Map the first!
Starting off in Kitimat, where I'm at, on an undetermined date. My current employer is not being very forthcoming with scheduling info regarding when our current project is going to end or what's up with the next projects comming up. I don't want to quit at an awkward time and end up burning bridges, but I'm not going to stick around just to keep working when there are much more irresponsible options available to me! This town sucks.
If I have August to play with, I'll travel through BC and Alberta visiting friends, checking out music festivals, just generally being a hippy with a van, and make my way down to Seattle. If I don't have much of August, I'll skip the music festivals and stuff, make my way to Calgary to pick up a guy, then we'll road trip together to Seattle.
Seattle, Labour Day long weekend, is PAX, the Penny Arcade Expo, because I've never been to a convention before, and videogames! It'll be fun! And we'll probably splurge for a hotel room, splitting costs, so that'll be a bonus.
After that, making my way down the West coast. I don't really have any great ideas for what to do with the US, it's kind of just in my way. And it's expensive, so I'll be holding back on activities quite a bit. I'm sure I'll figure something out to keep myself entertained for cheap: bumming around on beaches, exploring iconic West coast cities like San Francisco, trying to not get shot by Americans. San Francisco, though, should be awesome! Vibes of Aceptance and Tolerance suit me famously, and if it's anything like Amsterdam I should feel right at home again.
Cutting East 'cause I kind of just want to avoid Los Angeles. Checking out Hollywood might be kind of neat, 'cause film studios and production, but then it's
Hollywood movies they're producing. Michale Bay might shoot me 'cause he's American, and I might shoot him 'cause he's Michale Bay, so yeah, avoiding the whole region is probably really for the best.
What I really
do want to see, though, is Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and the Hoover Dam. I'm thinking I'll set aside like $200 to throw away on gambling, maybe take in a show or something, and otherwise I'd probably be able to keep myself entertained in Vegas for quite a while on even a very minimal budget. Hiking and maybe some rafting in the Grand Canyon is going to be really exciting, and Hoover dam mostly just so I can laugh and tell them mine's bigger =P
Cutting back West, because I discussed it with my coworkers and decided that I've got to stop in and see
Tijuana. My understanding of the place is that it's the quintessential shady mexican border town, where you go to watch c**k fights, and scared white college students buy shitty weed and drink tequilla 'till they puke so that they can tell stories when they're older about how "wild and crazy" they were back in the day. I'll need to decide by this point if I want to try to pick a fight with someone from University of Texas in every touristy "Spring Break" party town I visit along the way.
Probably crossing back to the US side of the border to head east again, 'cause it is a dangerous area and drug gangs and violence are a legitimate concern, might stop into Phoenix quickly just to check it out, depending probably on how my budget is doing. Then South into Sonora province of Mexico, and to the town of Guaymas to visit my Grandfather for a while! His family down there are long time locals and should be able to show me around pretty well. I might charter a fishing trip, and hopefully marlins will be in season, 'cause that would be really cool! But even otherwise, they've got some pretty big tuna and stuff too, and whatever, a bad day fishing is better than a good day working.
Down to Mexico City, explore there for a bit, not much I want to see particularly other than some Luchador Wrestling. Not a particular interest of mine, but I've been learning a bit about it from someone who's been trying to get me to check out El Santo, an old mexican luchador/folkhero/moviestar/superhero who is supposed to be hilariously entertaining. MST3K apparently did a couple of his movies in their orriginal run! So yeah, it seems like something I could get into at least a little bit, and worth checking out while I can.
Into Southern Mexico, the first major Mayan site I'm set to hit is Palenque, and it's also probably going to end up being my best bet for being at a major Mayan site on the solstice, 2012. There will either be an awesome End of the World Party going on, or I'll be able to have a lot of fun messing with the hardcore 2012 end of the world believers who I hope will be there, or I will start an awesome End of the the World Party >=|
Up to Cancun, 'cause it's supposed to be popular for a reason, namely their beaches. Plus, I understand that there are laws in Mexico that say that all beaches are free to use by the public, no matter what the resorts try to tell you, so I'm determined to be the backpacker that busses up from some hostel in the city, walks right on through a 5 star resort's lobby, and takes advantage of all their beachspace and amenities without paying penny one. I'm pretty sure if I clean myself up, I'll be able to convince at least one beach bartender that I'm on an "all inclusive" package and he should give me drinks for free. Plus, I should have some travel stories under my belt by then that will impress the scared white people travelling there. Famous Cancun beach parties, and possibly getting in another fight with someone from U of Texas.
From there, Belize seems really exciting! A large black, creole population apparently makes this country a lot more carribean than the rest of Central America. Plus, the exchange rate is quite happy. There appear to be quite a few options available for really budget accomodation, and I'm thinking that I could probably live with being a beach bum for a while, spending my days swimming, snorkling, surfing, kayaking, etc. This will also be the latest that I'm going to put off getting my PADI international dive certification, 'cause their
Blue Holes are supposed to be some of the best dive sites in the world!
Guatemala looks pretty neat as well, having some awesome hiking, huge Mayan sites including Tikal, really great deals on Spanish Language schooling, and the intriguing Lake Atitlan region. Though the hiking can be dangerous some times in certain areas and particulary along certain routes, bandits typically only target lone, defenceless travellers to mug, and Guatemala's big Tourist Services department provides both current safety information and licenced guides for just about everywhere. I'm pretty excited about the language schools, 'cause by that point I'll be quite far along into my own ongoing studies, will have been mostly immersed in it for a while already, and should be set to get quite a lot out of it. Apparently instruction is usually 1 on 1, the cost includes room and board with a local family, and prices all told come under what my daily budget is set for anyway!
...And that's mostly as far as I've really looked into for now, and I've been typing for a while, so I'll call it here for tonight Depending on response, I can come back, keep this updated, and try to get discussion going. Obviosly, this is my trip, so I don't expect people will be as interested in any of this as much as I am. Pardon spelling & gramar mistakes, as well as just poor quality writing. 0 edititing on this, prettymuch just stream of conciousness, lol.
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