My New digs: Brooklyn, New York 1/30/2008

I am now officially a Brooklynite. About two weeks ago I relocated to Greenpoint, in the northwest corner of Brooklyn. It’s a mostly Polish community, but has recently seen an influx of hipster types escaping the Manhattan-like rents of nearby Williamsburg. My wife and I were actually expecting to land in Manhattan, but begin looking around Brooklyn and found a place that we just couldn’t pass up. It took us about 25-hours total from arrival in New York to signing a lease. We feel lucky.

Our place is actually quite large for New York. It’s a 2nd floor 1-bedroom, but with ample space, so I don’t feel cramped when working at home and our 2 cats can run around like madmen. We’re on the westernmost street in the westernmost neighborhood in Brooklyn, so we can see the Manhattan skyline from our windows. As I type I can turn in my new swivel chair and see the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Buidling. Granted there are a couple of warehouses I need to look over, but it’s still very hard to not be inspired.

This is the first permanent home I’ll have in about 6 years. I’ve lived in Lima, Peru or Columbus, Ohio for six months at a time when not traveling, but in apartments I never considered staying in for longer. I have a real desk where my laptop can properly sit. No more typing on my ass from my bed or from a card table, which sadly I’ve done far more than I would like to admit.

Moving to New York 11/21/2007

I’m married now, been everywhere, and finally earning enough scratch to stay afloat, so my wife and I are relocating to New York City, home of all my childhood hopes and dreams. Are plan was to buy a house here in Columbus and stay for a few years and then head to NYC, but we could foresee getting way too comfortable and never leaving. Moneywise it’s a terrible idea, but we’re dreamers and need to go make some mistakes.

Claudia, my wife, is a perfectly bilingual graphic designer and web designer, so won’t have any trouble finding a great job. Me, I’ll still be freelancing but will be spending way more than I am used to, so it is going to be a bit rough at first and I may be taking on a few odd jobs here and there. I’m considering taking on a full time editing gig, have applied to a few, and am still exploring the options, but ideally I’d like to have a flexible enough schedule to keep freelancing and traveling every now and again.

We won’t be in the city until the first week of January and I have a 3 week trip in Honduras to work on a guide and a few days in New Orleans to rediscover Cajun cuisine, so it hasn’t really hit me yet. Slowly, though, my collection of crap and my thousands of books are being boxed up, so the anticipation grows.

If anyone has any job or apartment leads, please send them our way!

First Book Signing Recap 10/8/2007
Before I give the details, let me first say that I did try to arrange a book signing at my favorite independent book store, The Book Loft, in Columbus, Ohio, but they never got back to me.

Anyway, I’ll exlain the process because I’m sure a few people are interested in doing the same sort of thing for their own books. So, for my very first book signing ever, I made arrangements to appear at a local author ‘event’ at Barnes & Noble on the Ohio State University campus. I contacted Barnes & Noble a few months ago and they mentioned the event and asked if I was interested if they do go ahead with the event that they were still considering. I spoke with them via email and let them know I was interested, but they never wrote me back and let me know that they were going ahead with the event. So, a week before I got a hold of them and asked about it and they said they were still expecting me to come, which was a surprise to me.

Considering this Barnes & Noble was on the Ohio State campus where I graduated and wrote for the student paper and also the Columbus Dispatch, I thought I would be able to get some sort of promotion in either paper, but there just wasn’t time to set anything up (and I did try). The event was only listed on their Website two days before and that was all the promotion it got.

Considering my Peru Adventure Guide doesn’t get much walk by traffic, I only sold one book, which was actually to a friend that was meeting me afterwards for a drink. There was another author next to me who didn’t sell anything though, so it made me feel slightly better. The third author didn’t even show up.

I think I will try to stick to Independent stores from now on, as I imagine they put a bit more care into arranging their authors and drawing a crowd. Granted, I’ll probably have to write a “real” book to ever get the true experience of a book signing, and I’m working on it, but for now I’ll go ahead and put this one in the category of learning experiences.

