He Who Dies with the Most Toys Wins
"They have nothing, but they have more"-Andreas K. on visiting a poor fishing community
The Budget
Some budget travelers stay out of restaurants to save money choosing to live on a loaf of bread and mangoes for a few days. It is a diet out of balance. Then all the savings goes to buy beer or a box of cheap Chilean wine. At 44, I am too old, I want both: balanced meals and warm wine.
Some Towns
As we drove out of Cabo de la Vela I felt like I had survived two days and nights in a village full of liars and cheats. They either begged or schemed you.
-Thoughts upon leaving a town in the Guijira Desert
-Thoughts upon leaving a town in the Guijira Desert
The Handout
They don't beg on this side of the peninsula. The people of Nazareth study you with reserve and curious eyes without the shameless begging found inCabo de la Vela where it felt like I was at a friend's house (unnamed) with his poorly trained dogs jumping on me, sniffing my balls too long then trying to hump my leg. It was nice to be relieved of this kind of pestering. I enjoyed the dignity and self-worth they had on the other side of the peninsula.
Open Space
The peace of aloneness.
-Thoughts after a travel family disbands in the middle of the desert
Quote
"He had no illusions, and so he was fully alive every waking moment, looking for food or water, looking for shade, looking for a woman."
-Paul Theroux on a leprosy colony
Hand Rolled
Don't smoke weed with an Israeli, they will smoke you under the table.
-Casco Viejo, Panama on the roof of our hospedaje
Music
-Trapped in a desperate performance of people not from there
Penis
Penis
In Chile the penis is the unofficial national symbol of freedom and protest. It is an integral part of graffiti everywhere.
-Chilean travelers educate me
Costs
Costs
Shipping the truck from Panama to Colombia cost US$885. It spent two days on the high seas. I sailed the same sea for four days and was seasick most the time; the price I paid for my romantic notions of all travel done over land and sea.
Age
I watched a lean bodied older woman with grey hair as she strode down the sidewalk in repressive Panama heat and thought, How attractive she must have been in her younger years and how attractive she looks this day.
Before we know it we are suddenly old. Life postponed, things left undone, travels never taken, and how petty so much of our time is spent. Things saved for an uncertain future. We are old before we know it.
Old men when rushed deliberately slow down. Routine takes over. -Observation of an old man
The City
too much internet
too much food
too much tv
too many sweets
p.s. I don't think the words tv and internet deserve to be capitalized
Observation
Perhaps it is in peoples predisposition to take fortified positions in the fort of COMPLAINT and CRITICISM. Many travelers mock what they cannot comprehend when in a culture not their own. They are some of the dullest people one can meet on the road.
New Travelers
They take pictures of everything. My plate of food, cup of water, generic palm trees, and me chewing food. They tell me to stop eating so they can get a picture of my plate of food.
My thoughts drift to this invasion of privacy feeling like a lab rat, Maybe the advent of the digital camera was bad, with celluloid at least people were held in check.
New Travelers
They take pictures of everything. My plate of food, cup of water, generic palm trees, and me chewing food. They tell me to stop eating so they can get a picture of my plate of food.
My thoughts drift to this invasion of privacy feeling like a lab rat, Maybe the advent of the digital camera was bad, with celluloid at least people were held in check.
How Some Travel
Cigarettes, booze, people and food consumed without being present.
David
Otavalo, Ecuador
7 comments:
I like the quotes.
It is interesting how the travel circuit is full of drunk and drug addicted travelers. In the East the drug is opium...yummy :(.
I think it's because it's cheaper to be an addict in the 3rd world.
The Israeli's do love to party especially after getting out of the army. They totally disrespect the locals and think they own the country. It made me pissed especially when they would say to me Shalom where are you from in Israel. The locals couldn't stand them.
Dana,
travel circuit dopers and drop outs. It is amazing how long they will park themselves in a place and do little.
travelers from Israel...by staying, for the most part, out of hostels and the backpacker trail I do not meet many. The hotel owners in Latin America do not care for them as guests.
Many of us take our culture with us and attempt to import most of it and expect much around us to adapt to our needs; travel for me is the furthest from this. It is in large part about surrendering my culture and being open to the one I visit or live in.
David
Hallelujah!! I am right there with you. That is why I try to spend more time with locals then travelers on my journeys.
Interesting on the cost to ship your truck. Seems pretty reasonable....$4/pound or so.
Timmer,
yes, a fair deal, but only because I shared a 40' with a guy going to Ecuador with is car. The rate for a 20' (just one car) was $1,900.
Once you do it, it opens up the travel horizon some. It begins to seem resonable to ship it to another continent. No, this is not an announcement.
David
to be opened to the country and people that you visit is very important..Not a lot of people can do it.
Hey Dave, Tina and Angel here...just catching up on your blog, love hearing your adventures...love the way you write. Thanks for sharing it all.
take care, besos y abrazos!
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