Posted: January 2nd, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 3 Comments »
All holiday season I’ve been flying around North America, so I haven’t really had time to read much online. Normally I would do a little “what I liked on the web this week, omg isn’t the internet neat” post around this time. So this week is just a little wtf-ever potpourri of stuff. It’ll have to do until I get a bit more spare time and I can wash off the smell of flight attendant farts and cheap orange juice. That said, let’s commence with some bidtits from this week.
I learned that pumpkin beer is delightful. If you enjoy beer – I mean real beer, not budweiner – and you’re not struck infertile at the site of a pumpkin, then I recommend trying out some pumpkin beer. Good friends of mine are wise in the ways of beer, and they assembled a few pumpkin beers for me to test drive. For the record, pumpkin is pretty much one of my favourite things. There was Swans, Phillips, and I think the other was Granville Island. All three were quite good, and each surprisingly different from one another. It was nice though how well the pumpkin flavour fit with the natural beery flavour. It wasn’t out of place or contrary like some of the more gimmicky beer types can be. So if you have the means, I definitely recommend giving pumpkin beer a try, you may just be pleasantly surprised.
I learned that you can put salt on grapefruit. It was a normal grapefruit, not a pink one, and it was surprisingly pretty good. It doesn’t taste at all how you would think. Try it.
I learned that Chupacabra on 6th street in Austin not only makes damn fine cheap tacos, but they also have a good selection of imported Central American beers. Also some from the Philippines, Portugal and elsewhere. Definitely worth a visit since they’re just $2 a bottle! Speaking of taco beers, Adam just showed me this awesome Dos Equis commercial that makes me want to drink it even more.
I learned that playing tons of Wii frisbee golf on xmas day will totally make you want to play it for reallies. I’ve got my eyes open for chances to play now.
I learned that if you can make a bored barista laugh she just might give you an extra cupcake for free. Sweet!
Lastly, I learned that it only leads to frustration if I set lofty or detailed expectations of people. No one can match the expectations of a bored guy with a good imagination, so I need to just let people do their thing and be cool with that.
What did you learn this week? Have a nice new year, and keep on truckin’!
.
// shawn
Posted: January 1st, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 1 Comment »
Dearest Shawn
Hey buddy, how’s it hanging? You remember how kids in elementary school would write letters to themselves then open them a year later? Yea, haha, you remember how our letter was just a picture of Skeletor with, “Keep it real, baby” written on it? Anyways, this is one of those letters. I’m dropping a reminder in our calendar for a year from now to come back to this and see how absurd this sounds. So, what’s on my mind today that I think will matter in a year? Let’s get this embarrassing party started.
It’s the first day of 2010, and I guess if I read this again in a year, it’ll be 2011. Good job on staying alive all these years. I totally knew those Flintstones vitamins were a good idea. So I think the obvious topic in the forefront of my mind is how will this whole travel plan work out. Was it actually a good idea to drop our sweet career like a “6″ girlfriend with tourettes? Will it be worth it to backpack around, see stuff, try things, and generally explore what the world has to offer? I mean really worth it? Worth the insecurity of no income, and worth all the sacrifices? Does this end up setting my life back by a year, or more, or is it my life? I can’t even make an educated guess where I might be in a year. I’m worried I have too much tech stuff packed – did it end up being too much? Do I go broke and starve in less than a year?
Hey, so how does that Iran scene play out? Quite a mess there right now. Oh and what happens in Glee? Is the google phone as awesome as I hope it is? Did the Canucks win the Stanley Cup (Although I secretly predict Chicago to win)? Are we still thinking of moving back home to the Victoria/Vancouver area and settling down (sort of) in a few years?
Alright chief, I’ve got to catch this flight to Austin. Peas.
.
// shawn
Posted: December 29th, 2009 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 5 Comments »
This holiday season I’m doing a little tour of 7 North American cities in 17 days to visit family and friends. It’s also nice timing because then in a few weeks I take off to Asia with no real idea of when I’ll be back. While flying around I decided I wanted to mention the topic of being an introverted traveler, and how I make it work for me. It’s not much of a big deal, but it is really nice once you understand how to get the most enjoyment out of your travels. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: December 19th, 2009 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 8 Comments »
Tomorrow I depart for a few weeks of holiday travel. Just cities in Canada and the USA for a mix of visiting friends and goofing off. Which means today I’m doing laundry and syncing up the trusty mp3 player. Which gives me time to slap together this little look back at stuff I have particularly enjoyed from the previous week in travel blogs and whatnot.
