Meet the Nomads – Agness Walewinder of eTramping

Agness is one of the co-authors (and co-owners as well) of one of the newest blogs that I’m following lately called eTramping. eTramping aims to provide valuable information to its avid viewers about budget travelling which will definitely appeal to anyone who doesn’t have much financial resources to travel. Agness together with her bestfriend Cez travels to different countries on a budget and proving to anyone that travelling does not need to be expensive.

Agness, aside from travelling is also enthusiastic about music, photography and learning foreign languages. Get to know more about Agness and visit her at eTramping. But before you click away, check out my short interview with Agness.

How did you discover your passion for travelling?

“I guess travelling has always been in my blood. I enjoyed every trip my parents took me on when I was a little girl, but I realised that travelling was my passion when I set off for my first journey to China. It was in August 2011 and this is how it all started. After 10 months spent in China working as a teacher and travelling to so many wonderful places, I carried on exploring Asia from Hong Kong to Cambodia where I am right now.”

What’s the most horrible experience that you’ve had on the road?

“It happened during my stay in China. I was bitten by a spider. My whole neck and face were infected and it took me a long time to recover (about two months as far as I remember). I was pretty scared and looked like a monster.”

What’s the best travel experience that you’ve ever had?

“Travelling by train from Chongqing (China) to Lhasa (the capital city of Tibet). I spent 48 hours on the train having a blast with locals and taking a lot of photos of breath-taking scenery.”

What’s the biggest realization that you’ve got out of travelling?

“I have come to realize that impossible is nothing and if you really want to do something, you will find the way to do it and nobody and nothing will be able to stop you. That is actually what I have learnt from my travel companion and best friend- Cez.”

What keeps you going? What keeps you motivated?

“I think it is the curiosity of what might be waiting for me somewhere out there and the hunger of exploring the places I have never been to. I am always curious about the people, their language, their culture, food and the stories they might want to share with me.”

This is a silly and hypothetical one. If you would be given a chance to travel with a popular person or a celebrity, who would it be and why?

“It would be Edward Michael known as Bear Grylls. He is a British adventurer, writer and television presenter, who goes into the wild with no food and special equipment trying to survive in extreme conditions and situations. He strands himself in remote locations to demonstrate localized survival techniques. That is something for me!”

Where’s your favourite place in this planet and why?

“It is Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. Tibetans are amazingly hospitable and religious people who, despite the repressions from China, still smile and stay positive. They are my role models. That’s something what surprised me the most about this place. I also like the food, so different from Chinese and I was blown away by the atmosphere and rich Buddhist architecture there. That was a journey of my lifetime so far!”

What’s your best tip for newbie traveller?

“If the plan A fails, stay cool the alphabet has another 25 letters.”

What’s the funniest and silliest thing you’ve ever done while travelling?

“Funniest thing: I’ve learnt one of the most difficult Chinese songs and sang it in front of my Chinese friends. I won my RMB100 ($16), but they couldn’t stop laughing at me!

Silliest thing: I’ll keep this one for myself.”

What do you think about yourself?

“I think that I am a very independent girl, who is making her dreams come true by working hard and thinking globally. My friends say that I’m as stubborn as a mule and I have endless energy and I strongly agree with them. I try to stay positive all the time and be optimistic with everything I do. I love adventures and eating. I don’t give up easily and I believe that you get what you give, so I try to give people my all.”

“My blog eTramping.com is for everyone who loves to travel on a very small budget (maximum of $25 a day to spend). We (me and my best friend Cez) call ourselves “tramps” (the proper explanation of the word can be found here because we are being temporarily homeless with a desire to explore every single place on this planet without spending much money. We give people travel tips and information on how to and where to travel on the cheap, showing them that less is more. With us they don’t need to be millionaires to have a blast on the road! – Agness

Click the links if you want to follow Agness on Twitter and on Facebook.

Editor’s Note: All pics are provided by Agnes

Next: Dan Arif of From Malaysia to the World Previously: Vago Damitio of Vagobond For more interviews with travel bloggers, check out the archives of Meet the Nomads.