Jordan Part 2: Petra

Petra lived up to my expectations and then some. I loved hiking through the park and challenging myself with some pretty scary (for me) walks on ledges at pretty severe heights. The history there is also just beautiful to explore and experience. It's a magical place. I caught myself smiling for no reason the entire time we were there. Two days was a good amount of time but we could have easily spent some more time. The highlight was definitely entering Petra from behind and hiking up the mountain that the Monastery is on. Tremendous way to see the park. Beyond that, it often felt like we had the place to ourselves, the exact opposite of what I expected going in. Check out the photos below. Good Stuff:  

Jordan: Amman & Jerash

Some great things happened in Jordan. Really, some quite special moments. I'll be posting photo blogs of the two real highlights of the trip, Petra and Wadi Rum. But I wanted to have a post that highlighted my first few days in country. Some interesting stuff happened while I was in Amman: particularly, there was the struggle to find the bar that Litsy claimed was near the Jordan Tower Hotel. Jimmy (great Aussie who was staying in my dorm) and I walked in circles looking for beer. This proved fruitless, but was fun to remember exactly how stubborn I could be about trying to find things once I'd started. Anyways we spent way too much time looking for a place for beer. Turns out we needed to make our way to rainbow street in search of elusive beer (this being a Muslim country, beer isn't easy to come by).

Well, the context of the streets it happened to be pointing us down. We happened upon one particularly dark alley with a fair amount of distressed buildings around it and just one dude down at the end. Oh, by the way the end really wasn't clear in terms of what exactly it was. It just stopped being lit up and up a hill there was no way of knowing if the street continued or if this was a no-thru street. Anyways, as we approach this guy on the street on the too-dark road, walking up the hill. I notice that he has pulled out a knife and is brandishing it and he began kind of strangely hollering at Jimmy and I. This made us both rather uncomfortable. We walk in a long oval kind of around him. At this moment we noticed that there was a Jordanian approaching us from behind who had picked up speed. Right then, I was pretty concerned. I wasn't sure if the two dudes knew eachother, and most pressingly there was a guy jabbering at me in Arabic while playing with his switchblade on a pitch black street my first day in Amman. NOT a good look. Anyways, the guy behind us ended up being even more freaked out than Jimmy and I, and we escaped unscathed. But, it was a quick way to get the heart pumping and a good lesson about listening to Google Maps over some common sense in new places.

That night ended up pretty hysterically, we found beer at the Book Shop Cafe, which was really a great place to spend some time (although the beers were unbelievably expensive). Another interesting facet to the evening ended up being that the cafe, unbeknownst to us, converted into a hangout for gay Jordanians on Thursdays. So we spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out if we were in the right spot. Turns out we had a blast and were. But it also was a gay bar. Something, I didn't quite expect to be so easy to find in the center of Amman. Pretty interesting. 

Overall, I ended up loving Amman after at first being a little overwhelmed with the congestion and noise-pollution. The food was fantastic and the company was excellent.

The next day, we went to Jerash which really was a treat. Roman ruins from at least 100AD that were preserved really well and were just  remnants of a sprawling city. Easily the best ruins I've seen from Antiquity.

Here are some Jerash pics:

Today's Note From the Universe Makes Me Smile

You simply cannot know, Ignacio, what will make others happy. But you can always know for yourself.

Go for it, The Universe

And then there was that time...

I moved to a hotel with a  bathroom I'm not scared of,  with clean white bleached American-sized towels, and a balcony overlooking a loud Indian wedding. And it felt like I'd won the lotto. #winningisrelative

Bonus: it has furniture!

The First 100 Days

Today is day 100 of the Big Trip. Thinking about what that means, I really have a hard time putting it all in perspective. One thing I've been thinking about is that it really feels like so much longer than just 100 days. Particularly given how many experiences I've had since leaving for Europe back in August. That's one of the main beauties of this journey, compacting so much of the life experience I cherish into what would otherwise be an impossibly short period of time for such a thing. On the other hand, I can't believe so much time has passed, and that my scheduled trip is about 40% complete. I have a hard time thinking it's November, and that on the other side of the planet my friends and family are prepping for the holidays while winter is looming. It's crazy to think it's already this far into the trip. But, that just reminds me how easily this time could have passed without going out on this journey. I'm pretty thrilled I'm here, and have been where I've been during these last 100 days. Here's to another 150 brilliant, fun and sometimes tough, but always interesting days.

