Friday, August 3, 2012

My 3 Favourite Travel Moments - The Blogger Relay!

Thank you to Stephen of Bohemian Traveler for passing on the proverbial blogging relay baton to me. I now join the Green Team train of travel bloggers, led by the folks at Overyonderlust.

Our task is to choose our three favourite travel memories and tag another travel blogger when we're done. The team with the longest running chain of bloggers will win a small prize from the Lowcost Travel blog, as well as major travel blog gloating status.

It is always a challenge to narrow down and pick favourites, but after a while looking back on travels, I realize the moments below are some of my happiest, craziest, and simply best moments on the road.

Enjoy!


1 - Finding the diamond at Schwedagon Paya, Burma


Walking up to Schwedagon Paya is the closest I've ever felt to heaven. In a land of curious smiles and cawing roosters, the paya glows bright like the sun. Once up close to the pagoda, I lost myself in the magnificence of it all. When a guard approached me and gestured to see my ticket, I was so in my own world of gratitude I couldn't even find mine. Worried I would be kicked out, I apologized frantically. Clearly not a problem, he pulled out a ticket from his pocket and pointed to the writing on the back of it. In English, I read to myself an explanation of the diamond-encrusted top of the pagoda. Squinting to the top, I couldn't see a diamond from a reflection of the sun, and the guard could see my struggle. He pointed to a particular spot on the tiled ground, stood on that spot, and then pointed up to the top. Following him, I stood in that precise spot, and I saw the sparkle of a blue diamond come into view. I'll never forget that kind guard, or the way that diamond sparkled all the way from the top of the pagoda.


2 - Having my ear ripped off by an elephant, Thailand

In keeping with the theme of Shaun's pink dolphin bite, I present to you my second travel memory:


When you're at an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai, it's very easy to feel like fast friends with the elephants. Within minutes of arriving we were feeding the elephants sugar cane right into their mouths with our bare hands. In hindsight, it's obvious that I thought I had a little more of a bond with the elephants than they felt toward me. After an elephant reached out its trunk to check me out, I ended up on the ground with dirt and mud all over me, and a severed ear. Three countries and two rounds of stitches later, I still have my ear, and one helluva story for the grandkids.

To read the whole crazy story, you can read the blog post.


3 - Feeding pigeons in Piazza San Marco, Italy


I love pigeons. People say they are dirty and diseased, but I find them charming. For a traveler, the sight of pigeons is familiar, and it can feel like a tiny taste of home when you're feeling miles away. Pigeons also don't discriminate between a rubbish bin or the statue of a saint - they will go anywhere. So when I was in Venice, and a man offered me a bag of birdseed for a Euro, I happily paid him. The pigeons flocked to me in a dusty, feathery flurry, and I maintain it was the best Euro I spent in all of Italy.


And there you have it, another successful post of travel memories for the Green Team!


Team Green: As jam packed with surprise and zest as the green limes of Colombia!

I now tag my travel partner in crime ThisBatteredSuitcase to share her top three travel stories. I'm sure she'll give the Green Team something to be proud of.

Let the relay continue with every memory!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Video: First days in Colombia


it's only our second day here in Cartagena, Colombia

we're both already in love with the beautiful old city, its graffiti, and its friendly faces

if today is any indication...
it seems Colombia will be living up to its reputation as one of
the best countries for travel in all of South America


Saturday, July 28, 2012

Boyfriend Blues


Cahuita, Costa Rica

Being on the road is one of the best feelings I know. It frees me, it moves me, and it deepens my life.

But this time, being on the road also breaks my heart a little.

I left behind my boyfriend to travel my heart out. We're still together, and we keep in touch everyday... but the more days we spend apart, the more we discuss our future together.

When I left Korea recently to begin this crazy adventure, I decided certainly that I would return to Korea to find a job in Seoul upon completing this trip. I still consider Korea to be my home, and even here in central America I often long for the daily life that I lead there.

However, since I left Korea, the other half of my relationship has deepened his own future plans. He wants to move to Tokyo.

He says working life in Korea requires long hours without significant pay, and he feels daily living in Japan will be more comfortable. He wants to work and build the savings to make his future ambitions a reality. I respect him, and I understand why he says Korea can be a difficult place to live.

The allure of Japan is strong to me, as there are many similar cultural elements to Korean culture. But when I really think about it, I'm not ready to leave Korea.

I love a man who I fell in love with in Korea who does not want to live in Korea. What am I to do?

Part of me jumps at the thought of living in Tokyo, the bright neon familiar to me now. The crowded subways excite me, as does the lure of language. Japanese is on my list of languages to learn, and I have a few friends who would help me settle in. Tokyo would be good to me.

