#it's been a strange and warped adventure for me here in LA

[lunafeather]

How does it feel to be an actress in your 30s in Los Angeles?

Oh well this is a nice surprise ask! I’m curious why you ask? Reader beware: I go into depth below with a lot of feelings!

To be fair I am early 30′s :P Honestly, it’s hard. A lot of people outside of the industry think you have to start young to be successful as an actor, and many older people who want to act use this as a reason to not even try -- but a lot of famous (and amazing) actors started in their 30′s/40′s/50′s/60′s. I mean, obviously it helps to start as a kid or teenager, but not everyone has that opportunity.

The key thing is that most actors have this sweet spot where their age matches their look perfectly, and that’s the best time to be working -- not that you can’t otherwise, but work is easier to come by if you find that sweet spot.

I am both lucky and not lucky in that I have a very young casting for my age. I can play 20-26, which is an age range that has a lot of roles, but unfortunately also a lot of competition, especially for white women (though I am privileged in that productions favor my ethnicity).

I’m lucky because it means I will continue to look a decade younger as I age, and will have more longevity. I also have a look that will hopefully age well and thus also contribute to that longevity.

But I am also hyper aware of every single sign of aging that comes in your 30′s, because my casting won’t have those signs. Grey hairs (more and more are coming in!), wrinkles between my eyes/on my forehead/under my eyes, skin redness (though I’ve had that since I was a teenager due to eczema damaging my skin), different body parts sagging (this is more noticeable because I am losing weight) -- and not having the money to purchase high end treatments that can curb all of these.

Just general physical stuff really bothers me, though it shouldn’t. In fact, last night I was panic searching make up tutorials for hooded eyes because in a consultation with a working actor last year, she told me that I looked tired in all my self tapes. I was going through my journal and stumbled on the entry right after the meeting and it launched me down a rabbit hole. How could I make my hooded eyes -- which naturally make someone look tired or sad -- look bright and awake?? Which led me to revisiting eyelid surgery (which I will have to get in a decade or two anyway, as natural aging will cause the skin to droop until it obscures my vision), which led to me breaking out my old make up and trying out the tutorials I found, which just made me hate my eyes more, which then made me FURIOUS about why MEN get to have wrinkles and folds and hooded eyes, and it makes them dignified, but for women it makes them tired and sad?? I hate make up! I want to be bare faced and rocking it!

But then if I dye my hair pink, my casting will change -- likely to characters who DO wear make up. And I have to take that into consideration.

I also lament not going to college and getting a degree in acting solely for the relationships you form at school. I am lone shark, wading alone in this very fast and very full ocean.

ANYWAY, it’s hard, anon. It’s hard getting older, it’s hard because the industry is so competitive and harsh (especially towards women), it’s hard because I already struggle with my mental health and my self esteem. I am hyper critical of not only my acting, but also how I look (which you can’t help, with on camera work).

At the same time, I was so soft in my early/mid 20′s. Even though I’m still sensitive and vulnerable and doubtful, I’ve developed my skill for the past few years and built a hard shell around myself to the point that I haven’t given up yet -- and I might have, if I chose to seriously pursue this earlier. I’m also lucky that the last 5 years or so have ushered in more body positivity and inclusiveness in the industry (though I still fall in the dead zone of not skinny enough but not fat enough either), because that didn’t exist ten years ago.

All in all, I am so happy that 7 years ago I chose to pursue this as a career, that I got very serious about it 4 or 5 years ago, and that I finally took that step to move to Los Angeles. I am happy that I am older and more mature, that I am more settled with who I am and where I want to be, and what I want. I haven’t done nearly as much in the 2 years I’ve been here (has it been fucking two years already?!?!?), but I am taking steps to fix that. A lot of things are falling into place.

Talk to me when I’m 40, and we can have this conversation again about ageism in Hollywood re: women in the industry and how parts suddenly disappear and dry up at that milestone -- a fact which is slowly changing, and will hopefully be vastly improved by the time I get there.

Thank you for sending this by the way! I love talking about acting, about the industry, and my journey! Also I’m an actor and by trade like talking about myself lmaoooo

[acindra]

I finally got the chance to watch Liam’s final meta oneshot (Liam’s Quest: Full Circle) and wanted to share this clip.

This is Liam’s message to his friends. It is in a robotic voice and is essentially a sort of goodbye sentiment to each of them. Laura got sick halfway through the session and had to leave. 

Further context (which is more spoiler-y) as well as a transcription of the message is under the cut. 

This oneshot follows his last one (Liam’s Quest) where they had just killed Conan O’brien. The group wakes up in strange apocalyptic versions of LA multiple times and appear as children, which Liam on the Talks Machina about this episode says is because the main show often feels like they���re a bunch of children on an adventure together.

Eventually they find Liam’s body suspended in a glass tube and his face appears on the screen above it. It talks to them in a robotic voice (which is something he has made them laugh with before since he sounds like a speak & spell; they laugh a lot here, too, despite the seriousness of the situation), explaining he was taken away in 2020 to be experimented on. It’s several thousands of years in the future where he has warped reality with his anger. He explains he has ripped a hole in reality to see them again and has spread his group through many realities and loops.

