Travel Gear I Couldn't Live Without

Jared and I will soon be packing our backpacks again for the first time in ages. After nearly four months of living out of a car and then an apartment, we've accumulated a fair amount of stuff. Faced with 15kg baggage limits on Jetstar (Qantas' low-cost subsidiary), we can only take the bare essentials. Fortunately, I almost have packing down to a science. There are a few things in my backpack that now stand out as must-haves. For those of you who are embarking on a round-the-world trip soon, pack much less than you think you'll need (you can buy stuff along the way), but don't leave home without these crucial items.

• Inflatable neck pillow, eyemask, and foam earplugs: Indispensable for overnight buses or rowdy hostels, and the pillow will also come in handy when camping. Spend a few bucks on an eyemask with a soft lining, and keep the airplane freebie as a spare. Make sure the inflatable pillow has a removable, washable exterior.


• Convertible pants: Space in my backpack is precious, so everything must perform double duty. Convertible pants zip off at the knee into shorts. You'll find these at outdoor stores like REI, EMS, The North Face, and Patagonia. Shop around to find a brand that fits and flatters, and remember these are "summer clothes" that won't be in stores past September.


• Space Bags: Put clothes into these plastic bags, zip shut, and roll the air out. Jared and I simply would not be able to fit all our clothes into our backpacks without Space Bags, available at The Container Store.


• Collapsible water bottle: Both Nalgene and Platypus make soft water bottles that take up little space or weight when empty.


• Quick-dry towel: It may only be one foot long by two feet wide, but hey, it dries quickly.


• Sarong: If you're going to be spending time on beaches, bring a sarong or buy one as a souvenir. I've used mine as a beach towel, dress, bathrobe, picnic blanket, and scarf.


• Video iPod: If you're going to be on the road for a year, buy an iPod with the most memory available. Load it with as many TV shows and movies as it will hold, especially videos that you can tolerate watching over and over again. Ever wanted to watch all six seasons of Lost, from the start? Now is your chance. (Ripping DVDs takes time, so don't leave this for the week before you depart.) Take advantage of all the free (!) podcasts on iTunes and stock up, especially on language learning podcasts like Coffee Break Spanish. Add some audiobooks and upload some photos too, while you're at it. When you are homesick or stuck on yet another 20-hour bus, your iPod will be your most valuable possession.


• Sleeping bag liner: Perfect for when it's BYO linen, or when your sleeping bag needs to be just a bit warmer. Invest in a silk liner, which weighs less and takes up less space.


• Flash drive: This isn't a must, but it's nice to have, and they are teeny tiny. Use it to store scans of your passport, immunization records, and résumé. Flash drives are also perfect for transferring photos from your camera. Otherwise, be sure to store a scan of your passport in your online email account.


• Money stashes: To split up your cash and cards, you'll need something in addition to a money belt. Try flip-flops with a secret compartment, a bra stash, or a belt with a hidden zipper. The flip-flops are heavy, but worth it.
  

Wondering what else is in my backpack? Tennis shoes, hiking boots, a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, ten pairs of underwear, ten pairs of ankle socks, two pairs of hiking socks, three bras, one tank top, four short sleeve shirts, two long sleeve shirts, one skirt, a micro fleece, a 3-in-1 jacket, t-shirt and boxers for pajamas, three bikinis, sleeping bag, mini first aid kit, assorted toiletries, camera, journal, books, a deck of cards, backpack rain cover, small Swiss Army knife, one bandanna, one bucket hat, three luggage locks, electric plug adapters, one small bottle of hand sanitizer, and a copy of my travel insurance policy. Now that we are out of cold weather for the foreseeable future, I'm ditching the winter hat, scarf, gloves, and sweater I bought in South America. You can also check out Jared's complete packing list, but he has since pared down. Pack much less than you think you'll need, we can't say it enough.

What are your travel essentials? Leave us a comment.

Working For a Living in Cairns

Hello from Cairns, Australia, where we can't help but cheer on the Aussies as well as the Yanks and Canucks in this year's Olympics. Actually, after visiting so many different countries on our trip, we find ourselves cheering for just about everybody.

We are happy in Cairns, a.k.a. "Cans" in Aussie-speak. Since the end of January, we had been moving almost every three days, and we were exhausted and burned out when we arrived here. For the three months we've been in Australia, we'd mostly been sleeping in the car or in a tent. Feeling homeless was causing some of the worst bouts of homesickness I've had on this trip. It was time to stop somewhere and settle for a while. Now that we have a place in Cairns, we can finally unpack for a little bit and stop living out of our backpacks. We're enjoying the little things that we take for granted at home, little things like regular showers, a closet for our clothes, and a refrigerator. It's nice to have a "home" in Cairns for a while.



Cairns is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, so we will both be making pilgrimages there before our time here is up. It's the dry season here in FNQ, or Far North Queensland. Days are warm and sunny, nights are cool and clear, and you won't hear us complaining about the weather. We'll skedaddle long before the wet season starts in November, when torrential downpours occur daily and the air is so humid you could cut it with a knife.



With our bank accounts slowly making their way towards zero, and an extension to our trip until June 2009 (20 months total on the road), it was time to look for work. We'd looked for jobs in Noosa and Byron Bay, but since this was our last stop on Australia's East Coast, we had to find jobs. And fortunately, we did. Right away, Jared found a gig working for Wicked Campers, which came with an unexpected perk--free accommodation. Jared spends his days renting camper vans to backpackers just like us, sharing all the tips that we learned on our drive up the coast. It's a big change from his previous work as a sales executive in the fashion industry, but it's stress-free fun for the time being. We live in a three-bedroom house above Wicked's office with Jared's two co-workers, Lucy from England, and Fabrice from France. It's about a 30-second commute to work for Jared.



