A few days in Paradise

I am in love with Bocas del Torro, this place is absolutely wonderful. The locals are incredibly friendly and everyone here just seems to be happy. My days have been spent at the beach enjoying some sunshine, sport and good conversation with interesting people from around the world, and my nights have been spent eating good cheap food, and laughing and dancing with all of my new friends.

The highlight of my stay here was a camping trip 15 of us made out to a deserted island. We hired a boat to take us out to an island called Zapatia, and it was something straight out of a day dream. Imagine a white sand, tropical beach with crystal clear water, full of palm trees with coconuts, colorful tropical birds, and perfect sunny weather. We spent the days snorkeling, playing soccer, drinking coconut milk (with some rum thrown in for good measure!) and exploring the island. You could walk around the entire thing in 45 minutes, and we had it all to ourselves. At night, we built a bon fire, played music, sang, went swimming and cooked some crabs we caught, eating them hot off of the fire. There was a thunder storm in the distance that turned the sky all shades of purple and orange, it was like nature was putting on a show for us. Sea turtles came up at night to lay eggs, and dolphins swam in the water around us. Only three of us had tents, so the others built lean-tos out of fallen palm fronds.

It was an absolutely magical experience. One of the coolest things I have ever done in my entire life, without question.

That group of us have been hanging out this entire time. We all came for a few days, and we are all still here over a week later! Everyone is in their twenties, outgoing, educated and a ton of fun. The bond of friendship between us is really strong and I feel like these are people I have been friends with for years, and not just days.

Last night a festival started and we all went, eating cheap food, dancing to all the different types of music, hanging out with the islanders. This place just flat out makes me happy. This week spent here will be one that I remember for the rest of my life with fondness. This is the type of time that makes traveling so wonderful.

I needed this too, after being couped up in a hotel room and having to send my bike home. I am getting ready to move on though as I can only take so many Rum fueled nights before I run out of go power. I am looking forward to heading up into the mountains after this and having some time to myself and to get back into the outdoors. I am really looking forward to getting some climbing and rafting under my belt as well.

My camera is on the fritz right now, I think I got some sand in it. As soon as I have it fixed, ill put up the great pictures from the last few days. All my love to everyone back home!

Day: 180

Bocas del Torro, Panama.

A serious jam session broke out with tons of people joining in using everything you can imagaine for insturments.

Hanging out at the Hostel for 50 cent beers.

This is what we get to watch every evening.

Us in the Canoe heading out to the sand bar.

Swimming while keeping your beer above water. Its a talent.

This little girl was funny, she loved attention and hung out with us for a few hours.

You see lots of really nice boats around here.

Another international crowd to hang out with. Switzerland, Argentina, France, Mexico and myself from the states. It was nice to spend the day just relaxing on the water and chatting.

Some local kids fishing by hand with no rod or reel. I saw them catch a couple fish too.

Isla Colon, my home base in Bocas.

I found a new bike! Its a pretty sweet tandom, so who wants to come with me?

One section of my hostel.

My new rig, the backpack!

This is what happens when you are stuck in a room for weeks by yourself with nothing to do!

I am so glad that I chose to come to Bocas del Torro instead of going straight to Panama City. Bocas is a wonderful combination of Latin and Carribean culture mixed with expatriots from all around the world. Its a very laid back place and just unbelievably beautiful. The water is clear and warm, the islands are incredibley lush, the people are very nice and take life slow. This is the kind of place you come for a weekend and then never go home.

I have been having a wonderful time and this was just what i needed after being stuck in a hotel room by myself for weeks on end. I am staying at a really fun Hostel called Mondo Taitu and its quite a lively place. The clencher for me though are the fifty cent beers and free panckaes for breakfast. I have not gone to bed earlier than 4 in the morning since I have been here! I love Hostels for that reason, you get a chance to hang out with people from all around the world and you make instant friendships. Yesterday myself, an Argentinian girl and two Swiss guys found an old wooden Canoe and paddled it out to a sandbar in the middle of the bay where the water is only about a meter deep, and drank some beers and watched the sunset. It was such a weird feeling to be standing only knee deep in water in the middle of a bay with boats going by us on every side. We joked that we should bring out some tables and chairs and eat dinner out there!
That night some guys at our hostel broke out some guitars and started playing and before we knew it, people were playing spoons, bottles, clapping, singing, it was a really good time. We followed it up with dancing at a bar that sits on the water and below it is a sunken ship that you can see through the bottom of the place, it was really cool and we had a blast jamming out to some regae.