With that sentiment, here's a recap of my top experiences thus far:

1. Jordan - Petra. This was such a great couple of days, it had everything I enjoy all compressed into a short period of time. Beautiful geography, great new people, great old people and physically & mentally demanding challenges. I'll never forget the hike up the back side of the mountain to enter the monastery or the amazingness of leaving through the Siq at dusk.
2. Israel - Hiking the Maktesh Ramon. This was a truly wild and fun experience and I did it completely alone. It forced me to face some fears and gave me some of the best scenery I've ever experienced in my life. Great decision to go there, an unexpected joy I think about often.
3. Joran - Wadi Rum. I always knew I'd be going to Wadi Rum, and I had really high hopes for the experience. And it did not disappoint. I'll be writing a post just about Wadi Rum with a bunch of the photos that hopefully capture the desolate beauty of this place. I found it magical sleeping out in the desert and trekking through what felt like other-worldly rock formations and peaceful, pink/orange hued dunes.
4. Italy - Positano Boat Ride. This was really early in the trip but just a pure, unhindered day of fun. Sharing it with Phil and Mom made it even better. I'll need to get Phil to come with me to my next sea-side destination to captain another boat.
5. Italy - Pizza Naples. I knew I would love the pizza here. I didn't think I would eat quite as much of it as I did. But it was glorious, and will be repeated.
6. Sweden - Lake House near Karlstad. I couldn't have come up with a more relaxing beautiful retreat if I had planned it myself (which I didn't, thanks Anders!). Hanging out in the sauna and taking dips in the midnight-moon-lit lake was pretty sweet.
7. Croatia - Not a ton happened in Croatia. And thats exactly how I wanted it. Hanging out with Sarah and LItsy, and sipping too many lattes in various cafes was a perfect vacation from my travels. Rejuvenating, if a little fattening (damn you eastern Europe for your delicious pastry obsession!).
8. Paris - Pure fun. This is what a weekend in Paris should be like. Tons of art. Great new friends. Great conversation. Amazing bread. Outstanding Cheese. These things won't soon be forgotten.
9. India - Salaam Baalak Trust City Walk. Litsy found this walk given by former Delhi street kids. It was one of coolest things I've ever done while traveling. I didn't see much other than the centers where the Trust cares for its children. But, I interacted with some lovely  kids who didn't have a home but clearly had a ton of spirit. Hearing the success stories of our guides, who turned the page from being homeless in Delhi to having big dreams was truly moving.
10. Israel - Prayer Service for Sukkot at The Western Wall. This was pretty great and again, unplanned. I couldn't understand a word of the prayer but I could feel the spirit of the thousands gathered around me in solemn unity.

Special Mention I: Indian Food. I can't eat exactly as much of it as I would like, but man the food here is pretty spectacular. I'm currently dreaming of returning to Pind Balluchi in Delhi and pigging out on various curry and tikka dishes.

Special Mention II:  Tel Aviv. What can I say, I love Tel Aviv. I'm not sure why. But it doesn't matter, it's a place I'll return to in the near future for sure. I look forward to more jogs along the beach, delicious food and great people watching.

Looking forward to much more stuff that feels like this:

Good Morning and Hello Rishikesh

Croatia: A rainy, delicious and fun couple of weeks

So, I'm pretty behind in updating the blog about where I've been and what I've been up to. I'm going to surmise that this has everything to do with having too much fun. There's definitely been plenty of that since the last few entries. I've also just tried to update random things I want to remember later, more in real-time as opposed to holding everything back for a long summary post. Either way, I like to keep at least one post that has the highlights of every stop on the trip. Without further ado, here is the one about Croatia: Croatia was the first place I had zero plans of visiting at the outset of the trip that  I ended up visiting. That has mostly to do with the Indian Visa Problems I'd managed to get into and a decent level of discomfort with being without my passport in Israel for a month. That along with hanging out with two of my favorite people in the world (Sarah and Litsy) lead me to Zagreb. I spent about two weeks in Croatia and it was a pretty rejuvenating time, I had the luxuries of being home (well, Sarah's home) and basically ate pastry, drank wine, saw a tiny amount of the coast and sipped a ton of lattes in Zagreb. Pretty excellent if a little waist-expanding.

