Well, made it to Honduras. They're doing health screenings at the
border, but no big deal. Still spent 2.5 hours getting through the
process. They wouldn't let us in unless we gave them an address
where we're going. So picked some hotel in summer town as few hours
away and they were happy.
It's kind of a funny arrangement. You pass the Guatemala border,
there's guards there, but the building is empty. Once you get over
the border, on the Honduras side, both migrations and aduanas are in
the same building, windows right next to each other. Guatemala
stamps us out, hands the passport over the divider for Honduras to
stamp us in. The TIP's took a while cause they decided to train new
people with our paperwork.
But, on our way!
Soon as these guys get cleared!
03/16/2020
This hotel has fallen a bit short...
To flush the toilet you fill a bucket in the shower and then dump it
into the toilet...
The shower is not really a shower, it's a streamer... single stream
model...
More hot water comes out of the lever than the streamer...
The sink leaks, and you have to bend down to open the valve on the
wall, the one on the sink doesn't work..
My feet would probably stay cleaner on a dirt road...
There's more dust on the TV than my motorcycle...
That's what you get rolling into town late and trying to find
someplace...
03/17/2020
In La Esperenza for a couple nights at least. Prices are pretty high
in Honduras so far. In Mexico and Guatemala we're used to getting
nice places from $11-25/night. Here, not so much. Some of the hotels
are $50 and up. Found a nice inexpensive place; Hostel Mito's.
It's run by the son of a musician that use to go by the nickname
Mito. The bands records are tacked to some of the walls;
records as in 45's... black vinyl...
The roads are pretty nice, curve after curve, beautiful scenery and
less topos, but they still have them! There's still some major
pothole dodging that needs to be done, but mostly really nice
concrete and asphalt roads. And everywhere you look, mountains,
hills and huge vistas.
One of three dogs at the hostel...
Tomorrow we'll take a wander around town and see what there is to
see.
03/18/2020
Well, the border closed right behind us, slam! And we're not
going to be leaving this place any time soon.
Stuck in Honduras
by Ves Sladin
Stuck in Honduras with my honey
The virus's got people thinking funny
Stock markets dropping
Shelves in stores need restocking
Is it real, or imagination
Panic across the nations
Survivalists are feeling good
About their stored amo and food
The naysayers said it was coming
I can't believe, is it true
Well, I'm glad I'm in Honduras
Stuck here with you
Actually, the shelves in the stores here are full of toilet paper,
there's plenty of fruit and produce at the open air markets, an no
long lines in grocery stores... but back in the US, the land of
abundance, the shelves are going empty... And my daughter back in IL
said that the checkout lines were down the isles. What does that
say? Look, they're delivering more!
Anyway, guess we'll hole up here for a few days maybe two weeks.
There's conflicting reports about how long the borders are closed...
Could be in a worse place, that's for sure...
03/19/2020
Well, yesterday thought we'd go North a bit and see a lake and
waterfall about an hour away. Scratch that. The roads are just
ridiculous. Basically dirt with embedded relatively sharp rocks.
Bone jarring.
Today, thought we'd go to a different waterfall about 11 miles
Southeast, down a much nicer road. Roadblock about a mile out of
town, but they let us through, another one about 10.5 miles into
it... no go.
So, not only is the border closed, but all the towns are being kept
isolated. And 3:00 curfew; if you're in the streets after, you risk
arrest. We had been toying with the idea of going South (because you
can't pass through Tegucigalapa), getting closer to the border of
Nicaragua, but clearly that's not going to happen.
Well, at least it was a nice little ride through the rolling hills
and rock formations.
So, back to the homestead, to lay around the pool and play with the
flea-bitten dogs...
Honey.. the water level looks a little low, don't you think? It's a
mental thing I guess...But it has been pointed out that there's also
somewhat of a beach! So, got that going for us.
3/22/2020
Still here... been doing a little exploring of the area, at least as
much as roadblocks let us... walking the town (Neo. You've been down
that street. You know where it leads...)
Drove up into the hills... found a road that wasn't totally bone
jarring...
This is one of two "lakes" near La Esperanza / Intibuca. More like
big ponds. Lots of agriculture.
It's Sunday, and there's a lockdown, was a 3:00 curfew, but now they
moved it to 8:00 pm, so the streets are pretty empty. Some people
out, a few farmers selling their food products. We have been down
every street we care to go down. The main town is mostly paved
streets, but much of it is dust and gravel.
Back at the homestead. This guy is about 3 months old... got some
big paws on him, going to be a big one.
So, been here since ... I don't know, I'd have to go figure it
out... and staying until... well, not sure... reserved the hostel
until the 26th, but even if Honduras frees things up at that point
(they've got a limited amount of cases in a couple big cities), we
can probably go into Nicaragua, but then we'll be stuck there
because Costa Rica borders are still closed until at least April
12th, at least... we could be here for weeks longer.
My daughter says she read about a lot of US citizens flying back to
the US. We'll stay here. So, far there's no cases near these
towns... it's not like I'm on vacation and need to get back to the
US for some reason. The short term goal was Panama to Colombia first
week of May. Looks highly unlikely at this point... The plan's a
changing!
Been thinking a lot about this situation. Trump is coming up with a
1+ Trillion aid package in the form of handing out money and loans
to people and businesses. Stock market has lost nearly 40% of it's
value. Everything is at some degree of lockdown. People are home,
kids are out of school. Is it really going to do any good? One thing
for sure, this treadmill the world is on... more more faster faster
growth growth and profits at the expense of social benefit... it's
all come to a screeching halt. Now we see what's really important,
what do we really need to live? The big question in my mind is,
where is this 1 Trillion dollars coming from? Well, the federal
reserve is printing it up (because they dropped interest rates to
0), so basically, money is free to the government. But if we inject
1 Trillion dollars into the money supply won't that decrease the
value of money? I guess if we were on the gold standard then it
would, but we're not, so apparently no harm done? Which raises the
question, why are there not more bailouts? Bailout for all the
students buried under student debt? And how about the people who
can't afford to live in their homes because they can't make ends
meet? And what about those on the poverty line, who keep trying but
can't get above it? All those who have huge medical bills? And where
do you draw the line in letting people suffer the consequences of
their decisions vs. things that are out of their control?
The other big question is, why is it that the young aren't dying of
this virus, only those with preexisting health issues... like
diabetes, heart disease... Yeah, they're body is already
compromised, so it can't handle the virus. Fact is that these are
preventable diseases... they are brought about by diet and
lifestyle... and the longer someone indulges in that damaging
lifestyle, the less capable their body is of dealing with an
invasion by a virus. Kids aren't dying because their immune systems
are not damaged yet. The question is, what's the root cause here? If
everyone was more healthy, there would be a lot less people dying.
Where does the blame lay for that, with the individual and their
choice of lifestyle, or with the farmers who farm with chemicals and
pesticides and herbicides, and all the people dumping garbage into
the air and ocean? How about all the companies that use sugar in
just about every product you buy, from bread to pasta sauce... And
who push their products through manipulative advertisement? I think
this is a huge wakeup call. The question is, are people going to
wake up, or will things just continue the way they are once this
virus is gone? Cause you know the next one is coming, and it's bound
to be worse. Are we going to change our lifestyles and be ready for
it, or are we just going to keep dying, and what drastic actions
will be required next time?
I did just read that a flu drug Japan developed back in 2014, which
is in clinical trials, is being used in China to help people
recover, and it works. If that's the case, I would think they will
make it widely available, but how long will that take?
3/29/2020
According to Dr. Seuss, and his book, Oh The Places You'll Go...
...
And then things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.
...
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
the Waiting Place...
...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or the waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
...
Well, there's definitely not going to be any snow, and Honduras
hasn't seen any decent rain in like four months. Had some in the
night a few nights ago, but hardly a sign in the morning. It's
definitely a waiting game at this point. Two weeks so far and this
Intibuca area still doesn't have any virus cases, though the
Honduras count is at about 95, and one 60-year-old dead.
Waiting for the news to tell me something good, but at this point
border closures are like this, at least:
Costa Rica - April 12th
Bolivia - April 15th
Panama - Until further notice
Colombia - May 30th (so forget that May 5th crossing from Panama to
Colombia on the Stahlrette... going to need a plan B unless they
shift their schedule drastically)
Nicaragua - None (None?... that's right! Soon as we can travel
that's where we're heading, they only have 4 cases)
Ecuador - Until further notice
Peru - March 30th
Chile - June 19th (Yikes... but if that schedule holds it wouldn't
be bad)
Argentina - March 31st
Also waiting for a new cell phone chip from Sprint. I currently have
T-mobile, in fact I got them because they have a good 55+ plan that
includes international service... BUT I didn't read the fine print!
If they see months of usage outside the US that's a NO NO! So,
they're going to cut off my service next month. Sprint is less
expensive and I can roam as long as I want... So, stick it T-mo
(Yes, they recently merged with Sprint)... But Sprint only ships
chips to US, so had to have it forwarded. Good thing is that cargo
still seems to be flowing, so should have it in a few days. If that
doesn't work out, it will be plan C... transfer my number to a
throwaway phone and just get local phones as I travel.... First
world problem! But F'n T-mo, you'd think they're making enough
frikin money, that they don't have to worry about one guy roaming
the world. I barely frikin use it anyway. OMG they're going to go
broke on me!... ok ok... enough bitching...
What are we doing with out time? Cooking meals, laying in the sun,
going to town for food so we can cook meals and just so we can walk
around a bit, yoga... and Waiting...
Well, and still smelling the flowers along the way...
4/8/2020
Well, three and a half weeks in Intibuca Honduras. So far 312 cases
and 23 deaths total in Honduras. This area still has no virus,
though all the surrounding departments/states do. Not sure if that's
good or bad. Good if they do actually prevent the spread, bad if
that just means it's going to hit late and then we're here for
another x number of weeks. I really wonder if that's all we're
doing, delaying the inevitable, because if there's one person that
still has it, they will spread it, and then what, start all over
again? Guess it will be interesting to see how China does now that
they lifted the quarantine off Wuhan.... I mean, we can't possible
all be quarantined until there are no new cases and everyone has
recovered, can we?... That would be crazy.
As it stands, the current restrictions are supposed to be lifted in
4 days, on April 12th.... And so it came to pass that humanity went
into the tomb to rise again... fits in with the Easter narrative! I
can dream... my guess is that they will extend it. But as of today:
Costa Rica - April 12th
Bolivia - April 15th
Panama - Until further notice (Still!)
Colombia - May 30th. I've seen April 12th but don't believe it.
Nicaragua - None
Ecuador - Until further notice
Peru - April 12th
Chile - June 19th
Argentina - April 12th
So, we wait...
It's interesting to follow the news... all the conspiracy theories
out there about what's causing this. I don't know if it's a fact
that it started in a lab in China, but that does sound like the most
reasonable explanation. Maybe it was that meat market, but I'm
guessing that's just where it first spread once it got out. Then
there's the 5G theory, that they're starting to implement 5G
technology, and China was one of those places, as well as Italy, and
so it's the microwave radiation from that that's killing people...
Right... and how exactly is it spreading from person to person, in
countries where there is no 5G then? Well, in those countries it's a
different cause... Riiiiight... How about we just accept, it's a
virus, and if you're weak in any way, you're odds of surviving are
low.
The other interesting thing is this Corona test that they are using,
which doesn't actually look for the Corona virus, but markers that
are assumed to be part of the Corona genetic structure, but it seems
to be pretty common knowledge that it has a very high level of false
positives, yet it's all we have so that's what we use... so we rally
don't know how many people are infected.
Also interesting how they are treating it. Basically looks like the
body's immune system goes into overdrive, because this bugger is
difficult to kill, and so you end up with an "autoimmune" situation
where the body produces so much byproduct from fighting it, and
attacks healthy cells, that it renders the lungs useless, the organs
start shutting down due to oxygen deprivation, and it kills you.
Apparently there's been some success treating with IL-6 (an immune
suppressant) and steroids in combination. Also seems that China used
Vitamin C intravenously, and that helped (Why? Well, on the macro
scale, the virus is yang, and vitamin C is very yin... the whole yin
yang balance thing)... but you're not going to get Western medicine
doctors to do that in the ICU.
Another one of the dogs that hangs around the hostel we're staying
at. There's a certain sadness in the eyes...
though not as bad as some of the dogs I see roaming the streets,
like one I saw a few days ago; laying on the sidewalk, barely lifted
it's head as we walked by, our glances met, all I could see was
sadness. We kept walking and it started following us, but at a
distance. Guess it's been kicked one too many times and chased away
to take a chance on getting too close. Saw him approach another dog
that had it's tail between it's legs. You could see the slightest
bit of excitement in the greeting, but mostly just sharing the pain.
Some random photos...
One of the happier dogs...
Doing a lot of this... siting... and waiting... and just staring at
the motorcycle sitting under it's cover...
the grass cutting crew was out working by that lake...
4/10/2020
This really sucks. Being stuck, unable to
travel. Three weeks now! And Honduras just extended it for
another 10 days! The thing that keeps going through my mind is
that if I had stuck to my original plan I would have been through
the America's already and be in Africa or somewhere else.
Off course I'd be stuck there just like I am here, and probably
Africa is not a good place to be stuck. The world is stuck,
for what reason, to slow the spread of the virus, in hopes that
we'll find a cure or vaccine. We don't have good vaccines
for Corona viruses, or flu for that matter, now. Not that I
want to get vaccinated, but I am in the high risk group; my body
and immune system have issues, I hope if I catch it I can overcome
it.
This going nowhere is just sapping all the energy
out of me. Can't go anywhere but one day a week, and there's
even no place to go anyway, just shopping and down the road a few
miles to the first road block.
Or maybe it's my stomach issues that are sapping my
energy. I've found that vegetable stews seem to work really
well for me. It prevents the stomach aches I get with some
raw vegetables, broccoli cauliflower onions, and eliminates loose
stools. But I'm getting some light headedness again when I
stand up. I just want to sleep. Not motivated to do
anything.
