Mt. Etna is the first volcano I had ever climbed. It was also the first time I had a search party sent out for me.
Showing posts with label First. Show all posts
Showing posts with label First. Show all posts
February 22, 2021
February 13, 2015
Going To My First Couchsurfing Event
While in San Diego, I was staying at a friend's house. My friend, Catalan, had a fancy professional bicycle. Something I was interested in doing at some point in my life was a big bicycle trip.
He took me to store that he bought it at, REI. It was a big amazing store filled with adventurous things that I like.
One of the worker's at the store was telling us that he made a bicycle trip all the way across America! He also told us that he used Couchsurfing a lot along the way.
I had heard of Couchsurfing before but I've always thought,
what kind of people do that?? and wondered about safety.
I always used to expect to find perverted weirdo's on sites designed for meeting people... But maybe websites like that have become normal in this day in time. Damn, I was so ignorant back then.
He explained it was a legitimate and awesome site that lots of travelers used. It sounded cool so Catalan and I went and created a profile when we got back to the house.
Couchsurfing.org was organized by regions of the world.
On the region pages are conversations like a newsfeed on Facebook. Some people also create events that you can read about and click the join button if you wish.
On the San Diego area page was an event that a lot of people were going to called Tipsy Tuesday. It was a weekly
event where couchsurfers meet-up at a bar on Tuesday.
We were reading about it and it said that at 10 p.m. the bar had a reverse happy hour? Not sure what that meant.
Catalan said, "So, does that mean the drinks are twice as expensive?"
When Tuesday came, we found the bar and the group of
couchsurfers inside. More people showed up later. It was my first ever involvement in couchsurfing. Basically, everyone introduced themselves to other people and socialized.
I talked to many people and told them I was in the beginning stage of my trip and had never used couchsurfing.
I was relieved that couchsurfing seemed like a cool community of travelers so far. The people were nice to talk to
and no one seemed like the creepy crazy person that I feared of being online.
Another guy and I went to the other side of the bar and played Foosball. People from the couchsurfing meeting were now spread throughout the bar. I didn't know if everyone I talked to was with couchsurfing or just someone at the bar.
The bar had quite a bit of people in it.
Later, I noticed a guy who was smiling a lot. He was really smiling all the time. I looked at him and said "why are you so happy?!" He started talking to me about love and positive energy and was starting to sound a little hippie-ish at that point. After talking to him for a little while about love and hate, he made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with hate.
" Let me show you something" he said. He walked over to a
stranger, pointed at him and said "I don't know this guy, but I love him because he's beautiful." The stranger smiled.
Then he walked over to a crowd of people. Suddenly, everyone had their arms around each other and formed a circle. I got caught in this circle. The happy guy was across from me in the circle. The circle started spinning around and the happy guy said "can you feel it? can you feel the love?"
I personally think he was on acid.
Well, that was my first ever experience with couchsurfing. I just went to an event. But my first time ever using it to meet up with an individual directly from the site is in the next blog post....
He took me to store that he bought it at, REI. It was a big amazing store filled with adventurous things that I like.
One of the worker's at the store was telling us that he made a bicycle trip all the way across America! He also told us that he used Couchsurfing a lot along the way.
I had heard of Couchsurfing before but I've always thought,
what kind of people do that?? and wondered about safety.
I always used to expect to find perverted weirdo's on sites designed for meeting people... But maybe websites like that have become normal in this day in time. Damn, I was so ignorant back then.
He explained it was a legitimate and awesome site that lots of travelers used. It sounded cool so Catalan and I went and created a profile when we got back to the house.
Couchsurfing.org was organized by regions of the world.
On the region pages are conversations like a newsfeed on Facebook. Some people also create events that you can read about and click the join button if you wish.
On the San Diego area page was an event that a lot of people were going to called Tipsy Tuesday. It was a weekly
event where couchsurfers meet-up at a bar on Tuesday.
We were reading about it and it said that at 10 p.m. the bar had a reverse happy hour? Not sure what that meant.
Catalan said, "So, does that mean the drinks are twice as expensive?"
When Tuesday came, we found the bar and the group of
couchsurfers inside. More people showed up later. It was my first ever involvement in couchsurfing. Basically, everyone introduced themselves to other people and socialized.
I talked to many people and told them I was in the beginning stage of my trip and had never used couchsurfing.
I was relieved that couchsurfing seemed like a cool community of travelers so far. The people were nice to talk to
and no one seemed like the creepy crazy person that I feared of being online.
Another guy and I went to the other side of the bar and played Foosball. People from the couchsurfing meeting were now spread throughout the bar. I didn't know if everyone I talked to was with couchsurfing or just someone at the bar.
The bar had quite a bit of people in it.
Later, I noticed a guy who was smiling a lot. He was really smiling all the time. I looked at him and said "why are you so happy?!" He started talking to me about love and positive energy and was starting to sound a little hippie-ish at that point. After talking to him for a little while about love and hate, he made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with hate.
