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Travel and Love- An Unbridgeable Chasm?
2008-02-07 17:49:00
Travel and Love - An Unbridgeable Chasm?I believe that I have never met a happy woman. I suppose happiness equates to doing just what you want, when you want to do it. Well, perhaps. Maybe women are so inherently social minded that they feel responsible for the people around them, and expect these people to feel responsible for them. I do not know how someone could be happy while worrying about, or expecting something from, someone else. Or maybe I am just a man. I know that I do not know what I am talking about.It is my impression that travel is a selfish experience, while love is suppose to be anything but selfish. I have always found it very difficult to ride out these two seemingly mutually exclusive experiences. I feel that it is very difficult to travel with anyone, especially a lover. I have been tramping with Mira around the world for the past year and a half. We met in Costa Rica, traveled to India, China, Morocco, rode bikes in Portugal, hiked up to castles in France, met e...
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Vagabond Journey.com Update 2-06-08
2008-02-06 21:53:00
Vagabond Journey .com Update 2-06-08“There is ZERO reasons to plan your trip clearly, I mean the trip of making a webpage. I am positive you do not travel on a strict path.”-Andy the Hobo Traveler.comI feel like a nomad drive a large herd through green pastures and mountainous steppes. Like all pastorialist, I want my flock to grow and to keep growing, no matter how burdensome its size can be. My herd is the Vagabond Journey website. It is my collection of pages, my collection of beasts. Vagabond Journey.com is now up and running at full speed. I took a few moments to think about the direction that I wanted to take the site in, and realized that I still want it to be as simple and straight forward as possible. I prefer the in your face, no map required format of basic webpages than the ones that look as if they really good but lack an easy navigation scheme. It is my impression that simpler is often times better. Therefore, there will probably not be any sidebar navigation setup...

Archaeology Fieldwork in Nicaragua and Copan
2008-02-06 18:01:00
Archaeology Fieldwork in Nicaragua and CopanBy living, I call myself a traveler, by aspiration, a writer, but by trade, I always refer to myself as an archaeologist. I learned the profession on the Manabi Coast of Ecuador in 2000, and I have been doing professional fieldwork whenever I needed to make up a little bean money ever since. It is a real traveler’s profession, as it is difficult, no impossible!, to find work that keeps you sedentary. Travel is the muse of all archaeologists. This is the main quality about the profession that I love: I can sign on to a job, travel to the site, work for a month or so, and then travel on with money in my pocket. It is fun outdoor work, keeps me traveling, and generally only requires short commitments. Archaeologists also tend to be rather odd, solitary, misanthropes. I fit in well in this profession. Well, I decided to come back to Latin America and try my hand at some Meso-American archaeology. A project with a grad student from the Univer...
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Tourism can be Watched on the TV Screen
2008-02-05 22:23:00
Tourism can be Watched on a Television Screen .My mother tried to teach me about tourist traps when I was a child. I do not think that I understood her lessons until last weekend.Costa Rica is a beautiful country. The hills are full of trees, birds, lizards, and small dirt roads perfect for tramping. I try to stay in the noname places while in countries such as Costa Rica, the small towns that no one has ever heard of are really nice. You can just walk all day and talk to campesinos, swim at waterfalls, and while the day away just pondering the weird ways of some lizard. But I warn you, when in Costa Rica, stay far, far away from Lonely Planet’s trail. As Costa Rica is a beautiful country if you can look past the hoards of tourists, the needlessly high prices, and the whole Costa Rican “song and dance.” This is not difficult to do, just head into some noname mountain town and walk, asking only the local farmers and a dirty map as your guide.But sometimes, every once in a while,...
