Day Fifty Seven - Inactivity

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Stay tuned for stories of excessive wine drinking, beautiful cliffsides, sleepness nights in train stations, and partying with Scots in Amsterdam.

Day Forty Five – Touts and Working Girls

An aspect of travel that one must inevitably face is the existence of touts. For any readers that aren't familiar with the term a tout is basically anyone trying to sell you something, whether the item being peddled is a cheap trinket or some kind of service. Most touts are extremely devious. Often times they are desperate to earn money and will do almost anything in their power to achieve that goal. A strong will is required in situations in which one is confronted by skilled touts. The pressure they apply can be very great, that is part of their tactic to get a person to part with their money. But this pressure normally is displayed in a friendly way, touts always try to appear to be your best friend. One can easily find touts at any major tourist destination, such as the Roman Colosseum or the Duomo in Milan.

It is at the Duomo that I had my first run in with touts. I normally steer clear of them but this guy reeled me in like a pro. I was coming out of the train station via the stairway right into the square in front of the Duomo, Italy's oldest cathedral. This guy started trying to talk to me and by my friendly nature I listened for a second or two before realizing he was trying to get some money out of me. He had a handful of colorful string that he was “giving” to people as a bracelet.

“No thanks, I don't want to buy any,” I told him as I started to walk away.
“No no no sir, free! They are free!” the tout yelled back at me.

After hearing this I paused. Free? Hey, I love free! I thought to myself. This is where I made the mistake. He got me, hook line and sinker. So I turned around and told him I'd take one. He proceeded to tie one of the strings around my wrist, all the while asking me questions to make him seem like my friend.

“Where are you from? Do you have a girlfriend? This string will give you great luck with the ladies!” were the lines he was using on me while finishing up his knot.

Once he completed tying my bracelet he then asked for a “donation.” Donation, sure, I understand now. Free bracelet with an expected donation. I figured, Well I got this bracelet on now, might as well give him something. I pulled out some change. Once he saw the few Euro coins and some Euro cents in my hand he started almost commanding to me to give it all to him.

“Just give me all.”
“Here, take this Euro and some change, that's all I want to give,” I replied.
“No, just give me everything you have. Come on man, it's for Africa!” he informed me (it may help to mention that he was of obvious South African origin by the sound of his accent).
“I don't know, just take what I gave you.”
“Come on, just give it to me!”

So to get the guy off my back I just gave him my full pocket of change. It wasn't that much, maybe a little over two and a half Euros. But to pay that price for a simple piece of colorful string? Definite ripoff and I was the sucker. Realizing my moment of weakness I made a point to not let that sort of thing happen again. In front of the Duomo there was a horde of touts, many with the string bit, one guy had bird seed for taking pictures with pigeons, and others were selling worthless junk for kids. It was tout paradise.

The guy with the bird seed walked up to me and started attracting the pigeons. With my recent lesson still fresh in my mind I preempted him.

“No thanks, I don't want whatever you are selling.”
“Free, free, no money!”

So, again, I like free. But this time I was not going to cave in and pay. He lifted my hand, without me expressing that I wanted him to, and put some seed in my palm. Five or six pigeons immediately landed on my arm and started feasting. The only thought in my head was, I hope these damn birds don't shit on me. He then asked for my camera so that he could take a picture. I let him know that I'm capable of taking my own picture and proceeded to do so. After taking a lovely photograph I dropped the remaining seed to get those flying rats off of me and that's when the tout put his hand out for some money.

“Hey you said it was free!”
“Just give me a little. One Euro, just one.”
“No I told you I didn't want to pay. I am not paying.”

His face turned slightly angry and his tone changed considerably.

“Give me something! Just one Euro.”
“No, nothing. I'm sorry.”

