Tis the Season

This Christmas marks the second Christmas I have spent abroad. I have been living in Bundoran, Ireland for just under two months now and have made some pretty good friends here. However, most everyone seemed to go home or travel elsewhere for Christmas and the town became deserted. 

When Christmas morning came around I slept in, had breakfast and then headed to main beach for the annual Christmas day swim. I didn't think there would be many people there since the town was so quite but to my surprise I it was probably the biggest gathering I have seen thus far in Bundoran. Just after noon we all ran to the waters edge and submerged ourselves in a bone chilling water that was 8 degrees Celsius.  

In the evening I face timed my mom and brother and then my dad, brother. We were even able to include my grandma on the call just through a regular phone call while my dad and brother were on face time with me. It is a tradition for her to always come up with fun puzzles and trivia for everyone and we did them over the pone and face time. Although this year the questions were different from previous years. Usually if we were at her house for Christmas everyone would pay attention and count decorations scattered around to try and be prepared for questions like, how many snowmen are in the bathroom or how many saints are in the living room.
This years questions included things like:
What is known as the "stinking rose"?
Who wrote the Star Spangled Banner? Year?
How many stores does Kroger have?

Overall I had a good Christmas and have amazing people in my life.

Black Wednesday

On December 10th the biggest storm in 10 years was said to hit Ireland and was named Black Wednesday. There were 50+ knot winds and 40+ foot waves in parts of Ireland. Iria, Johanna and I decided to do the cliff walk to see how Tullin Strand and Bundoran bay were affected. It was extremely windy which made it hard to walk when we were going against the wind not only because of the force of the wind but occasionally bits of hail and rain would fly into our faces. All of main beach was covered in ocean foam which made it look like it had snowed but it was just spew from the ocean covering the ground and flying around in the air. Tullin was a huge mess of white water across the entire beach and the waves were pushing around huge amounts of sand. It was incredible to see how drastically different the beach could look when mother nature was letting out some frustration.

      

Galway Getaway

About a month into my time in Bundoran it was time for an exciting trip to Galway. Johanna, Iria, Annie and I were all able to get a couple days off work, courses and other obligations to spend some time exploring other parts of Ireland. It was really nice to see Galway during the Christmas season because they have a Christmas market with food, gifts and decorations. The entire town seemed to light up at night with the Christmas spirit. When we went out there was always live music not only in the pubs but along the streets and around almost every corner. We wandered around the town during the day and explored the Christmas market and local pubs in the evening. It was an amazing place and had a lovely time on our Galway Getaway!

An American Thanksgiving Potluck in Bundoran, Ireland

Thanksgiving is easily one of my favorite holidays and regardless of where I am I always celebrate. Last year I celebrated with two Argentinians and a South African in Nepal eating chicken burgers and buff momo on a beautiful sunny day. It was among one of my favorite Thanksgivings mainly because when we went around the circle to say what everyone was thankful for they were the most sincere words I have heard at a Thanksgiving gathering. This year I celebrated with 10 nationalities including Irish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Welsh, Australian, English, South African, Dutch and of course American. It was a potluck style meal so initially we were skeptical if people would actually contribute and there would be enough food for everyone attending. My contribution was making two turkeys, stuffing and cranberry sauce. I had never made a turkey before and know from previous family thanksgivings that things can easily go wrong when cooking the turkey but I was very attentive while cooking and they actually turned out great! I was more than thrilled and it was rewarding to see everyone enjoying what I had made. We did not go around saying what we were all thankful for because there were so many of us but the positive fun atmosphere was enough to make me happy and really appreciate where I am presently not only in location but in life in general. The majority of people that were at the Thanksgiving dinner were all surfers and there happened to be an asp surfing competition on that evening so after dinner we watched some surfing and relaxed by a fire. It was a great night with amazing people, delicious food, good surf and a cozy fire.

Norway

Oslo
1 night

Since I was running out of time I decided that I would only spend one night in Oslo so I could maximize my time hiking in Bergen. I had arrived when it was already dark so my exploring was restricted to the night. I just wandered around seeing what I could without knowing much about the city and later on continued wandering with Bret who I had met on my last day in Stockholm.

