The story today takes place somewhere out there, 107 countries later... Blog
13 Unusual Jobs [su_dropcap]W[/su_dropcap]here I went to school in a small town, a class called Career Education was offered to those of us morons who did not want to take a second language (a clever career orientated maneuver). However, ideas for the future seemed to be limited to a career as a farmer, rancher, grain elevator agent, teacher or banker. With no outside-the-box-thinking teachers, our impressionable young minds maintained their path. However, it is time to grow a better garden! For the...
“They Charged me with Murder” -Live transcript of my friend Mr. P. [su_dropcap]A[/su_dropcap]s a kid I was quite into boxing, trying to pursue that and fitness…constantly going to the gym. But it didn’t really tweak with me that I’d never really have the dedication. But I knew what I was doing. I went to the gym and I’d been training for a long time. I went on a night out with me friends. It got to the point where we’re...
Lonely Planet Guide Soul Devourer – Pros and Cons The Lonely Planet guide-books are your primary travel safety net. That safety net is also a devil that devours travel souls. The Lonely Plant is the most powerful source in the world for completely sucking and absorbing real life out of anything it features, be it a village, a hostel, a restaurant…or by directing travelers to an ex-pat owned bar in town. But, Lonely Planet (or a similar guide from one...
Rock and Roll to the Rescue -The Rocco Valentino Live Transcript: [su_dropcap]A[/su_dropcap] friend and I were driving out in the bush one day and we decided we wanted to leave South Africa to go and see the world. Both 21, listening to The Doors and doing a few other things. Driving out there and we were deciding, “Well, where should we go? Should we go to the States? Should we go got Australia?” and we thought, “Australia is like South...
I Fought a Dirty Cop for my Life in Tanzania -Live transcript of my friend Mr. P. [su_dropcap]I[/su_dropcap] was in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and wanted to do the Kilimanjaro climb. Really looking forward to it, and then I saw how much money they want for it, fees and park fees and all that guide shit. I would’ve done it on me own, cause it’s only a hike, and I’m that type of person. I would’ve just walked it myself. ...
Iron Maiden, Download – Day 3. June 12 It was pouring rain when we left Dan and Emma’s house in Nottingham. Sunshine would be unreasonable at Downland Festival anyhow… Whatever… We were ready to get into it again! We had garbage bags in our pockets for extra-dryness covering. Dan and I jumped on the bus to take us to the festival. To say traffic was backed up would be an understatement. A thirty minute bus ride from Nottingham became two...
Black Sabbath, Download – Day 2. June 11 Dan made breakfast for Emma and I and then Dan’s contact came through with two weekend passes for Download Festival that we could have for a £60 donation. I sure wish that had happened yesterday before I blew £190 on my pass. Then once Dan and I made it to the festival a girl was standing beside the box office to give away an extra weekend pass she had for free…. [su_note...
Day One – Rammstein, Download Festival. June 10 I was up at 06:35 to get ready for the day. It has been over a month since I was near a time like that. I caught my 08:30 bus to Nottingham to meet my friend Dan. Download Festival. I have wanted this festival for five years now… [su_quote]‘How Cool Nottingham is’, seemed to have slipped my mind in the past 14 months. It is a great little town.[/su_quote] Nottingham is...
ACDC nee Axl/DC in London At 15:00 I rushed out the door to meet Karel at the Ritzy in Brixton and from there we headed for the London event of the night…AC/DC nee Axl/DC nee Axl/AC/DC! I have twice before watched ACDC during the ‘Rock and Roll Train’ tour in 2009. Their show was totally amazing both nights, but I felt like I have been there and done that when the upcoming European tour was announced. Then news hit that...
Convincing a 20 year old to get out of bed at 10:30 is no easy feat…
It turns out that playing Slayer really loud at 10:45 will make the transition happen! Now you know…
May 1 I had flown across two continents for it, just to be a part of this night… England. London. Camden. The Monarch. Metalworks. It would be old bag of tricks in a new shirt. *In retrospect, I can say for sure from the evening that my lifestyle does not permit me to own a white shirt. I met Mike just after 18:00 and we went to a small establishment called Spiritual Bar to drink beer and catch up. Justin...
April 30 I arrived in my lovely and wonderful London at 07:00. My ‘London home’ feeling. The immigration man was typically English witty. ‘STAMP’! [su_pullquote]Hearing the name ‘Cockfosters’ again for the first time in months is still ridiculous.[/su_pullquote] Fundon, I am home. London…Baby, I am so glad to be here. Everything about you is exciting. Getting on the Tube is exciting. Using my British bank card with no foreign fees is exciting. Blending in as a typical white...
April 29 I woke up at 11:00. I did not want to get up then, but sleeping is no excuse for wasting the only day I have in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I talked to the guy at the front desk of Global Hotel and asked him how to get around the city. He told me outrageous taxi prices. I asked him if there is a local convi-taxi. He said there was. I told him, “I have been in Africa for...
April 28 It took me forever to get my things together this morning. But, that was sort of a convenience as I was waiting on wet clothes to continue drying. The idea of arriving in London two days later and unzipping my backpack to pull out soggy clothes seems pretty unpleasant. [su_quote]It is my hair, and I can decide who cuts it.[/su_quote]Dani and I hung out for the day and went to a shopping mall in search of a haircut...
April 27 Dani was moving at 08:00 so I pulled myself totally out of a slumber as well to get ready for the day. Big idea – Hiking up Table Mountain – the geological and spiritual heart of Capetown. We had plans to meet Dani’s friends at 10:00 to conquer the mountain on foot, but it started raining which put out everyone’s fires. However, I needed to see it so I just took the cable car up the mountain for...
