Travels with Bud: Letters

LETTERS TO BUD

Here are MORE actual letters written to Bud. Do you have a question you'd like to ask? Or maybe you'd like to share a travel experience or snapshot of your own. Write to Bud, he'd love to hear from you!

Hey Bud!
Your website is looking great. It was very nice of you to thank Chris Hartlove and I thought you might want to create a link to his new website. Have you thought about returning to Botswana? I have.

Dear Abigail,
Chris is a great guy. Botswana is still one the best places I've been to. It was so exciting to camp out and hear the lions roaring at night. I hope you get to go back someday. The hard part about traveling, though, is that I want to see new places but I also want to go back to places I've been. It really makes it hard to decide where to go sometimes.
Sincerely, Bud

Hi Bud,
When you came to England, you went to London, but why didn't you come up here to York. It's absolutely great, and I would love to see you, so go on, come over here. Thanx
Simon Moore

Dear Simon,
Actually I did pass through York, but it was rainy and I didn't take any good pictures that day. I also went to Stonehenge. I will probably go back sometime, so maybe I'll see you then!
Sincerely, Bud

Hi Bud,
It is great that you are coming to Ozzie land next year. It is very beautiful and some what laid back part of our planet. You will find a diverse group of people, also a great many wonderful places to visit. The Great Barrier Reef is a must. The under water life is something else. Melbourne is a very clean, friendly and well laid out city. For buildings and of course the bridge in Sydney, not to mention the 2000 Olympics. Travel to some of the outback properties to really see and appreciate Australian heritage. My family and I live in Coffs Harbour on the east coast of a Australia, half way between Sydney and Brisbane. It is known for the banana growing, beautiful scenery, beaches and resorts. Also near by there are the Dorrigo waterfalls, old gold mining tours, and lots more. We would love to have you visit Coffs on your trip, we could take you to Pelican Beach Resort for great food, spa, sauna, swim, or just to lay back and soak up the sun. Hope these few suggestions have helped, would love to hear from you and meet you.
Kind Regards
Lynne Briscoe.
Hope to See You Mate. :)

Dear Lynne,
Thank you for your very kind offer! One of my favorite things to do is to soak up the sun. I didn't know that bananas grew in Australia. There is so much I'm still learning. The gold mine tour sounds cool. I went to a coal mine once.
Sincerely, Bud

Great Site!
If Bud is in Sydney he has to have a beer at the Rocks which is just underneath the Sydney Harbour bridge... some brilliant open top pubs with the Harbour bridge in the background and great beer on a summers day...
Enjoy!

Dear McGrath,
My friends might like that but I don't drink beer. I don't drink sodapop either. When I do, it just goes down the front of my shirt and I get sticky.
Sincerely, Bud

Bud,
Have you been to Columbus, Ohio? Perhaps one autumn Saturday you could visit and attend an Ohio State University Football game at the Horseshoe? Football Saturdays are quite an event in the capitol city. I think you would enjoy the marching band. They are know as "TBDBITL" (The Best Damn Band In The Land) Maybe they would let you dot the I in Script Ohio or have your picture take with Brutus Buckeye, the university mascot. I really enjoy your site ! I look forward to your future adveneres!
Mary Jo

Dear Mary Jo,
No, I haven't been to Colombus, OH. I did drive through Ohio and thought it was very beautiful with nice green rolling hills (well, actually, my friends drove, I don't have a driver's license). I like marching band music a LOT! Meeting Brutus Buckeye would be terrific, also. I'm glad you liked looking at my pictures.
Sincerely, Bud

Hi,
It's great to know that you feel the need to put up information and photos of places which to me are far off and i can never think of visiting.I would be glad to be your pen pal.
Padmaja.

Dear Padmaja,
When I was younger, and working in a department store, my friends there never thought I'd see all those far off places either. But, even then, I knew I wanted to see more than just the Young Men's Department at Montgomery Wards. I'd be happy to be your penpal! Do you live in India? Is it nice there? I've never been there, though. Where would you go first if you could visit anywhere in the world? I'm glad you liked looking at my pictures.
Sincerely, Bud

Hi bud,
Yes I do live in India. It's a beautiful country.Here we have extremes of summer winter and rains.We have a whole lot of festivals too. People just need occasions to celebrate. I don't mind you putting up my letters. How old are you now?
Padmaja.

Dear Padmaja,
Festivals are lots of fun. I'm glad you have lots of them. Is it raining or sunny now where you live? I look like I'm about 12 years old but I came that way from the factory. I started traveling in 1983.
Sincerely, Bud

Bud,
You were in England and Scotland, but you never bothered to pop across the sea to Ireland. Come see us, I guarentee to get you as drunk as a fishmonger. A women wouldn't be too hard to find you either.
Alan

Dear Alan,
It was a big disappointment to miss Ireland. I plan to go back someday. Beer and whiskey don't get me drunk, though, just sticky. Women are nice.
Sincerely, Bud

Well hey,
I live in Australia. How bout that? Yeah, to the point. You asked for some groovy places to go and I happen to know of some pretty cool ones.

Come to TOOWOOMBA-the home of ME! It sort of rocks. We got a pool and a Race track and a bi, big, big, big park and a musium and about 3 dams (the watery ones) and cinemas and more groovy places and of course, ME!!!! whatever. Its an ok town-everyones friendly, low risk of getting hurt.

