Not Vacationing

Countless people have commented on how envious they are that I can travel like I do.  And while I acknowledge the fact that I am blessed to have the means and flexibility to jet-set to so many places, it is impossible to get people that have not traveled for long periods of time to understand the difference between traveling and vacationing.  Traveling for months at a time is completely different than vacationing for a few weeks in a place.  When you ‘travel’, it becomes a lifestyle.  You have good days and bad days; you have logistics days, and adventure days, and break days, and tourist days.  You can’t explain to others why merely being in a so-called ‘top’ location isn’t the enjoyment of traveling. 

I sometimes feel guilty when I am in one of these classic tourist locations and find myself thinking ‘I have seen better’.  I contemplate ‘why do I continue to travel and spend this money if I am not being excited by where I am at’.  But then it happens.  I meet the right person; or I fall upon the right place at the right time. It is usually not in a guide book. It isn’t an attraction that everyone gets to experience.  It is what I think of when I hear the statement ‘it is the journey, not the destination’. I fear too few people truly understand this statement.

Just when I am struggling with the trials and tribulations of ‘traveling’, which trust me, do exist; I am saved.  I find myself dancing in a street parade in Puno, watching the most amazing simultaneous sunset and moon rising in Bolivia, trekking with a new-found friend from some corner of the world, or experiencing the jovial, random folkloric music of a Peña in Argentina.  Sometimes it is an inner peace that soothes your soul of the daily stresses, sometimes it is an energy that fills you from your most bored depths, and sometimes it is just the right type of distraction when you are feeling rather pathetic. 

This is what ‘traveling’ is!  Vacations are great for taking a break from reality.  Traveling is to experience new realities.  But as with all reality, the 'real' part is not always glamorous and exciting.  Maybe the search is just to find the right reality that provides more happiness and excitement than it does boredom and stress.  When you find it, envy of other realities stops.

Inca Brilliant Craziness

The Inca were obviously a smart civilization. It is apparent in the thought and skill seen in their design and architecture. The time that Kim and I spent hiking the Inca trails to Choquequirao and Machu Picchu was educational, beautiful and fascinating. But it also left me sometimes wondering.... what the hell were they thinking!
We only hiked two of the main trails, and in those 8 days of trekking nearly 100 kilometers (over 60 miles) we climbed approximately 19,000 vertical feet up, and 21,000 down. It is hard to calculate exactly because we learned of the term 'Andean flat'; meaning since you start and stop at the same altitude over a fairly short distance, they don't count the numerous rolling ups and downs you have to do in between :-/
So I understand their beliefs about the sacredness of the mountains, and the sun and moon and earth, etc. But someone needed to scratch their head when they looked at some of the locations they picked to built their cities and places of worship. And on top of everything else, we found out that only the 'supposedly better' upper-class used these exhausting mountain trails. The common people were not 'privileged' enough to travel the elevated paths. They had to stay on the flat, easy paths along the river valleys. I bet they felt so deprived....
All joking aside, while it was one of the hardest cumulative sets of hikes I have done, it was well worth the effort. And I was grateful to have done it with Kim. We did a great job of alternating the times when we struggled, so we could provide support to each other when we needed it. 

The Ecuadorian Way

Beside the Galapagos, the rest of Ecuador was rather unspectacular, as far as traveling goes.  Guayaquil is just a run down port city.  I did enjoy Montañita, a small beach town an hour north; where I got to party a little, and get in some surfing.
Quito had a bit more culture, but still only took a day to experience. Once Kim arrived, we decided we wanted to get out of the city and have a taste of the Amazon. We booked a short 3 days excursion. While we did get to see all of the things in the Amazon we were hoping for (monkeys, caimans, river dolphin, sloth, toucans, frogs, spiders, boa snake, etc.), the organization and professionalism of the tour left a bit to be desired.
Which leads me to my short rant. It bugs me when everyone in an area uses the saying 'welcome to.......(Ecuador for example)' to make reference to the poor process in which things run in the area. This implies that everyone knows that how things are done is not the best way, but you just have to accept it. Well if people would just not accept it, and expect that things were done better, then they would be. One of my biggest pet-peeves is people just accepting stupidity.
Ok, I am done. On to more travels :-)

Sea Lions and Sharks and Rays.....Oh My!!

Seven days of scuba diving in the Galapagos Islands (uploading the big video files is very slow, so it will take awhile before I get most of the pics and videos posted).  Need I say more?!?!
Well, I guess I should say a little more.
I decided to do the 7 day live-aboard boat, because that is the only option that allows you to dive around the two furthest north islands, Darwin and Wolf islands. This is where the highest concentration of hammerhead sharks are, and the most likely to see whalesharks and other large marine animals. And wow, were they right. I literally got to swim with well over 1000 hammerheads in my 19 dives.  I also saw 2 whalesharks, a couple of manta rays and eagle rays, countless turtles, dolphins (both on the boat and while diving), tuna, sea iguanas, tons of playful sea lions, and a curious penguin. Plus a land excursion to visit the lava tubes and giant tortoises.

Starting South America

When I did my around the world trip, it did not include South America, as it doesn't tie in well without forcing you to fly back through the US. Plus, I thought it deserved its own trip.  So that is what I have now started.
It is scheduled to be a 6 month excursion, from Sept 2014 to March 2015.  But anyone that remembers my last trip knows that I am not very good at keeping schedules.  So we will see how this works out.
This also leaves Antarctica as the only continent I have yet to set foot on.  Maybe there is a chance to make the hop across Drake Passage and check that off the list as well.  But I am not too hopeful.