4/14/2020
I think I need to give up eating gluten/wheat. Clearly I have
bowl/intestinal inflammation. I've struggled with constipation
most of my life, in the last year and a half it's been diarrhea,
weakness, dizziness, weight loss, joint pain, fatigue... My stomach
has become increasingly sensitive to certain foods, actually many
foods.. raw vegetables being the biggest group... onions, broccoli,
cauliflower, seem to be the worst, with immediate stomach pain if I
eat them uncooked. The only relief I've gotten from diarrhea
or relatively loose stools has been lately by eating vegetable
stews. It was literally an overnight difference. But it's almost a
little too much. But clearly it's very good for me to have had
such a drastic effect, I think I need to stick with that to allow
time for my intestines to heal.
I've been making whole wheat bread every day or every other day and
eating it with meals, with cooked fruit for desert (cooked apples
with cinnamon and raisins). I just wonder if it's a good
idea. It doesn't hurt my stomach when I eat it, but I do get
gassy at times. The wheat flour is not organic and probably
GMO, so I should give it up to see if my condition improves even
more. What does that leave me? Rice (we can get whole
grain in the store here in Intibuca so far, but we bought the last
bags), corn (again, not sure of it's organic or GMO state), apples
imported from the US (I peel them), onions, carrots, cabbage, beats,
potatoes, green beans. Yeah, I guess that's enough
variety.
What should I add? Avocados seem to be ok, but I haven't eaten
them for weeks. Given that the stew is a big help, I should
try adding them to the diet. I can also eat cabbage salad,
with salt and oil. I can try apple cider vinegar too.
I'm eating eggs every few days, and that seems to be fine.
Started eating them with my miso soup in the mornings, either as
scrambled or egg drop.
I would really like to eat more fruit, like bananas, but apparently
those are yin, and clearly my body prefers yang foods (cooked
vegetables being more yang). I'd like to eat more crap food,
cookies, chips, etc.. but seems I'm way beyond being able to eat
those, unless I want to pay later, but could I eat more of those if
I eat more animal products? I haven't had cheese in weeks
either. I tried beef at one point, but eating it on an empty
stomach bothered me, so no more. I could eat more fish,
haven't had fish in weeks either.
4/16/2020
Seems that the truth is really difficult to know. People
always accept statements that support their view, as opposed to
critically thinking about what's being said. This COVID-19
pandemic is got everyone up in arms about the fact that a vaccine
will be coming, and that government will probably require people to
have it, or possibly not be allowed the same freedoms that
vaccinated people will have. Then there's true talk about
having an "passport" of some kind that would have your health
information on it. Then there's the fact that Google and Apple
are collaborating on developing an app infrastructure that will
allow apps that store and exchange information about, with other
phones, about your health and exposure status.
Personally I don't take medications, I prefer not to go to doctors,
and I don't take vaccines, though I didn't really have a choice
going on this trip. Well, I had a choice, but not being able
to get across borders, that required them, would be a problem.
So, I'll probably be forced to take a COVID vaccine, once it's
developed, if I want to continue traveling.
There's all these claims that vaccines have side effects, and they
have caused people to die, and that a flu vaccine makes you more
susceptible to respiratory problems. What's the truth? Who
knows. Who has time to sift through countless opposing views
to try and figure out the truth.
Just read that Bill Gates funds a lot of vaccine research;
true. Then there's a story that his henchmen (really?
henchmen?) are vaccinating African women, but the vaccines secretly
have a sterilization compound in them, to sterilize the women to
whom they are given. Really? If there was such a compound,
don't you think a lot of women who have their tubes tied, would be
using that instead? Take one shot and you're sterile for life?
Seems a lot easier than an operation!
Anyway, it's all annoying. I'm annoyed that I'm stuck here in
Honduras for a month now, and that this could go on for months
longer until government decides that it's safe enough for people to
go out again, annoyed by all the conspiracy theorists, annoyed by
the sky is falling people, annoyed by everyone being afraid and
overreacting to the COVID-19 and making a medical problem also a
world economic problem, so that millions more are suffering.
Read the other day that in an African country that is on lockdown,
where farmers traveled a day to bring their food to market, the
police literally burned tons of food... in a country where people
are starving and food is scarce. Who's fault is that? Who's
going to take the blame? The WHO, for coming up with
recommendations to isolate people and lock down entire cities, the
local officials that implemented that plan, the overzealous police
force that took it upon them selves enforce the lockdown in such a
drastic way? .... Nobody, nobody will take the blame.
I believe that Bill Gates thinks he's doing good. Seems like
eradicating disease, providing clean drinking water, and trying to
reduce the world birth rate (through involvement with Planned
Parenthood) are good ideas. But are vaccines really effective,
and are people being forced into these things, and misguided, or do
they have a choice?
The problem is that we think we can act against the laws of nature,
and then when that has vast consequences, we think we can control
the outcomes, we can open Pandora's box and then stuff everything
back in. Arrogant. Detached from nature, though we are
an integral part of nature. Detached from our true nature.
4/18/2020
Geeees... Here we are, the 18th of April... and here we still are...
Honduras keeps pushing the social distancing further. They have
rearranged it a bit; all days of the week are open, based on the
last digit of your ID number. Saturday and Sunday no one is supposed
to be out. The last date set was that it would end tomorrow...
dangling that carrot in front us... only to snatch it away last
minute... Hedging our bets and took a walk to the police station
yesterday to see if there was any way we could continue to travel.
They gave us the email and number to the Federal Police; we need to
get permission from them. The email I sent came back saying that
their inbox was full... Come Monday I'll have our host try the
phone number and see if he can help us.
Still no virus here in Intibuca, so we got that going for us, but
Honduras overall is up past 400+ confirmed cases and something like
30+ deaths. Nicaragua is still open! Reports are that they are not
dealing with the virus and that the're not reporting what's really
going on. The government says they have one death. The US is
supporting groups trying to undermine the government, who knows what
the truth is.
Figure we'll do what we can, but what happens happens. It's not out
of the realm of possibility that we could be here weeks longer. I
started taking an online class in AI. Clearly that's the next step
here, we'll have robots take over the world, so I should know how
they work, and how to confuse them. But still hard to get motivated!
Honey is writing a book she's been considering for quite a while. We
play chess occasionally and we're also getting really good at
throwing a Frisbee around the yard! So, yeah...
Tip: I started reading a book called Real-Help. It's kind of like a
self help book, but better. One of my favorite sections: "Stop
Taking Shit Personally - ... People have no choice but to behave the
way they do [they are incentivized to behave that way]. Don't take
it to heart. Use Robert Greene's rule for dealing with people, and
treat fools around you as a normal part of life, like rocks or
furniture."
I see that as very appropriate advice given all the doom and gloom
and the sky is falling and conspiracy theories flying around.
4/20/2020
Well, the 19th has come and gone, and the quarantines have been
extended until 4/26. Wow, whocould have guessed back on 3/16
that we'd still be here?
Sent an email to the US Embassy asking if they could provide a
letter to allow us to travel across Honduras into Nicaragua.
They said permission was needed from the Federal Police. We
went into town, to the local police and they gave us an email and
phone number to contact the Federales. So, sent an email and got a
response that their inbox was full. Had our host call the
number that was given, but it's busy. Went back into town
today to ask if there's any other way to contact them, but
apparently not. Also asked if there was any way that I could
get my package from Fed Ex in Tegucigalpa... the Fed Ex that
contains my new SIM chip, for my phone service, that's going to get
cut off on the 23rd, because I'm roaming too much. That was a
bust too, but they did send us to a medical clinic to find the
Mayor. I'm thinking, do I have this translation right?
The police officer points us down the block, we go down the
block. There's a few guys behind a locked gate, I ask if the
Mayor is here? They point us back in the other direction, then
around the block. We get to the other side, there's a couple
guys standing by a gate, they point us back to the police
station. On the way there we pass though the square and
there's some more people there, so we ask again, where can we find
the Mayor? They point us in a different direction and say that
he's at the medical clinic. We go down a block, there's a
medical clinic, we walk in, ask the lady if the Mayor is
there. She basically points us down the bock to the other
medical clinic. We're about to leave, but I have to ask... Why
is the Mayor at a medical clinic? He's a doctor... Oh...
We get there. Is the Mayor in? Yes, do you need a
consultation? No we just need to talk to him... Oh, no, sorry,
he's too busy... On the way back to the police station there's a guy
sweeping the square, asks where we're from, why we need to Mayor,
tell him we need permission to travel to Nicaragua, he points us to
the police station. We go back, tell them the Mayor is busy,
they shrug... We ask is there any way we can get the package from
Fed Ex, maybe a police officer is traveling there? He says no,
but points us to more phone numbers at the Federal Police... Oh, and
no, you can't call those numbers about permission to travel, they
have nothing to do with it...
Did this just happen? This was a routine worthy of Abbot and
Costello. I think we'll be here until at least 4/26/2020,
cause that's the next date the president set. Ok... time to go
throw the Frizbee around before dinner. We've invented a new
game... Novel Corona Frizbee. The object is to catch it.
We tried playing with our masks on but couldn't catch it!
4/30/2020
Yes, tomorrow is the first day of May, and the lockdown goes
on. Also, apparently the virus has made it's way to every
department (state) of Honduras. We now have 5 cases in
Intibuca and one death. Over 700 total confirmed cases and the
curve is steep. Went out the other day and it's a different
scene. Most of the vendors selling fruits and vegetables are
gone. Empty streets except for a cart here or there.
There's armed army in that area, so not sure if the army shut them
down, or if people are too scared now to come out and sell their
wares... but we're talking three blocks of vendors, disappeared.
Went to the edge of town to one of the main markets.
Closed. Went back into town center and there's one enclosed
market still open. We got our vegetables and went back home.
They put up barriers around a portion of town. I'm guessing
that's where the sick people's homes are? As you drive from
LaExparenza to Intibuca they are also having people use hand
sanitizer, making you step through a shoe sole wash, and actually
spraying the cars before they are allowed to proceed. Seems
kind of futile if you ask me. Clearly all they've done is
delayed the inevitable. This virus isn't going anywhere any
time soon.
So, it looked like the Honduran Federal police might give us
clearance to drive to the border, but after asking for our exact
route, it's been days and we haven't heard anything. But looks
like Nicaragua's open borders are not open anyway, and they are
having more cases there too.
The days become weeks, and the weeks will be months now. We
spend out time Cooking meals, reading, watching the occasional
movie, talking to family back in the US, playing Frizbee almost
daily, and wondering what will be of the world. We've somewhat
settled into this, but really looking forward to being free again.
We're also trying to figure out how to empty our room of mosquitoes
(now there's are real problem), so they're not bothering us all
night. We've settled in on opening the windows, turning on the
lights, and than waving a towel around and hitting everything to get
them from where ever they are hiding and getting them to fly out the
window. They seem to be attracted to darkness. Nothing
more annoying than mosquitoes buzzing in your ear all night.
There's over 200,000 people dead around the world, 60k in the US so
far. But the official policy is if a person dies, and they are
positive for COVID-19 the cause of death goes down as
COVID-19. It's ridiculous. It's like they're trying to
make the Pandemic look worse that it is. But stories in the
news are saying that Navy hospital ships that have been dispatched
to New York and I think California, are pretty much empty, as well
as makeshift field hospitals that were set up. So, it's
clearly not as bad as they thought it would be.
People in different parts of the world, US and Brazil, to name a
couple, are protesting the lock-downs and violating them. Some
people are suing that they are unconstitutional, which they
are. It takes away our freedom of movement and takes away our
right to decide how we manage our health. And clearly the
economic impact (something like 30 million people in the US are on
employment now, and business are going bankrupt) is a huge price to
pay. Some meat processing plants have closed down, which means
the steady flow of animals is backing up, and a Texas rancher has
come out saying that as a result, because there's no place to put
the animals that are ready for slaughter, they are being told to
kill and dispose of them. And there aren't enough people to
pick vegetables, so farmers are being told to plow them under,
because they have contracts, and they can't sell out of
contracts. It sounds too crazy to be true. Why would we
do that? Why can't the animals just be kept until the
processing plants just open up again, and why can't the vegetables
wait until they can be harvested; if they rot they rot, but to
intentionally plow them under is lunacy. I do know that when
corn yields are high, farmers are paid to plow under their fields,
in order to prevent the price of corn from dropping to low, and
that's subsidized by the government... our tax money, paying farmers
to destroy their crops. All in the name of economics, which is
nothing more than a game the top 1% are playing. Interesting
that Trump has halted the US funding to the World Health
Organization, saying they mishandled the virus. Yeah, I bet no
one thought about the consequences of telling everyone to stay
home. Though the meat packers didn't close the plants because
they were told to, they closed them because people contracted the
virus, though only two died out of 400 that got sick, so far, so
that tells you about the actual death rate. And that's
probably still high because only the sick were tested, the ones with
mild symptoms or no symptoms wouldn't be counted in that.
I was reading an article the other day talking about how out of
touch humanity is with it's true nature. We are a part of
nature, just like every living things. But for some reason we
see us against nature, which is nothing more than us against
ourselves.
The figures on how much economies are shrinking are in the single
digits. Really? For a few percentage points in reduced
growth, we have world wide panic, and the worst economic downturn
since the great depression? But we did it to ourselves.
Would the death rate have been much higher if the world hadn't of
done this lock-down? The "models" seem to say yes. But
what to believe.
More importantly, when is it going to end? We'll find out
soon, because some countries and states in the US are removing the
lock-downs and trying to crank up the economy, but some people are
so scared they're not rushing out to open stores and go back to
work.
Personally, I'm taking advantage of all the lunacy. In the
stock market, one of the sectors that dropped a huge amount in
January, when the Pandemic really started spreading, was
energy/oil. Some of the stocks dropped 70-80%, which is
ridiculous, because are people going to stop using energy, long
term, just because of this? Yeah, it may take a while to get
the drivers back out on the roads once the lock-downs are lifted,
but there's going to be demand again. Even if our energy usage
is 10-20% less for a while, how does that justify a 70-80%
drop? People were just panic selling. So, I took some of
my money that was sitting in a low interest fund in my 401k (didn't
lose anything when the market dropped), moved it to my IRA, and
bought a couple funds; one that invests in gas companies, and the
other that invests in energy infrastructure. Infrastructure
may take a little longer to come back up, and I didn't go for the
funds with the biggest drops, because they are of lower investment
quality, but after a week and a half, I'm up 30%. I think some
of that is speculation, rather than reality, because the fact is oil
prices are still way low, there's an oil glut (so no need for more
energy infrastructure; one large company is filing for bankruptcy
and I'm sure more will follow), and no place to store it, and people
are still in lock-down, so it may drop again when people see that
the freeing of the lock-down's isn't having an immediate effect, but
the funds are still way below their normal 52 week midpoint price,
so plenty of opportunity to gain. Interesting that China sees
an opportunity too. They sent something like 38 oil tankers to
the Middle East to fill em up! Oil is less than half the price
it was a few months ago, and they need more import oil.
