Author: Anthony Perez

Hiking in Curaçao: Christoffelberg

Post author By Anthony Perez
Post date May 28, 2014
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Christoffelberg Curacao Hiking — Photo by http://www.mappery.com/

Whats a better way to enjoy a Caribbean island then to get the opportunity to hike up a mountain on one. Curaçao is a truly unique island, from the culture, to the dry climate and hilly terrain. I am new to the world of outdoors and hiking in general and fortunately, leaving the urban and beach world has allowed me to get a new feel for the outdoors in South and North Carolina close to the mountains. After I made Curaçao my choice of travel, I was blown away at the thought of being able to hike a mountain on the island. I mean after all, one thing that captures my heart in any destination is an overlook with memorable views.

After discovering a photo on Instagram and with thorough research, hiking up this mountain was a must. Fortunately, I made a great friend through the website, CouchSurfing, who had the same interest in doing this activity. Second day of my arrival, we woke up early and headed straight to the north of the island from Willemstad. Now leaving early is not just to have the whole day to do more than just hike. It just simply gets far too hot to go up. The park itself has a curfew at 11am to close the park to any further hikers of going up and possibly passing out en route. I personally was not trying to be a statistic, if there is a statistic.

Fortunate for us, the skies were filled with clouds allowing us to leave the strain only to our muscles along the way up. The hike starts off with a drive down a narrow road going around the smaller hills around the park. At some point you reach a “parking lot” where you most likely meet other like minded hikers ready for a rewarding trip. On foot you start off on a simple non intimidating flat trail. After about 10 minutes or so the hike begins to include moderate steps up. Those steps up start turning into higher leg raises for a better leg workout. 30 minutes in those leg workouts turn into glute and leg workouts and you do higher raises to higher elevations. At this point you begin to see fairly nice views of the Caribbean Sea. Another 15 minutes in your leg and glute work out turns into an arm and back workout as your hands play a role into getting above and around rocks and fallen trees. The final 15 minutes of this trail gets the most straining and the most strenuous as you basically have to utilize your whole body in an obstacle course of boulders and trees. At some point you are all that is between two large boulders and need to barely squeeze your way through.

These boulders are a success marker as you are basically to the top with another few feet of incline and are rewarded with one of the best views in the Caribbean or even the world. At the top you have a nice 360 pan-am of the north part of the island. On a clear day you may be able to see the whole island. Oddly, there is a tall column at the top to take pictures on or with. I’ll call it the main point of the top if I have to, but there is actually two main ways up once towards the top. While at the top, I noticed other people in the distance on other smaller tips sitting enjoying the views as well. After a sufficient amount of photos and video and messing around with an iguana, I finally decided to head back down the same way I went up which is a different workout within itself.

This hike is not something I recommend to people with bad knees. On the way up we passed by three people who fell at some point coming down because of, weak knees. Slip at the wrong spot could result in serious injury or worse off death. As I have stated before, hiking is something completely new to me. Hiking up Christoffelberg took my hiking experience from a 10 to a 100 in regards to difficulty. Because fitness and health is a big part of my lifestyle, this was rather extremely fun and I enjoyed every second, although my skin got hammered with wind burn and some sun burn. Altogether, the experience was very adventurous and was a great way to start my adventure in the island of Curaçao. Better yet, standing at the top was a perfect symbol of successful travels.

Tags curacao caribbean dutch netherlands, hiking

General Voyage Journal

Capturing/Editing Video: A Form of Travel Blogging

Post author By Anthony Perez
Post date April 24, 2014
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I have always had the eye of a photographer. Whether it be a disposable point and shoot, snap and print Polaroid, or Iphone camera. As a youngster something fascinated me at the thought of capturing a live moment forever. Oddly, this didn’t always apply to typical Kodak moments. This could simply have been a sign, building, or cars on a semi busy intersection. Maybe it was my upbringing and how I grew up. I lived a rough childhood segregated between fighting divorced parents. However my everyday life was fairly simple with one or two best friends, school, visitation routine between parents, and a lot of me time in between. It probably was that me time that allowed me to be more attentive towards the little things.

As I look in through boxes of old pictures, a good portion are of my picture friendly family and I, which is why I find so much comfort in being in photos. But a third of these photos are from me, stretching from my late single digit years to my late teens before the digital age kicked in. Files on my laptop and desktop took over from there. The travel bug has always been in me as I jetsetted to simple vacation spots like Virginia, Florida, and Puerto Rico (U.S. soil) every year. What relevance does this all have to capturing and editing video of my trips? Because my love for photos allowed me to evolve for something that presented so much more. Thanks to my dad, movies have my heart as I have so much love for movies of all kinds. Sitting late at night movie after movie, from horror, to action, to comedy also gave me the ability to naturally analyze how movie-makers do what they do best.

So in conclusion, when you take my evolved love of travel with my web design skill, knowledge and software access and my skill of good photography and video, you get an unique individual with the ability to be a traveler, photographer, and producer all in one in a land far away from home. All of this in one person with a backpack on his back. Little by little, I have realized that I can take as many pictures as I want to and write as many blogs as I can. But my travel journal and documentation of adventure lies within the videos I capture along with commentary I add, whether it be along the journey or voice over. Fortunately, in my lifetime exists an evolving world of internet and technology to allow me to have the privilege of doing all this.