And I walked away. I figured if he says free then he can't fault me for not paying. One more encounter with a tout and I swore off of them for good. I met my second bracelet pusher. He had the exact lines as the first guy. I realized maybe that is all the English they know. He started to tie the bracelet and I told him I wouldn't pay a cent. He said free. Okay, I know this routine. Once he got to the part of the script where the “donation” is given I said sorry and walked away. He tried to yell something at me but I wasn't paying attention. I realize I can't push my luck with these types, I don't know what may happen if you piss them off. So from now on I'm staying away from these guys for good. I'm not even going to listen to what they have to say because it is always just a ploy to lighten my pockets.

There was another brief experience that taught me an equally valuable lesson. It was on the subway in Milan. I was tired from hauling my pack around all day so I was carrying it with one hand while my other hand was holding onto a rail for stability. This train was packed, it must have been rush hour. I noticed a woman peering at my pack with an unusual interest. She then glanced up to my hand on the rail. I noticed both of these actions but didn't think much of either. She then got really close to me. Uncomfortably close. Yet this train was full of people so I figured she must have been shifted around by someone else. But then I felt a tug on my pocket. Perhaps just someone's bag getting caught on my pocket, I thought. I shfted my feet a bit to move away from whatever was pulling on my pants. I felt the sensation again. Okay, this is getting weird. I shift once again. And a third time I feel something. Definitely too much coincidence. I look at the woman and notice that her bag is covering her free hand, her other hand is holding onto the rail like everyone else. Suddenly it all clicked. I moved a few steps away from her and kept my eye on her like a hawk. She moved around the train to a spot far away from me, all the while never looking at me straight on.

I'm a little sad that I didn't confront her in the act but maybe it's better that way. No point really in giving her grief, it won't stop her from doing it to someone else. But now I know to be much more careful on trains or in any crowded area. Luckily for me this lesson came at no cost, my pocket was empty so there was nothing there to pick.

These are the kinds of lessons that one is warned about before traveling. Yet even with the knowledge that there are people out there that are looking to take advantage of me it somehow doesn't sink in until it really happens. I can read about it a hundred times but it isn't until I'm actually part of the story that it sinks in.

But all is not doom and gloom here in Italy. These are two isolated incidents that sound much worse than they really were. I'm glad to have left Milan, it wasn't my kind of town. I spent two nights there and really there was only enough to see to fill one day. I'm not the type attracted to Prada, Louis Voutton, or Armani so Milan didn't have much value to me. I feel good taking it easy here in Rome and it's great to have actual sights to see, and Rome sure has a lot. It's a good feeling to know that I'm going to spend almost a week here. A nice pause in my travel pace to get some much needed rest.

Since leaving Basel I ventured to Locarno, a Swiss city in the south but I wouldn't have known it from the people there. Locarno is basically Italy, which makes sense considering it's only a ten minute walk from the Italian border. To get to Locarno I took a beautiful train ride across all of Switzerland. I have come to realize that I really enjoy travel by train. It's speed is great when compared with other forms of land travel but it's more comfortable due to the extra space in the train cars. Traveling by land is so much nicer because of everything that one can see compared to flight's never ending sea of white. The train went through the Swiss Alps which was stunning, especially on the southern side because the weather cleared up considerably. It was warm enough to wear a t-shirt yet there was still snow on the mountains.

After spending a night in Locarno with my fantastic CS host Remo I left for Milan on my way to Rome. So that brings everyone up to date on the happenings up to this point. Tomorrow Ezra arrives! I will be meeting him at the train station, Roma Termini, around 9 AM and we will have to figure out what we are going to do. There aren't any plans formulated yet but it looks like we will need to decide if we want to get a good view of Italy for a whole three weeks or try to see some of Italy and some of Germany, and hopefully a tiny taste of Amsterdam. Either way, it will be a blast as long as Ezra is around.

Time to go eat my free pasta dinner! Ciao ciao.

PS. No photos yet. I have taken a ton but my internet connection isn't reliable enough to upload them. Keep an eye out for a few days from now and you will see some really beautiful stuff.

