BRASIL!

After being back in the U.S. for the past 11 months I decided to take a little vacation to Brasil for 2 weeks.
Enjoy...

Buenos Aires, Argentina: Some things to think about…

“Words need to be sown like seed. No matter how tiny a seed may be, when it lands in the right sort of ground it unfolds its strength and from being minute expands and grows to a massive size” - Seneca

A couple of weeks before I quit my job and left San Diego, one of my friends who I had met in Buenos Aires last year told me, “One of the best things about traveling, is that all the bullshit gets stripped away. You see what matters, and what doesn’t”.

I remembered those words. Never really forgot them. And you know what?? He was right.

So, I figured that I would take some time and sit down to draw from some of my own experiences traveling through Latin America over the last 6 months, and share a few things that I’ve learned along the way. I hope that my words and experiences may be of some use one day to somebody out there…

- Heath is what’s most important. As I had mentioned in my previous posts, I had been really sick for a while in Guatemala and Colombia. I remember when I was staying in Bogota I had dropped about 8 lbs in a about a week and a half and it was so scary that I actually had realistic thoughts crossing in my head about dying and was wondering if I was going to be “OK”, and that had never really happened to me before. What I’ve come to realize is this… You can be on the most beautiful beach in the world, or have a million dollars in your bank account, and none of that matters one bit when you feel like shit. I remember there were days when I would be out and about and thinking, “Yes, I’m traveling the world, and yes, I don’t have to get up and go to work tomorrow, and I can essentially do what ever the hell I want to; but all I really want to do is feel better.”

- If you don’t like your situation, change it, because in the end your happiness is all that matters. If you’re unhappy about something in your life, change it. If you don’t like your job, change it. And you know what? It’s ok to be in a job that you don’t like, or in a situation that you don’t like, as long as you’re actively working on changing your situation to something better. I have met people who complain and complain about their life, or their job, or what ever. And you know, knowing that things “suck” is half the battle. So if you’re stuck in the same miserable job or are unhappy with something, that’s ok, because you can do something about it. That is, as long as you know that you need to do something about it.

But, to the same point, if you are unhappy about things, and are not working on making a change for the better, and all you do is complain just because you’re scared, or afraid of uncertainty, or what ever the reason…you’re a fool. You do not get that time back that you’re wasting being unhappy. It’s gone forever. I know, and I can say this honestly, because I was a fool for a long time before I figured that one out.

- Don’t follow the crowd. What really matters is not what other people think, but what YOU think. Sounds simple doesn’t it? I remember when I lived in San Diego one day at work I had someone say to me, “If I drove around in your car (meaning my 1976 VW Bug) I would have to wear a bag over my head”. Honestly, I really didn’t really think much about it at the time other than, “That’s pretty cold, and besides, what’s wrong with driving a bug?”

However, at this point I can look back on that event and think, “I just can’t believe that some one would want to put that much value on a car, just so that they can impress other people, or just not to have to ‘feel bad’ because they drive an old car. It just doesn’t make sense to me.” And not to mention, it’s probably also one of the main reasons that I’m traveling the world right now, and that person has to get up tomorrow and go to work to pay for his SUV, or Mercedes, or BMW, or whatever.

Suppose he has a beautiful home and a handsome collection of servants, a lot of land under cultivation, and a lot of money out at interest; not one of these things can be said to be in him- they are just things around him. Praise in him what can neither be given nor snatched away, what is peculiarly a man’s. You ask what this is? It is his spirit... -Seneca

So, which is a more worthwhile investment of your time? Following the crowd, or doing what YOU want to do regardless of what other people think? You tell me… but I already know the answer. ;)

- Don’t spend your time worrying about things that ultimately don’t matter. What do I mean by this? We’ll just take a look at what caused you any sort of stress today… Was it being late for work? Was there a huge line at Starbucks during your break? Or even, was it trying to get that report in on time? I can mention all of these things because I’m guilty of stressing out over each one of them at one point or another in my life. And it’s easy to see how these are just a few examples of things that ultimately don’t matter.

Now, one can argue that being late for work, or not getting a report in on time is a real issue. Well I can tell you, in my career as a financial analyst working for a fortune 500 company, I had been late for work many times, and have stressed out over many, many reports, but ultimately what was the result? Well, I’m sitting here writing this right now and I’m just fine.