The next morning I woke up early to take the morning train to Bergen. I had heard amazing things about the train ride with websites saying that it is the most beautiful train ride in Europe with amazing landscape and beautiful scenery. Below is a photo from the train ride.
Bergen
3 nights

I was extremely excited to arrive in Bergen because there was meant to be some good hikes and outdoor activities in the area. I had also talked to my friend Stein who was from Norway to get some suggestions of things to do in Norway and told him some of the places that I had been thinking of going and he connected me with two of his really good friends that were living in Bergen and they invited me to dinner the night I arrived. I was supposed to meet them at 6 in Bryggen but ended up completely leaving the city center. First of all my hostel was outside of the city center and I was told to get off at a specific stop in the city center but the bus I took didn't stop where I was told and ended up completely leaving the center. I managed to get a bus going back and somehow found Aslak and Erlend. We went back to Aslak's apartment which was just behind Bryggen street where Mia his girlfriend was cooking an amazing meal. While traveling a home cooked meal is always greatly appreciated and the mushroom pie, salad and bread that Mia had made were exceptional! After a lovely evening I made my way back to my hostel where I got a good night sleep to prepare for my long day of hiking that awaited me the following day. However, when I awoke the next day the weather had turned and was extremely windy, rainy and cold. I decided to wait a bit for the wind to die down or the rain to slow down a bit but as the day continued the wind and rain persisted. I decided I would start my hike and see how I felt as I went along. My initial plan was to hike up to Ulriken and then across to Floyen which would have taken me all day but when I reached the top of Ulriken clouds began surrounding me and there was very little of a view to see and the rain and wind picked up even more so I decided it was best to head back down since all of my clothes were already drenched and I was very cold and tired at that point. Unfortunately the following day also had poor weathers so I only walked around the town a for a little bit instead of more hiking and even that was a challenge because of the cold and rain. Overall I did enjoy my time there but would love to go back in the summer when there is better weather and do a lot more hiking in Bergen and other areas of Norway that look astonishing from pictures.

Sweden

Stockholm
3 nights

I got a lot of walking in while I was in Stockholm. The archipelago has fourteen islands and I was able to explore a good number of them. I stumbled upon castles, parks, sculptures and museums. I also did two free walking tours that explored the new town and the old town. The new town wasn't that exciting because it was just like any other city with buildings, shops and restaurants. However, the old town was much more interesting with its narrow cobblestone pathways, palaces, old buildings and viking history.

After several days of exploring I was off to Gothenburg for a night then onto Norway.

Gothenburg
2 nights

Initially Gothenburg was meant to be a quick one night stop on my way to Oslo, Norway. However, it was one of those places when I arrived that I knew I had to say longer. When I arrived at the hostel I met some great people staying there and right away felt comfortable. The evening I arrived I went to an English Pub with an American guy staying at the hostel and ended up meeting a bunch of locals and having a great night out.

The next morning despite my raging hangover I put on warm clothes and ventured out to Slottsskogen Park which I was told had a baby moose also known as a calf but not to be confused with a baby cow. It was a cold but beautiful day and my curiosity was excited and overwhelmed by how immense the park was and how many things there were to see and directions to go. Every direction I looked there was a path that was calling my name to explore it more. The problem was there were so many paths and I wanted to go on all of them I had a hard time choosing what path to take and on top of it my main mission was to find the new calf that was in the park. After wandering around exploring as many paths as I could for about an hour I found all of the animals. It was a very unique place because it was like a public zoo within a park. Anyone walking around the park could see the seals, moose, sheep, birds and other animals that called Slottsskogen their home. I was lucky because when I was walking around the seals were very active and their curiosity brought them to the edge of the pool and swim around where I was standing. I then found the Moose enclosure and was there when they got fead. I was having such an amazing time walking around and finding all sorts of random unexpected things that my hangover seemed to disappear until I returned to the hostel in the evening. All of the guys staying in the hostel were planning on going to a reggae club that evening which sounded great but I decided to stay in because I had to get up early the next morning to catch a bus so I could actually spend a couple days in Norway.

Denmark

Copenhagen, Denmark
3 nights

I awoke at 6:30am the morning of my flight to see that my flight had already been delayed by five hours. My new scheduled departure time was now at 1:35am on October 29th. Most people would be bummed about a delay, especially one this long, however, I had not even started to pack and
wanted to go surfing in the morning so was thrilled to have more time. The morning before leaving the country I went surfing with Lindsay in Ventura and it was absolutely amazing. We were some of the only people in the water and I caught one of the best waves that I have ever surfed. Once I was in Copenhagen I checked into my hostel and the following day did a free walking tour and wandered around the city. It was a beautiful city to walk around with quaint colorful houses, boats lining river channels and cobblestone pathways. I then met up with Geraldine, Karen and Emily went to dinner and then a hugely club/bar.



