Name: Nik vWurzbach City, Country: Düsseldorf, Germany Sent


Name: Dumela City, Country



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Name: Dumela
City, Country: London, UK
Sent: 5.06 PM - 12/8 2001

Today in the UK newspaper The Guardian (travel section) they have a big 'special feature' on South Africa. If Ramon's travels around this beautiful country have whetted people's appetites for more information and pictures, the feature is online at:



http://travel.guardian.co.uk/feature/0,8806,615255,00.html

Enjoy! And safe travels on Monday, Ramon. Thank you for being such a great (and honest) ambassador for South Africa.





Name: Ramon Stoppelenburg
City, Country: Johannesburg, South Africa
Sent: 12.48 PM - 12/8 2001

While getting ready for departure to SPAIN on Monday, I discover this in my mailbox.
Does anybody understand Russian?
Âîêðóã ñâåòà íà õàëÿâó



Name: Donatella Gazzoni
City, Country: Milan, Italy
Sent: 12.39 PM - 12/8 2001

My name's Donatella, I live in Milan (Italy), I'm 26 and I'm a student (4 exams left to get a degree in law). Unfortunately,this mail ain't an invitation because I'm still living with my family, so I can't (but..as soon as I finish university, I'll get my own home with my boyfriend Pasquale - we've been togheter for nearly 5 years: it's time to live together!).


I read about your "enterprise" a few months ago on the newspaper, and now and then I take a look at your website. I just want to tell you that your idea is REALLY BRILLIANT!! I couldn't appreciate more your bravery, your enjoyment in living (believe me! I'm
perhaps the laziest person in the world..).
I wish your trip around the world will be incredibly exciting, and you'll meet interesting people and unforgettable places!
Well.. I'll keep on surfing the net and follow your
adventures.
Lots of greetings and... sorry if I'm not so fluent in English..
CIAO!!!



Name: Fi Lion
City, Country: Edinburgh, Scotland.
Sent: 1.32 AM - 12/8 2001

May I recommend for New Year that you are invited to our party. It is the biggest New Year's Eve party in Europe (maybe even the world): Hogmanay in Edinburgh, Scotland!!! You are welcome to share this big street party and festival with us here in Edinburgh. I am sure too that the Playfair House Hostel will let you stay for a day (or 4 or 5, because the pary goes on for that long!)


The weather will be cold, but we will give you a warm welcome in Scotland!! :)

RAMON:
Thanks Fi, but who is going to fly me up there? And then: cold Scotland would be to much of a weathershock to me. I think I'll stay with the warmhearted Spanish people for a while...



Name: Leonard Stephen Ondu Majakil
City, Country: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
Sent: 6.31 AM - 12/7 2001

RAMON dear,


Its almost 1 (one) Christmas you are on the road. I wish to say sorry for calling you 'NUT' and your backup 'GREEDY'.
We're different and sometimes I let that difference come between us. May the celebrated Founder of Christmas' LOVE draw us together.
MERRY CHRISTMAS and also to those following you.

With everlasting Love always and forever,


LSOM.



Name: Darnell
City, Country: Long Beach, USA
Sent: 4.58 PM - 12/6 2001

Ramon (AKA: Mr. 21st century Marco Polo),


Sounds like the trip is continuing to go well. I have a couple of quick questions for you. Have you given any thoughts to what you would like to do for New Year's Eve or your birthday? I mean are you going to try to meet up with your family and relatives along the way?

Secondly, if you could go back in time and talk to yourself before you began your journey, what would advice would you give yourself?

Again continue success on your trip.

Que le vaya bien.



RAMON:
1) I will stay in Spain during my birthday, Christmas and New Year. I just can't bear to go home for these days and return back to Spain after it. I am doing this thing and I still want to depend on the hospitality of people who help me out these days. We will see what will happen...
2) Advice for myself? Ooch... I shouldn't have left home without a simple wordprocessing laptop... :-)




Name: Luis Lopes
City, Country: Centurion , South Africa
Sent: 2.01 PM - 12/6 2001

Hi Ramon,


Thank you for the opportunity of allowing us to be a link on that long chain of Good People through out the World.
To Gerhard and Colleen Oosthuizen, also a Big thank you for the magnificent gift, we will treasure it dearly!