Amazing that they even have that many oil tankers.
Also, talking to my daughter and older sister about the possibility
of investing in a small farm and moving ourselves out to the
country, to be in a position to better control our own destiny;
plant a garden and grown our own feed. I'm thinking maybe some
low maintenance money making crops, like hemp? All talk at
this point, but my daughter is looking to make a move within a year
and my sister is educated in sustainable farming. It could
happen.
Even if I continue with this journey, I could invest with them and
have a base to come back to between travels or after. Though
I'm also considering settling somewhere in the third world.
Honestly with the whole virus thing, traveling may become too
blocked up.. though I'm still in no hurry. I'm ok with needing
to spend more time in countries, but there is a limit to how much
time they allow, and if we don't make Argentina before the cold
starts, we'll have to start peddling backwards. But there's no
place we can stay for a year, while the weather blows over, is
there. Mexico does allow 180 days at a time, so could spend
time there. Guatemala would be even better. Or Columbia
would be even better.
5/6/2020
And... still here. Sitting in the front yard of the Mito's
Hostel, in a white metal lawn chair, in the shade of some big oak
trees. The travel restrictions have been extended until May
17. Intibuca is up to 7 confirmed cases, so all parts of the
country have it now. Total confirmed is at 1270.
Honduras has made travel restrictions more strict. Now, based
on the last number of your ID you can only go out once in those two
weeks. This place is actually quite amazing, thankful that
this is where we're holed up for all this time. The weather is
really perfect; mid 70's-80's during the day, mid 50's-60's at
night. Now that rainy season has started it rains some days
and evenings, but maybe only a couple days that we've been here
without sunshine.
I made another attempt with the Federal police and they said we need
to get pre-approval to enter Nicaragua if we want to travel
there. So, sent a request to the US embassy here in Honduras,
and they gave me contacts in Nicaraguan immigration, who has a form
for pre-approval. Two days ago I filled out the form and send
the request to Nicaragua. Haven't heard anything yet...
hopefully in a day or two. But honestly, if we get the
clearance to go, I'm going to have to think real hard regarding
leaving this place, and the possibility of getting stuck in
Nicaragua instead. Will have to see the situation. It's
funny, that originally when I planned my trip I was going to be in
Central America in the August/September time frame, so actually,
even if we spent all of May here, we'd still have enough time to
make it to the tip of Argentina before winter, so not bad.
Today I'm feeling pretty good. Yesterday my stomach wasn't
feeling great; pain after eating. But it seems to have passed
well. It's been a bit of a struggle. I want to go back
to eating more junk, but I can't. Why would I want to eat more
junk? Because it tastes good! The diet at this point is
very simple... Miso soup, though we're running out of it, so if we
don't get to Panama soon, where they have a healthfood conscious
society, we'll be down to only having sour cabbage. At least
that's everywhere to be had and easy to make. Also usually
have either cooked oatmeal and/or rice for breakfast, but we only
have a few days of brown rice remaining, the stores don't carry it,
we bought the last of it, so we'll be down to white rice.
Also, squash/gourd is relatively easy to find and easy to
make. Still eating vegetable stew every day; potatoes, sweet
potatoes, yuka, carrots, onions, green beans, beets... mix it up a
bit. Also, corn tortillas have become a staple. Apples are also
available, so buy those and have one per day. I've had eggs on and
off. I just feel like I need something more substantial, but
everything I'm reading in the book called China Study shows that
animal products are linked to disease, so trying to back off. The
local store sells Member Mark almonds in a bag!, so been buying
those and take a handful occasionally; good fat and also
anti-inflammatory. We buy the masa in a bag, like flour, and
mix with water. The brand we're buying seems to be corn that
has been cooked in lime, which makes it alkaline, and a more
complete grain apparently. I also went back to making whole wheat
bread, and have been eating it with olive oil on top; trying to get
more healthy fat in my diet and olive oil is also
anti-inflammatory. The wheat bread is very high fiber, not
sifted, and it does give me some gas, but I don't see any other
problems because of eating it; I don't think I have any kind of
gluten problem.
Honey is a really good cook, she can come up with all sorts
of variety even with just the limited stuff we can find. Not
that I need variety in how my dishes look, just enough to make sure
I'm getting my nutrients. We've had a discussion about
B12. We do have seaweed in our Miso, which is suppose to have
B12 in it, but the nutrition world makes this big deal about B12 and
that you can't get it from anything except animal products.
But also turns out that your body stores B12 for years, so if I was
going to have a B12 deficiency I wouldn't have it yet, because as of
1.5 years ago I was still eating eggs and bacon, fish, chicken pizza
with cheese.
There are some things that I definitely miss, not that I ate a ton
of it before, but never being able to have it, without suffering
intestinal consequences, really sucks... like cheesecake, cookies,
apple pies, potato chips, ice cream, chocolate molten lava
cake! It's definitely an addiction like any addiction. I
do enjoy the food that we eat, but the mind wants what it remembers,
the things it's addicted to. So much money and resources are
spent on fighting drug abuse, but the biggest drugs of all, can be
bought right off the grocery store shelf, two for the price of one
sometimes. But it is what it is, clearly my body has had way
too much, stress probably over the years, and my food is now
medicine, and eating the right stuff will help me to get healthy
again, and eating the wrong stuff will hurt me and prevent my
healing. Food is the medicine, it is the cure. Will I
ever be cured to the point that I can eat all the junk again without
consequence? That would be good, but even if I got to that
point, why would I give up eating food that healed me? I guess
that shows just how addictive the junk is, and I suppose that's why
people keep eating it. In the book I read Recalled by Life,
there was a case in there of a woman that was healed of cancer by
switching to a Macrobiotic diet, but she didn't have the will power
to stay on it, missed all the sweets and stuff she ate before, so
she gave up, cancer came back and she died. Everyone has to
make their choices. How important is that triple chocolate
fudge brownie, or that cinnabun? It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't
in your face all the time..
5/9/2020
I think we've given up. Or maybe the better word is
surrendered. No word from Nicaragua immigration about letting
us into the country if we get to the border, so can't go any further
with the Honduran police giving us permission to travel. We're
now a week from the latest lockdown expiration date;
5/17/2020. And there's indications that Honduras is publishing
guidelines for reopening everything. But the supposed verified
cases are spiking now; they had one day where there were over 200
new cases. But they are in the main cities. So, given
that, will they really open up? How long do they think they
can keep everything closed?
We're settled in here pretty good. Wake up whenever, though
that's usually early because we're in bed by 10:00 most
nights. We usually do Yoga in the morning or afternoon,
sometimes not. Breakfast is now miso vegetabke soup, but the
miso is still running out, and oatmeal or oatmeal with brown rice,
maybe some almonds. Lunch today was really good, refried beans
that we buy from an old lady that sells it out of her small
storefront across the street. Doesn't really look like a
storefront, just a door into someone's house. Refried beans,
fresh-made corn tortillas (we press them flat between two pieces of
plastic using a cutting board as the press, works really good),
onions sauteed with turmeric then mixed with fresh cut cabbage and
dressed with olive oil, salt and a bit of vinegar. I also have
my vegetable stew and honey makes her salad. We sit outside in
the front yard when ever we can. Sun shining, humid, because
it's been raining a lot lately, but still very comfortable.
Still keeping up the Frizbee throwing every day, actually a good way
to get some movement going.
We have Netflix and Putlocker (have to love that site) so
occasionally watch a movie to break things up. There's a TV in
the room but we don't use it. I'm reading The China Study and
a book called Real Help. Real Help is kind of a self
improvement book, but it's written as a guide and tells it like it
is.. basically stop whining, stop listening to what others are
telling you, if you want your life to be better then make it
better. Good advice!
It's a bit annoying when the Internet goes down, which seems to
happen occasionally here. Then we have to play cards...
oldschool!
Honey is still writing here book, so she occupies some of her time
doing that. I started something on my journey to recovering my
health, but not sure I'll continue writing it. I'm feeling
better now than I have in almost a year. Honey tells me I'm
fine, it's an up and down process, I feel better, then not so good,
then better again, but the trend is up. That's a good thing.
I've also been doing some more investment planning. After all,
I'm borderline underfunded for retirement, so have to figure out a
way to up my odds. A lot of stocks are way down, so there's still
bargains to be had. Risk too, because you don't know how long
it will take for the economy to recover, don't know who's going to
go out of business, will stocks go back up to where they were, and
how long it will take. Will the COVID-19 thing resurge, causing
people to stay home and go nowhere, do nothing, keep business slow?
Regardless, I'm thinking there are certain staples in the economy
that are needed; energy, real estate and real estate management,
credit cards, waste management, transportation. Interesting
that Warren Buffet sold all his airline stocks, all of them, because
he can't see what's going to happen in the future, and with all the
bailout money and loans they don't seem solvent. But are
people really going to stop flying? How many times have
airline companies been in trouble and they get bailed? Of
course historically some have gone out of business too. Southwest,
however, looks really interesting, because their stock has fallen
just like everyone else, over 50%, but unlike the others, who lost
60-70% of their business, because they fly international, Southwest
focuses on domestic routes, and they are only off about 20%.
And when this all loosens up, where are people more likely to fly,
somewhere in the US or overseas? I'm thinking those that need
to get up and out and go will do it domestically.
I was thinking Cheesecake is a staple also... :) Who doesn't love
Cheesecake!? The Cheesecake Factory stock is down, so looks
like a bargain, and they still do curbside business, but just don't
know if they'll survive. Will people without jobs go rushing to buy
the most expensive cheesecake on the market? Guess it depends how
much you like cheesecake, but they've been doing good so far.
Meanwhile, back in Honduras, street vendors and markets selling
vegetables are way down this week. Maybe knowing that on any
one day only 10% of the population is allowed to be out, it doesn't
make sense to be open. We've become familiar with a lot of the
markets in town. Just found a new one two blocks down that
sells some basics; melons, potatoes, onions, gourds. So, when
we need things we end up walking around town and get what we can
where.
5/13/2020
How time flies, when every day is the same. I keep joking this
is like the movie Groundhogs Day, with Bill Murray. Though at
least there, from every day he learns something new, and so each day
he lives more fully than the last, takes more opportunities that
exist. I suppose in our way we're also taking the existing
opportunities. I'm making retirement investment decisions,
playing around with writing some stuff, perfecting bread making,
perfecting Frisbee throwing (with both hands too; yeah I'm reaching
here..). Honey is writing a book she's been wanting to write
for years. We're both still learning Spanish using
Duolingo. She's also practicing up on her Russian. So,
we're making the best of the situation.
The simple pleasures in life, home made bread... the rolls got extra
crispy, just the way I like them.
We were just sitting out in the front yard for dinner tonight.
We had fresh made corn tortillas that I made, cabbage salad we
collaborated on, vegetable stew we collaborated on, freshly made
bread I made, and a carrot potato mash that honey made which was a
really good imposter for cheese sauce, and some cooked beans she
made. The weather was nice, we're sitting there eating,
dipping our tortillas in the cheese sauce. At one point we
just laughed at each other. Life is good, even though we'd
rather be on the road, this was definitely not bad.
The yard in this place is a virtual arboretum. The host
recently added some more plants to the place in the form of a can
tree... yes, part of an old tree that he buried at the base and then
hung paint can's that contain plants. Interesting...
Sometimes when we are sitting in the yard eating, humming birds come
around. We're getting rain daily now, definitely in the rainy
season. We'll have to alter our travel time to morning once we
get rolling again to avoid what is usually afternoon or evening
rain.
This is an interesting photo. First there's there is the tree
growing through the roof. Actually this one is just into the
edge of the roof but there's one just around the right side where
the tree is literally in the middle of what is a covered patio, so
the roof is completely around this big three with a two foot
diameter trunk. I think this is a perfect illustration of the
live with nature philosophy. Probably most places in the US,
the trees would have been long gone to make room for the house, but
here the house is adapted to them. I like the approach.
There's also the bicycle at the bottom of the photo. The rear
wheel is mounted so that it turns the motor end of a pump
motor. Interesting.
With all the rain the yard is also starting to spring flowers.
Couple days ago the host brought his horse over. I guess
that's to keep the grass trimmed while the rains are making it grow.
One thing that has been kind of annoying lately is we're getting bit
up by something. Far as I can figure out, it's flees.
There's like five or six dogs that have the run of the place, and I
think we've seen all of them scratching. I also found a few of
these tiny black things that jump.. flees.. and a white thing.. an
immature flee. We put vinegar on the bites to calm them
down. The windows and doors also have no screens on them so
there's always mosquitoes in the room. We've taken to sleeping
with the sheet pulled up over our heads. Even then, it's
amazing how loud a mosquito can be if it's buzzing right by your ear
at night.
It was mothers day a couple days ago, and apparently the tradition
is to serenade your mom, blow off fireworks, drive around the
streets wit a bull horn professing your love and playing songs,
etc.. which is great, but they were actually doing this all night;
like 1:00 and 3:00 in the morning. We didn't know what was
going on until we asked our host. We thought there was
gunfire.
The hostel has fiber optic internet, so when it's working it's
fast... when it's working. Quite often it's not, and that puts
a big damper in our entertainment agenda. Our phone data
connections aren't fast enough to do anything worth while. So,
we took up playing cards also, occasionally.
We are four days away from what should be lifting of the
lock-down. They have extended it before, but I read in the
news that they have issued guidelines for reopening the economy, so
that's a good sign. They've also allowed some of their
citizens back into the country from other countries. We'll see,
because Honduras recently had some of the biggest new case days
since they've been tracking it; over a couple hundred one day.