Today about 35 of us hired some boats to take us to an island where we went to hang out at a place called red frog beach. We were body surfing, drinking some cold beers, and playing volleyball all day. I am ashamed to admit, team America stunk it up and lost to Team Switzerland, Team Panama and Team Germany on the volleyball court. It was a rough day for the old American boys.

As I said, this place is simply wonderful. Its cheap, beautiful and a ton of fun. Everyone here is in a good mood, and while its very touristy, it still feels authentic. So far, there are no big hotels, no highrise condos, etc. Its mostly all still brightly colored wooden houses the way it has been for ages. In my opinion, Panama is the coolest place in Central America. I liked a lot of the other places I have seen a lot, but Panama has proven to be great, far better than Costa Rica without question, plus its cheaper! I think I will stay here for a week, then head into the mountains for some white water rafting.

Untill next time!

Escape from San Jose

Day 179

Well, after I minor delay I got all of the gear I needed from home. It arrived a day late at the DHL which was annoying, but alls well that ends well. I now have a very nice backpack that I am going to use to carry my gear. I got an Arc'tryx Bora 80 backpack, designed for back woods multi-day treks. I have pictures of my new gear but I cant upload any pictures onto this computer. I will try to do so tomorrow.

I got an early morning bus out of San Jose today and decided to go to David, Panama instead of Panama City. I want to see some of the islands on the Atlantic side of the coast and then head down to the Pacific side to chill out on some of the deserted beaches reported to be down there and do some jungle trekking. I also want to do some hiking and white water rafting in the mountains. I figured there is no rush to get into Colombia as I can now cover ground so much faster as I am taking conventional modes of trasportation as oppossed to the bike. I can now cover a lot more gound and see more than I was capable of seeing before.

Panama is great. What I have seen so far is very modern compared to a lot of Central America and MUCH cheaper than Costa Rica. The people I have met have all been very nice and happy to assist me in getting around. I am loving it so far and honestly am just glad to be out of that little cell, er, I mean hotel room in San Jose. That city isnt bad really, its just not cool. Its smoggy and kind of dirty. It felt good to see wild countryside again as I rode along in the bus after two and half weeks in the city.

So, tomorrow I am heading north and will spend about a week hanging out on the islands in Boca Del Torro. Supposedly you can hop in a kayak and paddle out to deserted islands. I am excited to check it out and see what I can dig up.

I will post pictures as soon as I am able.

Green light means go!

Day: 177

Finally! I had my last visit to the doctor´s office yesterday, she said I was good to go, gave me some medicine I need to apply myself for the next week and instructions to take it easy for a while. I am sure she wont be upset to not have to closely examine my posterior every few days, and I know I sure wont be.

Mom and Pop came through in the clutch and I should have my gear tomorrow, thanks again, you guys are fantastic. So, baring any unforeseen occurrences, I should be on the road again no later than Friday, and I am glad for that. I was starting to lose my mind in that little hotel room. I have read about 10 novels in the past few weeks and although one of the greatest joys in my life has been reading, you can only do so much of it in a short period of time!

The game plan is to go to Panama City, hang tight for a few days while I get a boat lined up to take me to Colombia, and by the time I get there, I should be 100% again.

Killing Time.

The city of San Jose, image borrowed from Geo Central America.

Day 172

I just got back from my third and hopefully second to last trip to the doctors office. The good news is that the doctor told me that I am looking fine and that now I just have to wait for my body to heal up the wounds on its own. She also told me that I most likely will not have to hang around for another week after my last appointment as she will give me some medicine that I can apply myself and so long as I do not engage in any overly strenuous activity for a while, I should be fine on my own.

So now I just have to hang tight and keep myself from crawling up the walls while I wait to get the last appointment under my belt and hopefully a bill of good health so I can hit the road again.
Artax, my trusty bicycle, is now en route back to the States. I took him apart, and the great guys at the local DHL helped me to get him into boxes safe and sound. It was weird, I felt like I was saying goodbye to a buddy or something. He was a great bike and I was totally satisfied with his performance. Even under really terrible conditions he kept on trucking like a champ. I look forward to putting him back together in the future and taking him for a spin.

