Johnny Ward is an Irishman who runs a popular travel blog, OneStep4ward. He has been travelling all over the world for almost a decade now and has visited more than 150 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Australasia, and the Americas. A "lifestyle designer" and a successful entrepreneur, Johnny Ward aims to visit every country in the world before turning 35. He documents his journeys and shares his adventures on his blog. OneStep4ward is a great place to find useful tips and helpful suggestions for those who want to travel the world.
Read on to find out more about Johnny and his travels.
You started your journey around the world in 2006. What destinations have been the highlights of your journey so far?
Wow buddy, so many. I went to the World Cup Final in Brazil last year, that was awesome. Climbed Kilimanjaro, trekked to Everest base camp, swam with great whit sharks in Cape Town, rode a snowmobile over a glacier in Iceland, NYE in Sydney, Australia. So many mate.
Your goal is to be the first Irishman to visit every country in the world. How long will it take for you to achieve this goal? What do you intend to do after you achieve your goal?
It's been eight years in the making so far, and I'm due to finish next year sometime. After finishing, i'm gonna slow down a little bit - traveling ten months or so each year is so tiring, awesome but tiring so I'd love to cut that back to six months or so. I also wanna teach other people how to change their lives in the hope that they too can follow their dreams. I'm also launching an education start-up in Hong Kong, and I wanna do 'around the world in eighty days' by land too. That'd be great.
You've done pretty well "marrying both the lifestyle of a traveler, with the income of a businessperson". What is your travel style and has it changed between being a backpacker and a digital nomad?
It use to be a super broke backpacker watching every penny, but since my online stuff has flourished I'm now a fully fledged flashpacker - overlanding in buses, but with iPhones, Macbooks, and nicer hotels. I love this style of travel now - I feel a lot more free.
"I'm a huge advocate of lifestyle design, so I've redesigned my lifestyle to allow me to follow my dreams". How easy or difficult was it to redesign your lifestyle?
It took time, but it was more about passion. I knew where I wanted to be so I just focused on what it was that would bring me to that point, every year slowly contributed to it, it's still a work in progress but I'm getting there.
You live in Bangkok where you moved in 2011. What compelled you to stay in Thailand?
My first move, after University, was to Thailand to teach english. My salary was about seven hundred USD per month and I had a great year, one of the best of my life. I fell in love with Thailand that year, so when I was a little more financially free, it was the place I moved back to.
"When I get too tired of traveling, I go back to my 'home' in Bangkok, Thailand". What do you do when you are not travelling or blogging?
Plan my next trip, and focus on expanding my businesses. I also study Thai and hit the gym every day, it's kinda like a holiday for me to do all that stuff, doing the things that normal people do.
You keep visiting India time and again and have your fifth trip to the country on the cards. What is it about India that compels you to defy the equation 'I.N.D.I.A. = I'll Never Do It Again'; something you have heard and said a number of times?
Haha, it's just so intense. A full on assault on the senses. You need to escape once you've been there a while, but then some time passes and you kinda miss the madness. I'm looking forward to my next trip back.
Your Trans Siberia route seems like it was a really cool trip! Which have been the craziest, coolest and most adventurous trips you have had so far?
My life is one big trip really, so it's hard to distinguish them. The transsiberian was brilliant, but Cape Town to Cairo overland was pretty epic too, as is the current Cape Town to Casablanca too. Adventurous? Wow, it's all an adventure to me to be honest. Driving a car across Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh etc was pretty mental, we trusted google maps and ended up wrecking our rental car along a road which had been blown up during the war.
How have you handled culture shocks on your travels around the world?
I'm constantly confused, constantly lost, constantly stranded so it's a bigger shock for me when I actually know what's going on these days haha.
Where are you currently travelling and what is your itinerary for rest of the 2015?
I'm writing this rom Ivory Coast, off to Liberia tomorrow then north through West Africa, trying to get back to Ireland for Christmas, hopefully leaving myself with just fifteen countries to visit next year.
This interview with Johnny Ward is a part of Travel Trolley's ongoing 'Best of the Travel Bloggers' series. We are interviewing and showcasing popular travel bloggers who encourage and inspire people to travel. Check out all the bloggers we have interviewed and showcased and learn about their interesting experiences, adventures, travel stories as well as useful holiday tips.
