Blog - Thursday June 9th 2011 - Reflections on turning 29!

Location: On a bus - 4 hrs from Cusco, Peru.

Today is my 29th birthday, it is also 10 years to the day that I sat my leaving cert and thus left school.  10 whole years - where does the time go?!! I can't honesty remember what poets came up in leaving cert English paper 2 that day but I do clearly remember that there was racing on the beach in Laytown that evening! Funny the things we remember eh?!

Leaving school is a time when everyone questions what they would like to do with their lives, where we would like to study, to work, what career we would like to pursue etc. For me I had no real idea what I wanted to do and I remember my Career Guidence teacher Ms Dononhue helping me answer those questions by asking me another - "where do I see myself in 10 years"?!! Well today is exactly 10 years and I find myself somewhere I didn't expect at all - on my to Machu Picchu high in the Andes mts in Peru.

As for the last 10 years...well I failed an accountancy exam at the end of my first year in collage in WIT and never returned to repeat it thus Im currently a collage drop out. I got a job worked my way up the corporate ladder until I could go no further and after 8 years got fired for "serious miss-conduct"...... So there you have it, collage drop out and corporate world failure...... Is that where I saw myself 10 years ago....... Of course not..... 10 years ago my vision was one of successful business man married with kids, the big house, the nice car in the garage etc etc....... And thankfully none of that ever happened!!!

Henry David Thoreau said that "most men lead lives of quite desperation" and he is right, I myself lived like this for at least 8 of the last 10 years.... The desperation being the need to meet the expectations I thought I had when in reality the expectations were not mine at all but those of the society I lived in. Get a collage degree, get a good job, get married, buy a house, have kids, grow old and die....... that is the expectation.... and just to make it more spicy we put pressure on ourselves to try achieve these things as soon as possible, we put time limits on it.... and god forbid someone you know achieves it before you because then society has thought us to feel bad about that like we are in some way failing at life!!! bollocks to the lot of it I say..... Life is not about what we can amass financially or materially or at what age we do it, nor is it about achieving a certain status among peers or colleges. The 'Rat Race" that society has become is depressing to say the least and I am glad to be out of it, Im even happy to admit that I failed at trying to live among it because even if you win the "rat race" your still only a god damn rat!

I have been lucky to have have spent the last 17 months traveling and living a life of relative simplicity and it has opened my eyes to alot of things. I have realized that I would rather travel the world than own a Ferrari for example but more importantly I have realized that I want to die happy knowing that I had actually lived rather than just being another employee, another mortgage holder, another car owner, another husband, another number..... another person who's "happiness" is limited to the time between 6pm on a Friday evening and 8am on a Monday morning! Im sure that I could be a millionaire if I put my mind to it, with hard work and a little luck anybody could, but whats the point in having all the money in the world if you have no idea how to live life and aspire to something other than that which shows your ability to accumulate wealth?! My grandmother used to say "you cant take it with you" and I certainly have no wish to end up the richest stiff in the cemetery. I have worked many many jobs in the last 17 months and can honestly say there hasnt been one day when I have woke up thinking... "god i hate my job do I really have to go to work today".... work has been a pleasure no matter how basic or menial the task and I have achieved far more with its proceeds than I ever did from my so called "career" job! But thats me, I do not for one second suggest that those with career jobs are living incorrectly... not in the slightest, I wish the best to everyone and anyone who is doing what they wish with their lives but only if they are completely happy and content doing so for in 20 years we will all regret far more the things we didn't do than the things we did!

I guess in alot of ways I have spent the last 17 months taking "the road less traveled by" as Frost would say and yes it certainly has made all the difference. I have stood on the same beach Columbus did when he conquered the new world, Ive climbed mountains, swam rivers and explored new worlds on 3 continents and most importantly I have opened my eyes to the world we live in and it has opened its eyes to me. I have discovered that only an open mind is needed to communicate not being able to speak 40 languages and that there are no such thing as strangers just - friends we haven't met yet. From time to time we all witness or experience something that makes us proclaim those very overused words "Life is Short" and it is! Where has the last 10 years gone?? and the next 10 and the rest until the day I pass will be just as quick and so if I have achieved nothing in the last 10 years other than that realization then I have far exceeded where I saw myself 10 years ago for I wont live my life with regrets. I have no idea where I will be tomorrow, next week or next year but I do know that when the day comes that I draw my last breath my final thoughts will be happy ones as I will know that I actually lived! When I need money I will work and when I have money I will travel. I know the day will come that I will meet someone and marry, and when that day comes I will stand on the alter with no regrets either as the wild oaths will be well and truly sowed by then. I look forward to raising a family and I am sure I will even have a stationary postal address but I will never "settle" as to settle is to accept the current status quo, life is to be lived not just accepted! Henry Van Dyke wrote "Let me but live my life from year to year with forward face and unreluctant soul"and I think he had a point! and at the end of the same poem he stated "my heart will keep the courage for the quest, and hope the roads last turn will be the best"! Enough said!

