As you have probably already realized (and as we've had to begrudingly accept) the blog is in ill repair. The entries are less and less frequent, and when they do appear they are often missing a little of the spark that came so easily on the road.
The fact is our lives right now just aren't that suited for blogging. We are still hopelessly tied to our computers, but we've replaced recording adventures or searching for food, music, and the other lovely parts of life with writing cover letters and searching for jobs. And we can assure you that these new and far less interesting digital pursuits don't make very good bedfellows with a light-hearted travel blog.
Because of that we've decided to put our blog on hiatus, while we figure out what the next step will be. Our hope is that once our lives begin to find some semblence of stability we can come back to our poor blog, but for now it just isn't fair to let it limp around, a shadow of its former self. Unfortunately, it is better to put her down- hopefully only for a while.
We wanted to end with a thank you to all the readers who've made the blog experience such surprising fun. It was such a privilege to share our trip with family and friends, and we can't thank you enough for coming along and being part of our journey.
You know how penguins will travel for thousands of miles in what may seem like an aimless search for just the right conditions? I’m pretty sure that approximates the path that we have taken since we hit the road from Ann Arbor over two weeks ago now.
As you might know, we are planners, and we set up a rather nice plan to reintegrate ourselves back into American society. At least, it seemed sensible at the time. After two weeks in Ann Arbor filled with visiting family and friends, basic logistics (car insurance, medical insurance, turning phones on, etc.), and generally catching our breaths we would drive out west, get a studio apartment, and hunker down until we were once again counted amongst the employed.
And so far it has simultaneously gone exactly as we planned it and not at all like we expected.
The time in Ann Arbor was great. We got a solid night of sleep (one that didn’t involve street or animal noises, a wildly uncomfortable bed, or the worry of critters living in the sheets) every night, had some wonderful times with all of the amazing people we know in Ann Arbor, and generally got mentally ready to jump back into American life.
Our time at home included:
Meeting a new Johnson
Sharing South American treasures with old friends
And Pie with Uncle Dan!
Then, as we cataloged in a previous post, we jumped in the car and put down nearly 4,000 miles in a two week road trip all throughout the country in search of a home and a job. This journey, it must be said, has been full of fun, excessive laughing, and reunions with family and old friends.
We made time for a couple nights in Boulder so that Stick could kill us both in air hockey
Caught Michigan hockey at a San Francisco Irish pub
Soaked up Nocal at Baker Beach
And reconnected with friends
We also discovered just how obnoxiously long California is. Exit 796?? Though in some ways it felt shorter than Nebraska…
But somewhere in that long journey north, a little nervous bird began chirping at us, and we began to realize our plan was a bit more free-floating than we’d realized. At times it was hard not to wonder whether we should have just stayed in Michigan to job search. I mean, what were we doing traversing the country in person in this digital age?
Eventually we made it to Portland where we were once again were reminded of why we were on the road in the first place. At the same time we were also reminded of why we previously had a severe case of Portland obsession. Despite the prententious bikers and hipper-than-though ultra micro mini brewers who think brewing in oak barrels is so 2009, the place is just amazing, filled to the brim with buena gente, and the food scene rocks.
Evidence Piece #1 of food scene supremacy: Creative, delicious food carts are all over the city, even beer ones!
The back of the The Pie Spot...love the aprons
And of course, we hit up a Portland coffeehouse
Pizza is a HUGE deal in Portland. We found pages of artisan pizza places all with their own take, and all with amazing reviews. We went with a morel mushroom pizza and salted caramel ice cream from Lovely's Fifty Fifty. Outstanding!
If you're going to Portland and like cooking/funky but afforadble places, we highly recommend the Bluebird Guesthouse
Then it was on to Seattle by way of Spokane, wow is the northwest gorgeous
In the Seattle area we were met with more family, friends and all around good times
Dinner party at Derek's with supernice folks that included a gumbo made with live crabs!
