Yes, I know I am definitely a slacker when it comes to this blog. I still have to upload about a billion entries from my Central American trip, despite promising to do so for months now… it will come eventually, I promise.

Needless to say, my epic trip has come to an end, eight months after leaving Australia. Exactly double the length of my intended stay overseas. After eight months globetrotting, living out of my suitcase, being in a new city every few days or weeks, drinking, laughing, meeting new people, airports, airplanes, buses, taxis, ferry’s, transportation delays, early starts and sleeping in after those long nights of drinking and dancing, I am definitely welcoming the chance to put my nomadic tendencies on hold (for the moment), slow down, spend time with the family and have some time to chill out and slip back into having a “normal” and “stable” life.

Of course, after making the mistake of spending nights on the internet lurking airline and travel agency websites, I have that itch to grab my passport and skip off again (not that it ever went away), I have already kind of decided a plan of action for my next getaway. What can I say, I am a traveler through and through… and as Depeche Mode once said “I just can’t get enough…”

To the two people that read this blog caught up on what has happened within the last week or so (starting with my final nights in New York); Vicki and I spent our final night together early on, maybe about a week before I was due to leave New York, as she was going to Colorado to go skiing with her family and then Orlando to catch up with friends she hadn’t seen in a year.

Our last night together was spent eating wings with Mikey and Robbie at Croxley Ale’s, after which we ended up at the Delancey to see Yamez DJ. I had two drinks max, but we weren’t feeling it so we migrated to Lit… where it was crowded. We called Christian and ended up meeting him and some of his friends at Home Sweet Home. Now it was my first time at this place and I can say that I’m not really a fan.

We hung around for a bit, had a few beers and then ended up walking back to Lit, where it had settled down and we were able to move around, dance and talk to people freely. We ended up downstairs talking to some friends, I may have tried to provoke a guy into fighting me (worst, worst, worst… I will never do that again), like the idiot that I am. Left Lit and spent a good amount of time sitting on Vicki’s roof chatting and finishing our beers.

An hour or so later it came time for us to say our goodbyes. Definitely not the emotional tear-fest I had anticipated, which was attributed to the extreme tiredness and drunkness. Nevertheless I woke up the next morning feeling awful, and not because of my hangover, but because I knew it was the last time I would see that d-bag for months.

The week proceeding involved packing, hanging out and generally moping around. I had a particularly fun night with “Wall Street” and then my final night was spent, at first hanging out with the Florida kids (Kris and Diego) and then Christian agreed to be my drinking buddy for the night.

I decided to break my “no shots, period” rule and did a shot of tequila and a shot of jager… both tasted awful and I will probably never do anything like that ever again. Walking home from Lit that final night/morning I had to pee so bad that I almost peed my pants as I tore my jeans off and ended popping a squat on the street, like my glory drinking days. Felt weird doing that, it had been a while… I guess when you start to move towards your mid-twenties, you would think that you are supposed to get over that stage of your life. Not the case.

I woke up a few hours later still drunk, as I packed the rest of my things, showered and then dragged my suitcases (with the help of Nicole, one of Vicki’s room mates). Said my goodbye to Nicole and jumped in the taxi. At this point I had gotten over the feeling drunk, but was now feeling deathly hungover as the taxi zoomed through the streets of Manhattan and I said my final goodbye to the city that had been my surrogate home for months. Actually scratch that, New York is my home as much as Sydney is.

Being hungover whilst going through customs/security check at the airport is probably one of the worst feelings ever, and despite thinking that I had become accustomed to it, I guess the air of sadness that came with the whole “leaving” and “saying goodbye” was making me feel fifty times worse.

The flying and transiting for over 24 hours whilst lacking sleep and severely hungover was, as anyone would suspect, pretty horrible. I can usually deal with it, but being so sad to leave and so anxious to get home at the same time can really mess with you. Especially when you have been sitting on the floor of LAX for three hours (with one left to go) after a five hour flight, waiting to get on a thirteen hour flight. Then after getting off your thirteen hour flight, waiting another six hours in the Auckland airport to board another plane (which was delayed by about two hours on the tarmac, to add to the excitement!), sit on said plane for four hours until you are finally at your final destination.

