My fair share of firsts have happened in British Columbia. There was that one time I tried bungee jumping for the first and last time, then the time I went underground caving (spelunking) and nearly hyperventilated from the absolute darkness. And then there were the less extreme activities of having my first North American Couchsurfing experience in Vancouver, and first really bizarre night
What better way to ring in the new year than in a new city! Last year was in the rainforests of Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica, and although this year was a little more local, it was still a brand new experience. I admit to previously having a preference of driving several hours north to B.C. rather than south, so this was my first time
"....Americans have an inability to relax into sheer pleasure.Ours is an entertainment seeking-nation, but not necessarily a pleasure-seeking one....This is the cause of that great sad American stereotype- the overstressed executive who goes on vacation, but who cannot relax...But is it such a bad thing to live like this for just a little while? Just for a few months of one's life, is
A huge leafy green salad. That is the one thing my body is craving when I touch down onto US soil in Houston after my 9 hour flight out of Amsterdam Schipol. The nutella-peanut butter sandwich and stroopwafle had definitely worn off, so a Wendy's chicken salad leaves me contented, and thus, my one month of traveling is coming to an end. I can hardly
Sadly, I am no longer in beautiful Bavaria, but I was fortunate enough to spend last weekend with two of my favorite people in southern Germany doing the route my parents took me on 20 years ago when I was a toddler. "Sprechen Sie deutsch?" "Nein...definitely nein." There's no better way to be humbled than to realize that you can't even walk into a store
on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spratt504/4317295086/"> Before I dive into the post, I need to say a little something on the hurricane disaster relief efforts in Haiti. If you've got the money or time to spare, please donate. Yesterday the three musketeers hit up Amsterdam, because regardless to what you might have thought, my home base is an hour train ride away from European sin city. The city
on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spratt504/4262041868/"> Made it to +nude&fb=1&gl=nl&hq=nude&hnear=wageningen, &hl=nl&view=map&cid=18435699728174012537&iwloc=A&ved=0CBYQpQY&sa=X&ei=90FIS8msOsioONDR0f8D">Nude 23-A in Wageningen, the Netherlands, bright and early Friday morning. I unfortunately was stuck with a middle seat and a ton of energy throughout the 9-hour ride, thus being unable to sleep and staying up over 24 hours, but I watched a bunch of movies, including one of my childhood favorites The Green Mile. It is good
on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spratt504/4267519650/"> La china guapa. It has been a while since I've had a nickname that stuck, but I have to admit that I like the one that Kumata and Sara picked out for me in Costa Rica. It stemmed from our first bus trip out to Corcovado, when several men on the street called me la china guapa, and it's pretty much stuck
Okay, well we´re not technically on Caño Island anymore, but we spent most of the day there today as part of a daylong snorkeling trip. Caño Island is a biological reserve located 20km away from Drake Bay, so we got up at 6am this morning (the sun was already shining brightly at this early hour) to catch a speedboat to the island. There were about
on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spratt504/4257329692/"> After a grueling 10 hour 25K hike through the Costa Rican rainforest from Los Patos to La Sirena, and two nights of camping at the ranger station of La Sirena, Sara and I exited Corcovado Parque Nacional made it to Bahia Drake via speedboat this afternoon. Bahía Drake (on the upper right corner of the map, just outside of Corcovado´s boundaries) is