And so for now we are parked in the northwestern tip of the country, though like the penguins we are just playing along with the conditions on the ground. At this moment our everchanging plan consists of nailing down a short-term studio in Seattle or Portland from which to spend our days scouring the internet for work and writing job applications, while still getting in some good, old-fashioned exploration from time to time. And though there are a lot of times where we grow somewhat overwhelmed by worries about the future, most of the time we are probably closer to this:
And very much like two slightly forlorn penguins we plan to keep searching, searching, searching...
p.s. As it happens, a little known holiday called Penguin Day falls on April 25 as this is when Antarctic penguins begin their northward migration each year. Needless to say we’ll be celebrating…
After a day dominated by a soul crushing education job fair on Matt's part and a brutal 8 hour application fest (for one absurd application) for Cat there is really only one thing to do.
Most people in America have likely driven on I-80 at some point. Running through the middle of America from New Jersey to the San Francisco Bay, you are never too far away from I-80 (which is also the second longest road in America and the first to run from coast to coast) in any corner of the country.
But few spend as much time on I-80 as Cat and I did last week and because of that experience we thought we'd offer up a few tips:
#1. Don't forget the cord to your laptop
Our cord was the only thing we forgot and it is the reason that this blog has been sadly neglected over the past week. But we had it shipped out so we could get back to our normal computer enslaved lives, which was no easy feat considering we are currently living out of our car. In fact our nomad status meant we had to use a little known side of the post office to get the cord: general delivery. For those unfamiliar with general delivery, it is normally used for those without a permanent address (usually homeless people), and thus requires you to go to post offices in the rougher parts of town (and at odd hours). But it did work and so we are back!
#2 Look for furry stowaways
When I opened my car door for the first time in 6 months I quickly realized that while I had been in South America, my car hadn't exactly been idle. But instead of serving as a means of transportation it became a home for a family of mice who used it as a bed, kitchen, and regretably a bathroom.
$100 in uphosterly cleaning later and we were on the road out west, with what was once an overpowering smell of urine reduced to only the faintest whiffs. And as we put miles behind us we thought less and less about the previous rodent residents of our car until we reached Boulder, Colorado late on the second night...
Upon arriving in Boulder we went through the usual unloading process. We brought in our bags, the clothes we keep hanging on the hooks in the car, our file of "if these were stolen our identities could be stolen too 10 times over" documents, and finally Cat's yogurt. For those who don't know about Cat's kefir yogurt, it is a type of yogurt grown from bacteria "grains" that needs regular fresh milk infusions to stay alive. It is also a surprisingly delicious and healthy yogurt which she had cultivated and refined for years (her mom took care of it while we were away).
Our unloading started out unremarkable, but as I was just finishing the sound of easily the most girly scream I'v heard from Cat came from inside. Rushing in I found a white-faced Cat pointing to her yogurt which had the biggest and most bloated mouse I've ever seen floating wide-eyed amongst the globs of yogurt.
After finding the mouse and disposing of the body (and heartbreakingly her yogurt culture) we spent the next 24 hours on mouse patrol, trying to figure out if any other furry creatures had decided to come along on the journey. To do this we set mouse traps, laid out samples of cheese and peanut butter, and shuffled through every box and bag so we could declare them "mouse free". And luckily no others have been found for the last 5 days, but this hasn't stopped us from setting a series of mouse traps before going to bed each night.
Pulling out of the driveway
In a very full car
#3 Get lucky with your timing in Nebraska and Iowa
After 800 miles of Iowa and Nebraska it is very hard to think about anything except how sick you are of cornfields. But as we learned, if you go at the right time of year Nebraska can get a lot more interesting. Around April and May every year over 600,000 Sandhill Cranes pass through Nebraska on their migrations north and as they fly they make complex formations (thousands of cranes strong) that blanket huge sections of sky. And luckily we ran directly into the middle and their ever-changing patterns kept us engaged for hours.
We were also lucky in our timing in terms of catching a brillant sunset
#4 Eat Local
On a roadtrip as long as ours, if we were to subsist mainly on fastfood we would be lucky if our hearts didn't explode. We would also miss all of the interesting local joints that give you a brief taste of what the area is like. So with that in mind Cat and I spent our time on the I-80 corridor randomly stopping at restaurants that looked interesting (as unemployed folk, we also don't have smart phones, so we had to do it old school). And luckily we stumbled across a few great ones including:
Java House, Iowa City, Iowa
This place seemed to be one of the main student spots in the surprisingly nice Iowa City. Do yourself a favor by breaking up your trip through the cornfields with their amazing cappuccinos.