Day Thirty Nine - Travel Musings

Being on the road constantly is an interesting way to live. I make friends much more quickly than I normally would at home. This is honestly out of neccesity. I'm never in one location for all that long which causes my relationships to grow at a faster pace than I am accusstomed to in a life that is static. I must trust people more than I ever have in my life. This is not a problem at all, just a fact that I have accepted and embraced in order to enrich my experiences abroad. Without the ability to make friends quickly and the trust that is required for that to happen my time on my Odyssey would be much less fulfilling and very much so lonely.

There is no better example of this than my couchsurfing experiences so far. It is difficult to predict what will happen when first walking into a stranger's home but what follows has been, and will probably always be, fantastic. I have skanked (a dance, it's not as dirty as it sounds) in a ska club with Brits, drank absinthe with a man in Brussels, learned about pizza box conspiracies from an American expat, went bar hopping until 7 AM with two Belgian gents, and discussed philosophy with the Swiss. A fairly good list I must say. And I'm just getting started! It has been over a month since I have stayed in a hostel, all my time has been spent couchsurfing. The experiences had when in the company of fellow couchsurfers are the kind that one cannot find when in hostels. It's the local experience, sometimes the bizarre experience. But the fact is that couchsurfing is always an experience. The time I spend with these people, at their home, out on the town, or seeing the local sights, is time that I will remember. Even days where I accomplish nothing but getting to know a new person better are days that I cherish.

Sure, seeing one of a kind sights are great. There is a part of me that wants to travel the world to lay my own eyes on Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, and the Roman Colliseum. But I am learning that my main motivation for travel is to learn. Learn the amazingly varied ways that people live, learn their language, learn their customs, learn what they like, learn what they don't like, and learn what they know about my culture, if anything. This knowledge feels so much more valuable to me than having the ability to say, "Yeah, I've seen [insert tourist attraction here]."

It is because of this realization of what I am truly looking for that drives me to venture off the beaten path. I want to explore, go to a land that doesn't see many outsiders. Unfortunately for me, this can be somewhat difficult in Europe. This is a part of the world that is well traveled. But I will always be keeping my eyes and ears open for an opportunity. I will be looking to have an experience that I have never had. My quest is to challenge myself to take a risk and leave the world of comfort behind me. Sometimes the risk will not pay off and I will have unsavory days and nights. But for the bad it only takes one amazing time to make it all worth it. And when that day comes you can bet I will have a smile on my face.

Day Thirty Seven - TRAGEDY!

So I just might have to kill myself. Really. No, not really. I may have damaged my iPod beyond all hope today when I went cycling in the rain. Apparently my waterproof jacket from REI is not actually waterproof. Maybe the jacket never was supposed to be waterproof but I was under the impression that anything covered by it would be safe.

I had my iPod in a pocket of the jacket, not even listening to it. I brought just in case I wanted to but never felt like it. When I got home I pulled it out and was surprised to see it quite damp. Weird, this jacket is supposed to keep everything dry, I thought. It didn't look that wet so I wiped it off and turned it on to test it out. Big mistake. After some research on the interwebs I discovered that the worst action to take when suspecting iPod damage from water is to turn it on. Of course, that is what most people naturally do to see if the device survived the torrent. I didn't even suspect that my iPod was damaged, it didn't look that wet.

The best course of action to take will be to let it sit without using it and pray to Steve Jobs that it will live to make me dance another day. The odd aspect of the situation though is that it plays music just fine. I can browse through all my artists and play anything on there. But Smitty, the name I christened my iPod with when I got it, thinks that he is constantly plugged in and being charged, when in reality he is just laying on the floor not connected to anything. He also will not do anything when connected to my computer. Hopefully that symptom will go away after a day or so. Or else I don't know what I'm going to do without any music.

I suppose it's not the end of the world. My trip will continue, honestly not changing much. It will just be devoid of music. A terrible fate indeed, a prospect which saddens me immensely. I could buy a new iPod, at great cost, and use my netbook to put music on it. That would be a solution in a way but not something that I want to do. I do not want to spend money that should be for my trip to buy a replacement iPod. Ah, life is cruel. For now, I'm going to wait it out. Your prayers for Smitty's speedy and complete recovery would be very much appreciated.

Day Thirty Six - Still Alive.

