Thursday, September 3, 2015

Aruba 8/15/15-8/21/15

I met my soul sister, La Erin, several years ago when we were both living in a small town outside of Barcelona. We've been travel buddies ever since, both visiting our respective cities and also meeting in new places. La Erin and RARA used to work together changing the lives of children with Autism. Despite flight changes and delays, I filled my passport's final stamp slot and the three of us met in Aruba for a vacation of sun and sand. 

Our lodging was a condo belonging to La Erin's boss. Obviously we were extremely grateful to have free accommodations, and the only drawback was that the condo didn't have functioning Internet. Since we were in Aruba, our phones also didn't work. Therefore, we consistently found ourselves asking questions that didn't have answers at our fingertips. After a few days of saying, "we should Google that later", we started a list of our ponderings. Here are the intellectually stimulating questions that we accumulated over five disconnected days!


Monday, August 24, 2015

Guest Blog Post! 365 Travel Dates

Amigos! I'm a guest blogger! I met the wonderful Mark-Anthony Villaflor and Camille Dimson Villaflor on an itty bitty island in Panama and then found them again in Medellin, Colombia. Give it a read and give their social media pages a like, wouldja?

http://365traveldates.com/strangers-on-the-road-shannon-in-wanderland/

Taking a boat to find starfish in San Blas, Panama

A night of salsa dancing in Medellin, Colombia

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Wanderland Video Recap

One backpack, two months, three liters of sunscreen, four countries, and countless smiles and new friends. Enjoy this wonderful glimpse into my adventures in wanderland edited by my awesome sister, Erin Moffitt!

also, you KNOW if I had brought nice sunglasses that I would have lost them on day one.

 #nomakeupnoproblem #eyebrowsonfleek #nevertripped #ifnotnowwhen #shannoninwanderland


Wednesday, June 17, 2015

She decided to start living the life that she had imagined.

When I told people that I wanted to go backpacking for a few months, often a response that I received was, "You would." Thank you? I’m not sure what that means, but I suppose they are correct, because here I am.

Overall, my trip was amazing. I am so happy that I gathered the courage to get up and go. It was terrifying and wonderful and unpredictable. I met so many interesting people. Sometimes we traveled together for days at a time, and sometimes I didn't even catch their name and we only had a quick chat. But I am so grateful for all the interactions; it helped me to remember how diverse the world is and how many different perspectives exist.

After nearly two months of traveling, I've been back in the States for about three weeks. So in true listicle fashion, here are some overall reflections or thoughts or things that I learned or just whatever I fancied writing.

Despite traveling solo, I was rarely alone.
Seriously. Hardly ever. I would find travel buddies for a bit, eventually part ways, get on a bus alone, check into a new hostel, and occasionally even have new friends before my backpack hit the floor next to my new bed. Part of the reason that I didn’t blog as much as I wanted to was because I was constantly surrounded by intriguing people; absorbing their stories and exploring our new destination.
Me and a crew of Germans in Salento, Colombia
I still don't know if I'm an introvert an extrovert, but that is A-OK.
I love meeting new people and have been told that I am a “people person,” but I am also perfectly comfortable doing things solo, enjoy alone time, and never feel the need to unnecessarily fill silence. Moving forward, I shall proudly choose to identify as an ambivert
Thinkin' or listenin' or somethin' in San Blas, Panama
Backpacks are the best and I may never use a rolling suitcase again.
That last part probably isn't quite true, but do you have any idea how much easier it is to have TWO hands when simultaneously walking and trying to pull out tickets or IDs or maps?! Also how wonderful it is to have so many pockets?! And the simplicity of not lifting a suitcase to go up stairs or down stairs or across gravel or over curbs or onto a bus or other mode of transportation?!
A rolling suitcase would not have made it over this rickety Costa Rica/Panama border bridge
The best way to guarantee that it won't rain is to carry a raincoat around all the livelong day.
Works every time!
This is literally the only time I wore my raincoat, and it barely rained; Panama City, Panama
I am thankful that I am a master of falling asleep quickly and deeply.
Between people walking in and out of the room, people getting ready for bed, various alarms going off in the morning, groups packing up bags at absurd hours to catch buses and flights, the snoring, the music and noise from common areas, the attempts to climb into rickety bunk beds that don't have ladders in the dark, and people bringing others back for hooks ups, a hostel room isn't exactly conducive to a peaceful night of sleep. Neither is an upright seat on an overnight bus. Luckily, I sleep like a dead person so these things rarely bothered me. 
This precious pup jumped into my bed one morning in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. Cute, but pretty gross.
 Knowing the native language is infinitely valuable, but knowing English is, too.
Because I speak fluent Spanish, it was my default throughout the trip. Unless I was with other travelers, I was speaking in Spanish. Because of this default, I hadn't realized just how valuable of a skill it was. I wasn't conscious of how few natives spoke English - because we were in small towns and why would they?

