Have Time, Will Recap

Somehow the last month or so has gone by quite quickly, and I haven't found the time to summarize what I've been up to, and what my plans are. In the interest of documentation, and before I forget everything:

Antarctica: Utterly amazing. Worth every penny. To make this easier on me, I'll default to bullet points:

• The Falklands - cool place, but I can't see why they're worth fighting over. Penguins on sandy beaches are quite a cool view, and there are amazing albatross colonies. Port Stanley is a nifty little British town, which is quite a change coming from Argentina.
• South Georgia - amazing. Animal Disneyland. Utterly magical place. Huge penguin colonies, astounding amounts of elephant and fur seals, and great landscapes behind them. The history behind the place, both the whaling stations and the Shackleton tale, is quite interesting too. 
• Antarctic Peninsula - views like nowhere else I've imagined. The best comparison I can think of are the top few hundred meters of your favorite mountain range (say, the Alps), in the middle of the winter, chopped and dropped at sea level. With quite a few more glaciers to boot. The wildlife isn't as astounding as it was in South Georgia, but the nature takes views and forms like nothing else. The last day we had picture-perfect weather, and we cruised through an 'iceberg graveyard' of some sort, with the still water providing absolutely magical reflections.
• The people - these cruises attract quite a mixture of people. Our young crew was comprised of most people under forty (who weren't staff), although quite a few of the older ladies and gentlemen were very, very interesting. The major upside of being together for two and a half weeks is that we had the time to connect and bond - after a month of traveling alone and moving every few days from place to place, it was a very welcome change. I've met some great friends, some I'm very much hoping to see again at some point in my travels, be them these ones or future ones.
• Staff - super friendly, very knowledgeable, and made us feel at home, Ate with us during the meals. drank with us at the bars, and were very happy to share and help us enjoy the trip as much as possible. Absolutely helped made the trip as awesome as it was. 

Ushuaia: Cool city, yet not my favorite so far. Felt quite touristy, everywhere we went we saw tourists and heard Hebrew. Hostels never had enough room, and as our plans were day-by-day, we had to move quite a bit. My best few nights there were probably spent out camping, either on a short trek, or out in the national park. I imagine I'd have liked the city more if I wasn't there in peak tourist season. Hikes I did there:

• Glaciar Martial - a small little glaciar. Not all that exciting, but on the way down we found our way and climbed ski chairlift that was closed for the summer.
• Laguna Esmeralda - muddy walk to a pretty lagoon. Nothing special, but a fun half-day hike. If you go, hitch-hike there and back - it's not too hard, and much cheaper than paying for a shuttle.
• Laguna de los Tempanos - very, very pretty. A small lake right off a glacier (Glaciar Vinciguerra), that's half frozen. Absolutely worth the trip - could be a half day trip, or could be combined with...
• Paseo de la Oveja - a neat two-day hike, or one really long day. We ended up doing it in two and a half days, and that was with starting the Laguna de los Tempanos hike at 4pm the first day, and sleeping in until 6pm (!!) the second day. The third day was quite a long walk, and and we skipped a supposedly pretty side-trip, but all in all it's a very nice hike. The pass itself was quite epic, as it started hailing in our face and the winds were out in force, but in the end it was all fun and games.
• Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego - pretty views. a few nice hikes. We didn't have time to do the longer and more challenging one (Cerro Guanaco), but the time we spent there was quite nice either way. 

From there, I took a boat shuttle down south to the Chilean Isla Navarino, on the southern side of the Beagle Channel. I'm absolutely loving this place - so much that it will get its own blog post before (or right after) I leave.

Pictures from The Falklands and South Georgia are up, and pictures from Antarctica will be up once I've had a proper chance to sort and upload them. That might take a while... After I'm done on Navarino I'll make my way to Punta Arenas, and from there to Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine. I will trek there for a week or so, and then stay on the park for at least a month to volunteer. After that? I haven't the faintest idea, but I imagine it'll be time to start heading north.

