Car rental debacle...

Opel Astra-- the car we rented...

I had planned this trip for a while. Croatia is one of my dream destinations, and I really, really wanted to do this trip. Finally I found a friend who wanted to come with me, so we planned it and decided to make it happen.

Only problem is, I found out that you absolutely need a credit card in the name of the driver in order to rent a car. I have a driver’s license, but no credit card. She has a credit card, but no driver’s license.

My credit card was being sent from Brazil, and I expected it would arrive on time for me to get the car. Except when it was already one day before the trip and still no card, I realized we had a real problem. My friend N. had already bought a plane ticket from Paris to Bratislava, where we would meet to start our trip.

Luckily, while talking to her on the phone, she told me that she had already rented a car for someone else to drive, so I figured maybe this was a German/Austrian rule, but that other countries wouldn’t mind the fact that the person driving and the person paying would not be the same (as long as they were traveling together, of course).

In a brilliant moment, I found a car rental place in Slovakia, called them, and the girl told me there was absolutely NO problem, and that would I like to make a reservation. YES! Please!

Problem solved... now I only had to find a way to get from Berlin to Bratislava, but that was easily solved with a train to Prague (where I could stay for a few hours and remember all the places I love in Prague) and another train to Bratislava, arriving with plenty of time to meet my friend, rent the car, and be on our way! :)

And so, the adventure begins...

Backpack or suitcase?

I'm a backpacker. It doesn't matter where I go or for how long, you can be certain that I'll be carrying a backpack. And the more I travel, the smaller the backpack is getting. It's amazing how much stuff you don't need.

But I'm not here to convince you to travel with a backpack (even if they are more convenient, easier to carry in all terrains, have several pockets to help you organize your stuff, and are generally better in every respect...), because ultimately, it's your choice.

There are occasions when suitcases are perfectly acceptable, and even necessary. If you're going to a 5 star hotel, and you walk in with a backpack, they immediately look at you a bit weird. (Trust me, I've done it). If you're traveling with an organized tour and they'll pick you up at the airport, take you to your hotel, and generally take care of all your transport so that you don't have to walk or lift a finger, then by all means, take a suitcase. If you're traveling in your own car, and you're driving straight to the hotel where someone will take your bags and take them to your room, again, by all means, take a suitcase.

What I don't understand is this: people who travel like backpackers, i.e.: stay in backpackers hotels/guesthouses/hostels, around dirt roads or beaches, having to rely on public transportation (which sometimes means moto-taxis) and still bring a suitcase. Tell me, how do you carry a suitcase in a moto-taxi???

Honestly, either get some money and travel on the 1st class circuit, or buy a backpack already!!

Bangkhaos-- Bangkok is Chaos! :)

Khao San road*

There's something fascinating about chaos. Order is nice. It's clean. It's organized. It's... boring. But chaos... ah, chaos can come in millions of different shapes, smells, forms, colors. It changes all the time. It's busy, noisy, unpredictable. --> It's Bangkok.

I arrived on Friday evening and took the express bus from the airport (RE2 = 150 Baht) which drops me off directly at Khao San road, and in front of my hotel. I actually booked ahead this time, for the simple fact that arriving at 10pm at night on a Friday and then trying to find accommodation would be a little insane even for me...

Immediately after checking in, I dropped my bag and went to walk around the wonderful chaos of Khao San. It hasn't changed much. I'm sure the particular restaurants and travel agencies have changed since I was last here (7 years ago!) but the general appearance of it all is exactly the same. People. Happy people. Smiley people on vacation, enjoying the warm weather, chaos, and amazing Pad Thai for 30 Baht.

It's the mecca of backpackers in Bangkok, and even if you're not staying there, you should go for the experience. It's wonderful. I love it. And yes, it's chaotic and noisy, but somehow it's also--magical.

*This picture was taken 7 years ago and happens to be the only one I have. Unfortunately every time I walked out of my room to walk around KSR I happened to not have my camera with me and didn't want to go back to get it. Oops. :(

A world of friends...

People always ask me if it isn't hard moving to a different country every few years leaving all your friends behind... and I always answer the same way: yes, it's a bit hard, but you always end up making new friends...

By now I have lived in so many places, and met so many wonderful people, that it's a joy traveling anywhere (besides the obvious fact that I'm traveling!) because I know I can meet a friend here, another there.

Today I'm flying to Thailand. I was there in 2004 and I loved it SO much! In fact, the picture that inspired me to start this blog was taken there, in the hills of northern Thailand.
A few days ago, I discovered through Facebook that a friend I met in England 3 years ago has been living in Thailand for a year, and we're planning on meeting. I had no idea I had friends in Thailand!!! But I do. And I'm so happy and excited about it!