Book Addiction 7/26/2007

I go absolutely gaga for books. The way they look stacked together. Even the way they smell. I’m addicted to buying them. I buy online. From book stores. From garage sales. From little stands that also sell water and Doritos beside Moche ruins. My very large five shelf book case was filled years ago so I have boxes of books all over the place and haven’t decided exactly what to do with them all. My book collection are one of the things I miss most when I travel, well other than family, friends, dogs and cats.

I ducked into the bookstore today after getting measured for a vest for my tux for my brother’s wedding. It was my first real time in a bookstore since I left for Peru six months ago. I went berserk and spent $65 on books. It started off with just a magazine and as I walked around the store my load kept getting bigger and bigger. I had a gift card that I needed to use before they started deducting $1.50 each month so it gave me enough of an excuse. I purchased:

-Tony and Maureen Wheeler’s Unlikely Destinations: the Lonely Planet Story
-William Heat Moon’s Blue Highways
-A very, very cheap sale hardback copy of Elliot Hester’s Tales of a Continental Drifter
-Gourmet Editor Ruth Reichl’s Tender at the Bone
-The Complete Mexican, South American, and Caribbean Cookbook (if you haven’t noticed already food is what you might call my secondary platform)
I browsed through the magazine section for probably longer than I needed to and found several obscure travel magazines I didn’t know existed such as Desti Nations, Porthole, and a few others. I also realized my subscriptions are running late as the new issues to a couple of magazines I subscribe to haven’t arrived at home and were already sitting on the shelves. I think I might lock myself in the house this weekend to get a head start. Wish me luck.

Outside's Buyer's Guide Summer 2007 7/16/2007
In the past I swore off buying expensive clothes to travel with from North Face and Mountain Hardware or whichever other company was trendy at the time. I always thought that the best equipment wasn’t essential and was inspired when local porters and guides used the most basic equipment possible to hike or raft or whatever, even though it wasn’t likely a matter of preference for them.

But after one too many times freezing my ass off after using a sleeping bag at 12,000 feet in the Andes that I bought at a Colombian supermarket, bracing the summer rains in Patagonia with a wool sweater, and seeing the prices of the same gear in stores outside the US I have gradually altered my stance. I have accepted that these things aren’t all for show. Now, when Outside’s Gear guide comes around (the summer issue is out now and on the shelves) I read it like its Playboy and drool over sexy new kayaks and mountain bikes and Gortex Storm Shells. Does anyone else have this reaction? I still can’t afford more ore less anything in the guide, but every once in awhile I’m finding it ok to splurge on something that I know I’ll use for a long, long time. The advanced capabilities of equipment even give me story ideas.

Pitching is a Bitch 6/28/2007
I just discovered the wonderful Saveur Magazine last year and only had the chance to read a few of the issues. I subscribed almost immediately after reading it for the first time, but only had the chance to catch the initial few issues before I moved to Peru for the past 6 months. Now that I’m back in the States I’ve got my hands on all the issues I missed and began to read through them. First let me state that I’ve this magazine on my mind the past 6 months because I really wanted to write for them. It’s a great magazine that focuses on world cuisines and often has travel related features and smaller pieces. Over the past 6 months I developed two ideas: one on native Hawaiian foods from street stalls around Oahu and another on Peruvian Ceviche and Tiradito (both a little more complex and specific, but that’s the gist of them). They both would fit in well with the magazine well and I think if I pitched the right maybe one would be accepted.

As I caught up with my description I realize that there already is a piece on Hawaiian food. It’s a bit different and more general about eating on the islands as a whole. Shit. I pick up the next issue and open the page to find a feature on Northern Peruvian cuisine. Fuck. Fuck. Again it’s a little different than mine and focuses on Trujillo and includes a ceviche recipe. Concha su madre. I didn’t get them sent or even on the page yet and they are already taken. Granted even if I submitted these two ideas 6 months ago the other articles were already in the works so it would have gotten me nowhere.