One of the things that I really disliked about my profession was that, no matter how many urgent fires were put out, or reports needed to be issued, another one would pop right back up in its place. So over the past 5 years working in finance, I literally put out hundreds of fires, and put together hundreds of reports, and after all that effort, and all the stress, I cannot remember a single one of them. Why? Because ultimately, they just don’t matter.

I heard one of my favorite authors respond to a question that was to the point of, “How do you deal with the issue of getting behind on your work?” His answer was something to the effect of (and I’m just going off of memory here but this is the jyst of what he said…) “How do I deal with being behind? Well, once I cease believing that I am behind, I’m no longer behind.”

Now I’m not saying that your work is not important, or that you should take a lazy attitude towards working. What I am saying is that many of the little things that cause a ton of un-needed stress in the work place, and in life in general, at least in my experience, are just not ultimately that important. They only matter and cause us stress because we make them matter, and we make them cause us stress.

- Value your time, people, and experiences… not “Things”. We can all do with out the gadgets. The I-Phone, the I-pad… all that stuff is crap and we don’t need it. I honestly believe this, and as many of you know I threw a long bomb with my I-phone when I was in Guatemala and watched it shatter into 1,000 pieces. And you know what else? I’ve never looked back. I don’t have a cell phone here, and I don’t want one. And I don’t even want to get one when I return to the US. Why? Because I truly believe that these things, to a certain extent, take away from you life.

Just as an example; I was in Belize eating lobster on the beach one night with some amazing people, when a very attractive girl arrived at the table next to me. I noticed her immediately as she sat down with her group of friends. So there they were… on the beach in Belize, ready to eat some fresh lobster with a group of friends, and basically in an absolute paradise! But, you know what I noticed from glancing over at her from time to time? This girl was on her Blackberry the whole time while her friends were eating, drinking, laughing and having fun. And I mean, she had her head buried in that thing typing away the WHOLE time. So After dinner my friends and I went to the local bar (there were only really 1 or 2 bars on the island) and about 15 mins later guess who came in? Yes, I was watching curiously as she sat down at a table, STILL typing away on the Blackberry. I really couldn’t believe it, but I just had to laugh to myself when I thought, I bet she’s on there right now telling her friends that “Hey! We’re on the beach in Belize, and ready to eat some fresh lobster with a group of friends, and we’re in an absolute paradise!”

Talk about being somewhere, but not actually “being there”. What a damn shame.

I admit that when I was living back in the US, I was just as guilty of doing these things as the girl on the beach in Belize. When ever I had a moment that wasn’t occupied, I was on the I-phone. I mean, you see it all the time. People letting their life pass by as they fiddle with these gadgets. Just take a look the next time your at a bar or in a restaurant and one person gets up to use the restroom. 90% of the time the other person will pull out their phone, because they have absolutely no idea what else to do. What happened to just “being” and just sitting there and taking it all in. When I lived in Antigua, Guatemala one of the things I loved to do was just sit in the park. I would go to the park and just sit there. I would sit there for hours at a time and soak everything in; watching the people, listening to the birds and the running water of the fountain in the middle of the park, and only leaving when I got hungry or when it started to get cold. This is where I learned how to “just be” and I loved it.

So the next time your somewhere and the urge comes over you to look at your cell phone for no apparent reason, please; “just be”. And I promise, everything in your life will be that much better…

In looking back on everything, I still remember those words...“You see what matters, and what doesn’t.” And yes, I have begun to see what matters and what doesn’t. I have had some amazing experiences and have met some wonderful people from all over the world. I have seen people who have everything, and many people who have nothing; and I have learned from all of them.

I will especially remember those out there who couldn’t even begin to imagine being able to afford a BMW, or an I-phone, let alone a dinner at a fancy restaurant, and you know what? Their happier than 75% of the people I know back home.

And if that’s not something to think about, I don’t know what is…

*** I also just wanted to say thank you to everyone has read my blog over the last 6 months. I’m pretty sure that this will be my final post, as I really don’t have much else to say. I have posted a few pictures below from my trip that, many of which, I did not get a chance to post in earlier entries. I hope you enjoy them.