San Jose is a lot nicer than most of the cities I have been to in Central America, but I am staying in a neighborhood that is not exactly the best in town. Its right next to the biggest bus station and their are a lot of shady characters hanging around. Although the hotel is safe, clean and cheap, plus its close to the hospital.

I hate being in places like this for too long as it begins to harden and jade you. Whenever I see somebody spot me and come over to talk to me, I instantly assume they are going to try and hustle me somehow. Nine out of ten times that is the case, as they are either trying to sell you some junk, drugs, advice, etc. or to just flat out beg. You reflexively develop a defense against it, and start to come across as really rude. The down side of that is when you meet someone who is just trying to be nice and then you start off on the wrong foot. I like the country towns because there when people approach you, they are genuinely trying to be friendly and get to know you. You only get about one out of ten that are trying to hustle you.

One guy in particular here has really been getting on my nerves. He spotted me coming back to my hotel a few days ago and started talking to me in American accented English and looked clean so I figured he was another traveler. He asked where I had been and where I was headed, typical traveler questions, and I chatted with him for a bit. He told me about a couple of cool places to visit in Panama and started asking me about American football and such and I figured, this is just a cool guy from the states who saw someone he figured he might be able to talk to, maybe he is going it alone like me.

Then, he asks me if I want to buy any drugs. Great, he is just a clever scumbag from the states using it as leverage on people. I tell him no, then he offer to take me to a casino. No again. How about some prostitutes. No buddy, beat it. How about a cheaper hotel, come on, its just over here, as he tugs on my shirt. No, I am fine here. How about a couple of bucks for helping you out, I showed you some great places to visit in Panama. So, I give him about 50 colones (a couple of cents American) just to get him to get out of my face. He takes it and goes, that's it? I lost it then and told him he should be happy I gave him anything. He then tells me he is coming down off some drugs and needs more money, I tell him to get out of my face.

Two days later he spots me again and comes up to me begging for money, saying he is going through some tough times and I just looked at him and say, too bad, and left.

Guys like that make me sick. He is just a lowlife junky trying to pull on peoples heart strings to get something without working for it. I truly feel bad for people on the streets that don't have anywhere else to go, like the mentally ill who are abandoned by their families. They are there through bad luck alone and it is terrible to see them suffer through no fault of their own. But this guy, reasonably intelligent and able bodied, has no excuse to beg from people. It just blows me away, where is your sense of pride? Or at least shame? I just want to yell at people like that and shake the hell out of them, tell them to clean themselves up and do something with their lives besides waste it and live like a human parasite. He made me so angry at him, I wanted him to not say he was an American to anyone else as it makes the rest of us look bad.

Anyway, sorry for the rant, it was just something that has been bugging me. There are lots of those types around here so you have to stay on your toes a bit, but it is nothing more than an annoyance, I have never felt unsafe at all.

I am going a bit stir crazy though as I am not used to being in one place this long any more, and I can't do much. For the most part I am confined to my room while I heal up. I have found a great second hand book store that has a huge selection of English language books cheap, which has been a godsend. You can also trade in your old books for credit towards new ones, so I have been burning through a book every day or two. And, the nerd in my rejoiced at this, the book store even has English language comic books. Sweet! So I have been hanging out there quite a bit. I love bookstores like that because you never know what you are going to find. I have dug up some real gems as well as some really, really bad books that I have enjoyed reading and laughing at. I like the big bookstore chains too as they have such a great variety and its all so well organized. But, they do lack the charm of the little Mom and Pop bookstores, even when Mom and Pops idea of organization means just having books on the shelf...or in boxes on the floor, or laying in giant stacks with no rhyme or reason. The one annoyance though is when you find a great book to read, but it is the second in a series and they have all but book number one. I hate that! I can not read any books or watch any movies out of order, it drives me nuts.

But, other than that I have been well, I have scoped out all the best and cheapest food joints around me. They LOVE their fried chicken in central America, its everywhere, and its cheap as well. That and beans and rice, the staple foods of the Central American diet it seems to me. I miss Mexican food a lot, they have such a huge variety of really excellent types of food there for reasonable prices. It truly spoils a traveler.