Have Memories, Will Link

Memory is a funny thing. The mere fact we're capable to remember is both a biological marvel and a necessity of survival, but that's not quite what's on my mind. Today (rather, when I wrote this, somewhere between South Georgia and Antarctica) I'm (or was) pondering memory "chains", how some experiences form links in the brain. I imagine I can't be the only one who makes these sort of connections, though - I'd love to hear from you if you do too.

While in NYC, my siblings and I watched "Book of Mormon." It was the funniest thing I've ever seen, over two hours of basically non-stop laughter, with quite an amusing message at the end, too. If you haven't seen it, especially if you live in NYC (or London, where it might also be playing), just drop everything and go. Right now. You'll thank me later. I have the soundtrack on my tablet, and listen to it every so often, especially when I need a good laugh or a distraction from whatever it is that's bothering me. There are very few things I've ever found funnier - perhaps only George Carlin and Louis CK come consistently close.

While listening the the soundtrack, many things come to my mind. The fun I shared with my siblings. Visuals from the show itself. "Previews" of the next lyrics to come, especially if they're hilarious favorites (an un-spoiler-y example: "Heavenly Father, why do you let bad things happen?; More to the point, why do you let bad things happen to me?"). Other great experiences from the week in NYC with my family, whom I haven't seen since, and other awesome images of my time in NYC, which was rather amazing. It's all rather positive and hilarious.

However, there's another memory that seldom fails to attach itself somewhere to this train of thought, somewhat akin to that person you really don't like yet somehow knows enough friends-of-friends to be at every party you go to. Truly, it's a very uninteresting memory: I was stood up by an OkCupid date (OkCupid is an online dating site I've been using, and actually quite liking (at least some of the time), for the best two years or so. There'll probably be a far longer blog post on that subject when the muse strikes me.). The tale is a classic one: gal and guy exchange a dozen messages or so; guy and gal decide to meet; gal and guy pick a time and place; gal goes incommunicado on the day of the meeting (and has been, until present day).Yes, we had also texted, and yes, I also called. Yes, it's also highly possible I did something to dissuade her from meeting. No, that's not the fucking point.

You (the two or three of you who might read this post) are probably wondering to yourself, "What does this even have to do with 'Book of Mormon'"? Short answer: not a whole lot. Longer answer: I mentioned I'll be seeing the musical, and she excitedly said she loves it, and knows a cast member or two (she's in theater (aside: isn't the British spelling of theatre much more pleasing to type or look at?)). C'est tout. I remember her as being rather cute, but couldn't for the life of me tell you what her pictures looked like. I was rather excited about meeting here, to the usual (and rather high) extent I'm excited about a first meeting in person. Again, more thoughts about online dating at some point in the future (sooner rather than later if someone actually wants to read it).

By itself this isn't a very interesting story, not even to me, but I believe it offers a glimpse into how I think about a great many things. Although outwardly I'm rather talented at deflecting blame, inwards I'm the first and foremost person I blame whenever anything goes wrong. I guess it's a rather extreme inner locus of control; while it allows me to draw great strengths (believing in myself to go through six months of physiotherapy twice, and probably a third time at some point in 2015, as an easy example), it can also be quite a burden. As confident as I can be in myself and in what I do, it isn't easy living with the voice inside that questions every move made, every word picked, every text sent, and every emotion felt. Just like I spent quite sometime wondering what made her disappear, I tend to dwell on the negative sides of experiences far more than the positive ones. Case in point: I'm pretty convinced I spend far more time questioning my failed relationships (generally blaming myself for every misstep) than celebrating the fun I had in the successful and awesome relationships I've had.

