#5monthsabroad

[rabbitsitrust-blog]

October 2nd 2019, Prenzlaur Berg, Berlin. 

A Camera that wasn’t working quiet right.

[billygonewild]

The Island of Palawan (Part 2)

Coron

Wow this trip took quite a turn for a few hours! I experienced the most miserable boat ride of my entire life. To get to Coron, an island in northern Palawan, you either fly or take a 7-8 hour ferry from El Nido. I was tired, hungover and packed on a small, hot boat with 50 people at 8am. You can imagine how I felt as I sat there melting on a wooden bench. The water was calm and we made it eventually. The plan was for me to dive at some of the epic ship wrecks that surround Coron. I signed up for an 8am dive the next morning. I even went to bed at 9pm, however as exhausted as I was I slept through my alarm and woke up 12 hours later missing my one chance to dive in Coron. Great.

It wasn’t a total bust as some locals that Vance had met took us on motor bikes to cruise the countryside and go to a hidden waterfall. I had my first and hopefully final mishap my ancient scooter as the shock broke off (guess i’ve been eating too much) and shattered the wheel. luckily I wasn’t injured and the owner didn’t even make me pay anything as he was super nice and the bike was well past its prime.

That night we were invited to meet up with Matt, another awesome couch surfer from Manila that we met through Anthony. He invited us to an “after party” of a friends wedding on the island. It turned out to basically be the dinner reception after the wedding and only had about 30-40 people there, all close friends of the bride and groom. And then the goofy, underdressed Americans. Needless to say the hospitality came out again as we were fed, given drinks and introduced to everyone. The brides father was a legend and did a shot with us and toured us around introducing us to his family. I was amazed at how friendly everyone was and how they would bring us in to an intimate event never having met us. Such a cool experience, thank you for making me feel so welcome.

The next day Matt and some of the wedding guests invited us on their private boat tour. We hopped around to more amazing islands, did some snorkeling and ate a seafood feast prepared by the boat captain and chef. The food was amazing at it was clearly fresh and tasted like it. I think the highlight was a lake in the middle of a small island off the coast. It had an epic view of the ocean, deep blue water that wasn’t very salty and the sun shining. I even got a performance from our travel companions who are all in a choir. They sang two songs and everyone at the late was completely silent listening to them as their song echoed around the cavern. Man they can sing. 

It was a busy few days on the island as I got to camp out on an empty island with Vance and Matt. We slept on the sand, built our own fire and roughed it like true cavemen. Was awesome to get away for a day and be on an island in the middle of nowhere.

Another highlight for me was playing basketball with some locals. They have a serious love for basketball in the Philippines which is amazing. Everyone wears jerseys and plays when they get the chance. in Coron they play at the police station every day. I made my way out there and played for the first time in about 6 months. Safe to say I was way out of shape. I had half a foot on everyone in height but couldn’t keep up as they raced up and down the court. Regardless it felt so good to play again and we picked up a few W’s.

I had some of my favorite food here and tried a few new things. My favorite was Beef Tapa or Tapsilog with garlic rise. Usually a breakfast food, comes with beef in a bit of a sweet sauce, rice and a fried egg. I also loved chicken adobo which is a staple everywhere. I even got a bit adventurous with pork and tuna sisig, which was minced pork cheek (or tuna) and served on a sizzling plate with some veggies. It was surprisingly good.

We wrapped up the Philippines by heading back to Manila for a night and having a nice little send off with some of the couch surfers and the “Columbian” from Panama. All in all it was an amazing portion of the trip. I was surprised how many friendly people I met and how hospitable they were to us. A big thank you for everyone that hosted, toured us and generally included my lost self in things. I am forever grateful and will be back.

The final stop on my quarter life crisis tour is India for Anand and Ashwini’s wedding. In honor of Anand I have officially grown my travel beard to the appropriate length. Stoked to see the wedding and reunite with some friends from home. See you in India!

[ragm]

So like, I should probably unpack soon. Obviously in denial that my travels are over. 😔👎 #5monthsabroad #4bags #beenhomeaweek #livingoutofmysuitcases #moveonrachelle (at La Maison de Martinez)

[billygonewild]

Christmas Island

More islands, yay!  Shortly after Christmas we made our way to Boracay for some beach and maybe a New Years Eve party. This is a small island that has a gorgeoussss white beaches and lots of excitement. Everything is located on one side of the island split into 3 zones. There are endless bars, restaurants and clubs up and down the whole span. I was surprised to see how touristy is was with so many people vacationing here, many from China and Korea. It was bit too pricey and touristy for my taste but still worth the stop.

I also was reunited with Jackie who I hadn’t seen since I left for my trip! We balled out for a few days and had an awesome stay all thanks to her. Unfortunately, I chose this time to get a bacterial infection and was bed ridden for a few days. Still we had a blast on the beach and shooting the shit like we were in SF again. We also managed to bring a little Christmas to our hotel room, almost like we were home!