At that point I definitely felt that if I never saw another plane or sat at another airport for a very long time I would be a very, very happy person… although the bloody mary’s and wine definitely softened the blow of how shitty that travel day was.

Now to make this post less tedious (I know, there is a lot of text here), some photos:

Ending it the way we began.
 

It’s unbelievable how much time we spent at this place.
 

Wall Street! Wall Street! Wall Street! Wall Street!
 

Breakfast for the hungover.
 

As beautiful as this sunrise was, I’m sure it would have been even more beautiful from the INSIDE of the plane… t-minus 6 hours [until boarding time] and counting… 
 

Replacing that 40 with something a little healthier and definitely more Australian… welcome home, me.
 

Since being back I have sunk back into normal life nicely. Caught up with the girls that I love the most, am back to my regular fitness routine, am cooking, cleaning, planning… and despite missing cities, people and places… I am really liking being home. In fact today I am the happiest that I have felt in a very long time.

Regarding the future of this blog, since it was strictly to document my travels only, I guess it will be on hiatus for a while.. or until the next road trip.

For now if you want to keep up with me, the best way to do so is via the blog Vicki and I started: http://pajamasundae.wordpress.com

Or you can hit me up on livejournal (if you can find it) and myspace.

For now, it’s been fun… until the next adventure.

xoxo

I can make up a million excuses, but the bottom line is I have just been lazy, lazy and more lazy. I still have to finish editing and uploading entries from the Central American tour journal. New York at the moment just feels awkward, but still like home.

As you may or may not know, I was recently in the UK and Europe for a month, but I didn’t keep a journal as I was traveling. I do have a million photos (available via flickr, of course) and I will try and recap some of the trip in the coming weeks.

I have been writing many person entries in my livejournal (if I know and love you, hit me up and I will send you the link).

What I really wanted to post about is the blog I have started with my number one wingman, Vicki: http://pajamasundae.wordpress.com

We mostly post about food we cook, eat and dumb things we do… I’m sure we will be able to keep you entertained. Ch-ch-check it out.

xoxo

I have split my time between Brooklyn and Manhattan and caught up with a few people.

I don’t know what happened, but this city seems to have lost the “sheen” that I was so attracted to before. I’m not in love as I was before, but I guess that’s going to happen as I get to see more countries and in more cities. Or it could just be my extremely loathing for the cold.

In due time I will figure out where I meant to be, for now I am enjoying hopping around from city to city.

Christmas was spent waiting around in airports (which I will write an entry about later on) and then my new years eve was spent with one of my favourite Floridian turned New Yorker. The in between days have been spent drinking forty’s, dancing and laughing.

I am leaving for Hawaii in less than two weeks and very excited about it. I need the warmth of the sun and a beautiful beach to share it with again because I think the cold is making me miserable.

Want to know what else is up? Well, that’s easy:
New York (JFK) to London (LHR) 01/22/09 - 10:30 pm – 10:25 am British Airways 182
London (LGW) to New York (JFK) 02/23/09 - 11:20 am – 2:15 pm British Airways 2173

Kind of a spur of the moment thing, part of my resolution to be more spontaneous. How’s that for spontaneity, huh?!

I don’t think I could be more excited about starting a new year if I tried.

Having to say goodbye to Graeme, Andrea and Miguel was probably one of the hardest and strangest goodbyes yet. I have been traveling with them for two months now, but in a matter of minutes we had said goodbyes and dispersed into our rooms and we aren’t going to see each other for a very, very long time.

Sitting alone in my room thinking about how two months ago I was walking through the airport in Mexico city, hot, tired, daunted, slightly confused but extremely excited; it feels like that day was a lifetime ago. It is crazy to think about how in just two months I have been in seven different countries, traveled for hundreds of hours through thousands of kilometers and I am now sitting alone in my hotel in Panama City anticipating my flight back to New York on Christmas day.

It was an late start for all of us as we had all woken up at different times in the morning and gotten breakfast.

Andrea, Miguel, Roberto at brunch.
 

The day started with Graeme and Miguel getting haircuts for $3 at the salon next door to the hotel. Graeme seemed had a look of worry on his face for the entire time he was in the chair as Miguel was standing next to the lady, translating instructions for him. I don’t think he trusted him… I wouldn’t, either… hahaha.