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Cafe Abroad Article on Graffiti
2008-02-05 18:15:00
Cafe Abroad Article on Graffiti The Spring 2008 issue of Cafe Abroad magazine is out, and it contains the article that I wrote about Portuguese Graffiti. To read it, please go to: http://www.cafeabroadinprint.com/pages/pa ge_12.htmland http://www.cafeabroadinprint.com/pages/pa ge_13.html$50 in a travelers pocket can never be refused. Thanks Dan, for allowing me write for my food!On Song of the Open Road:Graffiti in Portugal: The other side of the wallWade from Vagabond Journey.comHeredia, Costa RicaFebruary 5, 2008To subscribe to the Vagabond Journey Newsletter send a blank email to VagabondJourney-subscribe@topica.comEight years of round the world vagabond travel. Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
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New Vagabond Journey Index
2008-02-01 19:12:00
New Vagabond Journey Index I began working on the Vagabond Journey.com site again. I put up a new index page, but have not gotten very far beyond that. I think it looks a little better, so if any of you who know how to really make a website has any advice, please pass it on.Please not that many of the pages that are suppose to have be linked from the index have not yet been made. Slow steps.Thanks,WadeEight years of round the world vagabond travel. Wade from Vagabond Journey.com

Eating Hamburgers in Costa Rica
2008-02-01 19:05:00
Eating Hamburgers in Costa Rica “Esto mundo es loco, loco, loco”-Dona ElizaMira and I are eating hamburgers at a run down burger joint on the eastern outskirt of Heredia. We just received our cat-sized slabs of meat grilled to a slight crisp with cheese and onions escaping out of every side of the bread contained vessels, and were just about to chomp into them when our feast was harshly interrupted by a drug addict. “Are you Americans?” the addict asked us in perfect English. “You look like gringos, where are you from.”The addict was talking at a yelling pitch and, in his current state, was obviously not aware of any social parameters. His clothes were clean, his pants baggy and stylish, he wore a prominent chain that dangled down his leg and connected to his wallet, and had on a t-shirt from some heavy metal band. His complection was very light, and he could have easily gotten by as a local in Spain. He was not the typical washed out and beat type of drug addict, but ra...
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Street Crime in Costa Rica
2008-02-01 18:33:00
Street Crime in Costa Rica In Costa Rican cities all homes are barricaded with steel fences, all doors are perpetually locked, and external windows are criss-crossed with a menagerie of iron bars. The first time that I was in this country I was taken aback by the evident fear that Costa Ricans seem to have for their neighbors. This is a fear which has forced the populations of entire cities into the cages which have become their homes. A fear that makes people uneasy to walk down their own streets and puts entire communities on perpetual guard. I never thought of Costa Rica as being a particularly dangerous country, and I never imagined that the people here would be living inside of very real cages. I once scoffed at these iron bars, but on my return to this country I have heard some stories that have made me realize that the people here really feel as if these palisades are necessary.Cages around a home in Heredia, Costa Rica.View from inside of a cageAll of these events have happ...
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Leaf Cutter Ants in Costa Rica
2008-01-30 18:40:00
Leaf Cutter Ants in Costa Rica Leaf cutter ants are found in the tropical climates of Central and South America, and utalize a system of agriculture known as ant-fungus mutualism. The ants eat a chemical produced by the fungus and the fungus can only grow in the enclosures of an ant's nest. So the ants feed the fungus with the pieces of leaves that they cut off of plants, protect the fungus from invasive species and mold, and the fungus provides the ants with food. It is a marvelous arangement for both species, and I find the touch of a smile creeping across my face, as these little ants remind me that the world is alright. Leaf cutter ants are famous in Costa Rica, and I think I know why- they are everywhere. A walk through the forests reveals these little creatures cutting out little circular holes out of leaves and carrying the spoils along well worn trails to their nests. They are simply fun to watch, they just know what they are doing.Eight years of round the world vagabond tra...
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Alphasmart NEO for Traveling Writers
2008-01-30 17:43:00
Alphasmart NEO for Traveling Writers Following the lead of Loren Everly (loreneverly.org) I picked up an Alphasmart writing device, and it has revolutionized my ability to write while traveling.Alphasmarts are essentially keyboards that are ale to memorize keystrokes and then type them out on command into a word processing program on a computer, or sent directly to a printer. All I have to do is turn the device on, type away, plug it into a computer, push send, and the contents of what I wrote is sent to the word processing program or into the compose mode of Blogger. The Alphasmart NEO model that I use has eight different files, so I can have eight separate writing pieces that I can be working on at the same time. When I finish one, I just send it up to my laptop, edit it, save, and then publish. It is as easy as that. Alphasmarts are also light weight and highly durable. The instruction manual says that I can drop it and it will keep on working. I do not want to test this, but I ap...

