In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life.. it goes on. – Robert Frost

Today, I’ve made the executive decision to restructure the layout of how my blogs will be formatted slightly–I will still continue to write about my personal experiences as I have been doing so for both the months leading up to leaving on this great journey and adventure, as well as all that has happened over the past 19 months and counting– the only difference will be that I will try and be more didactic in the proactive way in which I provide information that I’ve gained in order to provide a better insight in to what both extended budget travel and backpacking in general is like, since it is more of a lifestyle than just a hobby or activity. The topics will pertain to more recent subjects, such as; current prices, accommodations, volunteering, social issues, transportation, visas, border-crossings, etc. For example, how the perception of this bohemian lifestyle is often viewed as romantic and gorgeous in the photographs on Facebook, in reality much of our–backpackers–time is spent on random forms of transportation, catching up on sleep in the most awkward of places, and finding the discipline to manage our time to balance everything from meeting new people, enjoying the present moments, as well as juggling the constant communication overload of trying to stay in touch with both family and friends back home, as well as all of the new friends you make along the way. The various competing team zones and almost never knowing what day it is never helps either. There is a a decent documentary, A Map for Saturday, that portrays a bit of the reality of backpacking and has a parallel connection with me since the story revolves around, Brook Silva-Braga, a television producer that left his cushy job with HBO in New York City to travel around the world for about a year. Even though the documentary is almost 10-years old (from 2005) there are still some very valid points that are made in the film, such as getting used to sleeping in dorms, shared bathrooms, the fact that men lose weight and women gain it, and how pasta becomes as prominent a part in your diet as water. I also loved the beginning of the film as he recorded the reactions from coworkers, because I felt that it was very similar to me–both the reactions and the questions, oh good ole, HDNet.
So in my new–let’s call it revised format–I will be writing the opening sections (beginning with the next blog) with more general travel tips and information, while I will save the personal experiences for the latter part of the blogging. So for those of you that find reading a chore, feel free to begin skipping over the travel information sections and scroll down to the personal stories. Since I also have many tech friends, c’mon let’s just call it what is is, tech geeks, awe we’re nerds. I know that many of you may have be wondering why I have not shifted my Webbly website to WordPress already and believe me, I have wrestled with this notion multiple times. However, I have yet to find a relatively easy way including the minimal costs and setup, but more than anything the time to export ALL of the collected materials I’ve been posting since 2011, primarily all of the photos that are attached to each blog. I was one of the unfortunate bloggers that had the choice between Weebly and WordPress almost three years ago, and as the knight from Indiana Jones would say, "I have chosen….poorly." But at the time who knew, which platform would develop and be the better choice. Plus, I mean it’s a miracle I have been able to catch up on over 10-months without blogging. I can only imagine how much time I would need to dedicate to exporting and having the site fully functional, but when I do find the time, doubt not, I will be shifting to WordPress. So for now sorry everyone, if you do know of a very simplistic way, mainly one that doesn’t take a lot of time or multiple programs to download please email me. Cheers everyone.