So, what do I do now? The only thing I can do. Both ideas are way too similar to go in Saveur anytime in the next few years. I just have to develop the pitches for another magazine and try something else for Saveur. If I want to look on the bright side I guess I know I’m on the right track for making the magazine, but still….shit.

Travel Writing Ain't Always Easy 6/28/2007

I’m on assignment in Costa Rica at the moment and wanted to share just a general thought or feeling you could say about travel writing. It can be an absolute pain in the ass. At times it canI spent about 25 hours or so getting from Peru to Costa Rica because a direct flight from Peru to Costa Rica was twice as much as flying to Panama (even though it stopped in San Jose for 8 hours!!). I had no choice but to take the cheaper flight as the other was way out of my budget (If I would have decided to skip out on the last leg they would have canceled my return). I arrived in Panama City at midnight and headed straight to the bus station as my schedule is very tight and have not time to relax for a day. I had to wait 5 hours for the first bus to David, not far from the border (7 hours from Panama City), and wasn’t allowed to lie down on the benches in the station (I tried and was yelled at). So I stayed awake all night. When the bus came I went right to sleep. A few hours later I awoke like in a dream in an oddly familiar setting although I couldn’t tell you where exactly it was. The bus had a pulled over at a rest stop so the drivers could get breakfast or lunch or whatever meal it was.

It reminded me of a place I had been to before. A similar rest stop. Was it in India? Peru? No, I had been at this exact same rest stop before. A couple of years ago. Nothing had changed except the bus drivers wanted to stay even longer it seemed. They sold fried chicken. There was a pharmacy and a god awfully dirty bathroom. That’s about it. It had absolutely no character. Not that it’s so awful of a stop, but having to spend parts of your life there more than once seems ridiculous. Why do I put myself through this? This is miserable.

However, a day later I found myself in Parque Nacional Corcovado where blue morpho butterflies and capuchin monkeys passed above my head to the sound of thunderous waves crashing on a picture perfect beach.

Redefining the English Language 7/1/2006
This is a list of unusual, misspelled, or funny things I saw written in English in India:
-Do not put food in yellow box (Hampi)
-Pain Clinic (Jaislamer)
-Drinking and Driving? Perhaps it is your last. (Dehra Dun)
-103 Rajpur Road, Dehra Dun, near Pizza Hut (Dehra Dun)
-Speed thrills, but kills (Musoorie)
-Sham Fashion mall (out a bus window somewhere)
-Singh is King (Manali)
-All kids of shoes repairing work (McLeod Ganj)
-Free entry for visitors (Haridwar)
-One Nation, One Rupee (Karnataka)
-Trees make air. India needs trees. Plant trees (Jhansi)
-Fire is a good servant, not a good master (Goa)
-Crap with Choclate Rum Sauce (Goa)

The Best Place in Delhi 6/28/2006
New Delhi is one of the few cities in the world that I can find very little to enjoy. It is polluted, disorganized, and chaotic. Beggars and homeless out number those with homes. Traffic and horns fill absolutely every spare space. It is a city where the best attractions are a teashop and a toilet museum. I did find one place I liked. It is one of the least Delhi-like in all of India and gives you a bit of hope of release from the hell that is Delhi just by knowing you will go there: The Departure Lounge. It feels just like every other modern airport with bookstores, newsstands, a subway, etc. Most of the shops don't even accept rupees; India's currency! Explain that one to me.

Dalai Lama Quote 6/25/2006
“If you train in love and compassion, you gain experience in love and compassion.”

A Holy Man 6/20/2006
On a high pass in the Himalayas I encountered a holy man, or sadhu. He was quite intelligent, spoke very good English, and laughed a lot unlike most sadhus I have met on high mountain passes.
 “Where are you from?” he asked and also where I was going on my hike. He already knew considering every Westerner who passed this way was on the same hike.
“Where are you from?” I asked.
“Well, I'm from here,” he laughed.
“What do you do here?”
“I'm a holy man.”
“What's so holy about you?”
“My socks,” he said as he held out his sandle with his big toe sticking out of his woolen sock.