On my first day of looking for work in Cairns, I found two jobs within hours. I work four hours a day at a nearby bakery, go home for a break, then I wait tables at a hotel restaurant. Both gigs are within walking distance of our house. It's nice to be working again, especially at the bakery, where I am surrounded by chocolate cakes, caramel tarts, and lemon meringue pies all day. I even got to make chocolate chip cookies on my second day, and the whole time I am thinking, "you're paying me to do this? Sweet!" Life is sweet, indeed. I love working at the bakery, and it's made me realize that our materialistic culture puts too much value on prestigous, high-paying jobs. Why do I have to have a high-powered career? Can't I just be a baker?



The Australian dollar is almost equal to the U.S. dollar right now, but minimum wage is nearly double. Minimum wage here is almost $14 per hour, so when our employers told us what we would be paid, we smiled and said "that'll do." A strong Aussie dollar means everything is expensive here for us ($6 a gallon for gas, $25 restaurant meals), but at least now we are getting the flip side of that equation by earning Aussie bucks. Now that we're working, we can finally afford that box of Froot Loops we've had our eye on.

We're both working six days a week, but we are still taking advantage of the area with our evenings and occasional days off. There is the swimming lagoon right next to the port, and when we want a good beach, we drive the 20 minutes north to Palm Cove. There is a great farmers market on the weekends, a botanical garden nearby, plus a fantastic nightlife. One treat for us was taking a dinner cruise around the Cairns harbor last week.

So while we tuck into our toast spread with Vegemite, (it's good, really!) check out our photos of life in Cairns.

Sailing the Whitsunday Islands

In the nine months we've been traveling, Jared and I have slept in hostels, buses, planes, a tent, a camper van, and a station wagon. Now we can add one more to the list, a sailboat. We just got back from a three day/two night trip through Australia's Whitsunday Islands, off the Great Barrier Reef.

We left for our sailing trip from Airlie Beach, which ironically does not have a beach. And it's just as well, because the ocean north of the Tropic of Capricorn is inhabited by lethal box jellyfish in the summertime, which the Aussies amusingly call "stingers." To make up for Airlie's lack of Beach, the town has a free swimming lagoon. It's basically a man-made swimming pool, but a beautiful one at that. On sunny days, it seems the whole town is sunbathing at the lagoon.

The entire town seemed to be desinged for tourists. We couldn't find a movie theater, but there were hostels and bars aplenty. We stayed at Koala's, which is a hostel chain in Queensland. I probably wouldn't stay there again as it was run-down, loud, and we had our food stolen from the communal fridge, but it seemed like the other main hostels in town were just as bad. There isn't much to do in Airlie outside of partying, but we also had a big night out with our boat when we got back, and it was fun!


For our sailing trip, we chose the Prima, a 47 foot yacht with capacity for twelve passengers plus two crewmembers. The cabin was snug but had plenty of room for everyone. Along for the ride were a German guy, an Irish couple, two Swedish girls, a Dutch girl, and three other Americans. (The four Americans onboard were the most Yanks I'd seen at once since we left the States. American travelers are few and far between here.) Including Steve the Skipper and Andy the deckhand, we really lucked out with this group, and would recommend this boat for anyone who wants more than just a party boat, although we did have some late nights.


The rain came down heavily as we left Airlie Beach and didn't stop for two hours. By then we all donned rain jackets and went on deck. The rain kept us from snorkeling that day, but I was enjoying the novelty of being on a sailboat. (Well, except for when I nearly lost my lunch. Thank goodness for Dramamine.) Jared and I were both surprised to see that the islands were covered in pine trees, not palm trees. Although we were technically in the tropics, the Whitsunday Islands resembled the Pacific Northwest in the rain. That night we anchored in Refuge Bay, settled into our private, cozy room (the size of a closet, or Jared's first New York apartment), and were rocked to sleep by the boat.


The next morning we stopped at Whitehaven Beach, reputedly home to the whitest sand in the world. Apparently it has an almost pure silica content, which NASA used to build the glass lens of the Hubble Space Telescope, just in case you were wondering. The beach is also one of the most photographed beaches in the world.

It had stopped raining for the most part, but the sky was still covered in grey clouds. The beach was gorgeous, but we could all imagine how beautiful the scene would be if the sun was shining. Andy kept us entertained by taking lots of silly photos of us posing on the beach. As luck would have it, the sun finally came out just after we left Whitehaven Beach.

That afternoon we went to two snorkeling sites, in surprisingly chilly water. In the coral reefs, we saw clown fish and a large Hawksbill sea turtle, who let us get really close to him. It was just like Finding Nemo down there - the coral was as good as Fiji. I think our skipper Steve took us to the less visited sites, so we were not complaining.

We finally had a full day of sunshine on the last day of sailing. We took advantage and all laid out on the small deck sunning ourselves. Jared was lucky to get another day of sailing in after the trip ended and it was the sunniest day of them all. Andy, our great deckhand, was taking part in a local yacht club race around some of the islands, and his boat needed extra crew. Jared and four others spent 8 hours racing a 42 foot yacht, and had a blast.



Check out our photos from Airlie Beach and Sailing the Whitsundays.