Name: Jeanine Van Heerden
City, Country: Grahamstown, South Africa
Sent: 1.49 PM - 12/6 2001

Hi, it's Jeanine, your biggest fan from Grahamstown here ...


how are you doing boy?
I am quite disturbed at your latest mail (from the mailinglist)... it does not sound good .... I think I do understand your position and that you are merely very, very tired. It is a good thing that you have decided that Spain should wait for a while and if I may make a suggestion it would be to head back home to your loved ones where you can recharge the batteries and be yourself for a change. Not that I am saying that you are not, but I have been following you for seven months now and can understand that it is not an easy thing at all. To meet so many people and to always be on your best behavior, not to mention the distances you have to travel each day, to deal with so many conflicting opinions, some senseless, must be exhausting. One's home has great therapeutically advantages and to be embraced by the people closest to you sometimes is all that you need ...

You have done an excellent job so far and I have the greatest confidence that you would in future too. You are a remarkable person, no matter how many times you have heard that from your hosts, they do speak from their hearts as you have, with your project, managed to bring the world together. And somehow the world depends on you to entertain them, but don't lose your spirit in the process. We will still be here when you return and we will think no less of you for taking a break either. We are all human and since you have done so much for us we can at least give you a break. I do believe that I speak on behalf of all your followers. My sincerest wishes accompany this little note and I only wish the best of luck upon you. May you find the peace and quiet you so desperately need at this moment in your life.

Take the utmost care Ramon and go well.

With love and good wishes

Jeanine

RAMON:

Thanks for your lovely writing Jeanine and I am sorry for leading you onto the wrong path.

There is no way I will be going back home at this moment.
My airplane to Spain still departs on Monday evening from Johannesburg and my project will go on.

Indeed, as you wrote, staying with different people and so many conflicting opinions, some senseless and social behaviors is very exhausting. That is why I will be staying in a low-budget hotel in Johannesburg from Friday until Monday the 10th, so I’ll be able to update the latest reports that deserve to be written (!) without being a guest for a few days. My friends in the backup-team pay all expenses of this hotel.

I just need some time. Time to reflect, relax and prepare.



Name:_Bret_City,_Country'>Name: Gerard Oosthuizen
City, Country: Kelvin, Johannesburg, South Africa
Sent: 1.23 PM - 12/6 2001

Ramon, it was a real pleasure to have you with us for a few days. You were a very easy, courteous, pleasant and interesting guest. You are always welcome in our home!

Colleen, Nakita & Storm sends their love, and we all wish you a very pleasant last few days in South Africa, a safe journey to Spain, and a wonderful time there.

And if for some reason you need help / assistance / transport / a place to stay before you leave South Africa, remember we are only a phone call away.

Warm regards,
Gerhard, Colleen, Nakita & Storm



Name: Brian
City, Country: Durban, South Africa
Sent: 6.35 AM - 12/6 2001

Yes well...

Ramon, you are quite right about GI Joe. It is the same everywhere. You get good and bad all over. With any luck, GI Joe is in the minority in USA, and indeed, in the world.

Certainly MJ and Bret are supporting you, and speaking out against Mr Joe. And then there is Tom that posted some messages a while ago, he also seems well balanced.

But I can understand your feelings. It is human nature to remember the bad things of others, and the good things of ourselves. So, it takes a minority to destroy the reputation, and often the well-being, of the majority.

The criminals in SA are a particularly good example, as Lianne in England so clearly indicated. Yes, those stats sound true, but let's face it, the criminal element in SA is probably less than 5% of the total population. Yet they are the ones that everyone all over the world remembers.

With any luck, and here I am speaking in favour of the USA, Mr Joe is in his country's minority. With any luck, the vast majority of Americans are decent people.

Whatever the case, keep on moving. We appreciate your reports, they show the world how the world lives. And when you're done, your fan club will be there, at least in spirit, if not in body, to welcome you home!

Hamba kahle

Brian



Name: MJ
City, Country: Denver, USA
Sent: 1.20 AM - 12/6 2001

I feel sorry for GI Joe as well, but in a different way. I don't feel he has learned much about the world except for the four walls that encircle him. If he's had bad experiences, it's not the world's fault. Please Ramon, I know (hope)you don't think we are all like this, but we are also not all the same. People can have their opinions (because it would be boring if we were all the same), but it is up for the rest of us to educate the them...in this case, it's definite that, that has not happened. Respect and toleration.





Name:_billy_City,_Country:_japan_Sent'>Name: Bret
City, Country: CA,USA
Sent: 12.06 AM - 12/6 2001

Ramon,


Thanks for keeping the posting of GI Joe. I am not embarassed for him, but feel sorry that he is a coward at not even posting his name. Cowards don't win wars, nor anything else for that matter. Your words ring true Ramon. I find in this message board bits of information here and there that help me understand this confused planet. Information that comes from around the world in it's many perspectives, can only help in understanding us all as a whole.

