JJ's Travelogue

I’m having a grumpy few days. Perhaps it’s the crap weather. Or that I’m feeling under the weather. Not really sure what to do about it. But allow me to kvetch for just a moment..

I’m having a love/hate relationship with other white people. Sometimes, I meet fantastic new people that open my eyes to new things and inspire me to go places I hadn’t thought of. Like an American couple I met at El Retiro who live in the Virgin Islands when they’re not traveling. They’re not rich, but they’ve figured out how to make it work to be happy and vagabond a large part of the year. [Aside: he predicted that I would end this trip by living in Buenos Aires for a while before eventually moving to Barcelona. Which is exactly what's been in the back of my head anyway!]

Most of the time, however, I end up feeling like I’m back in 7th grade, getting picked last for basketball. Most people travel with at least one other person, and I’ve found that those same people are not often willing to talk to people they don’t know – which is pretty frustrating when I try to reach out for conversation. This is particularly true of Israelis and of people in their early 20′s who have so many insecurities they won’t even return a simple “hello”. Moreover, due to the eternal battle between sexes, if I try to initiate a conversation with a solo female traveler, she automatically thinks I’m hitting on her. No, I’m simply looking for conversation between two human beings who are in a similar situation. It seems I can’t win.

For these reasons as well as the inflated costs that come with traveling on the tourist trail, I would like to begin getting off that trail. I’ve already begun trying to eat where the locals do rather than where the tourists do, and that’s been nice – better food overall, and much cheaper. Now I’d like to begin staying off the beaten path. The problem being that I have made good friends at hostels, which I would like to continue to do, but I’m not sure the hassle is worth it.
Last week I traveled for a few days (by happenstance, since we were all going the same way) with a couple of British guys whose main purpose of traveling it seemed was to pick up chicks. Spare me.

Thinking of skipping El Salvador. Although I wanted to see as many countries as possible, from what I’ve heard and read, there’s not much there unless you surf, which I don’t.

It must be Thanksgiving soon in the States. It’s a great holiday that I’m sad to be missing. I also don’t know where I’ll be for Christmas. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.