Bored with Enjoyment

Bored with enjoyment. Sounds crazy doesn't it? It might sound impossible and you might not want to hear that, "Mr. 'I'm taking a year off from work to travel around the world to visit places most of us only dream of someday visiting' is bored," but he has been lately. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why I'm bored, but it's probably a combination of: emotional letdown following a heartbreaking ending to an exciting Baltimore Orioles baseball season, fatigue from 8 months on the road, relatively average sightseeing over the past few weeks, and a bit of that 'final week on a continent malaise' that occurs when looking forward to my next continent.

When I last left you, I was in Lisbon enjoying a night of Fado music with my friend Mary. Awesome evening of entertainment. The following day, I hopped on a bus to Obidos and somehow ended up in Egypt. Not really of course, but within the town's castle walls and cobblestone streets there was an exhibit about Abu Simbel, complete with a replica of the facade that greets you as you enter the real thing in Egypt (which only 2 short months ago I was fortunate enough to visit). Made me chuckle. I go from country to country to see new and exciting sights, and the big thing in town is something that blew me away 2 months ago. It was the first stop in Portugal that left me with a sense of deja vu, but it wouldn't be the last.

I next traveled to Porto, where the most exciting part of my stop there was a shave and a haircut. I've never had a shave at the barber, but this felt like the place to do it. As I walked along the streets, there were a handful of barber shops, and I chose one with a couple of little old men that didn't know a lick of English. I felt as though I was back in the 70's. All of their equipment and the clothing they wore couldn't have been purchased later than that decade. But aside from losing half of my sideburns because of the language barrier, it was a positively unique and memorable experience. Can't say I feel the need to have a straight razor eliminate the whiskers from my face ever again, but at least those 45 minutes were a bit of an escape from the monotony of wandering around another city. I don't want to sell Porto short because it does have a colorful waterfront, tons of places to taste the delicious red and white port wine (never knew the white version existed), and a dish called Franceschina (which I'll explain later), but that dish and the haircut were the highlights of my visit there.

Deja vu part deux occurred when I visited Lagos, or should I say Great Ocean Road minor. It was kind of a poor man's GOR. Same type of sandstone cliffs overlooking turquoise waters, just of a lesser magnitude than its' big brother in the southern hemisphere. It was definitely beautiful and what made it more tourist friendly than the GOR is that it had one town center with the handful of beaches around the cliff area linked by a pedestrian friendly walking trail. No car was needed to explore the rather extensive coastline. Definitely is a place worthy of a vacation.

Now you may read all of that and think, "How can he be bored with all of those activities?" I'll answer it like this. If you ate your favorite food everyday and only your favorite food for the better part of 6 straight weeks, wouldn't all of you eventually be bored with eating and grow slightly tired of something which you otherwise love? Of course you would. Well, my travels through Europe fit that description. I also think that if every backpacker took a look in the mirror and was honest with themselves, almost all of them would admit they have felt this way from time to time during their adventures.

Traveling can be a strange dichotomy at times. The mind may fuel the thought that one is obligated to hop on a bus and go somewhere new for a few days simply because one has the time, money, and because sightseeing options have been exhausted at the current location. But the body doesn't always agree with this philosophy. Personally, I know that if I let my body win these battles, months and years from now I will regret not having gone to destinations like Obidos, Porto, and Lagos. So I go, enjoy the sense of adventure in going somewhere new, knowing full well I'm probably going to be filling my days with activities quite similar to those of previous stops.

So, I knowingly place myself in these types of travel situations and am accepting of the fact that there might be periods of boredom, because ultimately, I would much rather be bored with enjoyment than bored at work. I just think it's important for everyone to know, that you can still be bored even when seeing and doing so many 'once in a lifetime' experiences.

Since I have left Europe I have now started on a 3 week adventure in the Galapagos Islands, to be followed by Machu Picchu, Easter Island, and Antarctica. Quite a few high value, unique stops left on my trip before heading home around Christmas. I'm really looking forward to my time in South America and will hopefully be overwhelmed with enjoyment over the last 2 months of my travels.

