09.23.21

Getting to Machu Picchu is not the easist thing to do. It takes effort; it takes commitment, and it seems the people who who go there make it a priority. I hope this brief overview helps.

Machu Picchu Guide

09.17.21

To borrow the title from a wonderful song in the play “Hamilton,” my 6 weeks in South America were truly “Unimaginable.”

When I left the US in February 2019, I had a mental list of where I wanted to travel in the world. Latin America, which includes Mexico, South, and Central America, were lower on my bucket list, but sometimes perceptions change hard, and my perceptions of South America have made a dent.

Being stuck in Mexico for 15 months due to Covid made me anxious to get back on the road, and since I had business events in the United States over the summer months, it made sense for me to stay relatively close. June 28 was my last day in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, and since I had heard so much about the city of Oaxaca, that is where I went for about 3 weeks. Like many times before, I used Oaxaca as a home base while I went to the cities of Mazunte and Zipolite, which I loved. They were very mellow beach towns and even though the water there was rough and it was an 8 hour bus ride away, it was absolutely gorgeous.

A few weeks later I found myself landing in Quito, Ecuador, my first footsteps in South America, and the first south of the equator. I had a vision in my mind of the Andes mountains and the west coast of the new continent was really the only place I wanted to go. High elevations never stopped me, and I had a vision of the mountains, the clouds, and standing at the center of the world, divided between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. I was able to enjoy them all.

I was very, very lucky that I stayed with a gentleman in Quito who turned out to be a very good friend. Edison and I hit it off from the very beginning, and though he was half my age, I considered him both a brother and a son at the same time. And we shared many philosophical and relationship conversations along with our love of motorcycles. I was able to rent a motorcycle for 3 days and he and I hit the road that he knew very well and enjoyed some of the most amazing scenery I’ve ever seen in my life. Even with the higher elevations and the colder temperatures, I had a grin on my face the entire time.

The only other town in Ecuador that I wanted to visit was Cuenca, which I had heard much about. The 8-hour bus ride through some of the most amazing roads I’ve ever seen was worth the inconvenience and the time, and I found Cuenca to be a charming little town. I connected with many fellow expats, picked their brains, and compared notes about why they settled there, and we all shared our experiences along the way. I did several awesome hikes to elevations I had never hit before, and overall, it was a beautiful time.

I later returned to Quito for a few days and then on to Lima, Peru, where I connected with my love, Kathleen. She and I took a two-month hiatus while she spent time with her son and grandchildren, and I executed the urge to travel by myself. As an only child and a very comfortable solo traveler, I needed to go through that experience myself, which was challenging in its own way on our relationship, but overall made us stronger than ever.

She, like many, were drawn to Machu Picchu, and though it was on my list, it was not a must do visit. Truthfully, I like things easy, and getting to Machu Picchu is anything but! It is way out of the way, and from Lima you must get to Cusco, then on Machu Picchu. Long story short, and you can check out my prior blogs, we did just that and Machu Picchu was pretty awesome, though not the spiritual aha moment that I was anticipating or looking forward to.

After our visit there, we stayed at the most amazing hotel I have ever stayed at before, the Vertical Lodge, and we enjoyed the brilliant starlight with a 180° night view through clear glass. Through the generous contribution of friends, she and I were able to stay at a place that would normally be beyond our budgets, but unless we ask, we never receive, right?

When we finished that leg, it was just a matter of tying up loose ends and getting back to Cusco, then Lima. Overall my 43 days in South America, which ironically hits the 6 week goal that I started with when I left United states, made me interested and more likely to return. I developed some friendships in Ecuador, and will almost assuredly go back, plus many people told me about Medellin, Colombia, and certain places in Argentina that are worth visiting. Now if we can only get past this Covid stuff …

For those of you that followed my journey in South America and Mexico, thank you so much! Nothing pleases me more than when I hear people say that they are inspired to follow our footsteps, and I want you to know that I am here to help guide you if you wish. I have had several calls both seeking information and giving information, and if you have either to share, please let me know. Godspeed.