In the mean time, no one is quite sure what's going on in
Nicaragua. They have stopped reporting numbers of confirmed
cases and deaths, but word from sources inside seems to say that
deaths are in the hundreds. There are guys in white jumpsuits
driving around in trucks, who's jobs is to quickly bury anyone that
dies. Noriega says lock-downs are unnecessary and would
cripple the economy, so it's business as usual there. Honestly
I have to agree with him. The economic carnage created by
these lock-downs is way worse than the disease. But anyway, if
Honduras does let us go then we have to see if Nicaragua will let us
in. Maybe we roam around Honduras for a couple more
weeks. Just found out that Panama is keeping things locked up
until June 15th, so if Nicaragua does let us in, we'll be roaming
around there for a bit. And Panama, nothing definite in the
news. Columbia looks like 10 days from now, so Panama may be
limit to us moving smoothly. I just hope it happens.
Intibuca, where we are, is now up to 11 cases and 3 deaths.
Honduras overall has had some days where there are 100-200 new cases
per day. That's the most they've had, so a strange time to
plan on opening the economy, but I think they're feeling the
pressure to get it rolling again.
Haven't been on the motorcycle for over a week, so today we took it
out for a spin. Again, went as far as the roadblocks would let
us. Really looking forward to the day when I'll go back down
that road and not have to return. We actually were not
supposed to be out today. Well, honey could be, but she didn't
have her passport with her (you're allowed to be out one day in two
week and it goes by last digit of your ID). On the way out of
town I noticed a roadblock coming back into town. I'm thinking
we're screwed now. My passport doesn't allow me to be out today, and
she doesn't have hers. Luckily on the way back I was behind a
couple cars and they just let us through. I guess it was
random stopping and we got lucky we didn't have to. I'm sure
they would have just read us the riot act, I'd rather not be in that
situation.
So, part of the journey is me health. I've mentioned before my
stomach issues, loss of weight over a year ago accompanied by
weakness. Last year going through Mexico I was getting
better. Went back to CO until last December and I was starting
to regress a bit. Since going back on the road last December
it's been up and down, but I think I've finally turned the
corner. The answer seems to be vegetable stew for me.
Feels really good to eat and doesn't give me stomach aches like some
foods. For a couple weeks I stopped eating bread just to see
if the gluten could be bothering me, but didn't see any change, so
was happy to keep making fresh bread!... I could probably live on
that stuff. Actually I have memories from when I as a child
and my grandmother would make bread, a huge hemispherical bread made
in a brick wood burning oven, but she would make my sister and I our
own little loaves. There was nothing that tasted better;
crunchy crust with a steaming hot center.
At times I've tried to look back and figure out, what exactly caused
my problem. I never come away with a satisfactory
answer. Best I can do is a combination of life circumstances,
genetics, food, and stress, all conspiring to bring me to a
crossroads in my life. Things that I see:
0. When I was just a kid in grammar school I was socially awkward
and got picked on a lot. I was a gentle spirit in a rugged
world. We also moved around a lot so never stayed in one place long
enough to make lasting friends. The longest time we stayed put
was when I was in highschool and college. Not to mention the
trauma of moving from Croatia Yugoslavia to the US. From a
small farm in a small village, to one of the biggest cities in the
United States. Totally different culture, food,
language. I remember being depressed a lot when I was in high
school. I guess typical teenage troubles.
1. I had a kid and was married before I finished college. Talk
about stressful; working, going to school, and a family. At
one point we couldn't afford to live on our own, so had to move in
with my parents. That didn't go well. Honestly if there
wasn't the unwanted pregnancy, we probably never would have gotten
married. We turned out to be very different people. But
what do you know in your early twenties. I certainly didn't
know much. And it was a terrible marriage.
2. I divorced and not long after married a nice woman with
four kids of her own, the youngest being 3 and 4. Yes, I jump
where lesser mortals fear to tread. It was ok for a while, but
it wasn't working for me. We were different in many
ways. That lead to over a year of counseling and finally the
second divorce. It was amiable. We still talk today if
we need to.
3. My job was always stressful. I always felt like I was out
of my comfort zone. When I was in high school, I took four
years of art, but when it came to college I had to pick a real
career, and picked Engineering because I had mechanical
aptitude. That eventually took me into project management, and
finally program management, directing or helping others direct and
manage large projects. Through the years I was always prone to
anxiety, in normal situations, talking to strangers or groups of
strangers. But eventually got over it, because I had to.
But I'm sure it took it's toll on me. When I got into program
management I decided to get my PMP (Project Management Professional
credential), so in addition to dealing with an new high profile job
at work, I studied for hours every day after work. It
eventually started messing with my sleep and I decided to just take
the exam. I passed on the first try, unlike many people, but
it sure took it's toll on me. It also didn't help that in
2001, after 17 years of working for my company, 9/11 happened, the
economy tanked, and our division closed, leaving me and others
without a job. I searched and after about 16 week finally
found a job as a paid intern doing quality control on software, at a
third of my salary. Took three years there before the economy
wound back up and my old company was rehiring. I was glad to
be back, at a different division and back to an Engineering salary.
4. Even in my 20's when I worked on cars I would have lower back
pain. In my 30's that turned into more pain, visits to
chiropractors, and eventually a herniated disk that caused pain down
my leg and my thigh muscle started to atrophy. The pain was
horrendous and I had to get a cortisone shot in my back before it
became bearable, but there was a permanent numbness in the
knee. Over the years it came to the point where I had to
cancel a couple vacations because my back would tweak out and I
couldn't continue. By the time I was 56 I realized I needed to
do something before I got too old, so had surgery to have my L4-L5
disk replaced and fused. When I came out of surgery and the
anesthesia started wearing off I got the shakes, almost like a
seizure, so they put me back under with some pain killers.
When I came out of it again I was still shivering but was able to
calm my self down through breathing. Clearly my body was not
happy with what had gone on while I was out on the operating room
table.. Nothing like having part of your spine ripped out.
What followed was weeks of pain that brought me to tears, but I had
to push myself to recover. Anyway, a lot of stress on the
body, over years. Culmination in stress and pain. But,
I'm better than I was, so guess it was worth it, but I'm sure it
left it's mark on my body.
5. I'm sure the motorcycle riding hasn't helped either. As
much as I love it, it can get painful after hours of riding.
In my older age I've wised up and take frequent breaks, but I wasn't
so smart in my younger age. It also lead to having a broken
knee (tibial plateau broke in half) with metal in it, and I
shattered one of my shoulder blades. Again, all stress on the
body. Over the years there were three periods where I did not
have a motorcycle, but always bought another one.
6. Since I was a teenager I've had allergies, which basically says
that my immune system is overtaxed. Don't know... chemicals in
the environment, too many hots dogs and bologna sandwiches as a
kid. Had to get allergy shots for a while, which seemed to
help, but mostly looks live I've grown out of it as I've gotten
older. Still, both myself and my two sisters have markers for
autoimmune, which is not good. My younger sister had a bad
case of Rheumatoid Arthritis, and doctors told her she'd end up in a
wheel chair. She hasn't because she took matters in her own
hands and found a treatment that keeps it under control. But
clearly these issues I'm having are autoimmune based to whatever
extent.
7. In terms of what I ate. I ate normal food and a
variety at that. Meat, veggies, fruit, dairy, occasional
deserts. Nothing out of the ordinary. Never been much of
a drinker. Never smoked. But as my body came to the
point where it had had enough, I think even what I was eating was
hurting me.
8. I retired at 57 and though I felt I needed to do it, because I
did not want to work until I was all old and used up. I wanted
to see the world. I've done a lot of traveling on my
motorcycle. My trips got longer and longer, and vacation time
was no longer good enough. After being across most of the US I
wanted to go further. But, figuring out how to retire at 57 is
not necessarily easy. In it's own way it was stressful.
I started downsizing my life, until I finally ended up with half a
U-haul trailer of stuff, a Toyota highlander, and a motorcycle, left
Illinois behind and went out to CO, to a rented room in the house of
a person I'd never met. When I got there I had more free time,
so I exercised more, but I think that was pushing myself too
much. I was at an altitude of one mile. I remember one morning
when it was freezing or below and I went out and ran a couple
miles. It was really hard on my body. I didn't run again for a
while. That may have been the straw that broke the camels
back. On top of it, my host kept her house very cold, in the
mid 50's at times. I eventually got a heater in my room, but I
was never comfortable there. She also kept it very dark.
I liked heat and light, so it was a challenge for me.
9. I did a psychedelic mushroom trip shortly after I got to CO in
Sep of 2018. It was a good experience for me, but they're
basically drugs and I took what was a "hero dose", so quite a
bit. During the trip you're whole system slows down to the
point where you at first can't even move your limbs and you have to
remind your body to breath. This goes on for hours, and then
you get more control as you come out of it. Thinking back on
it, not sure that it was a good idea physically. Not sure what
effect it had on me.
10. Now as I look back at it from a Yin Yang perspective. Cold
is yin, drugs are yin, I ate a lot of tropical fruits which are yin,
I had to occasional cookies and ice cream... sugar is yin. In
an effort to be healthy I took a lot of supplements, which are are
basically chemicals and are yin (I did that for years). I
drank green tea with honey; all yin. I found out later that
green tea was actually hard on the stomach and it messed with your
digestion and may impede nutrient absorption, which is why people
use it as a weight loss aid. I use to drink it morning and
evening and usually with or immediately after dinner... not a small
cup, but two cups. I had dark chocolate every day, in my
breakfast oatmeal, but chocolate is also yin. I did these
things because I read and understood that they were good for
me.
11. Then there were whatever chemicals I was exposed to in the
environment, and I was never much for wanting to pay more money to
buy organic fruits and vegetables, so I'm sure I was getting my
share of pesticides and whatever.
12. Then there was the whole hydrate thing. You're
supposed to drink like two quarts of water per day, which is crazy,
but I bought that during a period when I was going to a chiropractor
three times a week to see if we could stretch out my spine (it was
part of his protocol), so I tried to drink a lot of water, but found
out later that water just demineralizes your body. On top of
that, back in my thirties I had high blood pressure, and to help get
that under control I stayed away from salt. So, that
combination of drinking too much water and avoiding salt (which is
actually yang) messed up my electrolyte balance, I'm sure.
Avoiding ordinary salt was not a bad thing, but I should have used
Himalayan Salt, which is actually good for you and has over 80 trace
minerals in it.
Anyway, that's a lot of stuff adding up over the years. Now
it's going to take me years to hopefully overcome what damage was
done and set my body on a better path. I guess the time spent
here in Honduras helped since it's been a low stress time with
relatively pleasant temperatures and a simple routine. Our
concerns are food, sleep, and exercise. Doesn't get simpler
than that.
5/15/2020
Day 61 in Honduras. Time flies when every day is the same. I keep
saying it's like Groundhogs day. But just like Billy Murry took
advantage of each day, so are we. I'm completely ambidextrous now in
throwing a Frisbee, so got that going for me!... Continuing to
perfect the art of making stovetop bread. I'm continuing to use
Duolingo to improve my Spanish and honey is working on Spanish and
Russian. Honey is writing her book and I'm also doing some
scribbling on matters of life and health. Also took this opportunity
in the stock market drop to buy into a few things, like some energy
funds (hot tip, energy is way undervalued... yeah oil prices are way
down, but it's just a matter of time before they come back up). Fear
makes people do stupid things with their investments. Like what, the
world will never need energy again?
Yeah, so not going anywhere yet. The latest lockdown deadline is
supposed to expire in two days. Keeping our fingers crossed. The
possibility is that they reopen the economy in all or most of the
country, but still restrict travel. Actually in the last week
they're had a rise in the rate of infection, and here in Intibuca
there are now 11 cases and one death. They did publish guidelines
(basically look like CDC recommendations; that little organization
has way too much say in what's going on in the world right now) for
all industries, schools, etc.. on how to reopen. Then there's
Nicaragua, which stopped giving credible updates on the extent of
the COVID-19 problem. Word has it that there are guys in what jump
suits, going around in trucks, that pick up dead bodies and bury
them ASAP. But technically the country is still open because that's
how the president wants it. I'm still trying to get a hold of
Nicaragua immigration to see if we can get an advanced approval to
enter, which the Honduras police want before they let us travel
there. Nothing so far. A friend of our host was traveling from Chile
and got stuck in Nicaragua, he says it's a mess and he's trying to
get out.. great... The other problem is that Costa Rica's latest
date is June 15, Panama is an unknown, and Colombia looks like May
30th. So who knows.
Why am I not afraid of going to a country where they are picking up
dead bodies in the streets? Because all the data so far says that
it's the sick who are dying... meaning diabetics, old people, obese
people, people with coronary heart disease, smokers... bummer, but
since I'm none of these, my odds seem to be pretty good even if I
catch it.
5/17/2020
I can keep telling myself, it's just another day here. It's
not bad here... have food, shelter at a reasonable price, I'm with
my honey. And it's true, but it's time to go... unless I'm
going to buy land here and build a house! Oi... US consulate
in Honduras answered me earlier and basically said, although
Nicaragua hasn't announced it, their borders are closed, so no they
can't talk to Nicaragua immigration to see if they will let us in
the country. They suggested we fly home... [rolling my eyes
here]. Can't fly home and just leave everything we have
behind, not that we have much of anything. And where would we
go, and what would we do? Could spend time with family, but it
would not be cheap living there and it definitely would not be cheap
flying there and then back when the borders open. The
restrictions here are supposed to expire in 15 minutes, so now we
need to figure out what that means. At least if travel was allowed
in the country we could go somewhere. Yes, but why do we need
to go anywhere? We're somewhere now. The problem is
we're not free. Of course we're never truly free, just free
within the laws that exist where ever you are. And this
lockdown... you can't negotiate with it, you can't control it.
Nothing to do but accept it... but it's not easy.
My phone chip from Sprint is still in Tegucigalpa... new delivery
date is next Friday. Like they couldn't send a truck with some
packages to town. They are delivering goods every day, on
semi's.
