Business & Life Strategies

What I enjoy in life is setting myself huge unbelievable challenges in life and figuring out a way to conquer them. Generally this is in the fields of Entrepreneurship, traveling, mountain climbing but I also have a passion for all things Engineering and Science.

If your keen on entrepreneurship or exploration or if you’ve just a curious mind keep reading …

bryanclarke

Hill of Crosses in #Lituania 🇱🇹 basically a

Hill of Crosses in #Lituania 🇱🇹 basically a hill full of Crosses like the name suggests! By my count there is probably 100 trillion crosses +/- 1 or 2 ... there is definitely a lot 😬 quite a unique spot.
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Trakai castle pretty cool looking castle on its own island.
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Užupis Republic a very unique self declared republic in the middle of #Vilinus that has it's own constitution written on the walls... even one written in Irish! #ADogHasTheRightToBeADog No.12

Exchanging money in #Hargeisha the capital of the

Exchanging money in #Hargeisha the capital of the unrecognised country of #Somaliland
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I travelled up to Somaliland overland from Ethiopia on the way up to Berbera on the coast, stopping along the way to see some of the most untouched Cave paintings in the world.
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Recognised by the UN as being part of Somalia proper (from 2photos ago). But Somaliland which is located in the northern part of Somalia just across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen. Somaliland has its own laws, currency, football team (although not recognised by FIFA) they play other unrecognised countries like Sealand (an old oil rig of the coast of England) which Somaliland getting their very first win at 2-0 🤣

I was planning a few days to check out #Beirut 🇱🇧 and meet some friends. The last time I went here was on a day trip from Damascus in Syria but a few days before I was due to fly in the protests kicked off in Beirut ... The reason, a new WhatsApp tax ... but in reality the protests turned into so much more than that ... a protest against systemic corruption!
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The situation in the first couple of days were quite crazy so maybe I should of changed my flights but alas I had my inwards and outward flights booked so decided to go ahead. .
It ended up being so worth it and I got to hang with some really cool people and enjoy the peaceful protests. Which really turned into more of a party at least for a foreigner like myself but obviously taken far more serious by the Lebanese.
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There was lots of roadblocks all over the city by the protesters for all the right reasons so I was forced to get a Moto Taxi everywhere but no complaints from me! 😝 They definitely need them in more places! Although a little stretchy sometimes with a few close calls! 🛵

A Mediterranean island split into two countries. T

A Mediterranean island split into two countries. This selection are generally Southern #Cyprus 🇨🇾 or the Republic of Cyprus. An independent nation part of the EU and the northern part a disputed territory which is only recognized by Turkey
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The capital city of Nicosia is split in two where the border crosses right through the city splitting the very different sides apart. The southern side being very Greek and the northern side very Turkish. Soldiers guard the narrow streets on the way to the barbed wire borders. With two walkable crossing points in the city, visiting both, the one in the very centre being by far the most popular.
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I also got to briefly visit #Paphos in the South West of the island. .
The last two times I was here were on a lads essentially drinking holiday in #AyiaNapa in the South East. So I felt I had to come back #Starskys #CastleClub anyone! 🤣 Then a family holiday in the exact same accomodation 😕 Along with Irish football legend Kevin Hunt!

Today is a pretty important day for me....today I'

Today is a pretty important day for me....today I've become the exact same age (to the day) as my father on the day he died.
My father was one of the most driven people around and I've still a long way to go before I can catch up on all he was able to achieve in his short life! Here's to not wasting the short time we've got. 👊🤛

First time back in Canada in about 8 years! Such a

First time back in Canada in about 8 years! Such a country and an amazing weekend with awesome people! Vancouver you still need to sort out your taxi problems 😆 🇨🇦 #Vancouver

#SanMarino 🇸🇲 basically a small Italy within

#SanMarino 🇸🇲 basically a small Italy within a big Italy! Just on top of a mountain.
Pretty amazing all the same with stunning views, old forts, big machetes and crossbows for sale, duck stores and FIFA outdoors at 5am in the night after @manvclock bribed the Cuban barman to keep it open for another hour to try and finally win a game 😂

Going traditional in Helsinki. Refreshing dip in t

Going traditional in Helsinki. Refreshing dip in the frigid sea water pool after an 80°C sauna that quickly sweated out yesterday's beers! .
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#Helsinki #Finland 🇫🇮

#NorthernCyprus a disputed territory only recogniz

#NorthernCyprus a disputed territory only recognized by Turkey. .
Traveling up through the border from Southern Nicosia (Lefkosa) to Northern Nicosia were you can eat at a cafe looking down (through a wire fence) into the other country of Southern Cyprus which is pretty surreal, a place that many in Northern Cyprus can't visit.
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Got a chance to grab beers with a few metal workers when I was passing by.
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Even got the best value haircut of my life, about €4 for a cut, beard trim, ear cleaning, face wash, hair wash and a coffee. I was even offered a facial alas I declined the offer!!
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Got the local bus up to Girne (Kyrenia) on the Northern coast to check out the castlefor the afternoon.

