2015 was a big year.

Die US- & Kuba begonnen, die Beziehungen wieder zu öffnen. Donald Trump called for a Muslim ban. Selfie sticks were outlawed at Disney Land.

Auf einer persönlichen Anmerkung, 2015 für mich war auch groß. It was the year I decided to start this blog.

Nicht, dass das eine große Sache oder etwas, es war einfach nur hart wie die Hölle für mich. There are so many little technical difficulties to deal with! If you would have asked me a little over a year ago to edit a WordPress child theme’s CSS, or troubleshoot a podcast RSS feed glitch I would have WUT?'D Sie so hart.

Aber wissen Sie was ist noch schwieriger als die Gründung eines Blog? Maintaining it.

I’m having lots of trouble with the work/travel balance. I have so much content piling up from previous travels, and every day brings even more. I can’t seem to catch up.

Davon abgesehen, I’m determined to figure out how to create more compelling content, and do so more efficiently without taking away from actually enjoying traveling in real life.

Also wollte ich eine kurze Zusammenfassung einiger schreiben 2015 blog activity (10 days into the new year lol), and then detail what’s next for 2016. Since launching last year in late March, the blog has had over 13,000 views from 126 countries.

That’s chump change to most websites, but it’s a start. I just think it’s pretty cool when someone a place like French Polynesia hits my site!

A Few 2015 WTG? Blog Superlatives

Most liked/commented/shared post on social media:

Roadtrip USA: 9,000 miles, 17 states, $2,000, 1 summer

Most popular post according to Google (ohne Zweifel):

How Not to Use Couchsurfing: Nymphos in Berlin

 

My personal favorite post:

Faces of Cuba 1 & Part 2

Post, die noch bringt mich zum Lachen & zusammenzucken, wenn ich es gelesen:

How to Get Punched in the Face in Barcelona

Posts that best model how I want to incorporate Spanish learning into Where’s the Gringo?:

Voices of Cuba: Life Under a Dictatorship (Part 1)

A Gringo at the Market in Atizapán de Zaragoza

 

Need to do more posts like:

The 10 Cheapest Countries I’ve Been To

So What’s Next?

Zu der Zeit, y'all lesen Sie diese, we’ll have already scooped one of my best friends and his girlfriend from the Mexico City airport, und alles 5 von uns (mein Bruder ist auch hier) will be en route to Oaxaca, Mexico. We have an epic 2 Wochen vor uns, Fahrt auf der Küste von Oaxaca, und in den Chiapas Dschungel.

We’re going to be traveling at a quicker clip than I normally like to, but I want to squeeze in as many cool places as I can while I have my friend & brother. Here are some highlights of Oaxaca that we’re going to revisit (all photos taken from last year’s trip)

Oaxaca de Juárez – the capital of Oaxaca state, was viele als der kulturell bunt Staat in ganz Mexiko sein. Filled with beautiful architecture, indigenous flair & plenty of delicious cuisine.

Monte Alban – mountaintop ruins of a 2,000 Jahr alt, ancient Zapotec city located right outside the city.

 

Mazunte – our favorite secluded beach town on the Oaxacan coast. There are prob. only a few hundred people who live here.

 

 

Punta Cometa – the southernmost point of Mexico (except for Chiapas) that sticks out into the ocean like a giant finger pointing towards another unforgettable sunset every night.

 

Zipolite – another chill beach town in Oaxaca that was discovered by wandering hippies in the 60’s, and has slowly grown in hippie fame ever since.

Nachdem wir surften & sonnte sich, wir weiter nach Osten in Chiapas geleitet, der südlichste Staat von Mexiko, mit dampfenden Dschungel gefüllt, geheimnisvolle Maya-Ruinen, donnernde Wasserfälle blau, & beeindruckenden Canyons. I haven’t been there yet, aber ich habe in den Google Bilder sabbern für über ein Jahr jetzt. I’m most looking forward to:

Las Cascadas del Agua Azul (The Waterfalls of Blue Water)

 

Cañon del Sumidero (Sumidero Canyon)

 

Palenque

To say that I’m ecstatic doesn’t quite capture it.

leider, my friend & brother have to return in late January to oversee Tallulah Fest (don’t miss it if you’re a whitewater fanatic), an welchem ​​Punkt Gio und ich werde in eine ehrenamtliche Arbeit zu regeln.

Freiwilligenarbeit in Mexiko

Für diejenigen, die nicht wissen,, meine Freundin und ich sind gerade jetzt beginnt ein 2+ year adventure down the Pan-American Highway. One of our main objectives is to volunteer with worthwhile projects & plug into communities along the way. So for, we have 2 more volunteer projects set up in southeastern Mexico:

• Tutoring & teaching impoverished children from indigenous communities with an organization called Sueñinos in San Cristobal de las Casas.
• Volunteering in a Salvation Army children’s home in Merida.

After returning home for a wedding in early April, I’ll be flying back to Cancun and will have 11 days to drive down the Yucatan Peninsula and leave the country. Remember the $300 deposit I put down from Driving into Mexico: The Border Crossing? I need to drive the car out of Mexico by April 17 to get that back.

Die einzige andere Freiwilligen-Projekt, das wir in Mittelamerika angeordnet haben, ist in El Salvador, so we’ll be freestyling until then. Our general timeframe looks like (subject to change):

Belize: April 17-May 1

Guatemala: May 2–Mid June

El Salvador: Mid June–July 4

Honduras: July 5–Mid August

Nicaragua: August 15ish–Mid October

Costa Rica: October-Nov

Panama: End of 2016

 

Apart from late May/early June when 2 more friends are flying in to travel Guatemala with us for a few weeks, our backseats are open! Let me know if you want to join up for some roadtrip action, there are sure to be many more beautiful places like those pictured above that are just waiting to be discovered!

And finally, I want to thank everyone who followed & supported this blog in 2015!

I greatly appreciate when you guys take the time to read along, comment, and share Where’s the Gringo? content with others. I really do want to create stuff that is useful and inspiring for people, so, wenn Sie Jungs antworten, it makes all that head banging against the keyboard worth it!

2016 wird eine riesige Jahr. It still hasn’t truly sunk in that I’m choosing a life on the road, and have no clue exactly how I’ll be spending my days, nor where I’m going to lay my head at night.

Daunting.

Ich habe nur eine Karte und Ideen, but I’m looking forward to the new experiences, Kultur, people & Orte, die kommen werden, diese Länder für mich definieren.

Have a great year, and keep checking back as I do my best to share the entire journey with you here!