Hi I am Derek 

Some background to my travel.  Having lived in Singapore for over 7 years it is time to head back home.   I have enjoyed traveling and have lived and traveled in all major continents except South America.  My childhood was in Africa, and later in life managed an overland trip from Mozambique to Namibia.  Traveling through Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana.  When I lived in America I also fulfilled a dream with traveling with my 2 dogs from New Jersey to Los Angeles. These trips were by car.  But I am now doing this trip from Singapore to the Netherlands and the UK by bus, train and ferry.  I hope you will enjoy this website.. and see how I am doing over the next few months! 

derek hellinga don khon selfie july 2016

My Goals for this trip ...

1) Have some fun 2) Do something that I did not have the opportunity to do in my previous company, Content on the Internet 3) Learn about video and spherical images on the Internet ... the big future of the Internet 4) Get into the details of Data Analytics behind all the websites and social media tools 5) Learn some skills that will be able to share with other folks when I am done .. and do more of full-time when I arrive in Europe 6) Produce something to be PROUD of .. my family proud ... and to share this with other people ... and enable them to also participate and enjoy this journey ... at least virtually!! 7) Last but not least, see if I can do this whole thing within a budget of $50USD per day and arrive in the Netherlands around September 2016 - around 4 mths.

My equipment and what taking with me
Anyway .. with a few more days left (I am writing this on the 30th April 2016) as I have to wait for my Visas for China and Russia. I will share some of further context and detail.

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The picture on the left is the photo equipment that I am taking with me ...

Gopro Hero 3 - to take videos

Ricoh Theta S - to take some spherical images

Olympus TG4 Tough - just an easy point-and-shoot camera, and one of the easiest of I have owned

Will aim to document much of the journey with this. and I should also mention a smartphone ... which I used to take this picture and the remote which I will be using to take pictures with using WIFI. There are also a number of other items like, monopole and octopus stands for the cameras and then a money belt, flashlight, lighter, redcross emergency kit and some warmer clothes when I hit Russia in August / September.


To the right are the dates I have to manage my trip within.  To say that getting Visas was a challenge and time consuming will probably not be a surprise to anyone. But the China and Russian Visas have some interesting quirks. I am not going into details of this but be prepared and for more information and best latest news I would suggest this website www.seat61.com (also in the credits page). What I will share is that having a website with a Google map of my travel plan was quite helpful for my Chinese visa. I had to print it out in support of my application as I did not comply with their standard requirement of a return airfare back to Singapore. For my Russian Visa I had to have proof of Health Insurance.

Malaysia - no issues ... no visa required
Thailand - no issues ... no visa required
Myanmar - visa approved: 6th April - 5th July
Vietnam - visa approved: 30th May - 28th June
China - visa in process - 20th June - 20th July
Mongolia - been informed by Mongolian Embassy in Singapore can obtain in Beijing
Russia - visa approved: 16th July - 14th August.

More about me and how to follow ...


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