So there you go I guess todays blog is more "reflections on turning 29" than anything else, as I said I cant remember what poets came up in my leaving cert but I have quoted 3 in this blog - poetry bored me in school as it was taught wrong but in later life I have enjoyed it..... as for failing that accountancy exam in college - I have taken pride in writing "accountant" in the Occupation box on every immigration form at every border crossing I have come across on my travels.... nobody has ever asked me to produce my degree from WIT!! So heres to being 29, I doubt I will be a millionaire by the time I am 30 but I will have seen the world and I would have "settled" for that 10 years ago!!

Time to get some sleep before the 2 busses and 2 trains required to get to Machu Picchu....... until tomorrow...

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Blog - June 6th & 7th 2011

I have arrived in Arica in the north of Chile but without my laptop charger whereever that has disappeared to!!! So looks like my blog is going to be an iPhone 4 production from here on in!

So we are at approx step 5 of a 12 step trip to Cusco! 29hrs on the bus to this point here on the Chile/Peru border. From here it's another hours bus to Tackna in Peru then 10hrs to Arquipa and then a further 7hrs to Cusco, from there another bus, a train, a 2k hike, another train and then Machu Picchu! Its a lot of travel but will be worth it, doubt I will get to climb it on Thursday as I wish but on Friday instead.

The altitude is intense here and will only get higher from here on. Enjoying some sugar-puffs for breakfast this morning which is cool! Ok have to run and catch another bus now..... Until tomorrow....

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Blog - June 3rd, 4th, & 5th, 2011

Location: Santiago, Chile.

I have been in Santiago Chile since Friday last staying with a friend I met while traveling in the Dominican Republic back in January. Its been a very hectic weekend ans thus I am only getting around to a blog update now but even this will be short as I am catching a bus heading north in an hour!

I awoke Friday on the the bus from Buenos Aires to Santiago just as we reached the Andes mountains on the Argentinean side which was a really spectacular sight to awaken too! Higher and higher we climbed all the way to the Chilean border where we had a long delay while clearing immigration and customs. As with Uruguay the actually process of leaving one country and entering the other was as simple as my passport being handed over a desk as both the Chilean & Argentiaian officials shared the same booth! The road trip from the border down the mountains in Santiago was even more impressive than the Argentinean side and it was very easy to see that it was the Chillianians who had the much more difficult task of building roads at their side to link the two countries.

The most compelling change in view from the mountains to the huge city of santiago was the very evident cloud of smog hanging over the city. Im told Santiago is the second most polluted city in the world after Mexico City and i would certainly believe it. The city is im told surrounded by mountains on all sides but the smog put pay to any chance of seeing them years ago. On Friday night I went with Dominiq to a party with some of her local friends where I met a buck from Croom Co Limerick who is after riding his motor cycle from Alaska all the way to the southerly most tip of South America and now he is on his way back up! He hasent escaped the affections of a certain Chilean girl however so has decied to stay around here for awhile and "see what happens"... I dont blame - she gorgeous... and speaking of which Chilean woman are very forward.... which is great to be honest - cuts out all the bullshit!!! Im getting to like Latin Culture!

Saturday I strolled the city and checked out the history of Bernardo O'Higgins, a man of Irish ancestry who was one of the founding fathers of Chile won won its independence from Spain. On Sat night I was invited to dinner at the apartment of girlfriend of the Limerick boy and had a great night there listening to her friends stories about Chile, its struggles and also some local music. We even had a few beers on the top of the apartment building which had some excellent views of the city.

Yesterday I took the bus to the seaside port of Valparassio and now today I heading north to San Pedro del AtClama about 1500kms away and a 20hr bus journey. My friend Dominiq has decided to come with me, she is from Indonesia and similarly to me has spent some time traveling in North America and as I mentioned earlier I met her in the Dominican Republic in January, she intends traveling to Bogota in Columbia as do I however I intend seeing some of Bolivia but she needs a visa being from Indonesia but we will see how that works out ..... I have broken worse rules..... until tomorrow!