FLIPPIN' RIDICULOUS

I promised in my last post I would write some things in future blog posts that seemed flippin' ridiculous to me. Future posts will hopefully have more pics tied in with flippin' ridiculous stories, but for this post, I will once and for all chronicle the long sad tale of woe about my ATM card. May this be the last ever story you read about this tiny piece of plastic.

For those new readers to my blog, let me catch you up. Started my trip in Australia with an ATM card which had a crack on the magnetic strip. Wouldn't work. $100 FedEx fee later and 1 month later, I had my parents send me a new card to a friend's house in New Zealand. Worked for about a month before an ATM machine in a seedy Malaysian bus station permanently swallowed it. 6 weeks of cash advances on my credit card with ridiculous interest rates ensued, and after another $100 shipping fee, I received my next card at a hostel in Cape Town, South Africa just in time for my 4 month African adventure. After weeks of unsuccessfully trying to withdraw money from ATM machines in various countries, my bank tells me that my card won't work in Africa, Jordan, and Turkey because of 'security concerns.' Fan-flippin-tastic. Had my parents then Western Union about $4000 USD while I was in Tanzania. Silly me to think I would actually get that money in USD. Instead, I got about 6.5 MILLION Tanzanian Schillings. Great for buying the country of Tanzania. Terrible for losing out on exchange rates there and in each of the countries that followed. My new card then did its' damndest to not work in Greece, but I guess 1 bank had sympathy for me, so I was finally able to get local currency. My card worked there, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, and Hungary, but then decided it didn't want to work in Portugal. Every flippin' ATM machine in Portugal is tied to the same system, so if my card won't work at 1 bank, it won't work at any of them. I totally get if the bank doesn't want my card to work in 3rd world countries. I don't like it, but I get it. But Portugal isn't 3rd world last I checked. Sooo, I decided to do a cash advance and get out a bunch of Euros that I would use for the rest of Portugal and then exchange the rest at the various airports in South America, because as I rightly predicted, MY FLIPPIN' CARD DOESN'T WORK IN SOUTH AMERICA EITHER. Or at the very least, it doesn't work in Ecuador, but I refuse to even try and use it in other countries. That card will not cause me anymore anguish on this trip. I refuse to waste any more time sticking that card in machines, punching in the PIN, telling it how much money I want, only to ultimately be told to contact my bank with apologies on how sorry this bank is not to be able to give me money. So, more cash advances on the credit card along with terrible exchange rates in the city of Quito, have drained even more cash from the 'ol bank account. I'm fed up with my card, my bank, crappy exchange rates, exorbitant cash advance interest charges, and new card international shipping fees. Many of you know I like to speak in hyperbole, but it's no exaggeration when I tell you I could have financed an additional 1-2 weeks of travel were it not for those aforementioned rates and fees. FLIPPIN' RIDICULOUS. Abso-FLIPPIN-lutely RIDICULOUS.

How about some pictures from the rest of my time in Portugal:

Obidos

Porto

Lagos

Dogfish Head Soup

Clams with Pork

Bream

Port wine with chocolate

Franceschina (above and below): It is a sandwich  that means 'little Frenchie' which supposedly was created by a man as an homage to his girlfriend. It has 3 slices of bread with ham, sausage, steak, and cheese. On top is an egg and the whole thing is wrapped in a thin lasagna like noodle, smothered in cheese, and sits in a spicy tomato sauce. If I had a girlfriend, and this was the sandwich I created for her, she probably would dump me. It contains components from chicken, pig , and cow. If I called a girlfriend any one of those farm animal names, the writing would be on the wall.

