A Round the World Story · 2002–2005

Round the World in 880 Days

"Before Instagram, I sent emails."

Alex Mitchell  ·  14 Countries  ·  4 Continents  ·  880 Days

The Route

UK → India → Nepal → SE Asia → Australia → NZ → Japan → Hawaii → Canada → UK

🇬🇧 UK 🇮🇳 India 🇳🇵 Nepal 🇹🇭 Thailand 🇱🇦 Laos 🇻🇳 Vietnam 🇰🇭 Cambodia 🇲🇾 Malaysia 🇸🇬 Singapore 🇮🇩 Bali 🇦🇺 Australia 🇳🇿 NZ 🇯🇵 Japan 🌺 Hawaii 🇨🇦 Canada Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean Indian Ocean Atlantic

Late 2002 – September 2003

Asia

One year of streets, peaks, beaches, and diving

India Nepal Thailand Laos Cambodia Vietnam Malaysia Singapore Bali

Somewhere in the autumn of 2002, Alex Mitchell packed a backpack, left the UK behind, and pointed himself at India. There was no fanfare. By the time his friends heard from him properly, he was already deep in the subcontinent — somewhere between the chaotic streets and the Himalayas. He turned thirty in Nepal, in April 2003, on the roof of the world. He didn't make a fuss about it. He just kept going.

"I have seen people so poor living such simple lives but ever so happy with their families."

Alex Mitchell · "So Far…" · 29 September 2003

"So Far…"

Well, its been at least 3 months if not 4 since my last confession. I have been busy zooming literally from country to country city to city in the last few months trying to cover some ground before I leave Asia to a new land of Australia.

Recently after leaving Vietnam which I thoroughly enjoyed, even more when I had left and had chance to look back at what I had experienced, moved back to a familiar Thailand and onto Malaysia, a beautiful country with great island of the Perhentian and KL which I was lucky enough to be there for their independence day celebrations which were like a huge New Year's celebrations with Fireworks over the Twin Towers.

I have spent pretty much a whole year here and have had some amazing experiences all the way from last Christmas all the way through to my 30th birthday in April all the way onto now. I have seen so many walks of life from the streets of India, the heights of the Himalayas, tasted the delights and seen the gorgeous beaches of Thailand and Vietnam, taken boat rides up the Mekong river, dived in beautiful waters with huge fish and ship wrecks, learnt how to rescue divers too.

Take care. Please keep in touch. — Alex

October 2003 – October 2004

Australia

Uluru, Sydney, a silver Volvo, and a question about staying

Perth Uluru Cairns Sydney

He landed in Perth on his working visa. Australia rewarded him immediately. The Pinnacles. Sand surfing in the desert. Then Uluru — 9.1 kilometres around the base, followed by the 2.1 kilometre climb to the top. By the time he reached Cairns two weeks later, he'd already packed in more than most people do in a year of holidays.

"G'Day!"

It has taken alot of re-adjusting to my new life here in Australia. I started in Perth which I think was really lovely and also Freemantle too. And did a tour up to the pinnacles and did some sand surfing which rocked! My time was pretty limited and had to head to Ayers Rock and that place defeinatley did rock! Did the 9.1km walk round the rock and also the 2.1km climb up the rock which was great too.

So In Cairns now and have spent about a week here and am starting to like the place alot more. So I head up the coast to see some wonderful beaches and hopefully some nice walks too. Not sure what im doing for Christmas.

Ok take it easy and keep in touch. Big Hugs. Alex xx

"The journey to work is a breeze compared to the tube back home… crossing over the harbour bridge with the Opera House on the right and the water on both sides watching the boats and ferries zooming around the bay, the sun shining on your face."

Alex Mitchell · "Sydney '04" · 7 August 2004

"Sydney '04"

Life is pretty sweet here in Sydney, its winter time here but in the 6 weeks that I have been here there have been no more than a few overcast days and a little rain. I have been working for the last month in a really nice agency doing work for Tourism New South Wales and Sydney creating and revising their new logos which I very much enjoyed.

Did I tell you I bought a car? Oh its a silver estate, tinted window, 2.3 automatic beast. I am looking into some sort of extended stay here either through a point system or some sort of bridging visa. Its true what they say about the quality of life here — I think that it may be a little better than home, but we'll see.

Ok well I'll catch up with you at another time. Love and hugs. Alex

The bridging visa didn't come through. His year was up at the end of September. He sold the Volvo, said his goodbyes, and caught a flight across the Tasman.