The highlight for me (besides obviously seeing Mushu) was the fireworks on New Years Eve. Anthony met us in Boracay and took us to his friends resort. They set up fireworks in the water maybe 40-50 feet out. They had them spread out over the whole span of the beach which we could see. We also had a show directly in front of us an it went on for 30 minutes. Unreal experience and the pictures don’t do it justice.

Sadly Jackie had to go home and we headed back to Manila to make our way to Palawan. Next up will be some island hopping, my favorite. Hopefully the thought and photos will warm up all my friends back home enjoying the miserable rainy and cold weather in SF!

[billygonewild]

Christmas in Manila

I didn’t really know what to expect coming to the Philippines.  I had heard good things from friends but knew nothing besides gorgeous beaches, not even knowing what the local foods were.

We got in to Manila at about 3am and did the usual skate around trying to find a cab that wouldn’t rip us off. As our cab pulled to the street the hostel was on at 4am in the Makati district I was shocked to see strip clubs, homeless kids begging and people selling all sorts of questionable goods (I was asked if I wanted to buy Viagra probably 50 times, not sure what type of vibe I am putting off). I was wondering what I got in to, we found out later that it was just that specific street and Makati is actually an up and coming area. 

It was two days before Christmas and we had no idea how we were going to celebrate. Vance hit up a few couch surfers and we were invited out to a club with a guy named Anthony. We ended up having an epic night out with him and some of his family visiting from Hong Kong. Such a fun night meeting people from all over as we were about 2 of 5 western looking people in the whole club. We met, locals, people from China and even some Cali people from San Jose, 30 mins away from where I live in San Francisco. I even talked to a lady boy that I had no idea was a guy until she told me. Guess they can be quite convincing.

Meeting Anthony was a blessing as the rest of our trip formed around his guidance and connections. The next night was Christmas Eve and we were lucky enough to get invited to a traditional Christmas dinner with one of Anthony’s friends house. Traditionally they at at midnight so it is technically Christmas with their family. Nathan welcomed us in and fed us, introduced us to his family and other travelers, gave us drinks and strongly encouraged us to sing Karaoke with him. I ended singing all the girly/high pitched voice songs like Bieber and Britney Spears. Again, not sure what type of vibe I am putting off. I was so grateful to Nathan and his family as I was across the world from my family and friends on my favorite Holiday that I have never spent away from my family. Amazing hospitality which was a theme all through the Philippines.

I was so excited to see Christmas decorations everywhere and even made my way to the mall to buy some xmas essentials. Felt more like Christmas than I expected. Apparently they don't mess around when it comes to Christmas. They start decorating as early as September in places, which would be blasphemy in the US.

Such an unexpected and awesome stay in Manila celebrating Christmas with some new friends. And as you have come to expect with me now, next up is some island time. This seems to be turning in to an island tour all over the world.

[billygonewild]

The Land of Sunsets

After a month by myself it was time to meet back up with Vance for 3 weeks in Cambodia. This was one of his favorite countries so I convinced him to come back and show me around a bit. 

First stop is Siem Reap. A fairly small city with not much to do besides the incredible temples, including Angkor Wat. I spent a full day visiting various temples, my two favorites being Angkor Wat and the temple built around a massive tree (not sure on the name). 

Had literally my old bad experience in Cambodia here as a guide followed me around chatting and then expected me to pay him at the end even though I never asked him to walk with me. I gave him a few bucks since I felt bad but when I wouldn’t give him as much as he wanted he got extremely mad and yelled in Cambodian. This experience aside, Cambodian people are probably the nicest people from any country I have been to so far. They are always so helpful, friendly and happy. The kids are super cute and always running around laughing.

As for the temples, they are hard to describe in words so hopefully the pictures will help do them justice.

We also cruised around on bikes which is an all time fave of mine wherever I go. We went for a daytime ride and a late night ride which was awesome. We offered tuk tuk drivers rides, had beers with them and even tried snake. It was disgusting and I plan to never eat it again.

The other main highlight was our wine night, we ended up getting the first decent red wine in about 3 months. They don’t have great wine here but we found a few good bottles and chilled out playing cards. I think I am showing my age here, but it was amazing.

Next stop Phnom Penh!

[billygonewild]

Thai Islands (Part 2) and the Dirty City

Koh Phangan

My final island was Koh Phangan for the full moon party and two lovely visitors from back home. Mike decided to come visit for about 5 days with me and spent some time on his own in Bangkok. 

Eliana was a bit more sporadic and I give her props on her boldness in traveling the world as a spur of the moment trip. This island was filled with lots of beach time and of course a full moon party. I have seen some fun parties but this is different. An entire beach filled with different stages, music and fire shows. The buckets were flowing freely. 

