1. The Travel Blogger
   Traveling the world full time.  Maintains an active blog along with a corresponding Facebook fan page and a twitter account.  Recurring topics on the blog include: the surprise friendliness of locals over their Western counterparts, reasons as to why you too can travel like me, and how to not get robbed abroad.  Eventually gets robbed in broad daylight in a very friendly city in Latin America.  Notifies everyone via every social media then writes a long blog post detailing the ordeal.
2. The Travel Photographer
   Buys the latest Canon SLR for $2000 along with $5000 lens.  Loves to travel to places where the aforementioned sum can pay a worker for several years of labor. Takes pictures of every single old town square, church, and dog shit on the sidewalks that he or she sees.  Thinks that not a single person on the Internet has seen that particular old town square, church or dog shit on the sidewalks before.  Sometimes runs it through a Photoshop filter which lightens the colors, or gives it a more “vintage” effect.  Usually ends up getting robbed in places like Peru, Ecuador or Brazil losing all the gear.
3. The Pickup Artist (PUA)
   Views seduction of women as a discrete series of steps that must be carefully executed in order to reach the final level: procreation.  Views the world in black and white consisting of alphas and betas.  Usually has a blog where he boasts how many “approaches” he did and discusses strategies to a successful “date 2” or “kiss close”.
   Compensates for extreme celibacy of earlier years by preaching being an “approach machine” or approaching every woman in sight – that is unless you want to be considered a lesser man (beta).  Sometimes takes a philosophical approach by debating the pros and cons of “direct” or “indirect” approach.
4. The Minimalist
   Believes that the absolute key to life’s happiness is the ability to store one’s possessions in a suitcase or a backpack.  Has a blog where he boasts how having less things and no permanent place of living is “liberating”.  Loves to post pictures of himself sitting on a mattress (real or air) while working on a Macbook Air in an empty room.
5. The Location Independent
   Considers himself a trailblazer because he/she has an online business and is able to travel the world while making money.  Constantly boasts what a great lifestyle this is and how everyone should be doing it.  Usually sells an E-Book on his site that details how you too can have this dream lifestyle.  Talks in buzzwords such as “passive income” or running a “muse”.  Has no attachment to a particular country or place but loves to keep moving around only to reinforce the inherent “freedom” that this lifestyle duly provides.
6. The Tim Ferriss Groupie
   Experienced a life-changing event after reading The Four Hour Workweek.  Can be found on Tim’s blog leaving comments such as ‘Awesome post Tim!’ or ‘Well played, Tim!’  Loves to jerk off to self-help money-making blogs all day long but is too cool to put in the sweat for his own business and be soul-crushed when, god forbid, it may take more than four hours per week.  Imagines himself on a Caribbean beach somewhere working on a laptop four or less hours per week while making thousands of dollars per month.  Wants to outsource his whole life but doesn’t know where to start.  Favorite buzzwords are “information diet” and “mini retirement.”
7. The Facebook Traveler
   Always carries a smartphone with him with an international data plan.  Views life is a series of Facebook “check-ins” after arriving to a new city or country.  Loves airport layovers because they give him a chance to checkin while en-route to another city.  Given the choice of making the check-in and making his flight, he would probably choose the former.  Would probably not travel if it weren’t for Facebook and the ability to show off in front of hundreds of your closest “friends”.
8. The Armchair Traveler
   Rarely, if ever, sets his foot outside his native city but knows perfectly what things are like in other countries thanks to mostly second-hand accounts such as the Internet, friends, social networking sites, media, etc.  Has a strong opinion of foreign lands and will not yield any argument to anyone — especially to those that have lived in places of question.  Favorite pastime is lecturing people who’ve lived in these places what it’s really like to live there and how dangerous they are.
9. The Vicarious Traveler
   Does not travel due to due lack of time, lack of passport or the most common condition: ghastly fear of the unknown.  Religiously reads every single travel blog on the Internet for clues on what other countries are like.  Favorite questions usually asked in the comments are: “Is it dangerous” or “What’s it like?”  Digs deeper with very important objective questions such as: What’s your favorite country?  Do you like Brazil or Italy better? Always affirms his desire to start travelling but never really makes it happen.

Related posts:

1. Why Computer Programmers Can’t Pickup Women
2. Is Latin America Really Dangerous?
3. The Beauty of Travel On Your Own Terms.