While these sentiments are centered around relationships, they're far from unique to them. From time to time I ponder how much of a fuckhead (academically, socially, and otherwise) I was in high school, and how different my life might be right now had I worked harder and smarter. This conveniently ignores the fact I'm pretty damn pleased with where I am now (especially as I'm traveling, you can never quite get enough of that), and where I'm headed (for the most part). I feel as if failed chances and missed opportunities get prime-time broadcasting, while successes are often relegated to daytime TV and ESPN 8: The Ocho.

I can't say I'm sure this is all that terrible; however, like most things in life, I should strive for better balance. One of my favorite poems (from the limited selection I know well enough to like), "If" by Rudyard Kipling (and yes, it's very white-patriarchal, but I can still find some inspiration within it from time to time), touches the topic:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;  

More than anything else, it was a fun topic to ponder and write about. If you've made it all the way down here, congratulations! I hope you enjoyed, and I'd love to hear some thoughts.

P.S.: A day or so after writing this originally, I realized another one. The Black Keys' Attack and Release is linked in my mind to an awesome woman I knew a few years ago, who was the first to introduce me to them. A, if you're reading this: you were wonderful, and deserved better than how it ended up. I'm sorry.

P.P.S: Since writing this, I haven't spent much time dwelling on that specific memory. I guess writing really does have cathartic qualities. I should do this more often.

 

Have Sea Lions, Will Dive

The main motif of this week has been ridiculously awesome experiences. That's always a good way to start, right?

It started last Saturday night with a music festival in Buenos Aires. Headlined by the Arctic Monkeys and The Hives, PersonalFest 2014 was a small and yet fantastic affair. I arrived reasonably late Saturday afternoon, after taking my time walking around the Puerto Mardeo area in the early afternoon. The first show I caught was the latter half of James McCartney's - he's nowhere near his father, but makes some nice, if rather generic rock music. Next up were Echo & The Bunnymen, who were apparently famous in the 80s. I've never heard of them, and the best thing that came out of their show is that I met a group of american foreign exchange students with whom I hung out for the rest of the festival. 

The ridiculousness started with The Hives. They put on a really fun show (even if at some point most of their songs begin to sound a tad the same), and really got the crowd going. My only pet peeve is that the front-man was rather in love with himself and his band, and wouldn't move on to the next song without some cheering about how much the crowd loves The Hives. Meh. The Arctic Monkeys, on the other hand, simply put together an awesome show. They played an amazing 21 song set, which included most of their hits and several lesser-known songs. The crowd was absolutely wild, and didn't stop moving / jumping / smashing / pushing everywhere. The encore was long and well done, with amazing effects during I Wanna Be Yours, and an extended rendition of R U Mine to close the night. 

The next morning saw me wake up late and enjoy a stroll around town with two girls from the hostel, followed by an eighteen hour bus to Puerto Madryn. It was rather unremarkable - the views were rather bland, endless green fields and the occasional village. The bed service (Cama) buses are rather comfortable though - business-class level seats, snacks served, and wine with dinner. All-in-all nothing terrible, but I'm rather glad I opted for a flight for Puerto Madryn to Ushuaia. Puerto Madryn itself is a quiet little town, just under half way down the Argentine coastline from Buenos Aires.

The morning after arriving I went to one of Puerto Madryn's claims to fame: diving with sea lions in Punta Loma. Oh. My. God. It. Was. Amazing. The videos (first, second) tell the story better than I ever could, and the photos came out rather awesome as well. The sea lions (at least the females and pups) are remarkably curious creatures, and they just come right up to you and play with you. As they don't have hands or feet, they just nibble at your hands (or snorkel, or flippers) to see what they can find out about you. I also opted to take another dive afterwards, to a neat shipwreck they have nearby. Other than the fact the Atlantic Ocean is really bloody cold (7mm wet-suits, gloves, and hoods aren't optional), it was a rather fun dive, with some fish and coral as well. 