Su Casa, Sinclair, WY
In a town of 423 people in the middle of "I didn't know it was this desolate" Wyoming we found this amazing Mexican restaurant that was one of the best traditional Mexican meals we've ever had. Everything was made from scratch and their enchiladas even had a homemade mole. For around $5, go here even if you aren't hungry.
Bakker's Brew, Battle Mountain, NV
All I could think about while ordering at this place was why they were serving white chocolate pumpkin chai lattes to a trucker crowd in a town of a dozen people. But you know what? They were mighty good.
#5 Play Bluegrass while zooming through the Sierras
In my opinion easily the most beautiful stretch of I-80 is when you go over the Donner Pass (as in the Donner Party) in the Sierra Nevadas. The area is dominated by snow, pine trees, and curvy roads. The first time I went through it 4 years ago (my first time in California) I ended up getting so excited that I sped excessively to the sound of bluegrass, and it was so much fun that we decided to have another radar crunching, bluegrass fueled joyride with Cat at the wheel this time.
We had been planning to put up posts throughout our journey, but we hit a snafu: We brilliantly left the power cord for our trusty netbook in Michigan which really limited our ability to post. But luckily the cord will be arriving at a post office in San Francisco tomorrow, so we’ll be back in action with road trip posts.
And when we get the cord we plan on sharing with you everything you need to know about traveling on I-80, including important information about new Chicago microbrews, which songs bring down the house while singing karaoke in a Boulder basement, and where you can find some shockingly delicious Mexican food in a Wyoming town with population 423. We’ll also share the exploits of visiting friends and family living along the way, the massive winter storm bearing down on us tonight, and the special treat of being 1,200 miles into a road trip when you find the car is infested with mice.
Despite the fact that our last two days in South America had been a circus of late/no-show buses, shady hostels, and pretty much everything possible going wrong, I awoke at 3:30 am on our last day with a heavy feeling, a droopy rain cloud sitting over my head. We scurried to catch the taxi, showed our passport about 18 times and filled out boatloads of forms, paid yet another inexplicable Bolivian tax, shared a terribly overpriced, dried-out muffin at 5:00am, and still the cloud lingered amongst these irritations. I was stewing, plain and simple.
I was stewing over my fears about our immediate future, feeling scared wondering what would happen for Matt and I and where we’d end up, and getting caught up in my sadness that our bus-filled, adventure-around-every-corner journey had to come to end. I couldn’t help wishing it could just go on forever. But somewhere over Colombia on the second of three flights I got a grip and managed to mentally take a step back and thought to myself, “wow…this was incredible.” And I realized-at least for the moment-that when trying to make it through life, grace is your true friend.
The graceful thing to do is to realize that we were damn lucky, we had an amazing experience, and that I should be profoundly thankful for this. Everything both wonderful and awful comes to end, and when transition comes you can’t hold back the turning page or squeeze more out. Rather than getting hung up mourning the fact that our trip must end, I think it’s far better to remember that though the time is over what we can take with us is all we’ve learned (plus a few souvenirs), look towards the next chapter, and be so grateful for the time and experiences thus far.
The sun setting on our trip
by Matt
At this time last year the dream was already fully formed. Cat and I loved LA, but we knew it wasn’t right for us in the long term and so we fantasized about the new and exciting place that would serve as the perfect backdrop for the next chapter in our lives. Of course I’m talking about Portland, Oregon, a city that Cat and I fell in love with years back, which always served as our go-to dream destination for what was coming next.
Fast-forward to this post where I am high over the Gulf of Mexico coming from a past that I never saw coming (and one that has absolutely nothing to do with the assumed next step of Portland, Oregon). And like so many major shifts in life, this abrupt change in plans can be traced back to a single nondescript moment, innocent and quiet at the time, but hugely influential over the long term. In our case the moment came during a visit from our friend Jess to our little seaside apartment in late March, 2010. One night over dinner she mentioned her experience WWOOFing in France, and from this quick blip of conversation, another conversation was born between Cat and I. At first it started as casual, “Doesn’t WWOOFing sound amazing?”, followed a few weeks later by “Why can’t we WWOOF too?”, and then in late June, after many, many hours had been spent revolving around the idea it finally became, “Where should we do our WWOOFing?” And from this seed of WWOOFing the trip grew and grew and, well, the rest is now the history of this blog.