He wants them to kill him to break the loop. Ashley refuses and asks for a different solution and Matt beseeches him to try and send them back to before he was taken so they can change it. 

He doesn’t know if it will work so he wanted to give them these parting words.

Liam:

I have been alone for thousands of years, and there are things I have wanted to say. Will you indulge me for a moment longer? 

Taliesin. My friend. At a time when I knew many fascinating people, you were easily the most fascinating of all. Somehow, a heart knocked around by the industry that birthed you, came out a tender one. I was richer for having known you. Thank you, friend. 

 Ash-O-Lee. My friend. I never met a person quite like you. There is an openness, and an honesty to your soul. The very real sense of humanity you brought to every encounter. It was inspiring to me. Always learning. Always humble. You always struck me as an intricately layered, yet you offered friendship with ease, and simplicity. I was richer for having known you, friend. 

Travis. My friend. You were always a solid constant in my life. Of all the people in our little family, you were always the one who most had his shit together, in ways I never seemed to. You were a reassuring presence to me, for which I was grateful, and for your loyalty as well. I was richer for having known you, friend. 

Marisha. My friend. Last to meet, but true as any other. You were my ally, at a time when I have fallen by the side of the road. You saw and helped me back on my feet. I will never forget that kindness. The good you did was... immeasurable. I was richer for having known you, friend. 

Laura. My friend. Bless that game for revealing to me, my sister. What started as a running gag, led to one of the most rewarding friendships in my short little life. I trusted you, leaned on you often. My buddy. My twin. There are not enough words. I was richer for having known you, friend. 

Sam. My friend. What is there to say? I knew we were meant to walk the same path together, the very first moment I met you. A companion, a brother, a great light in my life. All of the laughter you gave me... again, the words are insufficient. I was richer for having known you, friend. 

Matthew. My friend. You gave so much of yourself. The current of creativity that poured forth from your mind was always an inspiration to us all. But, more than that, your empathy Matthew, your empathy... no heart is bigger, or more tireless. You are a good man. I was richer for having known you, friend. 

Thank you, all. It was ever a pleasure.

Copied from samjkline’s post on reddit

[accuhunt]

What I Learnt Volunteering on a Remote Island in Cuba.

Cuban reggae music played on repeat as I rode on a bright yellow truck from the 1940s, along a bumpy, heavily forested road. While the driver – an engineer by education – and I chatted in Spanish, he casually pointed out iguana lizards chilling by the road, vultures flying low in search of food, deer at the edge of the forest, huge crabs running helter-skelter and an enormous snake that brought us to a screeching halt.

A world away from the photogenic streets and tourist traps of Havana, we were heading to Cocodrilo, a remote, forgotten fishing village on Isla de la Juventud (Isle of the Youth), a remote, forgotten island in Cuba. My plan was to volunteer at a coral reef restoration project set up by IOI Adventures in collaboration with the island community.

My yellow vintage ride to Cocodrilo!

I had no idea then, that living in a time warp on Cocodrilo, home to only 320 inhabitants, cut off from the outside world by a dense forest and the Caribbean Sea, was going to change everything. Everything I thought I knew about travelling, our consumption patterns, our dietary choices and how climate change is impacting the world.

Here’s what I learnt along the way:

Now is the best and worst time to travel

Sunset, serenity and solitude in Cocodrilo.

During my recent travel meetup in Hyderabad, I met someone who had explored Ladakh and Kashmir in the late 80s – and said he would never go back because he treasured his vivid memories of their unspoilt beauty. Looking back on my own travels, I often feel the same way about places like Spiti, Georgia, Kumaon and Guatemala.

Unfortunately we can’t turn back time, but we can travel meaningfully and choose to explore places that aren’t yet plagued by mass tourism. Places that are yet to become Instagram hotspots.

Cocodrilo was one of those places in Cuba. Every evening at sunset, as the sky turned many shades of orange, locals poured out on the only street, drinking rum and playing music, heartily sharing both. Mama Yeni, the island’s second oldest resident, reminisced how she had journeyed across the Atlantic on a fishing boat, from Cayman Islands to Cocodrilo in search of a better life – and hers became one of the earliest families to settle here. She remembered the days when there were no roads, no cars, no doctor, no pharmacy, not even a grocery shop on the island. Her family would make a long list of things they needed, and do their grocery run to the nearest big town by boat, leaving early morning to reach the grocery store by evening!

Mama Yeni, the second oldest resident of Cocodrilo.

Getting into island mode on Cocodrilo assured me that these might not be the best years to travel, but they aren’t the worst either.

Also read: How Croatia Compelled Me to Rethink Travel Blogging

No matter how far we live from the ocean, the plastic we consume ultimately lands up there

Collecting cans from the sea bed off Cocodrilo. Photo: Anna Berestova

If you can close your eyes and picture yourself on a tiny idyllic island village, with nothing but dense forest, deep blue sea and clear blue skies stretching out around you, perhaps you can picture yourself on Cocodrilo. At a small sparse island shop, the only things one can buy are local rum in a glass bottle, shampoo sachets, basic groceries and the Cuban version of coca cola.

