What does a miles discount of 21,000 Delta Skymiles plus a $5.60 tax mean for me. A one-way trip to Europe for 3 to 4 months beginning in Amsterdam.
…I feel like I naturally ask myself this question without even realizing it. Travel is a personality. It’s like asking a person what kind of person they are. Introvert, adventurous, spiritual, intense, etc. The same concept applies to the traveler. What do they want to offer? Is it for others? It is for themselves like self exploration? The destination may be the same but the experience and goal in each traveler is it’s own. Like a phone with its own serial number.
So putting a spotlight on this topic, I ask myself once again. What kind of traveler do I want to be?
-I want to be the traveler that shares my experiences in a whole new perspective.
-I want to be the traveler that people look up to for motivation to experience the same in their own way.
-I want to be the traveler that fits in a special place in the globe that contributes to a positively connected world.
-I want to be the traveler that can take the world in as my classroom and learn from everything and everyone as my lessons.
-I want to be the traveler that slows down life and takes things in day by day with the understanding that life does go by quickly.
-I want to be the traveler that makes people smile regardless of what they go through or are going through.
-I want to be the traveler that can simply leave a positive mark in peoples lives.
-I want to be the traveler that can look back in life without regret and say “I did it”.
I’ve known for many years who I wanted to be. It just took some time for these answers to be brought to light. I’ve gone from nothing to something. Paycheck to paycheck to having the ability to be content. Depression, sadness, and tears to tears of joy, positivity, to happiness within myself. Dreaming then to living realities now. The journey isn’t always a destination, it can be within. My journey, has come a long way, has become better and better by the day, and will continue that path.
What does a miles discount of 21,000 Delta Skymiles plus a $5.60 tax mean for me. A one-way trip to Europe for 3 to 4 months beginning in Amsterdam. 🙂
So I sit here on my lunch break with a combination of anxiety, nervousness, and happiness all in one because I am only clicks away from getting my hands on my first one-way flight to places I’ve always wanted to see and for once, on my own time and schedule. No urgency to return to work. No PTO and putting in time off work. Just me, my cameras, my backpack, and creating memories to share with the world. A world whom I can, in my own way, be able to motivate to “snap out of it” and open their minds to the big world we live in.
So as I conclude this post, and I close my mind to the things I live for and the great things that will come my way once I set foot on that Delta flight. I remind myself, that the selfish ness of this new journey will not be perfect. I will feel pain. Others will feel pain. I will encounter struggles. And goodbyes will happen frequently. And as I remember all of the things I’ve been through, all the people I have met, the mistakes I’ve made, the lessons I’ve learn, and the reasons why I have lived this journey leading me to this work desk. I want the world to know and I am proudly confident to say, that I am ready to become the traveler that I’ve always wanted to be. :’)
I’ve always had an strong attitude in regards to doing what I loved in the moment. Like the 1996 Sable I had throughout high school and some of college that I wanted to “hook up (put rims on and a sound system in). Although that cost me lots of hard earned money, that I was barely even making, I successfully did so. For about a year I was rolling around the streets of Deltona, Florida with shiny 20 inch chrome rims with an amazing sound system heard miles away. While I eventually traded in the car for a newer one due to high gas prices and seeing my investments go nowhere but down the drain, it was a personal investment in my memory. I remind my self that if I really want something, I will work hard for it and get it. Today, I look and tell myself, “Yep, I did that.” But out of the many obstacles we may face in order to reach a goal the most intimidating one is time itself. It has been almost ten years since I successfully installed those wheels on my former car and I now have different priorities.
Sunset on an island in Kiribati. (Photo Credit: Nick Hobgood)
This is what happens over time. It’s normal and it’s life. You evolve! But what if I waited too long to find those wheels because I wanted to feel safe with money first. Or because my mom said I should wait. I probably would have been left with an unaccomplished dream buried deep in the past. And as time moves forward I will have another priority to work hard towards. Looking back, I am glad I broke the bank and traded in my investments for nothing. It actually isn’t always about money and what it will earn you later. It’s a great memory. In fact it’s more than just a great memory. That car was a symbol in my life that will live with me forever and prove something for my future. That is, that no matter what I go through, so as long as I want something badly, I will work hard for it, believe in myself, and I will get a full realistic grasp on it. This applies to anyone so as long as they have something to work hard towards. This could be anything from creating a foundation for a family, being your own boss, traveling to Antarctica, or like me at the age of 18, “hooking up” a car.