Thank you Ramon, and your support staff for all of this.





Name: dbk Tom
City, Country: NZ
Sent: 10.48 PM - 12/5 2001

WITH YOU ALL THE WAY RAMON





Name: Lianne
City, Country: England, UK
Sent: 6.33 PM - 12/5 2001

Good for you Ramon!

21 000 people last year were murdered in South Africa. 1 in 4 have Aids in Kwa Zulu Natal, (South Africa). Every 26 seconds in South Africa, a woman gets raped. 30% unemployment, and daunting economic problems : Currently 1.00 United Kingdom Pounds = 15.3322 South Africa Rand. (And that just one country to use an example)

What I am trying to say from these statistics is that yes bad things are happening all over the world too, on a daily basis, often in third world country’s without the money, connections and media power to make an impact, to make a statement about how “pissed” they are at it.

Ramon, I’m sure your eyes have been opened by your travels to all the country’s you have visited. Travel guides can be bought!! By not being tunnel visioned, by being open to other cultures, for not being ignorant and for getting off your ass and doing something about it. This is the most important thing that your “followers” can learn from you and can only be learnt by those who are not so arrogant to realize it.

PS : Thanks for being one of the good guys.





Name: Karen
City, Country: London, UK
Sent: 4.17 PM - 12/5 2001

Thumbs up for your statement Ramon!





Name: GI Joe
City, Country: Good old USA
Sent: 5.08 AM - 12/5 2001

That would be great Joao, if Iraq would attempt an attack against Israeli. It would be just the excuse we Americans would need, to blow Iraq to smithereens. Which we will be doing soon anyway, with or without an attack on Israeli. But, what the hell, the sooner the better. And God help the world if there are anymore terrorists attacks in America. We are pissed.



RAMON:
I almost deleted your message GI Joe (don't you dare to give your real name?), but I decided to let it be. I hope many people from your Good old USA will be so enormously embarrassed by your writing, as I am. A lot of people should stop feeling so good and so perfect and thus so powerful in this world. When will even the most ignorant and stupid people understand that there can never be something rare called peace if you behave so high-flying-in-the-clouds!!! Nobody is perfect and everybody is the same. And there is no Good old USA, just like there is no Good old Holland or Good old UK. We are living now. People like you, GI Joe, make me not even WANT to visit the US!

UPDATE 6/12:
Please know that AOL.COM (your provider Mr. Joe) allows me to find out all the information about you. Let me help you remember your real name next time...



Name: Joao Paulo Paglione
City, Country: New york City, New York
Sent: 12.02 AM - 12/5 2001

Goede Dag Ramon,

It is getting colder in New York City . . .

I am posting this message because I saw that you were donating your commissions to the AIDS foundation in South Africa. I think this is an excellent idea and a great way to use your site.

I wonder what you think of the Israelis invading Palestine now and now that Iraq has threatened to attack Israel if they continue. This worries me how the region is becoming more destabilized ..

So my question is, if you got invitations to visit Israel or even Iraq -- would you go?



RAMON:
Yes, I would almost say of course, I have invites from Israel. I have set only one important rule before I set off my journey: I will NOT visit countries at war. So for now, I won't visit the United States of America and if Israel declares war, I won't visit that country. That counts for any country. If South Africa would declare war tomorrow, I'll be out of the country the next day. It is just because I won't have anything to do there.



Name: Judith de Groot
City, Country: Groningen, The Netherlands
Sent: 8.20 PM - 12/4 2001

Hey Ramon,


how are you doing, so far away from this cold and rainy Holland? Hope to be in touch with you someday again, I might meet you on your chatbox. For now I am very busy reading a whole bunch of your latest reports...
SO far so good,
lots of love and take care of yourself!! You're doing a good job!

Juut
x





Name: Heidi
City, Country: Cape Town, South Africa
Sent: 8.06 AM - 12/4 2001

Dear Ramon

Well done and I hope that you are enjoying our country.
I have been following your travels and wish you well.
I know that this is not the site for it, but I lived in Overbrook, Kansas, USA as an exchange student in 1997 and met a wonderful Dutch girl, Brigitte Lammers. My address book was lost when I returned and I would love to get in touch with her. Can anyone please help? She came from Delft, has a brother, I think Fodo and her father is in the IT industry. She is about 31 or 32 years old.

I would be so grateful to get in touch with her again.

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

RAMON:
Try searching for her last name in the Dutch online phonebook at http://www.detelefoongids.com. You'll find a few more Lammers, but you can try them to find out (country code Holland = +31). Good luck!