Later that day I biked up to a vista point nearby named Punta Felcha - the views were very pretty, but I ran into some rather destructive headwind on my way back to town, which forced me to walk parts of the way back. The milkshake I had afterwards certainly felt well-earned. I met some other fun travelers during my stay in Puerto Madryn (a couple from Austria, two girls from Germany, three Israelis (whom I met again in Ushuaia), and two more girls from the Netherlands), and cooked some solid meals. It was out of the way, but well worth it. Major props go to Johnny and Inbar who suggested it might be worth a trip.

The flight to Ushuaia was a tad bumpy, but the views were simply beautiful (photos coming soon). It's simply a beautiful place - snowy mountains to the north, the beagle channel to the south, and even more snowy peaks on the mountains beyond. Simply gorgeous. Between arriving here in the afternoon on Thursday, a skype interview Friday morning, and the cruise beginning Saturday afternoon, I actually haven't hiked here at all yet; but there'll be plenty of time for that once I get back.  

Next up: Antarctica. Eighteen days, including the Falkland Islands (or Islas Malvinas, as they're known in the collective Argentine cognitive dissonance), as well as South Georgia, sometimes referred to as "The Galapagos of the Atlantic." It's going to be amazing. I'm stoked.

Introspection of the day: I'm not quite sure if (and how) I want to track my expenses on the trip. On one hand, it isn't about the money - it's about the experience. However, seeing that everything does indeed cost money, keeping some track of it makes sense. So far it's early enough that I still remember most of my large expenses (travel, attractions), and can approximate how much I've spent on hostels and living expenses. On one hand I want to have some idea of how much I'm spending and what's it being spent on, and on the other hand, I want to make sure the financials don't consume me, and that I don't mull every dinner out with how much I've spent so far. 

Add into that mix the Antarctica trip, which dwarfs every other expense (and probably all of the trip-related expenses so far), and I have no idea and and how I should do. Friends and family who have traveled, should anyone ever read this: What did you do to track expenses? How did it work out?

Have Cordoba, Will Enjoy

I have a feeling this will be another one of those posts where the introspective part of our programming follows the plan retrospective part. I spent most of the last week in the awesome city of Cordoba. Several things I realized (and liked) about Cordoba:

• Cordoba is young. Very, very young. I heard someone float the number of 50,000 college students, and Wikipedia confirms it's even more extreme - about 100,000 students out of a population of 1,300,000. Honestly, it felt even more lopsided towards the youth, as my hostel was in Nueva Cordoba, a few blocks away from the huge university campuses.
• As a result, there are a ton of people with dogs (awesome!) and quite a few dogs on the streets (disappointing!). However, many of them seem cared for - I might be optimistic, but perhaps some of those dogs roam the streets and go to their homes at night? I'm not sure how to explain it otherwise. 
• A ton of gyms. The amount of gyms I saw reminded me of Starbucks in Manhattan. 
• It's even cheaper than Buenos Aires. You can get a very nice lunch for 50-60 pesos, which are around $4-5 (depending on the exchange rate).
• The nightlife is great - there's a high number of bars, clubs, and everything in between. However, I didn't really enjoy it much. More on that later.
• The museums! There was a very cool modern arts museum, with two collections that did some very fun things with texture: one involved arts created from small, rough strings, and another from something that looked vaguely similar to play-dough. The museum of fine arts was good for another nice stroll, as well as the two huge cathedrals. I guess it's a sign I'm growing old: I'm starting to enjoy museums, and go on my own volition.  

Other than Cordoba itself, I took two day (or half-day) trips. The first was to Alta Gracia, a village about an hour away, mostly famous for a historical museum in what used to be a huge Jesuit monastery. It wasn't all that exciting, but still somewhat interesting to see, and they preserved plenty of the tools, furniture, and texts that used to be there. The second day trip was far cooler - it was a to a small village called La Cumbrecita. The village is essentially an alpine village, akin to what you'd see in Germany or Austria, but in the middle of Argentina. Obviously they have their own brewery, as well as restaurants named Engel and Helmut. It's a very pretty place to walk around in - there are a few waterfalls and small ponds, and should you ever spend a few days there, plenty of longer hikes to be taken as well. 

