The Beginning of the Road

Loaded and ready

Day 5 flat and happy

I'm riding my bike around Spain and Portugal. Maybe a bit of Morocco.  It is day eight of the ninety-seven day trip.  An arbitrary length of time I decided upon mainly because of my dwindling savings.  I traveled around the USA for five months by car, five months by bus through Mexico and Central America and it was in Panama City in June of 2011 when I met a guy that had been touring by bicycle for over a year.  The idea was born.  Over the last three years I've had the extreme fortune of coming up with dreams and plans and then, rather then just leave them at that, do what is necessary to make them a reality.  I'm doing this because after a year living in Barcelona I've fallen in love with the country.  The pace of life, the language, the paseos and ambience every little village seems to radiate.  I'm doing this because I want to be fit again.  I'm doing this because I yern for the highs and lows a trip like this inevitably has.  Already on this trip I cursed and screamed after turning a bend on a 9% grade and seeing more endless uphill.  But you can't go uphill forever and while sitting at a campground bar in Murillo de Gallego sipping a cold beer starring at cliffs drenched in twilight and listening to classic Spanish music I couldn't have licked the smile off my face.  Shear joy.  Then again while cruising through a canyon rode along a rambling river in the province of Huesca the happiness inside me unleashed itself in a scream of joy.  Also the fist pump and ear to ear smile I gave myself while walking back to my campsite in Lumbier after seeing a shooting star streak through the Big Dipper.  Yes, this  is why I'm doing this.    So as an old man I won't look back with 'should of's'.  So I have a memory of a shooting star in Lumbier, Spain.

Murillo de Gallego

Night 4 - First campground in Murillo de Gallego

I bought the bike and all the necessary gear in the U.S. and having brought it on the plane from New York I put it back together in the Barcelona airport.  Ditching my worn out suitcase I rode out of the airport with my bikes panniers filled.  My first time ever being on a loaded bike.  In fact, before this trip, I hadn't ridden more than twenty eight miles in a single day.

I rested up in Barcelona for five days, visiting friends and mostly just being nervous about starting.  The journey began just outside of Barcelona to avoid some of the headache of navigating out of the city.  In the city of Terrassa I took my first pedal of this trip, with my first real goal being Pamplona about 300 miles toward the northwest.  After just two hours I peddaled into a city in search of water and nearly passed out on a bench from exhaustion.  The "I can't do this's" crept into my head often those first two days.  I struggled with the energy to even set up my tent the first three nights and practiced the conversation I was going to have with my mom about how I'm coming home early.  I was lonely.  I had been setting up camp for free hidden off the road and hadn't seen a single other tourer.  I entertained thoughts of going home often those first three days.  What the hell was I thinking?  Ride around Iberia?  Fool!  Get back to Connecticut and get a job for Christ's sake!

My passbook to be stamped in churches as proof of doing the Camino de Santiago

But on night four instinct led me to the town of Murillo de Gallego in the province of Huesca, to Guadalupe the campground receptionist, to my first beer, to the Spanish music being blasted and my confidence and reassurance swung back hard.  Yes, I am doing this.  I started to see tourers; most doing the Camino de Santiago.  I was given two gifts: A quality map to replace my massive poorly routed map of all of Spain and Portugal and another of a scallop shell, the symbol of the Camino.  My journey had started.  For the sake of meeting more people and dispelling loneliness I'm deciding to ride the Camino until its end about 400 miles from here.  It feels like the right thing to do and gives me a direction.  I will take it slow and probably arrive in Santiago about two weeks from now.  I'll speak more of the Camino on a later post.  For now, I'm hanging in Pamplona for a couple days of rest.  Then I'll continue my journey west...now as a Pilgrim!

Weekending It

Scott, Me, and Jeff - Enjoying a street beverage in the Paris Night

Paris, Switzerland, Barcelona.  Throughout the last three weeks I joined portions of the Euro trip of my two Connecticut friends, Jeff and Scott.  I met Jeff on the floor of my freshman dormitory at the University of Connecticut.  We've stayed close ever since.  Scott is his younger brother whom I traveled with for five weeks driving around the south west portion of the United States in Road Trip USA.  They bought Euro Rails and were making the most of their vacations.  They were spending their first weekend in Paris.  I was spending their first weekend in Paris too.

Paris

It is hard to go any place in a weekend and see everything there is to see - let alone Paris.  Paris is big.  The weather for our April 20th weekend was sunny and beautiful for about five minutes and then pounding rain on top of us, then it would repeat the process.  Sometimes less of a pound and more of sideways sprinkle.  I really wanted to see Jeff and Scott so I wasn't terribly concerned with what we were doing or terribly concerned with trying to see everything there is to see in Paris.  I still don't really know everything you're supposed to see when you go to Paris - or what Rue you should walk down and at what time.  So why are you reading this?  Good question.  Why am I writing it?  Because I don't feel like grading papers right now.