This trip is going to be a very short one, unfortunately... but I'm looking forward to the sunshine and the ocean... and also, to leaving the computer behind. I won't be posting anything for the next couple of weeks, because I need to "unplug". I promise to update it when I get back though, with plenty of pictures!! :)

Life-sized Pacman!

Ok, so despite the fact that I owe like a thousand posts about my travels of late, starting with the entire trip with my mom (promised but not posted!! oops!) and everything that happened since, I thought I should start now or I'd be stuck and never post here anymore...

So I thought I'd start with just a couple of pictures of my weekend in Geneva, and the great tradition they have called Le Festival Arbres et Lumières. (Or The Festival of Trees and Lights). It's such a great addition to the city, when the night comes so early and the dark hours are more than the light hours, it's nice to walk around the city and see beauty on the bare trees....

This year, the one that called my attention the most was inspired by one of my favorite games when I was a kid: Pacman!! Come on, who didn't like PacMan??? :)

 Without further ado, the pictures! :) 

 

Universal Passport

There's something that unites us crazy travelers of the world, the ones that don't ever stop and are always hungry for more. That something is our reaction to the dreaded "Where are you from?" question. We wince. We cower. We don't know how to answer it.

But finally, it seems there's an answer that would satisfy, if not our interlocutor, at least ourselves in replying: "I'm an Earthling." Simple. No complications. No explanations. Short and to the point.

I always thought borders and visas were artificial inventions that spoiled a little bit the joys of traveling. We were all born on the same planet, why should some of us have different rights than others? Following a discussion with my good friend J., he sent me a link to this Universal Passport. It's an awesome idea, and I love what it says on the bottom right corner:

"The bearer of this passport is allowed to travel freely throughout the entire planet.

As a citizen of Planet Earth, the owner of this document agrees to maintain and respect all the traditions and cultures of the lands he or she travels or lives in."

I couldn't have said it better myself. It's perfect! I just hope someday it becomes a reality and we don't need to go through full-body scans before we are allowed to border a plane. 

Travel companions

Choosing your travel companion is probably the most important decision you will ever make about a trip. Not where you're going, or for how long, or what you should take in your backpack. Those are all important considerations that may affect the quality of your trip, but nothing can make or break a trip as much as who you travel with. That is probably why most of the time I prefer to travel alone.

However, sometimes you find yourself with the opportunity of realizing someone else's dream, and you can't say no to that. So this time I decided, against all my better judgment, to travel for 40 days with my mom, and make her dream of visiting Israel and Greece a reality-- something she would never have done on her own.

The thing about travel companions is that it doesn't matter how well you know them. How well you get along in normal life. How much you enjoy spending time with them. None of those things matter. The three things that are vital in a travel companion are these: independence, flexibility, and the ability to go with the flow and not stress out. If those 3 characteristics are met, you will not have any problems. Example:

A- You want to spend a day in a museum, but your travel companion wants to go shopping instead. No problem! You go to the museum, he/she goes shopping, and you meet back at the hotel before dinner. That's independence.


B- You have a bus/train pass that allows you to travel around. You had decided to go from Barcelona to Marseille. Unfortunately the bus that took you from the hostel to the bus/train station took forever to go by, and you missed the bus/train. But you've already seen Barcelona and you were planning on leaving today, so you simply check where the next bus/train is going to, and take it just for the heck of it. After all, you've never been to Andorra before. That's flexibility.

C- You really want to continue your trip as fast as possible. You have a bus ticket for early the next morning. You're excited about it. However, you eat something for dinner that makes you feel seriously ill. You know it'll go away, but you just want to be on that bus in the morning!!! Except there's no way you can face 15hrs in a crappy bus on crappy roads puking your guts out the window.... so you just lay back, relax, and go with the flow. Another day in this little town is not what you would've wanted, but it's no big deal after all...

Any travel problem can be solved or at least endured if you and your travel companion have those three characteristics. If you don't, you're in for some seriously stressful times.

That was just a little introduction to the posts that will follow, the trip with my mom. By the very nature of the trip, and the fact that my mom had never before traveled the way I do, independence was not in the cards. Flexibility was good, and we had some good laughs about that, but the art of relaxing when things don't seem to go exactly your way is hard to achieve and only seasoned travelers have it. So we had our stressful moments. But no amount of stress can beat the joy of making someone's dream come true, and since this trip was her dream coming true, I'd have to say I'd do it all over again. :) We had some great times, saw some amazing places, met some awesome people, and the memories will definitely last a lifetime. Stay tuned for pictures and details!

--> Word to the wise: 40 days was perhaps a little bit too long though. But oh well...