Costa Rica Hotels Not Vagabond Friendly
2008-01-29 23:13:00
Costa Rica Hotels Not Vagabond Friendly .I am confused about the business sense of hotel owners in Costa Rica. It seems as if they want a relatively large amount of money ($15-$30) for crappy accommodation, and refuse to take a lesser amount than the price they first quote. I have never before been to a country that I could not barter a cheaper price for a room. The prices that are being charged in Costa Rica are similar to that of Portugal, while the country is on a whole much cheaper and the rooms of much poorer quality.It is not the tourist in-season at this time of year in Costa Rica, and the hotels are empty. But still the hotel managers will not budge on the prices that they charge. It seems as if they would rather not receive any money at all than fill a double room for a few dollars less than the exorbiant rates that they attept to charge. There are not many other tourist here now and most hotels seem to be deserted. I do not understand. I would think that any person with a b...
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Bars, Girlfriends, and Culture in Costa Rica
2008-01-26 21:50:00
Bars, Girlfriends , and Culture in Costa Rica All cultures have certain symbols and ways of acting that almost every member of the society recognizes and understands. Misunderstandings inevitably arise when travelers do not fully understand the implications of their actions in a particular social sphere. Dating, relationships, and sex are all full of cues, symbols, and underlaying implications that are deeply embedded within a particular culture. I find it interesting when the normal behaviors of one culture are brutally thrown up against another, and are therefore perilously misunderstood. For the foreigner in Latin America, I have the impression that many such misunderstandings arise over courtship, sex, and relationships. In western culture birthdays are often celebrated in bars. I reserve a particular abhorrence for these places, as I would rather be doing other things than sitting around waiting to be drunk. But certain occasions arise where drinking is the socially acceptable wa...
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Study Spanish in Latin America
2008-01-25 19:11:00
Studying Spanish in Latin America . . . AgainI have returned to Latin America and to the study of the Spanish language as well. I have never really studied this language formally, and I basically only know what is needed for traveling (which is actually a good amount). I have always been annoyed with myself that I do not speak this language any better. After nearly two years of total travel time in Spanish speaking countries, I would imagine that my proficiency should be way higher than it is. So now I study. The Spanish language has never really sat well with me. I have a difficult time rolling my R’s (in fact, my tongue is so short and fat that it may not be a real possibility), but I keep trying none the less; thinking, perhaps, that one day I will surprise myself and say the word for dog and be understood. I know that this will happen someday, I know that this language will eventually come together, it is just a matter of time. I think I know more than what I think I do- I read...
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Heredia Costa Rica
2008-01-25 18:47:00
Heredia, Costa Rica Heredia is a little city within the urban mass of San Jose that has a couple universities, a bar district, and not much else to mention. I am coming to like this little city. This is my second time here. Heredia has a small town feel within the broader urban monster of Costa Rica’s capital city. Cars rip by day and night, buses screech to halts, and the sidewalks are treacherous mazes of sinkholes and other perilous boobey traps. Fire dancers wheel flaming rods in nighttime intersections for spare change, and you can get a big, cheap hamburger around the corner. Everyone is moving everywhere in brisk starts and stops- nothing seems to be very straight forward. Heredia has flavor. It seems to be a good cross section of no-name, ordinary, Latin America. From walking down these streets it is difficult for me to tell what country I am in. Am I in Nicaragua, Ecuador, Uruguay? No, I am in Costa Rica. No-name, no-man’s lands are what is real. I smile when I end up so...

Swiss Army Knife Poll Ended
2008-01-25 18:36:00
Swiss Army Knife Poll EndedAfter a short period of debate with Ubertramp and other travelers about the usefulness of the Swiss Army Knife on the Road, I decided to poll the visitors of the Song of the Open Road Travel Blog to find out what their opinion is on this much touted piece of travel equipment. The Swiss Army Knife poll has come to an end and the results are in.When asked the question, "Do you think the Swiss Army Knife is a travel essential?"69% of people said that it is11% said sometimes19% said no (26 votes)To read more about this traveler debate please visit:The Great Swiss Army Knife DebateWade Heredia, Costa RicaJanuary 25, 2008Eight years of round the world vagabond travel. Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
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Hate Mail From Morocco
2008-01-25 17:32:00
Hate Mail From Morocco Andy the Hobo Traveler.com and I have an ongoing joke about all of the hate mail that he receives. We rather satiricly equate the volume of hate mail with the level of success that an internet writer achieves.Andy receives tons of hate mail= His site is very successful.I do not receive very much hate mail yet= My site is not yet very successful.I think that hate mail reflects much more upon the person writing it than on the one who is meant to be insulted. I find it very humorous that so many people around the world would take the time to read someone else's blog and then assault them because they did not write something that they like. It is simply amazing to me that in this age of rampant multi-cultural information exchanges people still cannot handle opinions that are different than their own. There are so many outlets of information in the world today, why don't people just click off a site that they disagree with and read something else? Really, how od...
