Jonny Blair - Don't Stop Living

I’m not sure if Jonny Blair from Don’t Stop Living needs much of an introduction. Just know he’s stepped foot on all seven continents and visited over 100 countries – and counting. He’s probably done some interesting things then, right? Find out where he had a fireball fight and more in our travel blogger interview!

Why do you love travel?

It’s the freedom and the adventure of it all. I detest routines and I hate staying in the same place, so I have to move around to stay happy. It’s a big world to see and it seems such a waste of time to me to spend it in one place, when there are so many amazing experiences to try all around the world, from hyena feeding in Ethiopia to Fireball fights in El Salvador to swimming in Antarctica to hiking in Malaysia. It’s just such a diverse world and we are only here once, so we might as well move around and see as much of it as we can.

What destination is top of your bucket list?

Obviously I want to go everywhere and see as many places as I can but up next is the Faroe Islands. So the place we most want to go should always be the next place we’re going to right? Otherwise we don’t mean what we say. Like I’m pretty keen to visit Cameroon too but I’ve been saying that for years, so I guess I’ll have to visit sometime soon. Nauru is also high on my list – it’s one of the most remote countries in the world.

Where is your most favourite place you have travelled to?

There are too many to pick but I’ll plump for Antarctica because it’s the land of extremes. It’s the coldest, iciest, windiest, driest continent. It has museums, volcanoes, grass banks, penguins, glaciers and it’s the only continent in the world without human murders. Amazing place.

What is your most favourite memory or experience whilst travelling?

There are quite a few on this list. Meeting my girlfriend in Antarctica is probably the most amazing thing that has happened to me. But I also loved attending the World Cup Final in 2014 in Brazil, hiking in Yunnan Province of China, hitch-hiking in Iraq and reaching my 100th country, which was Tunisia. Or when I’m with friends and family and not travelling is just as good, as long as I’m not staying in the same place too long!

What is your favourite photo from your travels?

It’s a photo from a School in the city of Xinying in Taiwan. I just saw a globe there and went over to it – spun it round and grabbed it. My travel buddy took a photo of me and I thought nothing of it at the time. A few weeks later I decided it should be the main photo for my travel blog (it replaced a photo in New York and Peru) and it defines my personal journey.