Miguel decies to take over.. Graeme is not impressed.
 

After the haircuts we went to the shopping center for more retail therapy. We all split up and at the end of the day I ended up with some new (very cheap and very cute) lingerie and a pair of gloves. Back at the hotel we put all of our things away and decided to have dinner at the Panama Canal Causeway.

Myself, Rob (Moisty), Andrea, Miguel & Graeme.
 

It took us close to thirty minutes to decide on where to eat, but we finally decided on an italian restaurant and sat down to eat. After dinner we went for a walk, looking at all the nice boats that we couldn’t afford and then took one final group shot before heading back to the hotel for the final goodbyes.

I won’t go into details, I don’t think I would be able to without bursting into tears, not that there is much to tell… but that was it.

…and that’s it. The final goodbye for the Great Mexico & Central American tour.

Just reading back on some of my prior entries, I have had a lot of fun on this trip and met many amazing people who I miss terribly. I feel it may be too early for me to be leaving Central America, but at the same time I am ready to spend a few days in New York doing nothing, not worrying about having to move around or pack a bag or lock my valuables away.

So… just two more days with the Swedes and then I am back in the cold “real” world, New York City. I should be excited…

They start from the 22nd of October (entry entitled “Goodbye Brooklyn, Hello San Francisco”) and read up from there. I won’t be able to publish a lot at once, simply because many of the entires require extra editing and detail adding. I will try and do an entry a day… believe me, there are a lot of them.

While I’m at it, today (as you can probably determine from the title) we crossed the border from Costa Rica to Panama and it has been a beautiful, hot, sunny day. Although waking up this morning, walking to Bread and Chocolate for breakfast in the rain, walking back from Bread and Chocolate in torrential fucking downpour, you wouldn’t have thought it would have turned out so beautiful. I am very appreciative of mother nature’s recent shows mercy on our group, especially since there seemed to be an unshakable rain could following us through Honduras, Nicaragua and the first couple of days in Costa Rica.

Speaking of breakfast, Bread and Chocolate… quality. A lot of home made food and condiments, reasonably priced and all extremely tasty. Say hello to breakfast:

About midway through breakfast is when he torrential downpour started, so I tried to eat as slowly as possible, hoping that the rain would ease up by the time I had finished. No such luck. Note to self: Assuming that I wouldn’t need a raincoat in Central America because “you thought the rain season was near over anyway” is stupid. Go to The North Face as soon as you get back to New York and buy a waterproof rain jacket. I will be prepared for any weather when I hit South America. Promise.

I walked back to the hotel in the pouring rain, dragged [or struggled with, whatever you want to call it] my luggage down the stairs.

The bus ride was uneventful, I was asleep for the entire trip… surprise, suprise… not.

The border crossing from Costa Rica from Panama was interesting, but surprisingly easily. We filled in our immigration/leaving forms on the Costa Rican side, got our passports stamped and then proceeded to walk across a rickety old bridge into Panama:

(This was taken from the Panama side, facing Costa Rica)

This arsehole bridge also happened to rip the seam of the bottom of my bag, so the outer lining now has a big gaping hole. Granted, since I had been dragging my pack through graveled roads, it was the nails sticking out of the planks of the bridge that ripped the seam clear open. Not to worry, nothing a little duct tape won’t fix.

We paid the $5 fee for the tourist card and then went to the immigration window to have our passports stamped. At this point we were informed that we are also required to provide evidence that we were LEAVING Panama, such as our ticket or flight details. Of course, being that I have yet to actually book a flight, I didn’t have such details. Instead, I showed him my return ticket to Australia which of course had the old return date (1oth of December), since I hadn’t printed out my new ticket. Anyway, the point is that it worked, the customs officer stamped my passport and away we went.

A van and boat ride later, we arrive in beautiful, hot, sunny Bocas del Toro. Not a drop of a rain, clear blue water, clear blue skies… just a beautiful day.

We spent the afternoon at a Cuban restaurant, listening to Cuban salsa, drinking beer and eating delicious Cuban food:

I’m sure there will be beach time tomorrow and maybe even kayaking. I need to take advantage of the sun and sand before I go back to cold and wet New York. Ten days left and counting… I already feel said just thinking about it.

