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Trekking the Globe with Mostly Gentle Footsteps
Twelve Countries in Twelve Months
Join us on our journey across four continents. As we immersed ourselves in each culture our intent was to leave a favourable impression behind. The Mostly refers to times when our footsteps were less than ideal, leading to bizarre, hair-raising or humorous incidents. Our book is chock full of anecdotal travel tips and lessons, the most valuable lesson being “expect the unexpected.” And there’s more! It follows our personal challenge to travel for the same cost as staying at home.
Whether you are an active or armchair traveller – Trekking the Globe is for you!
Irene & Rick Butler
Click for exerpts OUR_BOOK/
Our Book Photo Gallery OUR BOOK Photo Gallery/
Irene’s interview with Impowerage Magazine/
Irene’s Interview with Senior Living Magazine/
Forward By
Robin Esrock
Travel writer and star of the TV series Word Travels Broadcast on OLN, City TV, and National Geographic International
Irene and Rick Butler are not of my generation. Yet, as a devoted traveller, it’s easy to recognize fellow members of the tribe. We share a strong desire to explore our planet’s beauty, people, creatures, and culture—and to tell others about what we find.
I, too, have packed up my things, picked up a backpack, and set out to see the world. I have walked some of the same paths as these two travellers, although my relative youth and insignificant budget restricted me to sleeping in places I really wouldn’t wish on anyone. Five years later, I’m still on the road for half the year and am approaching the 100-country milestone.
What the Butlers prove, so ably, is that global adventures are not limited to young kids postponing the “real world” after college, transients incapable of stability, or the handful of travel writers lucky enough to make a living at it.
Just about everyone dreams of seeing the world, Continue reading Forward and Acclaim for “Trekking the Globe” →
The adventure of a lifetime on a budget
TREKKING THE GLOBE WITH MOSTLY GENTLE FOOTSTEPS
Traveling 12 countries in 12 Months
By Kelly Neufeld
For seniors, the number one goal after retirement is travel. While retirement frees up your time to travel, finances can be an issue. But what if you could travel the world, for the amount it would cost you to live at home? Sound impossible? It’s not, Rick and Irene Butler managed to spend a year abroad while spending the same amount they would have spent at home and they’ve written a book to show you just how to do it too.
When Irene and Rick Butler retired they wanted to be more than just occasional tourists they wanted to travel the world. And since they are a talented writer and photographer respectively they documented their year of travelling the world in their book, Trekking the Globe with Mostly Gentle Footsteps.
Their book is a mix between a guide book, travel story and a history lesson. The book is an entertaining journey of their adventures across four continents. Along the way, they share their experiences and mistakes. If you happen to travel the same path you’ll know people and places you should avoid and attractions you absolutely must visit. At various points, Irene details little known historical and geographical facts. Even if you can’t travel yourself, you’ll feel like you are there with them while reading the book.
Reade the rest of Irene’s intervue -
Impowerage Article/
Please enjoy our photos from our recent adventure in Laos.
Click here to start your adventure
Laos Photo Gallery/
AUSTRALIA
NATURE WORLD Hervey Bay, north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast.
“You don’t want to miss Nature World,” said everyone we surveyed. We were told it was brimming with fauna unique to this part of the world. Molly, our chauffeur and guide for the excursion, stuffed us and six other enthusiasts into the Nature World van.
The grounds we entered reminded me of a farmyard, with not much focus on trimming shrubs and grasses along the dirt paths, and mismatched sections of wire fencing. The enclosures, however, were large and provided with shade and amenities specific to each resident species.
Molly walked us over to the first enclosure, Continue reading Australia →
Our gusto for Beijing began with our first walk of many down Wangfujing Dajie, the city’s prestigious pedestrian shopping street. While we were swept into the explosion of neon and glitz, we knew these young women with fashionably scant outfits, men in expensive business suits, and families carrying loads of purchase were not true representatives of typical Chinese living standards.