I was reading an article this morning talking about that there's
been no decision regarding opening air, land, and sea borders, that
it's in the hands of the government. So, some people I don't
even know, that probably have no clue what they are doing, are going
to pull a straw out of a hat and decide the fate of thousands of
people. Also read that we may lose many things, but we will
not lose lives. Was also reading that many people in Honduras
who were on the brink, are being pushed over. So, yeah, they will
lose lives just not from the virus. They will lose lives from
the consequences of this lockdown. And why? Because we don't
want to overload the medical system? Because we believer we
can actually stop this thing? Even if we stop this one, what
about the next one? These things are here, and they've
probably been around longer than we have. Our problem is that
we are out of balance with nature, and we're creating that imbalance
with the way we conduct our lives, farm our food, and pollute the
environment.
I am so tired of reading how many confirmed cases there are...
they're not confirmed, the tests have high percentage of false
positives... they're not accurate because everyone is not
tested. If it is positive you may have something, or you may
not, if you do have something, there's no way to be sure what you
have. But it doesn't matter, you either die or you
don't. The doctors can't do anything different, whether it's
the flue or it's the COVID-19. I'm tired of hearing how many
dead there are. People die all the time but certain causes of
death we just accept, like heart disease, cancer, autoimmune...
because we know we cause those by how society runs, the resulting
stress in our lives, the choices that people make, and the pollution
and chemicals we spew out every day. But, we can't stop that,
and besides, the medical world and drug manufacturers run on the
fact that we're not going to stop it. Billions and billions of
dollars hand in the balance.
If you live here in Honduras, it's not really a big deal. I
guess it is if you lost your job, but at least socially the
structure is there. Back in the US no one is prevented from
going out at gunpoint like here. But us, we're totally
stopped. Travel is what we are doing, and that's the one thing
we can't do.
5/18/20
But it always seems that things happen for a reason. Maybe it was so
I would have time to find out that stew was good for my
stomach. Maybe so that I could have time to reevaluate my
investments, and maybe it was just to get to a point where you
really just stop with expectations, learn to flow with what goes on.
I confirmed today with the US consulates in Honduras and Nicaragua
that even though our visas are about to run out, June 2nd, they are
waving it until the crisis is over. And we'll get a fresh 90 days
when we enter Nicaragua. Also, although Nicaragua hasn't
officially said it, their borders are closed. Also, Cost Rica
has stopped ALL traffic between the two countries, including truck
traffic. Guess they don't want to increase their infection rate
since it's probably spreading like wildfire in Nicaragua. I
hope it does, then they just get it over with. Technically
they should be able to open their borders sooner than the countries
who are keeping people home and spreading it slowly. Look at
Honduras, even though they have had quarantines in place for two
months, they are just hitting their peak "confirmed case"
rates. Confirmed how, I don't know, because the tests are not
accurate. I read today, the more you look, the more you
find... yeah, no kidding.
We haven't had internet for days, tomorrow it's supposed to be
fixed. It's harder without it. At least when we have it
we can do research, maybe watch some videos or movies, talk on
WhatsApp. Even the communications with consulates takes longer
if I'm just depending on my phone data, which is way slower.
5/27/2020
Day seventysomething...
First we have the Honduran folk dancers. They showed up in the front
yard of the Hostel making all sorts of noise on a loudspeaker and
dancing during siesta time. And there's always time for siesta,
given that the lock-down is still in force in Honduras.
They were doing some kind of live broadcast talking about the fact
that they have a group that goes around and performs. They came to
the hostel for the veritable arboretum.
Yup, rainy season is in full swing! Most days have some rain... some
more than others!
And it's not like this is the result of days of rain, it's just a
couple hours in the afternoon.
But, when it's not raining... This is a view of the back yard. I'm
up on a raised stage about 8 ft off the ground. The caretakers
father was in a band and cut some records, so guess they would do
concerts here for the neighbors.
Occasionally we walk the town to keep from going stir crazy. Today
we found the tourist district... ya, it's a little empty... but
there's a shrine carved right out of the cliff... even the stairs
are carved out, and clearly have been walked a few times, as they
are staring to round and wear. The rock stairs go all the way to the
"roof" where we also found a little hike to explore.
Back in town at the square, there is a tree with a five foot trunk,
says the tree you plant today will be air for your kids tomorrow.
Nice. I don't know how tall this thing was, I couldn't get it all
into the shot.
Not sure what the gate around the tree is all about. Guess the
Hondurans guard their trees like their houses, with gates!...
And apparently, something in the square is one of the 30 marvels of
Honduras. I didn't know Honduras had marvels...
Lots of shady looking characters walking around in masks...
Man, if you would have told me I'd be here for near three months I
would have said you're crazy... but the latest lock-down expires
5/31/2020, and people are still dying... I think Honduras is up to
about 180... Which isn't much. But they've multiple days of 200+
increase in confirmed cases (whatever that means), so it's actually
accelerating. In my mind, that's to be expected. These are poor
people, you can't lock them up, take away the little business that
they do, and expect them to survive, unless you're going to bring
everyone essentials to their front door, so no one goes out. Even we
go to the market once or twice a week to get food. The good news is
that we see more of the businesses are open, so hopefully people are
going to get back on track. The government also formed a board that
will make recommendations regarding reopening, and looks like some
flights are being allowed in and out of the country. But I'm still
guessing we'll be here until mid June.
We're trying to stay busy, reading, researching, walking when we
can. Actually we shouldn't be out, circulation in the streets is by
last digit of your ID, and each digit gets one day over a period of
two weeks. But we each have two passports, so... but guessing by the
traffic in the downtown streets, there's plenty of people not
adhering to their designated day... Like I said, it's unrealistic.
Just open the streets, let the people who are going to get sick, get
sick, and get it over with. New Zealand proved that you can stop it
if you act early enough and are clear about the plan, but here, and
most counties, didn't do that good a job.
My latest research project is aquaponics (not to be confused with
fun with phonics)... how to grow veggies and fish (symbiotically) in
a limited amount of space.... like thousands of pounds of fish and
veggies per year in as little as 1/8 acre, grow it way faster and
with way less work and resources than you can in dirt. Apparently it
is the future; aquaponics, hydraponics. Like one guy says, it's
using technology and your brain to farm at the next level. If you
haven't looked into it, look up "vertical farms" for example.
There's people using entire abandoned warehouses filled to the roof
with growbeds. The oceans are overfished, there's less and less
land, what farmland there is, is in shit shape (dead soil)..., food
transportation costs are too high to go from farm to city, many
places have limited amounts of water, and this approach solves all
the problems.
It's interesting, that never in my life have I had this much free
time to just pursue threads of interest. Think about it, we're
always working at work, working at home, rushing to go on vacation,
rushing back home from vacation, and when we're traveling, even long
term like this, we're working on going and deciding where we're
going to go. I wonder how much better off society would be if people
were just allowed to sit and think and tinker? Where's all that free
time that the computer revolution was supposed to bring, because
everything was going to be so much more efficient... we were suppose
to be set free to be more creative... we need it, society needs it.
Get off the fn hamster wheel and lift your head and look around...
What are we doing?
But, this pic sums it up... just waiting...
OH! I almost forgot... I've discovered that the static electricity
of my laptops touch screen literally attracts bugs.. as in sucks
near flying mosquitoes onto the screen, where I can just squash
them.. so, got that going for me..
6/5/2020
Honduras means "deep water" and LaEsperanza means "the hope" or "the
wait"... So, here we are, waiting in deep waters... the waiting
place... But the time has come. Honduras has a plan for reopening
the economy. I'm guessing whatever part of it is not enforced with
police and army presence will be ignored. But, bottom line, the
areas that have low case counts of COVID, which is most of the land
mass, will be fully functional in three weeks... the worst places,
big cities, will be fully functional in six weeks. Certain
percentages of the work force are supposed to return each week until
everyone is working again.
When they announced that, next day I tried to find out what the plan
was for traveling in the country, but no one had an answer. Went to
the police station and asked. They said sure, we can go... I didn't
believe it... Still raining, so took the car down the road to where
the first roadblock was, and it's gone. So, we kept going for a
while. I can't explain the excitement of just being on a different
stretch of road after 80+ days of being pent in. Along the way we
did pass a huge pile of gravel/dirt on the road, with just a wide
enough passage for a car to get through. Clearly this was not
falling rock, cause it didn't have anywhere to fall from. Few
minutes later, we got to a road block, complete with spikes across
the road... Talked to a couple official looking guys (one had an
assault rifle and the other had a bunch of patches on his shirt...
that's official enough for me; it's funny how I no longer have any
reaction to talking to guys with assault rifles), we explained our
situation and they said we can travel toward the Nicaragua border.
At first we were just shocked. You read about people that are in
jail for a while and when they get out they don't know how to
function normally... that's what it felt like... On the way back to
town we seesawed between excitement with high fives and just
silence. Really? We can go? Where are we going to go? Will Nicaragua
let us in, don't know, just have to try. I've tried contacting
Nicaragua immigration, but no response.
A tropical storm just passed through El Salvador and Guatemala, they
got clobbered and we got six days of rain here, so figured we'd wait
a few days for it to clear up. It's till been pouring, but this
weekend it supposed to ease up a little, so Monday we are out of
here! Should be at the Nicaragua border in a few days. They're not
officially closed, but embassy says it's only truck traffic right
now. We'll find out. If they don't let us in, we'll just be
espero-ing in a different part of Honduras, closer to the border.
Cost Rica is supposed to open end of June, as well as Panama.
Colombia should be August 31st. So, three countries, three months,
before we take the boat to Colombia... Estamos esperando...
6/10/2020
Yesterday put the rubber back on the road! Really had no issues
going to Tegucigalpa from Intibuca. We had two road options, but
after talking to the locals they said the one road was really bad.
So, we took the other... which was pretty bad (sections of road just
messed up and huge potholes)... good thing we didn't take the bad
one I guess... There were some check points, but none of them
stopped us. After we got settled into our "small garage converted
into a bedroom/kitchen/bathroom under the main house" in Tegucigalpa
we went to the grocery store to get some food to cook up for dinner.
Wouldn't let us in, because our bandannas were not appropriate
masks... So, found a guy in the street selling medical masks, which
were like 1/8 the size of our bandannas... I can see how that would
work better... not that any of them actually work... right... we do
understand that... right? They still wouldn't let us into the store,
because our passports didn't end with the number 6... Explaining
that we're in the city for one night and we need some food to cook
up didn't persuade them... They have made-up stupid rules to
follow... And that was the city law... So, walked away empty handed
and had to make oatmeal for dinner... Patience... Understanding...
letting it go... sometimes is not easy when stupidity is staring you
in the face...
Today, after breakfast (more oatmeal) went back to the grocery store
because we DO have #7... wohoooo! Bought a mess of stuff, went back,
packed up, and we're out of there... Much of the road from
Tegucigalpa down to Choluteca is concrete, smooth, and winding
through the Honduras mountains. Could be the best road in the
country, that I've seen anyway. About 20 minutes from Guasaule honey
was in front and they pulled her over at a stop. I pulled up behind
her. They talked to her, they talked to me, they're like your Visa
is expired, that's a $1000 fine, I'm like no, I talked to the
consulate, visas are extended until the crisis is over. Then he
wanted to take us to immigration somewhere... he's like you could
have left earlier... I'm like no, the Intibuca police told us we
can't go... and this went on for about 15 minutes, using our phones
to translate some of the stuff, while we're sweating our asses off
in 90 degree weather, me in full gear... I told him our plan, showed
him the GPS, more talk, and they finally let us go. They also did
confirm that we can cross into Nicaragua, but he also said there's
no one at the border (if I understood him right) which makes no
sense. Then 10 minutes later, another roadblock, honey gets pulled
over again (you think they just like pulling women over???? ) It
went faster this time and they let us go. At the first one I was
staring to think they weren't going to let us pass.
About 1/4 mile from our hotel the tucks were backed up far as we
could see, and some border "helper" was talking to honey already.
Told him it's not necessary, and we're not crossing the border until
morning. So, just pulled into the oncoming lane and we cut through
to our hotel. Now we're basically minutes from the border, the
trucks have cleared, and the caretaker says there's no lines in the
morning. Someone is clearing the trucks at the border!
And no, the pool is not working...
The view of the trucks from the "lobby"...
And no, there's no hangers in the room, but there is a shower that
sprays all over the bathroom, and there is A/C! What more does a
person need?!
6/11/2020
Sure, the border is open... you could have left sooner... NOT!
Got up early to miss all the truck traffic, went from Pepe's down to
the border about a mile away. No go. Nicaragua border is
closed to tourists... do not pass, do not collect $200, go back to
jail.
Sat down in the office with one of the aduana guys, had a long
discussion. No, they don't know when it will open... check
with the consulate on a regular basis. No, the visa's are not a
problem given the situation... On the way out, one of the army guys
needs to take a picture of our passports... probably to notify his
buddies that we got two stuck Americanos that need kidnapping (I'm
kidding!). Another guy says, ju bant tu go to Nicaragua?
I hav conections... Ah... no... all we need to do is get ourselves
into the country through connections, and really go to jail.
Then there was the guy that insisted he help us, and that he watched
our stuff for us... right, there's two guys there with tactical
weapons, and he watched out stuff... Ok, I get it, people have to
make money... but there's one building, there's no one there, and we
speak well enough Spanish to figure it out... go raise cows or
something... Ah well, back to Pepe's to figure out what we were
going to do, the room was paid up until noon! When we got
there Pepe said mi casa es su casa, and he was even working on
opening up their pool... which looked really good.
So, we sat there for a bit, talked. We needed some beach
time. Pepe said Cedeno, a town about an hour Southwest was the
closes beach town, and they had some reasonable places to stay...
done. Got ourselves together and headed back. Got
stopped a couple time, but conversations were short... Now that we
know what we're talking about... since no one else seems to...
Honey disappeared behind me on the way, so I turned around... she
had picked up a lady hitch hiker... according to her, there was
nothing less than $40 for a room in that beach town. Honey
asked how these poor people can afford a price like that. It's
not the poor people, lots of people come from the cities, with
money. So, that's how it is. You have the have's and the
have not's. This is really the tragedy in this world, isn't
it? We have enough wealth and resources to make sure everyone
is taken care of, but we don't. At least, hopefully, that
money goes into the community.
