C.V. Manouk ‘travel mastermind’ Bob

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Personal information

• Name: Manouk Bob
• Date of birth: 02-02-1986
• Place of birth: Seoul
• Nationality: Dutch
• Email: bunchofbackpackers[at]gmail[dot]com

Education

The world (1986-present)

Relevant travel experience

< 2003 (with family)

Thailand and the USA (Road trip from New York to San Francisco)

Europe: mostly Portugal, the UK, Germany and Italy

2004

Korea (4-week program for Korean adoptees)

Europe: Rome

2005

Korea (with family)

Europe: Germany for 2 weeks of volunteering and city trips Newcastle, Gent, Copenhagen

2006

First real solo adventure to China! A 6-week trip with homestays in Hebei and Innermongolia and a visit to Beijing.

Europe: Barcelona

2007

Citytrip Beijing, Surinam for a medical internship, Thailand & Cambodia backpacking trip with friends.

Europe: Paris

2008

First big solo Asia backpacking adventure to Japan (including a 2-week volunteering period in Tokyo), Taiwan, Thailand (including a 4-week medical internship in Bangkok),  Malaysia, Laos and Vietnam

Europe: The UK for five-month graduation research in Oxford

2009

My amazing solo India adventure

Europe: Newcastle

2010

Second big Asia adventure starting with the Trans-Mongolian Express (Russia, Mongolia, Beijing) with a friend and afterward solo backpacking throughout Korea, China, Tibet, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

Europe: London & Oxford

2011

Istanbul and medical internships in Kenya with a side trip to Uganda (10 weeks)

*First time Africa

2012

Indonesia backpacking trip with friends

Europe: Lisbon, Dublin, Rome and Paris

2013

Korea and backpacking throughout Peru & Bolivia with friends*

Europe: Berlin, Antwerp, Kitzbuhel, London, Berlin and Copenhagen

*First time South-America

–> Start Bunch of Backpackers

2014

Thailand Muay Thai press trip

Europe: Trapani, Tallinn, Paris, Athens and Vienna

2015

Sri Lanka backpacking trip

Europe: Prague, Lloret de Mar, Luxembourg press trip, Budapest

2016

BoB’s Epic Adventure, a 7-month solo backpacking trip in Southern Africa and ‘the Silk Road countries’ to South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Turkey, Greece, Iran, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China. 

2017

Indonesia (Bali), BoB’s Mini Epic Adventure: Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia

Europe: Edinburgh (2x)

2018

Mexico (Yucatan), Georgia, Uganda, Rwanda

Europe: Brussels, Hamburg

2019

Morocco (February), Azerbaijan, Iraqi Kurdistan, Nepal and continuing in 2020 ‘West-Africa’

Europe: Germany (March), France (May), Poland (May), mountaineering course C1 in the Alps in Austria (July)

2020

Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Bonaire

Europe: Austria (mountaineering C2 course NKBV)

2021

Europe: Austria (another mountaineering C2 course + Grossglockner climb), Albania/Montenegro (Peaks of the Balkan trekking), Portugal

2022

Armenia

Europe: Canary islands (La Gomera trekking and Tenerife), Scotland (Skye trail), Poland (Sudeten)

2023

Thailand, Bangladesh, India (northeast), Pakistan 

Europe: Austria (Grossvenediger climb), Barcelona city trip

2024

Guatemala, Korea 

Europe: Poland, France, Belgium

Achievements

• Ate guinea pig in Peru, a living octopus in Korea and insects in Thailand
• Climbed Mt. Rinjani in Indonesia
• Got my PADI Open Water in Indonesia and my Advanced Open Water in Egypt
• Climbed an active volcano in Ethiopia
• Hiked the three peaks and three passes of the Three Passes trek in Nepal
• Got mesmerized by the Sufi dancing ceremony in Khartoum, Sudan
• Enjoyed the best beaches in the world in West-Africa
• Encountered mountain gorillas in Uganda
• Survived rafting the Nile in Uganda
• Reached great heights at Taipei 101, the World Trade Center, Seoul Tower, Tokyo Metropolitan Offices and the Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur
• Camped between elephants, hippos, big cats and who-knows-what in Namibia and Botswana
• Climbed the Wildspitze, Zuckerhutl, Grossglockner
• Surfed in South Africa, Indonesia, Portugal and Marocco
• Kitesurfed in Bonaire
• Saw the Great Wall, the Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu and Las Vegas

Qualifications

Experienced in backpacking, hitchhiking, solo travel, couch surfing, beach camping, border runs, bucket showers, hiking, foreign languages, ‘tourist gesture’ language, beaching, home-staying, hostels, snorkeling, hiking, mountaineering, diving, sleeping in gers/yurts, fancy hotels, camel riding, solo traveling, internships abroad, bus rides > 12 hours, train travel, budget traveling, city trips, overlanding and karaoke.

Skills

Excellent haggling skills, ‘avoid scams’ radar, problem solving, paradise discoverer, outstanding adventure planner.