The Louvre

It's a pretty city, but when a friend of mine said "Did it make your heart leap when you saw it??!!", I wasn't sure how to respond.  Saw what?  All of Paris at one time?  I don't know how to do that.  It made me smile most of the time.  It is Paris.  The Eiffel tower was cool.  It looked more metallic than I though it should have.  The Notre Dame was pretty impressive, we saw it on a Sunday when a mass was going on, but I don't know...it just feels a little strange walking through a church with a mob of tourists looking around at everything, while the people in the center are sitting and using it for what is was designed to be used for.  I like traveling, but dammit I hate tourists.  Let's face it, for the last two years, for most of the time, I've been a tourist.  Sometimes I join those retarded idiots.  There is no way around it.  If you want to travel you're going to be a stupid tourist sometimes.  I'd like to go to Paris again and walk around with a bottle of wine until two in the morning.  Most tourists don't do that.

An Italian in a Ford Fusion shouted at me to come over to his car while I was walking down the road on the way to meet Scott and Jeff at their hotel.  He offered me two leather jackets for a tank of gas.  He works for a fashion company and had them as display pieces.  I always fall for this crap.  He lost 3000 euro the night before on a Brazilian and the casino.  He couldn't call his wife to explain.  He needed gas to get back to Italy.  I ALWAYS fall for this crap.  I buy something and I think I'm getting a steal and then the sleeve falls off when I put it on.  I paid for four massive speakers once when I was sixteen thinking I was going to make a killing, and hid my head between my tail when I researched them on the internet and realized I'd been taken for $600 dollars.  I ended up giving the guy 50 euro.  I told you I always fall for this crap.  I got two genuine leather jackets that are slightly too big for me.  They are beautiful Italian jackets.  Who knows.  Maybe I didn't screw up too bad this time. I just need my chest and arms to grow a few inches and then I'll be fine.

Zermatt Hiking

The next weekend I met Jeff and Scott in Zermatt, Switzerland on the southern part of the country boarding Italy.  Zermatt is the town right next to the iconic Matterhorn.  For me, this is heart leaping territory, but again, the weather wasn't completely cooperative.  It rained pretty much every day, but for about a two hour window on our third morning we could see the jagged pointed mountain top that looks a lot like the mountain the Grinch would live on.  If you're a cheap bastard, just brace yourself when you go to Switzerland.  I paid 80 euro for my round trip plane ticket to Geneva and then 80 euro again (two times) (95 Swiss Francs) for the one way train ticket to Zermatt.  The money is all colorful like monopoly money so I advice you to just pretend it is.  It might make you feel better when you pay 4 Franc for a coffee or 17 Franc for a burger or 35 Franc for a six bed dormitory which charges 8 Franc more for their continental breakfast.  One Franc is roughly $1.10.  The night life wasn't too crazy (probably because in order to have a few drinks you would have to drain your bank account), but we did manage to find a case a beer for a reasonable price so we drank those in the hostel.  The three Americans listened to music on a table littered with empty beer bottles.  The remaining space in the common room of the hostel was filled with Japanese on their individual lap top computers.  Six Japanese with their cords all leading to a multi-plug power outlet in the center of the room.  Maybe they were controlling the International Space Station.  As America gets drunk the Japanese are hard at work.  That's about right.

Zermatt outskirts and Matthorn Peak

In Zermatt we hiked everyday.  We read a lot.  We had good conversations and enjoyed the rain and the company.  The Alps are beautiful.

Jeff ended his trip in Barcelona.  Scott is continuing on through Spain and then on to Germany for another month.  We spent five nights together in Barcelona and now I'm alone and back to being Lonely Man.  I love this living abroad thing, but man it's hard to make good guy friends.  I don't really want new friends so much, just my old ones to be out here.  It is the most difficult thing about being out here and I consider myself as much of a loner as you can get without being diagnosed with some sort of disorder.  I have a pile of papers I need to grade and students that want them graded right now.  I have five more weeks of planning what I'm going to teach the next day.  I don't know.  Life is a funny thing.  One day you know exactly what your going to do for the rest of your life and then the next day you don't know what your going to do next month.  Instead of getting older and knowing more, I'm getting older and realizing I don't know anything.  Oh well.  For me.  Today is Monday.  Happy Monday.

Guest Post - Italy for Two - If Lonely Man wasn't so Lonely

Italy - The Perfect Spring Vacation for Couples 

By Alexandra Jacobs

Italy is a great place to take a spring vacation. With fewer crowds than other times of the year, especially on the beaches, spring in Italy is beautiful. For a couple on vacation, there are a number of great spots that are ideal for a romantic getaway. A week in Italy is the perfect amount of time to take in a little of the culture the country is known for, as well as explore several of Italy's best beaches. 