Off-Roading in Fraser Island

A belated happy Canada Day, 4th of July, 9 de Julio, and Bastille Day to everyone! Jared and I celebrated every single holiday. For Canada Day, we were in Rainbow Beach surrounded by Canucks, so we had a proper celebration with lots of beer. I was feeling surprisingly patriotic on the Fourth, but we were on a tour with a bunch of European kids who couldn't quite understand why I wanted to track down fireworks. We grilled steaks and drank red wine for Argentina's 9 de Julio, and we rang in France's Bastille Day with baguette and brie. It's just a shame we're seven months early for Australia Day.


The Fourth of July fell during our three-day tour of Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island and a World Heritage Site. We left from the port of Hervey Bay, four weeks early to see Humpback Whales migrating through the bay. Unlike other tours we've done, this one was self-guided. After about 12 briefings from our tour operator, eleven of us crammed into a 4-wheel-drive van, with Jared and 3 others sharing the driving. All of the "roads" on Fraser Island are only navigable by 4WD vehicle. Either we were driving on the beach, or on extremely bumpy roads in the rainforest.


We were incredibly lucky to have an amazing group of people in the van with us. There were six mellow Swedes, an awesome Irish couple, and a cool Dutch girl. As other groups bickered or left food out for the dingos, we all got along like fish and chips. It's a good thing too, because we had to dig 2 vans out of the sand, and nearly got stuck ourselves!


Tiger sharks breed in the ocean off Fraser Island, so swimming at the beach is a no-go. Fortunately, the freshwater lakes on the island are safe and inviting, if not a bit chilly. After a bumpy drive through the rainforest, our first stop was the beautiful Lake McKenzie. Doesn't it look like something in the Caribbean? After a stop at another, not as pretty lake, we made camp for the night. On the second day, we started driving on the beach. We stopped at the 73-year-old shipwreck of the S.S. Maheno, just as the tide was flooding through the rusted hull. Next up were the Pinnacles, colored sand formations that looked like cliffs.


Fraser Island is covered in dingos, Australia's dangerous native dog. We were given umpteen warnings about the dingos, but only saw one on our trip. They have a reputation for harassing tourists, and I was standing in the back of our truck with a ham sandwich in my hand. It turns out that this dingo was quite well fed since another group left out $80 worth of beef the night before, and their campsite was raided by 100 dingoes. This guy (or girl) seemed like an ordinary stray dog, but we knew better than to approach him. There is something amazing about seeing a wild animal and in their native environment, and we've been lucky to see a few in Australia.


The rain came out at lunch on our second day (the 4th of July!) and barely stopped for the rest of our trip. Because of the weather, we nearly missed Lake Wabby, but on the last day, we got up early to see it. The sun came out just for the hour we spent at the lake. Bordered by a giant sand dune on one side, Lake Wabby was one of the coolest things we saw on the island. Jared and two of our Swedish friends took turns rolling down the dune into the lake. The sand is slowly filling in Lake Wabby, and park rangers estimate it will be gone in 40 years. Maybe rolling into the lake wasn't the best idea...



All in all, we had an amazing time on Fraser Island and would highly recommend it to anyone who is planning a trip to Australia. Hopefully you'll luck out and get a group as amazing as ours! Check out our photos from Canada Day and Fraser Island.

Australia Zoo: Koalas, and Crocs, and Roos, Oh My!

We are on a pretty tight budget, so we have to be careful which pricey excursions we choose. With discounted fares of $41 each, a day at the Australia Zoo was quite an investment. Our new friends Clementine and Ryan told us it would be worth the price, and they were right. The Australia Zoo is one of the coolest things we've done in our 8 months of travel.

Australia Zoo is run by the Irwin family, of Crocodile Hunter fame. Steve Irwin's image and legacy eminate throughout the place, adding a poignancy to the day. Naturally there were lots of crocodiles, many caught by Steve Irwin. All the crocs are deadly, especially the saltwater crocs, so they were each surrounded by not one, but two thick fences. One croc named Acco is 16 feet long and weighs one ton!


The zoo is one of the few places in Australia where you can actually hold a koala. Ever since we started seeing koalas, holding one has been a dream of mine, and at the zoo I happily ponied up $20 to have my picture taken with one. Since they sleep 20 hours a day, koalas are usually pretty docile when they are awake. My koala, a male named Minty, smelled like grass and poo and felt like a heavy cat. I only got to hold him for about two minutes, but it was absolutely priceless.


Australia Zoo's trademark is that you can get up close to most of the animals. Aside from holding the koala, we also got to feed an elephant, pat a few more koalas, and we fed kangaroos out of our hands. They even have packages where you can pay extra to walk a cheetah on a leash for 30 minutes. Where else can you do that?


We could have spent all day feeding the kangaroos. When we saw them in the wild outside of Armidale, they hopped away before we could get within 50 feet. The kangaroos at the zoo are used to people, and they will happily eat out of your hand. That's right, the KANGAROOS EAT OUT OF YOUR HAND! It's awesome! A bag of roo food cost only 50 cents, and last for quite some time. The roos walked right up to us, knowing that we had food. We had to keep them from just sticking their heads right in the bag.


There's more to the zoo than koalas and 'roos. We tried and failed to take a picture of a tasmanian devil, which never once stopped running around its enclosure. Safely behind a fence, we met a deadly Aussie bird called a cassowary that can disembowel humans with its middle claw. Bright orange dingos looked just like dogs, except they were only visible behind a thick glass wall. The only Australian animal we missed was the platypus.

So if you are going to be anywhere near Brisbane or the Sunshine Coast, don't miss the Australia Zoo! Don't forget your 'roo food! Take a look at our photos from the zoo.