On the other hand, English is the language of travelers. Travelers are a culturally diverse group; I literally met people from all corners of the world (ok, not Antarctica) and the language of a hostel common room is English. One night I went out as a part of a group of six. We had all met within the last two days, we were all traveling alone, we represented six different countries, and regardless of native language, we communicated in English. 
Reppin' several countries at a waterfall in Dominical, Costa Rica
I would appreciate it if Enrique Iglesias was my amigo and/or husband.
I can be your hero, baby.

I make my own luck.
People often tell me, "wow, you're so lucky!"

True, I am first to admit that I am extremely lucky to grow up with a wonderful and supportive family in the land of opportunity. However, many of the fantastic experiences that I have had in my adult life are because I decided that I wanted to do something, and then I did it. Going on this trip was not determined by luck, it was determined by me. It's certainly not always easy and often it's terrifying, but Nike is onto something - just do it.
Surfing in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

Looking down on the Valle de Cocora in Colombia
  It's easy to make traveling look glamorous on social media.
And yes, much of the time it is glamorous. But not always. Never in my life have I had so may bug bites. I was in 100 degree heat without air conditioning for weeks and weeks, and I am a human who sweats a LOT. Travelers’ diarrhea is a real thing and unless a bathroom is in a hostel, 95% of bathrooms in Central America do not have toilet paper. Some men are creeps, but in some cultures this creepiness is acceptable. I slept in many beds with mosquito nets over them and/or awkwardly scaled to top bunks in darkness. Somehow I messed up my eye for a few days, so when I met new people I was either "crying" or constantly winking at them. I scrubbed underwear in the sink or the shower and developed a new acceptable standard for clothing stink before needing to find a laundry service. Language barrier stories are fun to laugh at later, but are often super unconformable in the moment. Despite the tan, my skin regressed to its pimply teenage state from the inconsistent water and soap and pillows. Sometimes ATMs tricked me into thinking that I couldn’t access any of my money to buy silly things like food or a place to sleep. None of these things were glamorous, but they all helped shape my experience. Also I never cried, and I think that is impressive.

Skeeter nets over the bed in Ometepe, Nicaragua
Overnight busing in Colombia. It ended up being more than 17 hours
I took this photo in Granada, Nicaragua to track if that bug bite was getting bigger

I did not blend in, though I wasn’t necessarily trying to.
I am tall, I am white, I am female. 
Posing with a Botero statue in Bogota, Colombia
There's a lot that America does right, but there's a lot that America does wrong.
In the words of Lee Greenwood, I am proud to be an American. So proud that I won the American Legion Patriotism awards at both my eighth grade AND high school graduations (nerd alert). So don't get me wrong, I love America. I also love to travel, but I will always come back to the States.

However, meeting foreigners constantly reminds me of some of America's problems. The education and healthcare systems are a mess compared to other developed countries, but those are larger discussions for another time. The other glaring issue is the American workaholic culture that doesn't make extended travel acceptable. Friends were surprised to find out that I'm American (if “where are you from” wasn’t the opener, often I was assumed as Canadian), since there aren't many of us who have chunk of time to spend exploring the world. The American Dream is a powerful influence - we must go to college, get a degree, find a job, and quickly work our way to the top. We have our whole lives to get to the top, why are we in such a hurry? Why is it frowned upon to take a pause to get some new perspective and experience? I have many thoughts on this that will likely be a separate blog post. 
Isla Tortuga, Costa Rica

Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
I am proud of my excellent packing skillz
My bag wasn't so full that I had to puzzle everything in, it weighed less than 25 pounds, I didn't forget anything major, and I didn't pack anything major that I didn't need. If I were to do it again, I would bring a second swimsuit, travel Febreeze, a headlamp, a wrist strap for the GoPro, and a money belt.
Arriving in Bogota, Colombia. This is one of the few days that I wore pants & long sleeves.
Dancing like no one is watching is easier when you don't know any of the people who are watching.
But seriously, why do we care so much about what other people think? I haven't figured this out yet. Thoughts welcome.