I have two favorite moments to share from this night. The first starts the day before the full moon party, I was prepping Mike and Eliana about the madness, specifically the fire jump rope at the event. I have seen it before, everyone has a few drinks and thinks they are the best jump-roper known to man and gives it a go. The problem is never you, its always the 5 idiots that come running in after it goes around a few times. They always kick it and someone gets burned. This literally happens EVERY TIME. I explained that you need to decide ahead of time you won’t do it and you will be fine. They both nodded in agreement. Fast forward, Michael is a few buckets in, sees the fire jumprope and decides he might want to give it a go. (He told me later he was thinking it was a good idea from the moment I warned him). Sure enough, he gets in, one jump, two jumps, 5 idiots try to join and the rope comes down right on Mike. Time for us to find the medic to treat the burn. Once I was sure it was nothing serious I couldn't stop laughing. Guess it is worth listening to me every once in awhile, shocking, I know. 

The other favorite moment was dancing on the beach and turning around not knowing what time it was and seeing the sun start to peek up over the beach. The three of us sat down on the beach and watched it rise, definitely something I will remember for awhile. One of two times I saw the sun rising in Thailand and by far the best.

Bangkok

I also spent a few days in Bangkok. Was a fairly quick trip as I heard you don't need much time here. I had another friend come visit from Cali, Scott, and was stoked to see him. 

We spent an interesting night in what was clearly the wrong area as we were approached by lady boys and shady characters all night. But we made it through. The rest of the time was spent at the infinity pool in our sick hotel. I would say I love Bangkok but I think I just loved the pool area and could have spent days there alone. Bangkok is worth a stop but not for more than a day or two.

I had an exceptional time in Thailand, met some amazing people, fell in love with Scuba, ate hundreds of pounds of thai food and significantly improved my tan. I will definitely be back. Next up, tough guy Billy is off to Cambodia. 

[billygonewild]

Welcome to Laos (Part 2)

Last stop in Laos was Luang Prabang. We were supposed to spend a few days here. Ended up with a hostel with a pool which is always nice. We went to the Kuang Si waterfalls which were amazzzzzzzing. We rented a scooter and cruised our way over to the park which is part falls which you can swim in and part bear sanctuary. We saw some endangered bears chilling and lounging around, they weren’t very active. Kinda like Matthew on any day he doesn’t have to work.

We then trekked up a bit to see the falls, which I have grown to have an obsession with waterfalls. It might even mirror my train obsession, maybe not that quite that level yet. The water was such a gorgeous light blue, almost like Carolina blue. No wonder I liked it so much. We swam in the falls and jumped off a 10 ft ledge. Luckily I survived the backflip off the ledge. Apparently the water is so blue because it runs over lots of mineral deposits which reflect in the water and make it appear the unreal light blue color. Don’t ever say my blog isn’t educational as well!

We were also in town for Halloween. Consistent with the theme of our trip, we came up with costumes 15 mins before we left the hostel to go out. We settled on street fighters using up all of our medical tape and wraps. A close second place was dressing up as girls, but with all the lady boys out here we thought it might be a bit too close to home. Part of team Holland was in town for Halloween as well so we spent the night with them as well as some new friends. We went to the one bar in the town which closes at 11pm, nice and early like us old people like. 

After the bar everyone goes bowling. We got most of our crew and headed to the bowling. In my normal competitive spirit I took down the crown with a drunken score around 150, not sure how I pulled that off. The true winner was the beginning of my collection of what I like to call “Vance faces”. We all have seen the faces he makes at random times, I believe I captured some of the rare athletic “Vance Faces”. I will be sure to post more as soon as I get them.

The lowlight here was some of our roommates being wasted and keeping us up until 4am. Safe to say we didn’t sleep much here. Vance decided he had enough craziness of not sleeping and we booked our way out and to Chiang Mai that day. Luckily I have been looking forward to Thailand the whole trip so I am stoked to experience it. Pad Thai, Peanut sauce, beaches and cheap massages are very near in my future.

The more I travel the more I realize how my experiences are made by those I meet, both local and fellow travelers. So many times I have made assumptions about people based on their appearance that turned out to be completely wrong. A valuable lesson for me. I recently met a 73 year old man from New York staying in our hostel that was amazing. He started chatting me up and his story was incredible, he has been to over 70 countries in his life and is now retired traveling 3 to 4 months a year. He told me he loves staying in hostels to “shoot the shit” with fellow travelers, most of which are probably 50 years his junior. I am sure he goes the private room route but I was so impressed as I first thought he was so out of place in the hostel. I asked if he liked traveling alone and he responded with “I hate it, but otherwise I just wouldn’t travel. And thats not an option.” I also asked him if he was happy with how he traveled his whole life and he told me he would have traveled more. He wishes he had time to see the entire world. He told me I need to travel every year to keep my sanity. Later in life he would leave for a month or so. He would take unpaid vacation or just move on to a new job when he got back if they wouldn’t let him go. So glad I had to chat with him and get his unique perspective. As I left he said “I hope to see you again traveling soon! Maybe 2 years from now in Moscow!”

