Micronations

I received a book from a friend for my 22^nd Birthday (well I sort of asked for it) which was Lonely Planets ‘Micronations’. I thought that it was like any other Lonely Planet, and that it was a travel guide to some of the smallest countries on the planet. I wasn’t wrong….but it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.

My grandparents and parents have all done a lot of travelling and so I think my desire to explore and visit other countries is something that I was born with. I have always been fascinated with the teeny tiny dots in the ocean and always fantasized about visiting them, and it being a really exciting new place. I was especially excited, when in one of my school Geography lessons, I discovered that there was a Bristol Island (in South Georgia in the South Sandwich Islands). I never really did any more research, just got excited that maybe one day I could visit this other Bristol, and that’s about as far as I got.

(Not the most hospitable looking place)

Anyway, I was sure that my new Lonely Planet was going to be a guide book to places like this, and was a little disappointed when it turned out to be about even smaller countries….that don’t technically exist.

The product description for this book is:

"Micronations" takes a look at some of the most curious places on the planet. Designed to generate interest in the strange world out there, this is a fully illustrated, humorous mock-guidebook to the nations people create in their own backyards - most of which can be visited (for example, Sealand, an island off the coast of Britain; and Hutt River Province, which seceded from Western Australia in 1970). A global selection of micronations are profiled, complete with facts and figures, cultural information, Things to See and Do, and Getting There and Away sections, as well as interviews with the quirky characters who've set themselves up as presidents, emperors and serene highnesses. The book also features full-colour photographs, maps, flags and stamps etc, and an entertaining introduction detailing the historical, philosophical and most definitely satirical aspects of the micronation phenomenon. For lovers of humour, trivia and ephemera, this is a gift book, reference text and travel guide rolled into one.

So, as one of the places listed is in Portsmouth, what else to do but head off and find it? The Grand Duchy of the Lagoan Isles, covers 3 islands in the middle of Baffins Pond, which are mainly (well, only) inhabited by ducks. Yet, it has a website, http://lagoan-isles-gov.tripod.com/ crest, national anthem, and most importantly, you can become a citizen.

I thought it was pretty cool, my friends were unimpressed.

Another place I've always had some strange interest in going to is Nauru. I don't know why. There don't seem to be any tourist attractions, it just seems to be a fascinating place. I think that around the time that I discovered where it was, on a mission to find the furthest place from the UK that I could visit, the airline had been suspended as the plane had been reposessed, so I pretty much couldn't even get there!

When I was in Fiji last year, I saw a travel agent in Nadi adveritsing return flights there. I couldn't go, as I was booked to fly back to New Zealand and then on to Chile the next day, but just out of interest, I asked how much return flights would be. I thought it was a case of mis communication when I recieved my quote as Nauru is only 1461.8 miles from Nadi, which is the same distance as from London to Marrakech (1429.09 miles). Whilst you can get return flights to Marrakech for less than £100, return flights to Nauru will cost around FJ$3000. So that's over £800!!! No wonder nobody goes to visit.


(For small country inspiration, check out http://www.oceandots.com/ - my new favourite website)