Yet when I snorkelled – with my host on the island and a long-term volunteer – into the deep blue sea that surrounds the island, I discovered a different story. The seabed was littered with plastic bags, beer cans of international brands, shampoo bottles, cigarette buts, plastic straws and menstrual pads. Diving freestyle, we retrieved this plastic trash – only to see more of it appear a couple of days later. You probably know that our planet is 70% water, and most of what we consume these days comes in plastic. Turns out, only 9% of all plastic is recycled. Where does the rest go? Unfortunately, into our oceans.

Aesthetics aside, the plastic trash often gets lodged in corals, spreading harmful bacteria and damaging coral tissue. Worse still, swallowing this plastic has caused the death of many dolphins, whales and other marine creatures; a sea turtle even choked to death when a plastic straw got stuck in its nostril.

Swimming in the deep blue sea off Cocodrilo was evidence that no matter where in the world we live, no matter how from the sea, the plastic we choose to consume in our everyday lives is directly responsible for destroying our oceans.

Also read: Cuba Tourist Visa for Indians: Requirements and Tips

Conversation-focused deep sea diving can help save corals

The underwater world. Photo: NOAA’s National Ocean Service (CC)

Here’s a confession: The first time I went scuba diving was in the Philippines – and the experience left me disappointed. Sure, the underwater life was incredibly beautiful, but to carry an oxygen cylinder and deep dive while my ears protested, felt like the most unnatural way to experience the ocean. It made me think of humans as an invasive species, who for their own entertainment, will go to depths (literally) that we obviously aren’t meant to.

But speaking to a long-term volunteer in Cocodrilo, who was doing a field report on the correlation between deep sea diving and island communities, changed some of my perspective. I learnt from her that there are two ways of diving. The first, regular scuba diving, is what I experienced in the Philippines; this is diving purely for entertainment, and depending on who you do it with, could end up spoiling the corals and threatening fish (remember: touching the corals or feeding any marine creatures is a BIG no-no). The second, conservation-focused scuba diving, is where you dive for a purpose.

Outfits that offer this responsible form of deep sea diving don’t just teach you how to dive, but also talk about coral cleaning, fish count, invasive species, coral restoration and other conservation activities. You then scuba dive, not just to admire the underwater world, but to help conserve it by participating in a cleaning or counting drive. In Cocodrilo for instance, the broken coral reef is being restored through a tedious process: broken bits of coral are picked up from the sea floor, hung on an underwater stand and cleaned of excess algae and plastic every few days. When over a year old and strong enough, they are replanted between existing corals. And diving to support efforts like that can not only help save corals but also compel us to change our everyday choices.

Also read: Offbeat, Incredible and Sustainable: These Travel Companies are Changing the Way You Experience India

We need to say no to single-use plastic on our travels and in daily life

Saying no to single-use plastic straws.

As I took off my snorkeling mask after a hot afternoon spent collecting plastic trash from a small section of the Caribbean seabed, I pledged to do more to cut down my single-use plastic consumption. I’ve long said no to plastic bottled water – choosing to carry and refill a steel bottle or use a Lifestraw filter – and already replaced plastic bags, toothbrush and straws with eco-friendly alternatives. And yet, when I got home to take a shower, I felt immense guilt at most of my toiletries – shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, hair serum, face wash, deodorant, toothpaste, sunscreen, razor, menstrual pads – which were still plastic. It was time to make some inconvenient choices.

After I left Cuba, I switched to:

Soap and shampoo bars: There are plenty of choices, but I prefer Lush, Hast Krafts, Veganology and other handmade vegan bars at local markets which don’t come wrapped in plastic. The idea of using a bar to wash my hair was strange at first, but I’ve totally grown into it.

Hair conditioner: Lush is the only brand I’ve found yet that does an amazing conditioner bar but it’s not available in India. Body Shop in India is soon switching to using recycled plastic bottles.

Menstrual cup: After months of procrastination, I’ve finally mastered the art of using a menstrual cup (coupled with cloth pads) – and it’s a life changer!

Bamboo razor: The Eco Trunk now stocks bamboo razors.

Body mist in a glass bottle: I love Body Shop’s body mist – and luckily it comes in a glass bottle which I hope to be able to recycle.

I’m still looking for eco-friendly alternatives to my toothpaste, face wash, hair serum and sunscreen.

In all honesty, choosing some of these alternatives requires extra work. I can’t walk into any supermarket and expect to replace a shampoo / conditioner bar when I run out, for instance. But each time I feel inconvenienced, I think of the majestic corals littered with plastic, dying a slow death. I think of the fish, turtles and dolphins choking to death because of our consumption. And I know that it’s worth going that extra mile to make more sustainable choices.

