I learned this week that I’m obsessed with Cuba and that the interwebs are conspiring to push me over the edge. The primary catalyst for this little obsession is Lauren who insists on posting these brilliant and captivating pieces on the real pre-post-embargo Cuba. This mixed with those rad car photos on GoBackpacking that I mentioned a few weeks ago plus TravelZoo keeps emailing me super cheap fares to Havana. I fully suspect that there’s a consortium of Cuban masterminds co-ordinating this entire effort. They loiter on a Havana street corner in the afternoons, bellies full of China town bean sprouts, enjoying a good laugh at my expense. That said, I decided that if I can get well ahead of schedule with flogging my apartment stuff then I can go for a week. I have to fit it in before I leave for Japan, so it’ll be a long shot.

I learned that my favourite night out in Austin is still the Alamo Drafthouse. I don’t understand how there isn’t a swarm of copycat theaters everywhere. It’s such a perfect setup. A great menu, plus a great beer list (they have Fat Tire on tap!), all served to you while you watch your movie. What the hell else do you want? Hilarious clips, commercials and trailers before your movie? Oh yea, they have that too. That place is seriously the cat’s meow.

I learned that my “sleeping-in satisfaction” test is still accurate. When visiting a city I purposely sleep-in late just to see how satisfying it is to waste away the day in a cool place. It seems that the cooler the place, the more satisfying it is to sleep late. New York measured really quite high on the scale, so it is obviously a great place. I was only there for two days, but I can easily see why there’s so many unattractive I ♥ NY shirts in the world.

I learned that Bolivian prisons are seriously weird from reading Jason’s account of his dodgy visit. I wonder though if that prison model might not be a better system. It’s almost the same idea as colonial prison islands I guess.

I learned this week that if a batshit crazy man holding a severed head offers you a tooth you should accept it. I’d probably recommend a “thank you, sir” also for good measure.

Okay, so the aforementioned Vegas schwag . I’m not really certain why I find these naked lady pens so hilarious, but I always have. I had one when I was like 13 or so, and it was the greatest damn thing. So when I saw them in Vegas a couple weeks ago, I had to buy them. Unfortunately for me they only came in packs of 3. Which means I have 2 extra pens to give away. If you would like a naked lady pen to dazzle your classy friends with just let me know – rerunaround [at] gmail [dot] com. If you’ll feel better about it, you’re welcome to work for your free pen with poems about insensitive souvenirs or pictures of your current unsatisfying pen or whatever you want. All three pens write in black, but you’re welcome to indicate your preferred pen colour from the pic.

I know Americans read this, and I know how sensitive some of you folks can be to things that are not violence, so I won’t say what happens when you turn the pen upside down. Let’s just say it would be a big hit during recess for sixth graders. I would have bought some men pens also, just to be fair, but they don’t seem to make them. I assume because most women know that “tacky” doesn’t just refer to duct tape and sweaty backs.

That pretty much wraps up this week. Back to the grind of replying to insane craigslist people. If you miraculously happen to want a furnished apartment in downtown Montreal, let me know. Here’s a few pics from the last week for the illiterate folks.

I liked the little water thingies on top of so many buildings in NYC. So when I saw three together like this it was a kodak moment. Clicky for the bigger version.

The capitol building in Austin, where all that crazy Texas government business goes down.

A really bad resolution shot of a mesquite tree in Tucson. My dad is the BBQ master, and he’s so hardcore that he hand picks his own mesquite out of the desert. Kinda shames your crappy little bag of briquettes doesn’t it?

..

// shawn

Thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed, I appreciate it! Please be sure to stop by the site sometimes and leave a comment so I know you're still alive. I worry about you. Are you eating okay? Ok, see ya! -- Week Sauce: Vegas Schwag Edition is a post from: Rerunaround

Firstly, let’s get the list of cities out of the way in case someone is curious. They’re in a nice geographical order.

Campbell River, BC
Victoria, BC
Denver, CO
Las Vegas, NV
Tucson, AZ
Austin, TX
New York, NY

When I was plotting out this travel route I worked in some vacation time. You know you’re a spoiled little travel bitch when your vacations have vacations. Actually, the Vegas stop in the middle is an example of how I travel as an introvert. I need to have bits of downtime every so often when traveling. I hate the typically used analogy, “time to recharge my batteries” but it’s at least sort of accurate. I don’t get tired like my batteries are drained. I just get annoyed, or enjoy what I’m doing less. If you really want to understand how an introvert works then I recommend this summary: Top 5 Things Every Extrovert Should Know About Introverts. After a couple weeks of being social I crave a day where I can get my solitary fix.

If you travel with someone who is even a little introverted then I recommend figuring out some ways to make the trip more enjoyable for everyone. Plan for some times when everyone can just do their own thing. Not times that exclude those who want some solitary time from participating in activities though.

I’m actually really lucky as everyone I have visited on this trip are always really great at giving me my own space and time. It sure makes a world of difference. Anyways, on to the aforementioned “bonus” of sorts. It’s not so much a bonus as it is some crappy pictures. Surprise! I’ll dump some photos from my phone below for those of you who have bugger all else to do with your time.

I don’t know about you, but I always like seeing my country’s airline when I’m at an airport. Admittedly, it’s cooler when you’re far from home, but whatever. So what if seeing this Air Canada plane in Montreal is about as rare as seeing tears at a prom, I still enjoyed it all the same.

“The local weather is 5°C with a slight chance of low clouds.” Oh really? Slight chance? This is at 800 feet. You might want to get a more confident weather wizard. Does the cockpit even have a window? I actually got to talk to the co-pilot after we landed and we both thought the pilot’s weather report was good for a laugh.

A not so lean, not so mean, drooling love machine. My mom has the sweetest dog I’ve ever known.

The view from my secret Las Vegas base. Where I sleep in late and try to grow my fingernails as fast as possible.

Last, and most certainly least, this pic is for the one Nascar fan I know. You know who you are. I stood really close and breathed deeply to fill my lungs with the indomitable spirit of left turning hooters.

So far I have been having a totally fantastic holiday season, and I hope you have also. Have a great new years and all that sort of crap!

.

// shawn

Thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed, I appreciate it! Please be sure to stop by the site sometimes and leave a comment so I know you're still alive. I worry about you. Are you eating okay? Ok, see ya! -- Holiday Travel Action For An Introvert (+Bonus) is a post from: Rerunaround