Two Backpackers

Can Blogging Pay For My Travel?

| by Jason on September 6th, 2010 | 15 Comments » | Blogging

Location Independent Professional

For those preparing to travel long-term, blogging is almost becoming an expected component of the trip.  Being a travel blogger myself, active on twitter, I see new people eagerly jumping into the travel blogger sphere every week.  Blogging while traveling offers many positives for your trip, but the ultimate question is, “Can a blog pay for your travel?” Continue Reading

Returning Home Culture Shock?

| by Jason on August 30th, 2010 | 23 Comments » | Reflections

Getting Up To Speed On Current Events in the US

Since we have returned home the question most often asked of us is, “Do you have culture shock?”  In a close second place is, “What are you going to do now?”  I will address the first one in this article.

“Shock” is an extreme word and feels like an exaggeration to me.  The phrase “Shock and Awe” comes to mind, and since 2003, I have just felt guilty using the term to describe something I have gone through.  Honestly, I am not in anyway shocked since I have returned home, I would just say I am more aware, much more aware. Continue Reading

Discover Quito Ecuador

| by Jason on August 23rd, 2010 | 14 Comments » | Ecuador, South America

Quito is the capital city of Ecuador and stands 2,800 m (9,186 ft) above sea level, making Quito the second-highest capital city in the world behind La Paz in Bolivia.  Its official, less popular name is San Francisco de Quito.

Quito, Ecuador

Quito is most often visited for it’s proximity to the celebrated middle of the world, equator line (La Mitad del Mundo).  In addition, Quito’s old city (Centro Histórico), also boasts the most exquisite Spanish colonial architecture that attracts photographers from around the world.  Cathedrals dot the landscape and the Andes mountains wrap the city valley.  Looking off into the distance at the 45 m (148 ft) tall aluminum monument of a madonna that stands overlooking the city from a hilltop, I felt I was in a special place. Continue Reading

Preparing to Travel To-Do List

| by Jason on August 17th, 2010 | 18 Comments » | Reflections, Travel Tips, Trip Planning

Packing And Selling Stuff

Preparing to travel, regardless of travel style, can be a stressful task.  We weren’t able to sleep; awake until 3:00am thinking about all that remained to be done for our backpacking trip.

When you live in the United States, traveling to another country typically means you have a long trip overseas.  It means you have to research passport and visa requirements, book flights, and ensure things at home are taken care of.

Don’t expect your planning to be perfect, it’s impossible for long term travel.  This is a journey that will be filled with the unknown; new cultures, language barriers and obscure villages.  For me, it is was about letting go of control.  “I am unable to prevent the inevitable stress we will experience.”  Being able to control yourself when in a situation that is out of your control is a skill you will attempt develop. Continue Reading

10 Weird Things From Latin America

| by Jason on August 12th, 2010 | 39 Comments » | Central America, Reflections, South America

One of my favorite things about traveling is being humored by things that seem strange or awkward to me.  We’ve traveled extensively through Central and South America and noticed many different customs, products and behaviors that don’t exist in the United States.  Each individual country does have distinct cultural norms when compared to their neighbors, however, we were still able to observe some common weird things across them all.

Mendoza Wine Country

| by Jason on August 10th, 2010 | 3 Comments » | Argentina, South America

Wine Tasting at Vines of Mendoza

Yes, while in Argentina we visited the home of the world renowned Malbec wines of Mendoza.  No, we didn’t think it was awesome, but we aren’t wine connoisseurs either.  Once we promoted that we were visiting Argentina, our friends and family immediately asked, “Are you going to visit Mendoza?”  At first, we didn’t think it was going to fit into our route, but after our friend Kevin from home arrived to spend 2 weeks with us, things changed.

The The Mendoza wine region is situated at the foothills of the Andes Mountains on high plains.  The consistent weather, mountain water runoff and extreme high and low temperatures provide the ultimate environment for growing vines at an amazingly high altitude.  The natural, cold mountain water is irrigated to create a fixed and consistent watering system for the grapes.  It rarely rains, so they don’t incur flooding.  The extreme temperature change between night day builds a thick skin on the grapes.  But, best of all, its cheap and fruity delicious! Continue Reading

What’s Next For Two Backpackers

| by Jason on August 6th, 2010 | 13 Comments » | Reflections

Our Last Day in Hoboken, NJ

It all began as a casual conversation during lunch in a restaurant in NYC in March of 2009.   Five months later we set off on a year long round the world backpacking journey.  Now, we are back home in New Jersey trying to figure out what’s next for Two Backpackers.

Flexibility

What we learned most from our trip was to be flexible.  Flexibility turned our round the world trip into a Latin America trip.  It turned 1 year into 11 months so we could surprise family.  We discovered Colombia is awesome, El Salvador has some hidden gems such as Alegria and traveling with strangers such as Andy and Paulina from London is lots of fun. Continue Reading