Maybe we focus too much on our jobs every day and don’t focus enough on those who are around us and the experiences we could be having.

Up next is Thailand which I have been waiting for for quite awhile. Time for some beaches and amazing food. Tubing Clay will see you soon Thailand!

[billygonewild]

Welcome to Laos, Part Uno

I didn’t really know what to expect from Laos. Everyone I had talked to had good things to say about Laos. I heard it was a bit less developed than other countries, the food was amazing and the people were very friendly. Turned out to partially be true.

First up was Vientiane after almost a full day on a bus. I am very ready to be done with these overnight buses, I miss the train. When we arrived we were pretty much useless for the 1st day (shocking). We napped and sat by the pool at our hostel for some much needed rest and relaxation. There wasn’t much to Vientiane, it is definitely less developed than Vietnam. We happened to be there at the same time as a huge festival of some sort so the night market was popping every night we were there. There were carnival games, street food and rides.

We ended up at an outdoor restaurant with a view of the river right in the middle of the market every night. They had cheap beer and some delicious food (minus ordering Larb the first night that was so spicy it basically burnt every tastebud I had off). We made friends with two awesome waiters. We drank beers with them as they were closing up the restaurant and made our way to a local club where Vance and I were the only white people. They really do their clubs right as there are tons of tables for everyone to hang out at and drink instead of one big dance floor and selling tables for millions of dollars. Loved the experience and hopefully I will get to see these guys again at some point!

Next up was Vang Vien, home of the infamous party tubing river. This used to be an insane party with 20 bars open that you could float between, ziplines and swings into the river. After a few injuries from some travelers a bit back the government shut it down until they could regulate it more. Now it is only 4 bars a day that rotate being open, still an amazing experience. We ended up tubing 2 different days. Day 1 we formed up with Team Holland (seems like everyone we met was from Holland), had such an awesome time drinking, floating and playing games down the river. 

I met a guy from San Francisco that used to live 5 mins from me in SF who ended moving to Laos and now owns one of the bars. He was reppin the Dubs hat. Round 2 was apparently American day, as we hung out with Americans all day. More cool people but way too much drinking in a short span for my old liver/body. Our hostel owner was a nice guy who bought us dinner and the hostel was filled with cool, young travelers. Sadly that led to being woken up multiple times a night, including some clown trying to hook up with a girl in my room after seeing me in bed.  Safe to say I was happy to get out of the hostel. There wasn’t much more to do here besides the tubing and it was such a small town. 

I think its noteworthy to mention I went on 2, thats right TWO runs while I was here in a span of 4 days. Feel free to be impressed now.

I leave you with me eating the most delicious Sandwich ever, Chicken, Bacon, Cheese that they sold everywhere in Laos. AMAZING!

Next up will be Luang Prabang and our final stop in Laos!

[billygonewild]

North Vietnam and Coffee

The north of Vietnam was divided in to 3 parts for us. First Hanoi and the two separate tours to Halong Bay and Sapa. Got some deets on the first two parts here.

Hanoi was like any other big city and there wasn’t much to see here but there was a lot of good food to explore. Met some nice people here, got myself an asian haircut. Sadly we never got the chance to try egg coffee (coffee with whipped egg whites) and thankfully we never tried weasel coffee. Apparently the second most expensive coffee in the world, which is coffee beans eaten by weasels, partially digested and crapped out, then turned in to coffee. And people pay extra money for this. Apparently the most expensive coffee in the world is Elephant coffee. I feel bad for those coffee makers, those who used to work at Starbucks should know they don’t have it quite as bad as they could. Also, I have become slightly addicted to vietnamese coffee, it is easily my favorite food or drink here. I feel I finally got a photo up to the standards of my food photo mentor Cindy, please give me props here as she is very tough on me and I rarely meet her standards. Nothing better than iced coffee with condensed milk, nice and sweet like I like it.

Enough of that tangent, I really like the vibe in Hanoi. We went to book our tours through a tour company that one of Vance’s friends recommended. We met with Tung and got great deals on both trips (if anyone wants help booking anything in North Vietnam I can put you in touch). He actually invited us over to his house for dinner as well which was my favorite part of Hanoi. We sat on the floor with his family and had an authentic Hot Pot. It is a pot of warm broth that sits in the middle and they put in fresh ingredients and they cook in front of you. Fresh shrimp that were still moving and tasted amazing, chicken, pork, veggies and tofu. It was delicious and really embodies the family mentality that is very relevant in Vietnam. Apparently they do this at most major holidays. We also had some homemade rice wine which was potent and delicious. It tasted like a sweet and delicious wine almost as strong as a liquor. Overall great experience, very grateful for Tung and his families hospitality and Sam for introducing us.