Attempting salsa dancing in Medellin, Colombia
Not sure what dance move this is, but there is no one on this island watching; San Blas, Panama
I am willing to credit a walking stick with saving my life.
Without it, I'm not confident that I would have made it up and down that Nicaraguan volcano with my sanity in tact. 
Sweet view from the top of the volcano of Maderas on Ometepe, Nicaragua
It got a little messy

The hardest moments were always the first moments in a new city with a huge backpack on my back, no orientation, and no idea where to go.
But it got easier and I learned to anticipate these moments. For some reason being lost with a giant backpack, aka signal beacon that I’m not from around here, is so much worse than being lost without a giant backpack. Also, I learned that bus stations are not a good basis for a first impression of a city; they are never inviting and often they smell like urine. 
Lost in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
 It was nice not worrying about putting on makeup in the morning, but I am happy to put some back on again.
I can't help it, it makes me feel a bit prettier and I like feeling a bit prettier. Though since I have been back, I have also legitimately forgotten to put it on before leaving my apartment. Before this trip I never thought that was possible. 
My prettiest picture; near Isla de Tortuga, Costa Rica
 It's easy to say no, but better to say yes.
As an improviser, I've spent several years, hundreds of hours, and thousands of dollars training to say "yes". This doesn’t necessarily mean a literal yes; it’s opening up, accepting, and embracing what’s given to me. It’s staying open-minded and following the fear.

I try hard to live my life this way. It’s much easier said than done, but this perspective is what continues to push me outside of my comfort zone. Without it, I never would have gone on this trip, stepped up to my fear of heights and zip lined through the jungles of Costa Rica, initiated the conversations that made so many of my new friends, taken the hand of the local on a beach in Panama to learn the bachata, jumped (fallen) off the side of a boat into the Pacific Ocean, hiked to the top of a volcano, hiked AGAIN to the top of a mountain, or created so many other amazing experiences.

If we are the sum of our experiences, then what the hell are we waiting for?

About to zip line in Montezuma, Costa Rica

Ometepe, Nicaragua

Salento, Colombia

Valle de Cocora, Colombia

Palomino, Colombia

Friday, June 5, 2015

A Third Listicle of Colombia (Santa Marta + Palomino + Cartagena + Playa Blanca)

The final days of the trip! 

1. The overnight bus from Medellin to Santa Marta was QUITE long - seventeen hours to be exact. And we didn't stop to leg stretch! Not once! There were two drivers and they switched at tolls, but that is it. And that was crazy. When I finally arrived in the bus station, the woman working the bathroom gave me a wink and handed me two wads of toilet paper instead of the usual one, so I must have looked a fright. 

2. One day when looking for a cheap local restaurant, we wandered into someone's house/restaurant called Lucy's. I asked for a menu and was told that she was the menu. She then listed all of our options. We sat, ordered, and asked if they served beer. She said they didn't have any but would happily run out to get some for us. This happened several times throughout Colombia. 

3. Admittedly, Santa Marta was my least favorite place on the trip. It was hot and dirty and the men were leering and awful. And there's not much to see. Though I did see an exchange between a hooker and an old man. 

4. BUT Santa Marta isn't all bad because it's a jumping off point to a lot that is nearby, such as Palomino!

5. Palomino was a lovely and quiet lil place. There were no roads to our hostel on the  beach, so we hopped on the back of motorcycle taxis and cruised down to the hostel. We then basically hid out there for several days and I only changed out of my swimsuit to sleep. It was a black sand beach, which I learned is magnetic. A week later, the sand can still be found in the clasp of my purse. 

6. A standard warning sign is to beware of falling coconuts and not sit directly under palm trees.

7. I book swapped at my hostel in Santa Marta and got a lil attitude because the one that I was swapping had no cover (which is how I received it). But it was a New York Times Bestseller and still had it's title page, so I negotiated another successful swap.

8. I shuttled to Cartagena, which was my last big stop of the trip. Upon arrival, I repacked my bag to bring a small bag to Playa Blanca (not really even a town - just a beautiful beach) the next day, where I stayed for a night. I also began the purge of gross clothing and shoes to leave behind. RIP hiking shoes. You were useful but are moldy and disgusting and will not be missed. 