There's a festival called "the Woodford Folk Festival" in Woodford Queensland. It goes from 27 December-1 January every year. What I read said the trip would be early in the year, so maybe its a bit to early. But its the best place-lots of performers, entertianers, freaks, street theatre etc.

WarnerBros.MovieWorld, Dreamworld and Seaworld are groovy and there is stacks to do. Bud could get a picture with the seals and SeaWorld, Batman and Robin at MovieWorld or going up ther tower of Terror at Dreamworld. They're all on the GoldCoast in Queensland. (Don't go to, UnderwaterWorld unless you go to Mooloolaba anyway cause its dead boring. The beaches are great at Mooloolaba though.)
Others:
Sydney Zoo, Sydney, NSW Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, Sydney, NSW. Thredbo Ski Place/Peresher Blue, Thredbo and around that area, NSW Ularoo/Ayers Rock, somewhere out there, Northern Territory. There's tonnes of groovy places, too many to write now. I have to have dinner.
BYE!!!!
Birra

Dear Birra,
TOOWOOMBA sounds great and it sounds like you really like living there. You are lucky. I won't be going to Australia until March, though. I'll stay away from 'Underwaterworld.' Thanks, enjoy your dinner.
Sincerely, Bud

Dear Bud,
I saw some of your pictures and read your story. How about travelling to Pakistan? I live in the country's biggest city...Karachi, and I work for children.
Best wishes,
Rumana

Dear Rumana,
Yes, I will definitely go to Pakistan someday. I just don't know when. I want to see the whole world, though. It is so big it will take me a long time, I guess. It is filled with so many nice folks. Working with children is nice, you must love your job most of the time.
Sincerely, Bud

Dear Bud:
My name is David McAmis and I am an American ex-pat living and working in Sydney, Australia. I have been following your adventures for a while and look forward to your visit. I would love to introduce him to "Mr. Squirrel", who has also had some adventures of his own... you can check out Mr. Squirrel at...
http://www.aeronaut.com.au/users/davidm/squirrel.htm

Hmnn... do you think they would pose for a picture together?!?
David

Dear David,
Mr. Squirrel had a great time in China, I can tell. I know he didn't really get eaten, that is a funny picture! I want to go to China too. But I will have to wait. It's ok. I know how to be patient from waiting at airports and stuff. I would love to pose with Mr. Squirrel when I get to Sydney.
Sincerely, Bud

Bud-
I know there has been some discussion here about whether or not you need a wife. We would like to propose a pet. His name is Trevor.

He never bites, he doesn't snore and he has his feet planted firmly on the ground. He is not as well travelled as you are, but, as you can see from the attached photo, Trevor does travel (here he is in Grand Teton National Park). In fact, our family is building a slide show entitled "Travels with Trevor" that will highlight family trips taken with the "Yellow Wonder".
Keep up the wonderful work!
The Rues

Dear Rues,
A pet is a good idea! Trevor looks very cute. He seems to be having a wonderful time in the Tetons, they are very beautiful. I'm glad he doesn't snore. Neither do I, though. Give Trevor a treat for me please. I went to the Rockies too.
Sincerely, Bud

I think that he should come here [Australia] and see how a dairy farm works!
M

Dear M,
I'd like that very much.
Sincerely, Bud

Dear Bud,
I very much enjoyed visiting your website. I also appreciate your polite and courteous philosophy, and your openmindedness. These qualities are very rare in people, fiberglas or otherwise. I also like your suit - I have one just like it!

I also love to travel, and I have visited Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle-East.

I am a scuba diver, and I enjoyed seeing you diving in the Virgin Islands. I noticed that you were breath-hold diving, and not using compressed air. You therefore needn't be concerned about Decompression Sickness (the "bends"). This only results from breathing compressed nitrogen.

Since you enjoy travel, and diving, I suggest that you visit Thailand. This is a very beautiful country, the people are friendly and welcoming, and the diving is wonderful. The people of Thailand are Buddhists, and they have erected magnificent temples containing small sculptures of Buddha. I am sure that they would enjoy meeting a small fiberglas person such as yourself.
Sincerely,
Brian Gelfand

PS - are you positively or negatively buoyant?
PPS - be careful of too much exposure to salt water. It can be very hard on fiberglas.

Dear Brian,
I think it is nice to be polite and I'm glad you think so too. I love my suit, it is important to look nice when you are visiting new places because you will make a good impression.

Scuba diving is very cool. I never get the bends, though, even on land. I have a hard time even sitting. Thailand sounds very nice. I know someone who stole a small Buddha from his teacher and took pictures of it during summer vacation. He returned the Buddha with the pictures later. The teacher thought it was a funny joke, ha ha.

I float in the water until I fill up, then I start to sink. I took a long shower after I went diving, thanks for the reminder, though.
Sincerely, Bud

You need to fix the error regarding the Niagara Falls photo. That photo is on the CANADIAN side! You can tell this because it is clean.
J

Dear J,
Well, I thought it really was the American side. Maybe they cleaned up just before I got there. When I went to the Yukon it was very clean there, too. Is it clean everywhere in Canada? The Netherlands is clean too.
Sincerely, Bud

Hey Bud!
So lovely of you to reply! Umm......yes it is clean everywhere! Except in our bedroom closets. Also, I just wanted to mention that Bud is a rather snappy dresser!
Keep up the good work!
J

Dear J,
Thanks!
Sincerely, Bud

Hey Bud!
Your website is looking great. It was very nice of you to thank Chris Hartlove and I thought you might want to create a link to his new website. Have you thought about returning to Botswana? I have.