Travel Nuggets
A Little ‘Nugget’ from Each Country Visited.
Nugget -a valuable idea or fact
Surfing and baseball have led me to visit Mexico, The Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Bali, Sumatra, Japan, Lanzarote (Canary Islands), and Spain. Mostly in search of waves like the picture on the left.
Traveling is great because it opens your eyes to how other people spend their time on earth. Visiting 3rd world countries have especially rocked me and put my life in perspective for me. Below are little nuggets of information that I’ve gathered from each country.
Dominican Republic — Paradise is often neighbors to despair.
The D.R. was my first time in a 3rd world country. I observed for the first time that paradise is often neighbors to despair. There is a row of nice resorts on the beach and on the other side of the street is utter poverty. It blows my mind how travelers (including myself) view these places as paradise, yet so close there are people struggling to meet their basic needs. I’ve noticed similar situations in Indonesia, Nicaragua, and Mexico. These resorts bring jobs to the community and tourists bring money to spend at the local bazaars, restaurants, etc.
Mexico — Media can give off bad hype and it’s really a powerful tool.
I go to Mexico simply to eat tacos, surf waves, and feel more authentic when I drink a Pacifico. I avoid trouble and it seems like trouble avoids me (kharma?, luck?, guardian angel?). The first time I went down there, we used my old 1985 4WD Nissan truck. She made it so close to the final destination until she crapped out. A couple handy locals came and saved us after about an hour of us trying to MacGyver something. The point I’m trying to make is that I haven’t seen too much of the ‘dangerous’ side of Mexico. But, I haven’t looked for it.
Japan- Public Transport is Fantastic.
Japan simply blew my mind. I was only there for a couple days and didn’t get to see much, but I did go to Tokyo a couple times. The public transport there is great and very easy to navigate unless you’re a gringo with no wifi (me). The public transport and the city is incredibly clean — which is not always the case in the U.S. I can’t wait to go back.
Nicaragua — Family and community is wealth.
I went to Nicaragua during a difficult time. There was a Level 3 travel alert because of the citizen’s protests to the government. Unfortunately, many hotels and hostels had to shut down because there were no tourists coming. I had the privilege of staying with an awesome Nicaraguan family for two out of the three weeks in Playa Gigante. Playa Gigante is a very closely knit community. Everybody knows everybody. Every night at the house, there was a kickball game. Luckily I was invited to play :). The brothers and sisters of the family I lived with all lived on the same dirt road. Every day and night, the family would be eating, playing, and helping each other. One or two mornings a week, people would attend church at 3am to pray for Nicaragua. They had to start this early so that it would not be in the way of anybody’s work. It was awesome to see such a tightly knit community, and it made me think that the standard American model of living is missing such a thing.
Bali- The power of waves
Yes, Bali has powerful and world-class waves, but would it be as much of a tourist hot spot if there weren’t waves? I really don’t think so. I wouldn’t have gone if there weren’t waves.. Bali is ridiculously overrun by tourists, which is kinda sad, but honestly really fun. I want to go back. It’s crazy to me, as a surfer, to see what waves can do to a place. There is so much surf tourism flowing into Indonesia. This means more work and money for an impoverished nation, but it’s just inherently strange to see a place be overrun by tourism.
Sumatra — There’s more to life than waves
It was kinda strange graduating with my Master’s at 24. There was literally no time in my life except my infant years that I was not in school. I was in this little bubble for so long and it’s pretty weird being out of it. Now, instead of being given work to do, I can do my own work or go out and find work. No more syllabi! After graduating, I got a gnarly case of wanderlust. In Sumatra, I would wake up at the homestay, surf, eat, nap, read or explore, then surf again, play pool and go to bed. You know what I missed? WORK!! It’s strange just spending resources without any income. Humans are designed to work, and I sure felt the need to. I took Spanish school in Nicaragua in order to have some sort of goal to work for.
Lanzarote (Canary Islands) — Word spreads quick on a rock in the ocean.
I felt like I knew everybody in a week. It was pretty weird. I got connected with a couple people and next thing you know, I’d see them surfing or eating, or whatever. I got yelled at in the water by some heavy local (FOR NO GOOD REASON) and everybody heard of it. It was a lot of fun exploring that volcanic rock with the great people I met.
Mas
- I’m always itchy — In Bali, Sumatra, Nicaragua, and the DR I was simply always itchy. And that is all.
- Coffee, cigarettes, and alcohol are present in every country I’ve visited. Coffee is given to babies in Nicaragua. Oh, and Coca Cola comes in 3 liter bottles.
- Smartphones are everywhere. This blows my mind. Internet connected phones are basically mobile encyclopedias. Knowledge is now easily available to many, many more people.
- It’s always weird coming back to America and seeing the melting pot of people that call this place home.
All of my traveling has been done in very small sample sizes. There is so much to learn from how other people live their lives. It is such an incredible blessing to be able to travel, because there are many people in this world who will not be able to. As of now, my wanderlust is not nagging me as hard as it used to, but I can’t wait to take off again when it does.
Oh and Spain- Mcdonalds is better there. I was only there for maybe 50 hours and this was my major observation. That and old buildings look fun to parkour…