Melon with Cheese

Fried baby squid with salad and chips

Travel to Exist vs. Exist to Travel

In my constant desire to understand why I have more frequently been having feelings of going through the motions over the last few weeks, I think I may finally have stumbled upon an answer that will allow my thoughts to take me elsewhere and help to break me out of that mental funk going forward. It is very easy for European cities to become a jumbled mess of cobblestone streets, pedestrian only areas, museums of marginal interest, castles perched high atop the city overlooking famous churches, and some body of water. In that regard, it can be difficult to distinguish one city from the next since the sightseeing destinations in all of these cities are exactly what I just mentioned. So if they all essentially contain the same sightseeing components, what ultimately gives each city its' own personal signature which makes it a worthwhile stop on the backpacking sightseeing circuit? It's not the bars or clubs because you can find fun, quirky, exciting, and/or hole-in-the wall places in any city. Personally, it boils down to 2 things for me. Food and local entertainment.

One of my greatest enjoyments when traveling is eating local cuisine. Now, while I have grown tired of the endless ham/smoked meats and cheese sandwiches throughout Europe, you can't beat the local dishes. No matter what local ingredients are used to give a unique spin on a particular region's cuisine, and no matter whether the meal is something that truly agrees with my taste buds or not, there is no arguing the fact that regional food makes a destination memorable.

There is also no arguing the fact that regional entertainment such as traditional music, dance, etc can also elevate the standing of a particular city in my mind. These 2 facts were clearly evident in my last 2 destinations of Budapest and Lisbon.

There are beautiful sights within any country. Some sights, as I have mentioned in previous blog posts, are without a doubt more stunning than anything I've seen in either Budapest or Lisbon. Due to the fact that there hasn't been an absolute 'must see' destination in these cities, it can be easy to just go through the motions until reaching a destination with greater star power. You know the drill: Get a map of the city. Go to the big colorful picture spots on the map. Eat whatever food fits into your budget. Sleep in hostel dorm. Move on to the next city.

I was lucky enough in Budapest to break that cycle when I stumbled upon a local festival which had vendors selling local food, beer, wine, and spirits. Also had a performance stage with people in traditional dress doing traditional dances throughout the day. It didn't hurt that the venue for the event was high atop the city in the castle district. So in addition to the local feel of the event, you also had views of the entire city with the Danube running through it.

Eszter Pillok-Vajda selling her Hungarian spirit Rac Urmos at the festival

In Lisbon, my new friend Mary and I went to a local hole-in-the wall bar that is known for the traditional fado music. YES Hostel in Lisbon has been amazing with their recommendations of places to visit in and around Lisbon that are known by the locals and off the typical beaten tourist trail. And despite not understanding a single word about which they were singing, you could just close your eyes and appreciate the emotion with which they were singing. Much in the same way as the festival in Budapest, this really was an experience that elevated a mediocre sightseeing day, to arguably my most memorable day in Lisbon.

And when I think back to the rest of my trip, the days and experiences that come to the forefront of my mind when asked about my favorite moments of the trip usually have a story of delicious local cuisine and local entertainment tied into in some way, shape, or form.

All of these thoughts have made me keenly aware of the fact that there are 2 distinctly different methods of travel to which most of us subscribe. I have labeled them as follows. There is the Travel to Exist theory, which is the theory I have subscribed to on my journey. And, there is the Exist to Travel theory which I found myself falling into as of late. Let me explain.

With the Travel to Exist theory, the length of travel time is finite and is determined by how extravagant you are willing to be with your spending. In essence, you are taking a break from your real life and using travel as a means to exist until that time when you choose to go back to your pre-travel way of life. In knowing that there is a finite end to your travels, one will most likely plan their trip with as many amazing sights as possible and spare no expense when it comes to food and unique local activities so that they get the most bang for their buck.

With the Exist to Travel theory, essentially your existence is tied to the desire to travel indefinitely with no plan of returning to your pre-travel life. With that in mind, budgeting your money becomes paramount if you want to maximize the length of your trip. It can be much easier to go through the motions in this style of travel because in trying to save money it is less likely that each day will be filled sightseeing destinations that require entrance fees and more likely that time will be spent just wandering around the city, soaking up the atmosphere and eating the cheapest local food possible, again to stretch out your money.