Seven things I learned about South America:

1) There is beauty there unlike anything I have experienced before. Mountains that rise up to the heavens, starting from valleys that are lush and green. As a lover of volcanoes, I was able to exercise that love, too.

2) Even though I only experienced a little bit, there is more variety of wildlife and insect life down there than anywhere in the world. Just the country of Ecuador has more species than many continents.

3) The cost of living and the price of food are insanely inexpensive. Same thing with taxi rides and most attractions.

4) Distances don’t mean anything; it’s time that matters. It can take you 8 to 10 hours to go just a few hundred miles! That shocked me when I first ran into it, but it became a way of life, and came to realize that buses are pretty much what moves most of the population.

5) The time of year is not always an indicator of temperature, either. It can be the equivalent of summer in the city of Quito, but within a 90-minute drive you go over a mountain and its winter. The two countries I visited are both active seismically, so elevations can be extreme and altitude sickness is something to always be mindful of.

6) English is usually adequate to feel comfortable in South America, especially in the larger cities. Once you leave those, it’s hit or miss.

7) Some things are backwards down there! Aside from the fact that water flows down the toilet counterclockwise, sometimes hot and cold-water handles are reversed in the shower, too. All my life, which has been exclusively in the northern hemisphere, hot was always on the left. You cannot count on that down there!

MISC: Traveling in South America (currently) can be challenging. As an example, to enter Paraguay, US citizens arriving by air may obtain a visa on arrival which is good for ten years. The fee is $160 USD, credit cards are not accepted, and border agents only accept crisp, new bills that are free of any ink marks, blots, or tears. If paying with $100 denomination bills, series CB and D are not accepted. (That is all verbatim from their guidelines)

Let’s hope the world, and South America, return to easier traveling soon.

09.13.21

I wish I could say that Machu Picchu was the highlight of our 12 days on the Peruvian roads and rails, but it was not. Hang on, I’ll get to that…

We got to Cusco (11K elevation), and immediately hightailed it to Ollantaytambo, just 72 km (45 mi) away and a lower 8800 feet elevation, in about 90 minutes. This is one SMALL town and you can walk from one end to the other in about 10 minutes.  With a population of about 10,000 people, (and that includes the outlying areas) the town thrives on two things: an amazing shrine, called The Sun Temple, in the middle of town, and the Peru Rail train stop which leads to Machu Picchu just 90 minutes away. The solitude was what we needed after an almost 12 hour bus ride the night before, and Kathleen having  motion sickness problems much of the way.

Not fun.

After a few hours rest we explored and readied ourselves for the next day, when we would take the 0745 train to Machu Picchu, which BTW, is NOT the easiest place to visit. This is also not a cheap ticket and we opted for the “Vista Dome” which has glass wrapped around the top and afforded a very nice view and worth the money. It also allowed us to experience live entertainment with Peruvian music and dancing on the train. This was truly magical and getting to our destination came too soon. Even so, the ride was extraordinary, watching the high cliffs of Mount Veronica on one side, and the Urubamba River on the other.

After checking into our room in Aguas Calientes, we explored this charming, but very touristy town, for a few hours, got our pricey $24 bus ride tickets (it’s only a 25 minute ride) and got in line for our 2:00 pm tour. We had a very difficult time finding ACCURATE and TRUSTWORTHY information on how and where to get tickets, but fortunately we had a good “inside man,” Garret Geitner, a Facebook friend, who lives in Cusco.  A 10 minute video call helped us a lot and we bought our entry tickets online ($38 each) and were ready to go. I will be providing an easy “Five Steps to Machu Picchu Guide” for you shortly, and it will walk you through exactly what WE did, and you can choose to follow if you want.