Most people start their vacation in Rome, as this is where the vast majority of international flights arrive. Rome is a fantastic, cosmopolitan city, but even in the spring it can be crowded and expensive. Anyone looking for a less crowded alternative in the spring should check out some rentals that resemble Hamptons Houses.  In Italy the crowds don't start rolling in until after Memorial Day. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to beat the crowds and save some money when in Rome during the spring. There are two different passes that can be purchased during a trip to Rome to save money. The Archaeologia Card offers access to archeological sites such as Palatine Hill and the Colosseum, as well as entrance to the four Roman museums, all for one low price. Another discount card, the Roma Pass, offers three days of public transportation, two free passes to any of the participating sites, and big discounts on the remaining sites, all for one discounted rate.

Photo by commons.wikimedia.org Amalfi Coast 

Heading south from Rome, couples can relax on the stunning shores of the Amalfi Coast. In the spring, the beaches here won't be nearly as crowded as they will be in the peak summer months of July and August, so it's a great time for couples who are looking to get away from it all while still being close to a variety of restaurants, cafes, and shopping. There are many bed and breakfasts and small pensiones to be found on the Amalfi Coast, many of which offer excellent deals and cheaper prices than most hotels. The towns of Amalfi, Positano, Sorrento, Salerno, and the island of Capri are all great places for couples to start their vacation on the Amalfi Coast. 

For couples who want to head north of Rome, the Italian Riviera is the ideal place for a romantic and unforgettable Italian experience. The beaches here are also beautiful, though colder than those found on the Amalfi Coast during the spring. Portofino, Portovenere, and the towns of Cinque Terre all have great beaches that are perfect for couples. All of these small towns have excellent food and quaint historic city centers that are great for shopping, dining, and exploring. These beaches are easily accessible from other points of interest in Italy as well, such as nearby Genoa and, slightly further afield, Florence and Milan. 

8 Days in Italy. Forever a memory.

I was running through the Barcelona airport holding my pants up with no belt on when I realized why I've been arriving to the airport 2-3 hours before a departure all my life and wondering why I hadn't done that this time.  Note to Ryanair users:  At some airports, Barcelona one of them, they validate your ticket and check your passport at a different window then where you check bags.  After waiting in line for thirty minutes we found out we should have been waiting in another line first.  It's all right though.  It was my first time with Ryanair and I didn't yet know I was running through the airport with my belt in my hand just so I could wait in another line.  At least I had time to put my belt back on.

I was taking my first plane ride with another person in almost three years.  I was due to make sure I could travel with someone else.  Cousin Doug is the first person to come visit me in Barcelona since I moved out here last August.  Doing the traveling I've been doing the last two years I can say the one true thing I miss are my friends and family.  To be able to combine travel with friends is as perfect as it gets and Doug and I were going to have that with our eight day tour through Rome, Florence, Verona, and Venice.  I had been to Italy once before.  Just Rome, but that was four years ago, on the very first trip abroad I had ever done (other than the two difficult to remember New Years in Montreal).  I sucked at traveling then.  I was pleased with my CouchSurfing reference left by Leo in Florence: "Matt, an expert traveler who organizes things well in advance, but able to find a solution to even last minute changes, on logistics, and in the kitchen."  Not sure about the "organizes well in advance" - or what the "in the kitchen" comment is referring to, but I'll take it.  This was the first trip I had taken though were nearly everything was basically planned out.  All hostels were booked and I had purchased a couple train tickets.  It is significantly cheaper, if you are going to train around Italy, to buy your tickets in advance.  The only annoying thing is they might not even bother to check you went through the trouble to even buy a ticket.  In two of our four train rides no one even came around to see if we were paying customers.  Spin the roulette wheel if you'd like and maybe you'd land on a free train ride.  I am brazen, but no matter how understaffed or uncaring Trenitalia is, I will not be attempting that gamble.  Better to sit in comfort knowing you paid for your seat.

Long Map Hallway.  Vatican Museum, Vatican City.

Standing on a corner block in a strange city with a fresh map in your hand straining your eyes and neck to read the street signs is my favorite thing about traveling.  Ironically, putting the map in your pocket and getting lost is my second favorite thing.  Some will wonder why I am hesitant to get a smart phone. That is the main reason.  My two favorite things about traveling would be lost.  Yes, of course I could leave the phone in my bag, blah, blah, but I know that convenience, that simplicity of having easy 'walk me to it' directions and maps in the palm of my hand that pinpoints my exact location would be to much to leave in a bag.  I don't know many travelers out there still going without a Smart Phone or IPad, but I aim to be one of the last.  People used to be just fine.  No where in my definition of the word 'convenient' is the word 'better'.

