Everybody's goin' surfin', surfin' Mazatlan

After we arrived in Mazatlan, a surf session was in order. We found a hotel on the beach, so it was convenient to carry the surf boards down. 

Dinh has been surfing since he was a baby practically, so he's pretty much a pro. Me, on the other hand, am not a pro. I can catch waves no problem, but nothing fancy. While Dinh gracefully danced on the waves, I flopped around like a wounded seal. The waves were too big for me, they were not the Waikiki waves I'm used to surfing. Every thunderous wave toppled over me, sending me spinning in the current. As I saw the massive roaring wave come toward me like an angry mouth, I felt a dread come over me and wondered how surfers overcame this element of surfing. When I surfaced, my hair was in my face, salt water burned my eyes and came out my nose, and my bikini top exposed my ta-ta's to everyone. 
I was a mess. 
I surrendered after a good struggle and retreated to the beach to snap some pics of the real surfer. 
Humpff. 

Happy surfer Dinh

The next day, Dinh surfed again while I sunbathed on the beach. Best to leave it up to the professionals......

The resort towns are crazy expensive. The Mexican economy is definitely thriving. This country is quickly becoming a first world country , in my opinion. They have almost all of the creature comforts as America. It's really nice to see. 
Mazatlan is a beautiful, safe location to vacation. This is my second visit to the city . 

There is a 2 mile promenade which Dinh and I walked/ran daily . Here are some of the zany things we encountered on our walk:
A man walking a 7 month old pig on a leash.......

Wilbur!

Some locals feeding a couple dozen raccoons......

Mazatlan promenade

The Mexicans seem to really love their animals. It seems like almost everyone has a tiny 2 pound chihuahua in tow. They are adorable!

Also, we found another Walmart in Mazatlan!

While walking along a back street in Mazatlan, we stumbled upon a mariachi band. Dinh is very outgoing and couldn't help himself, he had to talk to them. Long story short, they sang a song for us. They have been playing together for 20 years. 

Over the last week, we've been slowly making our way down the west coast of Mexico. vagabond style. Staying in hotels for about $25-40/night and living comfortably. We've been sticking to the toll roads mainly , which are ridiculously expensive, if I may say so. We once paid $16 for a toll, then less than an hour later, we came upon another $6 toll. Aye-ya-yi!!
We decided to stray off the pricey toll roads on our drive from Mazatlan to Puerto Vallarta, and I'm glad we did! There was much more local flavor. We drove through multiple small villages, witnessing everyday life of the locals and really getting a feel for Mexico. You just can't get this in the popular resort towns. 
We had memorable experiences we never would have had if we gave our dineros to the toll roads, like when we stopped to buy jackfruit from a sweet local lady . She had no bias towards us tourists. She was genuinely honest about the prices and we were amazed by how much cheaper products were once you get off the beaten path. We bought a package of jackfruit for 75 cents. The same amount of jackfruit would cost $8 back in California. Finally! The cheap Mexico we were hoping for!

So far, life is good in Mexico. I'm surprised by how safe it feels and am reminding myself that you can't listen to what everyone tells you!!!
Vaya con Dios!

La policia Mexicano

Gringo :grin·go\ˈgriŋ-(ˌ)gō\
noun
:a foreigner in Spain or Latin America especially when of English or American origin; broadly : a non-Hispanic person.

I am a gringo. 

Today, the Mexican po-po tried to catch me ridin' dirty . 

What happens when gringos drive through Mexico? They attract attention and get pulled over. 

It was a muggy, stifling hot day . Dinh and I were driving south from San Carlos to Los Mochis. 

Halfway through our commute, we drove through a smaller town. I happened to be driving at the time. I was obeying all traffic rules when I noticed a police car behind me. 
POLICIA on my tail. I immediately became uneasy . 
"He's going to pull me over, Dinh", I announced. 
"No he's not, just stay in this lane", was Dinh's rebuttal. 
I change lanes. The police follows. Within seconds, his red lights were flashing. I pulled over to the dirt shoulder, not surprised. 
As Dinh gathered papers from the glove compartment, I whispered, "I have a bad feeling about this". 
While doing research on driving through Mexico, I couldn't dodge the ambiguous warnings about the crooked cops. Everyone had something to say about the matter. 
"So it's finally happening", I thought. This is where the cops pull us over and try to extract as much pesos as possible from us, accusing us of absurd acts or planting drugs on us. We go to jail and our parents go broke trying to bail us out. I prepared for the worse. 
As I daydreamed of what it would be like to live in a Mexican jail, a police man quickly appeared at my window, startling me. I rolled down the window and he asked me if I spoke Spanish. 
"No", I lied. 
He stammered through his English. "You own this car?" he asked. 
"Yes", I said with a nervous giggle that I tried to hold back. 
Dinh showed him the permit we had obtained for driving through Mexico.
I handed him my passport with a shaky hand. 
"Ellos son Americanos!", (They're Americans),  he yelled back to his partner that was standing by the squad car. 
Uh-oh. Is that good or bad?
My palms began to sweat.
Locals driving by rubber-necked at the gringo the cops had pulled over, hanging their heads out their dusty pick-ups windows. 
Before anymore could be said, Dinh whipped out his police badge. 