World of McDonalds    6/15/2006
Normally a sandwich called the Veggie Surprise would frighten me in India. However, in a Dehra Dun McDonald's I knew exactly what it would be like without really knowing. There are just certain naming techniques, qualities, and all around consistencies you will find in a McDonald's restaurant no matter where you are in the world. They achieve this difficult task by maintaining a series of constants and experimenting and adapting just a few small variables. In India they do not serve beef and have several more traditional flavored meals and many vegetarian options. In Peru they have small sauce bar with condiments such as Rocoto and Huancaina. In most European McDonald's draft beer is offered as a drink. In the US many different menu items are offered by the region such as tacos in the West and Lobster sandwiches in the Northeast. It has become one of my favorite places to go in other countries. You can walk in and never be confused. You know exactly what to do even if you do not know the language. You notice how things are altered and is generally much easier to understand why than in a local restaurant. Don't get me wrong, if you are only eating at fast food chains you are missing a world of flavors and textures and culture. For one meal during a trip, however, it can be a cultural experience as insightful as any cathedral, temple, ruin, museum, or gallery you visit.

Studying Spanish in India 6/9/2006
I came to India with the intention of keep up to date with my Spanish study throughout the entirety of my trip. What I didn't expect was that I would encounter the language much more than I could have expected. The first day I arrived I was at a restaurant on Connaught Place in Delhi and asked a girl beside me if I could have a look at her guidebook so I could get a quick idea on a train I was looking to take. The book just happened to be in Spanish. (I later found out she was from Spain).
            In Pushkar, two British friends of mine and I kept returning to one particular chai stall because the man made particularly good chai. He shared with us his recipe and we got to talking and found out he lived in Spain for a time with his Spanish girlfriend and has three children there. As strange as it may seem to see an American speaking Spanish to an Indian on the one-hundred something degree streets of Rajastan -maybe some thought it a mirage- it was extremely beneficial in the way of my studies.
            Although I can get around quite well in a Spanish speaking country, I still have far to go to understand all aspects of the language. Being engaged to a Peruvian girl, although she speaks perfect English, has greatly increased the immediacy of this task. Therefore, during my travels I brought along my notes and Spanish practice books, along with several audio books I downloaded onto my iPod.
            On a bus to Haridwar from Delhi I met a man from Barcelona and Spanish (mixed with splashes of English) became our choice language of conversation. When a girl from Barcelona overgeard us talking in a restaurant a day later, she joined us and we all moved to Rishikesh together. They both spoke some English, but considering Indian English is doesn't exactly correlate 100% of the time, I became the middleman. A few days of this was better than any Spanish courses I have ever had. I carred my Spanish-English dictionary with me all the time, and used it for a change.
            At times it became a bit confusing, I admit. I would tell Indians "gracias" or ask "Cuento questa?" In the long run I don't think this will matter much. If I begin speaking to people in Peru with "Namaste" and bowing forward with my hands together, then I see some problems.

Indian Newspapers 6/20/2006
One of the best value media deals in India, perhaps the entire world is that of the Indian newspaper. There are several that are decent. They aren't exactly the New York Times, but they do the job and for just a few rupees (less than a nickel each). Much of it deals with Indian news, and much of it there is. It's amazing how many bus crashes and uprisings the western media never gets around to reporting. Another part of the paper that I couldn't help avoid: the Bollywood gossip section in the Times of India. It's right inside the front cover. I've never really even seen a Bollywood movie all the way through, but there is something about celebrity gossip that you just cannot avoid. I know all about the actor Salman Kahn's legal troubles, who has been dating who, what some young starlet eats and does in her free time. I'm not really sure why. It's almost more fascinating than the gossip from Western celebrities just because it is such a world away; so different.