Rome is amazing.  The Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Capuchin Crypt, the Roman Forum, and who the hell else knows what is around you within walking distance to the fit and fearless.  Early April weather is the absolute best for walking in Italian cities.  So so so good.  Staring up at the Sistine Chapel was my highlight.  All I wanted to do was lay down on a silent magic carpet and float within a few feet of the frescos, slowly moving along to examine them all.  It is stunning.  The place was mobbed and I had to stare with my mouth slightly ajar with one hundred other people, shoulder to shoulder.  It didn't matter.  The whole Vatican Museum is amazing, just don't pay thirty extra euro for the tour that says it is going to skip the two hour line and then not.  If I could do it again and I really wanted to know the history behind what I was seeing I would have purchased a book ahead of time and read it as I walked though the museum at my own pace.  Instead we moved along at the whim of our guide and then I didn't even remember anything I was told throughout the four  hour tour.  Close behind the Sistine Chapel in terms of travel greatness was the first night we arrived in Rome.  We walked for five hours though the city until two in the morning drinking a cup of wine every time we arrived at a fountain.  Doug and I quickly made friends over the three euro plate of pasta and wine we got with Freedom Traveler, the hostel we stayed at in Rome a few blocks from Termini, the main train station.  A good option if your traveling Rome on a budget.  Another night the hostel provided free pizza.  Our pasta buddies were a couple of girls obsessed with the history of Rome and more than willing to share their knowledge.  I'll go on and say walking Rome with a couple of new friends and a couple bottles of wine late into the evening is the only way to see Rome.  Starring up at the columns of the Pantheon, carved and constructed over 2,000 years ago with nobody around except people I want to be around.  Life is good my friends.

Capuchin crypt was fascinating.  The bones of 4,000 people are stacked neatly in piles of femurs and skulls.  The vertebrae and hip bones were displayed on the walls in swirling designs.  Some were kept in full skeletons still with their robes on and some bits of dried, harden, stretched skin still visible on the face.  The last room had a plaque saying "What you are now, we used to be.  What we are now, you will be."  I guess there is nothing truer than that statement.

View of Florence where we listened to live guitar and enjoy beverages after a long day.

I tried to utilize CouchSurfing on this trip, but had a hard time finding hosts.  The only one I got was Leonardo for two nights in Florence (Firenze).  His shirt is half unbuttoned, and buttoned wrong at that. His hair is crazy and unkept.  He has a thick Italian accent and says "Why??" like Borat when you do something he doesn't agree with.  He asks questions like "What time will you get up in the morning?" and "What time will you be back in the evening?" and then answers with "Too late!" and "Too early!".  Doug and I were expected to cook dinner the second night and we nailed it with lentil wraps and a fresh salad with mozzarella.  All food costs were split and Leo picked us up at the train station, brought us into and town and back to the train station when we left.  A bit eccentric, but a good man.  I'm looking to get back into CouchSurfing.  It certainly will always make for an interesting experience!

You have to see David by Michelangelo in person.  The veins, the ribs, everything so perfectly sculpted and the thing standing in front of you over fourteen feet high.  Please go to Florence in your life.  We visited the high dome of Duomo, this massive church in the city center of Florence.  Massive means massive.  It's massive.  In the afternoon we visited a garden in the south end of town across the river.  I heard some music around the corner and instinctively gravitated toward it.  Two guys, live music, two coronas and lemon, high view over looking Florence, Italy, sitting on stone steps.  Highlight of the trip - right there.

Thata Boy - Juliet Statue - Verona, Italy

Next stop: Verona.  I didn't know much about this place, but it has a huge amphitheater in the city center where every summer they still have operas and plays.  My list of things to see with a significant lady friend gets longer.  To see a live performance in an outdoor stone theater 2,000 years old in Verona, Italy will get done in my life.  Verona is also the home of Romeo and Juliet.  The people have honored her by sticking gum every where along the entrance arch to her courtyard and balcony and also by smiling and grabbing the bronze boob of her statue.  Poor Juliet.  I even saw a school student stick his tongue out and lick the shiny polished boob.   Very original Johnny.  Some ass posed for a picture touching her boob and now we have a tradition.  The same guy probably stuck the first piece of gum to the wall too. The gate with a thousand locks was probably started by him as well!  Why do we always follow idiots?