Deja Vu on the Gold Coast

So much of Australia reminds me of home. It's hard to get homesick in a country with iced coffee, salt and vinegar chips, and movies that don't need subtitles. But in Australia's Gold Coast, the similarities were almost eerie. As we drove along the Gold Coast highway, I saw signs for Palm Beach, Miami Beach, Miami Keys and even Florida Gardens. It was as if this part of Australia confused itself for my hometown on the Atlantic.

Before we could hit the Gold Coast, we took a detour to Nimbin, the Woodstock of Australia. Nimbin is a tiny town known for still living the hippie lifestyle of the 1960s. If you ask a few of the residents, they might still think it's 1968. Set in among hills that are steeped in Aboriginal lore, Nimbin is a tiny little farming town. We stocked up on inexpensive, organic dried fruits and fresh beef. Just outside of town, we stopped at Protester Falls, in the middle of a tropical rainforest.


After a freezing night in Nimbin, it was time to head back to the beach. Surfers Paradise is the center of the Gold Coast, and from the name it sounds like a sleepy little town with a lot of dudes who say 'gnarly' all the time. Perhaps that was the case in the 1960s, before Surfers became a mecca for Japanese tourists. Now it is Australia's version of Cancun crossed with Las Vegas. Surfers has so many high rise buildings that we could see it from miles away.


From everything we'd read and heard, Jared and I were sure we wouldn't like Surfers Paradise. Then again, we were sure we'd love Byron Bay, and just the opposite happened. We had low expectations for Surfers Paradise, so it was easy to be pleasantly surprised. We knew it would be covered in high rises, flashing lights, and drunk 19-year-old backpackers. (Actually we joined the party for a night out, and had a blast.) But with an outlet mall and three Starbucks, we weren't complaining. In a country where cities are few and very far between, we loved being in a beach town that had all the benefits of a city.

Surfers Paradise is a bit of a misnomer, because the best waves are actually in the surrounding towns. Jared surfed the breaks in Coolangatta, and Burleigh Heads. In Currimbin, he accidentally rode into the middle of the Queensland state longboarding competition.

Taking a break from sleeping in the car, Jared and I checked into Backpackers in Paradise hostel. It was a great hostel, complete with a pool and mini-cinema. We even joined the Backpackers Big Night Out and hit 3 clubs on Saturday night.


From Surfers Paradise it was time to go to an actual big city, Brisbane. The capital of Queensland, Brisbane is Australia's third largest city. A river runs through the center of town, almost making you forget that the city is inland. While Brisbane seems to be a very nice place to live, we quickly realized there was little we wanted to see. We did get to see our good friend Julia again, and her friends Lucy and Sam were nice enough to take us in for the night. Thanks, mates!


We are in the posh beach community of Noosa now, trying to get caught up on our posts. You'll hear more from us soon, but until then, check out our photos from the Gold Coast.

Sydney: Getting by With a Little Help From Our Friends

Before I arrived here, I had two images of Australia: the Sydney Opera House and the Outback. So when Jared and I finally clamped eyes on the iconic Opera House, a shiver went down my spine. It was one of those surreal travel moments when I couldn't help thinking, "this really is the Sydney Opera House. I have made it to Australia." We took the above photo while walking across Sydney's other famous landmark, the Harbour Bridge. We couldn't spend $200 to climb the bridge, but fortunately crossing it on foot was free.

We spent most of our nine days in Sydney buying a car to drive up the East Coast of Australia. Between browsing, test driving, having the car inspected, and buying a roof box, we had days of car-related errands to run. We had heard so much about the King's Cross Car Market, where backpackers sell their vans and wagons at the end of their trips, but I found I could smell the desperation amongst the sellers. Some had been sitting in that gloomy parking garage for two weeks trying to sell their cars. We found our car on Gumtree and bought it from our new friend Dominik. (By the way, can anyone read his German blog?) Our new car (Jared's first) is a 1993 Holden Berlina station wagon with just over 160,000 miles. It came with gadgets to keep us from hitting kangaroos, but no cup holders. Go figure. So far the car seems to be working out for us.

Sydney is a great city, but Jared and I both prefer smaller Melbourne. In Sydney we really felt the stresses of being in a big city--packed commuter trains and high prices. It reminded us a bit of being back in New York City, but not in a good way. At least Sydney has some fantastic beaches to take the big city edge off. We made a mandatory stop at world famous Bondi Beach, but found that we liked the relaxed vibe of Coogee Beach better. Unfortunately it was a bit too cold to go swimming at either beach. Looking back, I wish we'd had time to do the clifftop walk from Bondi to Coogee Beach.


We did manage to do a bit more sightseeing before leaving town. The World Press Photo exhibit had us awestruck for two hours. For our New York friends, don't miss the exhibit when it stops at the U.N. building from June 27 to July 17. We meandered around The Rocks, Sydney's quaint historic district, filled with cafes and pubs. At the Museum of Contemporary Art, we met some of Sydney's underground self-publishers at a zine fair. We didn't get to take a harbour ferry to Manly Beach, so now we have a reason to go back to Sydney.


One thing I will never forget about Sydney is the bats. They might as well call the Botanical Garden the Bat-anical Garden. As we watched cockatoos flying amongst the trees, we saw something else hanging from the branches. Hanging upside down asleep, with their wings folded, they were the size of cats. And there were THOUSANDS of them. And they were MASSIVE. When they awoke and started flying, the bats were nearly a meter wide from wing to wing. All these bats live in the middle of downtown Sydney, only a short walk from the Opera House.