April 25 I feel like I am turning into a jerk. I do not mean to be, but my honesty is for sure more than most people are used to. Maybe it is more than most people can handle. I often feel guilty after I have said something so profoundly honest, and I wish I would not because it is just honesty, but people usually mean well. But, any tolerance I have for small errors in being a reasonable person...
April 24 Dani and I went out for breakfast and I indulged in a chocolate fudge cheesecake milkshake to start the day. It is not exactly the cornerstone of nutrition, but it was damn good! I do not regret it. Because I barely interacted with white people for the past six months, I forget about things we do, like growing really stupid mustaches that twirl and curl at the ends. I saw a man with such a stache at the breakfast...
April 23 I slept really well in my reclining bus seat and did not even wake up until 08:30. Sweet! A good night of rest… Those are rarities right now. Around 14:30, the bus pulled into Capetown, approximately 0:45h ahead of schedule. Weird. Not African style at all! I sent a message to my friend Dani B who I spent two years working with in London to tell her that I was an early arrival. She sent me a message...
April 22 I was up at 05:30 to get to the Fish River Canyon viewpoint before sunrise. On the drive, a herd of zebras ran across the small roadway in front of me. Africa is special… The Fish River Canyon is the second biggest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon in Arizona. I now have seen them both and Fish River is equally beautiful. The colors are magnificent. And the depth of the canyon, cut by the river…incredible. ...
April 21 It drives me crazy how much plastic is wasted in Africa. There is a serious lack of education on how destructive its destruction is as they can not seem to waste enough of it on this continent. If you go into a supermarket in Namibia and you buy a juice, the people working will put it in a plastic bag if you do not stop them. If you buy one banana, plastic bag. Can of coke, plastic bag. ...
April 20 I got lucky this morning. I wanted to go to Kolmanskop, the site of the original Diaz Cross Ghost Mining Town, but there is no access to the place without one’s own transport. I was going to have to hire a taxi to take me there and then wait for me for 100 Namibian dollars ($7.05). That is not much money for an 11 kilometer drive and a driver that will wait one hour for you to be...
April 19 Up at 04:48. Two mornings in a row pre-05:00 is about as horrible as taking a medicine that is certain to make you throw up… [su_note note_color=”#b0b1b6″ text_color=”#030303″ radius=”6″]Random ‘Did You Know’ – Due to so many people shaving their pubic region, crab-lice are heading towards extinction? (Though that could just be drunk-talk I have been a part of.) Nonetheless, I feel like I want to make t-shirts that show a bush which say ‘Save the Crab!’ (I...
April 18 Getting up at 04:01 to meet a German family at 04:30 is unpleasant. Wait, let me reword that. Getting up at 04:01 is unpleasant. The German family was great! They…Christian, his wife Steffani, and six-year-old, Konstantin, from Dortmund…came into my life last night while I was having dinner at the lodge. They were at the next table over and I asked them if they were going to the Sossusvlei in the morning. I needed a ride and I...
April 17 I was up at 06:42 to get ready, made my goodbyes to Lala and Francois Loubser, and was on the highway by 08:30 to try to thumb a ride to Sossusvlei…about a six hour drive away. I have had a very easy time hitchhiking around Africa. Namibia has decided to take a different pattern and it was not kind in supplying rides. I stood on the side of the road in the same place for three hours. I...
April 16 The ‘Walvis’ of Walvis Bay is ‘whale’ in Afrikaans. Awesome… I went for a walk around Walvis Bay in an attempt to try to find a tent. I failed in the tent quest, but really came out ahead because I stopped at a business called Namib Off-Road, that was closed. There was a sign on the door that explained their closure was due to a 4×4 Desert Challenge behind Dune 7. I asked a cabbie where Dune 7...
April 14 I woke up in the car in a gas station, though I am not really sure where it was when I started off for Walvis Bay this morning. I think a sign said that I was 56 kilometers from Swakopmund when I hit the road while it was still dark. My third sleep in a car in three nights. I do not live a comfortable life, but it sure is interesting. A cool thing about Namibia…they put up...
April 13 I think it was around 01:30 outside of Etosha National Park when I went to sleep in the car and it was 02:17 when I woke up to knocks on the window and flashlights shining. When I really woke up, I realized that there were cops everywhere, with shotguns, surrounding my car (I would later count 18 camouflage-uniformed cops). I had been sleeping in the reclined driver’s seat just outside of the western gate to get into the...
April 12 I had a pretty restless sleep, but considering it was in the back seat of a very compact car, I should be respectful enough to qualify it as a ‘good sleep’. It was 07:17 when I checked the time and as soon as I moved, there were three Namibian police officers standing not far from my car and they watched me get dressed. They seemed to have nothing better to do. It annoyed me that they were so...
April 11 When I woke up, breakfast had been prepared for Julia and I on the terrace outside of the rooms by Lala, who runs Loubser’s Bed and Breakfast. Awesome! Julia and I ate and then I kissed her goodbye before she raced off to catch a flight to Bali. I started getting myself ready when my rental car arrived. Yes! Now, I had been to Avis, and they had a car for me for 552 Namibian dollars ($37) per...
April 10 Lala woke me up at 08:00 because she had prepared breakfast for me. Julia, right behind her, had a nice morning shine and sat with me for breakfast. Today would turn out to be Opposite Day! Awesome Opposite Day. Play this while you read. I heard this today. It has been years since I heard this song. Somehow I forgot how great the Bellamy Brothers were. This is a beautiful song… Well, today went down like this… I...