Another tidbit on Dinh: he worked as a police officer for 10 years in Orange County and is now retired. 
This isn't the first time that badge has helped us out. 
The police man looked at the badge. This is where there was a change of events. Dinh is one of THEM. They were instant buds. 
I felt a tremendous amount of relief. 
Dinh asked to take a picture with them. He said yes, but not to put it on Facebook. Lol. 

After a friendly exchange in Spanish about police officer stuff, Dinh shook their hands and off we went. We had just escaped a possible doom. 

Moral of the story: If a Mexican cop sees a gringo with California plates driving through a small town in Mexico, even if she isn't doing anything wrong, more than likely, she WILL get pulled over. But, the cops aren't as crooked as one thinks.

Hmm.... I wonder how many times we'll get pulled over before we reach Nicaragua. Good thing we have that badge.  

In other news, Mexico has Walmart!!!

Bienvenidos a Mexico!

We've successfully crossed the border into Mexico! They let us hoodlums in. It was actually very lax. We could have slipped by unnoticed without anyone even looking at our passports, but we played by the rules.
Since we are driving through, we are required to carry Mexican car insurance. We bought it right after crossing over the border and it cost $88 for 2 weeks. Just to give you an idea.
I waited in the car while Dinh ran to get the paperwork for the insurance. I was in a 3rd world country once again.... this is starting to feel like home to me.
I listened to jovial Mexican music blaring from the car parked next to us. It made me laugh and want to dance, but I thought that would cause too much of a scene :) I watched the locals passing by on the sidewalk, going about their daily life. Moms holding their children's hands tightly , a man with a cowboy hat on walking swiftly across the street. Nogales is kind of a shady town. I got some scary vibes from some of the people floating around. We got out as soon as we could.

crossing over the border

Rewind: On our first day, we drove from Orange County to Tucson, Arizona....

Somewhere in Arizona

The next day, we drove from Tucson to San Carlos, Mexico. I was really impressed by the condition of the roads in Mexico. I would go as far as saying they are as good as the roads in the US.
Stopping at a roadside stand for fish tacos along the way , I practiced my Spanish with the young waitress. She recommended going to the town of San Carlos. We were planning on staying in Hermosillo for the night, but instead we took her advice. We travel on the fly like that :)

San Carlos is a sleepy little beach resort town. It feels a bit like a ghost town. There are virtually no tourists here.
After scouting around for a short while, we found a decent hotel for the night. I think we are the only ones staying at our hotel. I'm serious.
I'm bewildered as to what is going on here. I'm not sure if it's because it's off-season, or it's just a dried up resort town that nobody pays attention to anymore.
After being cooped up in the car all day, we decided to stretch our legs by going for a little run on the beach. It was beautiful. The waves were enormous, thunderously crashing on the shore. We were gently sprayed with fine particles of water as the waves crashed, acting as our personal misting fan. The jagged mountains created a breathtaking backdrop against the grey gulf water.
The beach was desolate, minus one man and his mangy dog. I didn't bring my nice camera, but I'll go back tomorrow to get some good shots.
After the run, we stopped by the local supermarket and picked up a delicious tamale and a huge papaya for supper. It cost about $2 for the meal and I was reminded how much I love traveling in 3rd world countries.

Tomorrow we plan to drive to Los Mochis..... buenas noches!

So what's the plan, Stan?