Not that it mattered, because five minutes from our destination
there was a road block. Told them we can't cross the border,
we need a place to stay, we wanted to go the beach. No
go. Beach is closed, hotels are closed, go back to town.
So, went to town, about 30 minutes away and found a place for
$16/night, so we can collect ourselves and figure out the next
move. Could go back to Pepe's, close to the border, but it's
jut in the middle of nowhere... stores, no gas, nada... We'll
probably stay here in Choluteca, just need a different place we can
make ourselves at home. Wifi here doesn't work and there's no
place to cook...
Today, turns out that the hotel we were at, owns three properties in
town, and one of them has a pool. Well, it's not the Ocean, but it's
better than just sweltering in the 90 degree / 100% weather. So,
we've moved over and here we are. Going to start with four days,
through the weekend, and see what Monday brings. I'm really starting
to thing I need to put my foot down with the consulate. I mean, what
good are they if they can't get us clearance to get through a few
countries? There are trucks constantly going back and fourth,
hundreds of them, how are two lowly tourists going to upset the
balance of the universe by crossing a couple borders. Stupid
rules...
So, anyway, it's not often you see this. Well, maybe around here,
but not in your typical US city...
Hotel, with spot for the bike next to the room, and pool, so could
be worse...
Temps are running into the mid 90's, so yeah, the pool is a bit
warm, but still welcome.
Sidebar (Cell phones, WHO, oppression and government). I've come to
realize I'm way too dependent on my cell phone. First world problem
in the third world country, but it's more than that. I've always
said, whatever you own owns a piece of you, and that's why I've come
to the point where I don't own much; only what I need and what
brings me pleasure. A phone is one of those things we need, right?
Right? I'm asking, because I'm really starting to question this
addiction we have to these things. Over the last few days I switched
from T-mobile to Sprint. Because Tmo was hassling me about roaming
too much and said they would cut me off soon as the "crisis" was
over, and Sprint doesn't have an issue with it... So, even though
they are now the same company, it's a better plan, for slightly less
money. All this time I was in Intibuca my Sprint Chip had been at
FedEx in Tagucigulpa. On our way through there I picked it up and
transferred over. Easier than I thought... until I tried to create
my user account online... and they locked me out... because
something didn't match... they suspect fraud... so, messaging and
calling support... I lost count of how many people I talked to... I
don't know how many times they told me I need to take the phone in
to a Sprint store, but they didn't seem to comprehend that there
were no sprint stores here. Sorry, that's the only option. Then more
conversations with the Fraud department.. You have to fax us your
license, SS card, and proof of address... really? Made a couple
attempts at an internet fax service but apparently the attachments
were blurry and useless. More conversations later. You could load up
the documents on our web site.... ok, why couldn't someone tell me
that before?... So, finally, days later, I have a phone again. Why
did this happen? Because the incompetent person that set up my
account misspelled my name and got my SS number wrong. So, end up
paying for someone else's mistake. But, is phone fraud really that
big a problem that they have higher security than Fort Knox? Why is
it that cell phone companies have this ability to piss people off to
no end? Make us jump through hoops like trained poodles, instead of
working with us, even when it's not per their scripts? They are no
different than the WHO, running this whole virus BS according to
their dreamed up rules, statistics, shutdown guidelines, reopening
guidelines, and making people suffer in the process. But, they have
you by the nuts... The cell phone company has you because you depend
on them, and the WHO has you because they whisper on the ears of
people who make the laws that get enforced, and then the burden lies
on us to fight stupid laws and regulations after they're made, and
we're helpless to do that without a lawyer, and time and money.
Stupid rules cost us money any way you look at it. Somewhere along
the way, the "customer is always right" philosophy got lost, in the
name of scripted conversation and efficiency, and the "we have to do
this for your own good" philosophy. There's a lot of people out
there imposing their will on you... if you want what they have, then
you get their shit to deal with. When it comes to my phone, I use it
as a GPS, though I can do that without service, I use it to bank and
identity verification, I use it to stay in touch, I use it to do
research, I use it to pay my bills, make reservations while
traveling... yeah, everything... But I'm really starting to wonder
how I break myself free from it... I can't even remember what it was
like before smartphones. Maybe I need to remind myself. How would
this trip be different if I didn't use the phone... how would my
life be different if all I had was a stupid phone instead of a smart
one. One thing I can see is that I would automatically become
smarter, because I'd have to remember all the stuff my phone
remembers for me. Have to think on it some more... maybe try and go
cold turkey... use the phone for nothing besides calls and GPS and
see what happens. But you know, breaking free of the WHO and other
oppressive organizations, including these "doing it for your own
good" governments, isn't so easy... or is it? Maybe I need to buy
some land in one of these countries, put up some bars, start an
aquaponic garden, and shoot anyone that comes on my property. But is
that freedom, or are we doing exactly what government wants us to...
worry about our own little worlds, hole up somewhere, don't talk to
anyone, don't question anyone, don't care about what's going on.
Frankly I'm really surprised by all the rioting going on around the
world, and all because of one dead guy at the hands of the police.
Of course it's not about just one dead guy. With everyone at high
stress levels and not knowing what the future brings, it just took a
reasons for everyone to get up in arms. Good for us. Get out there
and tell them we're not taking this shit any more. It's interesting
times we live in, and it's going to be interesting how this all
turns out.
6/13/2020
What was the original plan? Ride the America's, fly to West
coast of Africa, ride down and then up the East coast to Egypt and
Europe, ride Europe, then into Asia, etc... Now having been stuck in
Honduras for three months, there's a lot of questions running
through my mind.
- How long will we stick this out, at what point do you say, we're
going no place fast, let's go back?
- If we were to go back, how would we even go? We're overland, we
need the borders to be open.
- If we go back, what would we do? How long would we stay
before picking it up again?
- Is it better to go back or just wait it out no matter how long it
takes?
If your life is travel, but you're not traveling, you're doing
nothing, or are you? What are we doing when we are doing
something in one place? Still nothing? Sure, we fill our
time with doing stuff, but is filling time the point? Cause we
can fill our time playing video games, which, let's face it is just
filling time. Traveling around the world seems like a better
thing to be doing than playing video games, but it's just the
appearance. Helping underprivileged kids in Kenya seems like
even a better thing. Is that really doing something? We
are free to do as we will, and some choose to sit on top of a
mountain meditating and some help kids in Kenya.
One thing we can not get away from is the life is about
relationships. Community, family, world. If we cut our selves
off from others then I think we're really missing the point.
We are not cut off here, but can we have deep meaningful
relationships with people on the road? Is it necessary.
I think just seeing the world and interacting on a daily basis is a
good thing to do. The world needs to be seen, through my
eyes. I am a unique mirror of the universe and only this
mirror can see the universe in the way it does.
How long will we stick this out? If someone told us three
months ago that we'd be here three months, would we have left?
We could not have anyway? We don't really have a choice.
Here in Honduras you can leave your car behind temporarily, with a
deposit and special permission. But plane tickets are $2000
dollars right now, and $1000 in a few weeks. So, we could
leave and come back. But we don't know how long we'd be gone.
Honey wants to go see her parents in Europe, me I could go see my
daughters, but how much time could I spend there?
Months? Then the timing to travel could be all wrong, so we
just end up holding up in a country for months, flying back to get
your vehicles, and have no place to go. Yes, we could still
go... maybe not tip of South America, but other places in South
America.
Fact is that these countries can not stay closed much longer.
Nicaragua needs the tourist trade to survive. And even if
Nicaragua doesn't open, we can get a boat to ship is from Honduras
to Colombia when Colombia opens up.
6/14/2020
Geeeesss... Just read the other day that certain section of Costa
Rica have been raised to Orange level, from Yellow, meaning
infections are increasing. It's like nuclear war... we're now
going to defcon 5! launch is eminent, everyone get in their bunkers!
Is that what we're going to do next, crawl into underground holes
and not come out for months? We're pretty close to that
now. We're in prisons. Yeah, we can go out on certain
days, and move around to a degree, but make no mistake, it's just a
different form of jail...
There's nothing to do... yeah, we can stay busy, but that's even
more difficult. How much can you read, study... ? Can't
even walk. Well, yes, we can, but it's 90's and humid, and the
streets are noisy, dusty, and trash everywhere. Not exactly
refreshing to walk around.
6/15/2020
Just read that Honduras extended their quarantine for another two
weeks. Two weeks... WTF... thought that they were opening
their economy? I am just beside myself. What's the option.. go
back to Intibuca? Go somewhere else? Stay here.
Honey votes for staying here, because at least there's a pool.
6/17/2020
Went into town today, looked around a bit. We did discover the town
center and related huge market. There's also a few parks and a river
in the area. Talked to the police. They say the beach on the south
coast is open now... where we got denied last week. Will check it
out tomorrow.
The pool is getting a lot of use. Using it to swim and stay in shape
while we sit on our butts the rest of the time. Plus it's
90-something and high humidity. You walk out and just melt in the
sun.
Some random pics from recent days:
Yeah, looks nice, but the mosquitoes are killer. They move fast and
bit fast and itch like crazy... must be the heat.
The river that runs through town.
Main market. There's blocks of this stuff. You can buy an avocado
for $0.20 to $0.80. You walk away with a bag of stuff to feed you
for days for like $8.00... not $45 like in Whole Foods back in the
US. The livin' is cheap!
Traditional corn tortillas... 3 for L2... 3 for $0.08... What the
heck can you buy for 8 cents anywhere in the US?
Lots of melons to be bought everywhere... couldn't fit this one...
So honey wanted some plantain chips that come with the fish dinner,
so she ordered them, but I'm like, what about the fish, I'll eat it
if you don't want to... so she changed the order... but they got it
mixed up and we got a full plate AND a side of chips... Splurged on
the fish dish... $8...
What is that, a cathedral... iglesias?
Anyway... todavia esperando...
Keeping up on progress. Flights into Nicaragu by several airlines
are supposed to restart by July 7 or earlier. I'm subscribed to a UK
site that sends updates when border/travel situations change, and
I'm monitoring the US embassy in Nicaragua for announcements.
6/19/2020
All this time just idling is really making me think. One of
the reasons I wanted to take this trip was to sort of survey the
world, see if there is somewhere else that I wanted to live.
So far, in Central America and Mexico, there are the haves and the
have nots. The level of poverty of the have nots is certainly
below the typical poor people in the US. But at least out in
the small towns, as poor as people are, there is no "ghetto".
People still have culture, and though life may be hard, they have a
sense of belonging. There is definitely government corruption,
police and army with their fancy trucks and guns, and clearly some
people are being taken advantage of, by corporations and
governments. The average person walks, has a beat up
car, has a tuk-tuk, or a motorcycle, and government laws are such
that the motorcycles are limited in size, so that people can't even
keep up on the highway. They use the motorcycles for
everything, but they can't keep up, because of some stupid law.
There's beautiful country and land, but even government parks have
limited and unmarked access. Lots of mountains but no hiking
trails. People are too busy struggling to worry about
recreation. There's garbage everywhere, because there's no
money to pay for cleanup, so people dump their trash, and the
government doesn't care enough to clean things up.
The housing is a mix, everything from corrugated shacks, to some
really nice places. The shacks aren't worth thieving, and the
nice places are behind gates, bars, and razor wire. Most
places have very little land included with them. If you look
at houses like in the US, with land, you're paying as much or more,
to live someplace that has crappy infrastructure. If it does
match the US then from an expense standpoint it matches to US.
So, there's really no free lunch.
So, the same question comes up again. Do I want to continue
traveling, to see what we can see, and find what? Or should we
just settle down, and make a place for ourselves back in the
US. I've been to Hawaii, I've been to Alaska, Virgin
Islands... been around most of the US, now most of Central
America. Bottom line is living decently, and staying put, cost
money everywhere, and a piece of desert will cost you 20-30k, with
nothing on it.
Only problem with living in the US is medical care. Insurance
is ridiculous. Go the hospital once and you could be
bankrupt. That has to change. The advantage to traveling
is you can get emergency coverage for just over $100/month.
Can't get that anywhere in the US. Maybe it's time to move to
Canada... yeah, it gets cold in the winter, but they have free
medical. Is it worth it?
20 Acres in the East side Tennessee hills with a little house and
plenty of room to farm would be really nice. For the right
price. Lake Atitlan in Guatemala would be nice too, but prices
are ridiculous over there... it's been discovered!
6/23/2020
So, let's see what's new... Southern Mexico just got hit with a 7.4
Mag Earthquake, but I guess the Tsunami they though was going to hit
Mexico, El Slavador, Honduras, as a result, never happened. Several
of the countries here, including Honduras, are recampling down on
their openings, because more people keep testing positive. I've been
going back and forth with the embassy about getting a letter of
passage to go somewhere, if not South, then back North... because
honestly, I don't see this thing ending any time soon, and I'm tired
of sitting around... The response hasn't been positive, so however
long it takes, it looks like we're stuck here for the duration.
Last week we did take another shot at the beach south of here.
Couple Federales in town told us sure we can go to the beach... Only
like 35 minutes away, so figured we'd take a shot. Got to that same
roadblock that rejected us last time and they weren't having any of
our story, but we persisted that the police in town said we could
go, so they sprayed out tires (they're doing that.. spraying tires
so that you don't bring the virus on your tires... yeah really) and
let us through.
The town was pretty bustling, but the beach was dead as a door nail.
Talked to a local who said that usually this beach is packed, and
they normally have cleaning crews to pick up garbage, but because of
the lockdowns, noting much going on. The water temp was air temp,
probably close to 90 or something. There was a nice breeze, we spent
some time trying to help some kids pull a floating tree out of the
water (didn't have enough people), and struck up a conversation with
a 12 year old local girl; no school because of the virus. She could
barely understand us and we barely understood her, but she managed
to get L10 out of me with that smile. But there were strings
attached... I told her to go to school and get a job!
Fast Chicken... really?
I'll keep an eye out for sharks honey...
So, as you look to the right down the beach that's El Salvador in
the distance, and the previous photo on the left is Nicaragua... so
close and yet so far...
Over the weekend I took a ride out of town. Needed to blow the
cobwebs off the bike... No, there were literally cobwebs on the
bike... Oi.. the travesty of it!
Just the illusion of freedom...