9. Overall, the hostels that I stayed at were probably much nicer than what people expect. When entering and evaluating hostels in Playa Blanca, however, the big selling points that the hostels boasted were light and water. It didn't even occur to me to ask for these things, they seem so basic! The light was only on for several hours in the evening; then we were illuminated by the moon and stars. The water was salt water that was bucketed out of other huge buckets. There were nice, porcelain sinks next to the buckets, though they were not connected to any pipes. To me, this was hilarious. Why not just use another bucket? Because sinks look fancier. The rooms in lil stilted huts with beds were good though. Sand everywhere!

10. Even though Playa Blanca is LITERALLY only a strip of beach with huts on it, I still managed to get lost attempting to find the bus back to Cartagena (which is also how I arrived). Luckily, at this point I was no stranger to planning for lost delays, so I still had plenty of time to make it to the bus, and successfully navigated my way back to the city. 

11. Upon returning to Cartagena, I was solo again and planning on just exploring the city and having a quiet night in because I was tired and didn't want to start the friend making process over again. But in true traveler fashion, within fifteen minutes of leaving the hostel to explore, I ran into someone that I had met several weeks before. So we found some food and explored and hung out for my final night

Our meal at Lucy's - a typical Colombian meal that also came with a pitcher of lemonade
what I did in Palomino 

next to the Palomino hostel
black sand 
a sad but typical victim of a hostel book exchange 
Cartagena
the hostel of Playa Blanca. The doors that are open on the upper right are our room.
Playa Blanca 
Playa Blanca sunset

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

A Second Listicle of Colombia (Medellin)

1. The lovely German gals and I took the night bus from Salento to Medellin, which, admittedly, was a little rough. A major thunderstorm coupled with winding mountain roads meant that we were handed barf bags. We survived without needing them (#blessed) but didn't get much sleep and then arrived at the hostel in an exhausted mess at 5am. Luckily, some nice fellows we had met in Salento arrived in Medellin the day before us and arranged to have a room ready for us to crash. We got to finish out the night of sleep and didn't have to pay as if it was a night! After a four hour nap and I shower, I was a new person.

2. Medellin is an interesting and funky city. It gave me the impression that someone decided to build a giant city in the middle of the jungle in the mountains. It was super green and diverse. In the 1980's it was the most dangerous city in the world, and has since undergone a huge transformation. While there are still improvements to be made, then main areas of the city that I visited were wonderful. This isn't a history blog, but while much of Medellin's history Pablo Escobar, it's also more than that. If you're interested, I suggest that you Google it. 

3. While I never felt unsafe, I have also never been approached by so many drug dealers. They are early 20s males who walk around carrying boxes of gum and candies like the standard street vendors. As they approach they say "chickles, dulces" and then when they're near, they lean in very close, open their eyes wide like they are sharing an important secret, and whisper, "coca?" Don't worry mother, that DARE training worked and I said no to drugs. 

4. Additionally, I have never seen so much plastic surgery. There was some prime people watching. 

5. The travelers in Medellin were also fancy for some reason. We went to a hostel bar in our standard apparel (shorts, tank top, no makeup - not dressed up but no mud!) and felt significantly underdressed. In a standard bar, this would not be surprising. But in a hostel bar? I did not enjoy feeling so frumpy.

6. In Spanish, "recto" means "straight" and "derecha" means "right". As in, "go straight then turn right at the corner." Something that I am commonly told as I am often lost. I have recently learned that in Colombian Spanish, "derecho" means straight. It took several more instances of getting lost to realize that "derecho" is NOT the same as "derecha". 

7. It's common in Spanish to repeat words for emphasis, for example, "si si si" or "no no no." Heads up, "derecho, derecho, derecho" does not mean "turn right, then turn right, then turn right." That would nearly make a circle that ends in the wrong direction. It actually means "go straight for awhile."

8. A wonderful couple that I had met in San Blas was also in Medellin, so we went to the lovely botanical gardens together. There were fuentes and ponds and flowers and many things that I like. We also had a delicious local meal of rice, salad, chicken, fries, and fresh squeezed blackberry juice for $2.