So let me start from the beginning; how my day went from crap to amazing in a matter of hours.

I was woken up at 7 a.m. this morning as I had forgotten to turn my alarm off. Not only did I wake up early against my will, I was disappointed to hear rain, rain and more rain beating down hard on the roof of the hotel. To make sure I wasn’t hallucinating, I stepped outside to double check, and to my great disappointment it was legitimating raining. Hard.

Thinking that our plans to go bike riding were spoiled, I clambered back into bed, lurked the internet for a little bit and then went back to sleep.

It must have been around 11:30 a.m. when I woke up again and decided that I should get ready to go and have something to eat. Immediately I noticed that the rain had stopped, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up, so didn’t bother putting my bikini on in hopes of getting beach time. The rest of our very small group met up and ended up having a late breakfast [or brunch, if you want to call it that] at a small cafe/diner-type restaurant called Lydia’s. The food was reasonably priced and my omelette tasted very good, so if you ever happen to be in Puerto Viejo, check out Lydia’s for breakfast.

Walking to the breakfast place, the weather seemed to get better and better. The sky was clearing up, looking bluer and bluer, then sun had come out and it was actually starting to feel warm. A humid kind of warm, but warm nevertheless.

After breakfast, we walked down the store that I bought my new Haviannas from, where we picked up our rental bikes and started our ride down the beach line to find the perfect beach spot.

The very first beach that we stopped at was okay; a nice view but not somewhere we were interested in swimming. The second beach was nicer, although a little busy and the water wasn’t too clear. Too many sticks, small rocks and leaves from the surrounding trees. We went for a swim anyway as the water was still very inviting, but didn’t stay very long as we wanted to find more beaches.

The third [and last] beach that was stopped at was my favourite. No driftwood from nearby trees, clear[er] water and “cleaner” sand. The water was a lot shallower than I expected and again, the temperature was perfect… very, very inviting. We all swam and played in the waves for a bit, again not swimming out too far because of how strong the outward drifting current was.

Graeme, Miguel & Andrea

We must have spent a good half hour, then decided to get going again because we were eager to find another beach to swim at. We never made it to another beach as it was getting late, and wanting to get back into town before it got dark, we started heading back at about half-past three. We did see a family of monkeys playing in the trees overhead during the ride back, which was very cool.

Once back in town, we decided to watch the sunset from the [dirty, rubbish-filled] beach in town and then went back to the hotel to get ready for a very satisfying and well-priced dinner at Chile Rojo.

Sunset in Puerto Viejo

Thai Chicken Green Curry from Chile Rojo… nom nom nom.

Despite having a really nice day, I already feel ready to leave Puerto Viejo. I love beaches and beach towns, but there is only so much you can do before getting bored and beach towns on this tour are starting to become a dime a dozen. We’re going biking again tomorrow, maybe we will get to see some sloths… I hope so.

Until then…

xoxo

This year I had a change of heart, despite being away from home and being away from friends and family, I woke up the most excited I have ever been in years. In fact I think I think the “being away from home” part is what made it most exciting. I have been excited about my twenty-third birthday from the moment that I booked the plane ticket for this trip [way back in February]. Just the thought of spending my birthday in a beautiful, sunny Latin American country with my fellow travelers/new friends (whoever they were going to be, I thought at the time).

This beautiful, sunny, Latin American country happened to be Costa Rica (so far, one of my favourite countries). It also, just so happened, that we had decided to raft Rio Toro today. Best birthday present to myself ever? I think so.

After the craziness of dancing at the club across the street from the hotel, I was already in birthday celebration mode from the previous night/early that morning. I watched Petra and Liz get swept off  their feet by two Cuban dance (love) machines and danced with a local Tico and was ready for a full day of excitement, starting with the whitewater rafting.

The six of us that had signed up to go (Emma, Catrin, Karin, Petra, Szarka and myself) were picked up at the hotel at about half-past eight in the morning and on the drive (which was about an hour to an hour and half), we were introduced to some of our rafting guides, who were already sitting in the van when we were picked up.