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Blog - Thursday June 2nd 2011

Location: On a bus somewhere between Buenos Aires & Santiago!

Im sitting on a bus about 2 hours from Mendoza and approx. 7 hrs into a 22hr bus trip from Buenos Aires Argentina to Santiago Chile. The movie "Inception" has just finished playing on the in-bus entertainment system and most other passengers are now preparing to sleep - its midnight. My laptop battery indicator tells me I have 35mins of power left so just enough time to blog about yeaterdays boat trip to Colonia de Sacramanto in Uruguay.

As the boat docked in the harbor of the small seaside resort the first and most obvious thing I noticed was clear skies! Having spent the best part of 3 weeks in some of South Americas smog polluted cities it was refreshing to be once again out in the open and fresh air. Colonia Del Sacramento is actually the oldest town in Uruguay and has a population of about 21,000 so its be no means small. In a lot of ways it reminded me of Newport Rhode Is where I spent a couple of months in early 2010. I took a stroll to the tourist office and inquired what was worth seeing during my 6 hour stay. Despite having not a word of english the assistant marked a couple of spots worth visiting and so map in had I headed off on a 5km trek to see something called "The Bullring". The walk itself was all along the beach and sure enough I spotted the old ruins of what must have been a huge arena in its day standing derelict with nothing nothing in it bar the glare of the midday sun. Signs in Spanish stood as warning to potential trespassers and even a police man sat in his car at its entrance although I could swear he was asleep!

Much more interestingly I found next to the Bullring an abandoned railway station which was now a "train grave yard" complete with old time carriages from a more regal time. On the map I also noticed the "Hippodrome" and it was very close to where I was standing and being the horse racing fan that I am I just had  to check it out. I have seen a lot of impressive things on my travels but the sight of this old racecourse with its wrought iron gateway, tree lined entrance avenue and even a chalk results board was like stepping back in time to the 1940s (when the track opened!). I would even say that nothing had been changed, improved or modernized since the first day a horse completed a circuit there. There were some workmen re-sanding a patch of the course just past the finishing line but they paid no attention to me as I let myself in and wondered around the paddock, the parade ring and the stands. I have been to Aintree, Cheltenham, Longchamp and even Churchill Downs (only a month ago) but this deserted racetrack in the back arse of Uruguay trumped them all at that very moment and I sat there in the stands for a good twenty minutes imagining what this place was like on a typical 1940s race day! Its the simple things in life that I like and the simplicity of this place made sitting there basking in its glory a blissful pleasure and I would have sat there in the sunshine all day but I had to hike the 5km back into town!

Back in the town center I found a nice cafe/bar on the pier and sat to have some lunch. I had no sooner bitten into my grub than I had one of those "jesus you cant go anywhere moments" as two women in their mid 30s one of which had a very recognizable Irish accent sat down at the table beside me. Now I didn't know her but I could easily place the accent to a town in south Co. Tipperary, a town I once knew well and Im sure she and I probably knew some of the same people from there. I thought about saying hello until they began a very personal conversation about relationships, sex when they were teenagers and even fears of dogs and clocks!!! It was only then that I realized that these two obviously thought (being as we were in Uruguay!) that I didn't speak a word of English and sure who was I to ruin their assumption! On and On the conversation went... I eventually learned that they were sisters and from a large family (not uncommon for this town in Tipp either!!) however one of them had an essex twang to her accent and as the conversation proceeded I learned that she had moved away and married in the UK but had recently gone through a divorce. Funny as all of this was and indeed their complete careless attitude to what they were talking about in public, what struck me as most humor-some was that typically Irish trait  possessed only by Irish women where they can have a two hour conversation with someone else without listening to a single word that person is saying!!!  Its really an art.... and these two were experts at it and completely oblivious to it at the same time. The first woman started a conversation about her boyfriends (god help the chap!) fear of dogs while her sister talked at the same time about her recent divorce... neither missed a beat however and thus produced a symphony of nonsense that any unwilling eves-dropper (ie me!)could only laugh at.... but i couldn't laugh remember as they thought I couldn't understand a word they were saying! These two had serious issues.... like who the hell has a fear of clocks???... and both were in therapy... figures! Really hope that works out for them. I could have sat there and been entertained by them for hours but the sun was setting and my boat was leaving..... I was really really tempted to say hello in my Irish accent as I was leaving but resisted - after all these two had enough problems all ready!!!