Introspective: Although I had three nights in Cordoba, I didn't go out even once. I could blame it on the fact I was tired (and certainly I was, especially on the first night - as nice as the night buses are, they don't compare to a real bed), but that'd be cheating. I found a great hostel in Cordoba (Tango Hostel), as it was both recommended by my hostel in Buenos Aires and by HostelWorld. It was clean, the staff and volunteers (more guests/workers actually, but for the lack of a better term...) were very friendly and helpful, the location was great, and it felt good. 

For better or worse, it was also a very small hostel. Most of the crowd was of the loud European type, and while they were very friendly (even if a lot of what they did was to smoke), I didn't really enjoy their company too much. I guess it just didn't click. However, I also didn't try very hard. One night I just missed them going to play bowling and drink (which frankly, sounds like a great time), and I didn't bother to ask where they are and join, and instead cooked dinner with some other guests and went to sleep. Another night I returned late from my trip to La Cumbrecita, and instead of joining the massive group going out I fucked around on my phone a bit and went to sleep.

Here's what I'm going to try and do differently: I'll try harder to get to know the people I'm staying with (even those of whom who aren't gorgeous blondes). I'll make an effort to go out when a group from the hostel goes, as usually once I'm out it's a lot more fun. All else fails, I'll ask around for a nice bar, and go drink a beer by myself and see if I meet people there. I imagine going out while couchsurfing will also feel very different - but we'll see about that once I give it a shot.

(Oh, and I'm aware how terrible the title is. Absolutely accepting suggestions for a better one)

Have Plans, Will Travel

I've finally made my plans for the next two weeks or so. The start was anchored by the fact I only got around to think about it on Saturday, and the end by the fact I'm taking a cruise to Antarctica on November 15th. I want to arrive in Ushuaia on the 13th, to have the 14th a buffer should shit go awry at some point on the way. After careful (read: way to much) consideration, I have arrived at the following plan:

• I'm taking a night bus from Buenos Aires to Cordoba tomorrow night. It's a bit further away from Roasario (a bit on the local scale, another four to five hours on a bus, and nine hours or so on the whole), but it's sounds significantly more exciting, and like there are quite a few cool day trips to take. We'll see in a few days, I guess.
• I'll return to Buenos Aires either Friday morning or Saturday morning, on another night bus. TBD based on where I decide I'd rather spend another day.
• Saturday evening will be spent at PersonalFest. James McCartney, The Hives and a host of other local (I think) bands will be playing. Oh, and a small band called the Arctic Monkeys will be headlining. Maybe you've heard of them?
• Most of Sunday and part of Monday will be spend on a bus to Puerto Madryn. That city, located roughly in the middle of nowhere, is the gateway to a (supposedly) amazing nature reserve called the Valdes Peninsula. It´s also supposed to be Argentina's best scuba diving location. I'll be there until Thursday morning, when I'll fly to Ushuaia.
• Why fly to Ushuaia? It would take two buses, and almost thirty hours total by bus. I'm not that much of a masochist. I would have considered hitch-hiking, had I not been in a hurry.
• Why not fly down there too? A concentrated effort not to be too spoiled, I guess. Although the flight down to Puerto Madryn is much cheaper than the one to Ushuaia, the bus ride is also significantly less annoying. Namely, it's one fucking bus.
• Starting November 15th I'll be on a cruise to Antarctica, but that's a whole other story. (Fun fact: Did you know that Antarctica is considered a desert?)

Actually, that wasn't the interesting part of this post, at least not in my mind. I arrived in Buenos Aires Wednesday afternoon, knowing I have booked the the hostel until Sunday, and that I need to figure out what I'm doing until the cruise. I entirely neglected dealing with that for the first couple of days (why worry now about something you can figure out later?), and at some point on Friday thought about it a bit, and realized I know nothing, Jon Snow. After pondering about it some more Saturday morning, with the great help of the staff here, I ended up with a few ideas, including the course I ended up taking. At that point, I was stuck.