Last stop Venice!  It was when I went to take my first picture of Venice that I realized my camera was gone.  Doug quickly told me to run back to the train and I left him with my bag thrown open and my stuff all over the steps of the train station.  I ran on a train.  Wrong train!  Which one was it!?  I run on another that looks right and looked helplessly around where I sat.  Defeated.  Then, the train starts to move.  I run to the door and press the button to open it.  Nothing.  I press again and again and again and we keep rolling, gaining momentum, heading away from Venice and Doug waiting by all my stuff outside the station.  I pull the emergency switch to stop the train.  Nobody even bothers to see why an alarm is going off.  We keep rolling.  I have 15 euro in my pocket, no cards, phone, or passport.  Hopefully this is not a direct to Rome, I thought.  Fortunately it wasn't.  The next stop was ten minutes down the way and I made it back to Doug 40 minutes after I had run after the train.  No camera.  It wasn't in the lost and found and it wasn't in my last hostel in Verona.  Let it go, let it go, let it go.  My bag was opened when I pulled it down from the shelf.  I didn't think much of it, but was confused why it was open and only put two and two together when I realized the camera was missing.  Lock your bag.  I had the lock sitting on the zipper, but just got comfortable and lazy.  Just lock your bag and you'll be fine.  I learned the mantra "Let it go, let it go, let it go" from Papa Aka who I picked up hitchhiking in Oregon.  I said it a few times and Let it Go.  The camera was gone.  But it is just a camera.  I am fine, my memories are fine, this experience is mine.   Nobody can steal that shit.

Richard Gere in American Gigolo.  AKA - Me with hair.

The fourth stop on our trip did not disappoint.  Far from it.  Instead of waking up early we stayed up late.  Friday night we had two Polish twins in our room.  Ex-national basketball players who also star in Polish commercials.  They laughed at things Doug said like it was the funniest thing they ever heard.  They thought I looked like Richard Gere in American Gigalo.  "I am no gay, but you a handsome man."  Then he would die laughing, his brother would follow.  The American girl, Lauren, we became friendly with, had to strongly disagree and likened me more to Lex Luther.  Thanks Lauren.  Similar to the Italian trains the water buses offered to get around Venice don't ever bother to check if you paid.  This time we took advantage.  Fuck it.  I'm an honest man, but if you are going to charge 6.50 euro for a ride then not ever check I'm going to just keep using the same ticket.  Our second night the hostel had a sign saying there was going to be an epic night of Beer Pong, Flip Cup, and Mister Shooter (whatever the heck that is) and music by DJ Hawk.  It started with a bunch of milk drinking losers, but by the end of the night Doug and I, on opposite teams, had a beer pong game going on with our table surrounded with "oooooohhhhs" and "aweees" and cheers for misses and makes.  It was hilarious.  That night I also visited San Marco Square in the dead of the night.  In a steady rain as the square flooded in a full moon high tide.  During the day people flow through the skinny streets of Venice like rushing water through the cracks of a walkway, but at night it is completely different.  I was a rain drop amongst the rain.  My last night in Venice and last night of this amazing trip was one to remember.

This eight day trip is one of the best I've been on.  Every city we visited had something unique and amazing to offer.  They were all incredible.  I made some mistakes, but we learned.  We're better now and I'm more experienced with every trip.  I see the benefits of planning a trip in advance and will probably continue to mix that in with unplanned ones because there is that nice thrill of going to a place and not knowing at all what the road will bring.  The Sistine Chapel, David, Venice - these are things I knew and had mental pictures of, but can now officially know the picture.  What it feels like to stand in front and around history like that.  It is a magical feeling.  Doug was a great traveling companion.  He taught me about the wine and kept us moving to make sure we made the most of our time.  Also he made me know that it is OK to go into stores and look around and maybe even buy something for yourself!  It is nice to share an experience with somebody.  Glad we made this happen Doug.  Lifetime memory.

Paris in two weekends.  See you all then!

"This is why I Travel" - Romania - February 11th to 19th, 2012

My idea to quit my job as a teacher in Connecticut and make radical changes in my life came after a week long solo trip to Mexico.  I just completed a week long trip in Romania...

...cue sly mysterious smile...

When you travel solo it gives you plenty of time to think.  I think about myself sometimes - what I want to improve in my life...plenty...but also about qualities I have that I wish everyone would have.  I believe I truly love living.  When I travel, hike or am riding my bike this rush of energy sometimes rises from my gut through my chest into my mouth and I smile and shake my head.  I shake my head because I can't believe what I'm doing.  This morning I was in Romania in midwinter.  What was I doing in Romania?  Who fucking knows, but I really couldn't have been happier to be there!

Another quality I feel fortunate to have developed is the ability to smile when stuff goes wrong.  Stuff will ALWAYS go wrong, so smile, because soon enough it will go right.  Plus, when stuff goes wrong you learn something; you're smarter because of it.