Our stay in Sydney would not have been possible without the hospitality of our friends. A huge thank you goes out to the entire Cohen family, and Julia, Ryan and Clementine. Jared's old friend Craig introduced us to his Aussie relatives the Cohens. We met Julia back in December when we toured the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Her roommates Ryan and Clementine had never met us, but they welcomed us like old friends. We hope we can return the favor someday.

Jared and I are currently driving up the East Coast of New South Wales in our station wagon. But that is another post for another day. Until then, take a look at our photos from Sydney.

One of the 100 Best Travel Blogs!

We were recently honored to be included in Travelhacker's list of the 100 Best Travel Blogs. As it turns out, we are in good company!

Check out the full list.

As the kiwis would say, sweet as!

Officially a Lost Girl

Just before Jared and I left New York, I exchanged a few emails with Amanda of The Lost Girls, who had just returned to the city after a year around the world. Their hilarious travel blog made me realize how much I had to look forward to on my travels.

Now that the Girls are back in the Big Apple, they regularly profile a Lost Girl of the Week. This week, it's my turn! Click here to read why I got Lost.

The North Island of New Zealand

If you happened to pass by the blog on Saturday night (Sunday morning our time), you saw a quick post that we were about to go skydiving. Just after we had zipped up our jumpsuits and been fitted into our harnesses, clouds rolled in and the jump was canceled. Maybe next time we should post after we jump.

We managed to skip winter this year, or so we thought. In February, during Carnaval in Brazil, I would check weather forecasts in New York and feel sorry for all you poor suckers stuck in the cold. Now while you are enjoying warmer temperatures, spring flowers, and baseball season, Jared and I are in a topsy-turvy place where it is almost May and the trees are covered in red and gold. While I always equated "south" with "warmer," it gets colder the farther south we drive. Cry me a river, you are all saying. I know.


Like the US, New Zealand is best seen from your own set of wheels. Since our budget is squeezed tighter than Lindsay Lohan's jeans, we rented the cheapest camper van possible. Instead of a fancy new RV, our ride is the size of a Volkswagen bus with a convertible table and bench, double bed, and a pump sink in the back. To save cash, we sleep in free campsites when possible. Suddenly hot showers have become a luxury. Our 1994 Toyota Hiace can only go about 20 mph uphill, and every time it starts in the morning, we breathe a sigh of relief. Jared is stuck doing all the driving because I don't know how to drive stick shift, but he has become quite adept at it, and on the left side of the road, no less. (Mike Soldner, you would be amazed!)

New Zealand in the fall is stunning, but I am sure it is beautiful all year round. By missing summer peak season, we are being treated to gorgeous foliage, lighter crowds, and slightly lower prices. We need all the discounts we can get--NZ is by far the most expensive country we have visited. Gasoline is $6 a gallon (and we use about $50 of gas each day), a cup of coffee is at least $2.50, and restaurants are out of the question. Instead of our $25 per day budget each, we have been spending about $60 per day here, not including excursions. But the views are free, and priceless.

After flying from tropical Fiji, we were greeted by a chilly downpour in Auckland. At the airport, we had our tent and hiking boots inspected as part of New Zealand's biosecurity, which keeps out foreign algae and pests out of NZ's ecosystem. With 1.3 million people, Auckland is NZ's largest city, and the home of 25% of the country's residents. Yet it still feels like a small, manageable city. Unfortunately, we only had 24 hours in town, and it was pouring for most of them. Oh well.

With only one week to spend in the North Island, we headed down to Rotorua for a dose of Maori culture. We visited Whakarewa, a Maori village sitting on an active thermal area. (Believe it or not, that is the village's nickname, short for Te Whakarewarewatanga O Te Ope Taua A Wahiao,' meaning “The uprising of the warriors of Wahiao".) It was interesting to learn that the Maori language is actually having a renaissance, after nearly dying out 20 years ago. Throughout New Zealand, government signs and plaques are shown with English and the Maori translations.

Itching to explore New Zealand's famous terrain, Jared went hiking (or "tramping," as they say here) in Tongariro National Park, said to be one of the most beautiful day hikes in the country. Tongariro is a dual World Heritage area, recognized for its three volcanic peaks and Maori cultural significance. He hiked right by Mount Ngauruhoe, which was used as Mt. Doom in the climax of The Lord of the Rings. (I stayed behind. When traveling and staying in a van, it's hard not to spend 24 hours a day together.)


From Tongariro we made our way down to Wellington, the capital city. If you are going to be in Wellington, don't miss the outstanding Te Papa museum, where we experienced simulated earthquake. (Better a simulation than the real thing, which is all too possible here.) The next day we took a 3-hour ferry across the Cook Strait to the South Island. Here are our photos from the North Island.

Before we left on the trip, my boss warned me that we may be missing out on life while we were gone. "But Charlie," I replied, "this is life." Still, we are missing out on some special times, especially our friends' weddings. So we'd like to send our love to Andrew and Caroline, Jack and Davi, and the newest newlyweds, Alex and Ximena, and Will and Dina. Congratulations, you guys.

If you follow the trip by email or Facebook, check out the blog! We've added a snazzy header, trip statistics, and a nifty clock that shows our local time. Thanks to Tal for all your help.

Back in the U.S.A.

Hello from Fiji! Before Jared and I tell you about our time here in paradise (seriously, Fiji is heaven on earth) let's look back on our quick jaunt to the good old U.S. of A. We spent 10 days seeing people we love and chowing down on all the food we'd been missing.

