I can see how this travelling can become addictive and “sufferers” can end up on the road for months or even years. I like to break things down. There are four states of being I’ve identified in myself as the “working from abroad travelling test subject”. Booking, planning, sleeping and “being a tourist” come under one state. Working and finding places to work is the second. Socialising, “finding people”, eating, drinking is an important third. The forth is more nebulous. It is the “local/global living” aspect of travelling and requires new skills. Remembering the names of places, filing recommendations for hostels and towns. Keeping in mind where your new friends are and where they will be in two days when you plan to meet up again. Doing all the things manually that you normally do on your mobile at home – mapping, searching, choosing. Having an “ear to the ground”. All this seems to hone my senses, and yes, even my sense of survival, which I had not had reason to discover before. Every day I can feel myself getting better. Better at learning, planning, communicating. Better at assessing restaurants from the outside, the clientèle and the menu, reading timetables.
I’ve been posting far less often. That’s due to more infrequent internet access, but actually being on coaches and in some hotels makes using the net at reasonable cost impossible. Hostels have been my best bet so far. Here’s where my route has taken me: – Rio, then by Costa Verde coach to– Angra dos Reis, then by catamaran to
– Ilha Grande, then by ferry back to Angra and an old, Colitur bus to
– Paraty, then by pretty nice Reunidas coach to
– Sao Paulo, then by great Pluma coach to
– Foz do Iguassu (and the Falls, of course), then leaving Brazil by bus to nearby
– Puerte Iguassu in Argentina, then by very nice, but cold Crucero del Norte coach (with dinner and bubbly) to Buenos Aires That’s a lot of movements. I’m considering not making many more. If I were to catch up with Anna, I would have to fly at considerable cost down to Patagonia. I’m not anxious to tick all the tourist boxes on this trip. One day soon when I’m wealthier and have more time, I will certainly take my travels here further. As it is, I might take a couple of nights away from BA in Montivideo, taking the slow boat, I think. The purpose of this trip was experimentation. The aim was to be online often enough to keep work projects moving, but the other aim was to see if Kohera could stay integrated without me in the middle all the time. And it can. This trip heralds a new development of my business, where I learn to focus on what I am good at, and learn to spot the talent in others for those things I should not be doing.
George, as far as I can tell, the best steak in the world is in the city. Seriously, I’m eating prime cuts with whatever veg and two drinks for £13.50 and less. There’s an American guy I met here who is visiting on business at his company’s expense. We decided we’d try to eat in the best restaurant in Puerto Madero (the newest, best barrio here). We didn’t even book, but they found us space. Even eating the most expensive steak, ordering sides and crashing through some beers (they even pour them for you), we only spent AR$320 or something. There’s six of those to the Pound… In the UK, we’d have spent £150 for the quality. This is a crazy place. Even the taxi to the restaurant cost about £2.