Latin America has always called to me. A land of adventure and rich culture. It was when I was in Thailand last year that I made the concrete decision to make Central and South America my next adventure.
It's amazing what we can accomplish when our hearts desire something so strongly.
I was determined to work until I had enough funds saved to allow me to do what I love best: travel!
So for the last year, I worked as a travel nurse in Hawaii (living on 3 different islands!), saving my dinero in order to venture off to explore more of this mystical world. It wasn't the easiest to save up while living in Hawaii, and it took me longer than I had wished, but I made it happen!
Now here I am, just hours away from my departure, ready to reap the benefits for what I've sowed and feeling so grateful for all the good fortune that has came my way in the last year.
There has been some changes in my life since I returned from my last trip. The most significant being this: While I was living in Hawaii, I met a guy!!
(gasp!)
I know you've all known me as an independent woman, braving this world on my own. I wasn't particularly looking for companionship. I was happy going about my business, living my awesome single life.
Then one day, the moon and stars aligned, and Dinh popped into my life. I looked for reasons to NOT like him, the problem was.... I couldn't find any . He emanated such a positive energy and was so comfortable to be around. I couldn't resist his intelligence, good looks, goofiness, humor, love of travel and caring personality. Yes, I had fallen in LOVE!
Awww. Ha ha.

Hiking in Hawaii

Waikiki cruise

Camping in Yosemite

I had always pictured myself traveling solo for the next few years. I PREFER to travel solo. But, life comes at you quickly.
I had found the perfect mate to join me on these amazing excursions.
A little tid bit of info on Dinh:
He was born in vietnam. His family moved to the US when things got a little hairy during the vietnam war. He lived most of his life in Orange County, California and lately, has been living nomadically . He's very smart when it comes to finances and has positioned himself in life where he can travel for months on end, like me! His #1 passion in life is surfing. He bought a house in Nicaragua... simply because it had a great surf spot out his front door.
Silly guy .
When we first met last year, I told him about the upcoming trip I had planned. After a couple months of spending almost every day together, we decided it would be pretty groovy to do the trip together.

So, this is the plan, Stan:
I plan to fly from Minnesota to Southern California, where I'll meet up with Dinh (he's been in Vietnam for the last 3 weeks working for the nonprofit organization he started), then we'll drive his vehicle down to his house in Nicaragua, taking about 2 months to get there, exploring Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador along the way . Once we get to Nicaragua in November, we'll chill out at Dinh's house on the beach for a couple months, and surf til' our hearts are content :)
After celebrating New Year's in Nicaragua, we'll leave Dinh's vehicle at his house and continue south by bus through Costa Rica and Panama, spending ample time in each country to adequately explore.
From Panama, we will fly to Venezuela, dodging the drug cartel (that's a joke, mom), then bus it through the rest of South America for a few months.
Easter Island and the Galapagos are on the list, as well as Machu Picchu, Patagonia, Chichen Itza, the Amazon and Carnival in Brazil. Also, I plan to take a 10-14 day cruse to Antarctica.... Dinh isn't quite sure he wants to go to the arctic environment, but I wouldn't miss it for the world. It will be the 7th (and last) continent I have stepped foot on. Indeed, it will be a very special day . A pivotal point in my life, an experience that will allow me to keep my wanderlust at bay for awhile. (doubtful)
After traipsing through all those countries, if we're not too sick and tired of living out of a backpack and if we aren't getting on each others nerves too much, we would like to spend some time in Indonesia (Dinh wants to surf there, of course). Also, I desperately want to get back to Italy.
The future is wide open. It's just too far in the future to know where we'll end up. It's a mystery... and there's something I like about that.
This is a rough itinerary. Nothing is written in stone, I would never travel in that sort of way. I leave the future up to fate. What should happen, will happen.

A goal I have for this trip: to come back speaking Spanish (fairly) fluent. My spanish is mediocre, but Dinh is fluent, so he will be my personal translator until my Spanish gets up to par. You know what they say: There's no better way to learn a language, than to immerse yourself in it completely!

There's one more agenda on this trip:
Seeing such horrific poverty in my past travels was shocking and profoundly sad. I'm scarred from some things that I saw in India, perhaps I went places I probably shouldn't have went sometimes. I promised myself that I would volunteer on each trip that I took. It felt very selfish of me not to. I'm able to help and I have the desire and skills to do so. These people had welcomed me with open arms and taught me so much, how could I NOT give back?
Volunteering in a third world country is extremely rewarding and educational. If you haven't tried it, maybe you should?
It's easy to do. Here's a great website on volunteering in South America:
www.volunteersouthamerica.net
I plan to volunteer in Peru (as a nurse) for this trip and possibly more destinations along the way if the opportunity arises. People in third world countries happen to have many favors to ask when they find out you're a nurse. ha ha.

My heart flutters with excitement as I picture the beautiful people I will meet, whom will touch my soul in unimaginable ways, and the lands with such powerful ancient history that I will walk.
There is no doubt this will be another epic adventure. I hope you all enjoy the journey and the tales it brings!!