The embassy tells me there are flight out of the country. But I keep
telling them, we have vehicles, and we can't leave them here and we
can't sell them here. Driving them is the only way. Why do thousands
of trucks get to go across the border, and why do millions of people
get to walk around towns in all these countries, but they can't
arrange for two people to pass through the countries... I don't
think they're buying my argument.
Half the people in town aren't even wearing masks, and social
distancing?... yeah right... everyone is all over each other in the
open air markets... as it should be... but then you walk into a
supermarket, your passport has to end in the right number, you get a
shoe wash, you get your temperature checked, you get hand
sanitizer... Come on! Call it already... virus 1 humanity 0, and
move on...
I have also read that many third world countries are taking
advantage of the COVID situation to get a stronger grip on their
people. Friking governments... Way too many politicians pretending
they're making big decision and saving lives, when they're just
trying to justify their salaries, while everyone else struggles to
earn a living. Does some big-shot in the WHO have any clue what
people in these small towns, in poor countries, are going through,
being forced to follow their stupid guidelines... No, not a clue.
The big question is, how is this going to effect travel long term. I
really thought this thing was going to blow over in a few weeks...
clearly that's not going to happen. But I think it's anyone's guess
exactly how long travel is going to be restricted... Guatemala right
now is requiring anyone coming into the country to quarantine for 30
days. Really?! 30 days... what frikin genius came up with that idea?
And how many more geniuses are there out there like that? And how
long we going to let them dictate the rules?
Anyway, I've been doing more research on aquaponics, how to grow my
own black soldier fly larva, duckweed, and meal worms, how to
incorporate, and been looking at farmland in the Ozarks and
Appalachians! I'm this close to setting up shop on 30 acres, telling
the world to kiss my ass, and shoot anyone that comes near
me... It's not just that we're
not in Kansas any more Toto... Kansas done blowed away...
6/24/2020
Really struggling here. There are more signs that this virus
thing is going noplace fast. Which means we'll be stuck here
for a while. How long is too long. I really feel like
it's time to move on. The possibility is that we ship the car
and motorcycle home from the Northern port in Honduras, and we fly
to Texas and pick them up there. But that's probably not until mid
July anyway. Of course it's the end of June and it has just
blown by. But then what? Really, the only option is that
we buy a place, isn't it? Unless we want to buy a camper so
we're not tied down. But then you're restricted where
you can go, we'd have to sell the car and motorcycle, because I
can't just tow both of them around the country. Instead of
buying, we could rent instead, so it would be lower cost of living,
but I'm not sure you can rent anywhere for less than what we could
get a mortgage for, someplace like Arkansas. Even in Arkansas the
minimum rents are around $600. For $800 we can have a place to
call our own.
Having a place to call our own. The problem with that is being
tied down, but if the world trip is off, then what's the difference
if we're tied down or not? I guess giving up on this idea of
travel and seeing the world is a big deal. It feels like a no
win... Don't travel, don't see the world, stay put, take care of the
land and whatever animals we would have; chickens, maybe some goats
or a cow or horse. But, that's it... you are tied to the
land... you are the land. So, then get something that has less
land and is easier and less demanding. But then, we're living
in the town or city, and they have rules and ordinances and I
despise all that... lack of freedom... The one thing that's
definitely true about land is that there is a limited amount in the
world. The world population is growing, and there will be more
and more demand. It's going to come down to food and water in
the coming decades... food and water. That's what having your
own land lets you do.
6/25/15
Just got a quote from a shipper to ship the car and motorcycle in a
container back to the US. $5300. Unbelievable.
It's one thing to pay like $3500 to ship them into South America so
you can drive there and see the country, but to pay that just to get
them back to the US... I'm having a hard time with that.
What's the option? Waiting. For how long? Long as it
takes. Go back up to the Mitos Hostel, get a good price on the
room, and just stay there. Honey can fly to Europe to see her
parents, and to the US to see the kids. I can even fly back
for a while to see the kids, though it will be tough without a
vehicle. What if the borders don't open for a year? Am I
ready to stay here for a year? I can stay as long as they
don't let me out! That will teach them, right? LOL...
Tried again with Guatemal US Embassy. No. They can't
give us a letter of passage through Guatemala, because "not only are
the borders closed, but they also have restrictions on
interdepartmental travel"...
6/26/2020
Well, I think we're going to call it... virus 1, world trip 0.
With countries starting to reopen but then backing off because cases
are rising, this thing could go on for who knows how long.
There are flights to the US in the later part of July. Been
investigating shipment of the vehicles back to the states.
Seem to have found a place that will do it for $2000. Had one
at $5300. $2000 doesn't seem so bad at that point.
Regardless, a part of me wants to wait it out, and hopes all this
stupidity stops soon. But on the other hand it is really
frustrating to see these border closures continue day after day,
week after week, and month after month. The question I'm
asking myself is, how long am I willing to hold out. What if we do
start going again, but come fall or winter, cases start to go back
up? Is everything going to close again? How long do I want to
wait. I signed up for travel, to see the world, instead I've
been sitting longer than I've been traveling.
Ok, so if I'm not going to be traveling, what does the near term and
long term future look like. Near term I would stay with my
daughters, visit family in Chicago, and look for housing.
Yeah, I'm thinking just buy a place, maybe wait a couple years to
see if this all blows over. I can get a cheap house for about what I
would pay for rent in the least expensive places in the US. Also,
with a space, I could put all this research I've been doing on
aquaponics to good use. Grow some veggies and fish, and learn
to be more self sustaining; depend on others, systems, and
government at this point just doesn't seem like a good plan.
Been wondering how long I should keep my money in the stock market
before I just stuff it under the mattress so to speak.
Honestly, there's nothing inherently wrong with the economy, except
this imposed collapse. The question is, will people go back to
doing what they were doing before, and will the economy return to
normal, or how long will it take? What cultural changes will
happen and stick? One thing is for sure, it's unlikely things
will be the same. But things will go on somehow.
In the back of my mind is the voice saying, so what? Why does
it matter if you're sitting in one country. Stay as long as
you have to. It will open eventually. There's no rush
here, no time constraint. If I don't make it to Argentina before
winter, then just stick around the other countries. Yeah, but
there are limits. I can only stay so long in one country, and
only so long per year. And I've already seen that dealing with
bureaucracy is worse than just hitting your head against a wall. At
least you know a wall is just a wall, but speaking to humans who
can't think for themselves, and blindly follow stupid rules is
excruciating.
6/28/2020
Honey says she's had enough. Sitting in one place for weeks on
end is not freedom. It's not a good way to spend time.
The only advantage to being in the third world is the low cost of
living, but it comes with a big price. At least now, in this
COVID situation. Honestly, if before starting this trip
someone told me, well you could be stuck in countries for months,
would I have gone. Probably not.
7/1/2020
Well, three weeks and got tired of sitting around in Choluteca.
Also, been reading that various countries, including Honduras are
rolling back the lockdowns. Clearly this is not going to end any
time soon. It's all politics...
So, North to San Pedro Sula, for the airport, and Puerto Cortes, for
the shipping port... On the way stopped at the El Salvador Honduras
border to see if anything can be done about officially extending our
vehicle permits and visas, in case we need to leave the vehicles
here for a few months.
And that's the border... some cones and tape on both sides...
actually this is where the cars and people traffic would pass
through. There were some official Honduras border workers in a small
building just behind me. They can't do anything about extending our
visas, but they say it's not a problem... we can stay a long as we
want while this COVID thing is happening! Nice of them. He pointed
us back about half a mile where the truck traffic crosses to get our
temp imports extended. Took some doing, but we found the guy in
charge and he took care of us, gave us another 90 days... rolled his
eyes when we asked how long he thought this was going to go on.
After that we headed North to Comayagua. Got a room at what we
thought was a hotel, but actually turned out to be a couples home,
they list as a hotel and they also do Air B&B from there. Most
of the road up there was actually very nice, and beautiful scenery.
Had about 3 miles of some teeth jarring unfinished road. But that's
how it seems to go... over 100 miles of nice road, and it's like
they ran out of money to finish the last section... I smell politics
again.
Got to where we were going with a safe spot for the bike. The host
couple was really nice. We turned out to be their first clients
since the lockdown started three months ago. But seeing as things
are locking down again, they probably will not get many after us.
And this is one of the issues.. some guys sitting in offices, making
decisions, about what's good for us... while these folks are loosing
a part of their livelihood.
The craziest thing I saw on the way, as yo get into town they
literally have a chemical spray booth set up... a structure that
even a truck can fit through that sprays some kind of anti-viral
chemical as you drive by... Luckily they turn the thing off for
motorcyclists... thank you for small favors... There's a couple guys
sitting there with the controls, wearing their masks... I'm thinking
they're not going to get the virus, cause the chemicals will kill
them first. The other thing we learned was that some neighborhoods
take it upon them selves to shut down. If you're not from the
neighborhood, they don't let you in. Really? Is this the new normal
we're going to ease into? You know what happens, it's the boiling
frog... first it's stay inside, next it can't shop without a mask,
then you can't go into our neighborhood, then we'll just pull out
guns and shoot anyone that looks like they may be sick. Wait... That
was my idea...
I have to say something about the mosquitoes in this area...
Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!... They're small, fast, quiet, and the fly random
evasive patterns so you can't hit them unless they're already
sucking on you. Glad we had screens on the windows and all, but most
of the house was open, so yeah... Yeah, not exactly the worst of our
problems right now...
We hit the road again early in the morning and continued North.
We're getting smarter... cause you don't know what you're going to
run into, leave plenty of time...
For the record, Honey is getting stopped all the time, to have her
car inspected, bags opened etc.. They seem to leave me alone, even
when I pull up just to sit and watch. Why is that? They see her
Colorado plate coming, and a blond girl behind the wheel, and it's
open season? She needed a break to take a long walk down a long
pier.
We lucked out for our stay in San Pedro Sual. The place we got was
listed 20 minutes before we reserved it. First customers... again...
but they did tell us that the room was empty and they had to go buy
a bed and TV for us... Very nice couple in a clean gated community.
They have four kids, one boy who is biological, and three girls they
adopted because they lost their parents. I didn't want to pry how,
but that's some amazing hearts they have. They are very
accommodating and are even helping us make some calls regarding
shipment of our vehicles...
Yes, it's come to that. Option A is ship the vehicles back to Miami
Florida and take flights back to pick them up there, go see some
family, etc.. If we can't, then maybe we leave them here for three
months when the import papers expire again, in hopes of things
clearing up, but it's not a good option... would have to find
someone to take care of them... and then we're stuck without
vehicles back in the US. Option three is we both fly out for a
while, we come back. But, some countries are not letting US citizens
in. Even the European Union is considering blocking anyone from the
US since cases are skyrocketing... So, that would be great, fly out
and then can't come back for a year... Could use the Croatia
passport and go to Croatia and hang out there, but odds anywhere are
about the same... I'm sometimes pissed, a lot frustrated, sometimes
depressed (that there's no known timeline for this thing), sometimes
numb... eh... whatever... that's adventure...
Our neighborhood for a few days, maybe at least a couple weeks while
we try to work out this big plan change... I'd like to say I'm
looking forward down the road, six months a year or two, when all
this blows over, but I can't even see a few weeks ahead so no point
in going there... take it as it comes...
Something you don't see very often... a sky scraper in the midst of
single family homes... there's a few in the area.
7/3/2020
Well, everything is lined up, including the leaving. We met
with the logistics guy, Oscar Orlando Medrano +504 2505 7511
(WhatsApp), he copied all the paperwork, yesterday he got us a
price, basically $1350 here and another ~$150 in Florida, which is
way less expensive than than other places we talked to. Do we
have to wash the vehicles... no... do we have to remove the gas...
no... can we leave all our stuff in the car... si! No
problema! How that is possible, I don't know. And that's
for both car and bike. What it tells me is that everyone
else who ships overland vehicles is paying way too much, or the
vehicles will end up on the bottom of the ocean somewhere because
they are putting them in a canoe... We'll see what happens.
We'll be dropping the vehicles off at the port on his cue, somehow
get a ride back to town (public transportation is shut down but I'm
hopping that cabs can take a fare for people preparing to leave the
country). We fly out on Friday the 10th, and the vehicles
arrive between the 11th and 15th. We reserved a place in Miami
until the 15th. Get some beach time while we're waiting!
Beyond that... there is no plan. Only thing for sure is that
honey will be flying to Europe to visit her parents, and I will be
seeing family in Colorado and Illinois. Haven't seen one of my
daughters and family back in Illinois for over a year, the other for
7 months (need to catch up with the grandkids!).
I had a big wall map that I used to plan out the general route
around the world. Left that at my daughters house. They
put it up on my grandson's wall, so he's all dreaming, and we had a
phone conversation, about how he's going to travel to the Amazon
when he gets older. Hopefully the borders are open by the time
he's old enough to travel!... in about 15 years.
7/5/2020
Not sure what I'll do when I get back to the United States.
It's not much different in terms of the traveling aspect.
Sure, I'm going to see Missy and Rachel, and my sisters, my
father. But, I wouldn't want to stay and make myself a
nuisance anywhere. And what am I going to do 24 hours a
day? I can continue to travel around the US all summer, but
states are actually making it mandatory that people who come from
certain states quarantine for 14 days, Chicago being one of them,
but of course making stupid decrees is one thing, enforcing them is
different. Basically all the hotels, airports, and
AirB&B's can do is advise you. Hopefully they wont snitch
on you... Sad state of affairs, that we have to be worried about our
neighbors snitching on us. Good reason to keep your social
distance and not tell people anything, because you don't know who's
going to blow the whistle on you. I read that Tennessee (or
Kentucky, can't remember which) is not declaring anything other than
requiring personal responsibility. That's the way it should
be. It could get worse before it's over, in which case the
only difference between there and here is that the US is more
expensive, and I'd feel more comfortable breaking the quarantine
laws in the US than here. I do not want to end up in a
Honduran jail!
I'd really like to do the aquaponics thing, but to do that I need my
own place. Which isn't an entirely bad idea. Interests
rates are very low, so you can get a reasonably priced house for a
smaller payment than most rents. But I'm not quite ready to
give up on the world travel idea, so what do I do if borders open up
and I want to take off again? I could rent the house, but
letting someone else destroy your property while you're away doesn't
sound like a good idea. It could work if Missy and her family
would be willing to live in the house. The problem is agreeing
where, because they need to be close to a community, and I (we;
Honey and I) want peace and quite somewhere in the mountains.