Upon arrival of the start of the river we were put into our lifejackets and given our helmets and paddles. Looking as ridiculous as ever, naturally we had to take a photo all suited up and ready to go and a photo of us all bumping our chests/lifejackets together. After amusing ourselves with the camera, we walked down to the point where we were going to start rafting and were given instructions and demos on how to paddle properly, what to do in case one of us fell out and what to do if the boat flips over. Being extremely nervous already, hearing about falling out of the boat, the boat flipping over and being sucked down the river by the currents didn’t help to ease my stomach-flips. Nevertheless, I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my body already, and I was ready to go. I wasn’t as nervous as I was before the zip-lining; probably because whitewater rafting has nothing to do with height, but nervous enough.

Once the demo was completed, we were introduced our guide (Santa Clara) and being the only all-female boat, we anticipated having a real difficult time paddling down the rapids. When we got into the boat, not only did all my nerves disappear I was really eager to start getting wet and possibly be thrown out of the boat. We tested out our listening skills (and memories) and had a bit of a “test” paddle, before we headed down the river and into our first [level two] rapid. Let me tell you know, paddling against a current is had work and paddling backwards is even harder work. We definitely earned our right to drink that night after the workout we got from rafting down through those rapids.

It is hard to describe what I was feeling the entire time, but it is the most fun I have had doing any activity… probably ever. Easily the highlight and favourite part of the trip. Everyone that has the opportunity to go rafting: GO! Don’t hesitate, just do it, especially if they are natural rapids. Planning to go to Costa Rica? Planning to visit La Fortuna? RAFT RIO TORO! And do it with Desafio.

We blazed through all of the rapids like “professionals”… actually, that’s a lie, but it was a lot easier than I had anticipated it to be. I am proud [although kind of disappointed] to say that we didn’t flip the boat once and only two of the girls falling out of the boat into the water. Even then, Catrin’s exit from the boat and entrance into the water was nothing short of spectacular; she managed to somehow FLY over Emma, into the water, also bringing Emma with her. It happened so fast, but I remember being in hysterics laughing and hearing our guide shouting and laughing in the background “get them up! Get them out of the water!” I stood up to help, but Szarka and Petra had already managed to pull them both into the boat. Kudos to them.

We stopped for a short break midway down the river where we all got to have a swim; or I should say float, as we all still had our lifejackets on. Not long after we had stopped, all of the guides started jumping off the side of the rafts into the water. They were doing all sorts of spectacular flips and dives, but eventually decided they didn’t have enough height, so they placed one of the blow-up rafts on-top of the either and continued diving and flipping into the water.

Coming to the end of the river, we were all over-excited and upset about it ending. I was tempted to start protesting and not get out of the raft, but not tempted enough, so I stepped out of the raft and got changed out of my wet clothes into dry ones.

Little did we know, the fun was only just beginning. The six of us girls ended up being on the bus with all the guides from the day and things got rowdy when they started blasting reggaeton and dancing with all of us. At one point, they whipped a microphone out of nowhere for karaoke and started singing along to the songs [in Spanish, of course] and serenading us. They kept slowing down near the side of the road to pick flowers from out of the window and give them to us, and we were all dancing, laughing and having an amazing time. I can just imagine how much crazier it would have gotten if there was alcohol involved… oh dear.

After the crazy bus ride, we said goodbye and thank you to all of the guides and continued on our journey to San Jose.

Later that night the whole group gathered for our final dinner together and also to celebrate my twenty-third birthday.

Tonight is evidence of how people can always amaze you with their thoughtfulness and kindness. Not only had they bought party hats, a tiara for me and party blowers, but they bought a gag gift (sexy blue g-string) and surprised me with a cake.

As I was cutting the cake, Miguel got up and explained that it is a tradition in Mexico for the birthday girl [or boy] to bite the cake before handing the pieces out to everyone. I was apprehensive to do so at first, but I went with it, pulled my hair back so I wouldn’t get any of the icing in it and leant in carefully to bite the cake. Before I could catch onto what was happening, Miguel pushed my face square into the cake. Icing all over my face and in my fringe.. I was in hysterics laughing and partially choking on the icing that I had accidentally snorted up my nose, whilst trying to push my bangs out of my face and out of the icing (to no avail), whilst there were flashes going of from people taking photos of this momentous occasion.

