IF you’re looking for a travelling companion, you might want to think twice before asking Fremantle’s Rauol Poncin.

Stranded in Nepal by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in 2015, the 21-year-old was in Bali late last month when the popular tourist resort was also hit by an earthquake, which measured somewhere between 5.5 and 6.4 on the Richter scale depending on whose instruments you rely on.

The tremor reportedly damaged temples and knocked people off their feet.

• Robyn treasures this post-earthquake selfie snapped by Raoul. Photo
by Jasmine Kazlauskas

Cursed

But Rauol’s mother Robyn dismisses any notion that he’s a cursed traveller, saying his experiences give him “priceless” knowledge about dealing with emergencies while overseas.

“I heard he was totally organised,” she says about his experience in Bali.

“He calmly and swiftly got everyone out of the shaking villa.

“Many people have said that it’s such bad luck that he’s been caught up in these disasters but I prefer to see it more as good luck as he has managed to survive both.

“If there is going to be an earthquake you want to be with Raoul!”

The travel bug has since taken Mr Poncin to Amsterdam.

by JASMINE KAZLAUSKAS