The Snowy Streets of Bucharest

The major obstacle and improvement I hope to make in my life is to take those two qualities and learn to share them with a partner.  Unfortunately, I don't think I try very hard to find this partner.  I generally don't worry about this, but then again, sometimes I do.  The boulder that blocks my way to asking out a girl that could be interesting is a difficult rock for me to move.  I sometimes wish it was as easy for me to smile and talk to women as it is for me to smile and care less when I realize I've been waiting at the wrong bus stop for 45 minutes, then find the right bus stop only to get on the wrong bus and realize it 30 minutes into the ride.  I did say I have plenty to improve in my life right?  For now it is all good.  I love solo travel and the simplicity of the way I travel and question how simple it would be with a woman.

I arrived in Bucharest, Romania, the capital of about 1.7 million (about the size of Philadelphia) and instantly made an error.  It wasn't the fact that I walked up and down the stairs of the arrivals section four times before asking for directions to where I can catch a bus.  That is my usual dance when arriving to a new place.  The error was I excepted the help of a complete stranger and he didn't know the secret code word.  He told me I was standing at the wrong place for the bus.  "Do you work here?" I ask cautiously "Yes." he lies.  I just arrived the furthest east I've ever been in my life and apparently was feeling more trusting and child like than a solo travel should ever feel.  I followed him through the parking lot on the side of the airport and up to another part of the airport.  He waited with me inside the sliding doors asking me where I was staying and if I wanted him to take me out on the town that night.  I didn't really answer, but he asks again.  I tell him I have a hostel booked.  At this point I'm pretty sure he is trying to get commission off me at a hotel of his choice.  As I see the bus coming up to the stop I begin to feel better about leaving this kind gentleman behind, but alas, as the bus pulls up he climbs on with me.  Apparently he assumed I needed help scanning the bus pass I had bought.  At this point the "sh-" word began repeating in my head.  Good start to your trip Matt.  This guy had taken it upon himself to be my personal escort to my hostel.  I didn't ask for one and when I told him I didn't need help he just kindly replied, "No, I help you."  Well, OK then...

After the 40 minute bus ride he got off at my stop.  Don't get me wrong.  The guy was actually a nice guy, but there was no way he was doing this solely out of the kindness of his heart.  I was expected to pay the man and because I'm cheap, I had no intention of doing so.  We walked by where I thought the hostel was, but he was sure it wasn't...(it was).  Apparently he wasn't used to dealing with cheap asses that stay in hostels on side streets with no proper signs.  He asked everyone that's walking around in the 0 degree weather if they know where the hostel is.  I helpfully hold out my journal for them to read the hostels name.  Nobody knows anything.  Finally we go back to where it really was and we walk through the gated entrance.  I'm silently hoping he doesn't follow as we go through the door and walk up the stairs to the reception.  He does.  At this point in my travels I know hostels.  I know how they work. They don't want strangers coming in their establishments.  I brace myself for this as I enter the final door and greet the receptionist.  I tell him I have a reservation.  "Who is that behind you?"  "I don't know, he followed me to the hostel."  Some yelling happened in Romanian.  I felt like a jerk.  First off, allowing this guy to come into the hostel in the first place and second off for having this guy yelled at when he was really helping me find the hostel.  He almost refused the 10 Lei I offered him for the bus back to the airport ($3.50).  He left with his head down and I felt like an ass.

On this trip I didn't have a Lonely Planet.  I didn't do any research.  I wanted to go to Romania, so I bought a ticket.  I booked the hostel at 23:00 the night before I left.  I had an amazing trip.  I stayed in Bucharest the first two nights.  It snowed everyday and was between 5 and 25 degrees Fahrenheit the whole time.  I loved it.  I packed one small carry on.  Most of the clothes I brought I was wearing.  The Lonely Planet doesn't recommend staying in Bucharest.  I'm glad I didn't have the Lonely Planet.  The first night I went out and heard some amazing live music in a packed bar.  I stayed for four hours and didn't talk to anyone.  Sometimes, that is how I roll.  These are things I need to work on, but I left at 1 in the morning happier than ever.

Bran Castle (Dracula's Castle)

I love staying in hostels.  It is easy to meet people there.  The Midland Hostel in Bucharest is cozy and inviting.  In the morning you get a all the eggs, bread, and bologna, you can eat.  Free coffee and tea all day.  10 dollars a night.  I had some great conversations there.  One with a Polish kid who assured me the general opinion in Poland is for the U.S. to have military bases there to protect them from Russia.  We had a few beers and talked for hours in front of the Europe map on the fridge.  Another traveler, an Aussie, is spending a year traveling around eastern Europe.  All of a sudden I wish I wasn't working anymore.  But I need too.  I need the money, so I don't need to work.