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Renting an Apartment in Costa Rica
2008-01-25 16:58:00
Renting an Apartment in Costa Rica Accommodation seems to be needlessly expensive in Costa Rica. With a few exceptions, it is my experience that it is difficult to find a bed for under $8, and most hostels that I have stuck my nose into want $10- $12 per person. When traveling on a $10-$15 a day budget, this is too much money to pay.The price of accommodation in Costa Rica did not surprise to me, as I have previously walked for hours through Costa Rican cities in search of an acceptably place to sleep. It is my impression that a dorm bed should not cost ten dollars in this country, but this is the price that most people are willing to pay, so this is the price that is charged. I walked out of an empty hostel in a wayward corner of Heredia the other day after the manager cited a $13 a night dorm bed price. I hesitated at the door for a moment, because I was positive that he would rather have me fill an empty bed for a lesser price than walk away without giving him any money. But no di...
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Costa Rican Dance Videos
2008-01-23 18:40:00
Costa Rican Dance and BasketballVideos The following two videos are from a parade that occurred in Heredia, Costa Rica last Sunday, the day of my arrival in Costa Rica. I do not know why there was a parade, but I suspect that Costa Ricans just like dancing in the streets.The first video is of an odd game of Costa Rican basketball. I cannot figure it out, but thought it was funny enough to video.The next film is of traditional Costa Rican dance and costumes, or so I am told. It is my impression that true tradition implies what is normal in a culture, that which walks by me in a parade is usually not normal, if it were then I do not think that anybody would watch. But I suppose there is a difference between living and archaic tradition. I thought that this dance was interesting none the less.For more of my videos please go to: WadeRucksack YouTube For more photographs from Costa Rica go to: Traveler Photographs Costa Rica PhotosWade from Vagabond Journey.com Heredia, Costa RicaJanuary ...
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Onward Tickets for One Way Travelers
2008-01-23 18:07:00
Onward Tickets for One Way TravelersIt is often an apprehensive moment when checking in on a one way flight to a country that officially requires proof of onward travel to enter. Most often, I have found that I am not asked if I have a return or onward flight, and therefore everything works out fine. But on a couple occasions, I have found myself in situations that could have been potential problems while dancing around this silly restriction.I was once boarding a flight to Bangkok from Hanoi and I watched the check in girl ask everyone who wanted their boarding pass if they had an onward ticket. I did not have one. She busted many people who were in line ahead of me. When it was my turn, I confidently walked up to her and chucked over my passport. “Do you have an onward ticket she asked?”“Of course,” I loudly exclaimed with a touch of mock annoyance, “I am going home.” This worked. I neither had a ticket, nor was I planning on going home, but the resolution with which I...

Swill Army Knife Stolen
2008-01-23 17:59:00
Swiss Army Knife Stolen Somewhere between my Jet Blue flight out of Rochester, New York and landing in San Jose, Costa Rica on Mexicana Airlines my coveted Swiss army knife was stolen. This morning I went to get it out of my check-in bag,and it was gone. In its place was a ticket saying that the bag was searched by airport security. Searched, yes, and pilfered.I have checked in this knife on dozens of flights before without incident. Now, I suppose someone just decided they wanted it, and therefore took it. It just seems as if it was almost too easy of a theft.I have had items stolen from me before out of my checked-in baggage, and I really do not know how to subvert this, save not checking in any bags. You cannot lock your check in baggage, which means that its contents are fair game for every theif that feels the need to dig through it. I cannot bring my knives on the plane with me, so how can I prevent them from being stolen?I can’t, it is as simple as that. This is the second k...

