Simple Beauty [Bogota]

January 2017

We started Bogota with a huge bang as we arrived on December 31st to celebrate the new year. Upon arrival, we were immediately whisked away to the outskirts of the city to a fantasy wonderland known as Andres Carne de Res in Chía. What seemed like it was going to be a simple restaurant quickly revealed itself to be labyrinth of interconnected rooms full of elaborate decorations, lighting and party like ambiance. There was a primary dance floor where local performers showcased their traditional footwork with a modern twist for all of our delight.

Bogota wasn't a crazy bustling city like some of the previous cities we had visited so I took this month to relax, live and catch up on all the work I had been slacking on. It's not to say Bogota didn't offer many thrills but it definitely is more of a "livable" city than some others. And, the "livability" is what I appreciated most about the city. Sometimes, while traveling the way that i have; you get caught up in trying to "do too much" so this month was a good opportunity to try to settle in some type of groove and to get my barrings back. Also, this is the month that we received a small fright when we were notified that there was a small explosion in a residential area not too far from the city center. The explosion was reported to had been perpetrated by a group known as People's Revolutionary Movement (MRP) and we were advised to stay clear of the area for a short while. And, an event, like this might make would be travelers weary of trekking to future cities, but in all honesty, terrible things are always happening and they could happen anywhere so this event did not deter me in any way. Wherever you are, you should always be on alert while still living life and not letting things, outside of your control, deter you from life experiences. 

With all that being said, I had a great time in Bogota and I made sure to make every effort to see as much as possible without letting travel stress get the best of me. Because traveling isn't easy and Bogota offered the breathing room I needed to evaluate my priorities and live in the moment. 

P.S.

I have to really give a shout out to the app Swarm. I highly suggest to anyone planning on doing tons of traveling soon, to use some type of Check-In app because without it, you will forget many of the places you have visited. I wouldn't have been able to recollect all the various things I had done without it.

Highlights:

• Celebrating New Years at Andres Carne de Res and eating the manditory 12 grapes (my first New Year celebration outside of the states)
• Eating delicious Colombian BBQ at El Tambor
• Eating at the music themed restaurant Gaira owned and operated by the legendary Colombian musician Carlos Vives
• Taking a cable car up the Monserrate mountain and witnessing the breathtaking views of Bogota
• Seeing Nicolas Jaar perform at Royal Center
• Taking the train to visit the Nemocon Salt Mines in the Bogota Savanna
• Listening to traditional "Papayera" and "Vallenato" bands perform on the train
• Visiting the historic town of Zipaquira
• Eating Bandeja Paisa (mixed plate) & Ajiaco (soup) for the first time
• Using UberEATS on lazy days

Lowered Expectations [Mexico City]

December 2016

I have to start this by admitting that, for some reason, I had very low expectations for Mexico City. I believe it stems from stories I've heard from other travelers when going to other Mexican travel destinations such as Tijuana. Hearing those stories made me unfairly pre-judge a whole country off the basis of a few tales from a completely different city than the one I was set to experience. And, I must say, lesson learned because Mexico City quickly became one of my favorite cities after only a few short days after my arrival.

One of the first things that I noticed about Mexico City was just the sheer size of the metropolitan area. Much like New York City, Mexico City felt like a huge "concrete jungle" that never quite had any end in sight. You could walk for blocks and blocks and still never find an area without tons of people and energy to feed off of. Every turn presented a new area to explore and discover new tacos. And, Tacos quickly became an obsession because you always tried to find the "best" but you quickly learn that the best tacos were wherever you were at that particular moment. And it wasn't just the tacos that were amazing. Every culinary delight Mexico had to offer was full of flavor yet the ingredients were very simple and cheap. You would always accompany your food with some type of alcohol and the Mexico City spirit of choice was aguardiente which didn't have a particularly good flavor yet you always found yourself drinking massive amounts of it.

The most memorable experience of Mexico City has to be the time we all took a trek over to the ancient Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan to see the pyramids. You immediately felt the weight of the history that was all around you once you entered this city. The ruins were well maintained although many pieces were replaced with newer materials yet this didn't take away from the experience. 

I also got the opportunity to spend time with a local family where i had the privilege of making dinner and exchanging stories. Experiences like those are a big reason for me wanting to travel in the first place so I made sure to make the most of the moment and also reflect on how people, all over the world, are basically the same in many ways in regards to family and priorities. I'll never forget my experiences and I definitely plan to come back to Mexico City at a future time in my life. 

