A couple of months ago, I released the first Female Travel Underground newsletter on the topic of Travel Undies. In it, I did a brief write-up on the ever-so-famous Ex-Officio underwear since I am the proud owner of several pairs.
Since then, I have decided to make my blog more lively with *hopefully* weekly video posts running on Wednesdays. (Please don’t hold me to this – this is just a loose goal.) It just so happens that this week’s video, originally for the intention of benefiting FTU, is a closer look at… well… my panties…
I don’t usually do a lot of shout out type posts on my blog, but this one is long overdue. There was a project I took on about a month ago where I begged and pleaded for your YouTube video views to help me win a job.
First off, thank you so much to everyone who watched this video:
You all ROCK harder than you know, and you truly deserve some virtual high fives.
There were, however, a few people I think that deserve some extra special TYs for the extra support they sent my way.
@TravelDesigned – Fellow Illinois resident, Stephanie Diehl, really went out of her way to help me out. She called on her Twitter pals to attack, and my Twitter mentions and email inbox were overflowing for a couple of days with super kind words and support. She is a Twitter superstar; everyone should follow her!
@RosiakGraphics – Jeff grew up down the street from me in little ol’ Creve Coeur, IL. He, too, went out of his way to call on his Tweeps and Facebook friends to watch my video, which was just plain awesome! He deserves some Twitter love for sure, so give him a follow, especially if you are in central Illinois.
More Tweeps to Thank:
Some more thanks go to Lia Tarle and John Dean for posting the video on their Facebook pages. Menorca crew, you rock!
And to everyone else, THANK YOU. YOU ARE THE BOMB! Virtual high fives all around!
Alas, I still got smashed in video views, but that’s totally OK. Here’s the big news….
My mom is coming to Australia!!!! How cool is that?! It is totally official now (a plane ticket has been bought, passports arrived and ETA’s completed), and she will be arriving in Sydney on March 8th. And, before anyone asks, it had nothing to do with my crazy emotional blog post that I put on this site a little while back. #itotallywishihadntdonethatnow
I think she might be a little scared about the long, long flight overseas, so if you could send her some virtual high fives, that might be helpful in calming her fears. Go mom!
In case you don’t want the virtual high fiving to end just yet, there are surely more ways to rack up extras.
1.) Subscribe to my blog’s feed. You can choose to get it in your RSS reader, or by email!
3.) Read and comment on my article over at Galavanting.
4.) Support The Global Citizen Project!
About the project:
Charyn Pfeuffer is a Seattle-based journalist who plans on taking 12 months out of her life to support 12 different volunteer opportunities around the world.
Unfortunately, volunteering comes with a price. To assist in the funding, she has put together a Kickstarter project where people like us can help dish out the dough.
Why would we do that, exactly?!
Because she is giving out some fantastic, fantastic rewards in return! (And because it will help spread awareness on some great causes.)
Any amount can help as Charyn only has 9 days left to reach her goal or else it is a NO-GO!
I gave a little something-something in exchange for some organic soaps. Check it out and give a little to a great cause You will not regret it!
There you go, people. Virtual high fives to all that took the time to read this, too!
Can you all help a girl out? I feel like I’m always applying for random stuff and just never getting it – but this time is different! I want to win the Best Backpacking Job in Australia, so I submitted a video explaining why I’d be so great (in my opinion).
What do I get? Well how about 3 months of travel up the coast of Australia, that’s what! Yep, that’s campervan rental, petrol, surfing lessons, scuba, abseiling, skydiving, hostels and more.
What do I have to do? Blog about it, make videos, social network and the likes along the way. Uhm… perfect, yeah?!
What do you have to do? View my video! Each view acts as a vote, and even though now I stand alone in this competition, I want to get way ahead!
So, here it is, my masterpiece:
Like it? How about posting it on your blog, facebook, twitter or stumbling it? Thanks, travel community. You all rock!
I used to make some videos every now and again for my blog, which I’d like to get back into doing, and I generally promote them on vimeo and also upload them to YouTube. I wouldn’t say I’m a successful video maker – they rarely get views, I make them with my pocket camera, and they never get comments… except for my Kyrgyz related videos.
I got two notifications today from YouTube about new comments on my Taste Testing Shoro video (below), and of course they are from a pissed off Kyrgyz individual who took the time to leave a comment in both English and Russian.
If you take a look at the comments, most of them have been negative in some way or another, and some comments have even been removed now – not sure why. It’s quite impressive the amount of comments received in respect to the number of actual video views. I knew that they really loved Shoro, but I never knew they would take so much offense to my reaction.
