AirBNB loses a fan…

January26

I used to be a huge AirBNB fan… I’ve lived out of AirBNB’s for multiple years when doing multi-year trips. I had one bad experience in 2012 and AirBNB’s service was amazing, they took care of everything and had my back. But the new AirBNB seems to have lost their way…

We had a really bad AirBNB experience a few months ago, one where we had to leave the apartment for fear of our safety from a really irate host. Plus about 20% of the AirBNB apartment pictures did not match what we got (plus broken AC units in a very hot place). The most frustrating thing was that the AirBNB support didn’t do anything about this. We eventually got it elevated to a senior rep and he told us our only possible solution was to leave a bad review of the host and hope the community did something about it. That is ridiculous. If AirBNB won’t police their listings to prevent fake pictures from making their way in, or to protect the people booking from abusive hosts what is the point. They even let the host leave us a review which doesn’t seem fair given the situation.

We will continue to use them as there are no other options but I am warning everyone I know about this and telling our story about the horrible service we received.

I also recommend you read this post about Jeffrey’s bad experience with AirBNB and a host who had video cameras in the house.

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Strasbourg France: Snails, Wine, and Sun!

July7

For the last month, we have been living in Strasbourg France and having a blast. Lindsey and I wanted to travel with Calico and had this planned for some time as our first big trip.

What was it like traveling with a 5-month-old?
Not too bad! Jet lag and sleep regression were TOUGH, but the rest was great. I think the best thing is we did not have much that was scheduled, we just flowed with things. The only time he got fussy was when we had to put him in a car seat when he was really hungry a few times. Calico is so curious about everything it was fun just to have him sit in the stroller and watch everything. Very rewarding :).

This picture might sum up Lindsey’s feelings when Calico was really squirmy after Lindsey had been up every hour from 1.30am to 5.30am and then we had to catch a train… The sleep regression sucked for Lindsey, esp with him feeding so much at night. I take him most mornings around 6.30am when he wakes up to give her some more rest and sleep in. We are going to work to stop that pattern now that we are home a bit more. It is a good thing he is so cute :).

What did we get up too?
Rose and Steve visited and we had a blast!!! So much good food and catching up :). They also scored Calico a sweet leprechaun onesie…

Corrin visited + Wine & Food & History Tours!
Corrin just graduated HS, and we had him over for 10 days. Lindsey took him on some little trips and then we all spent 2 days with a history, wine, and food tour. Our tour guide was great and really knew her wine.

WW1 Battlefield
I am really glad I was not around for that war, what a clusterfuck.

I also got the chance to take Corrin and family to Freiburg Germany in the Black Forrest. I lived there for a few months a few years back and the trail network was amazing. It was good to see it and I hope to be back one day with a bike. We got this family shot at some point there :).

What did I get up too?
I found out I LOVE snails. I think I could eat a plate of 12 along with some bread every day :)

I ended my job at Pressed in early June, and it was really nice to have a vacation where I didn’t have to work or be on call. I think this is the first vacation in 10+ years where I have not been on some form of on call. I read 30+ books over the month, and took Calico all over the city. I think we easily walked 3 to 7 miles a day. I also took a break from my strict Paleo AIP diet which was nice (i ate some really good food).

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44 Countries! Crazy!

October12

Wow, I realized when I was cleaning up my travel list that I have visited a total of 44 countries!

Other random thoughts while thinking about this…

  • I’ve spent 3 of the last 4 years living outside the USA.
  • I lived for a year in Melbourne Australia and Cairo Egypt!
  • I lived for ~9 months in Dublin, Ireland.
  • I’ve spent at least a month in 15 different countries, a few twice!

I love all the countries I’ve been too, but I especially love Croatia. I’ve been there twice for a total of ~6 months and can’t wait to go back. Amazing weather, fantastic food, great people, and a fantastic mood.

Where do I feel the most at home? Ireland, the entire country just feels like sitting down in a bean bag after a long day at work, ie “this is where I belong”. Plus they don’t have snakes.

I’ve got a lot of places I’d like to visit in the future (if I am able too). And, quite a few places I want to go back too. I’ve been really lucky to be able to travel so much!

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Hike From Biot to Valbonne!

March22

Lindsey found an amazing hike for us this weekend! We took the train to the Biot stop, and hiked from there to city center, and then along a beautiful 7 mile path to the village of Valbonne. We ended up staying the night (instead of riding the bus back), and hiked back in the morning. Fun weekend :)

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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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You know you are really travelling…

October12

When you stay in a “hotel” where you barricade the door at night with a chair, keep a “weapon” on hand, or sleep on top of the bed on a towel.