Highlights:

• Visited the ancient Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan to see the pyramids
• Every taco I had the pleasure of experiencing
• Cooking a traditional dinner with a local grandma and her family
• Memory loss experienced shortly after starting to drink all the aguardiente
• All the delicious Horchata
• Doing an intense traditional temazcal (sweat lodge)
• Boating the river banks of Xochimilco
• Checking out my first Lucha libre (mexican wrestling) event

The results are in.... [Spain]

November 2016

This month was somewhat spoiled with the anticipation of the US election and especially so after the actual results were in. That is the reason for the title of the post.

Spain had been one of the countries I was mostly looking forward to based on all the rave reviews I had previously heard from travelers I have crossed paths with in the past. So, the anticipation leading up to my arrival in Spain, was quite high, to say the least. But, at the same time, since Morocco had been so "intense" in many ways, I was also looking forward to a town that might seem a bit more tame in comparison. And, that's exactly what Spain provided me. 

Upon arrival, Valencia, Spain welcomed us with an overall sense that we were home in many ways. The warmth from the people was felt, almost immediately, with every interaction you had with locals. They were, on the one hand, completely willing to help a new traveler but, on the other hand, they never seemed to be pushy in any particular way which couldn't be said about some of the other countries I'd recently experienced.

One of the best things about the Spanish culture is their love of their siestas. I previously assumed that the thought of a "mid day break" was over exaggerated when people spoke of their time in Spain but chilling out was no laughing matter to the Spanish people. It took a week or so to get used to stores, usually made available to you all day, suddenly being closed for a huge chunk of the day. But, once you got in the groove and accustomed to the siesta, you wouldn't want to have it any other way. The new normal was quite welcome to me.

Most of my time was spent in Valencia but I also made sure to take some time to check out the larger city of Barcelona. It seemed like it would of been a shame to come so far and not check out the city often on the tongues of the traveling kind of people who regale you with their stories. Barcelona lives up to his reputation with its equally amazing friendly people, the food, the uniquely strange Gaudí architecture, the infectiously joyus energy of the people and the list goes on. 

So, I would say my month in Spain was quite amazing but the only sour note was that there were quite a few days of rain that might of hampered crazy activities. However, this definitely wasn't a sour note considering there are always ebbs and flows in life and constantly being "out" and doing something can be exhausting, over the course of a year or...ever. So having some time to reflect and just enjoy simpler interactions seemed to compliment the Spanish experience perfectly. Spain became almost like it's own siesta in the timeline of my trip around the world.

Highlights:

• Going to Barcelona
• Watching the US presidential election results at a bar with people from all over the world (saddest night of the trip)
• Eating paella on the beach 
• Visiting the the humongous oceanarium known as L'Oceanogràfic
• Listening to jazz at the Jimmy Glass jazz club
• Visiting and witnessing the elaborate construction that make up the Sagrada Família church in Barcelona
• Getting healthy recipe and food preperation training at miobio
• Visiting the beautiful Valencia Cathedral
• Biking alongside the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia & L'Àgora

Unforgettable....that's what you are [Morocco]

October 2016

Unforgettable is truly the most appropriate word that would describe my experiences in Morocco. This country isn't necessarily one I'd rank high in livability for short or long term stays but this would also be giving the wrong initial impression of such a majestic place. The only reason i would preface with this is because many, including myself, may find Morocco difficult at times. Morocco is unlike any other place I've ever been and possibly more unique than any other place I may go in the future(who's to say?).

As soon as I arrived at the airport of Morocco, I knew that I was in for a brand new experience just based on the fact that there is basically an entire section in the airport where you only see Muslim inhabitants in their standard garbs. Something I had never experienced in person but appreciated very much because one of the main reasons I'm doing this trek is to culture myself a bit. And Morocco has culture in spades. Everywhere you walk has a new sight, smell, smell, or scent. Impressions were made.

The place where I lived was the epicenter of the town we were staying in, Rabat. The living quarters were in a house like structure  called a "riad" which is a traditional Moroccan house that features a large interior courtyard. And this riad was nestled right in the middle the largest marketplace, called a medina, occupying the city. So, if you were walking through the maze like marketplace and you happened to come across a friendly carpet salesman, you would turn right and my door was just there or.... you've found the wrong carpet dealer. 

One thing I had to get used to in Moroccan culture was their 6 AM "call to prayer" that rings VERY loudly from ever mosque in the city, which also happens at other times throughout the day. Our home was in between 2-3 Mosques. For the first week or so, I was awakened by loud speakerphone prayer chanting that was somehow both in key and horribly out of key. At least for my western ears. But, instead of being turned off by it, I found it very awe inspiring because of the dedication, the consistency and the reminder of just how different of an environment I was living in that moment. The Moroccan people take many of their religious traditions very seriously and it was interesting to see it so ingrained in the culture that it seemed to seep out of every interaction or event.