As for me, I’m still in Buenos Aires right now pondering when I will return home to begin living in San Francisco. So to everyone out there, thanks again! I miss you all, and I hope to see you all again one day soon. Cheers - Byron

Buenos Aires, Argentina: Bienvenido a Buenos Aires!

I arrived in Buenos Aires a few days ago and I have to say, Its great to be back!!

Here's an update on whats been going on. Enjoy!...

Medellin, Colombia: Farewell Colombia!

I just wrapped up my trip to Medellin, which was an absolutely amazing time! And, I’d have to say that Medellin has been my favorite city out of my entire trip!! With that said, I’m down to my last few days here in Colombia and I cannot put into words how much I love this country, and I'm already kicking around ideas in my head about moving here at some point down the road.

So I’m headed back to the US in a few days for approximately 2 weeks of much needed rest. I’ve been on the road for 5 months now with out any sort of a real place to call home and I’m pretty well spent. Believe it or not, traveling for an extended period of time is a lot harder than you think.

So, after spending the next 2 weeks recuperating in So Cal, I will be flying to Buenos Aires to spend a month or two eating steaks and drinking fine wine to round off my trip. It looks like, including my 2 week break, my total travel time will be estimated at around about 7 months, which I’d have to say have been absolutely fantastic so far!

Ok, so its time to say so long for now, and see you in Buenos Aires…

PS. I’ve posted a little farewell video to Colombia below which was recorded recently during on one of the many rum filled nights during my trip… Enjoy!

Cartagena, Colombia: Descansando en Cartagena

I’ve been relaxing in beautiful Cartagena de Indias for about 2 weeks now and I’m down to my last couple of days before I take off to Medellin. What a beautiful place! Even though it’s been really hot here, Cartagena has been nothing short of fantastic.

For those of you who don’t know Cartagena, here’s a little background…

Cartagena de Indias is an old colonial city founded in 1533 that sits on Caribbean along the northern coast of Colombia. Cartagena had served as main South American port for the Spanish Empire from the 1500's to the 1800's, and hence held all of the gold that was extracted from Peru and some of the other South American countries during that time. Since there was a massive amount of gold here, Cartagena was subject to some crazy, and famous pirate attacks. Being the site of many great battles as well as one of the 3 seats of the Spanish Inquisition in the Americas, the city has a TON of history.

A few hundred years ago a wall was constructed as a fortification around the city, full of cannons and everything to fend off all the sieges that were laid to the city, and the wall is still standing today. One of the great attacks on Cartagena occurred in March of 1741 led by British Admiral Edward Vernon who arrived at Cartagena with a massive fleet of 186 ships and 23,600 men, including 12,000 infantry, against only six Spanish ships and fewer than 6,000 men (gracias a Wikipedia for the details). The attack by the British was eventually repelled after a few weeks of heavy fighting, as well as the British exposure to diseases such as yellow fever. Coincidentally though, one of the invading troops along side Vernon’s fleet was the brother of our very own George Washington. Washington’s brother returned home so impressed with Admiral Vernon during the Battle of Cartagena de Indias, that he decided to name his estate after him and hence, we have…”Mount Vernon” which was George Washington’s home in the Untied States. I thought that was a really cool piece of history, and it was a really amazing experience to sit up on that wall and look out over the city imagining all that had happened here.

I also managed to make it out to Playa Blanca during my stay and in between all the relaxing that I’ve been doing here. Playa Blanca is located on a tiny island about 30 minutes outside Cartagena and is only accessible by boat, or water taxi, and the only real infrastructure on the island consists of several straw “huts” that have been built up along the beach. It was definitely a great experience, and I got a nice tan in the process!

I’ve uploaded some of my best pictures over the last two weeks…

So sit back, grab a glass of wine, and enjoy beautiful Cartagena!

Bogota, Colombia: A Little Bit of Bogota

Wow, it looks like my blogs been on a month long video drought! Not to worry, here’s a video that will show you a little bit of Bogota…

Bogota, Colombia: Crossing Borders, Riding Buses, Blending In, and How to Mitigate Risks While Traveling… (Part 2)

If you’ve been reading my blog at all, you know I’ve made it through some pretty rough neighborhoods during this trip and there is one thing I know for certain… if someone runs up to you in the street and starts talking to you for no reason, they want something.

