Cast of Characters

Mick Patrick Cranley Silke Delf Kate (FenZA) Fensling Michael (Ranga) Grainge Ben Halman Paula Kermfors and Kaysa Holst Nick Kirchner Michelle (Michy) Loo Dave O'Dell Ben Carlton-Jones Robert Banford

Luca Ursillo Jillian Casdorff Fred Dickinson & Julie Nicole Philps Craig Maybee Ian McQuigg Justin Shayne McCann Bill (Ol' Bill) Fox Jana & Hayley Pat Kearns

Photos (if available)	Bios
	Name: Mick Patrick Cranley Where Home Is: Ireland (currently Wales, UK) Traveled Together In: Egypt Comments: Mick adopted me in Dahab. I met him the night of his "snorkel test", an initiation for new Dive Masters. After that night we rarely spent a day apart. Mick was the guy banging on my door to wake me up for diving and the last guy I saw as I stumbled my drunken ass off to bed. He was a good mate. ***Mick passed away in a highway accident shortly thereafter, he will be missed by many
	Name: Silke Delf Where Home Is: Munich, Germany Traveled Together In: Morocco & Germany Comments: Silke (pronounced Zil-ka), was the very first person I met as I got off the plane in Morocco. We actually met right in the café at the airport as we were both waiting for the train to come to take us into greater Casablanca. We hung out together for two weeks before I left her to her fate in the desert. We left on bad terms the first time, me hating the "Sand People" and her loving them. When we met in Greece, I hadn't talked to Silke since she emailed me weeks after arriving home in Germany after her Morocco trip. I was happy that she hadn't been sold into white slavery and we left it at that. In Greece, half cut and drinking with an Australian, I suddenly got a tap on the shoulder - it was Silke!! We talked over our issues and agreed to be friends again. We hung the next day together before she left to take in the southern part of Greece.
	Name: Kate (FenZA) Fensling Where Home Is: Australia Traveled Together In: Greece, Bulgaria & Romania Comments: Michelle and I picked up Kate in Delphi, Greece. She was heading north and so were we. Instantly Michelle and Kate became bosom buddies allowing me time to go off and do cemeteries while they entertained themselves. The three of us climbed Mt. Olympus together and much more. Kate was a good travel buddy as she never got mad or stressed out and had an easy-going attitude about her. I parted ways with Michelle and Kate in Romania.
	Name: Michael (Ranga) Grainge Where Home Is: Australia Traveled Together In: Egypt & Turkey Comments: Mike was a tag-along with Paula and Kaysa. I met him in Dahab as well. I convinced him to meet me for Anzac day in Turkey. When I got to Turkey I was starting to wonder if I would ever see him again when out of the blue he came to the hostel I was staying at. He didn't stay around for Anzac Day but he at least made it to Gallipoli before leaving Turkey.
	Name: Ben Halman Where Home Is: Australia Traveled Together In: Tunisia Comments: Ben was a welcome relief to hang out with in Tunisia. At this point in my trip I had been going a little crazy and it was nice to meet another traveler who had "packed it in" like I had. I only spent a week with Ben, but in that time we dodged Arabs, flirted with little Irish girls and got snaked up on bad Tunisian beer. I'll never forget Ben telling me his experiences of Egypt. He is the only person I ever met that spent 1 day in Egypt, having landed the night before, spending the day touring the Pyramids and Sphinx, then deciding he hated the Egyptians and the Cairo traffic he boarded a plane for Tunis. Ben is the inspiration behind the website name and the book title "Plans in Sand", as it was he who came up with the name.
	Name: Paula Kermfors and Kaysa Holst Where Home Is: Malmo, Sweden Traveled Together In: Egypt Comments: I met Paula (pronounced Powl-a) and Kaysa (pronounced Kie-sa) in Dahab. Everything you ever heard about Swedish beauty is true. I only hung out with Paula & Kaysa for a week but they were the most beautiful sites I saw in Egypt. Unfortunately I have no pictures of either of them. I was headed to Sweden to see them when I got sidetracked by an angel along the way.