Also read: How I Fit All My Life Possessions in Two Bags as I Travel the World

What we choose to eat impacts the underwater world

“Here [in the seas], life is collapsing even faster than on land. The main cause, the UN biodiversity report makes clear, is not plastic. It is not pollution, not climate breakdown, not even the acidification of the ocean. It is fishing.” ~ The Guardian, May 2019

A vegan feast in Cuba.

On a warm evening, we drove in a vintage car to a deserted beach along the Caribbean Sea, to join a night ranger to monitor turtle hatchings. Much to my surprise, the pristine beach was covered in mounds of brown algae, and the ranger lamented that each year, the algae has been growing and turtles declining. Though it was the peak of the egg-laying season, we spotted no turtles as we patrolled the beach under the moonlit sky.

It took me a long time to understand how this algae maybe the direct consequence of our choice to eat seafood. Turns out, the world’s oceans are plagued by overfishing. For every 1 pound of fish caught for food, nearly 5 pounds of marine life is killed accidentally. This imbalance in the marine food chain causes unchecked growth of algae, which tend to crowd out corals and spread disease-causing bacteria.

Algae mounds on a deserted beach near Cocodrilo.

Although I turned vegan because I couldn’t bear to support animal abuse, I learnt early on that the incredibly high carbon footprint of meat and dairy is raising water temperatures and increasing CO2 in the air, which in turn causes the bleaching of corals. But patrolling the beach that night, surrounded by mounds of algae, made the link between our dietary choices and life in the ocean much stronger.

Also read: How to Travel as a Vegan and Find Delicious Food Anywhere in the World

Individual actions matter

Nene, the islander heading the coral restoration project with IOI Adventures.

I’ve met plenty of naysayers who think that one person’s choices don’t matter. They’ll tell you that we need government action, policy change, media attention, dedicated organisations or something bigger. And while we do need each of those, we’ll never demand or create them until we start caring on a deep personal level. We’ll never make environmental degradation an election issue and we’ll never raise our voice (or pen) against our consumption or food choices – until we take individual action.

In Cocodrilo for instance, the coral reef restoration and sea clean-up project came about because Nene, a Cuban islander, wanted to conserve the seas in his backyard. He’s been mesmerized by the underwater world since his first dive in 1988 (which he did with a friend but without any training), and many years later, started this one-of-a-kind project in Cuba with IOI Adventures.

Closer home in India, lawyer Afroz Shah’s disciplined efforts to work with the local community and clean up Versova beach in Mumbai every Sunday, brought back Olive Ridley turtles to the beach after just two years! I’ve met and heard of people who now live in climate resilient homes that don’t need air conditioning even in the hot Indian summer, who’ve embraced zero-waste living, and who choose to be vegan – not just for the animals and their own health but for the environment.

Ultimately, the choice is ours. We can wait around for the government or media to do something to save our oceans. Or we can take responsibility for the choices we make everyday.

Living in a time warp on Cocodrilo changed everything.

Have you learnt any interesting lessons on your travels lately? Have you chosen to make any inconvenient choices?

*Note: I’m really grateful to IOI Adventures for hosting me in Cocodrilo. Opinions on this blog, as you know, are always mine.

Join my adventures around the world on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

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What I Learnt Volunteering on a Remote Island in Cuba. published first on https://airriflelab.tumblr.com

[lazygirlliving-blog]

Vegan In Cuba

It is getting easier and easier for Americans to travel to Cuba, and more and more people are seizing the opportunity to finally check this fascinating country out!

I am one of those people.

For many decades, I’ve been curious about this country with the bright colors and cars from the 1950s, seemingly caught in a time warp.

I assumed because Cuba has been basically cut off from modern society for many years, they would not even have a hint of the vegan revolution happening worldwide.

Turns out, I was right.

Upon our arrival the first night, my travel companion, Kara, and I were looking forward to a relaxing meal. We took a walk around Vedado, the neighborhood of our “casa particular.” and perused the menus of several restaurants.  A casa particular is one of the common private run bed and breakfasts.  Quickly, we discovered that pretty much every dish at every restaurant included some sort of pork, chicken, beef, or fish.  Finally, we settled on an Italian-ish restaurant that served pizzas and paellas we could veganize.

We decided to start our meal with a green salad, and were very delighted to see they had an appetizer of fried garbanzos on the menu. “Perfect!” We said to each other excitedly, discovering this vegan gem.  “We’ll be able to get some tasty legumes, some protein, then eat our enormous pan of rice and veggie paella!”

We cheers’d our icy daiquiris and awaited our food.  Our table was outside in a garden and there were many cats from the neighborhood sauntering about the restaurant, on the lookout for a friendly handout.  We found this to be quite common in Cuban restaurants, and found the cats to be a nice touch!  We also listened to live traditional Cuban music, which was also very common in the restaurants, and also a very nice touch!

Then our Garbanzos Fritos appetizer was delivered.  Only problem was, there was more to it than just garbanzo beans, it was also filled with ham and what appeared to be some sort of ham juice.