Granted, there are many countries such as Guatemala, where the people are very courteous, and will talk to you randomly when you’re out and about, and this is not what I’m referring to. What I’m referring to are the "other" people on the streets, and if you’ve ever been traveling you know what I mean; the people who want your money, or who are just plain and simple, up to no good.

Now there’s all sorts of people that have pestered me on the streets, from people trying to sell me little bracelets, to people trying to sell me heroin, and there are different ways to deal with both. Some situations may be dangerous and others completely harmless.

First, let me start off by stating that I may have a distinct advantage in both situations mentioned above, over other foreign travelers in Central America given my ethnic background. I’m half Latino, and I’ve had the luxury on this trip of people in all the different countries I’ve visited thinking that I’m from that particular country. I’ve had people say, “Oh, at first glance I thought you were Guatimalteco” (insert here: Tico, Colombiano, or any other country for that matter) and I’ve heard that over, and over again, in every country I’ve been to so far.

So, I guess you can say that I may be a little bit like a Chameleon. If I’m not walking around the streets loaded down with my backpack and reading my guide books, I can pretty much blend into the background of whichever country I’m in, unless that is, I open my mouth and my accent comes out, in which case my cover is completely blown. So I believe that when I’m walking around on the streets with my mouth closed, I don’t really appear as a extranjero or foreigner to most people, and for the most part that’s an advantage in avoiding trouble that a lot of foreigners run into many times, just because they are foreigners, or appear to look like foreigners.

(Just take a look at the picture above and try and focus in on the guy in the background. Yes, thats me dancing there! My roomate here in Bogota found this picture online while she was looking at some photos taken from some of the salsa clubs over the past weekend, and Id say that I blend into the crowd pretty well!)

So, back to the people on the street…Lets start with the people trying to sell you things because this is really an easy one. Usually these people are totally harmless, and are not a threat to your safety, but sometimes they can be just down right persistent, and after you’ve been solicited to buy things over, and over, and over again, day after day, you start to think of ways to either avoid them or just get out of the situation all together from the get go.

Surprisingly in my experience, the best way that I’ve found for dealing with people who just won’t leave you alone when trying to sell you something is to believe it or not, talk to them in English. When you’re sitting in the park for example, and a person who randomly walks up to you trying to sell you something, 9 times out of 10, they are only going to know how to speak Spanish, or their native language, what ever it may be, and all this person cares about is trying to sell you this particular item, be it a bracelet or scarf or whatever. I’ve found that when you reply back to them in their own language (being Spanish in this case), they are just like normal sales people who don’t take no for an answer.

For example, I had one girl try and sell me a bracelet while I was sitting in the park in Antigua, Guatemala and I remember the conversation went something like this in Spanish:

Girl: “Bracelets” (showing them to me)
Me: “No thank you”
Girl: “It’s a beautiful bracelet”
Me: “No thank you”
Girl: “Why not, 2 for $1” ( again showing them to me)
Me: “No thank you, I don’t need it”
Girl: “Why don’t you need it?”
Me: “Uh, no thanks because I don’t need it”
Girl: “Why?”
Me: “Because I said so”

And this happens all the time, people just don’t take “no”, or “no thank you” for an answer the first, second, or third time. BUT, I have found out that when you talk to someone really fast in a language they don’t understand, they tend to get “the wide eyed panicked look” like, “what the hell is this person saying?” I know I did when people talked to me when I was first learning Spanish, and they either turn tail and run, because its not worth their time to try and communicate with you, or they just let you go on your way after a few seconds.

Trust me I’ve tried it and it works in every country. If someone is trying to sell me something, and they just keep pushing after I have given them the initial silent universal “head shake” that means “no”, I just say in really fast English, “What did you say, sorry I don’t speak Spanish man”, and I pause and look that them in a serious manner. They usually stop talking at this point and you can basically walk away and if not, just start asking them a bunch questions in English really fast back to back, and at some point they will give up.

But you really have to make sure that you give them no idea that you actually know what they are saying even if you do speak Spanish. The key is, to make it impossible for them to communicate and sales pitch you, and to talk really fast and look at them like their supposed to understand you, in order to activate their feeling of “Oh my god, I have no idea what this person is saying”. If any of you have ever traveled somewhere where there is another language used other than English as the primary language, I assume you know that feeling all to well.