" Let me show you something" he said. He walked over to a
stranger, pointed at him and said "I don't know this guy, but I love him because he's beautiful." The stranger smiled.
Then he walked over to a crowd of people. Suddenly, everyone had their arms around each other and formed a circle. I got caught in this circle. The happy guy was across from me in the circle. The circle started spinning around and the happy guy said "can you feel it? can you feel the love?"
I personally think he was on acid.
Well, that was my first ever experience with couchsurfing. I just went to an event. But my first time ever using it to meet up with an individual directly from the site is in the next blog post....
January 22, 2015
My first time ever at a hostel
During my time in Buffalo, NY, I found a hostel. I was surprised to see one there. I had never seen one before in my life. I've heard of them before but didn't know that much about them. I thought that hostels were only on backpacker travel routes in Europe or only in secret special places and was surprised that one was in Buffalo. I didn't think hostels were very common.
I knew that at hostels I would probably be sleeping in a room with other people. "Oh God, I wonder what kind of people will be in there" I thought as I approached the door...
I walked in the hostel and there was newspaper articles and all kinds of stuff stuck all over the walls. It was $25 a night! Wow, I could hardly believe this was happening!
Back then I thought $25 a night was cheap, but now I do not, haha. It is a lot cheaper than a hotel in America though.
I remember the receptionist saying "understand this IS a hostel, you will be staying with other people" as if I might not know what a hostel is. He handed me bed sheets and a towel and I walked up to my room. The room was empty, however, there were other people's stuff on some of the other bunk beds. So, they'll probably be back later.
The hostel was nice. it had WiFi, which surprised me that a place so cheap did. (what I considered cheap back then, I'm typing these words from my journal)
It also had a lounge area and a kitchen that people are allowed to bring food into and use for cooking as long as they wash the dishes afterwards.
Later someone else walked in the room. He said "hello" then went to his bunk which was across the room from me. Later another guy walked in.
I was laying down on my bunk and was on Facebook or something. The man looked at me and said "hello" then he asked "what country are you from?" which I first thought was a strange thing to ask but I soon learned that a lot people from other countries stay at hostels. "Uh, this one" I said. He was like "oh really?" sounding fascinated. He went on to tell me that he was from India.
I had heard that people meet a lot of other people by staying in hostels, but I was a little surprised when this guy just walked over and started a conversation while I was laying in my bed. I was starting to learn of the sense of community you can get from hostels.
I told him how I was wandering around and he thought it was cool. He also told me that he wandered around at a phase in his life but he did it in India. We had a good conversation. He also told me that my money will last a long time over in Asia and that part of the world.
Time passed on and we were both wondering if anyone else would show up. No one did. It was just us 3 in the room. The other guy didn't really talk much; he just went to his bunk and put in headphones.
In the morning, the Indian man wished me luck and I left..
Well, that was my first ever experience of a hostel. I know there really wasn't anything unusual about it and usually I try to write down unique experiences but it was unusual for me back then during the early part of my trip. I've stayed at many hostels now and it sometimes feels strange to imagine a time that I didn't even know what it was like to stay at one. So, I wanted to type my first experience. Much of this post was copied word for word from my journal which I wrote back then. It amazes me how much about my life has changed since I left on my trip and I am reminded of that as I type the words I haven't looked at in a very long time.
I knew that at hostels I would probably be sleeping in a room with other people. "Oh God, I wonder what kind of people will be in there" I thought as I approached the door...
I walked in the hostel and there was newspaper articles and all kinds of stuff stuck all over the walls. It was $25 a night! Wow, I could hardly believe this was happening!
Back then I thought $25 a night was cheap, but now I do not, haha. It is a lot cheaper than a hotel in America though.
I remember the receptionist saying "understand this IS a hostel, you will be staying with other people" as if I might not know what a hostel is. He handed me bed sheets and a towel and I walked up to my room. The room was empty, however, there were other people's stuff on some of the other bunk beds. So, they'll probably be back later.
The hostel was nice. it had WiFi, which surprised me that a place so cheap did. (what I considered cheap back then, I'm typing these words from my journal)
It also had a lounge area and a kitchen that people are allowed to bring food into and use for cooking as long as they wash the dishes afterwards.
Later someone else walked in the room. He said "hello" then went to his bunk which was across the room from me. Later another guy walked in.
I was laying down on my bunk and was on Facebook or something. The man looked at me and said "hello" then he asked "what country are you from?" which I first thought was a strange thing to ask but I soon learned that a lot people from other countries stay at hostels. "Uh, this one" I said. He was like "oh really?" sounding fascinated. He went on to tell me that he was from India.
I had heard that people meet a lot of other people by staying in hostels, but I was a little surprised when this guy just walked over and started a conversation while I was laying in my bed. I was starting to learn of the sense of community you can get from hostels.
I told him how I was wandering around and he thought it was cool. He also told me that he wandered around at a phase in his life but he did it in India. We had a good conversation. He also told me that my money will last a long time over in Asia and that part of the world.
Time passed on and we were both wondering if anyone else would show up. No one did. It was just us 3 in the room. The other guy didn't really talk much; he just went to his bunk and put in headphones.