However, I've now spent more of my twenties in Korea than anywhere else. I feel so comfortable and confident in Korea now that I can't imagine moving to Tokyo and starting all over again.

It's a confusing time, only made more intangible by the distance between us.

I can only put trust in myself, in him, and in the road that we travel together.


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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Any Road




"If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there"
- George Harrison (from the song Any Road)

Just a day before we sail from Panama to Colombia, I can't help but feel madly excited about the upcoming continent and all the adventures we'll have. The lure of South America has always been in me; even as a little girl I dreamed of the Brazilian amazon. Now with hours until we sail, and just days until out feet find solid ground on the Cartagena beaches, I'm thrilled.

Our plans for Colombia - and the whole of South America - are pretty vague. We do have our general direction, and certain cities we won't miss. But when it comes to how long in what place, we are intentionally keeping our plans open.

The road is nothing if not unpredictable. Embracing the unpredictability of the road means being open to all people, and all places. It's easy to end up in a place you never intended to visit, simply upon the recommendation of another traveler. I learned that first-hand when in France in 2006, and I ended up unexpectedly doing the first three days of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela upon the recommendation of a friendly girl I met in the hostel. Destinations become fluid and so do the reasons for visiting.

The photo above is from Cahuita on the east coast of Costa Rica, after hearing that it was "beautiful" from a girl with whom we shared a short bus ride. We hadn't even heard of the city, and within 24 hours we were there.

The joy of motion, being en route, and just simply not knowing is a big part of what makes traveling so immediate and so rewarding. You find a place to go, and then you get there.

For us, right now that place is South America.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

of rice and beans (or "the magical fruit of central america")

since coming to central america three weeks ago, i've been eating a lot of gallo pinto. gallo pinto is rice and beans mixed together with seasoning, and it's a vegetarian's dream food.

fantastically yummy gallo pinto with an omelet and toast in little corn, nicaragua



the gorgeous presentation prize goes to cafe liberia, in libera, costa rica



the best gallo pinto i've had yet has to be this one pictured above, from a restaurant in the tiny coastal village of cahuita, in costa rica. a pile of rice, beans, tortillas and salsa topped off with fresh guacamole? well, if you insist...

a bit part of traveling is trying local foods, and now that we're in panama i'm already longing for costa rican gallo pinto. of course we're still eating rice and beans, but they aren't quite as ubiqutous as they were across the border. i've heard that the rice and beans trend continues in a variety of forms throughout south america too, and i certainly hope i can keep eating this delicious food.

have you tried costa rican gallo pinto?

share your thoughts on the rice and beans below in a comment, or on Twitter @expatkerri

Friday, July 20, 2012

What did you do on Monday?



Just strolled in a national park watching monkeys in the trees.

Cahuita, Costa Rica

Monday, July 16, 2012

swimming with sharks

Jake's Place, Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

"you're probably wondering who jake is..."

this is how the dive briefing began for my second day of diving in little corn island.

"...jake is a friendly nurse shark."

a friendly shark? friendly and shark are two words not usually used in the same sentence, at least outside of the diving community.

this dive was actually my second time seeing sharks underwater, so i had a small idea of what to expect since we had seen a few nurse sharks on our dives the day before.

the first time i saw a shark while diving, it was sitting still under a coral shelf. lying on the ocean floor, it looked calm, resting and waiting for night to come.

i expected to see jake in the same way.

as i handed my fins and weights onto the boat, i casually asked my dive master how big jake was.

"about 7 feet."

when our boat arrived out in the middle of the choppy waters, i wondered if jake would be resting under his chosen coral shelf. securing my mask and air, i rolled back off the boat and into jake's place.

as soon as we got down to the coral, our dive master turned to us and gave the shark signal (a hand gesturing a shark fin on your forehead). within moments, just feet below my fins, jake swam through.

we stayed still to watch him, and he had no interest in our group. he swam out of sight and we kept going along the coral. after a few minutes, other divers signaled the shark hand gesture. jake swam by again in the other direction, close to the coral. he kept on appearing and disappearing throughout our dive.


i was not scared, but more amazed to see this creature moving peacefully through the water below us. the shark appeared perfectly in balance with all of the other fish and life we were seeing under the sea, and accordingly didn't feel threatening. there were even two foot-length blue fish following the shark around, as little ones might follow around their older siblings.

the underwater social hierarchy in balance, right before our eyes.



upon surfacing, everyone commented how good the dive was. how lucky we were to see a shark.

and i feel lucky too.

how special to witness a moment of life for a creature so misunderstood, to the tune of my own breath. i felt no fear, but rather peacefulness and a longing for the underwater dream never to end.

but like sleeping dreams, all dives have to come to an end.

even dives with sharks.
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