We left for Halong Bay the next day which was a very cool experience but a big cookie cutter and touristy. We spent 1 night on a boat and 1 night on an island called Cat Ba. We trekked through an amazing forest with some epic views up top and went to a private beach for an hour on monkey island. Very bold monkeys here that would dash out and steal food from the people on the beach. Hilarious to watch. 

I wish we could have had more time for these activities as apparently the government sets the itinerary so it felt a bit rushed. I did win a contest for the best spring roll and got myself a free whole beer! As for the scenery, the pictures don’t really do it justice.

Worth seeing the bay for sure but I wish we could have found a reasonable way to see everything on our own schedule. I could have used some relaxing time on the beach. All this travel is stressing me out!

[billygonewild]

Vietnam Continues...

HUE

So I think I have adjusted a bit more now. I have found a lot of food that I like and feel more comfortable with all the craziness. After leaving Da Nang we headed to Hue for a few days. Met a nice local guy who showed us around a bit. We tried some great food and did some sight seeing. I had a really bad taste in my mouth after people repeatedly tried to rip us off. I guess I see why they do it because its not a ton of money and tourists will just go with it. But I got tired of haggling with every person just to get a reasonable price. One cab driver covered the fare with a piece of paper and told me not to look at it when I lifted up the paper. Our ride was about 25,000 Dong ($1.25) but he was trying to charge us 125,000 Dong. After yelling back and forth a bit in the street we slipped a 50,000 in his pocket and walked away, with neither of us happy.

Other than people trying to take advantage it was a nice time. We were walking down the street and a local offered us free beers and sat with us and taught us vietnamese (or tried and failed miserably cuz we suck) and we taught him some english in return. We saw the citadel or imperial city and should have just driven around the outside. A bit too pricey since the buildings inside are mostly demolished.

We did go to a tomb about 20 mins away on a scooter and it was well worth the time. Amazing architecture and was a beautiful ride out.

Phong Nha

After Hue we took a bus to Phong Nha to check out some caves. While the hostel in this tiny town was cool, the vibe seemed a bit off. However, we had my favorite experience yet. We took bikes and cruised around the town, it is literally one main street and then goes in to small houses with families living there. Not much else going on. Everyone said hello and waved and the kids loved it. 

We stopped to say high to 3 kids and high five them. They had a slingshot which they tried to show us how to use, took a bit to get used to. Eventually I looked up and there were 10 kids around. The boys would play with us and the girls sat back very reserved. More and more kids showed up. Some of the bigger boys would try to ride our bikes by sticking there leg through the hole and awkwardly standing on the side. Hilarious. Eventually we turned in to human jungle gyms once they realized we could pick them up. I think my back is still sore. The joy that these kids had laughing and playing with us was amazing and so real. We couldn’t converse with more than a few words so it was all games and actions. Sitting here writing about it still brings a smile to my face. You can see some of the joy in the pictures. I don’t think I can say enough about this experience.

The next day we checked out 2 caves, Paradise cave and the Dark cave. The Paradise cave was first and was beautiful. Huge caverns with all sorts of rock formations. The pictures don’t really do it justice as it was a bit dark and all kinda looks the same in pictures. Gorgeous though.

Next up was the dark cave, this was my favorite. It was a bit more hands on. We rode a zip-line across the river, swam in the cave and kayaked back. The best part was a huge mud pit at the end of the cave. It probably was about 4 feet deep and you could just float on top. I could barely touch the bottom if I tried. I think we have some pictures but have to get them from Vance’s GoPro. Just imagine me even darker than I already am.

Have two more weeks in North Vietnam and then two weeks in Laos. I am looking forward to Thailand as well as a few friends from back home are coming to visit! Stokkkked.

For now, tam biet from the travelers...

[billygonewild]

What Planet Am I On?

Wow I have landed on another planet. Maybe even another universe. I came in knowing that things would be very different but it wasn’t enough to prepare me. I consider myself a fairly laid back traveler that can adjust quickly but this is going to take some time.

Was quite an adventure from Croatia, as it took about 36 hours in total. I had a brief layover in Munich where I had just enough time to check out Oktoberfest. There were girls in german beer outfits everywhere and the lads wearing the green overalls with nothing on their legs (I have no idea what either of these are actually called). It was like a huge amusement park with beer halls everywhere, rides and games and brats, pretzels and other snacks everywhere. I snagged a delicious Brat, only bummer is none of the beer halls would let me in with my bag. I will definitely be attending Oktoberfest somewhere next year, hopefully Munich.

Next leg was to Abu Dhabi on Air Etihad, which was surprisingly nice. However, we landed 40 mins late when I only had an 80 minute layover. Which led to me running through the airport to my flight. Luckily I am speedy and nimble like a cat and made it to my flight as one of the last 3 people on the flight, pretty much as the doors shut. Of course, my bag didn’t make it which lead to me waiting 2 days and having to buy more clothes in Da Nang, which were way too small. If anyone is in the market for some tight boxer briefs or a shirt, I can cut you a great deal.