New Socks 6/12/2006
About a month before I was set to go home, I discovered a brand new, never worn pair of socks in the very bottom of a small side pocket of my backpack. This may not seem like a big deal to most, but when you have been traveling for months in socks that you have hand washed 50 times and have this sad, hardened feel about them you might feel different. I'm not going to use them either. I will wait until I leave my last hotel in Delhi, until the grime of India is behind me, to feel the sweet release of fresh, clean socks. It is a driving force that makes me a little less sad to leave.

The Heat    5/26/2006
Forty-eight degrees celcius (approximately 115 degrees Farenheit) we were told was the temperature one day in Jaislamer, Rajastan. When it gets this hot it doesn't really matter how high the needle goes. Over 40 is all the same. Just unbearable. You have to drink at least 5 liters of water each day, sometimes more. Six weeks here and there has not been a day I have not been soaked in sweat. You lack hunger because your body is so full of water at all times. In Rajastan or the South it was near impossible to be outside during the middle of the day. ow I am in the Himalayas, at several thousand meters of altitude, and the heat still gets to me during the day. That's just what you get for going to India in the summer.

The Story of Empty Village 5/15/2006
On the first few hours of a camel safari near Jaislamer in the Indian state of Rajastan, our group came upon the remains of a centuries old village. Our guide, Tiger told us this small tale:
About 700 years ago a Brahmin village once stood on this spot. One day the Maharaja rode into the village and sat down and talked with the people. The people loved him for taking his time to speak personally with them and respected him a great deal. They invited him to stay the evening and a great feast was held and drinks were had all around. The Maharaja saw a girl that he admired and felt that she should belong to him. The villagers refused. Enraged, the Maharaja rode back into the city and returned with his sword. When he returned, however, he found the village empty. The people had fled far off into the Great Thar desert, perhaps as far as present day Pakistan. Still angry, the Maharaja tore down the village and sacked 35 others in the area as well and chased the people away. Ruins of old villages and temples are scattered throughout the area today, although very few Brahmins remain.

Indian Train Queues 5/12/2006
Having been in India a few weeks now, I have come to the conclusion that there isn't a more chaotic, confused place in all the world than an Indian Train station. The epicenter of this debauchery is the Queue for reservations and tickets. As with most places, queues, or lines mean that one person stands at the counter and the next person stands behind him or her in an orderly fashion. There generally is no variation to the rule. In India this is just not the case. The gray area is as wide and polluted as the Ganges. When there is a line that is, often it is a mere throng of people. On average, there are 3-5 people standing beside the person at the front. This number at times can be as large as 20, though. This isn't like at a McDonald's when someone is just cutting ahead to ask the person at the register or an extra packet of sweet and sour sauce. This line has arisen for people who feel they have a greater importance to be at the front of the line than anyone else. They have somewhere to be; they are in the military, whatever. They stick their sweaty arms through or over as many people as they can, often resting them on another's head or back. They throw their money and ticket request form through the window. Often the man at the counter will collect their money. Often he will tell them to piss off. Most often the other people will push them aside or tell them to go to the end of the line. Arguments are every few minutes and are more often funny than not. No matter what train you want, what ticket window you stand before, or the time of the day you are there a line like this is unavoidable. This is the case for not just one window, but generally at least five. All with the same long queue and problems. Some of the major stations have windows especially for foreigners, but this tends to be rare. The wait may take hours. I waited in a queue in agra a few weeks ago for an hour and a half. Once I had wiggled my way to the front the person in the window went on break for 30 minutes. Myself, and the dozens of others had no choice but to wait. Oh, and when I finally had my chance to request a ticket, I learned that there were no more seats on the train I had wanted. So, I had to walk away sans ticket. At present, I've switched to buses.

First Curry 5/19/2006
My first Curry on my trp to India wasn't in Delhi. It wasn't a spicy Goan Vindaloo or to be had in Agra, Varanasi, Hampi, or anywhere else. It was on my Northwest Arilines flight from Detroit to Amsterdam. An unusual choice I thought. It wasn't very spicy, but as far as airline food goes, it could have been much worse.