The night ended with everyone back at the hotel drinking beers and telling stories… and then after midnight we wished Rob (another December birthday) a happy birthday.

So there you have it, that is how you have one of your best and/or memorable birthdays ever: go to Costa Rica. Go whitewater rafting. Having a mini dance party with the rafting guides after. Go to dinner with good people and have your face pushed into a cake… it really is the only way to do it.

xoxo

But you will be pleased to know that I have been keeping a non-online journal documenting the happenings of my trip.

So far I have blitzed through five countries (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) – I will be in Costa Rica in a couple of days and then Panama after the 9th of December. I have seen and done so much in this incredible continent, yet I haven’t even scratched the surface.

I have the travel bug bad at the moment, I am already starting to plan my next venture, despite not knowing what my plans are going to be after Panama. I think I have an idea of what I want to do. I know it will involve Spanish School and South America… but that’s it.

I still have to think about what my living arrangements will be, I have to think about New York, Hawaii and Canada… life is crazy at the moment, but I am happy.

I know I keep promised proper entry updates the last time I posted, but I still haven’t figured out how to backdate posts. Hopefully I’ll figure it out in the next couple of days.

For now keep checking my flickr as I am constantly uploading new photos.

Loving and missing you all from Granada, Nicaragua.

xoxo

The border crossing itself wasn’t the hassle we had been made to expect it would be. We all clambered out of the bus, whipped out our passports and got in line to show the border patrol man. When it came my turn, he took my passport, took my Mexican Tourist Card and asked me if I would be returning to Mexico. I said no and that was it. He returned my passport without even checking the photo or information or nothing.

Everyone was then piled back onto the bus as we made our way through to the customs/immigration clearance building where we all got our passports stamped and started our four hour and fifteen minute ride to Belize city to catch the boat to Caye Caulker.

Vanessa, Myself & Michael on the bus.
 

Being my first time on a “chicken bus”, thankfully it wasn’t too crowded or overly hot, so being eased into the whole experience was good. Not as scary as I imagined it would be, although I don’t know why I thought it would be a “scary” experience in the first place. Little did I know, however, that within forty-five to fifty minutes I would soon be sitting next a crazy local Rastafarian man who would proceed to talk and talk and talk and talk AND TALK for the duration of the bus ride. That is no exaggeration on my part either, unfortunately for me.

He was interesting and at some points downright hilarious, so I’ll give him that. But after the two hours, with two more to go, of his ramblings in his extremely hard to decipher accent, I was exhausted and ready to jump out of the bus window.

Me, Liz waving, My Rastafarian mate.
 

Some of his topics of choice included, but were not limited to:

• How America is a “lost cause”.
• Blue and Green eyed devils of Europe.
• Why the twin towers were blown up on 9/11 (because of the gold that is buried under it, apparently).
• Why I need to buy gold coins.
• How cruise ships were the cause racial divide, with a very detailed description of how his theory works and why he is right.
• How he was once involved with the mafia.
• The “new world orda”.
• How he makes natural, home-made ice cream.
• How he used to be a high-powered lawyer and made $300 million on winning one court case.
   

There was plenty more, but amidst trying to ignore him for the next two hours and his indecipherable accent, I missed a lot of what he was trying to tell me.

We finally arrived in Belize City at around half-past four in the evening, I was exhausted from listening to my new friend ramble on about nothing and really wanting to get to the hotel, but we ended up having to hang around town until the next water taxi to Caye Caulker was due to depart at half-past five.

Our hotel was right in front of the water, which was really nice and after getting settled we all met outside our hotel where Michael gave us a little bit of information about Caye Caulker, Belize and asked us to vote on where we wanted to eat. We decided to have dinner at Jolly Roger’s grill at half-past eight, but in the mean time went and had a couple of drinks at the bar located right next to Jolly Roger’s joint.

I don’t think many of us were to pleased when half-eight rolled around and our food still wasn’t ready. Particularly Vanessa, who looked about ready to kill someone by that point. The food finally arrived at about half-past nine and was devoured in about two seconds. I also provided some entertainment at the end of the night by shoving an entire piece of vanilla cake in my mouth. You know, that’s always fun.