In the morning, the Indian man wished me luck and I left..
Well, that was my first ever experience of a hostel. I know there really wasn't anything unusual about it and usually I try to write down unique experiences but it was unusual for me back then during the early part of my trip. I've stayed at many hostels now and it sometimes feels strange to imagine a time that I didn't even know what it was like to stay at one. So, I wanted to type my first experience. Much of this post was copied word for word from my journal which I wrote back then. It amazes me how much about my life has changed since I left on my trip and I am reminded of that as I type the words I haven't looked at in a very long time.
January 17, 2015
My first day as a vagabond (it was shitty)
I am keeping a journal while I am travelling. Today, I have been travelling for quite some time now. I finally decided to start a blog and see how it goes. I've never had a blog before in my life. So I will now type my first journal entry which I wrote on September 4th, 2013... The day I left home
Yeah that's right, day 1 and crap has already happened! That pisses me off! >(
Well, my flight left at 7:35 a.m. so I had to get up ridiculously early (like 3:45 a.m.) to leave at
4:00 a.m. and make it to Dallas on time. There might have been more traffic or something because
I didn't get to the airport until 6:50 a.m. which I would think would maybe have been enough time to
make it to the gate in time. Maybe if i hurried after going through security.. But Noooo! They said I
was too late and that they were done boarding and closed the gates to board. And of course, the next
flight isn't until the same time the next morning! So I'm just going to sit in this airport all day and all
night until then. But oh wait! Not only that, I thought you were supposed to be able to check 1 bag for
free. Usually it's that way, but not this shitty airline I guess! Oh and that's not all, I also had to pay
$50 more for getting put on a later flight. My bag is too large to be a carry-on and it cost like $50 to
check it. Oh and also I am not allowed to get it checked until 4 hours before my flight leaves.
Which is at 3:30 a.m.! Which means I'm stuck in the baggage claim area until then. Luckily, they
sell crappy sandwiches in the vending machines. I really didn't want to spend my first day away from
home sitting in airport for 24 hours, but I guess shit just happens! I could have gotten a hotel room
but then I would have to have paid probably at least $70 plus gotten up early as hell and taken a taxi
back here to the airport. So fuck that. Actually my backpack makes an alright pillow.
I was supposed to meet my friend Cody in New York City today. I've already been there before,
but he called me one night and said that he wanted to go to this big tennis thing called the U.S. open.
He's never been there and really wanted me to go with him since I have been there before and it
would be better if he wasn't alone. Before I go overseas, I plan on going a few places in America first
and seeing some friends in other states. Holy shit, NO NO NO... I think I might have left my phone
charger back home...
Wow, a lot has changed since that first day. It feels a little bit strange to me looking at it now. Well,
I suppose I should tell you I'm American, and also from the state of Texas, something that I didn't mention in the introduction post.
I suppose, some could say my first real day as a vagabond was September 5th. However, I count the 4th as my first day since I was away from home and away from my family and I was also in a different city than my hometown. Even If I was still in Texas. It was my first lesson while travelling.
I tried to arrive at the airport earlier than 6:50 a.m. but I'm still surprised I could not board 40 minutes before my flight left! The plane hadn't even taken off yet, but they definitively weren't going to open the boarding gate again just for me. I had flown before several times and I have never had to pay more for checking 1 bag. I thought that was supposed to be included in the ticket like most airlines however I should have read the fine print.
By the way, the name of the airline is Spirit Airlines. I Google searched "Spirit Airlines" and wow. Look what I found on the first page of the Google search results.
A Facebook page called "Boycott Spirit Airlines" with 35,919 likes! So, I'm not the only one who didn't have a good experience with them. However, I'm not trying to write this post as a review and I don't necessarily believe Spirit Airlines is a shitty airline. But there is a good chance that they are shitty. Especially, after seeing the Google search results. I wrote in my journal at the time that they were shitty because I was angry and wanted to complain. However, even with the extra $50 for checking a bag, the flight would still cheaper than if I had flown with another airline (but maybe not cheaper with the other $50 charge for being too late, but cheaper if I had been on time.) and they got me to my destination safely.
Well, that's my completely honest experience. Make sure you get to the airport on time. Even if it means waking up earlier than 3:45 a.m. Probably it would have been easier to have stayed up all night.
January 16, 2015
Introduction
I had been planning to go an epic adventure for a few years. I rode a bicycle instead of a car
and saved most of my money for travelling. I received only 2 reactions whenever I told anybody that I wanted to wander the Earth; they either thought it was an awesome idea or a stupid one. After a few years of working and budgeting, it was time to live my dream. It was sad to say goodbye to family and friends but I really need adventure. My plan was to travel the the world for at least 2 years. Well, that's everything I want to say in the introduction. I'm not going to ramble about the philosophy of travelling right now, It's time for the story. Read my blog posts for more information about me. I doubt you would regret reading my blog.
Unless you are a terrible person.
Having a beer with my friend Blake during my last day at home
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