We hear about and read about Machu Picchu all our lives, and to see it there, in front of us, was a somber moment. Considering I never really traveled internationally until 5 years ago, and over the past 3 years have put on over 100,000 miles, I cannot say that this was the culmination, but it certainly put a mark in my mind.

The shrine IS breathtaking. To think of what it took to build such a structure at 8000 ft altitude is inspiring. Machu Picchu was not even discovered until 1911 and I have a picture below of what it looked like when it was shrouded in vegetation. Even though we are in the midst of Covid, it was still very crowded which took away some of the spiritual connection that I hoped to achieve there. Kathleen felt the same way. We were able to tour the entire facility in the two-hour time window that they provided for us, and even though there are other shrines in the area, most of them are still closed.

Kat and I talked quite a bit about our lack of connection to the monument, but a few days later after we returned to Ollantaytambo, we did in fact create a spiritual connection– to a mountain.

We stayed in a hotel, on the side of a mountain. It is called the Vertical Lodge, and I have been reading about hotels like this for several years, but never in my wildest dream ever thought that I would stay there. Through the generous contribution of friends, we were able to make this once in a lifetime dream come true.

The lodge is built on a mountain, and there are 3 geodesic domes and 4 capsules that are literally hung on the side of a cliff. They just opened the beginning of August, and were still working out some bugs, so we got to be one of their beta testers. We had the choice of staying in either one, but because of the awkwardness of getting into a capsule and the fact that there is no room outside to really lounge, we went with the dome, and were very glad we did.

Imagine being inside of a dome with no real walls on the exterior, but just glass, and you can imagine what that night sky looked like at 11,000 ft! We got there about 2:30 in the afternoon and got a tour of the property. One of the amazing things about this location is the high quality restaurant on site, like a five-star resort looking at panoramic vistas all around.

We spent two days there, and they offered other treats, like zip lining, walking bridges, and repelling, but the mountain, as glorious as it was, is quite windy, and we did not feel comfortable doing any of those. That wind also made it mighty chilly at night! But as soon as that sun came up, the thermal rays warmed it up in no time.

Something else happened up there that we were not expecting.

When we got there and sat down in the restaurant for the first time, we felt an overwhelming sense of calm and emotions, and I was almost brought to tears. For several minutes I sat there, my mind was blank, and I just felt the grace and the gratitude of my life. Later on we found out that the owners of the mountain built this facility to share these exact same emotions. The lodge is family owned, and they believe that there is a spiritual energy there, and I definitely agree.

Across from Mount Veronica, which was to our right, there were three cathedral-like peaks on the other side that captured Kathleen’s attention and she was drawn to them. When we mentioned that to Alan, the manager, he told us that the Incas believed that those three peaks were a door to another world and it reflected back on Mount Veronica. Some things defy explanation, and this is one of them.

We finally came back down to the city of Ollantaytambo, which, BTW, is part of the Sacred Valley, into our new room, and relaxed until our departure the next day to the city of Pisac. I knew nothing about the city, and the 90-minute taxi ride was absolutely gorgeous since we were going right through this valley. And the city had an interesting effect on both of us as well.

And that was a very cool energy which felt like a Northern California town from 1975. All the people were very mellow, and friendly, and the quality of craftmanship in that town from the different vendors was phenomenal. The town is a big draw for those looking for spiritual journeys, and ayahuasca, which I took last year, is a big attraction here. We never know until we visit a town whether we should spend more or less time there, and this was one that we both agreed we should have stayed for longer. But I guess that’s a story for another day.

When we began our journey 3 years ago, our goal was to stay in different locations for 6 weeks and identify those that we wished to return to. Even though we did not spend 6 weeks in Peru, I think both of us agreed that we liked Latin America more than we thought we would and a return trip is definitely a consideration.