As I look back over our blog I must admit that I’m simultaneously in awe and somewhat terrified by how the best laid plans in life (in our case Portland) can be diverted not only by major life changing events, but also by any small idea that bumps into a slightly bigger idea which bumps into an even bigger idea. And then before you know it instead of living by the beach in California or braving the rain and clouds of the Pacific Northwest you’ve spent the last eight months living out of a suitcase in destinations ranging from the Hawaiian Islands to the Straights of Magellan.
I also feel lucky because those small moments can nudge life in any direction, good or bad. And though we met plenty of both good and bad on the trip, I can confidently predict that unless one of us got some bizarre Bolivian disease (which considering some of the places we stayed wouldn’t be too shocking) I will never be anything but exceptionally happy about the 164 days spent on the road in South America.
October 2010
March 2011
And for the future? Well, this is our 100th post and the blog promises 101, so our plan is to keep it going for a little bit longer as our 101st post: Coming in for landing/Returning to life in the US.
This “post” will likely go for a handful of weeks as we drive across the country and up the Pacific coast with our cooking equipment in tow in search of jobs, a place to live, and just a pinch more adventure. We’ll cover interesting food and recipes we come across, and any further thoughts, pictures, and funny moments from the road.
As coverage of our South American journey wraps up, Cat and I have been arguing about all the potential posts we still need to include before moving on. I say Creeps al gusto, she says Lake Titicaca. I say Inca Cola, she says perros bravos. I think we both realize that it is important to finish our travel posts while the trip is still fresh, but there are so many odds and ends that would take a lot of time to fully flesh out.
So what we’ve decided to do is to compromise with a very South American solution. All over South America they love to play these medleys on the buses that have 10 or 20 seconds of their favorite songs all strung together into one giant song that goes for (and I’m not kidding) like 20 minutes straight. So as a tribute to the South American medley here are some favorites of ours that need to get out there, but just haven’t had the chance until now. Enjoy!
More Fun With Translations
We've touched upon this before, but sometimes things get a bit lost (or is it gained?) in translation
This one has three amazing translations. "Pie" means foot in Spanish and the word "crepe" is spelled as "crepe" in Spanish, English, and French. That means our desert options were "Lemon feet", "Apple feet", and "Creeps to your liking." Mmmm Sounds delicious
Bravos of South America
Without Bob Barker it seems that most South Americans sadly never remember to spay or neuter their dogs. And that means there are a lot of perros bravos and gatos bravos (wild dogs and cats). But unexpectedly these dogs and cats are almost universally adorable and good natured (though flea-ridden, so no touching). It is the dogs with owners that you need to watch out for. Here are a few favorites we caught.
Pretty llamas
In Bolivia they put colorful tassles on the llamas' ears to help identify them from a long distance and to count how old they are (they get a new tassle for each year).
Llama Fetuses
We've already had a post about the importance of regular llamas, but it turns out that llama fetuses are also very important. Generally when a new house is built a llama fetus is buried in the foundation for good luck. These pictures are from the witch's market in La Paz. I wonder why it has that name..?
Lake Titicaca
Once the centerpiece of an empire, Lake Titicaca is now a center of tourism, and not in a good way. All of the towns around it are tourist traps of the highest order, so we didn't stick around long. But that doesn't mean we didn't enjoy some amazing views
Funny Artwork
This piece is from the Santiago Modern Art Museum. We still laugh everytime we see it
A lot of Bolivian hostels/restaurants have hilarious bootleg posters. Here are some favorites
Life in La Paz
It is easy in a lot of South American countries to forget sometimes that you are not in the US anymore, but never in Bolivia. Bolivia is a totally different, and strikingly foriegn way of life. For example, in La Paz the vast majority of goods are bought not in stores, but on the streets, and the result is that everywhere looks like this
And the hills of La Paz make San Francisco look like Kansas
And it is unusual to not see a woman carrying a baby like this
Or buses that look like this
Inka Cola
And for last, an important subject: the bubble gum, sickly sweet drink beloved by any good Peruvian (here taken as a treat after the Colca Canyon)- Inca Cola!
Bolivia is a place of extremes-extreme altitude, temperature, and dress (I never did figure out how the ladies keep those jaunty bowler hats perched on the side of their heads) - and extreme opposites.