	Name: Nick Kirchner Where Home Is: Australia Traveled Together In: Greece Comments: Nick was my roomie in Athens, Greece. I hung out with him for only a few days, but he was a huge sigh of relief at this point in my trip. Greece at this point sucked. I hated it. Nick made it fun. I had a drinking partner and someone to tell my stories to. Nick's favorite saying was "You are an ideas man ... aren't you?" a quote from a movie called "The Castle". Nick says to understand Australians one must watch this movie... I'm still looking for a copy.
	Name: Michelle (Michy) Loo Where Home Is: New Zealand Traveled Together In: Turkey (2002), Greece, Bulgaria & Romania Comments: I met Michelle on my first trip to Turkey. We shared about 4 days together on a yacht cruise before I had to say goodbye. Oddly enough I met up with her again in Greece when she decided to start traveling again, some 8 months later. She emailed me to say hi and that she was traveling again and starting in Greece. I enjoyed my time hanging out with Michelle as she was always full of energy and I never saw her stressed out about too much.
	Name: Dave O'Dell Where Home Is: U.K. (currently Dahab, Egypt) Traveled Together In: Egypt & Turkey Comments: Dave is the only PADI certified Diving Accountant in the world. He can balance your books at 30 metres and still have the energy to drink the night away with you and be wide-eyed and smiling by 9 am for your next lesson. Dave was a hoot to hang out with. Like myself, Dave "packed it in" and started traveling around the world before he finally settled in Dahab. Along the way he learned how to dive and became a dive instructor. He was my dive instructor, and I have never known a teacher to be so patient. Dave came with me to Turkey, after I had been in Dahab for 5 and half weeks and Dave being there for 5 and half months. We dodged Arabs together, braved Cairo traffic, played in the Pyramids, avoided carpet touts and even had our futures read by a rabbit together.
	Name: Ben Carlton-Jones Where Home Is: U.K. Traveled Together In: Egypt & Turkey Comments: I met Ben while Dave and I were trying to get the Swedes naked. We first thought of him as annoying distraction, but soon realized he was just one of the guys trying to get some action as well. Ben turned out to be the most intelligent 21 year old that I have ever met. We talked many an hour over history as he has his degree in History (from the university across the street from Oxford). Poor guy couldn't dive in Egypt because of an ear problem, but it didn't stop him from having a grand old time in Dahab. Ben met up with me in Gallipoli Turkey for ANZAC Day where we partook in the celebrations. Ben was known to have had a love affair with his bed - that mattress in Room 106 had never been loved so much. Ben got on a bus one day and went to Syria.
	Name: Robert Banford Where Home Is: U.K. Traveled Together In: Tunisia Comments: I met Rob in Tunis, Tunisia. He helped me photograph the graves in Enfidaville War Cemetery. He is ex-army who left and became a champion of human rights for North Africa.
	Name: Luca Ursillo Where Home Is: Sardinia, Italy Traveled Together In: Tunisia Comments: After leaving Tunisia, I never heard from Luca again. As it goes I guess. He was a great travel partner in that he knew when to keep quiet, when to speak, when to stop for a smoke, and when to call it a day and go look for beer. He followed me around Tunisia for 2 weeks and helped me photograph the graves in most of the CWGC cemeteries in Tunisia.
	Name: Jillian Casdorff Where Home Is: Australia Traveled Together In: Egypt Comments: Having spent way more time that any white person needs to spend with Arabs, Jilly was a beaming ray of sunshine that I met with in Alexandria, Egypt. I was nearly crazy and Jilly somehow shared my craziness and overall hatred of the slimy Arabs. Having not had a decent cup of coffee in months, Jilly and I spent countless hours in a real coffee shop just sipping coffee and watching life pass us by. I still hear from Jilly quite a bit. She went traveling in Cambodia and Laos over October.