Our flight back to Lima was effortless, and the Cusco airport had probably the most easy security I have ever seen. Not only did we not have to remove our shoes or computers, we also did not have to remove the bottled water from our bag or Kathleen’s canister of oxygen! That was a first. (Later we found the same ease at the Lima airport, so maybe allowing water is now a thing. God, I hope so). The return stay to Lima was only 24 hours long as we took the red eye at midnight back to Miami (on 9/11). I will be in the US for 2.5 days, and then on to another trip I never thought I would take: Dubai. I will be there for a business event and will share that in a future entry.

09.09.21

Part II of our journey started in Lima on a tour bus called Peru Hop at 05:30 in the morning. After several days of weighing options, we decided to take the bus south and visit several different cities which eventually would lead us to Cusco, the gateway to Machu Picchu. We did this so we could see different parts of the country along with acclimating to higher elevations from sea level.

The first five days, part I, we spent in Lima, and they were fairly uneventful, and regretfully, we really didn’t get around that much. Since Kathleen and I had to coordinate travel plans for the next week to several months, much of that time was spent doing that along with figuring out details about the trip to Machu Picchu.

We were at an Airbnb room outside downtown Lima, so we got to know the local area well, including the amazing restaurants that were abundant and very inexpensive. But overall Lima did not stick out in our minds.

One of the biggest topics of conversation was altitude sickness, since it is a real thing and we had to look at all the different cities and how high the elevation was. The net result was that we committed to staying hydrated, and just watching for symptoms.

We started our bus tour in the dark and a few hours later found ourselves in the city of Paracas, a small seaside village that is known for their access to the Ballestas Islands, about 45 minutes away by boat, which is a bird sanctuary. We were hoping to find sun filled skies to compensate for the overcast days we had in Lima, and as we were finishing our tour the sun did come out which was a refreshing change.

After a nice lunch, we were back in the bus heading to the town of Huacachina, which is literally an oasis in the middle of the desert. This town is known for their enormous, and I mean enormous, sand dunes that you can buggy up, or hike, or do whatever you wish to do in the sand, but we chose not to partake. The air was extraordinarily dry and the idea of getting sandy and hot just did not sound appealing. We find our pleasures where we can!

The next morning was pleasant with a cool mist in the air, and during the day we visited a chocolate factory and a winery and got to sample both. Then it was back to town and back on the bus for our next leg to the town of Nazca, which is world renown from their lines/ pictures in the sand. There are about 70 of them, but most are viewable only from the air. After driving for several hours we got to the viewing tower which is about five or six stories tall and were able to see them from above. They were cool, no doubt, but I thought they would be much larger than they were. Regardless, they are an iconic part of Inca history. We got there just before closing and after a meal, prepared to take our first overnight bus trip to Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru.

It was due to leave at 9:00 pm, but got delayed till about 11:00, but inconveniences are part of life and of traveling. The seats were comfy, but still, a good night’s sleep on a bus is difficult. We rolled in at 0900 and went to our nice $12 per night room where we stayed for two nights. A great breakfast and nap got us refreshed and the next morning at 0300 (that’s a.m.!) I left from for Colca Canyon, one of the deepest in South America. Wisely, Kathleen decided to skip that one since it was going into extraordinarily high elevations, which turned out to challenge me as well..

Sleeping on that tour bus was just not an option, so it was beautiful watching the night sky and the dawn as it rose over the mountains. On the way I kept monitoring the elevation and eventually at the summit hit the highest point I have ever been: 16,000 ft, then we went a bit lower, and over the next few hours explored the beautiful canyon, got to see my first condors, and also had my first exposure to altitude sickness.

I was not sure what was behind it initially, since I had been hydrating like crazy, and I ate a piece of fruit that made me a little bit queasy, but for several hours I felt like crap. Eventually I did throw up, which helped, and as we eventually got back to Arequipa, my stomach and head started settling down into normality. Here I thought I was immune to it, so I learned a very valuable lesson. Good health came just in time as a few hours later we departed for our second overnight bus ride in 3 days. BTW, this is not a schedule that I would recommend. Overnight buses are fine, but spacing them apart is a more wise move.