I only have a few of these nights, but they are def still vivid :). For some reason, this hit me when I checked my bed for bedbugs tonight, although it’s not quite a “chair under the door handle” place, nor the slightly worse “wine-bottle-next-to-bed-for-stabbing” place.

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New Travel Policy

September4

I have a new travel policy of trying to leave a little blood + take a little dirt in each country I visit. Mountain biking can be very fun, especially when you fall. Plus I have to think this strengthens my immune system (and hopefully doesn’t kill the land with the high scotch content of my blood).

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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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Panama + Start Of Some Travels!

December23

I flew out of DC Dec 15th after a hectic last week of errands and some hard goodbyes! I’m on the road and ill do a big post with more details soon! Right now i’m hanging out with my dad and stepmom in Panama (Volcan) for Christmas! A few pictures below…

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Map Of My Facebook Friends

April3

Click the above to enlarge it, this is a map of my facebook connections, if you want to try out the app it is pretty cool.

Holy Shit! When did it turn February? And Happy Chinese New Year!

February3

Wow what a jam packed January! Work has been insanely busy and slowly our new business project is coming together. Just have to keep mumbling to myself that slow and steady wins the race :).

This last weekend I went to NY and had a blast with friends, although I’m feeling the effects as I spent the last 24 hours getting over a cold. I’m hoping to go again in the next few months and actually see a play and the insides of a few museums. Somehow managed to run 10 miles through central park which was great! I can’t wait to run outside again once spring comes!

Upcoming Travel
February – SuperConf in Miami
March – SXSW in Austin and WHD in Germany + Short Vacation
April – Paga Ultimate Tournament Italy + Short Vacation
May – Fayetteville for Jasmine’s Graduation.

Possibles
June – WHD Conf in Thailand
August – San Fran WordCamp and Fayetteville for a wedding.
November – PubCon Vegas
October – Octoberfest maybe?

St. Maartin, Florida, DC, Etc…

October7

St. Maartin was beautiful (as expected) and I had a great trip. The plane had a small bit of trouble landing and we had to spend the first day in Puerto Rico before the high winds died down. But after that all was good. I read a ton of books, tried a lot of different rums, and didn’t work too much. It also reminded me why the south got nothing done prior to the invention of air conditioning, it is impossible to work a job where you sit for more then a few hours in hot humidity. I walked around ~1/8th of the island and made it to the French side, the entire coast was amazing, and some of the houses are insane. And somehow I managed not to get sun burn.

Florida is getting hit way worse then Denver or Arkansas or other places in the USA I’ve visited lately. I’m guessing because the real estate market had so much further to crash… I was pretty stunned. Washington DC was awesome as usual, played in a beach tournament which was a blast and had a great time visiting friends! Looking forward to moving there late this year.

Great trip!

And btw if anything on my blog is misspelled, or the grammar makes you wince, just suck it up. I usually write these pretty fast and I’m only half as bad when I slow down.

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30 Day Travel Bonanza!

August17

JetBlue is selling a All You Can Jet pass where you can fly as much as you want from September 7th to October 6th so I bought the pass for $699 (meaning I can travel any day of the week during that period)!

It is good for any domestic locations and international only has taxes and fees that you have to pay. I won’t be able to plan things out until they let you book on August 23rd but I’m pretty excited. This will get me to regionals in California, a trip to Florida to visit my Grandma, and hopefully a few more. If international is cheap enough I might try to bounce around the Caribbean. Especially as I really want to go see Tobago as that is where they filmed Swiss Family Robinsons. And if I can make it too Barbados it is only $89 round trip to get to Tobago. And I’d love to go back to St. Lucia.

Here is a map of all the places JetBlue flies for this deal! Basically from Denver I can go to anywhere in Texas, California, East Coast and maybe even all the way to Bogota.

PS. I also found out I can spell bonanza without looking it up on google which I’m proud of.

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Italy Trip

April13

It was a great trip, the beach tournament was fun and after a few days feeling more confident in that I know how to play on the beach. After that headed to Cique Terra and Venice, not a lot of pictures but most are from those locations.

Cheers For The Dublin Enterprise Center

October22

I’ve been meaning to make this post for a while, I just wanted to say thanks to the Guinness Enterprise Center in Dublin Ireland. I was working remotely in Ireland a long time ago and they helped me get a small office, setup high speed internet for VOIP, and a lot more! They were absolutely fantastic and in particular I wanted to thank Dolores Dempsey for her help.

This is a really great center that helps Irish people start companies and they do fantastic work!

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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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