Let's go!
vamos!!!

What's a girl to pack for a 1 year trip?

It's that time again! Time to pack my bag and hit the road.

I'm doing a practice pack as I get ready to head to Latin America for the next year. I thought it would be helpful to give some tips on how to pack. When I was a newbie backpacker, no one ever told me what to pack. I'll save you some headache. 

Packing is old hat to me. From my very 1st trip to today, I've come a long way!

I learned to pack more efficiently from my own experience, but also from fellow travelers.

For my last trip (which lasted 9 months), I lugged around a cumbersome 85 liter backpack.  No wonder why my back hurt :(

For this trip, where I'll be gone even longer, I'm taking a 65 liter pack. Much better. Pretty proud of myself for the downsize.

For backpacking GIRLS, it's a whole lot easier if you're NOT high maintenance.  To tell you the truth, I've never met a high maintenance girl backpacking for an extended amount of time. I don't think it appeals to them :)

Oh Paris, you could never be a backpacker.....
Photo courtesy of www.upscalehype.com

I DO bring a travel blow dryer and straightener, some people tease me about that, but those are my luxuries.  I need my sanity... and to look half-way decent in my pictures.

So.... the nitty gritty.... what the heck am I packing?!

Fleece coat

Rain coat

Flip flops

Sandals

Running shoes

Wet suit (for surfing!)

9 pairs of shorts (includes pj's and work out wear)

2 pairs pants (1 light weight, 1 jean)

2 leggings

12 shirts (tank tops, t-shirts and pj's)

5 dresses

3 pairs of socks

5 sport bras

5 pairs of undies

2 bikinis

Sarong

Sunglasses

Ear plugs

Toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, shampoo/conditioner, brush, deodorant, soap, makeup, razor, band aids, diva cup, coconut oil, small scissors, q-tips)

Sunscreen

Shower cap

Vitamins

Eye shades

Padlock

Flashlight

2 cameras with chargers

SD cards

Cell phone with charger

Galaxy tablet

Hat

Passport

Blanket

Books

Quick dry towel

Day pack

4 packing cubes (3 large, 1 extra small)

A word on packing cubes... they're genius! They are one of the most fascinating inventions of all mankind and should be a quintessential item on your packing list. They make a world of a difference. They are super lightweight bags, you roll your clothes up and shove them in. Wah-la! It saves you at least twice the space in your backpack.
I was first introduced to them in Laos, where my friend Ember was using them. I wondered why we had the same amount of clothes, but my pack was significantly larger. Then she told me her secret (packing cubes) and I've been spreading the aloha ever since!

Here's an example on how much space these little miracles will save you:
I fit 12 shirts and 9 pairs of shorts in this 14" x 9" bag!

For this trip, I focused on buying very light weight clothing. In the past, I would bring heavy fabric dresses and shirts. Light weight is the way to go. It keeps you cool too!! Dry fit shirts are great, but they aren't the most stylish choice. Packing for a hot weather trip is awesome, much less weight.
Also, you definitely want to have a small quick dry towel. Mine is the size of a large washcloth. Yes, I use this to dry my body off after a shower. It REALLY makes me appreciate that big fluffy towel when I get home!

When you backpack, you sacrifice a lot of creature comforts. But I think it makes me tougher.

You should try to bring only 2 pairs of shoes, a pair of sandals and a pair of closed toed shoes. However, I'm bringing 3 pairs of shoes :( I couldn't weed 1 pair out.

You read right, I'm bringing only 5 pairs of undies. Like I've said before, backpacking is a dirty business. I try to stay as clean as possible on my trips, but I do admit that I have to wash my underwear in the sink quite a bit. It's OK, a lot of backpackers do it. If it means I can travel cheap and see all these amazing places, I'll do it!
I would say I wash all my clothes about once every month. Sometimes it's in a washing machine, sometimes it's all by hand. In India, a lady once washed all my clothes in the Ganges river, which has dead bodies floating in it. Saweeeeet!

I hope this gave you some insight on what I pack for these crazy long vacations I take. 

If I had room to pack all my friends and family, I would!!! 

Au Naturale

As my time in the US winds down, I was reading through some of my old journals. Sometimes I write posts but never publish them. This is one from November 7th. It made me chuckle because it's exactly how I feel today.

