Meet Buzz

Hello, I’m Buzz and welcome to my Travel Blog:  Buzzin’ Around the World. I am a solo traveler who began traveling internationally in 2015.  Since I was bitten by the travel bug (or in this case a travel bee), I have been to 30+ countries with plans to reach 40 by the end of 2023.  

My goal is to visit 50 countries by the time I’m 50 years old and then continue to visit at least one country for each year that I am alive.

I guess the end goal would be 100 countries by the time I am 100 years old.  I created this blog in June of 2018 to share my unique experiences as a solo traveler.  

 

Buzz of Buzzinaroundtheworld.com Photographing the Fjords of Tromsø
The Fjords of Tromsø
Buzz of Buzzinaroundtheworld.com (Center) with his Brothers.
Buzz (Middle) and His Younger Brothers

When I am not traveling I serve as an 8th Grade World Geography Teacher in Central Minnesota.  One of my favorite things about traveling is gaining real-life experiences that help me teach the cultures of the world to my students.

My love for traveling started when I was just a child.  My parents, both teachers, would take our family on vacations each summer.  Not having a lot of money, these vacations almost always involved lots of driving.  

Some of my favorite family trips were:  Niagara Falls; Dillon, Colorado; Panama City Beach, Florida; Bryce Canyon, Utah; and Mount Rushmore.  These trips were in addition to our annual family trip to the family cabin in Northern Michigan. By 2015, as a result of some additional traveling as an adult, I had been to 44 of the 50 states.  Despite having been so many places in the US, I had never been outside of the US other than a few short driving trips to Canada and crossing the border for one hour south of Tucson into Mexico.

Buzz of Buzzinaroundtheworld.com (Center) with his Brothers.
Buzz (Middle) and His Brothers in Dillon, Colorado
Buzz of Buzzinaroundtheworld.com (Far Left) with his Father and Brothers. (Buzz's Mother Took the Photo)
Buzz (Far Left) with his Father and Brothers at Bryce Canyon (Mother Took Pic)

As I began to travel internationally, I first traveled to Vancouver, British Columbia; Victoria, British Columbia; and Montreal, Quebec.  Following those three successful trips, I then traveled to Stockholm, Sweden; Paris, France; and Santiago, Chile. Since then, I have continued traveling having visited Iceland, Norway, Finland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Andorra, the Vatican City, Italy, Spain, Monaco, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Japan, Denmark, Croatia, New ZealandAustraliaArgentinaBrazil, and Mexico. Although I view all of my trips as successful there have been some scares.  While in the Atacama Desert region of Chile touring the high elevation Lagunas, the wheels of our tour van fell off as we were driving up the mountainside of the Andes on a dirt road.  Apparently, the van had been serviced the day before and the mechanic did not tighten the lug nuts. If it wasn’t for the quick reaction of our driver we could have gone over the edge.

Buzz on "Coyote Rock"
Coyote Rock in the Atacama Desert
Buzz of Buzzinaroundtheworld.com Photographing a Norwegian Reindeer
Photographing a Reindeer

I have also had two experiences with terrorism during my trips.  In March of 2016, I was traveling from Stockholm-Arlanda to Paris, France when the Brussels Airport attack occurred.  While I was never in danger the airport was on high alert as officials had feared that other European Airports could be attacked.

A scarier experience occurred during my trip to Barcelona in August of 2017.  On August 17th, 2017 a terrorist drove his vehicle down La Rambla Street in the heart of Barcelona.  The night before this attack, I had been walking down La Rambla Street. At the time of the attack, I was on a bus to Andorra.  I had no cell phone service and my family and friends could not reach me. When I got to Andorra, I spent the rest of the day communicating with my family and friends that I was okay and was no longer in Barcelona.  

A few scares have not stopped me from wanting to travel.  I am headed to Switzerland in August of 2022 and Africa in December of 2022.

I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences Buzzin’ Around the World.

Glacier Experience
About to Climb the Sólheimajokull Glacier in Iceland