I admit I’m probably one of the biggest procrastinators out there.  I have a bunch of new projects on my plate that I know will make me plenty of money but I’m doing everything I can to avoid starting them.

However, with time, I realized that I was only procrastinating starting a project, the procrastination does not apply to working or finishing the project.  

Typically, the hardest part of getting things done is the initial part — getting over the initial friction — no matter how minuscule it can be.  After the initial hurdle your brain switches to work mode and each incremental work unit markedly decreases in effort.

Here’s some of the principles that work for me from starting a brand new project to finishing a never-ending one.

Put the major ideas in writing
I begin by writing down an outline of the major projects that need to be done in Google Docs.  Instead of just keeping a faint idea in your head, writing things down re-enforces you to mentally commit.

For instance, after some brainstorming I have a list of ten ideas that are worth perusing.
Every time I login to Google Docs (where I do all my writing), these projects are usually the first thing I see and so it’s hard to ignore them at or away from the computer.

Another important benefit is that even while I’m away from the computer, seeing those projects written down forces my subconscious to think about even while I’m doing completely unrelated things. 

Just make sure these are major projects that you know you must do.  Do not write down some wishy-washy ideas that you are not sure about.  If you’re uncertain about something you will be less likely to do it regardless if you write it down or not.

Start little by little
The important thing here is to start working on something and get over that initial hurdle.  
It can be as little as writing a rough outline of a spec document.  Maybe some rough sketches of that iPhone game you want to do.  Perhaps a rough draft, let’s say with 5 bullet points, of that information e-book you’ve been thinking of doing.

Every time I have an idea, I open Google Docs and write it down regardless what I’m doing at that time.  It can be a new idea or an addendum to something I was already doing. 

Keep adding those layers and over time you suddenly realize you have a complete spec for a project with all the details fleshed out.  

Work in small chunks interlaced with breaks
I typically work in small (30-60) minute chunks which I found greatly reinforces my focus on the task at hand.

For instance this blog post you’re reading now was spread over about five non-consecutive days.  In the meantime I was working on other things, but slowly and surely finished each task.

Unless I have a strict deadline (which is rare) for a specific project, I like to work in layers.  Some nights I feel extra creative and go on for few hours; other nights I’m tired and would rather pass out.

After each task, it’s important to take a break.  Get up and walk around the room.  Make tea.  Go for a run or a walk.  Run a couple of errands.

Physically doing something “resets” your brain and makes it easier to refocus on the task at a later time.  It’s also healthier than sitting in your chair all day.

Make consistent progress daily
Before the end of the day, I like to go over the all the progress and write it down. 

For instance, If I was working on a book I’d write down the total word count at the end of the every day. 

This serves two important purposes.  First, this forces me to make some progress during the day regardless of how minor it can be.  It’s encouraging to see the word count go up everyday.  Secondly, and most importantly, it gives me a realistic view on how long something took to finish.

Humans usually underestimate how long something will take.  I have a project that I’ve recently finished.  Once I started tracking it, I realized that it took me about two weeks from start to finish while initially thinking it’ll only take me five days.  Now, armed with this information I know that I would need two weeks full time to finish a project with similar complexity.  If I have a bunch of things on my plate, I might hire someone do it for me and pay them accordingly.

Finish It
I don’t care if you religiously apply every one of those principles, you still have to actually finish the damn thing.

First, realize that it can never be perfect.  Realize what your notion of version 1.0 would be and accept its limitations. 

Set a specific date in the future that should give you enough buffer time to finish and aim for that date. 

Since I love to travel, I might book a weekend trip somewhere few weeks in advance thus forcing me to finish the project beforehand. The trip becomes my reward for giving my 200% and getting the thing out the door.  It won’t be much fun being somewhere exotic but feeling guilty of not being done with something and knowing it’ll be waiting for you when you get back, now would it?

Eliminate wasteful activities
I won’t talk much about completely eliminating time wasting activities such as mindless surfing, Facebook, Twitter, etc, since that’s majorly a personal choice.  Personally I have no problem eliminating them if I consider them to be an obstruction to my goals.  On the other hand, if you’re hopelessly addicted and find yourself refreshing the news feed every minute, then maybe it’s time you make a pact with yourself.  One example would be that you cannot use Facebook at least until you reach an important milestone of your project. 