If you've known me for long enough (especially if you're my dear family), you know I sometimes have a terrible time making decisions. In the past, I was truly horrible - If a restaurant menu looked too inviting, I would agonize myself over what to order for lunch. I've dealt with that shit, and when decisions are truly inconsequential, I either make them rapidly or outsource them to someone else. Unfortunately, actually meaningful decisions still pose me a problem. Let's use Saturday as an example:

As I was very tired (late night celebrating Halloween), I decided I'll nap it over. Of course, the napping proved to be of little help with the decision-making process. Slightly more helpful were my mom and a dear friend I consulted with. However, even after chatting about it with them to the point of exhaustion (at least on their side), I wasn't sure. As the night approached, I started to realize how mentally exhausted (and perhaps even crippled) this ridiculous exercise in over-thinking left me: After cooking myself dinner, I cancelled plans I had to go out that night, and then turned down a free ticket to a club, with one of the guys from the hostel, his girlfriend, and four other women. I've never been a huge fan of clubs, but still... Face, meet palm. 

In order to prevent the same thing from happening today, I basically made my decision in the morning, and then made sure I don't rot in the hostel all day (I actually didn't leave the hostel for the whole day on Saturday. Fuck.). I went out for lunch with a woman from Chicago who just checked in, and we braved the rain to walk around and see the Obelisk and Teatro Colon (famous opera house). Then I figured out what exactly I want to book and where, and the booking shall commence tomorrow morning.

What can I learn from this? The nihilist within me says I should treat every decision as inconsequential, because ultimately, well, they all are. Never count on a nihilist for good advice... Instead, I should probably realize that after eliminating the stupid and highly illogical options, most of my plans aren't half bad. I should pick whichever ones charms me the most, would only work now, or the one I manage to convince fun people to tag along to. If all else fails, I should just make a decision and start implementing it.Wasting a whole day pondering it is just not worth it. 

Anything else I should take away from this?

Have Ideas, Will Blog

29-10-2014;

• Shower user intefaces
• OkCupid (why I think so many guys are doing it wrong, and how it could be better)
• Tinder
• kink
• Savage Love
• emotion while traveling
• meeting people vs. making connections
• communication, honesty, and simplicity (and how good and easy it can be when it really works)
• relationships (mine, mostly, failed, mostly)
• food and cooking
• Antarctica
• New York (and my amazing friends there, and one person I met especially)
• What I actually want to do with my life (hint; I basically have no idea)
• Languages
• ...

I´m also happily accetping requests (which no one will ever send), upon the condition you actually read something should you request I write about it.

That´s it for now.

Have Knee, Will Travel (Intro)

One of my resolutions on this trip is to write. Optimally I would have said to write more, but I´ve barely written a thing over the last couple of years (unless you count work related e-mails or OkCupid messages).

The next post will probably be a rolling list of post ideas, otherwise I´d forget most half-decent ideas I come up with (and there aren´t that many thereof to begin with).

Other ground rules (mostly for myself):

• I´ll write about everything that comes up to mind, including things that are private (so long as they are private to me, and not to someone else, or are written in a way that makes it highly stalkerish to impossible to discern who I´m talking about). If someone ends up actually reading this, and you want to talk about something, odds are I´d love to.
• Moreover, I´d love to hear comments, both about content and about style. Do cut me some slack with typos and the such - I´m fighting oddly laid-out keyboards, or my miniature tablet keyboard, which might even be worse.
• Expect to see mostly English here, although I might break out the Hebrew from time to time. 
• I´ll be writing about adult, private, and personal things. Should you read this (although I imagine I´m mostly writing for myself), do try to treat this with the requisite maturity.

Let´s see if I can actually keep it up this time.