Travel. Why and How. July '16

I get a lot of questions about why I travel. Why I take students abroad if I don't get paid. How can I afford a month long trip. How I choose my places. I'm on a long ass flight which is a perfect time to answer some of these questions. 

My first Big Trip that I always pinpoint as the beginning of my love of travel was organized by my favorite high school teacher, the queen of all things ceramic, Mia Pearlman.  We explored Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and Germany in ten very quick days my senior year. Actually that wasn't supposed to be my first trip. I had enrolled on a trip to Italy and the Vatican City the prior year. As the time got closer and closer I couldn't fathom getting on the airplane. I have always hated flying but to this day it was the one time that fear prevented me from getting in the air. I canceled that trip and to this day haven't been to Italy. 

In the many years I've flown since then I cried on flights, screamed and vomited. I'm *that* girl. I rather fly solo because then I only drive strangers mad instead of those I love. But I digress.

My mom has been as avid traveler her whole life and when I was little I kept a journal on different places we "pretend" visited on the globe. And then there was a real journal I did when we took a train trip to St. Petersburg. If only I could find it now. 

In 2002, I got a chance to study abroad in Cáceres, Spain. A tiny town on the Portuguese border where I would finally learn some Spanish (let's face it, you'll never really speak it by being in the classroom!). On weekends, we'd explore different parts of Spain and it was the first time I went to England. I still remember how it felt to be surrounded by English speakers, for the first time in months I actually knew what was going on! 

More opportunities to study came about and I spent Summer of 2003 in Guanajuato, México and 2004 in Madrid. And then I got a real job.  When would I travel? With what money? How? 

My first few summers of adulting were spent in Michigan working on my Master's Degree. When 2007 came it was the first time ever I had a summer and nowhere to be.  I've heard the name Costa Rica being thrown around and decided I was going to work at animal sanctuary for 6 weeks and travel for 2. The sanctuary was a joke and after quitting during my first 4 hour shift I was in a country with zero plans and completely solo. I checked into Hostal Pangea, where I had heard the atmosphere was nice and I could make a friend.  I may have cried to my parents and asked whether I should come home. What the hell was I going to do in Costa Rica for 8 weeks?! They encouraged me to stay and looking back, the *only reason* I felt comfortable doing so was because I spoke Spanish. I knew could hold my own. 

That first night I met some American girls and the next morning they were going back to Nicaragua for work. I decided I'd follow them through the border and figure out the rest later. Then I met some lady from Berkeley. Then guys from SF and Texas. Then Amsterdam. I can write pages about how I bounced around the entire Central America for the next ten weeks (that's right, I extended the trip) as my first solo travel experience was thrust upon me.  

So why do I travel? Because I have an incredibly scheduled job. I can pee in seven minute opportunity window. Like a dog, I respond to a bell. Everything is predictable and the pace never changes. When students talk crap or cheat on a test they act like they are the first one to ever do so. Honey, I've been doing this for twelve years. I have seen twenty of you. Just with a different name. 

I love my job and I also love breaking the pace and exploring. Student travel is a combo of everything I love in one super stress induced week long adventure.  I don't get paid and it's hell of a lot easier to go to delta.com and buy a ticket anywhere than lug around teenagers and I tell the parents so. Yes, I get a free trip but always remember (as my dad taught me): there is no such thing as free lunch. I'd like to think I inspire kids to see outside of their community. My past students have backpacked Kenya, signed up for gap years and studied abroad. I'm never going to take huge credit for it but if I planted a seed then mission accomplished. 

A few of my more recent trips have been dictated by student travel.  When we went to Spain in 2014, I shipped the kindlings home and explored Europe. This year, I stayed near Ecuador, affording me short and cheap flights. 

Speaking of money... Over the years I have slept on many couches. Guatemala in 2008? Thanks, Brianna!

I dubbed my Euro trip Tour de Couch. Dzenana in Belgium? Perfect. Brother in Moscow? Yep, I'll go there. BFF in London? Yes, please! People in Riga? Haven't been there in a while!

Never underestimate visiting friends. I am not one to shy away from favors and it has been an amazing way to travel the world. I will pay back on ANY visit to the Bay Area and gladly so! 

Two years ago, my friend Yana was working in Brazil and as I started looking for flights to Brasilia I realized I couldn't afford it. But I was already on the South American map so why don't I just explore that screen for a minute. Plugging in random cities got me the best flight deal and bam, I was going to Buenos Aires.  