Midway down the street we noticed an exceptionally lengthy line-up and wondered what the attraction might be. To our surprise, it was a McDonald’s, complete with a clowning Ronald entertaining the crowd. Inside the mega-proportioned eating area, people were seated elbow-to-elbow munching Big Macs, while others patiently inched forward waiting to get in. Along the side of the building was an equally busy take-out window. As McDonald’s applies their American pricing worldwide, the cheap meal deals we associated with the outlets in North America were expensive fare in the Chinese economy. Continue reading The Many Faces of Beijing →
Rajasthan
We entered the land of the Maharajas, and the legendary cities built by these kings. Women passed by, richly adorned with chudas (arm bangles), bichiyas (toe rings), and lobe-stretching earrings, and men stood around sporting heavy moustaches waxed into flamboyant curls on each side. Vivid oranges, lime greens, brilliant reds, fuchsias, and sunflower yellows flashed before our eyes, not only in the women’s skirts and head shawls, but also in the men’s turbans—with up to 16 metres (52 ft) of material wound like coiled snakes, each colour signifying marital status, religion, caste, or occupation. It is a land copious in elephant mahouts and camel jockeys, where screeching wild monkeys are more of a nuisance than the ubiquitous cow. Colourful was an understatement; Rajasthan is psychedelic.
After arriving in Jaipur, we taxied to the Atithi Guest House and settled in. Early the next morning, we made our way to the Pink City. The mayhem potential of the main thoroughfares was by far the worst we had yet witnessed. Pedal and motor rickshaws, cars, motorcycles, taxis, oxen, camel and donkey carts, swarms of people, meandering cows, bullocks, and pigs all vied for space amid incessant honking, shouting, and fist-shaking, with the ruling denominator being size—yet miraculously, we did not see a single mishap. Continue reading India →
“PROST to München!” we toasted Munich, the big city with small town ideas.
Gemütlichkeit is what Germans call the convivial atmosphere of Bayern’s (Bavaria’s) capital. Even the uptight northern Germans come here to unwind in the vibrant setting of beer gardens shaded by giant chestnut trees, cavernous raucous beer halls, and endless eateries serving hardy, homey fare. On Sundays and holidays, most shops outside of the central area are closed. It is a day for locals as well as visitors to walk through gardens, take in some of the many museums, or stroll through the Marienplatz, Munich’s most famous square. The special mix of cosmopolitan chic and old city charm flirted with our senses on our first walkabout, swiftly blossoming into a love affair.
I encourage all non–beer drinkers, like myself, to try a halbe (half litre) of Bavarian bier. You will be converted and probably order a mass (litre) the next time around. Continue reading Germany →
Tamil Nadu, India
Published in Travellady.com E-Zine
by Irene Butler
A beach is a beach is a beach…or so I thought. Something strikes me as peculiar about the13km of exceptionally wide Marina Beach in Chennai. No bikinis, or horizontal bodies slathered in tanning lotion, or swimmers in the Bay of Bengal. The thousand or so locals out for the evening breezes are fully clothed, and 90% are upright, either walking about or standing and chatting, with the remainder sitting for a picnic supper.
As my husband Rick and I plod through the soft sand, Coney Island comes to mind. Smiling tots bob up and down on carousels and youths shriek from wildly-whirling contraptions, horses gallop by with riders, and kites fill the sky. Most amazing are the girls aged between six and ten performing daring feats on tightropes affixed to crossed bamboo poles lodged in the sand. Snack food is sold out of tents and stalls, some with gaudy plastic stools out front for customers. We agree this is our most exhilarating beach walk to date.
Our days in Chennai (formerly Madras) are spent scouring the sites. Fort St. George, built by the British East India Company in 1653, is now the Secretariat & Legislative Assembly. Within the old fort walls is India’s oldest surviving British church, St. Mary’s, consecrated in 1680. With four-foot-thick outer walls and two-foot-thick roof, it was considered bomb-proof against cannon balls. Behind the altar is a depiction of the last supper, and although not signed, it is believed to be from the Raphaelite school, with the central figures painted by Raphael himself.
Read the rest of our adventure on Travellady.com/
Check out our India Photo Gallery Flickr.com/
by Irene Butler
Published in Today’s Senior News Magazine
The Firewalkers of Fiji have long baffled scientists with their feat. It is my chance to get to the bottom of this, so to speak, as the chief’s son Madigi obligingly raises his ample barefoot in front of my camera, while he and his two companions chuckle at my request.
My wristwatch, mistakenly an hour fast, resulted in my early arrival at Pacific Harbour’s Arts Village and in a serendipitous encounter with this shy, lanky 22-year-old firewalker who had come out to the bleachers to meet his friends before the firewalk began. As Madigi leaves, he nods in agreement to my appeal for, “Another photo after the firewalk please.” Continue reading Firewalkers of Fiji →