Brasov

From Buchurest I took a three hour train ride to Brasov.  A medieval Transylvanian city of 225,000 nestled among the massive mountains of the Carpathian Range.  It continued to snow.  I fell in love with the city and the Romanian receptionist at my hostel. I stayed at Kismet Dao Hostel for about $12 dollars a night, the 4th night being free.  I stayed five.  Every morning there was an assortment of cereals, and of course, free coffee and tea all day.  One of the main reasons people come to Brasov is for the castles and palaces located near by.  Some of Europe's most famous castles are in Romania and two are only about 25 miles from Brasov.  One of the most famous, although less impressive to me, is Bran Castle, also known as Dracula's castle.  The castle was built in the 1300's and is thought to have inspired Bram Stoker's famous novel, Dracula.  The actual character of Dracula is based off Romanian's famous villain, Vlad the Impaler.  In the 1400's he impaled (speared vertically though the torso) somewhere around 40,000 people.  Vlad's father was known as Vlad Dracul.  Hense, Dracula.  Vlad the Impaler never lived in this castle. It being called "Dracula's" castle is somewhat of a convenient ploy to promote tourism.  It seems to work.

Peles Castle

A bit more impressive is Peles Castle.  A website listing the most famous castles in Europe has Peles as number 2 and Bran as number 8 (http://www.offtoeurope.com/europes-top-25-castles/).  Peles was the home of the Romanian royal family in the early 1900's.  It seems to house all the wealth the family could get there hands on in all of Eastern Europe.  Ironic to have so much riches housed in one place when the country around the castle was poor and starving though out parts of the 20th century.  Especially during certain times in Romania's communist era from the 1960's to 1989.  I knew nothing about this stuff.  Another reason I love to travel.  In 1989 Nicolae Ceusescu who had been the communist leader for 30 years was executed by a people's revolution along with his wife by a firing squad.  I was five years old then.  I learned nothing of this in my 27 years of existence.  I should know it.  This is why I travel.  The hostel owner in Brasov talked of her childhood.  She knows it is better for the country today but wonders if it is better for the individuals.  She worries about her child growing up in this world.  She remembers clearly the rations she would be given and the poor conditions, often with out electricity in the winter.  The bonds she formed with the friends she grew up with are unbreakable.

While in Brasov I went to a ski resort close by known as Piona Brasov.  It was about $1 for the 30 minute bus ride to the mountain, $10 dollars for rentals, and $25 for four hours on the mountain.  I was afraid of the cold, but I dressed properly and was comfortable.  It was around 20 degrees Fahrenheit with only a slight wind.

On this trip I drank more than I usually do, ate more meat than I have in six months, and inhaled more cigarette smoke without actually smoking a cigarette than I care to think about.  I had a great time.  Bucharest and Brasov are modern in many ways, but I felt as if I was going back in time in many other ways.  You can smoke in restaurants, bars, and on the trains.  After my first night out in Bucharest I had to accept the fact that my one set of clothes for my week long trip would reek of cigarettes the whole time.  Beers average around $1.50 for a 500 mL bottle.  A nice three course meal is around $8 dollars, but you can get much cheaper.  The best part was the coffee machines all around the city for 1 Lei (.35 cents).  I love coffee.  Another reason to love Romania.

Poiana Brasov Skiing

An eight day trip to Romania in February of 2012 is now something I can carry with me for my whole life.  It changed me in a better way, as does most all travel I've managed to do.  It sparked ideas and most importantly it confirmed what I knew already, that I want to keep traveling.  There is still so much more I don't know I don't know out there to find out.

Things to Remember for next time:
1.  Call credit card and debit card before hand - make sure they except your card in their country.
2.  Fully charge Kindle!  It will last forever - but needs to be charged.
3.  Bring shorts for the hostel - jeans 24/7 is not so bad.  When they are wet from hiking in the snow.  They are.

"Have what you need and need what you have!"

Bringing it Back

21 months ago I opted out. The norm. Life as the average person knows it. I always questioned what was important. I still do. It's become my quest. Knowledge is part of it, but it's more than that. The quest is the search for what more means. Unfortunately, like you already know, one needs money. I am one, therefore I need money. Before I became abnormal, I was normal. I went to college. I have degrees. I am a native English speaker. I'm lucky to have been normal before turning abnormal, because I can always earn money without too much difficulty. I have my

first full-time job in 21 months. A six-month contract teaching science at a private English speaking school in Barcelona. I need money, so I work. Teaching is more than money though. I realize the responsibility, the role I play in the life of a child. I cherish that. I love that. I take that as seriously as I take my quest. But, I can't ignore the fact that it's a job to earn money, so I don't have to work; So I can travel, so I can figure out what I'm trying to figure out and find what I'm trying to find. This new job gives me the money and time to travel and work. A comfortable situation which I may find myself settling with on a full time basis in the future.