And there is no better evidence of this than Bolivian food. On the one hand bravely sampling the culinary delights of Bolivia offers guaranteed intestinal distress and heavy metals in the water, and on the other (to our great surprise), some incredible international cuisine and Andean fusion.
I probably would have looked like this:
if someone had told that I would have the best pizza I’ve ever tasted in Bolivia, where typical dishes, though tasty, look like this:
But as it turned out, Matt and I encountered one transcendental gourmet pizza that after serious reflection, took the prize for the best pizza either of us has ever eaten. Go figure.
Minuteman Pizza.If you ever find yourself in Uyuni, Bolivia, forget the largest salt flats in the world. Your first order of business is to eat at least three meals at this place. It's owned and run by an expat gourmet pizzamaker from Boston who moved to Bolivia for his wife, who is from Uyuni. He had worked and worked to set up a pizza oven that could kick out amazing pizzas despite the high altitude.
And though there were many delicious sounding options on the menu, we had to go with the Spicy LLama Pesto Pizza. The homemade pesto was made with fresh-from-Brazil Brazil nuts, large of course
Have a closer look at this thing
Minuteman Pizza, you made me one blissful girl
In addition to our sinfully good spicy llama pesto pizza, we also had the serendipitous pleasure of encountering some of the best Indian food we’ve ever eaten. We got the “couples’ room”, complete with cushions for seating.
Isn't the little room romantic?
This was seriously one of the best Indian meals I've ever had
Our third Bolivian gourmet surprise was a Dali-themed restaurant in the one pseudo-swanky area of La Paz. Dali visited the Bolivia desert and salt flats and is said to have found great inspiration from the surreal landscapes. I personally found great inspiration from the fantastic steak and potatoes (they take their potatoes very seriously around there) I ate for my last meal in South America, and I know Matt was in heaven with his meal too.
I do believe I was wearing the exact same outfit for our first meal in South America. What can I say, I only had like three tops
They had all these great Dali-inspired installations and artwork
We splurged on wine AND dessert
My meal-a steak in a gorgonzola sauce with Andean potatoes
Matt's meal-steak in a red wine sauce with pesto mushrooms and some other type of potato
One of the defining foundations of Peruvian and Bolivian culture is the coca leaf, and there is no way we can skip over talking about it in good conscience. Of course in the states we know much more about the coca leaf’s Frankenstein creation, cocaine, but down there the leaf is revered as a sacred source of pride to all those in the Andean high country.
Coca leaves have been chewed and brewed in tea for thousands of years and Bolivians in particular will readily point to its history as the world’s first anesthetic and surprisingly healthy attributes (it has an amazing assortments of vitamins, minerals, and other healthy bodily building blocks). And though it was outlawed for a brief period, coca leaves are now completely legal in Bolivia, Peru, and northern Argentina and one estimate we saw put the number of people who chew them regularly at an astounding 97%.
All this history of course meant that we had to give them a try, especially because once we entered Bolivia we instantly had to contend with breathlessly high altitudes and coca leaves are also a known altitude sickness cure. So upon entering Bolivia we went to a little hole in the wall (quite literally in this case) where a small, toothless man scooped a healthy bag of cocas out of a garbage bag full of them. It was now time for the gringos to get to know coca and as we learned there are a few things gringos should know before heading out on your own coca adventure. They include:
1. To chew a coca leaf you first tear out the stems. They aren’t bad for you, but they can be a bit scratchy and unpleasant.
2. Then you ball up about 10 little leaves into a wad and stick it into your cheek. Once in your cheek don’t chew like gum. This will turn it into shreds which you will continuously swallow and gag on. Instead just press it with your teeth from time to time.
3. It takes about 10-15 to start getting an effect, but when it works the effect is not unlike caffeine, except that the part your mouth it sits in will become slightly numb.
4. If you aren’t used to it, don’t eat too many. Matt while suffering from altitude sickness ate one after another and eventually he had a reaction where he became so lightheaded that he nearly fell into a mountain stream.
5. To maximize the effects you wrap the leaves around an alkaline (they sell them in stores too). Though by the time we learned this we were too cocaed out to try it.
Our own little bag of leaves
This is the stream that almost got Matt. The llama would have been very confused.
And this is the Coca Museum in La Paz. It was really interesting and definitely didn't pull any punches at the US (there was an amazing statue of a "druggie" American watching MTV)
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