There is no right way of travel and each of these travel theories can be equally enjoyable so long as you are aware of how you want to travel. I think what was troubling me lately was the fact that my mindset going into my trip was to Travel to Exist for 11 months and be blown away on a daily basis by sights, food, and culture from around the world. But recently, I found myself unexpectedly slipping into the Exist to Travel theory. And while there were days where this was enjoyable, I had gotten away from seeking out local restaurants and local entertainment in favor of spending more hours in the hostel being a lazy uninspired backpacker. Essentially my travel life was starting to mimic what my life at home would be on a day off but I was just living it in a foreign city.

Many of you are probably keenly aware of the sentiments expressed in this post and probably have a pretty good idea of the type of traveler you are. But if you do find yourself falling into a funk or experiencing backpacker burnout, taking the time to attend local festivals/activities and be slightly more adventurous with your eating habits might be just what you need to recharge your backpacking batteries.

And now for some other orders of business:

As many of you may know, I was awarded the dirtiest camper award for my travels through Africa. Given the fact that I am traveling for 11 months in total, spending the time and money to do laundry in Africa just didn't seem worth it, since 30sec after putting on clean clothes they were already dirty again. I lost out on the cleanest camper award to my beautiful friend Kelly from South Africa. She certainly had a knack for always managing to stay remarkably clean in areas with red mud, dust, and dirt. And if she did have an article of clothing that got too soiled for her liking, she would just return from a trip to the local market with a few new outfits. Well Kelly, to you I say...

In recent months, I have forgotten how much fun it is to take pics of people posing in front of uninspiring monuments, wearing silly clothing, etc. So for my posts to the conclusion of my trip, I am going to introduce a photo segment entitled, "Flippin Ridiculous" whose name is inspired in part by the mature adult language often used by our fearless African tour leader Kate in order to protect all of our innocent ears.

To people using an Ipad as your camera, you look flippin ridiculous.  Instead of burying your head behind a computer monitor to take pics, hows about you use that device to surf the interweb for an actual camera. You know, the type of camera that could fit in a pocket slightly smaller than a kangaroo pouch.

Ladies Ladies Ladies. How many times do I have to tell you that high heels and fancy runway dress have no place on cobblestone streets. You may be attractive, but you know what? You look flippin ridiculous.

And since this is a travel blog, a bit of a review on Belgrade, Budapest, and Lisbon. Visit Visit and Visit. As my friend Scott has said about Belgrade, "It has a bit of a grittier feel than alot of other European cities." To be honest, it is the type of place that when you walk out of the train station, your first inclination is to turn right back around into the train station and go somewhere else. But it does have a unique energy and retains some of that post-communist feel that can make for many entertaining hours walking around the city.

Budapest is just about my ideal city. When I think about the components I would include in my ideal city, it would have a castle with an amazing viewpoint of the city below, pedestrian friendly zones with cobblestone streets, a river running through it, and unique eateries. Budapest had all of that. It felt very safe, and was a bit softer around the edges than Belgrade while still retaining some of that post communist feel.

Lisbon is indeed a mini San Francisco, complete with its own Golden Gate Bridge, steep narrow streets, and cable cars. There are amazing views overlooking the city and many pedestrian friendly zones that make for easy navigation around the city. There are easy day trips to beautiful surrounding areas such as Sintra and Cascais that also have their own beautiful castles, and ocean overlooks. As with so many other European cities, Lisbon is also in love with graffiti art and has a pretty vibrant nightlife scene, so I've been told.

And now for the proof:

Pictures to this point are from Belgrade

Pictures to here are from Budapest

Lisbon pics up until the performance artists. Sintra pics up to the 2 gargoyle heads. Cascais pics starting with the residences overlooking the ocean.

Cheers everyone.