Extraordinary Travel Festival II Update #6 - Meet The Attendees

Counting Countries

Join us in Bangkok for the Extraordinary Travel Festival in November of 2024. Please use code – BANGKOK – to save $100. . I believe there are 3 main pillars of why you might want to consider attending the ETF, this November in Bangkok. First is the destination. Maybe BKK might seem too common. Well as a resident I would posit that this city offers so much beyond the Grand Palace, the Skybar and riding a tuktuk. This is a true onion, you can keep peeling back more and more layers and keep on exploring. Maybe you are missing some NM regions in thailand, maybe a funicular or the new UNESCO site, Si Thep. Or you missed Laos or Brunei on your last visit. There are cheap flights to everywhere in ASEASN. Or maybe catch a direct flight to Bangladesh, Bhutan or Kazakhstan. There is so much to see here! Second, is the content. We have an incredible lineup of speakers. More will be announced. Please take a moment to look at the speakers on the ETF website. Everyone from Thor Pedersen who went to every country without flying, or Renee Bruns who has explored over 130 countries in a wheelchair, or the Sultan Randy Williams, who invented his own country. And last up, is the community, the network of extreme travelers whether you are chasing 193 or maybe enjoy Iraq more than Italy. Then you have found your tribe. So think of Bangkok as the hub for the event. A hub with great infrastructure at great prices. The spokes are everywhere in Thailand or the region you can visit easily. Don't get FOMO, come join the 150 plus who have already committed. And how many more will sign up in the next 6 months. Should be a lot of people! Feel free to go to the website, use code BANGKOK to save $100, and join us in Krung Thep this November. If you have questions, reach out to me on SM, contact form on the website, or anywhere else. Before I introduce my guest, a name from the past has reappeared. William Simon Baekeland aka Jesse Simon Gordon aka William Gordon. Maybe you do not know the back story. William appeared on the scene years ago, a young, extremely well-traveled individual and the descendent of a billion-dollar fortune. William won over some of the most experienced travelers and began to organize challenging trips for them. In fact, I interviewed him for this . Some of these trips took place, others didn’t, and refunds were scarce. Harry Mitsisdis after a canceled trip put on his detective hat, and deduced that William Baekeland was really Jesse Simon Gordon from Birmingham, a product of limited means. In short order, it was revealed that William/Jesse allegedly had fleeced over $800,000 from the travel community. And I hosted another podcast , where several guests shared their experiences. William/Simon then appeared to go dark … until now. This episode was recorded a couple of weeks before the publication, so there will likely be more up to date news. But it was discovered that William has relocated to Pitcairn Island and was working in some fashion for the government. I was totally flabbergasted by this discovery. Really. William was hiding out in the most remote place in the world where he was most likely to be discovered. I am sure we will learn a lot more in the future. First up is Marc Jorgensen, a traveler who recently passed his 100th country. Marc has lived and worked in Brazil and also speaks Portuguese. Marc and I discuss our joint southern African roadtrip. Next up is Dima Zemsky. Dima emigrated to the US from Ukraine as a teenager to start a new life in the states. Dima is a member of the points community, and the spark of his travels began with a round the world trip. And last, I speak with Matt Keffer. Matt has leveraged his career and his business trips around the world into country counting. He also was a working expat for three years in Germany. With that in mind, I want to introduce three members of the community, three people who are coming to Bangkok, on this special episode. Meet the attendee! Please meet Marc Jorgenson, Dima Zemsky, and Matt Keffer. Please listen in and enjoy