2015 was a big year.
Os Estados Unidos & Cuba começou a abrir as relações novamente. Donald Trump called for a Muslim ban. Selfie sticks were outlawed at Disney Land.
Em uma nota mais pessoal, 2015 era grande para mim também. It was the year I decided to start this blog.
Não que isso seja um grande negócio ou qualquer coisa, era apenas difícil como o inferno para mim. 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 você tão difícil.
Mas acho que o que é ainda mais difícil do que começar um 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.
Dito isso, 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.
Então, eu queria escrever uma breve recapitulação de alguns 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
You guys loved this post! Most of my followers are from the USA, and it showed me that Americans love reading about their own country!
Most popular post according to Google (sem dúvida):
How Not to Use Couchsurfing: Nymphos in Berlin
Este post é responsável por mais da metade de todo o meu site tráfego, no joke. I had no idea so many people Googled stuff like “couchsurfing sex” e “traveling sex stories.” You dirty freaks you…
My personal favorite post:
Faces of Cuba 1 & Parte 2
I love meeting interesting people while on the road, and I realized while doing this post that I’m going to use this blog to tell their stories!
Post que ainda me faz rir & tremo quando lê-lo:
How to Get Punched in the Face in Barcelona
Pro tip: Looking like this is a good start…
Posts that best model how I want to incorporate Spanish learning into Where’s the Gringo?:
Voices of Cuba: Life Under a Dictatorship (Parte 1)
I feel like podcasts in Spanish can be great practice for more advanced learners, plus they are a fantastic glimpse into local life and culture…
A Gringo at the Market in Atizapán de Zaragoza
Videos with lots of Spanish vocabulary & sayings are better for beginners, and they’re lots of fun to make! Plano em mais de esses tipos de mensagens de vídeo vindo em sua direção!
Need to do more posts like:
The 10 Cheapest Countries I’ve Been To
I should incorporate more tips into the blog about how to travel cheaply, maximize travel budgets, and choosing cheaper destinations
So What’s Next?
No momento em que vocês ler este, we’ll have already scooped one of my best friends and his girlfriend from the Mexico City airport, e tudo 5 de nós (meu irmão está aqui também) will be en route to Oaxaca, Mexico. We have an epic 2 semanas antes de nós, descendo a costa de Oaxaca, e para a selva Chiapas.
Google says 27 hours driving (1,084meu, 1745km). YIKES!
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 Cidade – the capital of Oaxaca state, o que muitos consideram ser o estado mais colorido culturalmente em todo o México. Filled with beautiful architecture, indigenous flair & plenty of delicious cuisine.
Monte Alban – mountaintop ruins of a 2,000 ano de idade, 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.
We slept in these hammocks for 5 days – if they’re still there, you can bet we will again!
Depois que nós somos surfou & sunned fora, nós estamos indo mais a leste em Chiapas, o estado mais ao sul do México, preenchido com selvas fumegante, ruínas maias misteriosas, trovejando cachoeiras azuis, & impondo canyons. I haven’t been there yet, mas eu tenho babando sobre as imagens do Google para mais de um ano. I’m most looking forward to:
Las Cascadas del Agua Azul (The Waterfalls of Blue Water)
We’ll spend a few days swimming & kayaking in these heavenly waters. Crédito: Info7.mx
Cañon del Sumidero (Sumidero Canyon)
In some sections, the canyon walls shoot up over 3,000 feet from the canyon floor/river. Minha tenda será em algum lugar certo….sobre…..there. Crédito: Las Haditas
Palenque
An ancient Mayan city hidden deep in the jungle that’s been beckoning adventurers since the 7th century
To say that I’m ecstatic doesn’t quite capture it.
Infelizmente, my friend & brother have to return in late January to oversee Tallulah Fest (don’t miss it if you’re a whitewater fanatic), em que ponto Gio e eu vai resolver em algum trabalho voluntário.
Voluntariado no México
Para aqueles que não podem saber, a minha namorada e eu só agora estão começando a 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.
O único outro projeto voluntário que temos organizado na América Central está em 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: Fim do 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, por isso, quando vocês responder, it makes all that head banging against the keyboard worth it!
2016 vai ser um grande ano. 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.
Tudo que eu tenho é um mapa e ideias, but I’m looking forward to the new experiences, culture, people & lugares que virão para definir esses países para mim.
Have a great year, and keep checking back as I do my best to share the entire journey with you here!
“Uau” is all I can say. What a world we live in, and we never see most of it. Thanks for sharing your journey- be safe driving down there . You need to read the book about the guy who walked across America- he and his dog- you would love it. Godspeed-
Where are you going to be in El Salvador? With whom will you be volunteering your time and efforts?
Love what you’re doing, Vau. I’m pulling for you and praying for you. Keep sharing both your own stories and those of the lives you encounter. It’s important work.
God bless you.
We’ve made contact with an organization called IncaLink & also the CMA, but have nothing set in stone yet as our time frame is too fluid to confirm dates months in advance. We’re looking to be there around the end of June early July I estimate, & our open to hearing about more opportunities to spread the good Word! Thanks for reaching out!
Good stuff bro , as always . Keep doing you . I love reading it
Thanks homie! Haven’t found much time to update this thing lately, but I’ll get around to it sooner or later. Hope you’re well!
Oi! I would like to know how was your experience volunteering in Mexico. We are going to San Cristobal de las Casas and Merida, so any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you!
Hey Paloma. San Cris is THE best place to volunteer. There are so many options to choose from it can be overwhelming. I would start by going by Junax – the center for volunteers. Think of a hostal, but with people staying for longer term (2 weeks–months at a time) and who are all in San Cris to volunteer. It’s an amazing community, and the administrators there will help connect you with the best volunteer projects according to your goals and time frame. Their website can be found here: https://junax.org.mx/. Also, check out Frayba Humans Rights center (http://www.frayba.org.mx/). They help set up opportunities within Zapatista communities to be human rights observers, and may be the most infamous project to get plugged into in the area. We did it for 2 weeks and it was unforgettable and eye-opening.
As for Merida, we also volunteered there, but in The Salvation Army’s local branch. We helped with the children there for a week. Let me know if that interests you and I’ll pass along some details as well. Hope that helps!
cheers,
Vau
Thank you so much for your reply! I will check out everything. It sounds like an amazing experience. Now that I read this I’m really looking forward to it.
With all you said I think I’ll do it in San Cris, but if you could pass me some details about Merida, it would help in case we decide to do both.
Thank you very much for sharing!! Love your posts!
very good! I have a dream of traveling direct for 1 year