My Halloween started with a delicious brunch with Karen and Emily. After which Karen and I went to Christiana which is basically a hippie commune. It was really interesting to see the way the community was put together. As we were walking around we decided to go into a shop and were looking at postcards when there were two young girls on horses who trotted through the front door and into the shop on their horses. As we continued to walk around we saw where the people live which were very nice quaint little houses, saw people just hanging out and smoking weed (which is illegal in Denmark but apparently cops ignore it in this area) and pusher street which is where they sell weed. It looks a bit sketchy because the sellers stand in both that are covered with a mesh camouflaged material and to hide their face and are very strict about not taking photos. It is a really strange but intriguing atmosphere. Afterwards we went to a pop up dinner.

This ended up being one of the most random and strange dinner events that I have ever attended. I was told about it by Karen and Emily who had made reservations the previous day and were able to reserve an extra seat for me. Going into it I was a little uncertain what to expect. As we are walking to dinner I find out that it is at someones apartment and when we arrive we are offered wine and shown around. This is where I initially become skeptical of how expensive dinner is going to cost. We were then told that everything in the apartment was for sale and they redecorate the apartment and set it up specifically for these dinner events. That was my second red flag that dinner was going to be ridiculously priced. We are then shown to our seats at a large kitchen table with about 9 other people and given a menu. The third and final red flag is the menu. There is only one thing on the menu but it is about a 7 course meal. Luckily there is a price listed but as I suspected it is extremely expensive and costs about 100 usd. I have never paid that much for a meal in my life and as a budget backpacker and traveler that was several days worth of budget for me in Scandinavia. Karen and Emily ordered but I asked if I could just stay and hang out with them as they ate. The waiter didn't mind which was a relief. As the courses came through I was even more relieved that I didn't get the food because it was very strange and the few bites that I had were not to my liking. There were also a couple of people who ended up being pretty rude so Emily and I decided to grab a few beers after dinner and the rude encounter. It turned out to be a fairly crazy night out and we ended up getting back to the hostel at around 6am. I only had a few hours of sleep before having to get up and get a train to Stockholm. Well worth it.

Hanz Christain Anderson: 

"To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to roam the roads remote, to travel is to live"

The Next Venture

After the most indecisive time in my life where I mentally wrestled with myself for several months regarding what direction I want to take my life, I have finally come up with a plan. I should mention that this is not a full blown plan on how I am going to spend the rest of my life rater a more immediate plan on how I want to spend the next several months.

I will be flying to Copenhagen, Denmark on October 28th and will make my way through Sweden to Oslo, Norway by November 10th where I will board a flight to Dublin, Ireland. Once I am in Ireland I will look for work under the working holiday authorization which allows me to stay in Ireland for up to 12 months.

I am excited to begin this new journey but have a lot to do before it begins. This includes selling things I do not need and consolidating everything that I have accumulated over my 4 years living in Seattle so that it can fit in my Honda accord that I will drive down to California where I will store my belongings while I am gone.

At this point the thing I love the most about Seattle is the friends that I have made here and without a doubt be what I will miss the most.

I crave and thrive on is being physically, intellectually and emotionally stimulated and challenged regularly which at this point I want to explore elsewhere.

I look forward to the unknown on this journey that I am embarking on and what I will discover along the way.

Eight Months in a Nutshell

Here is a video I made to sum up my 8 months of travel. It was a great experience and I can't wait to do something like it again. Until then here is a memento of my trip and inspiration for my next trip. 

Here is a map of the countries I traveled to:

Air Miles Traveled:

Seattle-Chicago: 1,718

Chicago-Amman: 6,215

Amman-Munich: 1,696

Rome-Thessoliniki: 547

Thessoliniki-moscow: 1,249

moscow-new delhi: 2,680

new delhi-jakarta: 3,105

bali-perth:1,605

perth-adelaide:1,316

adelaide-mel:1,680

mel-chc:1,501

auckland-bali: 4,193

bali-lombok: 65

lombok-sing: 1,080

sing-tokyo: 3,333

tokyo-lax: 5,446

---> 37,429 air miles total, 17 flights, 8 months, 17 Countries

Mountains Hiked:

Madness of Mrsa

Along with the amazing adventures that traveling to new and foreign places provides it also comes with some medical concerns especially when in third world and developing countries. Before I embarked on my journey I went to a travel doctor and with a list of countries that I thought I might visit and I was given pills for malaria, high altitude sickness and chronic diarrhea. I was fortunate to only need the high altitude sickness pills and it was for a short period of time; if I remember correctly it was only 2 or 3 days. Unfortunately, that was not the only thing that I had to deal with while traveling.