#Slovenia 🇸🇮 nice country with massive 25km

#Slovenia 🇸🇮 nice country with massive 25km Postojna caves that you can take a train through, lively capital, that I've only just learned to pronounce #Ljubljana But the area around Triglav National Park and #LakeBled here, has some breathtaking views!

The tallest building in the world #BurjKhalifa Dub

The tallest building in the world #BurjKhalifa Dubai 830 metres!
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Good times in #Dubai catching up with friends and finally getting to visit this famous city.

I've been to 99 countries but Thailand (or SE Asia

I've been to 99 countries but Thailand (or SE Asia) ain't one (yet)! 😝
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Exploring #UAE 🇦🇪 as my 99th UN country. Checking out #AbuDhabi here and the giant Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque which is pretty impressive although a bit too touristic for my liking where the crowds were far too big and we had to be herded around by security guards. But it doesn't take away how impressive the mosque looked.
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Staying in Yas Island which is where all the motorsports takes place, I got to see Ferrari world or at least the outside (didn't go in this time).
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Then lots of the downtown area of the city and finally a really great desert tour. I thought it would be too touristy, which it was a little. But also great value for money and fun. Getting to do dune bashing in a 4x4 (unfortunately I didn't get to drive!), Buffet food, free soft drinks, quads, sand boarding and of course I got to dress up like an Arab and get my Henna tattoos 😂 #UnitedArabEmirates

#Argentinia 🇦🇷 - Country 100!!! . Finally ma

#Argentinia 🇦🇷 - Country 100!!!
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Finally made it to this major milestone and what better way to mark the occasion than by summiting the highest mountain in the country.
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#Aconcagua being 6,962 metres also happens to be the highest mountain in South America, the Americas, the Southern and Western Hemispheres ... In short it's the highest mountain in the world outside the Hiymalayas and a few Central Asian mountains.
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Having assumed we'd have a relatively ok ride weather wise, having gone in the peak season ... It was a long 2 weeks on the #mountain (including acclimatisation) waiting for the weather and wind to change for the better.
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Having said that we ended up summiting in -30°C and 80kph winds (15-20kph being perfect, 50kph+ being reserved for the pros!) Then transversing the mountain in these winds with crampons on for the first time made me have second thoughts.
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In the end I got to the #summit, being the highest person in the world at that time ... since it's winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
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It's was a hard slog to the summit but in the end I had to rush it and drop my bag to "sprint" the last 150m or so. Leaving very little energy for the decent which I was mostly on my ass for. 😂
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Only thing left to do the following day was walk from 5600m to 2500m and 35km out of the National Park and bus it back to #Mendoza
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Was great to have this experience with our Russian agency @elbrustours and Micha, Victor and Dimitri as guides. As well as fellow friends and climbers @manvsclock (who is on the mend), @onestep4ward, Paul, Dave, Craig, Nikita, Maurice
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On to Buenos Aires now for a couple of days ...
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#SevenSummits

Just kicking a little footie in the national stadi

Just kicking a little footie in the national stadium of the world's newest country #Juba #SouthSudan 🇸🇸 .
Yes that's a barge sunk in #TheNile river in the second photo 🤣 been there for years apparently!
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When landing at Juba airport I've never seen so much UN and WFP vehicles and Jets on the tarmac. Unfortunately South Sudan has been a bit of a disaster after getting independence in 2011 from Sudan to the north with Civil War and horrible conditions throughout the country.
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Also this has to be the most paranoid country in the world for taking pictures I've heard stories of people being questioned for hours and threatening jail time for very innocent photos in South Sudan...you need to buy a photo taking permit which is quite hard and beauracratic to get. I managed to sneak a couple not that there is too much of interest at least in Juba city although there is some cool trips outside the city but they run $800+/day

The Kasbah! #Algiers #Algeria 🇩🇿

The Kasbah! #Algiers #Algeria 🇩🇿

#Tagit the desert oasis, where the sand dunes meet

#Tagit the desert oasis, where the sand dunes meets the rocks just across from the Moroccan border in the central West of #Algeria #Sahara

Had an afternoon floating in the world's saltiest

Had an afternoon floating in the world's saltiest lake #LacAssal it felt far more saltier than the Dead Sea! Also the lowest point in Africa at -155 metres. Even got myself a #Djibouti 🇩🇯 footie jersey! .
Djibouti is a small country in the horn of Africa that's on the convergence of 3 tectonic plates... The country is literally been ripped apart. But it makes for some amazing geological features. It's also home to about 5 or 6 foreign military bases including US, China, France, Spain, Italy, Japan...

Ahaggar National Park in the deep south of Algeria

Ahaggar National Park in the deep south of Algeria right beside the Niger, Mali and Libyan borders. Magnificent Desolation! #Tamanrasset #Algeria .
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Great place to end 10 days in Algeria visiting Algiers, Cherchell, Tipasa, Constantine, Tagit and Tamanrasset.
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You can see how big Algeria is being the 10th biggest country in the world and the biggest in Africa after Sudan was broken up.