Somewhere Near Gallipoli, Turkey (Photo Credit: kambiyocu)
But the one key factor I have learned along the way is that you want time to be on your side. Sure, not everything can be done overnight or short term. Some things do require savings, schooling, research and my favorite word from mom, sacrifice. No person should turn you away from your dreams, after all, it’s not theirs to enjoy. It can be really easy to fall off of that path because people don’t believe as strong as you do. In addition, not all dreams are meant to be, at least at that moment or in that time, it’s life. Call it destiny or whatever you want. Like trying to relocate to Miami post college from Orlando. Miami is an expensive lifestyle and at the time, I was a little more reckless and had depression issues that needed working on. In my opinion, my relocation to South Carolina instead seemed to be the perfect thing for me despite how opposite of a lifestyle it has been for three years. It has helped me grow and in fact prepared me for a larger goal I could or couldn’t have envisioned in Miami.
In reference to time, age certainly does plays a role in decision making also. The worst kind of life I’d want to live is a one in regret not living my dreams because I waited too long. Saying I can do it later when all I had done was wait for the “best time” or “when I retire”. Working in a doctors office has showed me first hand so many genuinely kind people who do live in some form of regret for not fulfilling dreams early on in life, and now is too late. While I am fortunate to travel as frequent as I do thanks to family, people make up all kind of excuses not to do it. In the American culture, it’s is very easy to fall victim to this, because we are workaholics, but that’s for a different post.
Baracoa, Cuba (Photo Credit: Juan Carlos Cabañas Díaz)
Today, Saturday May 9th 2015, I asked a patient about a trip he made to the country of Micronesia that I overheard him speaking of a week prior. After he shared his travels, I told him that I had intentions of doing a Work/Holiday Visa in New Zealand and Australia before I turn 30 (Because that’s only obtainable between 19-30 years old). In transit, I have high hopes in seeing a good number of Pacific islands. Since he spent much of his life as a scuba instructor and had experience, I was curious to know if he had done the Great Barrier Reef in Australia but said he hadn’t and would love to. I told him “It wasn’t too late”. His response, “It is too late. I’m old, always in pain, and can’t fly for more than two hours.” This is coming from a man who flew many hours to islands in the Pacific straight from the US. He asked my age, told him “26”, and he smiled with a slight gesture of sadness. In that moment, I read all of his emotions, expressions and exactly what he was thinking and wanted to say before he left the office. This brought tears to my eyes and reminded me that life is short, my youth is still at it’s prime and that it’s far from too late for me to fulfill my dreams. I still have all the might, motivation, and energy to work hard and go see the world in a way I probably would struggle to do in my 40’s and older. Not to forget, (knock on wood) I am in good health and still have all my bodily functions at 100%. I am not relying on routine doctor visits and not carrying around multiple prescription bottles, I AM GOOD TO GO!!!
Somewhere on the Big Island, Hawai’i Islands (Photo Credit: Camilo Gaivoto)
Finally the prime reason I wanted to write this post! The 15th or March this year, en route to work, another vehicle turned into me at an intersection totaling my car. Thankfully, the other driver and I came out fine. Needless to say, although this wreck set me back financially, this could have set me back permanently. They say things happen at the blink of an eye and this literally happened on that day. Now I may be a exaggerating, but realistically, this could have turned out worse than it did leaving me to dream my dreams and never live them. This is the one thing that I fear on a daily. With that being said, I grasp time oh so dearly close to me and plan on fulfilling my long term travel goals sooner than I envisioned. Dreams are little by little becoming a reality, and just like my old car, my future is going to be lived saying, “yep, I did that.”
I can’t expect myself at the age of 16 to have such an open minded attitude about life. I mean, these are the very years that led me to become who I am today. That’s how I can easily compare and contrast my trip to New Orleans now at the age of 26 to me at 16 in 2004. My first time in New Orleans was a full family trip in a crammed Toyota Echo straight from Central Florida one Friday Morning and back Sunday evening on a hot weekend in May. Aside from one short walk down Bourbon Street for some tourist shops and dinner on a balcony at 6pm then back to the hotel, and a confusing drive around the confusing maze called streets, our prime purpose there was a medical school graduation. In that short amount of time with such limited mobility, my only perception of the city from its old shotgun houses, lack of street lamps, poor lighting, pot holes, and obvious poverty, I quickly labeled the city dirty and shitty looking and remembered this for many years. Sadly, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city and it’s people a year later.