Is it bad that I don’t like this drink? No, I don’t think so. To me, it is a weird taste and not a flavor I had been introduced to before. It is not uncommon for people from other cultures to not understand the food and drink choices of another because they just aren’t accustomed to them. To me, Shoro was weird. It was sour and gritty… like really gritty – almost like drinking old beer that had sand in it. And, yes, the slight fermentation smelled like stale beer, or at least that was the closest thing I could associate it with. I tried it twice, downing an entire cup to give it a go, but it just wasn’t for me.
“facking american ass.holes we have a national drinks u dont !!!!!!! cuz history of ur country 500 years, ours- 2200 years ! morons !”
It’s unfortunate that this person had to take this video to another level. If only they knew how much I loved Kyrgyzstan and the Kyrgyz culture. I may not like the drink, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t like them.
This post will be short and sweet because I merely want to showcase Kyiv’s wonderful Metro line. The Metro is a super cheap way to travel (only about $.10 a ride!) and pretty quick. However, avoid it at rush hours if possible! They get super crowded and even the babushkas will kick you around.
Overall, the most interesting part of the Metro, in my mind, would have to be the depth of the escalators at the Kreshatik stop. They go on forever… I mean… forever. If you don’t believe me, take a look at this video as proof. Enjoy!
Arriving in Krakow was no other than a joyous occassion. After dealing with the feeling of being a lonely outsider in Lublin, the familiar sound of the English word on every street corner in Krakow was oh-so-sweet. Seriously, the only word I got in English from the 2 days prior was “5 o’clock” when I got this mysterious “5 o’clock. Tak.” phone call at 4:45 am the day I had to get to the train at the crack of dawn. I didn’t quite know if he was giving me a wake up call, or if he had already called a taxi for me. I had to book it down the stairs only to find out he hadn’t yet called a taxi. Dude, get a watch.
It seems that anyone I talked to before my trip that knew about Poland ranted and raved about Krakow. “You will love it,” they said, and after being here for only a day I can in fact say, “Yes, I love it.” Krakow is more than just a major tourist stop… It is a big city full of life. The town center is full and festive with people celebrating the holiday weekend. Within minutes of exiting the train yesterday, I was in sight of Krakovians walking down the streets with their Easter baskets of bread pushing children in strollers holding baskets full of candy. (I later learned that they have to take their baskets to the church to be blessed before Easter.) It was an exciting thought to be in such a festive location for the holiday.
And just how did I celebrate my Easter Sunday? I woke up at around 7:00 am – that was when the 8 Spanish guys in my room got home from going out last night – and went downstairs for the hostel’s attempt at a typical and traditional Polish breakfast. Unfortunately, there was not enough to go around, so I decided to make my way to the city center to take photographs and join in the festivities. Everyone was out and about, so when in Rome… er… Krakow… You know the saying. I snatched up some amazing mystery pastry and a cup of hot wine (my new winter favorite!) and made-believe I was Polish for a few hours (minus the insane amount of blatent public drunkeness at early hours of day).
I also made sure to take some random video so you lovely people back home can pretend to be Polish, too, even if it is just for a few minutes. Enjoy!
It all started in the airport in Dublin. I turned the corner and there was this guy, that from afar, had the same facial shape, skin tone, and body structure as Brian. It was one of those things where you have to take a second look to know it is in fact not that person. There was also a spotting of someone resembling an old friend from school. Then, on the plane, one of the flight attendants looked just like Megan, and finally, I saw my brother in a German guy in Warsaw (from across the room in dim lighting). And, let’s not forget the Polish Lindsay Lohan strutting her stuff down the street. It is like I get all excited at first to see a familiar face, just to be let down (I don’t think that applies to Lindsay Lohan).
I started wondering why I was getting flashes of random people throughout my day, when (duh), it hit me – I’m in Europe where many Americans’ ancestors come from! When you’re in the States, everyone is mixed together from all over, meaning those prominent characteristics of a certain group aren’t so… prominent. But, here, it is easy to scan across the crowds and see those features, and for some reason, my mind is quickly pulling up any person it can think of back home that also displays them.
Well why is that?
The only answer I have is that I’m traveling alone, which can be no other than lonely at times. Sure, I wish I had a travel buddy – no doubt. I’m really just not used to being on my own just yet. I ended up buying a pay-as-you-go cell phone here in Poland (I can get another sim card in Kyrgyzstan) so my parents have another way to keep in touch. So far so good
Speaking of being alone – I booked a private room in a hotel in Lublin, and since it was so cold, I spent most of my time in the room trying to keep myself entertained. I made a little video, which you can view here, of my evening in. Sometimes I don’t understand why I do what I do… but at least it makes me laugh!
