Bet you weren’t expecting a travel blog post right now. To be fair, this probably won’t be much of a post. Despite everything that’s changed over the past month, I did very little for most of it. I’m writing this to provide some semblance of closure to this whole trip, and to give my (severely boring) side of the ongoing #StuckInPeru debacle. Before the Quarantine A month ago, back when life was still fun, I had my nice apartment in Barranco and a rental car. … »
It was an abrupt shift back to relative stability after months of hyper-nomadic behavior. I stay in places for more than a few days now. I can actually stock my refrigerator with food. At any given time, it’s very likely that I’ve showered within the last 24 hours. My shirts occasional have collars on them. All good stuff, honestly. This stability is necessitated by my return to work, I’m once again a full-time logic factory for pay. … »
I’ve been completely living in the now in Chile. Not because I’ve become enlightened or tapped into some inner whimsy, but because the present tense verb conjugation is the only tense I have a shot at remembering. I can hack together a future tense by chucking in a ‘voy a …,’ but I strictly avoid mentioning things that have already happened. The past might as well have never occurred. … »
It’s been a windy and windy trek around the South Island. Windy as in 120 KPH gusts at one point, and windy as in relentless alternating hairpin turns. There are plenty of straight sections to be sure, but when Google Maps reads something like ‘1 hr 18 min (41 km),’ you know you’re in for a stomach-churner. The Wop Wops The surf was set to back off after those glory sessions in Greymouth. … »
Bali to Melbourne, Melbourne to Auckland, and bam, I’m in New Zealand. Flying is funny, you basically just hang out in what amounts to an uncomfortable movie theatre for how ever many hours until they kick you out, then you’re there. It still blows my mind sometimes. North Island A solid swell was set to hit Raglan, New Zealand’s famous left-hander, so I made my way there. Raglan I got to Raglan the night before the swell was supposed to fill in. … »
I haven’t worn underwear or socks in Bali, just trunks and sandals or bare feet. I have a wardrobe system that I try not to stray from, a pair of trunks for surfing, two pairs for general living, and a pair for formal occasions. Whenever a pair isn’t being worn it needs to be hung up in the sun. Sandals should also be baked in the sun whenever possible. Entrust in the system and good things will happen. … »
First Days in Bali I took the long way to Bali via Qatar. I have way too much shit with me, so unless I jettison 10 kgs of luggage I’m limited to a handful of airlines with generous baggage allowances. Qatar Airways happens to be one of those. I stayed with an expat from Rhode Island for the first couple days. He’s been out here a long time, and he’s got his life really well setup. … »
I think I’m done with the cornball titles after this. The last stretch in South Africa was a whirlwind. I grew a bit restless with the lack of swell, so I blazed through the final few things I wanted to do. I checked out Durban, the Drakensberg, and the animals in less than a week. It was a lot of driving and frantic planning without much internet or sleep. … »
Well, it’s happened. I’ve got geometric tattoos wrapping around my upper calf. I don’t own shampoo. I chain smoke cigarettes at the hostel’s outdoor table. I lecture anyone within earshot about the merits of traveling and the delusions of capitalism. I’m no longer a tourist, I’m a traveler. Nope, I’m not nearly tan enough for that. The majority of travelers I’ve met so far have been cool as fuck, but there have been a few of these seasoned self-righteous travel types. … »
Can’t believe I had the nerve to imply a theme of radicalism and then proceeded to live like I have this past week in Cape Town. “Pampered guy doesn’t work, gets takeout 37 meals in a row” would be the headline. In my defense, the economics of food seem a little out of whack here. I did go to the grocery store when I first arrived. I spent ~$30 on what I ended up making into maybe 5 meals. … »
Quirky name : ✅ Minimalist design : ✅ Inflated sense of importance : ✅ Here we go, all the boxes are checked, the travel blog is off and running. I don’t really know how this is going to go. Will it be updated weekly? Sporadically? Never again? I guess it depends on how much time I end up having to update this and how much ‘blog-worthy’ shit I’m able to capture or want to recount. … »