Landing in Vietnam was probably the largest culture shock I have ever experienced in any place. There are people on mopeds everywhere! It is non stop. They drive quick, crazy and honk all the time to merge. Watching a roundabout intersection is unreal, people pour in from all directions, sometimes slowing for others and darting between gaps to come out on the other side, I don’t know how there aren’t more crashes. The scenery outside the cities is green and beautiful. Inside the city the shops are close together and very small. Often times restaurants are the biggest places, with large overhangs and no front wall. They have amazing bridges with lights and weird designs. They even have the Dragon Bridge in Da Nang which is a huge dragon and shoots fire twice a week.

The food, so far I am not the biggest fan of Vietnamese food. I had some great Pho and Mi Quang noodles with pork, chicken and shrimp. But the rest has been interesting. Where is the fruit?! Where is the protein? Why do I have so many carbs with every meal and only one piece of lettuce? I guess I will never know but I will find my niche with food. Can’t wait for Thai food.

After a month and a half of traveling alone I found a wild Vance! Was great to catch up, we had the most sporadic conversation for about an hour catching up on so many random things. Looking forward to traveling with him for parts of the next few months as we try to find a way to make money and travel so we never have to stop traveling. Let us know if you have great ideas. Also his blog can be found at travelwithvance.com for those that don’t know already. Expect lots of pictures like a children's book.

We had a few great days in Da Nang. The beach was nice but nothing too special. The water feels like a warm bath but offers a nice break from the heat and constant sweating. I don’t remember what its like to not sweat all day. We met an awesome local guy that taught us to play a card game that everyone plays in the coffee shops, I believe we call it 13 in english. As good as I thought I was by dominating Vance, I got schooled by the locals as they keep track of every card being played and could tell me what cards I had at the end of the game. Insane.

We also got really lucky and met an amazing local through a friend of a friend and got to use her scooter for the day. I don’t think the scooter was built for two americans who have added some weight from all the beer and carbs. We trekked up to monkey mountain with the scooter groaning under us the whole way. At first my trusty photographer rode on back while I drove. Luckily we avoided being hit by the 50,000 scooters all over town. We saw some amazing views and navigated a narrow jungle road up to the top (or close, we may have gotten lost near the peak).

So far I am glad I am adjusting and trying to get somewhat used to this different world. Everywhere we go we stick out like bigfoot in an ant farm. It brings both good and bad, naturally half the people try to scam us for some extra coin. While the other half will stare, smile, wave, say hello or chat us up in an extremely friendly manner.

I am looking forward to what the next few months will bring as I continue to journey outside my normal comfort zone. Here’s to hoping I can find enough food that is normal and delicious to go along with all the beers and beaches. Next up is northern Vietnam, stay tuned for more of the adventure.

[billygonewild]

Dubrovnik and My New Fave Country

So I am a little behind on my posts but I am getting there. Watch out Spain! You have competition for my new favorite country. I have been here 3 days and I can’t get enough. While my entry to the country could have gone smoother, it has long since made up for that. Apparently winds were too high for our measly little plane, so my flight that was supposed to land at 8am but got rerouted to about 30 minutes outside of Rome. We landed and waited around for what seemed like hours. I felt like cattle being ushered around the airport with our entire plane. Eventually we got back on the same plane and made it to Dubrovnik at about 3pm. I can’t really do justice to the beauty of the city and water. As many of you nerds know this is where a lot of Kings Landing was filmed for game of thrones. They have Game of Thrones tours everywhere, it’s crazy. The old town where I stayed is like an ancient castle right on the water. The water is so clear and has this gorgeous aqua teal color that is just unreal. The food was surprisingly amazing as I didn’t have a bad meal the entire time I was there. I met some awesome people again, a few from the states (although one bailed early to do the “real life” stuff, shame).

Our hostel was situated near a private beach which was perfect, I forgot to get a picture as I was too busy enjoying it. No more than 10-15 people were in the cove and you could swim in the gorgeous water or soak up some sun. The main beach was actually really nice as well and not over crowded. The only downside was rock beaches everywhere and no sand. Really takes a toll on your feet.

My 3 favorite things

1) Buza Bar - This might be my favorite spot on my trip so far. This is a hidden bar on the outside of the wall. It has an epic sunset view as well as numerous cliff jumping spots. Surprisingly it was not over crowded at all. I made it back here every night I was in town. With a combo of drinking beers, watching sunsets and cliff jumping off some insane spots, every single person that visits Dubrovnik needs to stop here.

2) Beaches - While the sand is missing, the water makes up for it. I couldn’t really do it justice with any pictures. It is not quite as light blue as the Caribbean or Hawaii, but has its impressive own shade of aqua and you could see to the bottom 20 feet down. I found myself continuing to look at it and stand there in awe like a freshman guy checking out the hot senior cheerleader. I probably drooled a little bit as well.