We left at 8:30 p.m. for Cusco, which is a 10-hour ride. This bus was much nicer than the prior one, but we found sleep challenging, and unfortunately Kathleen had some bouts with altitude sickness combined with motion sickness. Let’s just say that bus rides need to be taken in moderation. At 11,000 ft elevation, our plan was always to stay in Cusco only as long as we needed to, which is exactly what we did. We found it challenging finding canisters of oxygen at 0700 on a Saturday morning, but a very cooperative taxi driver was able to help us. Rather than take a very crowded but cheaper collectivo, we hired him to take us to our next stop, Ollantaytambo, the city it has taken me a week to remember!

That city is one of the several gateways to Machu Picchu, and that will take us into part III.

08.24.21

My 25 days in Ecuador were much different than I expected. When I started my nomadic journey, I made a list of places I wanted to go; Latin America was at the bottom. Nothing personal, but I guess I am more drawn to Europe than South/ Central America, and after living next to Mexico for decades I wasn’t that enamored with the country. And here I ended up living in Mexico for 15 months and loving Ecuador- Go Figure!

Anyway, here’s some things I didn’t know before:

• They use US currency, mostly $1 coins, but they are only good in Ecuador and are different than the ones in the US. I saw just one $1.00 bill and I gave it back to him! Panama also uses US currency but, likewise, only between its borders.
• The Andes mountains are actually two mountain chains that parallel each other. Many cities fall in between them including the city of Quito. They go from north to south and converge right by Banos, the city that I visited on my bike ride.
• I naively thought that a country on the equator would be hot, especially in summer, but not so. This country actually goes from the high, high mountains to the plains, to the ocean. That gives it an incredible range of wildlife and vegetation and the most diversity in one country in the world in certain categories.
• 
• Speaking of the Equator, this latitude intersection here between north and south is the highest elevation in the world, at 9,000+ ft. elevation. I have a video of the Coriolis force which shows water draining STRAIGHT, with no rotation, immediately on the line.
• The effects of being on the equator, Part II: when you live equidistant (more or less) from the equator, things don’t change too much: weather, hours of daylight, etc… What DOES matter is elevation since that effects temps more than the latitude. BUT, one of the benes of being elevated is…no (or few) bugs! I have not seen an ant, mosquito, or cockroach since I’ve been in Ecuador. Mind you, at lower elevations and near the Amazon, scratch that rule!
• Volcanoes! Chimborazo, at 20,548 ft., which is just a few hours from Quito, is the tallest mountain in the world when measured from the center of the earth. It is currently dormant, has been for about 1500 years, and is taller than Mount Everest by 1811 meters. That is mostly due to what they call the equatorial bulge.
• There are 47 volcanoes in Ecuador, yes, I had to look that up, including 15 alone on the Galapagos Islands, which is a whole ‘nother conversation that I’m not getting into.
• Food: lots of pork! They tell me that the beef is not as good as it is in other countries, but with great seafood and freshwater fish. It’s interesting when you look at the carcass of the pork up on the counter, and they just cut pieces out of it. Guinea pigs of all things are a delicacy here, and they like their sweets like sugarcane and other nationally grown products.
• 
• More food. Lunch, called comida, is the big meal of the day and you can get a standard setup which includes juice, soup, and main course, for as little as $2.50. They really don’t take siestas here so most restaurants are open all afternoon.
• A special note about tacos and tortillas. In the US we know tacos, and in Mexico I certainly had my share, but other countries in Latin America do not do conventional tacos. Other parts of Mexico make them out of corn, and here, in Ecuador, they make them from potatoes, but they are not the same. I haven’t seen a Taco Bell, but I’d be curious to see what they sell!
• 
• Being relatively close to the US there are many expats from there living in Ecuador, and I understand that Cuenca has one of the largest expat community outside the United States. Even in Quito there is a solid expat community. I got to know many of them and heard many stories.
• Travel time: beauty verses time efficiency. From Quito to Cuenca I took the bus which took 8 hours. My return flight was less than an hour. So which is the better option? I think it’s a matter of what drives you the most. In my case I wanted to see the beauty so endured the long bus ride, but there was no reason to do it again! So the one hour that it took me to fly made a lot more sense. Just food for thought..