At any rate, this is turning into a random stream of consciousness blog update that does not have a lot of pertinent information so I will cut it short. I plan on hitting the road as soon as the Doc gives me the thumbs up and I get my new gear sent to me from my parents. And Mom, Dad, you guys are awesome for running around getting everything I need. I know its a pain in the butt, but it is a huge help to me and I truly appreciate it! Love you guys!

Changing Gears

I have thought my situation through and have come to a decision as to what I am going to do from here. It was not easy as I had so many conflicting emotions and desires involved in the process, but after a sleepless night I have made up my mind.

My initial reaction to the news the doctor told me was pretty close to panic. Going though this infection and the treatment has been an extremely unenjoyable experience and not something that I want to do again. Sitting around somewhere for weeks being unable to do anything but wait to have a stranger poke around your naked body is not my idea of a fun trip.

I look back at some of the crazy things I have already encountered on this adventure that I just breezed right by, even laughing about them deposit how scary they were at the time. Everything from being chased by dogs in the night, close encounters with crocodiles, Mayan Indians waking me up at 2 in the morning in the middle of the jungle, freezing cold, pouring rain, scalding heat, enormous mosquitoes, and none of it phased me. But this is something I can't see and can't fight off on my own.

Up until now, I have really been enjoying this experience. There have been plenty of negatives involved like homesickness, physical pain and discomfort, feeling like an outsider everywhere I go, but I anticipated those coming into this and while some of them bothered me more than others, the good outweighed the bad.

With this new factor in the equation things have changed. It is not the infection itself that changes my perception of what I am doing, it is the anxiety that I know I will feel constantly while riding and the way it would effect my day to day experience of the journey. I will always be wondering if the pain in my rear end, which is constant, is something worse. Every time I see a river or lake to swim in or sit down on muddy ground after the rain, I will wonder if it will lead to another breakout of this infection because I have been riding too much and have open sores that could become infected. It will always be in the back of my mind, wondering if it will happen when I am somewhere I can't get to a hospital, and if I can, what if that hospital doesn't have the techniques, supplies or knowledge to treat this? I could find myself in a really terrible situation and that knowledge hanging over me all the time would be exhausting.

In order to minimize the threat, I would have to totally change my approach to the trip. I would have to spend a lot more money to cover less ground which would dramatically shorten my journey but increase the cost. I would also have to avoid or move at a snails pace through some of the areas I most wanted to visit. I have already been facing the reality that I was going to have to cut things out of my trip due to time constraints while moving at the pace that I was, and to further be slowed while spending even more money means that I would most likely have to cut out everything but simply circling the globe just so that I could finish.

But the thing that bugged me more than any of these others was having to ride slowly all the time. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I just do not operate that way. I pretty much have two gears: stop, and full speed. Anything I do in life I either go full blast, or I don't do at all. I just don't have it in me to sit around and smell the roses, constantly rubbing cream on my butt and resting all the time. Don't get me wrong, I like to take easy on occasion but when its time to get something done, I want to give it my all and get it done. I love the feeling of pushing myself as hard as I can, watching the miles fly by and getting that workout high at the end of the day. Just rolling along at a slow pace day after day would be torturous for me, and all because I was worried about having another nasty breakout of this skin infection.

The doctor actually encouraged me to keep going, she thought what I was doing was really incredible. She made a good point too, saying that it could be far worse. I could be diabetic, and she made the point that this common disease would be far harder to overcome on my trip. She felt that as long as I was willing to make the sacrifices involved in changing my plans and habits, I could continue, albeit in a completely different fashion than I had originally envisioned. She was correct too; if I was willing to make the sacrifices I could continue. If you want something bad enough you can always find a way.