New Orleans SkylineCrescent City Bridge from Crescent ParkGorgeous Riverfront ViewSomewhere in the French QuarterSt. Louis Cathedral and Jackson SquareIconic Image of the infamous Jazz scene on Royal Street.
11 years later, and 10 years after that storm made landfall, I knew I would return to this city with a new pair of eyes and a more enhanced perspective. While Mardi Gras/Carnival was the prime reason to cross something off the bucket list, I still looked forward to the simple state of being on land that was a part of France’s new world, wandering aimlessly along the French Quarter, cemetery hopping to hopping on and off the streetcars, to indulging in the infamous cuisine of Louisiana and the deep south.
Krewe of Cork parade.
For an American city, New Orleans is truly unique and a one of a kind city. A city I can say is beautiful in it’s very own way despite how it may actually look in many parts. Anyone looking for city upkeep and colonial railed homes lined up throughout the whole city, may want to consider visiting Savannah. Otherwise, the old half corroded shotgun homes with peeled paint, cracked sidewalks, outdated roads, and dim lit streets are all the little things that make this city one of a kind. I was told by my guesthouse host in the Marigny-Bywater area while awaiting a parade, that the city used to practically be like a third world country and that after Katrina hit, the city is a bit caught up. Well, at least up to the 18th century. From the locals whom I have had the pleasure of sharing conversations with, all are very proud of where they are from. As for those who migrated in from elsewhere, they are proud to call NOLA home.
Some delicious Jambalaya (and Beignets-not in photo)New Orleans City ParkWalking Along Canal Street
New Orleans is no doubt a party city and locals are proud of that in their city. Carnival season or not, people of all races, backgrounds, colors, ethnicities, and types, know how to have a good ass time. A huge plus, is the ability to just stroll around with a drink in hand without the law biting a chunk out of your ass. I can’t begin to stress how much fun Carnival season is in NOLA. Its like being a kid, but for grown ups with flying beads, coins, tons of alcohol, and a million people on a few set of blocks loosening up to have a good time. Aside from traffic being far worse in a city not meant for too many cars, the numerous parade route sallow you to get in the same feel in different parts of the city.
On a street in the Lower 9th Ward, an area that has seen much destruction and slow recovery from Hurricane Katrina. 10 years later, and there are still empty lots and abandoned homes.Lower Ninth Ward Levee.New Orleans streetcar. PS- DO NOT CALL THEM TROLLEYS, SOME ORLEANEANS HAVE HEART ATTACKS IF NOT CALLED STREETCARS. -__-Parade along St. CharlesOne of many beautiful homes in the Garden District. House of Anne Rice.New Orleans SunsetMore delicious NOLA/ Louisiana food, Crawfish Étouffée
Sadly, many areas remain scarred from the wrath of Hurricane Katrina’s fury in 2005. Like the Lower ninth Ward, which I had the privilege of visiting, still has abandoned homes, empty lots, and bare stairs leading to shattered dreams. But despite the slow pace of full recovery, the people of this city remain strong and still continue to be warm, inviting, and friendly. That’s what I love about New Orleans, without being too commercial, it manages to conserve it’s history and culture, on many streets that may seem dangerous but for the most part are safe w/ friendly people. So one thing that really put a smile on my face and is the reason why this is my kind of city to travel in and is the reason why I will return is a simple conversation with my guesthouse neighbors, I said, “Katrina changed the city”. They replied, “Nothing has changed because the tradition is the same. It’s all about the tradition.” 🙂
Delicious Mardi Gras King CakeCrescent City BridgeOne of the longest bridges in the world and the longest in the U.S. – Lake Pontchartrain Bridge
Prague is a magnificent city from it’s bright days of Summer to its low clouds and days of fog. Regardless, the city allure and beauty lasts year round in all climates. From the hills to the arch bridges over the Vltava River. For me, my stay didn’t get off to the most positive start. Traveling around Central Europe during mid-November, you shouldn’t be surprised by not seeing any sun, which I didn’t. But after arriving at Prague’s main train station from Kutna Hora, I was greeted by sad, depressing weather with low clouds and hours of light rain. In addition, my $5 gas station umbrella started to give out at the wind blows walking through the city.
