we have a long way to go

but where does it begin?

ive spun around the sun almost 30 times and ive still so much to learn but i have figured out a thing or two in my short time here. im piecing together some of the tips ive learned along the way as well as the bits of advice people have told me about travel and survival in other countries. actually i think im getting pretty good at it. you can drop me off in a village somewhere with a blindfold and i bet i could find food, friends, a place to sleep and likely a beer but im always looking for ways to improve. i want to dive deeper into other cultures and i want to slow down even more than i have in the past. in retrospect, each year ive managed to add another month onto my travel and perhaps this next trip will be even bigger than i thought.

im going to south america. im moving there. but where im moving there isnt a great deal of money to be made (as ive heard) so for the time being ive dedicated myself to the cycles of work and modest living for at least another seven months. its not such a bad deal being stuck (not stuck) in istanbul for another round, this is of course my favorite city in the world and i absolutely predict a return to istanbul a few years down the road but lets not get too far ahead of ourselves.

im so excited about this. im whole-heartedly setting my ambitions to begin this next trip in san diego and traveling the completeness of mexico and central america into south america all the way to buenos aires; there i said it, and now it will be all i think about for the next seven months. there is work to be done. my spanish is rusty at best and im still in debt financially even after five weeks of employment. ill manage. modest living and mindfulness go very far in this world.

i get this rush when i think about mexico and my times ive spent in central america. things were so much different in that part of the world and although i never compare the places ive been to each other i must say that the vibe in that part of the world is unlike anything ive ever felt here. the people i met on the road out there were among the hardest of travelers i have ever met. it never ceased to amaze me what travelers are capable of and its equally amazing how welcoming people are to the wanderings of strangers passing through their villages.

last i went i found my way to the corners of nicaragua. i previously didnt have intentions of even staying in central america for too long but somehow it became like a temporary home for me. i can only imagine what this trip will bring and i can also only imagine the paths i will chose from buenos aires once i have settled there.

this is the beginning of a brand new chapter in my life and i wont skip ahead to the good stuff. i have a whole winter to get through and i refuse to take for granted the beautiful place i now reside in. this year ill be traveling to eastern turkey to visit some ancient cities and i also predict a few other random excursions around the country before i depart. i owe it to this country; ive been here for more than two years and have so much to see.

as its been said.. for now we toast.. may our cups always runneth over.

here it is.. this is a tentative and basic map ive created showing the ideas i have stewing for this trip. an abridged version of this trip would actually cut from peru directly to buenos aires thus saving most of south america for a different trip perhaps including (of course including!) brazil. i call these 'stews and swims' stews being the ideas cooking on the backburner and swims being the actual journey, sometimes they end up taking different routes however these days im a man of focus and travel discipline. we have a long way to go.