My first big issue was a second degree sun burn that I got on the back of my legs and my lower back. The pictures shown here are when I was on the up side of my recovery. However, under the white gaze patch was a huge blister that formed and was raw and extremely sensitive. As if the burn weren't bad enough I was hit by a surfboard on my lower back which broke open the skin and can be seen unclose in the picture on the upper right. Overall, I had trouble sitting, sleeping and walking. The worst part was that I had to take a couple days off of surfing. After I recovered I surfed with leggings on and immense amounts of sunscreen. I only hope that there are no longterm effects down the road.

When I was in Indonesia the second time I encountered my second medical concern. I wasn't sure what the issue was but a very painful welt appeared under my armpit. I figured it would take care of itself and eventually go away but it just kept getting larger and more painful. I finally asked some of the other people at the camp and the feedback I got really made me nervous. Everyone had a different opinion and there were a multitude of potential diseases, infections or bugs that I could have had. What made me the most concerned was when someone told me it looked like something her friend got when they were traveling in South America; her friend was able to get rid of it by cutting it open. I was less than thrilled to hear this, however, I really lost it when she then preceded to say a large worm crawled of the open cut! All I could then think about that I was now the host to some unknown jungle bug. Ahhhh. Other people thought it could be a centipede bite, bissle from an ingrown hair, or some other scary unidentifiable infection.

I was able to take care of the one that had appeared in my armpit with the help of an immaculate first aid kit provided by a German friend and some fearless surf coaches. Since there was a small white head that had appeared after a couple of days we were able to cut it open relatively painlessly with a needle sized scalpel instrument. I then tried to drain the fluid myself by squeezing it out, however, was unable to get all the contents out myself because of its location and the amount of pain I was in.Think about the most painful pimple you have ever tried to pop. Now, multiply the size by 10, the pressure build up by 100, and the pain by 1000!! Simon, one of the coaches, and his girlfriend Lucy helped me drain the rest as I was lying down in the medical room sipping a cold Bintang. 

Although there was still a wound under my armpit now that it was drained it felt a lot better! A couple days later another one appeared in the same place as well as three on my upper leg/thy and two on my left shin. Whattt was happening to me?!? I continued to try and drain them myself but was getting a bit more concerned. I was told to talk to Jess, one of the Westerners that lived at the camp who had endured several medical issues of her own since she had lived there and was the most likely to know what it was and be able to help. When I talked to her she seemed very confident that it was staphylococcus from bacteria in the coral in the water. Okay...great now I knew what it was called and how I probably got it but she said I needed antibiotics which the local doctor could not provide. I was heading back to the USA within about a week so I decided that I would wait until I returned to the states. 

The series of plane rides back to the US was extremely difficult because as I sat in the cramped airline seats I put more pressure on the welts on my upper thy which made it even harder to sit in the same position for hours on end. When I arrived back in California I went to an urgent care clinic where they cut one open and tired to drain it but nothing would come. They decided to take a sample and told me I needed to see a dermatologist. I immediately called the dermatologist to make an appointment. When I went they got the results from the clinic and told me that I had Mrsa which was a stran of Staf. Not only did I have a terrible infection on various parts of my body but I came to find out that it is basically the worst type to get because it is resistant to antibiotics. They put me on a medication and gave me a cream to put on the sores. By some miracle the swelling went down and I was left with several scars but was able to avoid lost limbs or death! 

Singapore

Singapore

2 nights

Singapore was a very different experience form most other places that I had traveled in the sense that most of my travel was not focused on large city destinations. 

On my full day in Singapore I walked around, took a tram to various parts of the city and explored whatever I wandered upon.


Although I was amazed by the huge buildings and architecture, walking around in Singapore was not the most pleasant experience because of the extreme heat and intense sun. Luckily, I was almost always near a giant mall or building that I could walk through and would immediately cool down with refreshing AC.


I also made my way to a huge garden where which provided an amazing panoramic view of the gardens and the city.

On my second night in Singapore I decided I would go to the airport early to sleep there since my flight was very early the following morning and I didn't want to pay for another night at a hostel. I had put my surfboard in storage and as I was retrieving it and getting my bags organized when a guy came over and offered to help. I thought I was doing fine on my own but I think he was just being nice because my board was big and I had also unpacked half of my backpack to put in the board bag for extra padding to protect my surfboard. He worked there and ended up getting me a trolly for my bags and checking with Malaysia Airlines (the airline I was flying) to see when I could check in. Unfortunately, he said that if I had arrived an hour earlier I could have checked in with but now had to wait until the morning. Darn, I was so excited to see the airport and find a nice place to sleep that night but instead I was stuck in the checkin area sleeping on tile floor with florescent lighting. Needless to say, it was not the best night sleep I have ever had. The picture to the left shows where I slept that night and the trolly that made my life 100 times easier to get around.