But the inevitable fact that I kept coming to when I was exploring my honest feelings was this: I am not willing to make these sacrifices. The bottom line is that if I am not enjoying myself, this is not worth it. And doing the things I would have to do in order to avoid another one of these outbreaks, the trip would not be enjoyable for me. I could just ignore what the doctor says and go for it anyway, trusting to luck. I mean, I made it through nearly 4,000 miles of tropical terrain before I had this happen, maybe I could go another 4,000, right? But that is an impossible question to answer. I could go the rest of the trip and get lucky, I could go 100 miles and have it happen again. I can not tell the future. All I can do is make a decision based on the best information I have, and the advice of a doctor on issues of health is the only source of information that has any foundation in statistical and empirical evidence. Anything anyone else says is purely anecdotal and therefore not a reliable source of information when making this type of decision as there are too many variables from individual to individual. It would be different if I were the first man to ride a bike around the world, or if I were nearly done, then it would be worth while to push through it. But I am not even close to the first man (that was done way back in the 1800´s) and I am not even a fifth of the way through my trip, I still have years to go to do all that I wanted to do.

The only reason I would have to continue at this point would be for the sake of my pride. Pride can be a useful tool at times, helping you to push through adversity when you would have otherwise given up. It can also be a hindrance, inhibiting your ability to make intelligent decisions. In this case, two and a half years of my life and tens of thousands of dollars of hard earned money would be a foolishly big sacrifice to place on the alter of my pride. All that to do something that was no longer enjoyable for me, just to be able to say I did it.

When I reached this conclusion, a really weird feeling came over me. I had a simultaneous feeling of depression and elation. I was depressed because it meant for me the adventure was over and I was going to leave a goal unattained. I felt equally as much elated however, because it meant I could see my family and friends and comfort myself in the familiarity of home.

I could just picture coming back to smiling faces and hugs, how happy all my loved ones would be to see me again, how great it would feel to be back in the city I love. I can't lie, I have been pretty homesick. To this point, it was something I was willing to deal with as my enjoyment of the trip outweighed those feelings, but now with a legitimate reason to return I was pretty happy. One of the reasons I have been feeling homesick, which is not normal for me at all, was due to all of this time I have had to myself to think and plan. I am a forward thinking person and have had big plans for my life, but in the hours of solitude on the bike I was able to work out every little detail of how I was going to go about making my life goals a reality and I could envision it all with such clarity that I was excited to get started on it. Plus, I truly love and miss my family, friends and my city and really look forward to the day I can see them again.

But then I thought a little further down the path of going home, past the joyful reunions, past the pleasure of being in a familiar setting. I thought about how things would be once I was settled back into a routine life. I know that at that point when the dust had settled, the only thing I would feel looking back on my trip was regret and a sense of having failed in achieving a dream that I had worked so hard to make a reality. I know myself and I know that that feeling would linger with me for years, if not the rest of my life. I am not getting any younger and in all likelihood, this is the last opportunity I will have to do something like this again before I retire. I plan on starting a family in the not too far future and once that stage of life begins, an adventure around the world with total freedom will be nothing more than a painful memory of a wasted opportunity. Living with the knowledge that at the first encounter with major adversity on my big adventure that my reaction was to fold like a tent and go home with my tail between my legs, was not something I was willing to live with.

At this point, when my two conflicting desires clashed with equal strength in my mind, I became pretty depressed. I dragged myself over the coals most of the night, trying to decide which of the two was going to be the better choice, or in all honesty, the least painful choice.

Then, in one of those flashes of insight we all have from time to time I found a middle ground. While riding my bike, I have had lots of time to day dream, and some of these have been about all different types of adventures I could have in the places I was going. Most of them I had to dismiss because they were just not very practical with the bike. But then I thought to myself, why not leave the bike behind, but continue the trip having lots of different kinds of adventures in all of the places I wanted to see in the first place that I would now not be able to see?

I have been planning and saving for an around the world trip since 2004. It has been a dream of mine since then journey to every continent but Antarctica in a single trip and try to do as many wild and challenging things as I could squeeze in. In 2007 I first read about cycle touring and that is when the idea to go around the world on a bike first came to me and I decided to go for it. Basically, this workaround allowed me to continue on feeling like I was still achieving my original goal, while also avoiding putting myself through the no longer enjoyable experience of traveling by bicycle. It satisfied both of my conflicting desires.