	Name: Fred Dickinson & Julie Where Home Is: Fred (New Zealand) & Julie (Hole in the Ground, Alberta) Traveled Together In: Turkey Comments: Julie was the friend of Dave O'Dell's affection in Turkey. Fred was her boyfriend. I ended up traveling with Fred and Julie for a bit when Dave left to go to back to Istanbul. I eventually coerced Fred into coming to Gallipoli for Anzac Day where we spent a lot of time drinking together. Fred and Julie announced their engagement in May I believe. Congrats guys.
	Name: Nicole Philps Where Home Is: Australia Traveled Together In: Turkey & Bulgaria Comments: Nicole was a riot to hang out with. Always had a smile on her face and could take the piss out of you when you deserved it the most. The best was when she hid my stinking rotten sandals on me in Turkey. Figured I missed her for good when I got to Greece but ran into her again in Bulgaria. We hiked over 4 mountains together to get to a monastery. We were supposed to meet up in Romania when I met Jodi and left to go back to Toronto. I think she might be in Germany teaching English now.
	Name: Craig Maybee Where Home Is: New Zealand (currently U.K.) Traveled Together In: Egypt Comments: Craig and I met by chance. He had contacted the New Zealand Armed Forces Memorial Project regarding photographing the graves in Ismailia, Egypt. I just happened to be there and he helped me photograph the graves in the cemetery there and the surrounding area. We managed to get interrogated by the police in Kantara together... an experience I'll never forget, as they thought we were Israeli spies. The picture of him is him beside his great-uncle's grave in Ismailia War Cemetery. Craig was the first person in his family to visit his uncle's grave.
	Name: Ian McQuigg Where Home Is: Thessalonika, Greece Traveled Together In: Greece Comments: While I didn't technically backpack with Ian, he is worth mentioning. Ian is the Local Area Supervisor of Greece fro the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. He drove me around hell's half acre of Greece so I could snap photos. He saved me hundreds of Euro and about two more weeks of wasting my time in Greece. Couldn't have done the project work without him. Thanks Ian.
	Name: Justin Where Home Is: Australia Traveled Together In: Turkey Comments: Justin was a cool cat, who like me had been working at ANZ Guest House in Selchuk. He is a Graphic Designer by trade and a fellow traveller by heart. Last I heard from Justin he was at a Love Parade in Europe.
	Name: Shayne McCann Where Home Is: Australia (currently the open road) Traveled Together In: Turkey (2002 & 2003) Comments: Met Shayne in Turkey the first time I was there and then yet again in the same town of Ecebaet where Gallipoli is. We shared the same enthusiasm of military history and Shayne even helped me photograph some of the graves there.
	Name: Bill (Ol' Bill) Fox Where Home Is: Australia and Fiji Traveled Together In: Turkey Comments: Bill's family is of the Fox Transportation fame in Australia. Ol' Bill was my buddy when things got dodgy right after ANZAC Day. We would spend hours together talking about just about everything. Bill served in Vietnam with the Australian Navy and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, although he admits is was for nothing and would have pinned the medal on another dozen guys chests, a quiet hero he was. Bill is now a travelling man who has a passion for dirty little girls and the Australian Navy in WW1.
	Name: Jana & Hayley Where Home Is: Canada Traveled Together In: Athens, Greece Comments: Two HARDCORE Backpacker Canadian girls that I met in Athens. After seeing a million Canadians in Greece, I didn’t want to see anymore, but these two were fun to be with. I was to head north with them and meet up with them in Bulgaria but I traveled to slow for them, and they left me behind. Alas no picture of them either.
	Name: Pat Kearns Where Home Is: Ireland Traveled Together In: Marrakesh, Morocco Comments: Pat became a nuisance on the one day I had to visit with Heather (girl I was with in Turkey). He came through on the back end though, providing all sorts of useful info as I traveled the world. The one thing I’ll always remember about Pat was that he was a walking talking Visit Ireland Tourism Information Fact Sheet. He made you want to go to Ireland and stay there forever the way he was so proud of it. No picture of Pat.

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