The Way to Costa Rica
2008-01-23 17:54:00
The Way to Costa Rica I say proudly that I have never followed anyone anywhere before. Until now. Mira is atthe reins as we wander on towards Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, anywhere we happen to set foot. I must say that I was at the head of our travels around Asia and North Africa for the duration of our year and a half together. Now Mira has booted me from the driver’s seat and ahs taken full control. I follow smiling. Mira has a passion for Latin America- for some reason many young, light-skinned women seem to (hehehe). People like to feel beautiful. In East Asia the dorkiest, fralist, least attractive white men walk arm in arm with truly beautiful Asian women. They are kings of that hill. Latin America seems to be the same for women. The boys there line up to be selected by any caucasion woman that happens to want a lover. It must be nice to be so beautiful. Mira has proved herself a good traveler, a joyful companion, and a real good woman. I would follow her to the ends of the...

Jet Blue Flight from Rochester to JFK
2008-01-23 17:51:00
Jet Blue Flight from Rochester to JFKTwo women- mother and daughter- are sitting behind me on this Jet Blue flight to JFK. The mother is thin, around 40 years old, adorned in makeup and other beautifing elements, and was probably attractive at one time. The daughter is a little fat, barely 21, and has eyes that are spread widely apart like a goat. They both have dangly, gold earrings and big mouths. “Remember when we were on that flight to Mexico? Remember when that stewardess hit me in the head with a book? That bitch just had to wait until we got off the plane for me to kick her ass ” the daughter yelled in her best ghetto accent (they were caucasian, by the way).”She just didn’t like me singing my rap music,” she continued.They are very loud. Everyone on the plane can hear them yelling and singing.“We go’in to NuYo City ,” They yell. “All we need is a shot of Tequilla and it would be like we go’in to Mexico ”“Ay Ay Ay ,” they yell in unison. The daught...
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Mexico City Airport Navigation
2008-01-23 17:45:00
Mexico City Airport Navigation On my flight from JFK to San Jose, Costa Rica I had an overnight layover in Mexico City . From 11PM to 6AM I would be sitting in the airport with nowhere to go- there is no way that I would go into Mexico and pay for a hotel room for only a few hours. So Mira and I try to just stay in the terminal we were dropped off in. We settled into an almost comfortable sleep in the far corner of the most secluded gate. Just as we begin to dream two security guards wake us up and tell us that we have to leave. We protest. We just want to wait until our flight to Costa Rica leaves, we do not wish to go into Mexico. But we are kicked through immigration anyway. We get our passports stamped for our nine hour stay in Mexico. We now wait to be allowed back into our boarding gate. It is funny to me how some airports seem to just like funneling people through mazes of impertinence for the fun of it. Mexico City is not nearly as complicated as my flight change in Cairo last...
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On Becoming a Misanthrope
2008-01-21 22:13:00
On Becoming a MisanthropeI have now, officially, become a misanthrope. I have just realized the extent to which I try to avoid people, the schemes and excuses I make to subvert small talk.I hate small talk.If I am going to speak to someone rather than write, read, or think, I want to discuss something. I want to learn, share, laugh and explore what another person, as well as myself, knows and has to say.The process of traveling breeds a lot of opportuinities for small talk. I try to hide, I try to cower, but somehow I find myself having the same simple, meaningless conversations over and over. All too often these days I listen to other travelers and tourist people speak and I have absolutely no ambition to say anything. In fact, I try to dodge their glances and friendly advances because I know that I have nothing to share in their conversations. I do not want to be rude, so I remain silent. I just do not have anything to add to the conversation, I do not feel myself superior. I just...

Dell Laptops and Travel
2008-01-21 21:05:00
Dell Laptops and Travel The laptop computer that I travel with is a cheap Dell that got for Christmas in 2005. I think it only costed $400 new, and it has served every purpose that I have ever needed it for. It computes, it is durable, and has been able to withstand the rigors of travel. I call it "Old Faithful," as she has not let me down yet.Dell laptops are big and heavy, but they are tough. Old Faitful has crossed mountains, deserts, and seas. I even mailed her by sea mail to the USA from China. The journey took three months, and when she arrived the box was beat to a battered pulp, but Old Faithful ticked on without a hitch. I have dropped it, sat on it, knocked it around in almost every conceivable way, and this stubborn old Dell computer continues to work proudly.When the time comes to search for another laptop, I will surely seek out a big, heavy, cheap, black, archaic looking Dell. Simply put, Dell laptops are made for a life on the Open Road.Wade from Song of the Open Road...