After much deliberation, we decided our next stop after Tikal was Rio Dulce. We made our way in the morning to the place in Flores where the guidebook says is a bus stop, but in actuality it is just a travel agency that buys a ticket for you for the bus station in Santa Elena.
The only reason we decided to go along with this route is because the lady helping us said the bus was coming now. How convenient. We paid the guy in the office our money and the lady took off on her bike. Meanwhile, the guy in the office, who was obviously wasted at 9:30 am and still drinking, said we would wait at the office for the bus to come. I made it my job to wait outside with our stuff while Brian dealt with the drunken ramblings of the owner. The really crazy part happened when the guy opened his desk drawer and there was a gun sitting there. After he saw the look on Brian’s face, he responded with, “This is Guatemala. You gotta have a gun.”
Just then, the lady on the bike came back and said we needed to go the bus station to get the bus. Uhmm… ok. They did just tell us that we could wait here for the bus, but not today? They at least paid for the tuk-tuk there. We hopped on our bus, and there we were, on our way to Rio Dulce for something that tops all adventures had thus far.
Rio Dulce makes it difficult to scout out a hotel because the best ones, supposedly, are on the waterfront and require a boat to take you there. We made our way to Bruno’s to see if we could start there when we ran into a strange hippie guy from the states who was more than happy to help us find a hotel. Next thing we knew, we had a place to stay and a boat taxi all set up for us. If it hadn’t had happened so quickly, I can say I probably wouldn’t have gone for it because on the boat ride over to Casa Perico, I just heard the hippie guy’s words playing over and over in my head, “You’re gonna love it. It’s right in the freaking jungle.”
Casa Perico has a very interesting setup. It is run by some Swiss guys and has its own restaurant there (since its so remote) with a rockin’ buffet option (do it! People boat over from the town just for this!). Brian and I literally made ourselves sick by indulging both nights in the buffet! Since it was Friday, we had to settle for a hostel dorm. The dorm bungalow has many beds in the bottom and an upper level with two beds and more privacy. We opted for the upper level, but the catch was it was open-air, meaning there was only an A-Frame roof with two sides open to the jungle outside. Even though we had bug nets, I couldn’t sleep that night. We had already encountered giant cockroaches, heard stories of botfly infections, and the sounds coming in from outside, and right next to my bed, were a bit too much for me to handle. And it was only made worse by the absolute pitch-black darkness that engulfed us out there.
The next day, we made it clear to the owners that we preferred a private bungalow, and luckily we got it. Oh yes! The building has its own bathroom, which meant that when I had to get up late at night to use it, I wouldn’t have to walk a mile of dock with the creepy sounds of things jumping into the water right next to me. Even better was the fact that the private room had 4 walls! The first thing we did was check out the bathrooms in the back to see what we were now working with for an extra $3/night. Brian went to open the shower door and immediately started ducking. Then something came flying out and swooping around. Brian thought it was a bat, but I thought it looked like a bird. I decided to use the toilet at that moment, being careful when opening the door at first. When inside, I took a look around at the ceiling to make sure no bird was hanging around only to find the biggest spider I think I’ve ever seen in my life straight above. There was no way I could use the bathroom there in good conscience! I showed it to Brian and even he was a little taken aback by the size. We started to leave the bathroom area in search of the public ones when we heard a high-pitched screeching noise behind us. We turned around to see a bat hanging out right there by the sink. Brian was right!
It was a very long two days, full of many close encounters. I would have probably slept better the second night had it not been raining so hard! I would definitely recommend Casa Perico to any traveler to Rio Dulce looking for an interesting place to hang out. For us, two days in the jungle bungalows were more than enough, but as hippie guy put it, “You’ll never forget it!”
Here’s a little video of me ranting about surviving the jungle. I claim being delirious from stress, heat, and lack of sleep because its clearly not me at my best. Enjoy!
Since then, I have decided to make my blog more lively with *hopefully* weekly video posts running on Wednesdays. (Please don’t hold me to this – this is just a loose goal.) It just so happens that this week’s video, originally for the intention of benefiting FTU, is a closer look at… well… my panties…
You will not regret it!
I used to make some videos every now and again for my blog, which I’d like to get back into doing, and I generally promote them on vimeo and also upload them to YouTube. I wouldn’t say I’m a successful video maker – they rarely get views, I make them with my pocket camera, and they never get comments… except for my Kyrgyz related videos.
