Happy Birthday Dad

Happy 30th Birthday to My Dad

The first days...

OK, so I am now in Venezuela making my way to the city of Merida in the south west of Venezuela, where I will start a language course on Monday. My time untill then consists of taking buses, staying in dingy but cheap hotels, taking any oppurtinities to see some local sights along the way and practice my infantile spanish.

This place has energy that´s for sure, and a certain smell to it; a combination of diesel fumes, garbage, tropical fruit, baking concrete, and street stalls selling fried food. The soundtrack is constant; it varies from latin folk to somekind of mix of reggae, salsa and latino pop. It exists everywhere, on the buses, on the streets, and in the shops and restaurants (and internet cafes), and some of it ain´t bad. And people, lots of people. Oh, and the weather is fine too, damn fine.

I´ve got to head off now, but photos will follow shortly.

The Effect on the Butterfly

So the idea was to take a really early flight from Heathrow, changing in Milan to fly to Caracas. Taking these flights would allow me to arrive in Caracas airport in the mid afternoon, giving me plenty of time to make my way in the safety of daylight a nice small city outisde Caracas from which to start my travels.

This didn´t quite work out when my first flight to Milan was cancelled due to fog in Milan, causing me to miss my connection to Caracas. Grazia Alitalia, grazia. But an alternative route was found for me via Miami (don´t ever get a connection in Miami if you can help it, they have a stupid system for connections made worse by the current security paranoia).

Anyway, to cut a boring story short, taking the alternative flights meant I arrived in Caracas airport late in the evening, forcing me to take an overpriced hotel after an over priced taxi ride in a near by town. The following morning I stepped out onto the street and stood on a butterfly. This I thought, was the weather finally getting its own back on the butterfly. Some large event somewhere in Europe having a very small consequence somewhere in South America; ´The effect on the butterfly´.

A Traveller's Checklist

• Quit secure, well paid job................................................Check
• Start to think about what outdoor equipment you will take............Check
  
• Tell bewildered parents..................................................Check
• Cancel rent with landlord......................................Check
• Continually have doubts about leaving secure, well paid job.............Check
• Vaccinations...........................................................Check
• Put all posessions into bewildered parent's loft..............................Check
• Spend hard earned money on a one way plane ticket.......................Check
• Cancel car insurance.................................................Check
• Have doubts about spending hard earned money on a one way plane ticket........Check
• PASSPORT - CHECK THE EXPIRE DATE!!...........................Check

I'm Off

Mortgages, Cheddar Cheese, pensions, student loan, English Mustard, insurance, my CD collection... I'm turning my back on it all, and heading straight for Heathrow, well Venezuela actually.

After just over two years working in computer software I felt the need to get back into my real interest of exploring the outdoors, visiting new places and learning new things. I saw my chance for a quick 'career break' and grabbed it with both hands (whilst wearing a pair of waterproof yet breathable gloves of course).

The plan is to take about 6 months to travel and explore my way from Venezuela up through Central America. Note the word 'about' and the vagueness of the route here. The first 5 weeks or so are relatively planned, with some rough ideas to follow after that. The key phrase of this trip is 'be flexible' (so I guess I should get on with those stretches my physio was always on about). Some of you might guess, that this kind of suits me as I seem to have a great aversion to planning and preparing for things properly.

So the plan is to study the language, experience and explore the different cultures along the way (of which food will form a major part I assure you), and try and see some of the spectacular natural wonders these countries have to offer, and basically, just see what happens. I'm leaving for Venezuela on January 16th, but first it is to Sicily for a week of great food, good company and atrocious driving.

I'm not too sure what this blog will turn out to be, but I hope to write a little every week or so, or at least keep the TPS updated, and load some photos up every now and then. I hope to still keep in touch with everyone via email, and any emails are always welcome, and I think you can even add replies to a specific entry on this blog - modern technology hey! And of course, if anyone has the urge, they are welcome to meet me somewhere along the way and travel with me for a while - just drop me a line and we can sort things out.

Happy New Year anyway, lets hope this one's bitchin' !

Trev.