Jared and I don't plan too far in advance, so when Jared's sister offered us two free tickets to Houston for her graduation, we jumped at the chance to go home for a bit. We took advantage of some buddy passes and frequent flier tickets and mapped a frantic U.S. tour: first Houston, then Florida, New York, and finally Los Angeles.

We touched down in Houston after more than five months in South America. I couldn't help but immediately see the overconsumption that is prevalent in the States. Everywhere we looked we saw big SUVs, big houses, big portions of food. Then again, this was Texas, where everything is big.


We weren't in Houston to sightsee, we were there to see family. Jared's sister Rachel became one of the newest flight attendants in the skies, and we both gained a new respect for flight attendants. (Rachel can evacuate a plane in 90 seconds!) As a bonus, we got to stay with Jared's cousins Cindy, Todd, 3-year-old Jessica, and one-year-old Colin. Last time we saw Jessica she was only one, and this was our first time meeting Colin, who I wanted to take with me.


Our next stop was my hometown, West Palm Beach, Florida. Throughout our last few weeks in South America, I was growing more homesick by the day. Seeing my parents, grandparents, and best friends did more for my spirits than a stay at a five-star hotel. My parents are selling my childhood home, so next time I see them they will be living in Georgia. I gave my grandparents big hugs, because they are 81 and 90, and I can't take them for granted anymore. Jared and I even got to spend time with his grandmother Myra, who lives not far from my parents. Friends are the family you choose, so seeing Jen, Billy, Katie, Bill, Eileen, and Hope was as important as seeing my parents. (I just wish I had taken more pictures of everybody.) Take a look at Jared's photos from Houston and Florida.


Then it was on to New York City, which is still my favorite city in the world. We had 36 hours to see as many of our friends as possible. It was a chilly Tuesday night in the city, but a few friends came to meet us for dinner and karaoke, and even more came out later for drinks. Over salmon and avocado rolls at our old sushi joint, we all sang rousing versions of "Sweet Child O Mine" and "Bohemian Rhapsody". Being serenaded by Feldman was worth the price of admission. Jared and I had missed all our friends more than they know, and seeing them was worth the trip to New York.


The next day in New York, I realized I had lost my wallet. Somewhere between paying for the cab back to Maria's apartment the night before, and walking 10 blocks that morning, my wallet went missing. Both my debit cards and three credit cards were in my wallet, and I know better than to keep all that stuff in one place. As my favorite blogger would say, BE YE NOT SO STUPID. Now that I was back on familiar territory I had let my guard down, and I was paying the price. It's better to have lost my wallet in New York than in a foreign country, but still, this is not how I wanted to spend my one free day in the New York City. I wanted to spend my day getting lemon cupcakes from Buttercup Bake Shop.


Los Angeles was the last stop on our North American leg. We scored a great deal on a flight to New Zealand, via Fiji, at half the price we would have paid from South America. So by coming home, we actually saved $1600. Plus we got to spend time with our good friends Erin, Hal, Hasmik, Kareem, Noah, Greg, Danielle, and Jenni. We grilled on a sidewalk, soaked in a hot tub, and spent time enjoying the hospitality of our new and old friends. Our time in L.A. also coincided with Community Next, a conference founded by our friend Noah. (We were used to seeing Noah in boxers at his Buenos Aires apartment, so it was strange to see him in a suit.) Right before our flight, we even crashed a barbecue where the host, who only met us that day, made us an incredible lunch of root beer marinated pork chops and grilled eggplant. Check out our photos from New York and L.A.


Having seen lots of family and friends and satisfied my cravings for margaritas, buffalo wings, spinach dip, sushi, chocolate chip cookies, salt and vinegar chips, In-N-Out Burger, Ethiopian food, sushi, burritos, The Cheesecake Factory, cookie dough ice cream, and more sushi, Jared and I boarded our flight to Fiji. We left the states feeling happy, exhausted, and ready for another long leg of travel. Thank you to everyone who put us up, transported us to and from airports, fed us and came to see us. We appreciate it more than you know.

Safe travels, J & J.

P.S. GO YANKEES!

What I've Learned While Traveling in South America

Inspired by Esquire magazine's regular feature, here is what I've learned.

Keeping in touch with friends keeps homesickness at bay.

In small towns, there are always street dogs running around. All they want are scraps and some love.

Everything weighs something.

Indigenous people do not like having their picture taken.

Toilet paper: don´t leave the hostel without it.

Grilling on an Argentine parrilla is serious business. They don't care if it takes hours; for them, the taste of steak cooked over wood coals is worth it.

In first class, a 17-hour bus ride can be enjoyable.


If my daypack feels heavier than normal while I am wearing it on my back, someone is trying to open it.

Ceviche cures a sushi craving.

People love wearing Yankees hats, even if they don´t know exactly what the NY stands for.

Don´t travel on the Day of the Dead, especially if it falls on a Friday.

Hand sanitizer, peanut butter, and my iPod are worth their weight in gold.

Keeping a daily journal and a blog of our travels are major commitments.

Chileans and Argentines speak entirely too quickly.

Liability isn´t really a concept there. We´ve climbed the rafters of churches and walked right up to the mouths of geysers.



The whole continent is obsessed with soccer. Cities practically shut down to watch big games.

If I order one of my favorite American foods such as a cheeseburger or pizza, it will never turn out quite the way I´d hoped.

Vitamin B tablets will make you smell bad to mosquitoes.

Tang packets make purified river water taste good.

In Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, the set lunches at restaurants are a steal. A three-course lunch for $1.50? Count me in!

