2 Year Travel Summary! Dec 2011 to Dec 2013…

April24

From December 2011 to December 2013 I lived the life of a digital nomad, I traveled around the world while working remote :). It was challenging, immensely fun, and I learned a shit ton :).

So, where did I go?

Panama for a few weeks.
Cusco, Peru for a month.
Buenos Aires, Argentina for a few months (1, 2, 3, 4)
Chile for a month (1, 2)
Easter Island
Melbourne, Australia for 1 year (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Bali for a week.
Singapore for a week.
Tasmania for a week.
New Zealand for a month.
Hong Kong (1, 2)
Split, Croatia (1, 2)
Freiburg, Germany for a month.
Romania for a month.
Amsterdamn for a week or two (work).
Spain For The Via de la Plata (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Scotland for the last month (1, 2, 3)

And then back home to settle down in Fayetteville, Arkansas :)

What did I learn?

#1 – You learn a whole lot about yourself when traveling for 6 month stretches alone. Lots of time to think, read, and just be with yourself. It was super helpful for me and I cleared a whole lot of bullshit from my mind, and I have a much better idea of who I am and what I want to do. Which is an good feeling :).

#2 – Living with your brother is really fun, especially when it is in Australia for a year. Especially when he refers to himself as your life coach :).

#3 – Time zones are hard, but also nice because they force you to prioritize what meetings need to happen. I just switched to a format to try to force this at home with meetings only on MTW from 9am to noon. We will see if that helps.

And I was reminded just how kind and awesome 99% of the people in the world are :). And how they just want clean air, good health care, opportunities to better themselves, opportunities for their kids, and for politicians to go fuck themselves (especially the corrupt ones, which usually means all of them in lots of these countries). Maybe one day a global political party can really get some traction.

Favorite places or experiences?

I loved them all but I especially loved Croatia! I can’t wait to go back as the weather and beach and people are amazing. Followed closely by Scotland, it felt like home :).

Highlights of the trip?
– Christmas and New Years in Panama with friends and family :).
– Taking Ayahuasca in Peru and seeing old ruiens + reading about them.
Touring the Mendoza wine region one weekend with Rose and Steve.
– Running at this great park in Buenos Aires while I was there + getting a lot of big picture working while I was there at local cafes.
– Finding the weirdest wines I’ve ever had with Joel and Laura one night in BA.
– Hiking Patagonia for a week near El Chalten. One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.
– Getting to see Easter Island and do a lot of biking, running, and walking after the polluted capital of Chile.
– Living with my brother Nick for a year in Melbourne Australia :)!
Riding a train from south to north australia for 3 days, I had a blast and it was an awesome trip!
– A week vacation in Bali where I read the entire Wheel of Time series over + the final one. And had some amazing food and total relaxation.
– Doing a short week camping adventure across Tasmania with Joel! And seeing a platypus in nature up in the mountains around old growth forests plus so many other beautiful areas. Tasmania is amazing!
– Heading back to Singapore for a week for delicious food and great company :)!
– RVing across all of New Zealand with my brother the navigator :). And seeing Hobbit town!
– Going on a boat with some work friends in Croatia that happened to fall on my birthday, exploring old military bases and a sub base was a life long dream :)! Not to mention how amazing that entire country is!
– Amazing hospitality in Serbia, and fantastic food and history!
– Running and mountain biking in Freiburg Germany, so many amazing trails everywhere!
– All the little trips I did across Romania, an amazing country and I’m hoping to go back when it is warmer :).
– Walking for 7 days across the Via de la Plata in Spain. It wasn’t what I expected, and I wish I had done it 8 years ago when I first found it. But it was still an amazing and challenging experience. Lots and lots of alone time when you are working all day.
– Scotland with family and friends! It was so great to have so many visitors for the last month.

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Viña del Mar, Chile (Coast)

May26

Joel, Laura and I headed to Viña del Mar on Chile’s coast the first weekend they were in town. It was a nice change to get away from the pollution and crowds of Santiago. I had a really good run along the coast, even with a massive hang over. The town also has a very nice casino, we didn’t end up gambling but we had some nice drinks with a friendly bartender.

A lot of these pictures are of these weird cable cars (funicular railways) that run up the steep slopes. And then the view from the top of a port / small navy base. The funicular railway we tried opened in 1883! Can you imagine how mind blowing this thing was in 1883! The USA was still fighting the American Indian War in the 1880s.

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Plans For The Next 18 Months…

December24

So, in short here are my plans for the next 18 months:

Jan – Month in Cusco, Peru (at 11,000+ feet)
Feb, March, April – Buenos Aires, Argentina.
May – Santiago, Chile.

I scored apartments with internet in each place and hopefully going to visit Brazil from Argentina quite a few times. I’ve got plenty of space at most places so hopefully some friends will come visit!

Still working down ideas of what I’ll do while I’m in each place, but the general idea is Mayan ruins, old churches, museums, food, steak, wine, vineyards, lots of fun work (webpub/wwwh), wine, beach, patagonia, etc. May 30th I fly off to Australia, still waiting to figure out that stuff, but I’ll be there for a year! And hopefully quite a few trips to Asia and surrounding regions.

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Guess who turned 30!

July30

It doesn’t feel so bad, I’m probably in better shape then any other point of my life, even with death sitting on my shoulder ;). Plus just imagine how awesome my mid life crisis is going to be considering I buy night vision goggles and python skinned cowboy boots in my teens and twenties. Certainty something to look forward too.

I also made some plans for the next couple years. I’ve been wanting to travel some more and spend another year abroad. So in late December or January I’m going to head down to Nicaragua for a while to visit Joel and Laura. And then travel around Central and South America until late May. I will spend at least a month in both Argentina and Brazil, and I’m still working on other locations (probably Uruguay/Chile, and hopefully Panama to visit a friend). Then in May/June I’m heading to Australia for a year as I got my visa to go there! I haven’t done any reading yet but I believe they have nothing poisonous or deadly on the entire continent, just cuddly little koala bears.

This is bwb’s personal blog, so he can share his thoughts with the world, however scary or silly they might be. Plus family and friends can track what I am up to, and where I am in the world.

I am pretty simple. I love Mangos. I love the ocean (although mostly at sunset, as I’m a ginger). I love to travel, eat exotic food, do long bike rides, read, and use my imagination. At some point, I decided it was better to be a pirate captain than an admiral. I am a globalist and see the entire world as my responsibility and playground. And I am married to an amazing woman who makes life even more fun :)! And we are now the proud parents of Calico Jack :).


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