comms Manager (as well as racking up gigs at CNN in the US and Hong Kong). These days he’s a social media superstar with 600k followers to his name. He organized the first ever Instameet, led 20 photo walks through Hong Kong and has given a TED talk about his experience.

 

Sum up your job in three words.


I make photos
 
You have to live in one country forever. What is it?

Japan
 
Grossest thing you’ve eaten on your travels?


Coagulated pigs blood
 
Your essential travel accessory?


Universal electricity plug adapter 
 
How many tacos is too many tacos?


Trick question. There is no such thing as too many tacos. 


 

 

 

 



 


Laurel Robbins





 

Laurel Robbins

Award-winning travel blogger

Laurel Robbins can literally say she’s the best travel blogger in the world, which would have confused people in 1993, but is a seriously big deal today. She took out the industry’s top award in 2013, and has worked with BBC Travel, The Telegraph, AFAR and a bunch of big travel organisations. She’s currently spinning her stories over at her celebrated blog, Monkeys and Mountains.

 
Grossest thing you’ve eaten on your travels? 
Intestine soup in South Korea - I was sick and thought I was eating chicken noodle soup. After one bite I discovered the "noodles" weren't actually noodles. 
 
You have to live in one country forever. What is it?
Germany! I've been here over 5 years so far and could live  here forever! 
 
Favourite foreign word? What does it mean? 
"Toque" It means hat. I love it because it's unique to Canada - the rest of the world has no idea what we're talking about when we use it.
 
Team Paperback or Team Kindle? Why? 
Team Kindle - much lighter than lugging around several different books

How many tacos is too many tacos?
However many has my intestines in knots

 

 

 

 

 

 

See where they went:

For you guys playing at home, our Adventure Collective triapsed through Mexico & Guatemala. Starting in the queso-filled markets of Mexico City, they wound their way south, through Zapotec ruins in Oaxaca, local villages in San Cristobal and over the waters of Lake Atitlan, all the way to Antigua in the Guatemalan highlands. It was grueling. There were tacos. 

See the route