November – December 2004

New Zealand

Five chapters in five weeks. Alex found his voice here.

North Island South Island Queenstown Milford Sound Kaikoura

New Zealand got more email than anywhere else on the trip. The dispatches came thick and fast — five chapters in under a month, each one longer and richer than the last.

"Chapter 1 NZ" — The Haka

I arrived in chilly Auckland from a warming up Sydney after 3 months of freelance designing and was ready to enjoy the sights that I had heard so much about. My first impressions were great. Took a boat trip to some islands around the area and walked on some nice but cold beaches enjoying a few hours of sunshine.

I went to a small town called Maketu — this is where I was to experience some Maori culture. We watched the whole group of about 10 people, aging from 5 to 17, performing the Haka with Taiaha in the small room — it certainly did make the experience more intense.

Ka Mate! Ka Mate! Ka Ora! Ka Ora!
Tenei te ta ngata puhuru huru
Nana nei i tiki mai — Whakawhiti te ra
A upane ka upane! A upane kaupane whiti te ra! Hi!!

Take care. Please keep reading. Love and hugs. Alex

"The view that sticks in my mind was the view from the Kayak — the yellow clean sand, the clear blue water and beyond in the distance under the brilliant blue sky was the snow capped mountains of the southern Alps."

Alex Mitchell · "Chapter 3 NZ" · 10 November 2004

"Chapter 3 NZ" — Glaciers, Knives and Moonshine

I entered the South Island over on the plush ferry and headed to Picton. Before we arrived, there was a welcomed stop at the local winery of the Marlborough vineyard region. We arrived at Abel Tasman which gave me an opportunity of throwing some fresh mussels and white wine together — a combination that you would not consider back home but over here things are priced a little differently.

I reached my destination of Franz Josef. This is where the Franz Josef Glacier sits almost squashed between the sea and the mountains. The ice was so densely packed that there was blue ice all around us in shafts of white and we jumped between ice holes full of frozen water and squeezed through thin crevasses one foot in front of the other.

We had the option of making a knife at a local's place. So with a piece of iron and some heating from the furnace and hammering, a knife was being produced. This took all day to do but it was really staggering how a black piece of metal would turn into an elegantly handled sharp kitchen knife. This was all celebrated with the help of the owner's special brew of moonshine!

Ok have fun, live long and let your dreams be what you do. Love and hugs. Alex

"Chapter 5 NZ" — The Whale

I arrived to an afternoon wind on the sea and decided to take the next day whale trip. I had booked in for the 6.15am trip. I arrived on the beach at about 5.45am the next morning to see the most spectacular sunrise — actually watching the sun peek its head over the sea and see the red glow being shone on the pink mountains. This was definitely a good start to a glorious day!

After 2 hours of sticking a microphone into the water we found a whale — we saw its blow hole coming out of the water and also watched and photographed the great iconic shots of the whale's tail before it dived for another feed.

I have seen so much and done so much in such an amazing country. New Zealand seems to pretty much have it all in a nutshell! Well done and thanks for the memories.

December 2004 – March 2005

The Final Stretch

Tasmania. Japan. Hawaii. Vancouver. Home.

Tasmania Japan Hawaii Canada

After New Zealand, there was a lot more ground to cover, and it all happened fast. Brisbane, Melbourne, Tasmania in a campervan for a dollar a day. A hernia fixed abroad on health insurance. The Cadbury factory — 3kg of sweets, consumed in a day and a half. Then Perth to say goodbye to family. Then Japan.

"oy!" — Konichiwa

I left Australia and moved back upto Thailand to meet a friend and celebrate New Years together. We were safe and unaffected from the unfortunate events that occurred. A sad and humbling time due to mother natures reminder that we are merely guests on this planet.

After Thailand I headed away from the beautiful beaches and tropical heats to a rather chilly but amazingly interesting Tokyo. I have been here for 4 days already and am now in Kyoto the cultural centre of Japan. I have done so many things that my legs have not yet had chance to catch up with me! I have seen real life Geishas shuffling down the street. I have eaten many Udon noodles, ridden around on a push bike visiting the vast amount of stunning and worlds largest of many things.

I am only here for a week which is a huge shame but has given me a gifted glimpse at the country that's really got its head screwed on. Yes I love it here. I'm on my way to Vancouver, Canada on the 29th Jan but thought it only wise to stop for a week in Hawaii as I was on my way there.