You have to shake a mercury thermometer before using it.

If you want to visit Argentine wineries, go to Cafayate instead of Mendoza.

All the dollar coins ended up in Ecuador, which uses the U.S. dollar.

Never wake a sleeping anaconda.



Sometimes Lonely Planet can be a little too enthusiastic when describing places. If they say a place is "off the beaten path," it will be overrun with backpackers.

I never met a hot spring I didn't like.

Street food is yummy. Meat kabobs, fresh squeezed orange juice, caramel popcorn, churros, corn on the cob….

You can buy carne (meat) at a carnecería, libros (books) at a librería, but you can´t buy ferrets at a ferretería. They sell hardware.

Argentines and Urguayans love their yerba mate tea. Even on the hottest days you´ll see them clutching thermoses and gourds of tea with metal straws.

Portuguese doesn't sound a thing like Spanish. We learned that the hard way.

There are still nice people in the world. In Saquarema, Brazil, a woman walked 20 minutes out of her way to take me to the one shoe repair shop in town. Instead of asking for a tip, she gave me her phone number in case I had any other questions.

You can buy anything at street stalls in La Paz. Batteries, eggs, you name it.

The best way to learn geography is to travel.

Hasta Luego, South America

We hit the highlights of Patagonia during the second week of our two-week tour. Unfortunately, we had to skip the majestic FitzRoy mountains and could only stay for a short time in El Calafate, El Bolson, and Bariloche. But when Jared's sister Rachel got us two free tickets back to the states, we jumped at the chance to head home for a bit. (I was becoming more homesick by the day. When Jared vetoed Domino's pizza in Rio, I almost burst into tears.) Besides, after five months in South America, we were both ready for something new.

After leaving Torres del Paine, we crossed into Argentina for the fourth and final time. Just outside the Argentine border office was a huge sign that said "Las Malvinas son Argentinas," or "The Falkland Islands belong to Argentina." I had learned about the Falkland Islands War in school, but I was surprised to learn that Argentina still claims the tiny islands off the coast of Tierra del Fuego. The islands even grace the back of Argentina's brand new two peso coin. Apparently Great Britain is well aware of Argentina's claim on the islands, but it was certainly news to us.




No trip to Patagonia (even a whirlwind one) is complete without a visit to the majestic Perito Moreno glacier. At 180 feet tall, the glacier is a field of jagged blue ice that reminded me of planet Krypton in the Superman movies. Jared has hiked across several glaciers, but even he kept saying he'd never seen anything like this. Even small pebbles of ice echoed as they fell into the lake below. Imagine the thundering crash that sounded when a giant sheet of ice plunged from the glacier; the awesome noise sounded like an avalanche. The crash happened too quickly for us to get it on film; we could only stand and stare, completely in awe of the power of nature. Check out our video and photos of the glacier.



Aside from the glacier, there is not much going on in El Calafate, so we soon moved on to the tranquil town of El Bolson. In a rare treat, we flew from El Calafate to the city of Esquel, and then took a bus two hours from Esquel to El Bolson. (Interestingly, we flew on LADE, the airline of Argentina's air force.)

El Bolson is a sleepy little town in the shadow of the Andes. We met a cool American guy named Michael in our hostel; he and Jared went biking in the foothills of the mountains. We skipped the surprisingly pricey restaurants in town and instead Jared cooked us a feast of fresh trout. If you are in the area, don't miss El Bolson's artisan market, one of the best in the country. I gorged on homemade alfajores (like Argentine moon pies... yum) and Jared bought some microbrews while we stocked up on handmade gifts for our families.

From El Bolson we moved onto Bariloche in the Lakes District. I had heard so much about Bariloche, but I must say I was underwhelmed. We only had 24 hours in town, so maybe we just needed more time to take advantage of the national park that surrounds the city. Instead we went to the tiny Swiss Colony (Colonia Suiza), an hour outside of town. The trip to the Swiss Colony was worth it for the stunning lake views we saw on the bus, plus I scored a gorgeous pair of handmade earrings for $1 at the craft market. Before we left Bariloche, we made a pilgrimage to one of the town's most famous chocolate shops.



Next on our agenda was Mendoza, the capital of the Argentine wine industry. Several of our friends told us we would love Mendoza, and they were right. We instantly started plotting a way to move there. Maybe it was the leafy trees that shielded us from the desert sun. Maybe it was the proximity to the famous vineyards. Maybe it was that Mendoza was a smaller, cleaner, more manageable version of Buenos Aires. Whatever it was that made us love Mendoza, we wished we could have stayed longer than four days. Take a look at our photos of Bariloche and Mendoza.

Fortunately, we made the most of our brief time in Mendoza. Jared and I both took the plunge and went paragliding. We even managed to get our flights on video.





Once Jared and I were back on solid ground, we rented bikes to explore Mendoza's wineries. Though we had a great time riding crookedly from one winery to the next, we both agreed that we prefer the wineries of Cafayate. (Cafayate, we both agree, is one of our favorite places in South America.) Whereas Mendoza's bodegas are an hour out of town, there are several within walking distance of Cafayate's quaint town square. If you are going to be in the Northwest part of Argentina, take a bus three hours from Salta to Cafayate and sip on their famous Torrontes wine.

We took our last overnight bus from Mendoza to Buenos Aires and caught an overnight flight from Buenos Aires to Houston. More details on our North American leg are coming up soon. Until then, safe travels.

Rio de Janeiro and back home to B.A.