Plus there's the problem of the dogs... I like animals, they like
me, but I don't want their hair all over the house and my
clothes. Also, if they are in and out of the house, especially
in a farm area, they will be tracking dirt everywhere, so you can
never take your shoes off, so the place just gets dirtier, the dirt
and sand get ground into the floor, the floor gets destroyed, etc..
But they were not up for the idea of segregating common areas no-dog
zones... Missy also pointed out that they just have small
creatures that destroy... meaning the kids too. Which is
true. So, if I'm going to live with them I have to resolve
myself to the house getting destroyed, probably way sooner than it
would if I were just living in it. Seems like a petty
reason not to share a house with family, but sitting on a couch and
getting up full of dog hair which has to be picked out of the
clothes one hair at a time because it sticks it's self in, and
having to do it every day so you're not covered in dog hair, gets
really old really fast. And I don't want to spend my time or money
fixing stuff that someone else destroyed, just to keep my living
area clean and orderly.
It doesn't seem that Honey will be continuing this journey with me,
at least not driving every mile. It's not here thing...
driving is a necessary evil... There are people who like driving and
there are those that don't. She said she'd come and meet me in
different places along the journey, and she could stay home and take
care of the place. Not sure that's a good idea either.
If it was close to town or family than maybe, but if our house were
somewhere in the mountains, being alone in a big house is not
ideal. If she were running an AirB&B I guess people coming
through could be good or bad, good in that she wouldn't be alone,
bad in that she may have to deal with shady characters on her
own. Unlikely but possible.
It's all just an anchor. Like I've said, anything you own, owns you,
and in this case owning a house and starting the aquaponics is a
major tie-down for years. But what is it about roaming, seeing
the world, that's so attractive? I don't know, I guess the
"eye never has enough of seeing and the hear never has enough of
hearing". I thought that seeing the world through my eyes
would help the world view, seeing what goes on from another
perspective. Just by observing we change what is
observed. Is that a good reason to not put down roots?
There's the whole aspect of self sufficiency. Things will only
get worse as the population gains nearly 20% in the next 30
years. Being dependent on the system, the structure, seems
like a recipe for enslavement, to anyone who controls the supply of
good and services. So, is that what we do? All become self
sufficient, and forget about everyone else. We may solve our
personal problems, but that's not how the world problems get
solved. That requires everyone to be part of the system, fix
it from the inside. Of course, I don't have to solve the
world's problems, I can do what I want. I'm not obligated to
do anything, just worry about my sphere, do the best I can there.
Back to the trip. Honey is right in that the trip so far has
been a lot of driving and staying in rooms, whether hotel or peoples
homes. Yes, we've done some recreation things, met some
people, but we're never really part of the community. We don't
eat their food, which is also true in the US, we make our own,
because it's all junk. We can't even carry on a full
conversation. Honey does better than me. So what is the
point? There's also the whole aspect of fighting against the
wind, going in a direction that is difficult, and pushing regardless
of whether it's good for me or not. Certainly, motorcycles
could be said to fit in that group. Most of the pains I have
in my body are because of the motorcycle. I'm sure at least
some aspect of my back is due to the motorcycle riding, certainly my
broken knee, broken shoulder blade, messed up shoulders, maybe even
my neck, are due to the motorcycle. So, why do I continue to
do it? Because I liked it from day one, and I still like
it. Because the pleasure it gives me outweighs the pain.
The alternative lifestyle, I've kind of tried already. I've
owned multiple houses and resolved I would never own another one
again. The work is just pointless. I guess that's the
difference now, that aquaponics gives a reason to own a place; to
grow your own food in a world where it's difficult or expensive to
get good food
Honey is a destination vacation person, I'm an adventure
person. Those are two totally different approaches. She does
like to explore an area when we get somewhere. I don't really care
that much about the destination, other than riding to it. It's
the journey, not the destination. What makes traveling the world
exciting is that the world is big and everything is far away. If you
get on a plane then everything is right there... within a few hours
away. That has it's place, but no matter where I am, even if
in a car, I'm thinking about what a nice road and how nice it would
be on the motorcycle. Destinations get old; you can only climb
the same mountain so many times, go to the beach so many times, but
the roads are endless, and no two are the same. You either get
it or you don't.
But, living in the Tennessee mountains area would definitely be nice
for riding. I may not be exploring the world, but it's a
riders paradise in a way. Twisty roads everywhere. Can I
have my cake and eat it too?
7/8/2020
We were suppose to deliver the vehicles to the port yesterday, but
the guy our guy knows is not liked by the shipping company, so he
has to find another guy. He said this morning that it is 100%
that we will be on that plane Friday. The other problem was
that he was told that the vehicles have to ship before we can get
our passport stamped, so he had to work through that issue
also. He spent hours at the port yesterday, but he says it's
all good. Ok, then. This is so frustrating. I don't want
to stop this trip, but I don't want to be here for month or years
either, unless they are going to make me a citizen and I can buy a
house here! But the fact that I don't want to leave, yet they
make even leaving so difficult, it's just ridiculous.
The degree of legalism in the world, just following the letter of
the law, regardless of how stupid it is, without any consideration
for a persons individual needs, is just astounding. We have to
treat everyone equally, we can't have people making on the spot
decisions, can't have them think on the job!
My daughters family is changing their mind about what they want to
do. High probability now they will move to Florida to be close
to Heath's mom. She's 71 and who knows how many years she's
got left, so probably a good plan for them. Not so much for
me. Yeah, wouldn't mind wintering it in Florida, but long
term, if I have to be stuck somewhere, not sure Florida is the
place. Maybe I should just look at it like ongoing
travel. Continue to stay in AirB&B's in the US. Find
a nice place in the South, and just bide the time until the world
opens up, or I get tired of waiting, and then find a place where I
want to be. There really is no rush here. Yeah, it will
be a bit more expensive to live traveling the US, but in the summer
I can camp to make up for some of that.
Winter will come before we know it... It's mid July. We have
August and September, and motorcycle riding in the north is coming
to an end. So, go to CO as fast as possible from Florida, get
rid of the extra stuff I have at my daughters, or let them take what
they can to Florida, or store it with Honey's stuff. Spend
some time with Missy and family, then head West into Washington and
then back through Glacier National Park, then go to IL. Stay
there until it starts getting cooler, and start making my way
South. By then Honey will be back from Europe and we'll see
what happens.
The other option is get the heavy springs put on the car, and just
keep towing the motorcycle. But what's the point, I'll just be
burning through front tires and be stuck within a half days ride of
the distance from the car, and be paying for insurance and upkeep.
Geeeesss... just doesn't stop. Oscar Orlando just told us we
need to fill out some kind of Power of Attorney for the Florida
agent, so they can act on our behalf as it regards the vehicles in
Florida. The bureaucracy is just unbelievable. We're
bring US cars back into the US and we have to do paperwork like
we're importing some foreign vehicle.
What did I expect? Did I expect it to be easy? Well, I
didn't expect it to be stupid, and that's what it is. The dept
to which humanity has buried itself in paperwork and red tape is
unbelievable. We should put that much effort into solving the
world's problem.
It's 1:00 and we're still not delivering the cars. But he says
it's 100% guaranteed we will be on that flight.
7/9/2020
Yesterday Oscar sent an email to the manager of the port, pleading
our case. He embellished a bit by saying that we're out of
resources, and that his family (he's actually the uncle of the
hosts) has taken us in. But maybe that's what's necessary in
this country to get any action. Basically, he didn't say it,
but from the letter it seems that our vehicles are not going on the
11th as planned, he's asking if they can be put in some warehouse to
await the shipping while we take the plane home. I think that
they will have to wait until the next ship date which is the 18th,
so then, assuming they let us on the plane on the 10th, we will have
to stay in Florida for two weeks waiting for them.
Talk about frustration. I just can't think any more. Every
thought is some fantasy about how it will go wrong, the arguments at
the airport to let us on the plane, interrogations by security...
the mind just running amuck. We have this illusion of control,
of living in a predictable world. But I guess it is.
What is unpredictable about this situation. Yes, the whole
quarantine, it's duration, and the degree to which fear is driving
decisions that effect everyone... that is unpredictable, because
fear is irrational, and actions are driven by how fearful the
individual is. What's predictable is that people are hiding
behind made up rules, and it's their job to enforce those rules...
no matter how much hardship it may cause someone. Bureaucracy
is what's blind.
I just laid in bed looking at the ceiling, and tears started to form
in my eyes. Why? I don't know. This isn't life or
death. I haven't been kidnapped. I'm not a homeless
refugee, fleeing oppression and death. But that's what it made
me think of. Can I even imagine what it would be like to be
persecuted in your own country to the point where your family is
being killed and you have to flee for your life, as is the reality
for so many people in Central and South America right now. No,
I can't imagine. No one can imagine unless you've been through
it. And that's why government can't help the people, because
people in government have no clue what it feels like to be forced
into homelessness and to fear for your life.
The similarity here is that I have absolutely no control over the
situation. It is completely out of my hands. I am helpless. I
have to rely on a man I barely know, and his efforts to convince the
bureaucracy that we deserve special consideration. And there's
no rule that says we do, so it relies on the goodness of some person
in the chain to see the truth, and to wave aside the rules, to make
a hole in the impenetrable paper wall, long enough to find a
solution and help us.
Realistically, what can happen. We are not allowed on the
flights, the vehicles ship on another date, we reschedule the flight
to go in August (because that's when the next one is right
now). We are allowed on the flight, the vehicles go later, and
we have to wait in Florida longer. Or, as it should be, we are
allowed to leave the cars, they ship next week, we go on the flight,
and just have to wait longer in Florida. Are there a dozen
ways this thing can go wrong, yeah I guess there are. Ah well,
can't say it's not an adventure, just not the one I bargained
for.
I can't do anything about it. If it doesn't look like it's
going good, I'm going to call the embassy and see if they can pull
any strings. Nothing I can do beyond that. The problem
is you set your mind to something, and there's no way you can make
it happen. There is a death, a grieving process that goes on
then, a letting go.
7/11/2020
The last dawn in Honduras, for now, maybe for ever. Not sure I'll
pass this way again.
So, June 10th I was up at 4:00 am, because we had to be by Oscar
Orlando's office, our logistics guy, at 6:00. It was going to be a
miracle morning. Load up the bike and car on a tow truck at 6:00, to
be taken to a warehouse to await the next boat, which unfortunately
is the 18th, not the 11th as we had originally hoped. So, we'll be
waiting for the vehicles in Florida until the 23rd or so.
Oscar, or Orlando as he likes to call himself, then personally drove
us to the Puerto Cortes, an hour away, to the aduana, to see what
was needed to get our passports cleared of the vehicles. Part of the
problem is that the vehicles are supposed to leave the country
first, you then get your passport stamped, and your clear. Wasn't
going to happen with us. We got there, waited for a while, he talked
to some lady through a half opened door... and nothing... basically
the translation was that they are all sitting in a meeting, but
there's no problem leaving the country because of the COVID thing,
have a nice day... Ok then, so then he drove us to the airport an
hour and a half back and waited outside until we told him we were
cleared. And we were... they didn't ask a single question about the
vehicles. Of course I'll probably get fined $1000 the next time I
try to enter Honduras!...
At the airport, everyone was wearing their masks and being good
citizens. Some people were literally in full body suits, with masks,
glasses, and shields. Getting into the plane we had the mandatory 6
ft spacing marked off on the ground with big yellow stickers..
"stand here"... then you get in the plane and it's the usual
madhouse trying to get everyone seated, and it was a pretty full
plane... really.. you're going to keep me six feet apart, and then
sit me down rubbing elbows? Before the flight they sent out emails
if anyone had flexible traveling plans and was willing to bid, to be
payed, on getting a later flight. Later flight? There was no later
flight, until August 2nd... I doubt they had any takers on that
offer. There had been other flights on the schedule, but they were
all gone.. cancelled, according to the US Embassy.
Our flight took off late and arrived late, then we had to wait
because apparently Airforce 1 was moving about the airport... Guess
Trump was visiting his Florida digs...
Before we know it, we're in the back of a Lyft zooming along the
interstate toward our Miami destination, so we're close to the port.
As I was sitting in the back of the car (our driver was from
Venezuela, spoke very little English) looking out the window, I felt
like Neo, in the Matrix, when he first reentered the Matrix after
getting out... I know this place; the clean smooth streets, quickly
flowing organized traffic, shiny building, like landing in some
futuristic Utopian city... Yes, but it has it's price.
Our host in Miami was a nice enough lady, but she speaks broken
English, and asked me to speak English slower... huh, interesting
transition... guess of all the places we could have landed in the
US, Miami is about as close to being in Latin America without being
in Latin America, so back to speaking Spanish for a few more days...
the irony.
Today we took a walk down to the beach, a bit cloudy, but the water
was like a bathtub. It felt good. February was the last time we had
a good swim in the Ocean. They even brought out the blue carpet for
us.
Don't know exactly what the next chapter will be, or when the RTW
will continue, if it does at all, will the world ever be back to
some normalcy to allow it? Don't know, but it's going to be
interesting.
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200316_04.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200316_05.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200316_03.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200316_06.jpg "Click this image to show the
full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200316_07.jpg "Click this image to show the
full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200316_08.jpg "Click this image to show the
full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200316_10.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200316_09.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200317_01.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200317_02.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200317_03.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200317_04.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200317_05.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200319_03.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200319_01.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200319_04.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](http://www.vesware.com/ATW/2020_03/20200319_05.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](2020_06/20200608_01.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](2020_06/20200608_02.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](2020_06/20200608_03.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](2020_06/20200608_04.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](2020_06/20200608_05.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](2020_06/20200608_06.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](2020_06/20200609_01.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](2020_06/20200609_02.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](2020_06/20200609_03.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](2020_06/20200609_04.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
![[IMG]](2020_06/20200609_05.jpg "Click this image to show the full-size version.")
It's not just that we're
not in Kansas any more Toto... Kansas done blowed away...