9. That night my salsa skills were put to the test at a salsa club. They could use some improving. 

10. Passports need to be presented when buying long distance bus tickets. When I got my ticket to Santa Marta, the man at the ticket window was quite excited that I was American, and proceeded to tell me all about his friend's trip to Vegas. People here are very friendly. They love tourists. It seems to be more pronounced in the slightly older generation who grew up in the dangerous Medellin and now have seen us adding to the transformation of Medellin. 
a lovely fuente downtown
cable car to the top of the mountain. it's actually a part of the public transit system as people live up there, so we paid less than $1 to take it up and down
a funky tree in the botanical gardens 
downtown Medellin
typical Colombian breakfast - coffee, eggs, and an arepa (ground corn dough with cheese and butter)

Thursday, May 14, 2015

A Listicle of Colombia (so far)

I arrived in Bogota and am currently in Salento! Tonight we night bus to Medellin. Here are some thoughts and highlights - 

1. When I left Panama City I said adios to the front desk worker at my hostel who looked like a Hispanic Joe Jonas, but what named Kevin. WHAT! The mind boggles. 

2. I booked a flight from Panama City to Bogota two days before it was set to leave via a super cheap airline (think: Ryanair or Spirit). While my payment gave me a red RECHAZADA, I received confirmation of my reservation, so I figured I'd clear it up at the airport. While apparently the confirmation was false, I still got on the flight for $150 and paid in cash, the only option. 

3. At the airport I ran into two lovely German girls that I had met in Costa Rica two weeks before, and have been latched onto them since then. 

4. Colombia feels much more Euro than Central America - there are cafes, winding cobblestone streets, a sense of fashion, etc. Some of the outfits that I pulled in Central America (for example, a sarong-turned-dress over a wet swimsuit that gives the uncontrollable-lactation look, paired with muddy hiking shoes) will not fly here.

5. Surprisingly, Bogota is quite chilly and cloudy. It was 55 when we arrived (after leaving 95+ weather) and our cabbie from the airport informed us that it was a lovely day that was quite hot. It's in a mountain, so I suppose the elevation has something to do with this.

6. I took my first hot shower since I started traveling, and it was possibly the longest shower of my life. Though I must admit, I didn't really realize how much I missed the hot shower until I had one. Something about having seven layers of sweat and no signs of cooler temperatures made me not mind the cold showers.

7. In Bogota we went to a free art museum that featured Colombia's pride and joy, Francisco Botero. He paints mostly oversized things and people. I enjoyed this museum very much because it was 1) free, 2) small, 3) bizarre, and 4) had a fuente in the middle.

8. If you are so inclined, it is possible to purchase a quick photo on a llama that is wearing ribbons and decorations like a four year old girl's bicycle. 

9. According to our map, which also had fun facts, Bogota is know for it's "dirt cheap" beauty salons. So in an effort to pamper for the first time in awhile, we got $7 mani/pedis. You get what you pay for, and the pedi was done with my feet situated on her lap. Poor thing.

10. I've tried my darndest to eat and drink all the "traditional" dishes while traveling, but sometimes you just need to treat yourself. So I had spaghetti at 11am and it was delicious (this is something that I am also known to do in Chicago due to my limited groceries and laziness on weekend mornings). 

11. The bus ride from Bogota to Salento (with a transfer in Armenia) was gorgeous. We traveled through the mountains and they are quite green and amazing and I like them. The bus played the Hangover III in Spanish (followers of my previous blog know my hatred of dubbed movies). When it ended, apparently someone accidentally hit fast forward because the next six hours screened three movies in fast forward mode. So I spent some time deliberating which is worse: dubbed movies or fast forwarded movies. I didn't come to much of a conclusion expect that I don't like either. 

12. It's official that I prefer Sprite to 7up. The "light" versions do not exist here. 

13. Salento is one of my faves. It's in a valley of the Andes and has a main square and streets branching off of it with cute shops and such. It's colorful and chill and the people are super friendly. 

14. Yesterday we hiked in the Valle de Cocora and it was one of the highlights of the whole trip. I wasn't so much looking forward to it after the Ometepe nightmare (see "intense hiking story" blog post for full details), but this experience made me feel much more positively towards hiking. Instead off rock climbing and/or mud, there was an actual path! As it turns out, that makes quite the difference. The highlight for me where gigantic palm trees in the middle of the mountains.

15. There is delicious coffee in Colombia. 

16. At the hostel one night, a group of six of us grilled steak and veggies and made rice and salad and had beer. After totaling everything up, we each paid just over $3. 

La Candeleria - the neighborhood we stayed at in Bogota
Botero's museum fuente
Botero's version of the Mona Lisa
A fancy llama
View of Bogota from above
A lovely walk outside of Salento
The beginning of the hike when we were still in the valley
A hummingbird sanctuary in a mountain
A view from the top!
Looking down on the valley