Name: Li Ming
City, Country: Zhengzhou, China
Sent: 3.53 AM - 12/4 2001

Hi, Ramon,

I am very glad that you accepted my invitation. And it is me and one friend of mine Mr. Li Ming invited you and will help you during your staying in China somedays.

Zhengzhou, our city, located in the oldest part of China, it is not as developed as southeast China, but more typical Chinese. There is flight from Beijing everyday. I am a professional photographer and Mr. li Ming is amature and speak English. Mr. Li Ming visited Nehterland 3 time since 1997 and stayed in Nord(Enkhuizen, Grootbroek, Ooterbroek, Hoogkarsbel, Medemblik and Broekerhaven) during all the 3 visit.

Should I know your schedule, I will made you some sugesstion for your staying in China and we would like to drive you to other interesting place in China if Mr. Li Ming and me are free during your stay.

Looking forward to your visit.

Yours,

Zhou Peiying, Li Ming





Name: Brian
City, Country: Durban, South Africa
Sent: 7.54 AM - 12/3 2001

Hey, Ramon

One thing, thank you so much for doing your bit for AIDS in SA, and especially in KZN. Yes, we do have a problem with it, and your efforts are sincerely appreciated by South Africans of all types.

It is so good to see that there are people out there who have no particular ties with South Africans, and who are still willing to do something to help. I truly hope that the SOuth African government recognises you in some meaningful way for your concern.

You are indeed a special person, much admired by many people.

hamba kahle

Brian



Name: Brian
City, Country: Durban, South Africa
Sent: 7.50 AM - 12/3 2001

Hi Kim, Ramon

Ramon, thanx for the photos already. Well... What can I say? I'm waiting with baited breath to see the reports. They should be interesting.

Hey, that idea on the messageboard about a fan club, it is great. What can we do?

Kim, you can see the photos already. I'm quite surprised that Ramon got them on so soon, as he really did get delayed during his week without the net. Have faith, Ramon works hard on his reports, I know he is doing his best.

Of course, he gathers "interesting" information about his hosts from their colleagues, so be careful who you tell what. :-) But I'm sure the reports are coming.

As far as your curiosity about me, well, I'm a single white guy in Durban, living what I believe is a fairly normal life. Ramon's perspective, of course, might be a little different. I'll comment on his reports if needed. But I believe that he will be completely honest, and polite, about it.

See ya!


Brian



Name: Sanja
City, Country: Kragujevac, Yugoslavia
Sent: 8.45 PM - 12/2 2001

Hey Ramon,


I always wanted to do something like what are you doing right now, but I never had courage for it... I am glad you do! I am in the US now, here in college, but I go home every summer if you ever want to come to Yugoslavia let me know and you would be more then welcome to stay in my house.
Best of luck!!!!



Name: billy
City, Country: japan
Sent: 1.40 AM - 12/2 2001

Ramon, congratulations with your 7 months on the road. We seem to stay congratuating you here all the time :-)





Name: Lynn
City, Country: USA
Sent: 1.22 AM - 12/2 2001

My Prayers go out for the victims and their families in Israeli, in the latest cowardly bombings against innocent civilians at the Mall in Jerusalem.





Name: Ramon Stoppelenburg
City, Country: Johannesburg, South Africa
Sent: 11.34 PM - 12/1 2001

Sorry you all, but I need to spam here for a good cause.

To celebrate the fact that Santa Clause is coming soon, I now have this unique Letmestayforaday Teddy Bear for sale in the Letmestayforaday-webshop. Only available until January 1, 2002.

This is done in association with Cafepress.com, which gives all buyers a discount of US$ 1,01 on the total $15 price.
See this cute teddy bear

ALL commissions earned in the shop will be donated to the AIDS Foundation of South Africa.

The AIDS Foundation of South Africa is a registered non-profit organisation based in Durban, South Africa. This foundation links donations with community-based HIV/AIDS organisations who are not in a position to raise their own funds.
http://www.aids.org.za

Now the World Aids Day has ended, let's act a little bit. You get the teddy bear, while people in South Africa (where 1 out of 4 people in the province KwaZulu Natal is HIV/AIDS infected!) can become more


aware of this terrible disease.

With regards,


Ramon Stoppelenburg.




Name: James Lam
City, Country: Merseyside, UK
Sent: 8.17 PM - 12/1 2001

What a great idea, long live your trip!


I know I cannot do what you are doing because I have a
young family to feed and I am over 40. However, I
don't think I have the courage & wisdom to go through what you are going through at any time of my life anyway. Good luck!



Name: Roman Romano
City, Country: Veracruz, Mexico

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