Stream of Consciousness

The end of my African journey is rapidly approaching. I arrived in Cairo today and will be doing the pyramids over the next couple of days. We have had some long drive days lately, which always give my mind ample time to wander. In that spirit, this blog will be a stream of consciousness about all of my thoughts about my trip to date. My thoughts will be presented in no particular order and should serve a few purposes. It will be a nice post for people to read who might not have been religious followers of my posts and it will be a nice review for those that have been following. So here goes

 

 

Again with the punctuation problem Egypt. I like to end my sentences with periods and when I hit the 'enter' button, I would like for the period to be at the end of my sentence instead of at the beginning of the entire line., as evidenced here with the period and single quote coming in front of the word 'the'.

 

I could really use a vacation. I know it sounds funny to say that since I haven't worked since the beginning of February, but I could really use a vacation. I want nothing more than to lie on my couch and watch the Orioles try to make a run to the playoffs. Eating some chicken wings and hot dogs with a nice strong pale ale would also be wonderful. I am tired of these weak lagers that are served up in every country I have visited to date. I get that these places are hot and an 8% pale ale might be a bit strong for the masses, but enough with the weak lagers already. And while you're at it, stop putting sugar in your beer Africa. It doesn't belong

 

I miss family and friends. Even for the F&F I don't even see that regularly, it's nice to know that I could see you if I wasn't thousands of miles away. I know I will probably be ready to travel again within a yr or so of returning home, but it will be nice to be around again for family functions. I missed my brother's 30th and my mom's upcoming 60th birthday because of my travels this yr. They'll have others, but milestone birthdays are fun to celebrate

 

You ever have situations that are so ironic that even irony itself would find them ironic? Happened a couple of times to me this yr. When traveling through New Zealand, through day after day of dreary weather, I was constantly deprived of the opportunity to see the tops of so many mountains in the south island. After noting that in my journal and quite possibly in a blog post, I was on a bus ride where there was low lying fog in a valley that completely obscured the bottoms of every mountain, but finally afforded me the views of the tops I had been wishing for. Perhaps I should have been a bit clearer in my wishes and stated, "Weather Gods, please allow me views of the entirety of these mountains today." Just the other day we were in Hurghada, Egypt. A place that is part Las Vegas part Atlantic City and part Ocean City. We went there because of the opportunity to snorkel in the Red Sea (which is extremely blue by the way. Nothing red about it. Stupid name for a body of water if you ask me). Anyway, this place is a tourist destination for Russians, and were they out in force. We stayed at the 4 Seasons hotel. But this isn't the 4 Seasons that is a 5 star resort. This place would be like me putting up a sign outside the front door of my house and calling my humble abode, The 4 Seasons. My place is actually nicer than the place we stayed, but it served it's purpose. It had comfortable enough beds and air conditioning, which in this 100+ degree heat, is always a welcome treat. We were scheduled to be there for 3 nights, but after the 1st night, we had had enough. We snorkeled the Red Sea on that 2nd day, which was amazing, but we didn't like the crowds and we were staying in a part of town that was a bit run down. We wanted to be somewhere more isolated, yet still on the beach (I don't know if you can even call the sand around the Red Sea 'beach'. It really just goes from desert to sea. Quite a unique landscape.). So our tour leader arranged for us to stay at this little resort 200 miles away that was supposed to have AC. It didn't. We were in grass huts and just so happened to sleep there on a night where there wasn't 1 breath of wind. Everyone got ravaged by mosquitoes. With the location about 200 miles further south than Hurghada, it meant for our drive to Cairo, we were now 200 miles further away than we would have been had we stayed in Hurghada. As a result, we didn't even have a full day in our little resort. We left in late afternoon to make our way back up the coast to camp just outside of Hurghada. We stopped along the sea and were ready to pitch our tents when 2 military patrol men came up to us and ordered us to leave. So we did. We then drove for another few hours in pitch black conditions to a spot in the middle of the desert. We cooked dinner and were just about to go to sleep, when out of the darkness came 7 military men with machine guns. We were ordered to leave that campsite as well. Luckily, they showed us a place where we could camp safely for the night. So to review, we hated Hurghada but at least our accommodation had AC. We got our remote beach location in Marsa Alam, but slept without AC and got ravaged my mosquitoes. We then camped in the desert the following night in gale force winds, so at least there were no mosquitoes, but no one slept because it was so windy. So essentially, we would have preferred to just stay in Hurghada, but it took lots of irony to come to that conclusion. Be careful what you wish for

 

If I could go back to one place that I have visited to date, I would go to Australia. I barely scratched the surface of places to see and things to do on that continent and would love to spend another few months there

 

I love to stare at horizons. You can have such meaningful silent conversations with yourself. Equally special is star gazing in the middle of the desert and watching the sunrise from an airplane flying high above the clouds

 

I have a grown a fu-manchu over the past month or so. I don't think I will keep it. It's a bit too Essex for me

 

If you charge prices for which you don't have currency for change, then change your prices. Also, if you are a restaurant, have change behind your counter. Don't go to your cousin's house down the block to get some coins. Have them on location

 

Driving in desert is hot, who knew? I mean it is the type of hot that can best be described as follows: turn on a hair dryer and blow it in your ears for 8 hours while simultaneously standing in a ring of fire with industrial strength fans fanning the flames over your entire body. All of this needs to be done under an oven broiler as well. I honestly felt when going through the Sudanese desert that my skin was literally burning. Not sun burn mind you. But physically burning from the intense air temps. I couldn't even close my eyes because I felt as though I was trapping heat inside my body. It was laughable how hot it was

 

Being on trip with the same people for 4 months makes you very self aware. You become very aware of your strengths and shortcomings, and become thankful for getting to know people who help you turn your flaws into strengths and who also help you realize what your strengths really are

 

Only travel to places you really want to visit. Don't blindly go somewhere just because someone told you to go. You also don't need a reason to travel. I'm still not entirely sure why I am traveling for a year. But I am seeing lots of amazing things

 

Favorite moments of my trip to date: Great Ocean Road, Milford Track and Tongariro Crossing, Perhentian Island and Red Sea snorkeling, Ban Pin, Angkor Wat, Great Wall of China, Namibian dunes and sunsets, game drives, gorilla trekking, Ethiopian landscape, and the camaraderie with many of my hostel buddies and truck mates

 

Not really important to delve into the least favorite moments. The humidity of Southeast Asia was unbearable at times. Some sites didn't live up to their hype. Big cities in Africa were just big dirty cities that could have been skipped. But even in those sub-par experiences, there is always something valuable learned that can be applied to future travel endeavors

 

 

So there you have it. A bit long winded, but a pretty good look into my mind. I am hoping that Petra in Jordan absolutely blows me away in 5 days time. I am probably going to see the coastal towns of Turkey as well as Istanbul and Cappadoccia before heading off to the Greek isles to relax a bit. I have less than 4 months remaining on my trip. Lots left to see and do. Keep following