Next stop: Peru

08.15.21

I have ridden motorcycles in Croatia; I have ridden in Romania; and now I have done the same in Ecuador. Until now, Romania was at the top of my “best roads” and “most fun” list, but they may be knocked off by my latest journey through beautiful Ecuador.

In all candor, I was not that enthused about South America when I started my nomadic journey three years ago, and I knew little about this country. I naively thought it was “hot” since it lies on the equator, and I never knew I’d be spending most of my time over 9000 feet above sea level! But I recently completed a 573 km (356 mile) bike trip over three days and saw some amazing things and enjoyed some of the grandest roads I have ever ridden. But there was a health hazard: my neck got sore from turning one direction to the next as every curve exposed more unique beauty. My jaw hurt after so many jaw-dropping vistas, but it was the never-ending grin on my face that brought sublime pleasure as I realized I was riding through some amazing country, full of history and some of the most geologically active terrain I have ridden through in my life. The smile was with me the whole time.

Thanks to my new best friends at Freedom Ecuador, I was able to see this country unlike most visitors, since they are usually in a tour bus or car. But the elevation changes from one minute to the next pushed my Suzuki V-strom to the limits and I reached the conclusion that that bike is ideal for me. Between the size, weight, torque and easy on throttle, the V-strom rocks! Freedom hooked me up with everything I needed, from protective (and warm) armored pants, to boots, gloves and jacket, so I was comfy and warm.

When I left Quito at 9000 feet and traversed into the 12,000-foot elevation of Quilatoa Crater, which is amazing, the roads were heavenly. From a few back roads to the extraordinary highways, it was smooth sailing almost the entire time.

I was lucky to have a friend, Edison Calvopina, who is also a tour guide and lifelong native of Quito, that made the trip even better. He’s been riding these roads for a decade and mapped out the same route that Freedom suggested! Great minds do think alike.

We left Quito on day one and within an hour were out of the city and traffic. Not long after, the great Cotopaxi volcano showed up on my left, and we had to stop for shots. Often obscured by clouds, I find that mornings are usually best for clear viewing, and the almost 20,000 foot mountain was as spectacular close up as it was from Quito. Soon we left the major highway and took a mostly backroad to the “city” of Sigchos, which was quite small. But the route out was a biker’s dream as the twisties kept coming and we handled them all with finesse. One of the great things about bikes is that signs like “road closed” does not always deter us. We asked some locals if the road was really closed, and they told us there was road work being done and we should give it a shot.

Which we did.

Ecuador is a majestic country with grandesque mountains and carved out valleys, and with that you get erosion and road damage. We had to slowly go through about 50 yards of narrow road full of rubble and saw the problem: half the road was gone- down the hill. But when we emerged the road opened up to a beautifully paved highway and I put the V-strom through its’ paces as we went up one hill onto the next. For an hour it was one continual grin which plastered my face.

Our first major stop was the city of Quilatoa, which is set off the main road and to enter you actually pay a small fee! But it’s worth it as we rode to the end of one of the streets and saw the park on the right side. I knew there was something over the rise, but I was not expecting a volcanic lake! Turquoise blue, shining in the sun, even with the howling wind, it was breathtaking. There are paths to follow all the way down, but time did not allow that luxury.

We had a terrific lunch at a local hostel that my friends knew about, and I had amazing trout and shrimp for all of $8.50 USD. But decisions needed to be made: do we stay there or venture on to the city of Banos, which we intended to hit on Day II. I asked, “Is it warmer down there?” and with a YES answer, off we went. It was only about 80 km, but with roads like this, nothing is quick- except us on our bikes.