3) Sea Kayaking - Joined a group to cruise around in some kayaks. While it was a bit choppier than I would have liked, I love me some sea kayaks. We went around a nearby island (Lokrum I believe) and found some sweet caves and cave beaches to explore. Well worth it although I found a spot on the main beach the last day that was much cheaper to rent from.

4) Food - I am cheating and doing 4, if you have a problem with that, too bad. The food here was insane!! Every single meal was good. It was highlighted by the Taj Mahal special. This was from the Taj Mahal restaurant which really has no relation to its namesake. It was veal and turkey, with mushrooms and choose, all wrapped in flaky phylo dough. It was so creamy and my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Also had some amazing home made pasta with creamy sauce, steak and mushrooms. Finally, my favorite, Gelato! I had it at least once a day, maybe more. Whatever, I am on vacation. Yoflo.

Been a relaxing few days. I didn’t want to leave Dubrovnik and am already thinking about my next trip back. I also see Sail Croatia in our future one of the next few years, maybe the next Biggerstaff Booze bash. Guess everyone back home needs to start saving and preparing their livers…

Next up are Split and Hvar as I wrap up Croatia. Stay tuned, hopefully I am able to leave and don’t decide to stay here forever! I think I might be in love.

[billygonewild]

Barca and Beyond

Welp, it’s been awhile since my last post. I haven’t had much desire to write, so I haven’t. Hopefully you haven’t missed me too much. I have officially wrapped up the Spanish portion of my trip. Originally I planned to go straight to Asia but after repeatedly hearing how awesome Croatia is, I couldn’t skip it. So a minor detour coming up next.

But enough about that, Spain wrapped up with Barcelona and San Sebastian. Barcelona was amazing as expected, such huge city with lots going on. And I got to hang with my Broski for almost a week. Unfortunately, after one wild night out I got sick with some sort of stomach bug that took me down a bit. We made it out to Opium which was awesome, although way too expensive. I blew my budget for almost a week in Asia in one night (yes that is how I gauge and keep track of what I am spending). I guess 3 weeks of going out does eventually catch up with you at this old age. We had some awesome relaxing days at the beach, watched some soccer on TV and had quite a few good meals. All in all it was a great week, Barcelona is amazing but it is also a huge city. Pretty much everyone speaks a bit of English and it felt the most like the US of all the spanish cities I went to. Regardless, you can’t come to Spain without stopping here for a bit.

(Please prep for an all Matthew portion. Warning: the following images may be disturbing)

Yes, ladies and gents, that is my bro. Although he may have been adopted, we are still unsure.

Next up was my “relaxing” days in San Sebastian. I wanted to sit on the beach for a few days and literally do nothing. The weather didn’t quite play along. However, San Sebastian was amazing and might be my favorite city in Spain (apparently I say this about every city, but FOR REAL this time). It almost felt like Switzerland but on the coast. The buildings and streets were amazing and the food was actually really good. I didn’t have the budget to get as much good food as I wanted but enjoyed what I had. After 2 days of rain, I got 2 days of sun and couldn’t get enough. Great destination for a few relaxing days with amazing food, although you need a bit more coin here. I also met up with a few friends that I had met in Sevilla, was nice to hang with them again. Awesome mini-reunion. Although wild Billy couldn’t quite keep up with their partying ways. There are two main beaches, one for surfing and one for chilling. I didn’t get the chance to surf but I did watch some beginners try. Met some Aussies and made a nice little drinking game out of taking a drink every time a rider fell. Things went downhill pretty quickly here. La Concha is the other beach which was filled when the weather was nice. Gorgeous beach in a little cove. My favorite part was swimming out to a floating deck in the water which you could lay on and also had a diving board and slide. Felt like a kid again here. I even met some awesome Cali people that go to Cal Poly but are studying abroad. Guess it is a small world.

On my way back I happened to stop in Barca for one night to catch a plane. I happened to look at the Barca schedule and they happened to be playing at home! I booked a ticket right away and got to see my boy Messi score 2 goals (and miss his second pk that would have nailed the hat trick, but who’s counting?). Such an amazing experience to watch him play live. Camp Nou is hugeeeee and the crowd seemed to be mostly tourists as the cheers were not overly loud. So glad I got lucky with this game though and got to see my boy.

I still can’t believe my time in Spain is done. It was an amazing month that I am very grateful for. I look back and realize I met so many amazing people and got to have so many amazing experiences. I realized that everywhere I went the experiences were enhanced by those around me. The same thing at home where I am blessed by so many amazing people. My spanish got a little bit better and I realized I would love to be fluent in Spanish as well. Maybe I will work on that once I am home. Although it seems like there are 50 different versions of Spanish as every city has differences. All in all in it surpassed my expectations and I would highly suggest everyone go to Spain at least once in their lives!

