[Narrated in the voice of David Attenborough] Buenos Aires believes it is a European city. Despite this fact, its close neighbors are Montevideo, Uruguay, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The “porteños” who make their homes here in Buenos Aires belong to an Argentinian clade that identifies more with Italians than South Americans. Italian restaurants packed with pasta and pizza comprise traditional food here, along with generous portions of beef. Wine is also enjoyed on any occasion. When visiting Buenos Aires, one might wonder whether I am in Europe or Argentina. [end voice of David Attenborough]. It’s always a noticeable transition to Buenos Aires from the other places I visit in South America owing to the local Argentine Spanish accent, the distinct style of the neighborhoods I walk through, the delicious food, and the vast amounts of dog shit on the sidewalks. Every city has such similar, if distinct, charms. Among them, increasingly for me, is Argentina’s president Javier Milei, who embodies the persona of a black sheep political outsider and libertarian. His presidency is still in its infancy, but his changes are bombastic, controversial, and seemingly intelligent. Following his career and legacy will be interesting as he aims to revert the […]
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Mendoza was a great place to spend an extended holiday weekend drinking wine and eating too much steak. It’s a one-hour flight from Santiago and 1.5 from Buenos Aires. There are over 300 wineries around Mendoza which afford plenty of opportunities to visit, taste, and eat. I cashed in some travel credits I had accrued and splurged on a luxury boutique hotel. The room had a sauna, steam room, outdoor hot tub, and full kitchen. I don’t often travel like this, but when I do I really relish the experience. The hotel was a perfect accompaniment to a lazy weekend spent enjoying perfect weather (sunny and warm) and wine, I spent three days here resting and decompressing. I visited four different wineries during the stay, and each was beautiful, historic, and fun. It’s easy to find convenient, private, packaged excursions online that will pick you up from your hotel and chauffeur you to any number of bodegas, removing the obligation of a rental car and self-navigating. This is the best way to do wine tours in Mendoza and allows you to just enjoy the experience. The last time I was in Mendoza was eight years ago and I knew right […]
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After a handful of visits during the past twenty years, Santiago has finally earned its place among my regular destinations, fitting conveniently along my South American migratory path after Colombia on the way to Argentina; it has always been an easy place to live and work for a while. Santiago is convenient to other destinations like the Atacama Desert, Patagonia, and Easter Island, making it a great adventure launch point and an easy place to live and work remotely. An additional plus is that it doesn’t get much hype on the international radar, and you aren’t likely to find a lot of other foreigners living and working in Santiago — they are attracted to more popular destinations like Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina. I’m not quite sure why, though because you can find a lot to love in Chile — and the majority of Chileans live in the city of Santiago, which makes it an exciting place automatically 🙂 I stayed in downtown Santiago this time, unregarded by the locals I talked to. Since Covid, it’s more dangerous, and it isn’t the most beautiful part of the city compared to other neighborhoods. Still, I enjoyed my time staying there — walking […]
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I’ve visited MedellĂn a few times before and haven’t been a fan, as I’ve detailed elsewhere on this site. Despite this, I recognize why it appeals to others: its warm climate, lush greenery, superior infrastructure compared to other Colombian cities, and charming local culture and history. However, the significant expat population there has always dampened my enthusiasm. As a travel hipster, I tend to avoid destinations popular with expats, as I find their culture isn’t mine (ironic, right?) —this is also why Bali doesn’t appeal to me. I’m aware that my viewpoint might seem a bit quirky or pretentious, especially since I’ve been living abroad myself. But, motivated to challenge my biases and explore MedellĂn beyond my previous dislikes, I decided to give it another chance. This time, I avoided the Poblado neighborhood, which I particularly dislike, and chose Laureles, situated on the city’s west side, as my new base to experience the city a little differently. One thing I never gave MedellĂn sufficient credit for in the past was how easy it is to meet people. There are dozens of events, activity groups, networking opportunities, and organizations accessible to everyone. In the first week of my month-long stay, I […]
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2023 was a tough year of work and travel so when I landed back in Bogotá for two months at the end of the year I was wanting to rest. I caught up on editing all of the photos I took throughout the year and focused on training for strength. December and January were relatively tame with work and I was able to recharge my travel batteries while living a daily and weekly routine in Bogotá. December is the best month to visit Bogotá because the skies are clear and there’s no rain (until about late February; then there’s always rain) and lots of Christmas festivities happen throughout the month. Dia de las velitas is the cutest — “little candles day” is really a night when families congregate to light little candles of different colors. My friend Catalina also drove me to see Chirstmas lights in the various little pueblitos around Boyacá. Thanks for driving Cat (it was a lot of driving). For Christmas I spent dinner at a friend’s place. New Years I was happy to go to sleep early. I climbed Nevado de Santa Isabel a 4,950 meter (16,240 feet) volcanco a few hours outside of Pereira, which […]
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I returned to spend Thanksgiving with my family in Kansas City. I stayed at my brother’s house and spent time with my nieces and nephew, Mom and step father. The food was great and so was having the opportunity to see everyone for my favorite holiday. I didn’t get quite enough pumpkin pie despite my attempts to relay expectations, but other than that it was an immensely fun time. Some highlights include my brother arranged two Dungeons and Dragons games for us to play along with some of his friends, me eating my favorite Kansas City foods (Winsteads Hamburgers and Minsky’s pizza), visiting Top Golf, and learning to use my Meta Ray Ban Sunglasses. These sunglasses can record videos and take photos while you wear them in addition to playing music just like headphones. I also loved going to the gym with my nephew William to workout and introduce my niece Caroline to Virtual Reality dance video games. I even accompanied my niece Olivia to school lunch where I met some of her friends and even ate for free. I should eat lunch with Olivia every day. I dropped by my close friends the Martins for a cup of afternoon […]
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Since I limit my stay in the USA to 35 days a year for tax benefits, I needed to leave the country for a week before returning for Thanksgiving. I had already spent more than three weeks stateside due to a week-long program at UC Berkeley, stopovers in Denver and Wyoming, and trips to Austin and New Orleans. It turned out to be an ideal opportunity to check a destination off of my queue, Playa Del Carmen. My friend Randy loves this place (he loves to party); however, other nomadic friends of mine are less enthusiastic about it, describing it as a typical vacation spot for Canadians and Americans, lacking a distinct identity beyond that, according to them. But I’m quite open-minded; I’ve learned not to pre-judge places I’ve never visited or carry specific expectations when I travel. Playa del Carmen is great! I could totally live here for a few months. There is a lot to do and explore, plenty of great food, accessible beaches, and friendly people. What’s not to love? I was only there for about a week, and during that time I was working constantly from my apartment. I only managed to escape to the beach […]
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People from New York might object, but my vote for America’s coolest city goes to New Orleans. It was my first time visiting, and it was only for four days, but I loved everything I saw, heard, ate, and felt while I was walking around doing stuff. The city doesn’t feel like the rest of the United States, which is a bonus—it feels like an alternative reality, a post-apocalyptic jambalaya with a French twist, in my opinion, even better than France. Now every city, especially New Orleans, has problems. But I’m going to completely ignore them here because I was a tourist and it is completely within my right to just enjoy the things I like about a place I visit and leave the rest to an NPR think piece (‘did Katrina really end?’). The little donut beignets are delightful. The chicory coffee was likewise cute (even though I couldn’t tell a difference compared to normal coffee; maybe it’s just my broken sense of taste). Cajun and Creole food — so special. There is a difference between Cajun and Creole, and I already forgot what it is — let me see if I can save you a Google search while […]
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