With my first solo trip to the Yucatan of Mexico in April of 2009 I've traveled to 14 countries and 44 U.S. states. Traveling has become who I am. I don't buy many things. I buy experiences and memories.

This blog is starting anew. These words are written in a bar. A bar with no sign. A bar with a spray painted metal door. A bar in an alley. A bar that is PACKED with people speaking a language I know two words of - beer (bere) and thank you (multumesc). A bar in Bucharest. My travel blog starts with Romania.

By the Numbers and Final Thoughts

El Valle, Panama "All You Need is Love"

Total Trip Time - Approximately 154 days and 22 hours

Amount of Time in Each Country

• Mexico - 40 days


• Belize - 9 days


• Guatemala - 39 days


• El Salvador - 8 days


• Honduras - 17 days


• Nicaragua - 27 days


• Costa Rica - 9 days


• Panama - 14 days

Rankings (Favorite to least favorite: Note - This is similar to choosing your favorite ice cream)

1. Mexico


2. Guatemala


3. Panama


4. Nicaragua


5. El Salvador


6. Belize


7. Costa Rica


8. Honduras

Number of different Cities/Towns I stayed in

Cities/Towns - 43

Number of Times I Ralphed

1 - A Burger King Whopper on a boat en route to Utilla, Honduras

Number of Times I Was Robbed in the Streets, Shot At, or Killed

0

Number of Books I read (including Road Trip USA)
28 (16 in last 5 months)

Best and Worsts

Cheapest Country - Nicaragua
Most Expensive Country - Costa Rica
Best Transportation - Mexico (multiple times better than Central America)
Best Large City - Panama City
Worst Place I Stayed - Corozal Town, Belize

Most Memorable Experiences

1. Sun Rise from the top of Volcan Tajumulco in Guatemala, the highest point in Central America at 13,900 feet.


2. First time breathing under water and getting my Open Water Certificate in Utilla Honduras.


3. Going to a bull fight in my first week out of the country and loving a city I thought I should be afraid of (Mexico City).


4. Living with a family in San Pedro, Guatemala in Lago Atitlan and realizing it is possible for me to learn another language.


5. The chicken buses - the ridiculousness of them.

         And most of all...the local people I met, their kindness, the hostels and other tourists I met, the cultures and uniqueness of all the different cities I spent time in.

        This trip changed me, but only for the better. This world is filled with good people and for knowing that I am grateful. I am fortunate to live in the country I do, but its apparent from this trip there are far more happy poor people down here then happy people with money up there. Money is nothing in the end. Of course, its necessary, I need it to do what I'm doing, but I hope I never let it control me and make me a lesser person. Money should be a means of improvement. Means to improve myself and those around me. There is far less stress and far more smiles down here and I don't plan on losing that upon returning home.

        The USA is a great place and fuck all the dumb ass Americans on this trip who belittled our country to befriend dumbasses who thought otherwise. However, I do hope to see more of you (Americans) on my next journey. Travel is knowledge - understanding strips away fear. People are good and you all need to see that for yourself. There is nothing to fear. Forget fear. Learn to respect. All people have something to offer. Don't fear traveling in certain countries. Fear not traveling. Fear what you believe because you've never seen it for yourself. Maybe it is really dangerous down here. Maybe I'm completely wrong and was incredibly lucky to have nothing bad happen to me. Maybe. But I don't think so. I think these are good family loving, hard working people down here, and a few desperate souls who seem to have no other answers, give the whole region a bad name.

       I want to keep checking out this world. I want to keep learning from other people. I want to keep improving myself.

"Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothings is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full of meaning and its incredible beauty."

I couldn't have said it any better myself Mr. McCandless....


         The last year has been the most incredible of my life. I traveled through 10 countries. 38 U.S. states and did it all almost entirely solo. In Central America I did it with the smallest duffle bag out of any traveler I saw on my whole trip. I traveled with two pairs of underwear, two short sleeve shirts, one long sleeve, one pair of rip away pants, and one pair of khaki pants. I bought next to nothing physical on the entire trip. That wasn't why I was here. I traveled without a cell phone, laptop, or Ipod. I read books. I made three phone calls the entire trip. All to my mom. Sorry it wasn't more, but I forgot to teach you how to use Skype and international calls are expensive. I like to travel light - have what you need and need what you have...thanks for that one Uncle Ray.

Next stop Boston, then Niantic, CT for some family and friend time. Come August, I'm off again.

Espana is calling my name.

If you've been reading these, I hope you've enjoyed. It's in end of the line for Destination Nowhere - but travels will continue....