[billygonewild]

Granada, Valencia and the Octopus

The last two stops have slowed down quite a bit which has been nice, so this post may be a bit shorter.

Granada was a beautiful town where I spent 2 night because of time restrictions. When arriving it gave me flashbacks to Switzerland for some reason, although not quite as fancy. I think because it is clean and built into the mountains a bit. I stayed in the Oasis hostel which was lacking in a few areas but I did meet some cool people. This seemed to be the most random collection of people yet as I made friends with people from all over the world, even someone from my beautiful birthplace of North Carolina (go heels!). Granada is famous for the free Tapas, almost every place you go will give you free tapas with the purchase of a beer or wine. Safe to say I ate and drank my way all over town. Highlights include fried octopus (I ordered it on accident and shockingly really enjoyed it), my first taste of guacamole in weeks (wayyy too long and it wasn’t quite as good as my own if I am being honest) and croquettes as always.

The other highlight was the Alhambra. It took up a full afternoon to visit and I had to show up an hour early, I can’t remember the last time I was early for anything. From the outside it looks unimpressive and is quite a walk to get to but it was pretty amazing. Glad I took the time to look around as it has some impressive architecture, great views and beautiful gardens that my mom would no doubt appreciate more than I did (as well as countless idiots taking pictures with iPads and selfie sticks). The pictures (if they even work this time) don’t quite do it justice.

Next up was Valencia, which was a bit of a random stop, mainly because I have been yearning for a beach all trip. I expected a small town but actually got a decent sized city with a lot going on. There were a lot more highlights here than I expected. I planned on resting up for the onslaught of Barcelona with Matthew (my brother) that is surely to come, but I ended up wandering around quite a bit. They had an awesome park built up an old riverbed running through the middle of the city.

They also had some of the coolest architecture I have ever seen. The very modern Museum made up of 3-4 parts (Ciudad de las artes y las ciencias), which I didn’t have time to go in unfortunately. Apparently there is a museum, aquarium and more. Looks like a building from the future which was a welcome change from all the old school buildings.

Finally I got to enjoy the beach! Those who know me know I am an avid beach lover. Maybe just because I like to take my shirt off but there has always been something relaxing to me about the beach since I was a wee lad. The beach was nothing exceptional but the water was warm compared to SF and the sun was out. No complaints here.

I have been consistently receiving 2 main points of feedback, “we need more stories where Billy is getting wild!” and “stop talking about trains you loser!”.

1) Well, the people talk and I listen! Next up is Barcelona with my old PIC Matthew Gibson Biggerstaff. Sadly the second leg of his flight got cancelled so he is stuck in some small village outside of Frankfurt until tomorrow. And while he shamed me with an embarrassing photo on his instagram, I will rise above and do no such thing back to him (as the more mature and far superior brother). However, he better on his best behavior to avoid revenge as it is surely to be a long week. The next week the alcohol will be flowing, the music from the wild Barcelona clubs will be banging and the sun will be shining (hopefully). Billy is ready to get wild, turnt up dare I say.

2) As for the train point, this will likely be my last train trip for a while. So no more train stories. I will keep my train boner under wraps from now on. And I won’t talk at all about how exhilarating it is right now traveling 3 hours up the coast with views of the beach the whole way. Or the fact that I can look off a cliff and see directly into the clear water 10 feet down. Or that we definitely went right by a nudist beach, ha! 

And now I leave you with that wonderful image, cheers to all those friends back home and those still traveling. See you on the other side of Barcelona…  

[billygonewild]

Blessed

Today I feel blessed.

It is starting to sink in that I won’t be going back to the US for awhile now. I am starting to get used to being on the road. I am starting to miss the weirdest things that we take for granted at home (mainly guacamole and good burritos, if anyone mails me some I will probably name my first born child after you). But most of all I feel so blessed to have this opportunity. Not everyone gets the opportunity to travel the world at this age and for this length of time. So for that reason I plan on making the most of every second I have here.

I feel blessed that I get to explore more of one of my favorite countries. I feel blessed for the beautiful and amazing places I have already seen. I feel blessed for the amazing people I have met and the amazing people I am going to meet (hopefully). I feel blessed by the amazing friends and family back home supporting me. I feel blessed that I could literally wake up and go anywhere and do anything tomorrow. 

But most importantly, I feel so blessed with how God has taken care of me in my life and brought me to this point. If you asked me 10 years ago where I would be at 27, there is a 0% chance I would have said I would be here. It is not what I thought but it is so much better than what I could have asked for.

So please keep bringing the suggestions and comments! I love hearing them and will do everything I possibly can to bring you along on the journey. 

I am also pretty confident I broke some sort of record with the amount of times the word “blessed” was used in one post. Hopefully my roomies will keep the award safe until I get home. Guess I can’t help but feel blessed today. Billy over and out.