It was a bit of a predicament because we did not want to come across as snobbish Americans who were picky about our food, but there was just no way we could eat it.  We told our waitress, in espanol, that we couldn’t eat animals, and she looked at us like we were loco.

“But you ordered the garbanzos fritos!” she said, like we were out of our gourds.  Like, we should have known that meant garbanzos and ham.

In her defense, we discovered later that Garbanzos Fritos is pretty much a food staple in Cuba, and is always prepared with some type of ham or sausage.

In our defense, it mentioned nothing of this on the menu, and it was our first night in town!

Nevertheless, we made certain after that that the paella would not be prepared with any surprise animal products, and were much more careful for (most of) the rest of our stay in Cuba with specifications about anything that we ordered while dining out.

After that first night’s fried garbanzo fiasco, eating vegan in Cuba was great.  We’d start each morning with coffee and fruit courtesy of our lovely hostess, Emma, at our casa particular (thank you airbnb).  Emma did think it strange at first that we didn’t like eggs and bacon for breakfast, but we were very happy with the fresh bananas, papaya, mango, and watermelon.  Especially the bananas! Fruit is so much better when eaten in it’s natural habitat.

We found it quite easy to find black beans, veggies and rice, and yucca all wonderfully seasoned.  Veggie sandwiches became a staple, and several times we had viandas, which were sometimes pumpkin, and sometimes a mix of root vegetables, cooked and topped with garlic.  Delicious!

One of our favorite spots, “El del Frente,” introduced to us by a Canadian friend, was admittedly directed toward tourists, but with it’s cute, comfortable decor, and amazing, works-of-art cocktails, we kept going back.  

El del Frente, in Old Havana, has white-washed walls and whimsical art, and a loungey rooftop with colorful chairs and somewhat of a scene.  

Each table was set with fried plantain chips and a slightly sweet/spicy veggie salsa.  Which I now want to have along side all my cocktails, always.

On the menu, we welcomed the break from beans and rice with gazpacho and fresh-baked bread, and the veggie tacos (sin queso).  The tortillas came filled with a seasoned mix of beets, mushroom, radish, bell pepper, and onion.  Topped abundantly with fresh cilantro and with a sort of black bean puree on the side.

Another restaurant we visited more than once, was back in our Vedado neighborhood.  “Topoly,” which we found courtesy of happycow.net, is an Iranian restaurant with an entire vegetarian section on the menu.  

With a few substitutions, the veggie plate was made vegan and had falafel, babaganoush, lentils and rice, tabouleh, and pita. They also serve a falafel burger, which if you leave off the yogurt dip, is delicious!  You can also drink tea and smoke hookah there, but I stuck with what I know best, food!

If you ever find yourself in Havana, might I suggest checking out the most famous restaurant, La Guarida.  Apparently, it’s where Beyonce likes to hang when she’s in town.  Space fills up quickly, though, so reservations are necessary, and for dinner should be made at least a week in advance (we could only get a lunch reservation, they were booked for dinner the entire week).

The restaurant itself is in what used to be a palace in Habana Centro.  The exterior had us thinking we were in the wrong part of town, but once inside, the interior was stunning. 

 Mostly traditional fare was on the menu, but somehow the black beans and the yucca were more delicious here than at any of the other local restaurants we had been to.  Also, the Eggplant Caviar appetizer was an exciting vegan delicacy in a land of black beans and veggie sandwiches.

Cuba is such a beautiful and unique country with plenty of delicious options for the traveling vegan, as long as you’re very clear about holding the cheese and the meat in everything you order, and as long as you take along at least some basic knowledge of the Spanish language!

My last few non-food related words of advice for those adventuring to Cuba:

Pack rolls of toilet paper.  You never know when you may need it, and it can also make a suprisingly nice gift!

Bring more cash then you think you’ll need.  American bank and credit cards don’t work in Cuba, so you are pretty much limited to the cash you bring with you. Even with careful budgeting, we ran out of money a day before we left.  That made buying gifts, eating, and getting to the airport extremely challenging!

Be weary of people you meet who are being overly friendly.  Even though this is probably common sense, and even though I read articles warning of this before my trip, it took me several times of trusting overly-friendly strangers to learn it meant I was being scammed.  One time I nearly had my purse stolen, but thankfully, got him to give it back.

For a little change from Old Havana, check out the trendy nightlife in Miramar.  Also, take a day trip to Vinales where you can take a horseback riding tour and visit Tobacco and Coffee plantations.  For 20 bucks you can take a “Taxi Collectivo,” a shared ride with other travelers, from Havana.  It’s cheaper and faster than a bus, and its a great way to see the countryside!

Take lots of photos, soak up the culture, eat, drink, and be merry!