Prague City CenterCharles Bridge
Now I am not one to complain, especially while traveling, but I felt so miserable. I mean, it is the very two combined weather climates that I hate the most. In addition, Prague is not the easiest city to navigate for first timers. While Budapest has a river dividing the city creating a landmark for direction, Prague’s river creates the shape of a crescent, making point A to point B much longer than anticipated. Forget sense of direction! The city center is obviously OLD with a medieval city grid, but attempting to assume the river is east after walking two blocks doesn’t work so well like in Budapest. Not only did I have an issue finding my AirBnb apartment, but I also spent numerous nights walking in the wrong direction. Walking from the city square, for example to the Charles Bridge through side streets actually made me walk a mile or two south.
Žižkov Hill. My favorite walk in Prague.
Sweet GoPro shot of the Prague City center
While I couldn’t help the frustration in the beginning, I later realized that this is part of my own travel experience in Prague. I didn’t want to follow the crowd. Getting lost in Prague was a slightly frustrating but very memorable. Taking a turn into one of the city’s less traveled alleys and streets is a beautiful treat within itself. Nothing beats walking down a cobble stoned alley in Prague, alone, with amber colored lamps shining against the sidewalks and buildings. Even the graffiti amazed me.
St. Vitus Cathedral
The downside to Prague at any given time throughout the year is it’s crowd. It’s Prague, its supposedly the 5th popular tourist city of Europe, who wouldn’t want to come here. Well everyone does, which is why you see hoards and hoards of people swarming the castle, city center, Charles Bridge, and main alleys. Despite the crowds, not only are these places still enjoyable but there are plenty of off the beaten path spots around the city to enjoy as well as taking in great city views. My personal favorite, the view of Prague from Hanavský pavilion where you can see the infamous cascade of bridges below and beyond. Or my favorite restaurant, Pivovar U Tří Růží, also a brewery. And my favorite walk through Žižkov hill with no tourists or tourist traps.
Dancing HousePivovar U Tří Růží brewery and restaurantDrum and Bass at Roxy NightclubKarstejn Castle
I loved Prague! So much history going back to the Medieval years, to World War 2, to the very long years of socialism. Outside of the city, the Sedlec Ossuary bone church in Kutna Hora and Karlstejn Castle are easy to reach. Prague is no Eastern Europe budget friendly city but it is not western European either. It’s affordable with many cost efficient places around the city, if you know where to look. I czeched out only a few night clubs but even these experiences were enough to satisfy my party side. The Czech cuisine is fantastic, from its duck dishes to the delishious Trdelnik , something I ate about 5 times in one day. Lastly and most importantly, Czech beer is always a must try and is absolutely good. So whether you stroll the alleys solo or stroll the Charles Bridge with a loved one, I can certainly now see why Prague is so popular for all kinds of people. But if you go, plan on getting lost, you won’t regret it. 🙂
Traveling through the heart of the Czech Republic.
Walking in town.
Coming from the eastern side of the Czech Republic traveling east to the capital of Prague, I could not pass up a visit to the bone church in Kutná Hora. Researching how to get there proved to me that train travel is much more flexible being there than the internet, especially in Europe. Waking up early in the city of Brno, I had my hostel receptionist research train travel to Kutna Hora. Fortunately for me, there was a direct train from Brno to Kutná Hora in an hour. So I happily checked out, hopped on a train heading to Prague (I had an empty car 90% of the way), and boom, in an hour and change, I was in the small town of Kutná Hora. I could have easily taken a bus or taxi from the station, but considering budget travel and a short walk, I headed straight to the bone church on foot. Upon arrival, there were a few tour groups ready to enter.
The chuch exterior.
Center of the church. Bone chandelier.
In order to avoid having to stand within or around an annoying tour guide, I quickly entered the seemingly innocent church. After paying 90 Crowns (About $4 and change US) at the front counter, you are greeted with bones everywhere, from above and around the desk to the ceiling and walls. Down about 10 steps is the infamous chandelier of bones that will leave you with a “Holy Shit” or a “Woah” or “Wow”. It is absolutely a mind blowing sight to see such an assembly of human bones by someone from many years ago. One each I guess you could say, corner of the interior are pyramids of human skulls. On one corner is a shield representing the Coat of Arms of the Schwarzenberg. The rest of Kutna Hora is a pretty cool town to see. Unfortunately I only got to see the church and ate lunch at at restaurant down the street, but a visit here is a must if you have time to kill in the Czech Republic.
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