For the most part, I am very courteous and do communicate in Spanish politely 99% of the time, and I am also by no means advocating walking around in a foreign country and advertising the fact that you are a foreigner by speaking English to everyone or even worse, being one of those foreigners that expects the whole world to speak English.

It’s just a simple tactic to be used quickly in a specific, harmless situation with the street vendors. Primarily, I use this “I only speak English” tactic in certain situations with the more aggressive people; for example when I’m walking down the street I see a person who is approaching me that “has me in their sights” and is trying to “head me off at the pass” so to speak, to try and sell me something or solicit me. Or just on some days when I just don’t want to deal with people trying to sell me things at all, and everyone has those.

Now on to the more troublesome situations….

So, your walking along minding your own business and someone one the street comes up to you and says: “Que pasa” (Whats up), “Disculpe” (Excuse me), “Una Pregunta” (I have a question), “Adonde vas” (where you going?)…you need a taxi, you need a place to stay, etc, etc…

Often times, they will ask you a simple question to get you to stop, or will walk along side you talking, as your walking down the street trying to get your attention. When you don’t know someone and this happens, or when you can tell someone is going completely out of their way to talk to you, like running across the street, or coming up to you as soon as you get off a bus or out of a cab, this signals one thing and one thing only…trouble.

I’ve had every kind of situation imaginable, start from these few examples; from asking me for money, to trying to get me to go god knows where with them. Here are couple different examples…

In Costa Rica, I got off of the bus in San Jose with two girls returning from Manuel Antonio and I hear, “Hey, you need a taxi?” and the second I turn around there’s two cab drivers literally screaming at each other arguing over who saw us first, and “who gets to take the gringos”. So I ask the guy who won the argument, “Hey, how much to the airport”, even though I didn’t even need to go to the airport and knowing that it was about $7 one way, and guess how much he quotes me? $25…what a surprise! The guy ended up following us around for 2 blocks badgering us about taking his taxi to the airport and I finally had to tell him, “Hey, if I need your services…I will find you.”

Another time in Belize I was with a fellow traveler after a hard night of drinking rum we happened to be walking down the street and low and behold we found a coconut on the ground. Now after a bottle of rum, when you randomly find a coconut on the ground, what are you going to do with it? You’re going to try and smash it open and drink the milk of course! So I’ve got this coconut and I’m slamming it against the ground at 3am trying to get it open, and this guy rides up to us on his bike and says, “What’s up”. Again, knowing full well, this guys up to something so I ignore him. Finally, he goes, “let me help you with the coconut” and I relented. So he snatches the coconut out of my hand and goes, here hold this. The next ting I know he’s handing me this giant sack of weed, and knowing full well that you can get into some serious shit with drugs in Belize (even though they sell weed right next to the police station on a daily basis), I didn’t want to even chance it, and just said “Hey, keep the coconut and have a nice night” and I left with my friend.

So, these were just two examples, and I’ve got story after story of people trying to stop me on the street that were either trying to scam me, or were just up to no good (see my Managua post on how I found the hostel as another example), and yes I’ve had plenty of things happen. But there’s no need to cry over spilt milk, so we’ll just leave it at these two examples for now.

And they are important examples to learn from, because as you can see, I responded in the most part to these guys initial “set up questions” or statements, which was a mistake. 99% of the time, when you are in situations like these, where you know someone wants something from you, or that they are up to no good, the best thing to do is just not to respond and keep walking, as I have done many, many times.

It seems that people try and prey on the ignorant travelers whom, when someone speaks to them that they don’t know, and when things just don’t feel right about the situation, they give the person the benefit of the doubt and stop to talk. Because most people that are traveling abroad are good people and when you ask them a question on the street they will respond, and even if they don’t know what you are saying they will stop and try and listen.

So my advice for when you’re on the streets of a foreign country is this; to always, always, trust your instincts because their usually right. Most people are really friendly and are a pleasure to talk to, however, if someone comes up to you on the street and wants to talk to you, and it doesn’t “feel right”, it probably isn’t… so keep walking.

A simple, “No Gracias” will always suffice. :)