[latinamericandreams]

Chapter 10 - The wake up call

Diario del sottocomandante,

The wake up call kept insisting, and after snoozing ten times I woke up.  I opened my eyes to find myself in a cosy room back home.  It had already been one week since I was sleeping in this same bed.  Quite strange considering that in the last year I had changed hundreds of beds.  I was dreaming about snowy mountains and beautiful blue lakes.  They were obviously flashes from my trip.  The backpack was still half unpacked lying in the middle of my room so I decided that now that my dream was over I had to start becoming pro active, unpack it and start sorting out my life back in Malta.  I got out of the bed only to let apathy take over and lied again.  Post vacation blues is very common among travellers going back home after a long time travelling.  Personally I never had it, even after my last 9 month trip.  This time however it hit me really bad.  Probably the amount of jetlag, and shit weather outside made it even worse.  I was spending my first week trying to avoid contact with everyone, looking at photos from the trip and researching flights for my next vacation (even tough I was about €4000 under).

In the next days I slowly started readjusting to my life back home.  Weather was getting better.  I was meeting all my family and friends.  I partied a bit and started rock climbing again.  Life in general started feeling better.   I started unpacking my backpack and reorganizing everything.  Every piece of clothing or item took me back to an exact moment during my trip, and it seemed that while taking stuff out of the bag I was entering different dimensions and taken back in time.  I can safely say that my backpack became a time machine.

As I took a metal shot glass out and held it in my hand, the background scenery started changing until I found myself about a year ago in a hostel room in Fortaleza – Brazil.  I was still holding the same shot glass in my hand and there was Marsim hugging me and telling me how excited she was to see me again!  It was the few first hours in Brazil and she had just given me the present that she got from Russia.  We soon met Talita and went out on what was going to be the first of many street parties in Brazil.  After that, the sensual and vibrant lifestyle of Brazil had got us.  The scenes I was in started fast-forwarding on a rollercoaster ride down the east coast fuelled by alcohol, heavy partying and beaching! We experienced the most celebrated feast in Brazil i.e. Carnival, partied in the best clubs, visited beautiful tropical cities like Rio, Salvador and Floranapolis, went through natural wonders like the wetlands of Pantanal, the abysmal caves of Bonito and the unreal falls of Iguazzu until I woke up on the border of Uruguay at 4am in the morning surrounded by five new persons – Mark, Kristina, Fabian, Nick and Fi.

I shook myself back into reality, put the shot glass away and kept unpacking my backpack.  I couldn’t help but being transported back in time again as soon as I spotted my snorkel mask between all the shirts and bits and pieces.  I wore it and soon found myself diving into the sea at night while it was pitch black.  As soon as I dived, the water lit up with millions of tiny green sparkles all dancing around me.  The sky was in turn sprinkled with millions of white sparkles and the beautiful blue hues of the milky way.  There was Kristina and she asked me “Isn’t this the most amazing thing you’ve seen in your life?”.  We were in Cabo Polonio – Uruguay swimming into the sea crowded with fully-charged florescent plankton.  I felt that nice travelling feeling as I got out of the water and greeted the rest of the group.  This was my first travelling crew and soon I also felt that shit feeling while I was telling them bye at the border of Argentina to continue travelling solo.

Back in my room in Malta I found the box of a mobile.  I held it and swishhhhh ... there was Mark infront of me laughing and telling me “That’s the box mate… you can claim it on insurance”.  A day before that he was feeling sorry for me not getting any action so he offered me his smart phone, and installed tinder for me.  That night in Buenos Aires - Argentina I went on a massive bender and came back to the Milhouse hostel with full shame, waking Mark up to give him the bad news.  “Dude you can’t believe it … someone stole the mobile phone that you lent me” .. he just laughed and told me to claim it on insurance.  That night I couldn’t sleep so I did some antics by getting naked and locking myself in one of the cages used to store backpacks.  Mark gave me a sleeping pill and I passed out in the cage.  I was feeling my liver about to give in during the massive benders we had in Buenos Aires.  Mark and me partied hard there, went to Lollapalooza, tango nights and outdoor parties until we decided to start a healthy lifestyle and flew down to the edge of the world in Ushuaia.  The scenes started fast-forwarding again up the peaks of the Andes, upon mighty glaciers and inside tents on cold nights in Patagonia until I saw myself again giving my last farewell to Mark - my 2 month travelling brother.