Last week I totally forgot this awesome post on Legal Nomads, so just pretend it isn’t two weeks old. All three of Jodi’s top travel secrets are bang on the money. It’s almost like she knows what she’s doing. Rob, also has 30 great safety tips for the traveler. Oh, and speaking of pro tips, always carry an umbrella because the dragon ladies hella swoon for a man with a sturdy brolly.
This one is only for people who eat and/or drink. So if you do neither of those, then skip ahead. Forks and Jets have been rocking my tummy’s imagination since I found their blog. Check out these pierogi‘s, and if you’re up for a drink, well then Na Zdrowie!
There’s still time to chip in to build a school in Cambodia and get your hands on some fabulous prizes over at Passports With Purpose. It’s just $10 and a super quick and easy payment system. Just don’t pick the damn ukulele.
Over on Vagabonding, this month’s featured BootsnAll forum question is by some ridiculous dork. I don’t know where they find these people. Am I right?
If you’re still thirsty for some weekly recap action, then clicky over to Two Go Round-The-World‘s far more in-depth summary. They have way more energy than I do for this sort of thing. Plus I can’t help but praise their impeccable taste since they said such nice things about me.
Still with me here? Those are all the posts I have the attention span to share, but if you want to see the pointless pics I pulled off my phone this morning, then keep on keeping on below. Otherwise, have a cool weekend. Peas.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: December 17th, 2009 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 11 Comments »
If you’ve spent even one lunch hour at your desk googling up the idea of quitting your job to travel around the world, then you’re familiar with the heap of anonymous internet people who love to tell you to quit. Most of them sound pretty convincing too. Except the ones that use the term, “free spirit” too often, they just sound like twats. They all love to charm you with tales of how they’ve never felt so alive. The saucier ones will even use clever analogies like how we’re all cubicle zombies slaving for the man until we die. Sheep hammering on keyboards because our herd says that is what we should do. Oh you get the idea. Is it really a good idea though? Or maybe they are trying to convince themselves? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: December 16th, 2009 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 2 Comments »
Yet again, until I get my next trip underway, I’ll have to dig into the archives and post an old travel photo. This one was taken in Chitwan National Park, Nepal in 1995. Chitwan was the final destination of a three day rafting trip down river I-forget-the-damn-name. In the park we had a real nice little setup right on the river with safari tents and loads of wildlife. We spent our days tracking rhinos and anticipating our certain death by crocodiles.
The treks into the bush used elephants as our mounts – which I was dubious about. I wasn’t doubting the elephant’s skills, don’t get me wrong. They flawlessly navigated muddy jungle in the fog with no path to speak of. I was dubious of the relationship between the elephants and their keepers. I’m no fan of captive animals at the best of times, but these ones were rather skinny and showed signs of rough use. The men who handled the elephants used fireplace poker style metal rods – you know the sort, with the point and hook. The elephants showed serious scarring around where the riding hardware was strapped to them. Also, they just looked miserable – it was in their eyes and the way they hung their heads. Watching these elephants was breaking my heart, but there really wasn’t anything to be done. Had I known this beforehand, I wouldn’t have gone there.
One afternoon, I was down by the water watching the handlers wash the elephants off in the river when I was offered the opportunity to help. Myself and another visitor were given an elephant to take into the river and scrub down. Like I somehow knew how to do that or something. I declined the metal rod, grabbed a huge pumice stone and followed my elephant into the river. I could lie and say “lead my elephant into the river” but who am I kidding. It was amazing to interact with such a great animal – and a huge one for that matter. I scrubbed up the spot she liked behind her ears with the pumice stone. For which she thanked me by dunking me into the river while I was on her back. She would lie in the water with only her trunk sticking out of the water just to mess with me. Elephants apparently have a strange sense of humour.
We stayed out in the river goofing around as long as they let us. On the way back in I figured out that she liked to scratch her head by bumping it into me. Trust me, you don’t miss that hint the first time. So this picture was taken as I was being pushed backwards out of the river while trying to scratch her. My feet were bruised all to hell from being smashed across the river bottom, but it was still worth it. She was lead away to her enclosure, and I went back to my tent. I fell asleep that night hoping like hell that this poor, sad animal had at least enjoyed her afternoon in the river.
.
// shawn
