ajhaynes.net

 

A.J. Haynes

 

Most of you already know me, but for those who don’t, my name is A.J., I’m a 29-years-old, and taking some time to explore this crazy world we’re all sharing. Getting to know this world, up close and personal, remains one of my absolute favorite pastimes.

Boston’s my birthplace, but I grew up in Los Angeles (Manhattan Beach: my hometown) and over the years have been lucky enough to live in more than my fair share of extraordinary cities (San Diego, Berkeley, New York, London, Rome, Barcelona, Hamburg, Beijing and Buenos Aires) as well as visit countless more.

When I created ajhaynes.net I set out to make a simple space where we could share our adventures and insights about some of the most outstanding places on the planet - and above all, help each other to have the best possible time when we’re lucky enough to spend time in them.

That being so, I think it’s going be incredibly helpful, and also just a lot more fun to invite some friends from around the globe to help better achieve that mission. They’ll no doubt add valuable and varying perspectives on how to best enjoy some of the greatest spots in the world. So, we’re going to get together an expert group of travelers who flat out know how to have a great time and will help us all do the same when we end up in the locations they write about.

Our first invitee, Pat Hussey, is an exceptionally talented writer from the U.K. who’s primed to lay it on the line and let us all know about the good life and how to make the most of our time in his favorite global locations… starting with his hometown, London, England.

 

Patrick Hussey

Hello Earth! Patrick Hussey here, a twenty nine year old journalist and London native. I am delighted to accept AJ’s invitation and do something I love to do, write about my experience of travel and culture. And what a subject! London, my home town.

What can you say about it? London is epic, a world in itself. One of those very select places, it’s one of the rock star cities that perhaps only Paris and New York can rival. It’s also one of the most expensive places in the world, a vast metropolis where more nationalities gather than anywhere else on Earth. It has sat on the banks of the Thames for thousands of years yet is utterly modern.

What you really need from travel is an insider’s knowledge to get the best out of your experience, to bypass the herd. Guide books help but can only lead you to the surface of any place, but London? London requires a heroic effort to simply choose a night out in its torrent of choices. That’s where I come in. Something has always bugged me. I have travelled throughout Latin America, been all round Europe, and gaped and been electrified by the Manhattan buzz. But, I somehow felt I had never got the best out of my own home town!

Well no more! Every week I am going to get in the ring with London and bring you the raw stuff. I want to take London as the ride it is and find out what happens behind its million doors. Parties, dating, pubs, clubs, music, culture sub and above ground. I know I will learn a lot and I promise to make it honest and fun and make every episode an adventure. Sounds like an awful sound bite but, well, London can give you that. You just have to know where to look.

London take it away!

As far as fun and adventure go, it doesn’t get better than our next invitee, Toronto’s Melissa Shouldice. A strikingly exciting and clever writer, Melissa boasts a thrilling knack for finding her way “on the inside” in some of the most captivating scenes anywhere on earth.

Next year she’ll join me in Asia as we team up to take on China, but today she’ll give us all the details on living well and having an absolute blast in Canada’s most global city, Ontario’s capital – Toronto, Canada.

Melissa Shouldice

 

Let me tell you a little about me:

I began my career education in broadcast journalism but broadened my field to information and media studies in the pursuit of understanding how our society ticks and tocks.

Fashionista, control freak, curious like a kitten, hungry like a wolf. Adrenaline junkie and music enthusiast. I write, I read, I knit. My collection of dance shoes is just big enough to compliment my collection of dance moves. I’m a snowboarder, skateboarder, perfect climate surfer, and tightrope walker; from snow to sun and mountains to waves I like the terrain that translates to adventure. I enjoy a nice dinner and a deserted beach. My personality excels in a crowd but I still crave the silent moments of self-reflection.

I have traveled to and lived in 10 countries making a point of dissecting cultures and turning over stones in order to discover the details of a world most people overlook. I’m a firm believer in the “world is my playground” mantra. I seem to attract trouble, but have an uncanny knack for getting myself out of the sticky situations. Somehow I still make a point of getting stuck to the excitement.

People are my passion and my education. I have survived an amazing existence all thanks to the people I’ve gotten to know along the way. My friends, their friends, and occasionally even the friends of the friends of the man I met on the street define the scope by which I look at the world. My silver platters never seem to be empty; if it’s not someone else filling it up for me, it’s me making sure the good stuff is there for someone else to enjoy.

Born and raised a small town Canadian girl, I decided at the ripe age of 12 that conquering the world was not an impossible dream. So here I sit getting down the details of my adventures du jour and constantly living new ones I hope are worth sharing.

Hi, I’m Mel. Nice to meet you.