AirBnB has changed the way I travel. I hope it will do the same for people who are reluctant to go to unfamiliar places or short on cash. Once I knew I was heading solo to Buenos Aires I decided to book a bed in the best part of town. I have long outgrown hostels (they were never my scene anyway) and hotels are quite a solitary experience. The room in Palermo had two beds and the other was occupied by none other than Luca, the amazing professional violin player from Cape Town, South Africa. A year later, I was sleeping in Luca's apartment, enjoying one of the most beautiful countries to date. 

So how I do pick my places and afford them? People and Internet. I talk to people. I listen to their advice and then I consider my source. A douchey frat boy tells me about a cool hotel I'll file it under "do not pass go, do not collect $200!" When a perfectly put together Louis Vuitton carrying lady suggests a restaurant I won't do that either. But someone in between? Yeah, ok, I'll do that. I judge. I own it. 

I'll ask my friends on fb. Someone has been somewhere or knows someone who has. Facebook planned my entire Asia trip this April. I had no clue what to do and where to go but other people did. 

If you know where to look (ask me!) the whole Internets thing is a powerful tool. Flight from Thailand to Vietnam for $42 is normal. Paying less to go to Asia off season than my parents' house? I will visit them soon anyways. I've taken many trips recently that cost me less than living in the Bay Area for the same amount of time. By the time I add up my groceries, tanks of gas, seeing friends and such, I can, without a doubt, do a trip for cheaper. Except Europe. Forget that place. 

If you have the desire, creativity and willingness to explore, this world is an amazing place. I'll visit as many places as I can, let me know if you want to join. 

Manzanillo (Colombia Part II)

This Colombian just asked the flight attendant for cola sin gas. She got a crazy look and quickly corrected herself to cola sin hielo. And just like that, all is right with the world. I'm allowed to make Spanish mistakes, and sometimes people misspeak and it's not because their Spanish sucks.  Phew, much better.

As Summer 2016 Big Trip comes to its end it's bittersweet. I've had the best of all kinds of worlds this time around. Student travel, recharge solo time and sharing it with an incredible partner.   The last time I spoke this much Spanish continuously was Central America 2007.  As an extra bonus this year, I didn't spend 50+ hours flying and mostly hung out in one area. THAT is a recipe for a happy girl.

My traveling has changed a lot since my first Big Trip when I was 17. 4 countries in 10 days was exhausting as hell but now I no longer feel like "it's once in a lifetime." Cartagena will always be there. As will Buenos Aires as will Cape Town as will fill-in-the-blank. And if I never get back to these places it's because I went to see something new and that's pretty damn fabulous too. So with that, I stayed in Cartagena for 8 days and in Manzanillo (a beach town 20 minutes out) for 4.  Most people stay in Cartagena for a two days, three at most. Four is unheard of. It's so small after all. But after a while when you no longer stare at a map to go where you need to go, you start to feel like you know the place.  No matter how small the clues, there is something about running into the same people, walking by the same shop and having a place that serves your favorite agua panela that makes a trip a special one. 

Once Pete got here, I got to play tour guide for a few days before we took off to the beach. There are many beaches around town as well as tiny islands nestled between the waves of the Caribbean Sea. 

We are going to Manzanillo!!! We said to anyone who'd ask.

You mean Isla de Rosario?

We are going to Manzanillo!!!

You mean Playa Blanca?

After a few days, we started getting worried. We spent virtually no time researching the beaches and found a random hotel we could afford with water and AC. That was pretty much our requirement and now everyone we told about our destination was dumbfounded. Why, oh, why would anyone go to Manzanillo?!

Yep, we were definitely worried. Until we got there. 

You go to Manzanillo because no one else does.

To call this Afro-Colombian village deserted would be quite an understatement but only when talking bout tourists. Yes, 600 people live there, about 100 families. The few houses and shacks a couple of feet off the beach make up the neighborhood. The local tienda sells the necessities, men sit around in plastic chairs discussing the day's goings. Women sit in their own circles in the shade with babies bopping on laps and little kids running around. This is what small town life looks like. There is nowhere to go and nothing to do. The sun is scorching, skinny dogs roam the area and at times, they get to chase the pigs in the middle of the street.

We stand out like sore thumb. I have no idea how the locals feel about the few hotels on the beach and the a handful of tourists it brings (especially the ones that look like us) but I'd be damned if I didn't attempt to make a convo with every single one. 

Our hotel had no other guests the entire time we were there. The breakfast was included but we had to tell the cook if we wanted lunch or dinner. If not, she got to go home. After all, there was no one else to feed. 