So this happened ... it wasn't exactly planned but

So this happened ... it wasn't exactly planned but I looked it up the night before to see if it was possible and thankfully/or regretfully (after some bruised hips and other ailements 😂) it was possible!
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The 2019 Red Bull Cliff Diving takes place off this bridge next week (Aug24)so the water line is pretty low giving maximum jump height of about 25 metres (82ft), where you reach a top speed of 80+km/hr (50 miles/hr). If you were to land on your back it would be like falling 13 metres onto concrete. Even with my reasonable jump I came out in a good amount of pain but it cleared away pretty quickly.
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You need to talk to the Mostar Diving club to receive training before the jump. We trained close by on a 10 metre high board, which for me was around the highest I'd jumped before maybe once or twice, that height was probably enough for me, not sure what I was thinking with this jump 😁 but now I'm an official Mostar Diving club member for life after sign up payment of coarse but this is used for upkeep of the bridge etc and feels good to be park of this club. So far more ppl have climbed Everest than jumped.
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#OldBridge #Mostar #Bosnia & #Herzegovina 🇧🇦 #Bosnia&Herzegovina #OldBridgeMostar #MostarDivingClub
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Checking out Rundale Palace in southern #Latvia 🇱🇻 on my way from #Riga to Vilinus .
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Catching up on some 📸 from my recent trip

Exploring #Doha #Qatar 🇶🇦 . My Indian driver

Exploring #Doha #Qatar 🇶🇦 .
My Indian driver was pretty quiet to begin with unless he was trying to sell me something else if course, like a desert Safari...but once you gave that guy a camera to take a quick photo of you against the Doha skyline ... He turned 180° into a proper professional photographer! Left me feeling like Adriana Lima at the Victoria Secret fashion show 🤣
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Incredible that this skyline was built in about 16 years, before there was nothing in that area of the city. Just north of the center is the Pearl a man-made island which even has it's own version of Venice! That being Italy, not the Cali one 😬. Although it wasn't quite the same. They also have re-developed the old part of the city including the souk which now comes with a giant thumb or is it a toe 🤔 .
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Damn it was hot do. A lot of money was put into this city including the new national museum which recently opened.

"Nothing f*cks you harder than time." - Davos Seaw

"Nothing f*cks you harder than time." - Davos Seaworth #GameOfThrones
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#KingsLanding #RedKeep #Dubrovnik #Croatia 🇭🇷

Overlanding from Bahrain across the King Fahad Cau

Overlanding from Bahrain across the King Fahad Causeway into #Dammam in eastern #SaudiArabia 🇸🇦 all the way across to #Jeddah in Western Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea, by bus, about 1500km, passing just 30km north of Mecca which non Muslims can't enter.
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When I went here about a month ago I was one of the first official tourists in the country that was able to use the eVisa service. Up until recently there was no such thing as a tourist visa and to visit you had to figure out a way to get a very expensive and complex business visa or relatively easy pilgrimage visa but only if you were Muslim and going on pilgrimage to Mecca. You can see the amount of money they are pumping into tourism now with all of the massive events, sadly I didn't get invited to any! Lol.
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Got to explore views from the Al Faisaliah Tower which I was literally the only person on the viewing platform, so of course I had to be creative with my selfies 😂 little did I suspect that all the people in the restaurant just above could see me but I couldn't see them!
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Then it was off to the skybridge at Kingdom Tower (the cool building that looks like a bottle opener).
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Got to see some of old Riyadh too in the southern part of the city including the museum and 'chop chop square' which is so called because apparently it's were people are beheaded with a sword (still) 😬 it looked like they were setting up for a concert at that time 🤔 just outside Riyadh's fort.
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Then it was on to Jeddah about 1000km away by bus and not before a 25km trip to the bus station by taxi!
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Jeddah was cool and probably the least conservative city in KSA where they have the biggest flagpole in the world, the biggest water fountain in the world and currently in progress the tallest building in the world #JeddahTower just started in this picture. Got some Pakistani workers who wanted a picture with me in Jeddah old Town and a Pakistani Uber driver I met who's been to my hometown and used to live for years in Ireland. .
I even got in some Scuba Diving in the #RedSea the first time I've been back diving here since Egypt 10 years ago. The Red Sea is definitely the best place that I've found to dive so far.

Treking around the tiny nation of #Bahrain 🇧🇭 in the Persian gulf. Spent a few days exploring #Manama the capital as well as the rest of the island.
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Checked out a nice McLaren and Rolls Royce parked outside my hotel #baller #NotMine 😕 As well as the Grand Mosque where I got a new religion class! It was actually probably the best explanation of Islam I've ever got.
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Then it was off to check out the old Portugese fort and the rest of the island. The Bahrain F1 Grand Prix 🏎️ stadium as well as the first oil well in Bahrain and therefor the Middle East, since Bahrain was the first country in the region to discover oil.
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Then lastly the so called "Tree of Life" which is a tree in the middle of the desert, past all the oil wells where everyone including scientists don't know how the tree has survived for hundreds or maybe a thousand years with no obvious water source including underground. #trees 🌳.
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Then onwards to the next destination ...

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