Time to get some shut-eye myself and awaken to the sights of the Andes mountains... Until tomorrow.

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Video - Crazy road through the Andes

Argentina/Chile - Crazy road through the Andes

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Blog - Wednesday June 1st 2011

Blog – Wednesday June 1^st 2011

Location: On a ferry across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Colonia, Uruguay.

Its June 1^st! Where does the time go? Today marks 17 months since I left Ireland. That’s 485 days. Seven countries and 29,000 miles later I find myself on a ferry between Argentina & Uruguay on a quest to see country number 8.

The only things I know about Uruguay is it was the destination for the first world cup in 1930 which was won by the hosts as was the 1934 world cup. Diego Forlan the infamous Man Utd disaster singing is also from there. If you are regular reader of my blogs you will know that I don’t do much research on the countries I visit. This is not laziness or due to a lack of interest, quite the opposite in fact, I do it very very deliberately. Countries are to be experienced first-hand not just read about in books with recommendations of the same regurgitated nonsense of where to visit, what to see, where to eat etc etc. Yes I don’t deny that they have their uses for some but when Columbus set off to discover the new world in 1492 he didn’t have the benefit of the internet or the Lonely Planet Guide now did he?, he instead travelled in complete naivety and ignorant bliss and thus his experiences and that of other worldly explorers were completely genuine and more truthful than many of todays “tourists”. I don’t for one second compare myself to Columbus, de Gama or Magellan but I do share their desire to experience things with their own eyes and thus I will form my own opinions on this world we live in through my own experience of its sights, people, and cultures.

As for that word “tourist” I wouldn’t class myself as one either. After 17 months of traveling this is currently a lifestyle choice and thus I would consider myself more of a “Nomad” than a tourist. Tourists stay for the weekend and buy souvenirs, I'm more likely to buy the local newspaper and apply for a job! Tourists only need two things in order to travel - vacation time and a visa card. Nomads need tree – Balls, Naivety and Patients. Balls to “up sticks” and leave a life you have been comfortable in behind and decide to travel in the first place. Naivety to experience the world for what it is, to try new things without fear and to take on everything and anything – because if you were to stop to think logically about what you were doing you probably wouldn’t do half the things you did! And lastly patients for what we discover in the world, whether it is something as simple as a bad mannered check in assistant at the airport or that person that that just won’t stop snoring in the hostel dorm to more emotionally charged experiences like seeing starving children begging in city streets or slums, religious or political persecution – patients is a virtue for all.

Right now however patients is not required at all as I look out the ferry window  across the vast body of water that is the Rio de la Plata and enjoy the effect its calmness is reciprocating in me. Indeed if only this cup of coffee I’m drinking had been a lot cheaper that the $6 it cost me I would have nothing in the world to complain about this morning what so ever!

I have curiously always enjoyed taking boat trips, as a kid the best part of going to England to visit relatives was always the ferry crossing from Roslare to Pembrooke or Fishguard. Today’s sailing is almost similar in duration and the ferry I’m on is practically identical to the Steana lynx complete with duty free shop, bar and of course other passengers! Sitting at the table across from me are a couple I have been chatting to from Houston Texas. They are here on weeks’ vacation, its very obvious that he has no interest whatsoever in this day trip they are taking to Uruguay but she cant shut up about it and proceeds to tell me every minute detail of what has to been seen in Colonis del Secramento (the place we are sailing to) -  see as above who needs the lonely planet?! More interesting though are the couple sitting behind me, she is certainly Australian but his accent I can’t quite place. My guess is that today’s excursion is a date and one of the early ones in their relationship also judging by the nonsense conversation they are having, seriously sweetheart he doesn’t want to know about your first trip to the dentist when you were 5, and you sideshow bob lookalike should really shut up about all the places you have been surfing! I can tell that this chick is into him (it’s a given that he is into her or he wouldn’t be on the date in the first place!) but if he keeps going the way he is he will have talked himself out of any chance with her by lunchtime…. Us men we really don’t know when to stop talking do we??

As for me I’m slowly learning when to stop writing and so that’s enough rambling for today….  Just enough time for another $6 cup of coffee before the boat docks in Uruguay………Until tomorrow

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