Take care lots of love and hugs! Alex

"On a lighter note — looking back I have climbed the 'Worlds Highest Pass' in Nepal, Dived some very deep waters with a dozen sharks in Australia. I have only seen a glimpse of what there really is out there but this glimpse is very welcomed."

Alex Mitchell · "Across the Pacific." · 10 March 2005 · Vancouver

"Across the Pacific." — Vancouver

Being here in Vancouver, Canada I would find it difficult to not talk about the geography and positioning of one of Canada's west coast cities. It would be the same sort of set-up as Perth but has more older buildings and is surrounded by either snow capped mountains in the winter and the ocean for the rest of it.

Its a great place if you love activities like rollerblading, cycling, walking and of course skiing and snowboarding. There are two mountains that I know about — in Whistler village, there is Whistler itself and Blackcomb mountain. The views from the Blackcomb mountain looking into the distance to yet more and more peaks is something else.

We took a quick day trip to Seattle at the weekend and visited the first 'Starbucks' coffee shop by the lively market. What a treat!

Twelve more weeks and he'd be home.

The Tally

The Numbers

880Days on the road
14Countries visited
4Continents
1Working visa (Australia)
1Silver Volvo purchased
2Glaciers hiked in 2 days
~12Sharks dived with
1Haka performed (bare-chested)
3kgCadbury sweets (1.5 days)
1Hernia fixed abroad
1Knife forged (with moonshine)
5NZ email chapters in 5 weeks

The Evidence

One passport. 880 days. 14 countries.

Every stamp below is from a single UK passport carried around the world between 2002 and 2005. The ink is real. The ticket stubs are taped back in. The corners are soft.

  • UK passport bio page: Alexander Philip Harvey Mitchell, Cardiff, 1973

    The passport. Cardiff, 1973. Issued 2001.

  • Republic of India Tourist Visa, issued 19 September 2002

    India. Tourist Visa, 19 Sept 2002. Day one.

  • Nepal Tourist Visa with arrival and departure stamps, December 2002

    Nepal. Tourist Visa, Dec 2002. 30th birthday on the roof of the world.

  • Thailand visa and Krabi Immigration stamps

    Thailand. Kingdom of Thailand, Dec 2002 — and again, and again.

  • Laos Visa Tourisme stamps, 2003

    Laos. Visa Tourisme. The Mekong.

  • Vietnam visa and Cambodia stamps, 2003

    Vietnam & Cambodia. May–Sept 2003.

  • Dense stamp page: Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, USA Immigration

    The busy page. Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, USA.

  • Singapore, Malaysia, Egypt stamps

    Crossings. In, out. In, out. Three years of border queues.

  • Perth Airport 30 September 2003 immigration stamp

    Australia. Perth Airport, 30 Sept 2003. Year two begins.

  • New Zealand six months permit, 30 September 2004

    New Zealand. Six months from 30 Sept 2004. The best six weeks.

  • Japan Landing Permission stamp, Narita, 14 January 2005

    Japan. Landing Permission, Narita, 14 Jan 2005.

Before Instagram, this was the feed.

Behind the Scroll

Questions

  • Who wrote these emails?

    Alex Mitchell. Sent from internet cafés, hostel desks, and borrowed laptops between 2002 and 2005, to a list of family and friends back home. No drafts. No edits. The road was the deadline.

  • Why publish now, twenty years on?

    Before Instagram swallowed travel writing whole, dispatches like these were the medium. Reading them back, the voice still feels alive — and the photos have been sitting on hard drives long enough.

  • Where did the photos come from?

    Apple Photos library — 8,374 country-tagged shots across the journey-relevant albums. Exported via osxphotos, hosted on Cloudinary, served at multiple sizes for grids and marquees.

  • Is the route map accurate?

    Real equirectangular projection with dots placed at actual lat/lon. Solid lines = overland and short-haul flights. Dashed = long-haul flights and ocean crossings. Order follows the chronology in the dispatches.

  • How were the emails recovered?

    Forwarded from a defunct Yahoo account to Hotmail in 2009 and 2010. Scraped from Outlook web in early 2026, deduplicated by send date, cleaned of quoted-printable artifacts.

  • Built with?

    Hand-rolled HTML, CSS, vanilla JS. GSAP + ScrollTrigger for the route reveal. No framework. No build step. Cloudinary for image transforms. Just text and pictures, the way the originals went out.