About

RTW ("around the world") Diaries  is a travel blog with:

  • Tips on preparing for Travel
  • Travel Gear
  • Route planning
  • Advice for on the road
  • Regular updates from one really long trip.

Your comments and feedback help make this site a valuable place for information, so if you see something that's wrong, missing, or just want to say "hi!", I value your comments! 

Holger Mette

In 2007 I left my job as a lawyer in Australia and started traveling the world. Doing so allowed me to focus almost exclusively on travel photography. Over the last 5 years I've traveled extensively, visiting around 68 countries on all the inhabited continents, and many of these a few times.

My RTW Trip

This time I'll be aiming to:

  • Cross every inhabited continent over land at least once
  • Visit Antarctica
  • Share the journey through this blog

Along the way I'll be shooting timelapse footage and posting a new timelapse each month of 2012.

For more information about my travel plans, see my "Where are you going in 2012" page. 

How do I pay for all this?

A question I get when people hear that I've traveled for so long is "How do I pay for it all?"

Without going through my complete finances, my income comes from a variety of online sources such as advertising and sponsorship on websites. A very large part comes from licensing travel images and footage through www.istockphoto.com and through other stock agencies owned by Getty Images. Footage is also available for license through Pond5 and Shutterstock. If you want to learn more about this, take a look at my "Getting Started with Microstock" page on Veo El Mundo. 

Map of my Travels

The map below gives an idea of the places I've traveled in the last year. Its a screenshot of the image pages from my first site, Veo El Mundo - if you want to see photos of all these places, you can use the about page on that site to explore!

My Other Sites:

Veo El Mundo -  Spanish for "I see the World" . My aim with this was initially to learn how to build a website. Over time its evolved into a daily travel photo blog. Take a look and subscribe there if you want a new travel photo in your inbox or RSS each week. Each post has information about the location, a map and information about the camera an settings used.   

Travel Photography Review - this is a site for travel photographers. It has news, equipment reviews, tutorials about photography and photoshop, along with a section with notes about loctions for photography. 

Copyright

All material contained on this website is subject to copyright.

Images are available for license for commercial use via Istockphoto.com in accordance with theis terms.

Disclosure

This website may be financially supported by:

  • affiliate programs including those from microstock agencies
  • Sponsored advertising paid on a monthly or yearly basis
  • Automatically generated advertising links

Affiliate programs are limited to products and service providers that I know and/or use personally - the inclusion of a particular recommendation is made in good faith but does not indicate or imply any guarantee of the product in question by me.

Advertising space available!

RTWdiaries is a new site that is growing steadily. Content is updated regularly and focuses on providing useful information for travelers . 

Advertising is available for products or services relevant to travellers at reasonable rates.

Please contact me if you have any questions of require more details.

Comments

Ben Liao

Mon, 03/05/2012 - 10:39

Hello Holger, I found ur website from a friend's posting of your time lapse in Tokyo. I had just gone to visit and saw many of the same places you were at. I was on a business trip but took long solitary walks after dinner to see the urbanscape at night. i really enjoyed your video as it brought back to mind what i experienced. thanks for that. Since I work in tourism in Taiwan, I thought i'd also ask you if you've been here before and if you haven't would you like to? I had been planning to do some time lapse video also for our company, but nothing as major as yours. i admire your devotion to wanderlust and envy you as well. if you do visit, definitely give me an opportunity to show you my city. good luck! Ben

Holger Mette

Wed, 03/07/2012 - 10:26

Hi Ben! Thanks for your comments - I realised after you'd posted that my contact form wasn't working! If you want to get in touch, it should be possible to email me through the site. I can't get your email from the comments unfortunately so have no way of contacting you!

Steve

Wed, 03/14/2012 - 12:36

Just saw the Tokyo time lapse and was amazed, brought back a lot of memories. My first thought was "I would pay for something like this". I'm curious, how have you survived the last 5 years after stopping your career? Is the pay as a lawyer that good?

Steve

Wed, 03/14/2012 - 12:37

Never mind, I just saw your post of "how do I pay for all this" Keep up the great work!

Jade

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 02:33

Very cool! I just got back from living 6 months in asakusa. You know that building with the thing that looks like a golden turd? I lived about 5 min from that. Looking through your photos brings back a lot of awesome memories. I was just wondering how old were you when you left your job in 2007?

Holger Mette

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 07:31

The golden turd is the Asahi Building? haha :)

I was 29 when I left in 2007...

piterson

Thu, 07/19/2012 - 02:12

I work in tourism in Taiwan, I thought i'd Cute Birthday Status also ask you if you've been here before and if you haven't would you like to? I had been planning to do some time lapse video also for our company.

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