My Highlights:

1. Hanging out with Sarah and Litsy in Zagreb.
2. Definitely spending time with Sarah in her home for the first time in eight years or so. IT's like we're officially friends again now that I've dined at her place. And crashed there for a couple of weeks!
3. Hiking around Plitvice Lakes National Park - pretty much the most stunning park I've ever been to.
4. Cafe Culture in Zagreb - Loved sipping lattes and getting made fun of for ordering huge,milky, half-caffeinated coffees all over town. I think my favorite place was Diva's (supplies!) or Kim's.
5. Making the best of some terrible weather along the coast in Rovinj and Rijeka - The weather was cold and rainy, but I managed to drink enough wine, make enough cured meat sandwiches and eat enough pastry to have fun out there in Istra with Lits.

The Croatia Photo Stream:

This is the boat we never got to ride that tour's the Fjord near Rovinj in Istra.

My favorite Bathroom sign of the trip thus far

Zagraeb involved a lot of lattes, here is one of my fave's from Diva Cafe (where they were very amused by my coffee order)

Chilling at Sarah's with Monty and Klio 

Random Zagreb street art

This was on the wall at a really cool dive bar we went to one of our last nights in Zagreb, I couldn't tell what the dude what doing and if this head was attached to a sewing machine or if he was carrying it.

Sarah showing me what life in Saudi was like some of the time

Gorgeous Plitvice Lakes National Park

Excellent food abounded in Zagreb these are from Didvo, but I also loved Trilogio

Some Cuban Heritage on Display in Zagreb

Budapest Highlights & Photo Stream

I spent a lovely weekend in Budapest before heading to Croatia. I had visited Budapest back during the Eurotrip in 2005 after graduate school and had loved it then. I definitely had that same feeling this second time around. It was a great way to spend a long weekend. Quick Highlights:

1. Amazing Dinner at  Borkonyha WineKitchen
2. Hungarian Cooking Class with Alicja - We made Hortobágyi palacsinta (Crepes with with savory meat, in this case it was Chicken Paprikas [They love them some Paprika in Hungary]) & Apple Cake - Delish. Also memorable was the homemade Apricot Jam we got to try and the market tour before the class.
3. Checking out the Ruin Pub Szimpla and The Beer Garden in our Neighborhood.

Market Tour Before the Class (Check out that sausage!)

Not sure why they had these cascading russian dolls things of ex and current presidents but they did.

  

We almost had breakfast at New York Cafe - but, they were charging like thirty bucks for continental breakfast, so we snagged this photo and ran out the back!!

Dinner at Borkonyha (This included my favorite bottle of wine of the whole trip)

Hungarian Cooking Class

A pic of Szimpla Kert (The Ruin Pub)

Then there was that time.....

I saw a severed cows head in a bucket at the fruit market in downtown Amman. PS I was discouraged from taking a picture by the fruit stall next door.

Camel ride in Petra

Wadi Rum Trek

Sunset in Wadi Rum

Epic Day in Jerash

A little taste of Louisiana in Instanbul

My Balkan Addiction

I've been housing these things by the box. And now I purchase in quantities of three or four exclusively. I'm wondering if this is Paleo?

The view from Sarah's apartment in Zagreb (rainbow not always present)

Who knew it would be over two weeks?

Tracking my Trip Activity

  Being a data guy, it's fun to see what the trip has done to some of the easily captured metrics I generate just by existing. In this case, I'm thinking about my Nike Fuel Points, captured by my Fuelband.

I have June 2013 here as a reference point and then August and September (First complete calendar month of the trip) as charts to compare how active I've been on the trip (According the very flawed Nike Fuel Points system).  The Initial results are not surprising. While traveling I'm way more active. (By the way, June probably included walking to work everyday and also wodding four times a week). Thankfully Croatia  isn't included in much of September, since I think slobbing around has been my primary activity since arriving here (and drinking Istrian Wines). 