This realization instantly turned my anguish into excitement. All of a sudden ideas were shooting through my mind like sparks from a roman candle. I got up early and despite not having slept more than maybe an hour, I have been researching non stop, trying to determine if all of the things I want to do are feasible. I have been furiously creating time tables, budgets, sketching out ideas for things to do, finding out how much they will cost, how long they will take, etc.
The more I think about this, the more I am starting to feel like this may have been a blessing in disguise. I am now more excited for this trip than I have felt for the past month. Instead of one enormous challenge that in all honesty may have dragged in places and in others I may have been flat out not enjoying myself, I will have lots of smaller but varied adventures, while still going around the world and seeing all that it has to offer.

I have been having some pretty wild ideas too. I am picturing everything from plains, trains, buses, cars, boats, motorcycles, mountain climbing, trekking, sailing, scuba diving, kayaking, horses, Camels, you name it. I have to admit, this has gotten me pretty fired up with all of the possibilities.

So, the new theme of the trip I suppose, is not cycling around the world, but seeking adventure around the world. The goal I have set for myself now, is to find at least one big challenge for myself on every continent that I visit.

In the end will I be able to say that I rode a bicycle around the world? No. That really does suck. But, I will be able to say that I was true to myself, had an amazing time and one hell of an adventure and that I feel, is what matters most. Traveling by bicycle thus far has been a great experience, truly rewarding and personally enriching. I am by no means done with it for life, but for this trip it has become just one of many adventures as I circle the globe. And who knows, maybe I will jump back on a bike at some point in this trip if I find a place I just can't resist riding a few miles through!

So thanks a million to everyone who sent me emails while I was going through this with encouraging words. It meant more to me than I can really express. If anyone no longer wishes to follow along with the journey as it is no longer cycling around the world, I totally understand and want to thank anyone who has been along with my thus far. However, I am going to continue on and if anyone wants to come with me, I would love the company!

I Just got back from the Hospital.

I have just returned from my second trip to the hospital here and have a better idea of what I am dealing with. The doctor´s assumptions were correct and I developed ulcers on my rear, right where the thigh meets my bum. They are the result of riding the bike and they got infected with apparently a few types of bacteria, one of which was breaking down my skin and causing the ulcers to grow and become very painful. This was also the reason for my fatigue and dehydration.

Standing with your pants around your ankles in a room while a stranger (and an attractive young female doctor at that, although I guess that is better than a young male doctor) pokes around your nether regions is not the most comfortable of experiences. The actual treating of the legions is no fun either and neither of these experiences was any better on the second go around, and I am sure wont be any more pleasant on the third and fourth. However, I have to say, the doctor is great, she really helped to make me feel comfortable in a really unpleasant situation.

I talked with the doctor at length about my trip, how I was going about it and what I had to do to prevent things like this from occurring in the future. She was really empathetic, and felt so bad for me that she didn´t even charge me for the second visit which really blew me away. That is not something you would ever expect to happen in the states.

Basically, she told me that to continue, I would have to make some fairly drastic changes. I would have to ride less miles per day, ride at an easier pace, take more frequent and longer breaks and avoid riding in tropical regions as well as applying baby cream to my rear end on hot or humid days to reduce friction. She said I would also have to sleep indoors more often and bathe more frequently, and less often in rivers, lakes, or streams (which obviously I would like to do but camping you don't have a choice). The ulcers are brought on by heat, moisture and friction, and then are infected by bacteria which live in water, especially muddy water, and can be anywhere.

I asked her what the likelihood of experiencing another outbreak of this would be if I continued on the way I had been and she said there was a chance it would not occur again but that was very slim, and that I should assume that it would happen at least once more, possibly several times.

She also stated that I was lucky that it hit me hard in Costa Rica as the medical care here is excellent. She said that here, or in Panama I would have been OK (although she said treatment would have been much more expensive in Panama) but if it were to have hit me in Nicaragua or Honduras, I would have been in deep trouble as they are unable to treat this type of thing.
Considering that the vast majority of my trip goes through tropical areas, I would have to dramatically change things. Basically, I would have to go slower and spend more money per day by quite a bit in order to ensure I don't go through something like this again, possibly in a place where there is no way of treating it. I would also have to try and avoid tropical areas as much as possible, which unfortunately covers most of my trip.

Obviously this is not the best news, so I am going to take a night to sleep on it and weigh all of the factors and make my decision as to what I am going to do tomorrow.