When I finally checked in and explored the airport for a bit the next morning I discovered free internet, sleeping areas, entertainment rooms, gardens, koi ponds, movie theaters, a pool, and much more. Next time I fly through Singapore I will be sure to know the earliest time I can check in before arriving at the airport.

Indonesia-Returning to Paradise

Bali
1 night

I arrived in Bali where I spent one night in a hostel. I needed to get to Lombok the next day, however, lack of planning proved to be more difficult than expected. At first I had planned to take a boat but I was several hours away from the harbor that I needed to leave from and it was then a long boat trip and another long car ride to the camp. I looked up flights and there was a really inexpensive one for 30USD. I was unable to book it online because it was less than 24hrs and they did not accept credit cards so close to the flight departure time. I even called the airline to see if there was any other way to do it last minute but nothing was working. I talked to the guys running the hostel and they tried to help me as much as they could, one of them even took me to two different travel agencies on his motor bike to see if I could figure something out. Both travel agencies ended up being closed. However, there was something comforting about being on a motor bike in crazy traffic in Indonesia that made me feel comforted and like I was back where I needed to be. In the end I found a flight online that accepted credit cards and booked if for 50USD the next morning.

Gerupuk- Surf Camp Lombok 

2 weeks

My second time camp did not disappoint. Again I was surrounded by great people focused on experiencing new things, learning and having fun! For these two weeks I was pushed more in my surfing and was happy with my progression.

The big boat trips, nights out, days into town, yoga, sunsets, and surf all continued to be exciting and fun. 

Gilli T

3 nights

I had three nights off in-between the two camps that I was doing and decided to go back to Gilli T with my three Swedish roommates from the camp Annie, Frida, and Sara. On the island we basically relaxed and explored the island all weekend. 

Gerupuk- Surf Camp Lombok 

2 weeks

After my second two weeks it still was not enough and I was able to extend for two more after the 3 day break.

I decided to invest in a hand shaped surfboard from the local shaping bay in Gerupuk. The dimensions for my board are: 6.6' x 20 3/4 x 2 1/2 with squash tail and pointed nose.


The pictures below were taken the boat in my final two weeks at the camp in the sessions group.

It was nice being in the sessions group because the theory was more intense which allowed for better personal progression. We also went out for dawnies at 5am and sunset surfs in the evenings. It was the best way to start and end any day.

Every camp I attended was absolutely amazing with great people, great waves and great adventure.

Mt. Rinjani 

2 nights

After my final camp was over 6 of us went on a 3 day 2 night hike to Mt Rinjani. We did the hike through a company so we had a couple of guides, porters, and were joined by a few other hikers. After the first day of hiking we got to our camp and it started down pouring rain! We were all freezing and just standing outside in the rain. None of the guides or porters were helping our group and we all wanted to be inside a tent so I finally had no more patience and went to our guide to ask for a tent so I could put it up myself. I wasn't rude about it I just was tired of standing around getting cold and wet so wanted to do something change the situation since we were all literally standing in the pouring rain shaking because of the cold. However, when I asked they didn't give me the tent but said they would put it up in a minute. Our tents were finally put up and we all tried to get dry and warm before going to sleep. I didn't even eat dinner because I was so uncomfortable I just wanted to get some sleep. On our second day of hiking we stopped and had lunch by some waterfalls before continuing on to find our camp site for the evening. The second day and evening were a lot more pleasant because although it was still cold it did not rain! We all took pictures of monkeys, had dinner, and watched the sunset. On the final day of hiking we got up at 4:30am and were at the top of Rinjani for sunrise. It was a difficult morning of hiking in the dark but overall an amazing journey. After summiting we returned to camp where we had breakfast and packed up camp. As we were nearing the end of our hike it began to rain again; this time the rain was refreshing and made a good conclusion to the trip. Overall it was a fun, challenging and beautiful hike over the three days.

Kuta Lombok 

2 nights

After the trek I returned to Kuta with Robbie and Ben. When we arrived we had a well deserved dinner of wood fired pizza. They were returning to Surf Camp in Gerupuk and as much as I wanted to to back and continue surfing I already had purchased my plane ticket back to the states and need to go to Singapore for my flight home.

After 2 more nights in Kuta at Surfers Paradise I boarded an afternoon flight to Singapore.