Here it is:

The longer I'm in Hawaii, the healthier and happier I fell. It must be something in the air that makes me long for a natural existence. Fresh local foods energize me and make me feel my best. The warm ocean air seduces me to spend time outdoors and I feel my body becoming more fit as the days pass. These days, I strive for all things natural. The food I eat, the products I use on my hair and body and the chemicals I'm exposed to. I cringe when I see people eating processed foods and using harsh chemicals on their bodies or taking unnecessary medications. I always seem to get into this frame of mind when I'm in Hawaii. Call me a hippy if you'd like, but a healthy, natural lifestyle is a must for me.

Hawaii is perfect for me to get my nature fix. Nothing wows me more than pure, raw nature. We live in a beautiful, stunning world. This is what drives me to travel. I would choose to soak in a mesmerizing mountain view rather than a spectacular man-made masterpiece.
I think it would be so groovy to live in the Alaskan bush in a handmade log home, living off the land. At one with nature. Forget about electronics, they seem to cause me extreme stress rather than providing me with convenience. The last few months, I've dealt with a corrupt computer and a broken iPhone, which has caused a whole new batch of unwanted gray hair to pop up on my head. I fantasize about a world without Facebook. Remember what life was like before it came about? I find myself living a less private existence after Facebook. And I'm not sure I like it. If I lived in the Alaskan bush, I wouldn't have to deal with the shenanigans other people pull or with all the cruel human beings in this world.
But I'm afraid I would starve if I decided to be a bush girl. I couldn't bring myself to eat moose and bear meat. Plus, if I lived out there, you guys wouldn't have my blog to read :) I better stay in Hawaii for now.

I'm having a hard time with Americans lately. I'm able to see them in a clearer light and their true colors are really showing. They have a tendency to hurt my feelings... a lot. They can be so rude, insensitive, ugly, selfish and absent minded. They just don't get it. I don't have these same feelings when I'm overseas. People living in third world countries don't need 3 cars and a big house to be happy. Some of the nicest people I've met were some of the poorest.
I feel welcomed when I'm traveling and see the beauty in people more frequently. It really gives me hope in the human race. Then it all comes to a screeching halt the second I step foot in my mother land. Oh, America.
Perhaps this is what draws me to travel. To get away from the mean people. ha.
I realize I'm making some major generalizations here, but I'm exercising my fifth amendment rights.
I can bad mouth America because I'm an American. It's like a sister picking on her own sister, it's kosher. But if someone bad mouths my sister (America) I'm definitely going to stand up for her. 

Now that I've been in the US for a few months, I've had time to process a lot of the thoughts from my trip. All these thoughts have been swimming in my head like a bunch of gold fish in a glass bowl. 
Third world countries are lax, and I realize I love them for that. I like the fact that things aren't regulated and that you can ride with 5 people on a scooter without helmets, and that you can ride on top of a bus without getting in trouble for it, and that you can get away with a lot of things with a little baksheesh (bribe).

"Why does she always get to ride in the front?!"

A common sight in India 

Mongolia

Totally A- ok to do in India

I never would have been able to climb the pyramids in Egypt without bribing the guard 

Riding on top of the bus in Nepal. So much fun!!!!

Mom and aunty Linda do Hawaii!

I finally talked my mom into coming to see me in Hawaii. I know, I know, it's absurd to have to talk someone into coming to one of the most beautiful places on earth. But I did, and she's glad she came! We did lots of fun things in the 1 week that she was here. She brought aunty Linda too! Here's some snapshots from the week....

Mom and I

Mom looking pretty at the luau

At the luau

Mom at the North Shore

Polynesian cultural center

Duke's

Luau

Diamond head cruise

Life in the 808

Once again, I've made a move. I am now living on my 3rd Hawaiian island in 6 months. I am a vagabond, however, so what did you expect? :) 

I've relocated to Honolulu and started a short term travel nursing contract here. I plan to stay until May 15th, then jet off on my next international escapade a couple weeks after that. (Central America, South America and Antarctica!) So hang in there, my blog will begin to get interesting soon!

In the meantime, I've been enjoying the great outdoors here on Oahu. There are endless amounts of hikes here, so I've been keeping myself quite busy. Keeping healthy and getting in shape. The time is flying by at mach 10. I found myself a cute private bamboo cottage nestled in the green fuzzy mountains, only about a mile from the ocean, which is the perfect refuge for me. So calm and relaxing....

I'm also finding time to surf, entertain guests, exploring more of the island and picking various tropical fruits. Oahu and I have a history. I lived here about 5 years ago for 9 months. It's good to be back. I love it here!

Ember reunion!!

My bamboo cottage

Picking star fruit

Me and Harley girl

Hiking bliss

Hawaiian sunset