After our tour of Southern Brazil´s beach towns, it was time to visit the biggest beach town of all, Rio de Janeiro. My expectations for Rio were so low that it was easy for me to be pleasantly surprised.

The best part about Rio was that our good friend Maria flew down from New York and met us there. We miss all of our friends and family more than we can say, so it was such a treat to spend a few days with Maria. She even came bearing gifts--real New York City bagels! Jared and I ate those bagels with cream cheese and huge smiles.



Rio de Janeiro is quite possibly the most naturally beautiful city I´ve ever visited. Set in a bay and surrounded by sloping granite hills, Rio is much more than its famed beaches. Although those beaches are pretty nice too. While we didn´t run into any trouble in Rio, we didn´t have to look far to see Rio´s notorious favelas, or slums. On the hill below the Christ the Redeemer statue, only a small highway separated the favelas from guarded mansions.

All in all, we did Rio right. The three of us made the mandatory stops at Pao de Azucar (Sugarloaf mountain), Christ the Redeemer, and Ipanema beach. We snacked on coconut water straight from the coconuts and a sorbet made of a tangy fruit called acaí. At a samba club in Lapa, we happened onto a concert by an amazing band called Loroza. Lapa was a sight in itself, with a party in the streets and stands selling every snack and cocktail imaginable.



Without a doubt, the highlight for all of us was the soccer game we went to at Maracana Stadium. We splurged on tickets for the Rio championship between Flamengo and Botafogo. Getting into the stadium was one of the scariest moments of our trip, as our petite guide raced to the entrance with our tickets. Fortunately we got in fine and found ourselves with ridiculously good seats--twenty rows behind the teams´ benches.

The game was the Rio city final, but you would have thought it was the World Cup Final. These fans were INSANE. Both sides flew flags, chanted taunts, and even set off firecrackers in the stadium. American sports fans are just a bunch of pansies compared to Brazilian futebol fanatics. We didn´t shoot this video, but it gives you a good idea of the energy at the game. In the end, Flamengo beat Botafogo, 2-1, to repeat as Rio champs.



I had heard many firsthand accounts of muggings in Rio, but we got lucky. The three of us never carried purses, backpacks, or even wallets. All of our jewelry, even my $7 earrings from Bolivia, stayed in our hotel. When we went to the beach and had to carry bags, we used plastic grocery bags. To minimize any potential losses, we only carried the smallest amount of cash necessary, and I hid credit cards in the secret stash of my Reef flip-flops. Our hotel, Hostel Copa Praia, was in a very safe part of Copacabana and we highly recommend it. Jared and I didn´t bring our cameras out much, so take a look at Maria´s photos of Rio.

After saying goodbye to Maria, it was time to board a 38-hour bus back to Buenos Aires. Flights were $360 each, and the bus was $120 each, so it was a no-brainer. Our seats were like Lazy-Boy recliners, so the ride wasn´t that bad, though I am not itching to do it again anytime soon. Thanks to those of you who contributed to Jared´s birthday gift. Your generous gift paid for our bus tickets to and from Brazil.

Both Jared and I were thrilled to be back in Buenos Aires. After more than four months on the road, B.A. is the closest thing to home. It was great to catch up with our friends and indulge in as much ice cream from Freddo as I possibly could. We retrieved our cold-weather gear and boarded a flight to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world.

If you´re reading this via email, take a look at all the improvements we´ve made to our site. Thanks to Tal for all your help!

Iguazu Falls and Carnaval, our Introduction to Brazil

Hello, friends and family. As I write this post, Jared and I are celebrating four months on the road. Over the past four months, we have spent countless hours on buses because we would rather save the plane fare. Then again, an 18-hour bus trip isn´t so bad when you have an attendant serving you champagne and a seat that folds down into a flat bed. We traveled to Puerto Iguazú on the holy grail of buses, one with genuine flat beds.

Before we visited the famous waterfalls, Jared and I stopped at Triple Frontier landmark. As we stood across on Argentine soil, we could see Paraguay to the left and Brazil to the right, just across the river. Each country´s territory was marked with an obelisk in their national colors. Most likely, that is the closest we will get to Paraguay.


How can I describe Iguazú Falls? Only a poet could do it justice. Iguazú Falls are a series of 275 waterfalls along 1.7 miles of the Iguazú river. The cataratas, as they are called in Spanish, are mostly 210 feet tall, though some are as tall as 269 feet. (Niagara Falls, for the record, are 167 feet tall.) Separating Brazil from Argentina, the falls should be seen from both sides to be properly appreciated. Argentina has the closer look--we took a boat into the base of some of the falls--while Brazil has the panoramic view. And, oh what a view. Take a look at Jared´s photos and try to imagine the roar of Iguazú Falls.


We finally got our Brazilian visas in Puerto Iguazú. The small consulate in the Argentine border town didn´t want to see any bank statements or proof of onward travel, they only wanted cold, hard cash. My visa cost $147, and Jared´s cost $70, almost 50% more than we were expecting. (Sometimes it pays to be Canadian.) And for some strange reason, my visa has a big stamp on it that says "FREE." If only that were true.

From beautiful Iguazú Falls, it was another overnight bus to Florianópolis, Brazil, where we would spend Carnaval. We stayed on the Ilha de Santa Caterina, at the Armaçao beach. In the small village of Armaçao, the Carnaval party was centered right outside our hostel. Music blared from a lone parade float, hundreds of people danced in the streets. As soon as the Super Bowl was over (congratulations, New York Giants!), Jared and I grabbed our caiprinhas and joined the party. Check out our photos of Carnaval and Florianopolis.