There is no better place to test how deep the political tensions run between the US and Cuba than sitting in a barber chair in Cuba with your neck under a straight razor. Luckily, the universal right to get a shave and a haircut trumps political tension and I was able to get a shave with minimal blood loss in Trinidad, Cuba.
You may have already switched that calendar to 2012 but that doesn't mean your New Year's Eve planning is over. It's never too soon to start planning for next year to avoid that dreaded week. You know, the week before New Year's Eve when everyone starts asking the same question: "What are your New Year's Eve plans?!?" The answer is undoubtedly, "I have NO idea!" all the way up until December 31st. Unless your buddy is throwing an incredible house party, what in the world are you and your friends going to do? You bought the sequins and the best champagne, but you don't have a clue where you'll be at midnight. Chances are you'll head to a club last minute, pay a $75 entry fee, and fight your way through the crowds to reach the bar, where you will buy the strongest drink they offer. Make that two of the strongest drinks they offer, since you probably won't find the bar again for several hours.
As 2011 comes to an end, I thought it would be cool to talk about my top 5 travel experiences of the year. My year was split roughly 6 months in Australia, 3 months in Southern Asia, and 3 in the US. It's hard to pick just 5, but here are my favorite travel memories from 2011, in no particular order.
Somebody trained their pets to pose like this and now sits on a corner in San Francisco asking for money. Sorry for the poor quality photo, it was taken on my phone. If you can't tell, its a cat sleeping on top of a dog, and 2 rats sleeping on top of the cat.
I hate travel days, packing up your bag, dealing with whatever means of transport is necessary to get to your next destination, and especially crossing borders. Borders are some of the most stressful places on earth, they're generally crowded, everybody is nervous, excited, tired, and just wants to get through and move on. It's not much better for the people working at them either, they have to deal with these people who are tired and stressed out, which in turn wears them down. Borders are also a place of great opportunity for locals; tourists are generally out of place, uncomfortable, unable to properly communicate, and easy to take advantage of. This translates to dollar signs for the clever, tricky, and/or dishonest locals looking to make a buck off the passing tourist, and even more stress and uncertainty for that tourist.
Today we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States. Happy Thanksgiving!
If you were to take a survey of human beings and ask what the funniest animal is, the overwhelming majority would answer "Monkeys". They're so similar to us, but still so different. There's something strangely familiar about the monkey, but still so animalistic. They have no rules and rely purely on their instincts, which means they're constantly getting into trouble and goofing around, which is what makes them so funny to us. Below are the top 10 places to visit if you want to see monkeys in the wild.
The Northern Lights have been on my list for a long time. I originally had them down as a Canada thing, but recently a friend of mine (from Finland) showed me this video of the Northern Lights filmed earlier this year in Lapland, Finland. It's an amazing video of an amazing phenomenon, so I figured I'd share it here.
Most people from the OC don't even know, but every year they have hundreds of giant whales swimming past them in their annual migrations. If you find yourself looking for things to do in Orange County, head down to the Balboa Fun Zone in Newport Beach and hop on a whale watching boat. You'll find at least 2 companies running boats off the docks in the harbor, either one should be about the same, and tend to run a similar schedule. My mom lives in Orange County, and wanted to do a whale watching tour for her birthday, so we made a reservation on a boat for the family. On the day of the tour we were running late, and we went in the first whale watching company we found with our reservation, which they accepted and checked us in for the boat. It wasn't until a little while later that we realized we weren't at the same company we booked, but it was too late. Didn't matter in the end as we had a great tour anyways.
For any adrenaline fueled, adventure seeking individual planning on visiting Costa Rica, ziplining is a must! A perfect resort to encounter this experience was near the remote location of La Fortuna, a quaint town boasting a reputation for its spectaular setting overlooking the Arenal Volcano.
