Belize You Me

Well, I'm not off across the ocean on a cargo ship just yet. I've barely even started selling my stuff. Don't worry, I'll alert the mass of internet bargain hunters and eBay patrons when it happens. You won't be left out.

The holiday season has been hectic as always. I was up in Portland visiting family and friends to share in some holiday cheer and rain. Now I'm back in Los Angeles, the land of a million smog infused palm trees and collagen infused lips, neither of which are native to their environments. Ah yes, joy to the world.

Anyway, to cut to the chase, my girlfriend, Brooke, and I have been planning a trip down to Belize for quite awhile now and we finally leave this coming Sunday, December 30th. We will be slurping and burping in the New Year at Mamanoot's Backabush in the middle of the Mayflower Bocawina National Forest. Celebrating alongside us will be a group of about thirty friends, friends of friends, and (probably) some complete unknowns. I had the pleasure of having my blood sucked dry by mosquitoes while visiting the same place two years back. It was a similar situation (lots of friends, New Years, &c.) and it was one of the best times I've had in my life. I hope to repeat the experience and avoid playing host to a beefworm once again (do NOT click that beefworm link if you are at all squeamish, click this one instead: the human botfly).

We'll be spending a few days there in the jungle, hiking and exploring the rain forest, then we're off to lovely Caye Caulker (Corker Cay on the old map of "British Honduras" above). I've been to the Belizean Cayes before, but never Caye Caulker, and look forward to the experience. According to some friends, the little coral island is home to one of the best bars in the world. I'll keep you posted. From there, who knows? We've been discussing making our way over to Guatemala and visiting the Mayan ruins of Tikal, we might just head back to Mamanoot's to relax for a few days - it all just depends on how we manage our meager funds or not.

In the meantime, I thought this trip would be as good an opportunity as any to work out my blog-clogs and flex my travel-writing skills (or lack thereof). So look forward to (or dread) the onslaught of posts that will ensue from Central America. I'll try to keep you updated as long as I have internet access and as long as my malaria medication keeps me from getting the ol' marsh fever.

Defining the New Transient

I'll try and keep this short and to the point. All my life I've wanted to travel the world to see just what's out there and it's high time I get off my procrastinating ass and do something about it. I've eyeballed atlas' and ogled globes, but I believe culture, like food, is best experienced first hand rather than observed.

My plan in a nutshell? Sell everything I own, say goodbye to my friends, family and pretty much everyone I've ever known, give a final kiss to my lovely lady, and travel by cargo ship across the Pacific. Who knows what will happen once I'm there. I'm of the opinion that traveling is best done with an open schedule. Sure, there are a ton of places in the world I aim to visit, and I plan on visiting them all, but I'm gonna keep my route as loose as possible. You never know what opportunities for adventure may present themselves at any given moment. I will say this though, I'm researching both New Zealand and China as possible points of entry into the East.

Traveling can be expensive, but no more expensive than living in Los Angeles when done correctly. My goal would be to work while I travel, paying my way as I go. I have two skills that I can sell, and neither one needs to be centralized to a single location. The first is as a graphic designer (print media), the other is as a musician. I will apply both if I have to in order to keep myself dry and moving. Look, I already know the music thing isn't gonna pay for squat, but often venue owners are happy to exchange a meal and a couch to crash on for a show. I'm anticipating making most of my money the same way I do now, by design gigs. Only now I will be working exclusively from a laptop and on the other side of the world.

Meanwhile, I'll be immersing myself deeply as possible into whatever culture I'm visiting. This includes eating like a local, living like a local, and speaking like a local to the best of my ability. If that means eating crickets and sleeping on a cot, I'm fine with that. If it means staying for a few months in one city simply to pick up a few extra phrases in Mandarin, well, that's fine too. It's impossible to see a whole city, let alone a country, in a week anyway... unless that country is Monaco maybe (a whopping 0.7 square miles, half of which is a casino).

This website is going to be pulling triple duty as the launching pad for my exodus from Los Angeles , my travel journal, and as a means to stay in touch with friends and family (both old and new) around the world. My estimated departure date is sometime near mid-Summer 2008. I have no return date, it could be anywhere from two months to never, hopefully somewhere in the middle.

Well that's pretty much it. Impossible? Well, I say, "Bah," to the nay-sayers. I'm gonna make it happen, and if it doesn't work out, well, at least I'll know I tried my best to follow what has pretty much been a lifelong dream. At the very least it will be educational. More than anything, I just want to see if it can be done. I know it's not going to be easy, but it will be rewarding whether everything goes as planned or not. In fact, I'm anticipating it won't go as planned, but that's why it's an adventure and not a vacation.

I'll keep you all posted as things progress. Subscribe to the feed or bookmark this page and check back from time to time if you want to keep updated.