Since it was about 2:30 when we headed off, Edison estimated arrival time into Banos about sunset, 6:30 or so, which worked for me.

Over the next four hours it was more amazing roads, and each corner revealed yet another magnificent view. At 6:30, just as predicted, we rode down into the valley of Banos, just 5900 feet above sea level, and much warmer. It is also the entrance to the Amazon, and I noticed the different heat, humidity, and vegetation, which was every imaginable shade of green you could think of. Here is video of our trip.

Next stop: Banos, Day II, and two more mouthwatering days!

08.03.21

Oh yes, there are a lot of firsts going on here!

Ecuador is country number 35, and I’m going to throw Panama in there as number 34 even though I never got out of the airport! I figure, hey, if I’m landing on foreign soil then I’m in that country, but in the short while that I was at the airport it felt very Americanized.

And honestly, South America was not very high on my list of places to visit, but I may be changing my tune. I’ve been in Quito for only a few days, but I love the energy and vibe of the city. I am renting a room from a lifelong native and he does tours of the city so knows it well. We went to the downtown historic area, and I got educated and learned that Ecuador was the FIRST (see!) country in South America to be freed from Spain in the early 1800’s. Simon Bolivar was a genius and in turn helped other countries do the same. At one time there was an effort to make most of South America part of COLUMBIA, and had that happened, our maps would be much different.

This area is also seismically active and there are two volcanos just outside the city, Cotopaxi, which is still active (I will see it much closer in a few days), and Chimborazo, which is Ecuador’s highest peak at 20,548 feet (6,263 meters). I will be taking a motorcycle ride and a bus ride through them and look forward to that since volcanos have always been fascinated me.

Another first is the elevation where I am living, which is over 9,000 ft above sea level. So far, I have not felt it and the air is as crisp and clean as you would expect. The mountains surround the city and the view coming in from the airport was amazing as is the view from my room. When I went to bed the first night, I was awed by all the lights before me and the outline of the mountain peak. There is a cable car (Teleferiqo) nearby which takes you up the mountain called Pichincha (also active, last eruption in 1999) and I went to the cable car drop zone which is over 13,400 feet above sea level, the highest I have been. There is a path that goes to the TOP of Pichincha, and that is 15,695 ft., and I am giving that serious consideration…

I can’t say that I was ever really attracted to Latin American countries, but I also never thought that I would find myself living in Mexico! Shit happens, right? There is a large expat community here and I was told that the city of Cuenca is the largest expat haven for Americans in the entire world. I plan to go there shortly.

So South America is my fifth continent, and the first time in the southern hemisphere. The water in the toilet DOES flush counter-clockwise, which I did not even notice at first. In a few days I will straddle the northern/ southern hemisphere line and let you know if I am in fact pulled in two directions! At the equatorial line a toilet flush SHOULD go straight down without swirling. Stand by for videos of that!

I need to be back in the US about September 12th for a trip to Dubai which seems to be taking place. Travel is very day to day, week to week right now but so far the event that I’m due to speak at is still moving forward.

Unfortunately, COVID is not over, and who knows if it ever will be. It will impact our lives and certainly our travel for the foreseeable future, but even with having to deal with face masks, sanitizing lotions, and COVID test with every new country I enter, I’m just glad that it’s open to this point. Later this month I will join Kathleen and hit country #35: Peru.

My heart still lies in Europe, and I think that when this wanderlust is satisfied, that will be the base. Visa restrictions only allow 90 days generally, but I have no problem bouncing from one wonderful place to another every 90 days. And then there are a few safe havens like Albania and Georgia which offer a one-year visa. Like all of us, I am getting older day by day, and eventually we’ll have to stop. Where and when that might be is unknown, but until then I will continue to Travel Younger!