Culture: Travel with Matt Ades and Kelley Blanton

Compiled by Cheri Leavy

Spring brings the travel bug!  My wanderlust kicks in.  I decided to live vicariously and ask two of my favorite friends and world jetsetters, Matt Ades and Kelley Blanton, to share a little about their travel experiences.  I have been lucky to travel numerous times with both of them to cities like Chicago, Miami, New Orleans, Denver, San Francisco and even abroad to Iceland.  Great memories.

Matt Ades from Atlanta, Georgia

What was your favorite trip?  My favorite trip was going to southeast Asia for 2 months solo backpacking in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.  I met a very diverse and interesting group of fellow travelers from all over the world.  The trip was very diverse from going into the ring and Muay Thai boxing, partying with young 20 somethings from Ireland at the full moon party, great food and dining experiences all over, culturally seeing traditional Asia culture in Laos and sailing down the Mekong to seeing one of the great wonders of the ancient world at Angkor Wat to sleeping in huts in the Thai jungle with the Hmong refugees.   Coming in a close second or third was driving a camper van through New Zealand’s south island for a month.  Some of the best hiking in the world and beautiful scenery, nice wineries, and good people.  Also loved Argentina and Chile. Would go back to all these spots anytime.  

Least favorite?  Brazil. We were in Rio and Recife.  Beaches were packed and felt very unsafe pretty much everywhere.  Food was excellent but would never go back to either place.  

Where is a spot you continue to return to and why?  I go down to 30a on the gulf a lot since I have a house down on the beach, but for real travel, I am still exploring new places.  I like to experience new cultures and people and thus try not to replicate previous experiences on the road to much. I grew up from high-school going to the gulf and love the beaches, the water, and the overall atmosphere on 30a.  I’ve been to beaches all over the world and our gulf sand is about as fine as it gets.  

What is your travel necessity?  Well it really depends on the trip on what I have to bring.  Not to sound cheesy or too much like a cliche, but I think I try to break free of my normal routines and mentally go into trips looking forward to trying new things, meeting new people, and keeping an open mind without any real plans and sort of let things flow versus sticking to some strict travel itinerary.  Also a must, is to give yourself enough time to explore a place and not rush through it, so I always go for longer periods of time than the average 7 day American vacation.  Living in Europe in grad school, I got to see how Europeans travel for 3 weeks or longer and copied the horrors of the socialist world where people actually get 30 days off a year vs our standard 2 weeks.

Extravagance?  I always have to eat at a Michelin rated or five star restaurant in the places I go to try the areas best food.

Name a favorite domestic and foreign travel destination and why.   My favorite domestic travel places are some of the great southern cities like Charleston, New Orleans and St. Simons Island.  I love to get in the woods, so the American west from New Mexico up to Montana are great places to escape the hustle and bustle of the big cities.  Denver is also another great town to explore and head out to the mountains and see some great concerts at red rocks.  My favorite foreign travel destination is probably the Tuscan area of Italy over to Cinque Terra on the coast.  Great food, wine, sights and history.

Best travel advice.   Just go.  Too many people always put off traveling to some imaginary future time when they are either retired or have more time to go.  There are always excuses why you can’t go.  Fear, time, money, no travel partners.  These are not real, you can travel solo as a man or a woman, go to great places on the cheap, and once you meet wonderful people all over the world you will lose the fear of the unknown.  You have the same odds to be mugged or robbed anywhere in the world.  If it’s your time, it’s your time anywhere in the world.  Go see the world while you can, while you are healthy, while your eyes still see things like in your youth.  There is so much to see and explore.

Where is your next destination?  I am going to Russia this summer to hike Mount Elbrus on the border with Georgia.  I am traveling with my friend who is an E.R. doctor in Atlanta from Venezuela.  We are going to Moscow for 3 days and then hiking for ten. My soon-to-be-wife will not have any more days off this year, so I am going with my hiking buddy that I did Kilimanjaro with.

Why do you like to travel?  Traveling gives me a sense of adventure whether it is going to a third world country, exploring nature in exotic places or just sitting on a remote beach somewhere in the world. When you go on long trips, there is just a wonderful feeling of not knowing what day of the month it is, what day of the week and not caring about anything in the world as far as cell phones, news, work etc and just living in the moment. I love to learn about foreign cultures and love to read their history and literature before going to wherever it may be.  Plus, I like to eat weird things and trying various food, wine, beer and liqueur from all over is pretty fun.  As a child growing up, I listened to my grandfather’s stories of his travel around the world, which probably gave me my start or interest in wanting to see the world.  He was a teacher and married to a teacher and they spent their summers traveling all over the world on teachers’ salaries.  He may have had more time off than the average American, but was able to overcome the teacher salary and see every continent on the globe.  

Kelley Blanton from Athens, Georgia

What was your favorite trip?
Tortola , British West Indies

Least favorite?
Alaska

Where is a spot you continue to return to and why?
The Caribbean Islands.  I love the sun, sand and crystal blue water.  I feel completely at home there.  Very comfortable and content.  Full of energy.  Never feel tired or sad.  Looking at the water makes me feel happy and hopeful. 

What is your travel necessity?
My puppy dog , Lil Baby Nila and Sweet Husband

Extravagance?
Pick one. I have many

Name a favorite domestic and foreign travel destination and why.
Domestic: Miami. The tropical vibe, architecture, and beautiful weather
International: The Islands.  All of them.

Best travel advice.
pack light, you can always buy when you get there if you’re short

Where is your next destination?
St. Martin, St. Barths

Why do you like to travel?
Love to see new exotic places, experience new cultures, meet interesting people. Share all this with my husband, friends and family.