So, I bit Oneika the Traveller’s bait and compiled my own list of seven traveling truths, revealing just a little bit about how I get around (only cuz I love you, gul!):
1. I go solo.
I love traveling with cool people, but I learned a long time ago that if I want to go somewhere, I’ll probably be going it alone. People talk a good game, but when it comes down to actually paying deposits, buying tickets, or moving beyond the planning phase, it’s usually been me all by my lonesome. I’ve had friends cancel on a Cuba trip at the last minute to go to Puerto Rico of all places! If you can get it together, then let’s roll. But I’m not afraid to take the leap on my own.
2. I’m an airline geek.
This isn’t exactly news to long-time readers, but not only am I an airline geek in general – I collected airline timetables and scale model airplanes as a kid; I collect in-flight magazines as an adult – I’m a Deltoid in particular. According to my Flight Memory statistics, almost 30% of my flights have been on Delta. Not only is their biggest hub über-convenient for me as a native Floridian, their route coverage is unbeatable (for now).
3. I’m a city boy.
I thrive on the chaos and disorder of urban environments, especially filthy, sweltering megacities like São Paulo (ok, maybe just São Paulo). Subways and museums and streetlife and nightclubs thrill me. It’s not that I don’t like nature – I do – but I want to be able to take a real shower at the end of the day.
4. I hate hostels.
I’d rather stay at a one-star fleabag (without the fleas, of course) with a private bathroom before I cram into a multi-bed hostel room. I know there are some nice ones, but I’m just not down for the whole group thing, especially with a bunch of noisy post-adolescents with questionable hygiene. And yes, I’ve stayed at enough to know what I’m talking about. Gimme CouchSurfing* anyday!
5. I’m financially hard-core.
This means that I haven’t always made the best financial decisions before embarking on a trip. That means that I’ve run out of money in India, eaten canned tuna underneath the Eiffel Tower (and McDonald’s every day for a week because no place else had a 99-cent value menu), and had to sell all of my clothes in exchange for enough cash to change a plane ticket out of Cuba. I’m working on that. Really.
6. I have sex.
I’m a grown-ass man. I’ve ‘done it’ in virtually every country I’ve been to. I know people don’t really talk about this, but fuck it. Literally.
7. I suck at taking pictures.
I used to snap photos of everything and everybody I encountered on the road, but now, I feel like it’s kind of disrespectful – for me, anyway. I mean, if I were struggling to carry a basket of rocks on my head from the quarry to wherever the hell I was taking them and somebody took a picture of me instead of helping me carry that shit, I’d be more than slightly annoyed. Other times, I just don’t feel like “looking” like a tourist. I have to break out of that habit, I know.
*No, I haven’t used CouchSurfing for hook-ups. They’ve happened a couple times, but CS is about friendships first, accommodations second. If you get a little nookie out of it, consider that a bonus! 😉
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