On my train ride through the rural sections of eastern Ontario en route to Ottawa from Toronto, I sat next to a girl jotting down her travel insights and thoughts on old journal paper. While doing so, I aim my iPhone to the side of the train as trees, homes, cars, and railroad crossings buzz by. I may or may not be the next famous travel filmmaker, but how I document and present my footage to the world on sites such as YouTube is surely loved by many. I show my audience my travels as if they were with me and it works beautifully. In my perspective, most people are presented whats hot. Why not the in betweens? Point A and point B are exciting, but you would be surprised at how many oo’s and ahh’s you experience as a traveler when you put your camera down. To me, it is all worth the hard work of hitting record some more. And it is almost like artwork: a combination of video clips done in such a way with the appropriate music to go with the feel of where I am. I not only enjoy my travels and allow others to enjoy, I give myself the pleasure of reliving my adventures in the far future in a unique fashion. Whether I am setting off for a two week trip or a long term journey, no matter what I do, I will not stop recording.

My YouTube Channel

Tags backpacker, backpacking, solo travel, travel, video, youtube

General North America North Carolina Voyages

Hiking in North Carolina: DuPont State Forest

Post author By Anthony Perez
Post date April 23, 2014
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Taking pictures with my GoPro after a long hike in DuPont State Forest — Bridal Veil Falls in Dupont State Forest in North Carolina.

Living in the Upstate of South Carolina for several years and growing up in both tropical Florida and urban New Jersey, I realized that there is so much to do here that I was not brought up around. The North Carolina Appalachian Mountains has so many outdoor activities to offer at such a close proximity of about an hour to an hour and a half. Everything from hiking, kayaking, waterfalls, camping, and so much more. After a long cold miserable Winter, Easter Sunday of 2014 offered much sun and clear skies, a perfect day to get out and enjoy a nice hike in the mountains. My girlfriend and I chose DuPont State Forest as it is one of her favorite places to spend a day hiking. Although not too strenuous of a hike, the park has numerous trails with rewarding views of Triple Falls, High Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, Lake Julia, Hooker Falls and much more. The park has trails good enough for biking and horse riding as well. Aside from my usual worldly travel desires, it is great to know that a good road trip through the mountains is close, cost efficient and lots of fun. 🙂

General Voyage Journal

Backpacking: It’s a Lifestyle

Post author By Anthony Perez
Post date February 27, 2014
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Backpacking is a term mainly associated with travel, whether it be hiking or travel short and long term domestic or abroad. It is a lengthy sized backpack with many strategic pockets and compartments that sits right on your back wherever you go. If done so correctly and appropriately, you can practically live out of this backpack. You can fit about a weeks worth of clothing, electronics and accessories, toiletries, documents, finances and more (hopefully not the same weight as you or heavier). You may see these backpacks across major travel destinations across the globe in airports and city streets.

Prior to my days as a backpacker, all I knew of was suitcases within my desires as a vacationer. As my lust for travel grew more and more, I found myself desiring nomadic styled traveling wanting to go from one place to the next instead of the usual “comfort” stay ‘on the beach’ or ‘in the hotel’ trips I took all my life. I realized that my first “nomadic” styled trip around the island of Jamaica with a suitcase wasn’t doing me any justice. ESPECIALLY, in Jamaica! I never really understood the concept of walking around with a large backpack as well as the term “backpacking” and its concept very well until after I read online threads and viewed Instagram photos. Eventually I realized that a trip to Belize and Guatemala couldn’t be done smoothly rolling around and hauling a suitcase and book bag so eventually I purchased my first rucksack.

Ready to backpack through Belize and Guatemala

My first two backpacking experiences successfully took place through those two countries in Central America as well as in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal, Canada. Considering my growing nomadic symptoms of travel, I realized something:

Backpacking is not just a way to travel, It’s a lifestyle

Backpacking is by far a way of life and enriches the possibilities of exploring places you want to see and more, meet new people you naturally connect with, and enjoy experiences of a lifetime. Although I do not have those freedoms and privileges quite yet of traveling destination to destination on my own time without putting in for “time off”, Just the simple fact that I can pack more than a dozen of necessities into one bag and in return see the world is the most amazing thing in imagination. It is this feeling within my constant wanderlust that makes me realize that all of this is a beautiful lifestyle and or realm I am hugely a part of.

As a backpacker, you can easily pick up and go at your own pace, learn to appreciate more with less, and best of all, escape the comforts of home and make the world your home.

Tags abroad, alone, backpacker, backpacking, solo travel, travel, traveling, traveling alone

General North America North Carolina South Carolina USA Voyages

Land of Waterfalls in The Carolinas

Post author By Anthony Perez
Post date January 31, 2014
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Every single day my wanderlust draws me and my travel desires further and further away from home and abroad to places unknown to me and my family. Each trip I take is further away from home as well. Although I sit behind this work desk with the urge to just get up, get on a flight, and go overseas every single day, I do remind myself that some wanderlust can be fulfilled right here close to where I live without the need of a passport and foreign language skills. Living within the more mountainous part of South Carolina where we have foothills, I have the advantage of a short one hour drive to the state above where the real Appalachian mountains are. Prior to moving here in 2011, all I knew about was city blocks and beaches. But the great thing about this area is that there is a different kind of urge to be outdoors, at least for recreation. My girlfriend coming from Upstate New York grew up to this outdoor lifestyle with vast openness of hilly terrain far from the city where I grew up just a few hours south.

Hiking, is a new recreation for me because of her and is something I do truly enjoy. Given that I work 7 days a week, nothing beats time away from ‘life’ with the sounds and surroundings of nature. But another awesome reward as a result of some of these hikes that I was also introduced to is the sight of a waterfall, whether at the end of a long hike or simply driving into or to one. Transylvania and other regions in the western part of North Carolina as well as the mountainous norther border of South Carolina are areas notorious for beautiful waterfalls and overlooks and this is one reason why I am grateful to live in this region. Here are some beautiful waterfalls I’ve seen in this area of the Carolinas.