As the title suggests, I'm still alive. I just haven't had much internet access lately. I definitely have stories to tell and experiences to share but for now I'm going to explore Basel. It's my first day in Switzerland and I wish not to spend it on my netbook. I'll update again later tonight probably.

I want to leave you with this amazing song. Anyone who plays Rock Band or Portal will know what I'm about to show you. For the rest, sit back and be amazed. Lyrics are under the video if you wish to sing along, as you definitely should!



This was a triumph.
I'm making a note here:
HUGE SUCCESS.
It's hard to overstate
my satisfaction.
Aperture Science
We do what we must
because we can.
For the good of all of us.
Except the ones who are dead.
But there's no sense crying
over every mistake.
You just keep on trying
till you run out of cake.
And the Science gets done.
And you make a neat gun.
For the people who are
still alive.


I'm not even angry.
I'm being so sincere right now.
Even though you broke my heart.
And killed me.
And tore me to pieces.
And threw every piece into a fire.
As they burned it hurt because
I was so happy for you!
Now these points of data
make a beautiful line.
And we're out of beta.
We're releasing on time.
So I'm GLaD. I got burned.
Think of all the things we learned
for the people who are
still alive.

Go ahead and leave me.
I think i prefer to stay inside.
maybe you'll find someone else
to help you.
maybe Black Mesa...
THAT WAS A JOKE, HA HA, FAT CHANCE.
Anyway this cake is great.
It's so delicious and moist
look at me still talking when theres science to do
when i look out there
it makes me glad I'm not you
i've experiments to run
there is research to be done
on the people who are
still alive.


and believe me I am still alive
I'm doing science and I'm still alive
i feel fantastic and I'm still alive
while your dying ill be still alive
and when your dead i will be still alive
still alive
still alive

Day Thirty One - Stranger in a Strange Land

Wow, what a difference language makes! I'm writing here from Brussels, Belgium and am feeling quite inadequate. Being alone in a country that speaks a language other than the only one I know is a very daunting experience. This is my first day away from English so I suppose I just haven't gotten accustomed to the situation. I can't even read my map! My CS host Steven was kind enough to outfit me with his map of Brussels but it's in French so reading the names of the places I'm going is sort of hard. The street names are of course all the same language as on the map so at least that part is easy enough.

I expected it would be difficult at times but it has just been a shock to me today. Although in reality there are probably many people around that speak at least passable English. But even knowing that, when I see all the signs, billboards, and even my map, that are in French or Dutch makes me feel like I am in way over my head. I don't know a lick of either of those languages. Not to mention it does make reading food labels to make sure they are vegan very difficult. Lucky for me there are some labels that have many languages on them and I just have to keep searching until I find the labels that have an English portion. That makes my life that much harder, not only do I need to find vegan food but I have to find vegan food that is in English. Great, just what I wanted to have to deal with.

Despite my negative tone so far, I am happy to be here in Brussels. Yes, it's different. Yes, it's difficult. But that's all part of the experience. I'm very glad to be on the move again. London was fantastic, I really loved it, but I'm here to travel so travel I must. At first I was bummed about leaving my temporary home in Shepherd's Bush with my friends Rhea and Matthew but now being in Belgium has reignited the excitement of travel within me. Now if only I could figure out where the hell I was going...

I suppose being a stranger in a strange land will become second nature after a while. Plus I will probably pick up bits of language here and there. I already have the basic greetings and polite phrases memorized in French. It's great to be using them on a regular basis, it really inspires me to learn a new language. I've always thought that would be great to be multi-lingual; yet back in California the only other useful language is Spanish and if I didn't use a language on a regular basis I would forget it. People in Belgium usually know at least some of four different languages! French is mainly spoken here in Brussels and southern Belgium, Dutch is spoken mostly in northern Belgium, German is spoken near the German border, and many people also know some English. That's crazy to me.

For now I'm going to head back out into the concrete jungle and brave the elements to see some more sights. I can't stay cooped up in this apartment for too long. Wish me luck!

Vance the Lance.