Oh wow, time to start unpacking the shirts and the first one on top was a red shirt saying ‘I survived the W trek’.  I found myself in a bar in Torres del Paines, talking to probably the drunkest guy in Chile.  My Spanish had already started taking shape so I could hold a drunk conversation.  He asked me “Me gusta tu camiceta, la quieres cambiar conmigo?” (I like your shirt, wanna swap with mine?).  As much as I loved the shirt I was wearing, I loved his shirt too.  I had just finished the W trek – a 6 day trek into the most amazing scenery of Patagonia and the world.  I wanted those six days to be stuck with me for as long as possible, so I said “Claro” and we swapped shirts.  Around me there were the familiar faces of all the people who finished the trek.  Oh – Itai, Solenne, Laura, Jose, Eduardo!  This was going to be my next travelling crew all the way up to Santiago – the middle of Chile.  Together we started exploring the amazing fjords of Southern Chile, the crystal clear lakes and forests of Bariloche and Bolson and the volcanoes of Chiloe and Pucon.  Finally we made it to the party center of Chile - Valparaiso.  Here the crew had grown up to over ten people with Thomas, Antoine, Bertille, Adele and Stephanie all joining in as we conquered our way up Chile.  The fossilized salt, I found in the top pockets of my bag, warped time again a few weeks forward all the way up to the desert of Atacama.  Here I was solo again exploring the dry alien landscapes and the surreal mountains and lakes of this desert until a jeep ride later I was in the vast salt flats of the Salar de Uyuni.  Exploring Bolivia indeed felt like travelling to a completely different continent, as now the indigenous influence was much more obvious than the previous four countries. I could see it in the way the people look and act, the traditions, the food etc.  I could feel that life here became slower and rawer.  I wasn’t close to the sea anymore; instead I was now in the dense jungle lying down with a puma by my side.  I could again feel that adrenaline when she chased me to play and all the affection she gave me.  I was now with my other adventure buddy.  This time not a human, but an ocelot – exploring untouched pieces of the jungle, cutting new trails and discovering hidden trees and places.  It wasn’t only cats I was sharing these experiences with. There were my partners in crime Celine, Stef, Will and Max running rampages down forgotten Bolivian towns, drinking and enjoying being sick of Jungle fever.  More adventures followed, and I was by now exploring the remotest of the Bolivian villages until entering the Amazon for a survival trip and partying one last time in the great capital of Bolivia – La Paz – the sin city.

Only few last things were left in the backpack, but the memories, all these items were bringing back, were nowhere to stop.  A yellow euro football shirt saying, “I scored in LOKI” brought me into the backroom on top of a bar somewhere in Cusco - Peru.  I was presented with a choice of 4 tshirts, and I told Jacob “Yeah I like the yellow one”.  I wore it, went downstairs and started my first shift behind the bar into the craziest hostel in the world.  A whole intense month packed with bloodbombs, beautiful friendships, beautiful girls and massive parties ridiculous amount of parties.  I was revisiting all this chaos, until time slowed down again and I found myself at Cuzco’s airport picking up my dad, my travel buddy for the next three weeks.  Together we climbed to the lost city of Maccu Picchu, explored deserts, sea side villages up to the summits of the Corradilera Blanca and down into the deep waters of the Galapagos islands where we danced with turtles, hammerheads and sea lions.  I left my dad and went back in Loki - Mancora - Peru to work as an events manager.  Another intense month and a half, were with my partners, Lucio and Ewelina, we took up the events of this hostel to new proportions with massive parties and fun activities.  I could see the birth of the Pirates of Mancora here, were weeks consisted of sunset drinks on our boat, pirate parties, treasure hunts and rowdy benders. I was seeing hundreds of faces coming and going until in the end it seems that I had too much blues to deal with and I left.

I was back in my room, finished unpacking my backpack and organized everything.  I was pretty much settled now back home here in Malta.  Slowly I also got used to the little things, which I found shockingly different at first.  For example it seemed strange to reply with a ‘what?’ rather than a ‘che?’ or being able to flush toilet paper down the toilet.  I went to my studio to play drums for the first time after one year.  As I expected, I was sooooo rusty.  I couldn’t even finish a drum fill, or keep a straight rock beat.  At some point I started playing some samba and salsa rhythms and without knowing I went into an hour trans of full-on Latin drumming.  I don’t know from where all the drum patterns and rhythms were coming, but I just kept banging my heart out onto the drum kit.  Unconsciously the Latin rhythm was now fully running into my blood stream.  All those salsa and samba sounds that I was exposed to, anywhere I went in south America, were slowly making their way into my unconscious.  I came out of the studio happy about my impromptu performance still with the shirt and a necklace in my hand.

Oh and that necklace.   One last item to take me a few months back.  I found myself in Banos – Ecuador near the famous swing at the end of the world. I was observing a stand of a craftsman and was intrigued by this ring made out of precious stones weaved into each other.  A friendly man called Camillo approached me and said he was from Colombia.  We talked for ages and finally asked him how much money for the precious ring.  It was too steep for me, but then he showed a necklace, which was actually a coin cut into two parts, forming two necklaces that fit into each other.  He explained the meaning of the symbols, and told me to keep one part for me, and give the other part to someone special.  I knew exactly whom I would give it to.  The girl that without knowing convinced me to leave Peru and follow my heart up to Ecuador.  The girl who inspired me so much in everything she did.  My travel buddy and also my soul mate.  We travelled all of Ecuador together were every day was more exciting than the previous one.  We climbed volcanos, bungee jumped, cycled and visited the beautiful colonial cities of Ecuador.  We carried on and crossed to Colombia for some daring adventures, horse riding, chilled nights in the middle of nowhere, camping adventures in the lush deserts and hills of Colombia, until we pushed our boundaries to go where no one dared going. We travelled to Venezuela to discover a country falling to pieces, but with a very strong sense of identity and awesome natural phenomena like the relampago.  Our days together were coming to end so we visited the whole north coast of Colombia in the Caribbean sea, hopping from one beach to the next sleeping into postcard perfect places.   My dream eventually came to an end and eleven months down the line I bid farewell to this great person and this great continent.