We decided on an early night and headed back to the hotel to go to sleep. Back at the hotel, we were greeted by a lone crab, scuttling past Vanessa’s and my room. It was hilarious at the time because someone screamed in a really high-pitched voice (I’m thinking it was Robert, token Swede) and then Vanessa screamed because she thought someone had broken into our room. I was in hysterics because of how freaked out everyone seemed to be and this poor crab was just scuttling around the floor trying to get away from all of the commotion, whilst Linda and Emma were paparazzi-ing the shit out of the poor little creature.

The crab that started a riot…. of laughs.
 

After a few minutes of it scuttling around, it finally managed to escape which marked the end of one very entertaining evening.

Snorkeling tomorrow, can’t wait!

Just to give you an idea of where I am now: I’m sitting in our hotel in Playa Del Carmen. The sky is a brilliant shade of blue with only a few specks of cloud and I’m sure that if I walk out in the next few minutes, I will be assaulted by the sun. Definite sunscreen territory through and through.

I have relatively up-to-date journal of my Mexican adventures and I will be posting and backdating those entries once I found out how to. I don’t even know if I will be able to? Recapping my last two-or-so weeks in New York is going to be a very difficult task. I blame the copious amount of beer that I had/have been drinking.

In complete honesty, there really isn’t anything [that comes to mind immediately] that was out of the ordinary or really journal/blog-worthy. As per usual, there was party, party, party. Then dance, dance, dance and of course, drink, drink, drink. I went to some cool parties with Vicky and have met some really interesting and fun (hehehehe, Vicki!!!) people.

You may also be interested to know that I basically gave up on attempting to be a tourist, so the last “tourist-like” thing that I did was visit the Museum of Sex. Kind of disappointing, but the exhibition about the sex-life of animals was fairly interesting. Especially interesting knowing that there are really know animals that display or practice monogamy. In fact I think there is only one animal that does practice it, but for the life of me I cannot remember which one right now. Must be all the sun that I’m getting, it’s frying some smart cells… which is fine by me, my chill cells have definitely multiplied ten-fold.

The last night in New York/Brooklyn was a good one. AJ, Tim, Kris and I went to Stolen Sleeves to see Trash Talk and another band that I cannot remember. After the show we were going to the Bronx and Trash Talk show, but I bailed because I got lazy. AJ went, but he later told me that it sold out so he wasn’t able to get in anyway.

Instead, I ended up meeting Vicky at Happy Endings where we danced for a bit. It was very crowded and hard to move and a little awkward for me since I was wrapped up so tightly. I was wearing too pairs of jeans, since I hate the cold so much. I still had fun, though I think it was tainted by the fact that I was leaving.

I ended up leaving at around one a.m., said an emotional goodbye to Vicky and then started walking towards the Subway station to catch the J and then M shuttle home.

When I got home I didn’t end up sleeping, but instead the arduous task of deciding what to take, what not to take and to re-pack my suitcase. I ended up leaving about three bags full of stuff in Brooklyn in the trusty hands of the Floridians. I honestly didn’t think I’d end up leaving so many things behind, but apparently I have been shopping… a lot. Who would have thunk it.

So with no sleep, I sorted through my things, packed what I wanted/needed to bring, threw out a lot of rubbish and then headed towards JFK.

I wish I had something super profound and meaningful to type to wrap up my thoughts and feelings about New York and how it has changed me and all that crap, but I think it would be too difficult. Plus, you know, I’m really not that good of a writer… which is evident throughout my blog, right?

I will say that it presented new challenges and that I think I met and was swallowed by my evil twin for a little bit. In fact I think I met her in LA, she followed me to New York [remaining dormant] and then struck on a fateful night in Manhattan.

As much as I love and miss New York right now (despite haters saying, and I quote, “New York is overrated.” – native New Yorker), being away from that city is doing me a lot of good. With the good change always comes the temptation of the bad, especially since I am on holiday. In fact right now I don’t miss it all that much, but I do miss the people. Or more-so, a few people.

So there you have it, the recap before I hit San Francisco. Maybe further down the track, if I remember them, I will recap random moments, stories and adventures for you. For now, breakfast and the beach are calling my name.

Hasta luego from Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.