Rookie mistake: "Oh no, we don't need dinner, we'll eat in town." Damn, there is so much assumption in that sentence. That there is a restaurant. That it's open. That they have food. We quickly realized that in our Good Samaritan spirit of giving the night off to the cook we had nowhere to eat. As we bought an apple and a pear at the store the lady told us "if you don't eat at your hotel you don't eat." Undeterred we found a local garage that had some tasty rice to serve. The cook was all out of meat and asked the lady next door for a chunk. You better believe we had a phenomenal dinner! 

This story repeated itself several times throughout the stay as we let the cook go home and scrounged around town for a meal. The hunt became a task we were happy to complete. 

We were told ahead of time that the weekend is when *everyone* comes to town and it really gets boom boom boom. If ten Panamanians descending on Manzanillo is crazy then this town knows how to do it right. On Saturday, as promised, people showed up and all of the sudden we had activities to choose from! There was one kayak, one banana boat and one jet ski. 

As we giggled at our selection we so loved the days we spent here. Our biggest concern was whether breakfast will be practically spoon fed to us at 9 or 9:30 am. Whether I'll read this book or that one. Shall I nap in a hammock or a chair. Yes, this place is ridiculous. Ridiculously relaxing if you can just turn it all off, listen to the waves and breathe. 

So ends my Summer 2016 Big Trip. For the first time since I started blogging/journaling/whatever this is, someone I don't personally know read it. Exciting times! I didn't pay them either. 

In the next couple of weeks I get to celebrate my birthday in the US for the first time as long as I can remember, see my parents, pick up a super sweet and toothless kid (what would travel look like without Skype?! It probably wouldn't!), teach him Spanish and get my own apartment back from my AirBnB girl who is holding down the fort.  Adelante! 

Cartagena (Colombia Part I)

There are some places in the world that you see and they immediately take your breath away. That is how I chose this destination.  Google Images.

Colorful buildings, colonial architecture, inviting as can be.

Fast forward a few months and here I am in Cartagena, Colombia. The beauty is stunning and the atmosphere pulsating. Plaza Bolivar: nightly performances by local dance groups from traditional to high energy dancing. Pull up a chair, find a spot on the bench and take it all in. Nearby a woman is blowing gigantic bubbles and kids around her try to do the very thing every kid in the world wants to do with a bubble: pop it.  An ice cream man is having a little kid chase him as he pretends to run away.  A few streets over, groups of break dancers set up shop to show off their movies. Music coming out of every doorway and alley. Cartagena moves. Cartagena lives.  Cartagena dances!

I didn't plan much for this trip but somewhere I had read that Getsemani is a good place to stay. The name is different enough that I remembered it and booked an Airbnb here. It used to be a seedy part of town but recently the buildings have cleaned up yet the characters stayed the same.  As Mario (husband of my host guru, Anya) and I have a beer at his bar he introduces me to every person who walks by. On my third day here, I am recognizing people as I walk up and down the streets. It's that kind of place.

The heat and humidity is unbearable and the only consolation is seeing that the locals are dying too.  As the night falls and the temperature becomes more suitable for human beings, the true city emerges.

Plaza de la Trinidad in Getsemani is where kids play soccer during the day (uniforms and all) and where adults and families gather in the evening. Zumba class was in full force last night and I showed great restraint by not crashing it. It was also 2x1 cocktail at the plaza and having a mojito in each hand may have aided me in staying put on my bench. 

This morning Street Art tour was canceled so I found myself having breakfast with Anya and Brendan, a 29yo dude from Long Island. Jewish, of course.  The three of us were shooting the shit with travel stories galore and somehow two and a half hours went by. It's amazing how fast time flies when you talk about the things you love.  Adventuredaze.com is Brendon's up and coming website and considering its focus is food and travel he may have just gotten himself a new follower.   

Yesterday, while visiting Castillo de San Felipe and the Monasterio de la Popa (I hope some Russian is reading this) I spent my day with two older Chilean ladies who were on their girl weekend getaway. Mere moments after starting up a convo with them, I was in all of their pictures. Soon after, one was complaining that the other was too damn old to walk up the stairs. Oh to have traveling friends like that when I'm old!

Traveling is only as good as the people you meet. You can be in the most beautiful place but if you can't share it with someone then it's not worth it. Sometimes that someone is with you for life, sometimes it's a person you'll never see again but the conversations you have along the way is what it's all about. 

There is so much to do in Cartagena but I'm saving it all for my special delivery that is on its way via Panama as we speak.  I'm just taking today and tomorrow as a local, bumming around town and getting my nails done with Anya. Tomorrow her and I are going to a tasting competition of the best bars in the city. I get to taste and I get to vote. I am a solid candidate for the task. In the meantime, it's dinner time.