Rocket Burger in Zagreb

The Two Month Anniversary Post: What I've Learned

So, today, I've officially been traveling for two months. And I'm about four months removed from having a house or apartment that I can call my own. But really, it's the two month anniversary of traveling part that matters. And, its an interesting time to think reflect on what's happened and where I'm headed.

25% or so of the travel time of the trip (not including time in Miami/New Orleans in December or the time in Florida before leaving) is done. Someone recently asked me what I've learned since starting this journey. Not a bad idea to document the things I think I've learned (about myself and other random stuff) since starting this trip around the world.
Here's the current rundown:

1. I Like it Slow (really slow [ I'm only mostly talking about travel here]) - Some of my favorite moments have come from taking an extra day or two to just wander the streets of some place I've decided to linger instead of trying to tack on a new destination.
2. What people expect to be interesting isn't necessarily interesting to me (this is code for I like some pretty boring things) - Many of my highlights involve riding a bike or walking down streets in new places just jamming out to my tunes and daydreaming. I like all the other stuff too, but it's been wonderful to just walk and run and bike in new places and soak it in.
3. Speaking of which: Daydreaming is heaven - It's been so fun to just have the freedom to spend time thinking about almost anything. The specifics don't matter, but the time and freedom to ponder whatever fancies me in the moment is truly a blessing.
4. Freedom is just a few minutes/days/weeks/decisions/choices/savings/jobs away - I think it's crazy how quickly my life changed from a pretty routine-driven structured existence to one of pure freedom. It's totally confidence-boosting that whatever it is we want, we can have, and its just a few decisions or milestones away.
5. It's the people (always the people) that have made this special: It's the conversations. It's the new perspectives. The best thing about the road has been the folks. (Queue Depeche Mode: "People are people..."
6. I'm pretty resilient - There have been some moments that were challenging and that I wasn't sure would at the time would easily fade into distant memories. But they did, and I was having a blast quickly thereafter.
7. I could have planned more and maybe didn't give the first couple of months enough deliberate thought - No Biggie, but I'm committing to more deliberate use of my time for the next six months. This will include a lot of hanging out and taking it slow.  Some days I might do nothing - and I love that. But I'll be doing it because I've considered my options.
8. I both love and hate being alone - some of the best times of the trip I've been completely alone wandering the streets of Tel Aviv or some other place, without wifi and not really connected to my network. But other times, it's been less fun to not share some of the cool stuff I've been doing with anyone in the moment. Navigating this has been kind of fun.
9. I'm easily knocked off-budget - I can get pretty excited about what's going on and forget this whole I have no income thing. Just something to consider.
10. I have a lot less free time than I thought I would- I spent a lot of time thinking about all of the cool things I'd do with my free time: THREE Blog projects. Revisiting my Italian Studies. Vetting graduate programs. Underwater basketweaving. You get the point. I thought I was going to be way more bored than I have been. Just keeping up with documenting my trip here has been a challenge.
11. I'm working out MUCH less than I thought I would, but running much more than I was back home. This has been good - I think I've upped my average mileage and improved my average mile time during this trip - not too shabby.
12. I miss my Purple and Yellow Japanese Hat (Which is actually mostly red in color) - I didn't bring it on the trip because it is definitely nearing its final stages of usage. But, wow, it's weird not having access to it. It's definitely the article of clothing I've worn the most in my life to date.
13. I never don't say I'm from Miami but Live In New Orleans (lived) - I have a hard time saying I'm just from Miami and not including New Orleans. Simple, but interesting.
14. I can't wait to get to South America to speak Spanish full time for a few months
15. I don't think I'm ever going to really get over my hatred of flying - but I have grown to enjoy the odd plane drink or three and that seems to help.
16. I get lost A TON - man do I have a terrible sense of direction. It's been even more apparent now that I'm traveling with Litsy, who has a great sense of direction. I'm constantly trying to get us to go in the wrong direction. It's pretty hysterical.
17. I'm kind of obsessing with trying to get to Africa at some point soon.

The key thing I would say about the trip thus far is that I've tasted freedom and that it is  delicious, intoxicating and rejuvenating.  Here's to at least six more months of that. Here are the pics I think capture that feeling of freedom:

It's Exhilarating:

It's Calming:

It feels like accomplishment: