About me

Tell us who you are?
Hi, my name is Laurence. I'm currently a full time traveller, slowly exploring the world on a trip I started in June 2009.

My first adventure on this trip was a year long 60,000km road trip around Australia. I then spent a summer living in Germany, followed by a year travelling New Zealand by campervan. I'm currently in France, which I'm using as a base to explore Europe, and helping run an adults only campsite in Dordogne on the side :)

Where are you from?
I was born in the UK, but I spent a lot of my childhood growing up on a small desert island in the Seychelles. So it's a tricky one to answer. Usually the short response involves London or Oxford, and the long response can go on for a while, and involves some time spent growing up in a VW van touring the UK.

What's this all about then?
This site serves as the focal point for my travels and associated photography. I share news from the road, thoughts on travelling, and photos of my adventures. When I'm not writing about my trips, I'll often be talking about photography, travelling tips and technology, which are other passions of mine.

And the name? That's a bit weird isn't it?
Well, there are two ways I can answer that. Either it's symbolises me trying to find my place in the universe, or it was late in the day and it was the first thing that popped into my head. Since the first thing that pops into your head is often the best thing, I just went with it. I didn't overthink it, and I wouldn't advise you do either.

What's next?
As of September 2011, I'm spending some time in Europe for the current future, and haven't planned a great deal more than that so far! Stay tuned...

What else do you write about?
I like travelling and taking pictures. I write about how I experience travel, what I learn from it, and try to share some awesome photos. Over the course of the site's lifetime, I've shifted to posting more and more photos from my trips. Of course, I have other interests. Technology is liable to crop up, as are food and beer ;)

I like your stuff, how do I tell the world about it?
The simplest way is to hit any one of the sharing buttons at the end of each post.


I want to know more about you!
That's a bit creepy. Still, no matter. A couple of excellent sites have run interviews with me, you can find those either at yTravelBlog or A Dangerous Business. More of my contributions to the internet can be found on my hall of fame page.

How can I be kept up to date with your ramblings?
At the top right hand side of the page are a number of buttons that will let you follow me in a variety of ways. If you follow the site on Facebook, you'll be able to take part in the ever growing site community. If, on the other hand, you just want to be notified every time I do a new post, then the orange RSS logo is the place to go. Even without an RSS reader (Google Reader is a good place to start!) you can get e-mail notifications of every post.

Do you get paid to do this?
Not in the traditional sense! Any revenue comes from advertising content, people clicking site ads, or following links to Amazon. If you have an urge to send me money, or like my writing so much you want me to write something for you, drop me a line. I also have a page with information for people interested in advertising on Finding the Universe, right here.

Do you do guest posts / can I use your articles on my site?
Just drop me a line to let me know what you want from me, and I'm sure we can reach some agreement. I love writing first and foremost, so any opportunity to do so will usually make me happy.

What about the photos on the site? Can I use / buy them?
The majority of the photos on the site are taken by me, so get in touch for re-use. Pretty much every shot will be available in a high resolution JPEG, as well as the original Canon RAW file. I currently shoot with a Canon EOS 400D, if you're interested in that sort of thing. If you are interested in purchasing photos off me, you can use the fotomoto link that appears at the bottom of most photos on the site. I also maintain a photobox gallery, a flickr stream and a 500px profile, plus I'm always open for offers. For other needs, just drop me an e-mail at laurence at findingtheniverse dot com, and we can work something out.

How can I contact you?
There's a contact page linked off to the right, or available here. E-mail works too, laurence at findingtheuniverse.com. Or you can just leave a comment in the comments box if you have thoughts on a particular post.

Where else can I follow you?
You can find me at all kinds of places on the web:


I have more questions!
Well, I can't answer everything here sadly. Post a comment somewhere on the site, or drop me a line, I'll do my best to help out :)

Ok, I've wasted enough time here, where else do you recommend I go to waste time?
Well, the internet sure is a big place. If you like some humour, of the geeky sort, you'd do worse than xkcd. If you are more into the darker side of web based comicery, then a softer world may be for you. Otherwise, I also maintain a list of other excellent travel blogs here and you can check out my other writings here.

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