Rolo on Tour

3 months of travelling through Central America will be over tomorrow and the continent of South America is waiting for me next. Time for a little resumee:

On the 19th of October 2010 some travel-greenhorn, namely me, got on a plane to Mexico to see something of the world. I discovered quite quickly that Backpacking (at least around here, as that is all I can talk about right now) is really much, much easier than I thought before. It didn’t take long and I had the impression I never did anything else in my life! So what have I done so far:

I have visited 28 different locations in 6 countries (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama). I was swimming in Cenotes and climbed 4 volcanoes. I was attacked by 3 dogs at once. I can call myself an Open Water Diver now, I went down a volcano on a board and I was dressed as a Canadian Hockey Player at Halloween. I took part in a waiters run and was flying on a 1km-canopy-cable through the air. Many cool memories will remain of the time I spent here and of the people I met on the way.
Still, travelling it is not always exciting, but that is a thing you have to deal with. As it is at home, there are always ups and downs and sometimes the places are not what you expect of them or you don’t meet people to connect with. But there is always another day and another place to go…

Now lets come to some „travel wisdom“ I gained so far:

• As most people do, I realized soon that I got too much stuff. Here we have an example how you get everything you need in a very small bag and still got your hands free for important supplies for the bus ride:

Still some little things are quite essential and I would not go again for example without a travel towel, a bandana or flip flops. And I would bring an Ipod touch, which would help getting through all the bus rides and considering there is Wifi in every hostel around here it would come quite handy.

• It is normal to see the same people over and over again. At first I was really surprised about that, but now I have seen people I know in all locations besides the first stop in Cancun and one night in Tegucigalpa. And I can tell you that it is always funny when this happens.
• Everybody is a teacher. I don’t know why, but if I ask people what they do back home, that is by far the most common answer.
• If I ask people where they come from, London is the city named most often. Surprisingly Vancouver is named the second most.
• The amount you pay for a taxi ride is inversely proportional to your spanish skills (At least that is my theory ;-)).

Furthermore my budget planning should be OK, also considering that I can always save money by drinking less, making not as many tours and cooking instead of eating out. The last aspect will also help me improve my cooking skillz further and if that is the only thing I learn on this trip ;-).

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