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Reflections on Costa Rica
2008-01-20 08:54:00
Reflections on Costa Rica Yesterday I wrote that I do not really like Costa Rica too much. Perhaps today I need to reevaluate these feelings. I do not think that I previously spent enough time in Costa Rica to have any solid impression about the country. I went there two years ago to meet up with Erik the Pilot. I did not even go the the beach. I do not know how I managed to travel in Costa Rica without ending up on a single beach. From looking at a map this seems to be a geographic impossibility. But somehow we managed. Odd trails,I suppose. Erik the Pilot and I grew up together, our hallmark is perhaps that we somehow manage to do everything the in our own way, for better or worse it always seems to be more fun this way. So now I return to Costa Rica open to a new experience of the country. Mira lived there for a year previous to meeting me, and she loves it.Hey, it looks beautiful in photographs. I think the longer one stays in a place the better their odds are of liking it. . . a...
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Leaving Family in USA
2008-01-20 08:51:00
Leaving Family in USAMy mother always packs a bag of food for me every time I leave home. Always, somehow, through some inconceivable habit, I forget it. I walk through airport security, wave farewell, blow a kiss, and this bag of food is always still sitting in my father’s hand when I board the plane. After I leave he probably looks down and laughs, because he knows that I forgot this bag of food again. Now I go hungry to Costa Rica (But I know of a good place to get a mean burrito when I get there). My family is good to me. I was lucky, I was born into a really good family. An afterschool special type of family. I feel bad being away from them so much, but they know I am happy. They did their job: they raised a happy child into a happy man. They are without comparison. Right now I am sitting on airplane to JFK looking out the window. Inside the airport I can see my family looking out at the airplane, waving and trying to figure out where I am sitting. “I am in the back, mom! I...
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Travel to Latin America
2008-01-18 18:43:00
Travel to Latin America I should be leaving for Central America on Saturday- getting back to the grindstone. Walking down that long, winding Road. I am flying from JFK through Mexico City and into San Jose, Costa Rica. I do not want to be in Costa Rica for very long- I hope to go down to Panama and stick my nose around for a couple of days almost immediately upon arrival. There is just something about Costa Rica that I do not really care for. I think it has an inordinate amount of goons, and far too many people striving for excess. It just seems like a place where people try very hard to have a good time. It reminds me of Vietnam for some reason. I have a month long archaeology commitment in Nicaragua that begins in February, so I have a plan to get out of Costa Rica. In March, I think that I may have another archaeology project that I can get on in Honduras, which I would like to do for another month. After this, I think that I may be ready to get away from physical work for awhile ...
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Vacation in the USA
2008-01-18 18:32:00
Vacation in the USAPlaying Yatzee with family. Coming home is my vacation. Just sitting back, relaxing, eating from a fridge that seems to be filled by some unseen hand. This is just like being a kid again. This is my USA vacation. A week and a half of lounging around a warm house with a full stomach playing with little kids, reading books, watching movies, and eating cookies. I have kicked my feet back and enjoyed this return home vacation. When I again step out onto the Road tomorrow it is going to seem like I am going back to work hehehe. I like the USA. But I need to keep away in order to ensure that these wholesome feelings stay sharp. Being here for too long seems to dull my edges. People are gradually beaten down and eating up here. “A man sliced in pieces.” At this point, I feel like a passive observer to this slowly developing carnage. Work, work, work, work, work. . . “These Americans seem to do a lot of working.” I like being in countries where I can not understan...
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Rajasthan- Houses and Men Book Review
2008-01-18 04:54:00
Rajasthan: Houses and Men By: Tito Dalmau“Man builds houses not only for shelter,but also to define and show himself to others. In this sense, the architecture he produces is the best indicator of how he perceives his world. Architecture which is a measure of the complexity, the maturity, and the health of a given society; architecture which serves to interpret the nature of the relationships established between the inhabitants of a specific environment; architecture which remains frozen in time, a visible object after other cultural phenomena have either become extinct or else evolved into other unrecognizable forms. Architecture which allows us to directly observe the difference as well as the lasting relation between what there was and what there is at present.”-Maka Abraham, from the introductionI love picture books. I love picture books that take as their theme photographs from various places, landscapes, and people from the far corners of this planet. I dream into such pho...
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