I wanted to get to know more of the country besides the town i was staying in so I chose this month as the one to include one of my biggest "side trips". Me and a few other remotes decided on a camel trek across the Sahara desert, or perhaps it chose us. Because everything about this particular adventure seemed to line up so perfectly with my goals and intentions. The adventure started once we reached the edge of the desert. This was my first time being this close to a desert of any kind so I made efforts to take it all in and as I was doing that, I noticed our camels out the corner of my eye. Although in hindsight, i'm sure I smelled them before I saw them. They were there to stubbornly haul us through the desert until we reached the makeshift camp that had been awaiting us. We were greeted by locals with traditional snacks, drinks, music,  and fire-pits but the true warmth actually came from the people. And although this was our first time in these surroundings, it felt like a home almost immediately. This desert trip remains one of my memorable experiences because every moment was foreign. Nothing I saw reminded me of anything except for the current moment.

Many more mini adventures happened in this majestic mirage of a place that carries the name Morocco. Every step I took was a step in a foreign direction and I appreciated all of it. The ups. The downs. I tried to soak up as much of the culture as possible and to me, Morocco will always be, unforgettable. 

Highlights

• Camel trek through the desert
• Roaming the maze like medina with an equally unforgettable french woman, by the name of Flavie, as we collected different ingredients that would be part of the meal we would later prepare that night
• Holding on for dear life as my taxis would weave in and out of the chaos that is Moroccan "traffic" as my life flashed before my eyes...everyday
• Meeting Su
• tajines...everyday
• Seeing Mandy Patinkin shooting a scene for his show, Homeland, right in the medina surrounding my home
• Visiting the beach town of Essaouira and watching DJ Lee Burridge kill it with a daytime pool set
• Gazing at the stars in the Sahara desert
• Taking my most liked profile picture in the Sahara desert
• Being able to legally claim that I've been to the continent of Africa
• Seeing real monkeys for the first time (not in a zoo)
• 4-Wheeling through the desert then through the cobble stone streets of a small town
• Going to MOGA festival in Essaouira and seeing amazing sets by: Lefto, Darwin, DOP & Maalem Boussou, & Chaim

Small town of Imlil with Lily

Me and Lee Burridge

Celebrating Lily's birthday in Imlil

Streets of the medina

Bought some peanut butter

Traditional Moroccan Tajines

Little meal at the resort in Imlil

View from our balcony

Life's a Beach [Portugal]

September 2016

Arriving to Lisbon, Portugal was like a breath of fresh air...literally. After the miserable weather of London, Lisbon was a much needed change up. Although London was an overall great experience, I believe most of the people on Remote Year, including myself, needed a complete change and Portugal was just the country to provide that. You could sense a collective sigh of relief once we stepped off the plane. We needed it all. The warm weather, the ocean breeze, the friendly Portuguese culture. All of it. 

It's no surprise that myself and many of the other remotes rank Lisbon as one of our favorite cities we had visited so far. And, I felt this way even before I took a side trip over to the city of Lagos. Previously, I had made a very good friend in Prague. Her name is Jay and we had bonded through music as she herself is film director with focuses on Music Videos. The bond was so strong that she decided to come visit me in Portugal and we took a side trip to Lagos. This side trip turned out to be one of the best experiences that either one of us had the pleasure of having bless our lives. Lagos is a small beach town and to say that its ocean views are breath taking would be understating just how truly gorgeous this place was. 

We decided to stay at hostel instead of trying to get an AirB&B or hotel because we figured this would be a good opportunity for us to meet new people since we knew no one in this new city. We had low expectations on who we might meet but this hostel decision turned out to be the best idea we had conjured. We ended up closely bonding with a group of about 7 people and we spent most of the time remarking how truly unlikely it is to bond, beyond the surface level, with complete strangers. But, the conditions and timing seemed so perfect for this motley crew of travelers that we all just meshed so quickly and easily. This unlikely experience prompted me and Jay to stay 2 extra days than we were planning along with the others. We topped of the adventure by having a private picnic party on one of the many gloriously mesmerizing beaches Lagos has to offer. I'll never forget Lagos.

Highlights:

• LX Factory was an amazing part of the city that had a hipster feel but none of the annoying attitude
• Lagos (all of it)
• Learning how to make piri piri sauce
• The people
• The weather
• Roaming through the night life in the streets of Bairro Alto...one time
• Trekking up to experience and explore the ancient Castle of the Moors in Sintra
• The delicious custard dessert pastéis de nata from Manteigaria
• Celebrating Burning Man with other remote burners on the beach since we couldn't actually go to the burn
• Late night beach shenanigans
• Did another GeoCache but this one was a bit strange because it was hidden in bushes next to a playground so it felt a bit creepy for me to be a grown man, snooping through the bushes as children played feet away. Was not arrested!