Of course thinking about this one-year dream brings a lot of blues, but I was lucky enough to live my dream.  At some point there comes the wake up call, which will show you that perfect dreams don’t last forever.  You can snooze as much as you like, but finally you have to wake up. Once you wake up you can either feel like shit because it was only a dream, or otherwise thank god you’re awake again, live the day and look forward for the evening to start living your next dream!

That was my Latin American Dream.

I am now looking forward to live my next one.

Thanks to all the readers of this blog for the massive support you gave me.  Everyone likes stats so here’s a few:

Days travelled: 326

Number of Countries: 9 –

Brazil (45 days), Uruguay (9 days), Argentina (18 days), Chile (33 days), Bolivia (60 days), Peru (82 days), Ecuador (25 days), Colombia (38 days), Venezuela (7 days)

Kilometers travelled (excluding incoming and outgoing flights): 28,330.5 km

Hops: approx. 100

Highest altitude: 5750m - Vallajuanhu summit (Peru)

Lowest altitude: -35m - Galapagos (Ecuador)

Northest: 11.2882° N, 74.1517° W - Tayrona (Colombia)

Southest: 54.8019° S, 68.3030° W - Ushuaia (Argentina)

Methods of transport: bus, minivan, ferry, taxi, train, motorbike, flight, horse

Longest single bus ride: 24 hours - Santiago to San pedro De Atacama (Chile)

Longest hop: approx. 36hrs - San Ignacio de Velasco to Rurrenabaque (Bolivia)

Outdoor activities: Sandboarding, Surfing, Kayaking, Rock climbing, Paragliding, Trekking, Mountaineering, Diving, Ice climbing, Bungee swing, Cycling, Quadbike, Horse riding, Caving

Days camping: 22 days

Number of treks: 18

Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), Perito Moreno (Argentina), Fitzroy (Argentina), Torres del Paine (Chile), Cajon Azul (Argentina), El Cane (Chile), Samaipata (Bolivia), Rurrenabaque (Bolivia), Salkantay (Peru), Rainbow mountain (Peru), Laguna 69 (Peru), Mount Vallanuranju (Peru), Galapagos (Ecuador), Macchu Piccu (Peru), Quilitoa loop (Ecuador), Cotopaxi (Ecuador), Tayrona park (Colombia), Salento (Colombia)

Bike Rides: 7

El Bolson (Argentina), Valle della muerte (Chile), Valle della luna (Chile), Death Road (Bolivia), Paracas (Peru), Cuenca (Ecuador), Banos waterfall loop (Ecuador)

Longest trek: 6 days – Torres del Paine

Top exciting experiences:

Wildlife (Bolivia, Peru, Galapagos)

Mountaineering (Ecuador)

Survival Jungle Trip (Bolivia)

Death Road (Bolivia)

Horse Riding in San Augustin (Colombia)

Top parties:

Salvador and Rio carnival (Brazil)

Lollapalooza festival - Buenos Aires (Argentina)

San Paulo (Brazil)

Desert Party (Chile)

Peru Independence Day (Peru)

Cartagena Independence Day (Colombia)

Top drinks:

Caipirinha (Brazil)

Terremoto (Chile)

Wine (Chile)

Pisco Sour (Peru)

Michelada (Colombia)

Bloodbombs (Loki - Peru)

Top food:

Steak (Argentina)

Cevice (Ecuador)

Casuera (Chile)

Brazil beach food (Brazil)

Tallarines (Peru)

Top places to stay:

Pousada Xama (Pipa - Brazil),

Casa del arbol (El Bolson - Argentina)

Loki (cuzco, mancora - Peru)

Rose Cottage (Otolavo - Ecuador),

Hotel Campestre Las Heliconias (Zetaquira - Colombia) 

Top natural shows:

Torres del Paine sunrise (Chile)

Flocks of birds in Islas Ballestas (Peru)

San pedro - Valle della muerte sunset (Chile)

Relampago (Venezuela)

Flourescent Plankton (Uruguay)

Top places to visit:

Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)

Macchu Piccu (Peru)

Foz do Iguazzu (Brazil / Argentina)

Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)

Torres del Paine (Chile)

Top beaches:

Cabo Polonio (Uruguay)

Custeno beach (Colombia)

Jericoacoara (Brazil)

Ilha grande (Brazil)

Baia del la Tortuga (Galapagos - Ecuador)

Top colonial architecture:

Cuzco (Peru)

Paraty (Brazil)

Cartagena (Colombia)

Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay)

Villa de Leyva (Colombia)

Top cities:

San Paulo (Brazil)

Rio (Brazil)

Buenos aires (Argentina)

Valparaiso (Chile)

Quito (Ecuador)

Cartagena (Colombia)

Top songs:

Los Autenticos Decadentes - La Guitarra

Enanitos Verdes - Lamento Boliviano

Ráfaga - Una Cerveza

Molotov - Puto

A.N.I.M.A.L - Familia