Regardless of which one these (or all) points you’ll find useful to implement, the bottom line is that action is procrastination’s worst enemy, so the sooner you make that first step — no matter how small it maybe — the sooner you can turn that worthless idea on paper into a finished, polished money-making product

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‘The world is run by one million evil men, ten million stupid men, and a hundred million cowards,’ Abdul Ghani pronounced in his best Oxford English accent, licking the sweet honey cake from his short, thick fingers. ‘The evil men are the power–the rich men, and the politicians, and the fanatics of religion–whose decisions rule the world, and set it on its course of greed and destruction.’

‘There are only one million of them, the truly evil men, in the whole world. The very rich and the very powerful, whose decisions really count–they only number one million. The stupid men, who number ten million, are the soldiers and policemen who enforce the rule of the evil men. They are the standing armies of twelve key countries, and the police forces of those and twenty more. In total, there are only ten million of them with any real power or consequence. They are often brave, I’m sure, but they are stupid, too, because they give their lives for governments and causes that use their flesh and blood as mere chess pieces. Those governments always betray them or let them down or abandon them, in the long run. Nations neglect no men more shamefully than the heroes of their wars.’

‘And the hundred million cowards,’ Abdul Ghani continued, pinching the handle of the teacup between his plump fingers, ‘they are the bureaucrats and paper shufflers and pen-pushers who permit the rule of the evil men, and look the other way. They are the head of this department, and the secretary of that committee, and the president of the other association. They are managers, and officials, and mayors, and officers of the court. They always defend themselves by saying that they are just following orders, or just doing their job, and it’s nothing personal, and if they don’t do it, someone else surely will. They are the hundred million cowards who know what is going on, but say nothing, while they sign the paper that puts one man before a firing squad, or condemns one million men to the slower death of a famine.’

‘So, that’s it,’ he concluded. ‘The world is run by one million evil men, ten million stupid men, and a hundred million cowards. The rest of us, all six billion of us, do pretty much what we are told!’

‘This formula–the one million, the ten million, the hundred million–this is the real truth of all politics. Marx was wrong. It is not a question of classes, you see, because all the classes are in the hands of this tiny few. This set of numbers is the cause of empire and rebellion. This is the formula that has generated our civilizations for the last ten thousand years. This built the pyramids. This launched your Crusades. This put the world at war, and this formula has the power to impose the peace.’

One of my favorite quotes from Shantaram, and in general a good summary of how things really function in this world.

No related posts.

Shantaram

Verdict:  strong recommendation

Shantaram is about an Australian guy, Lin, who escapes prison in his homeland and on his way to Germany, makes a stopover in India where he ends up spending ten years of his life.
In that timeframe, Lin achieves more than many of us do in their lifetimes.

He works at a Mumbai slums as a doctor tending to the poor and helpless.  He joins the Indian mafia to deal with drug and weapon smuggling.  Later on he befriends one of the major figures in India’s underworld, a smart and shrewd Afghani and goes to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets with the rest of the mujahideen.  Not bad for a complete outsider in a tight Indian culture.

While, the almost 1000-page book was an absolute page turner, I have to admit that many passages were just so on the extreme that made you wonder if what you’re reading actually happened or a figment of Lin’s wild imagination.

Nevertheless, it’s an amazing book of someone that actually lived life instead of sleepwalking through it.

“It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured…”

“Happiness is a myth, which was invented to make us buy things.”

“The size of our happiness is inversely proportional to the size of our house.”

“The biggest problem with corruption as a form of government, is that it works so well.”

“You can never tell what people have inside them, until you start taking it away”

Steve Jobs (Biography)

Verdict: recommended

I don’t read biographies often (in fact I don’t remember the last biography I read) but after reading this one, I think that will change. It doesn’t really matter whether you have a Mac or a PC, an Apple fanboy or a hater, you should still give respect where it’s due and recognize Steve’s accomplishments.

Steve Jobs is an interesting insight into Steve’s life from the time he was put up for a closed adoption by his biological parents to his death after long battle from cancer.

Steve was a truly emotional man.  One moment he was fully ecstatic and calling something, “insanely great” while the next second he was angry or even crying and calling something a “piece of shit”.

Despite being a bit less than 600 pages, the book is broken up in short series focusing on a certain part of Steve’s life from the iMac to the iPad.  It was written well and was a fast and engaging read.

“My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.”

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.”

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

How to Break a Terrorist

Verdict: recommended

In many ways, the Second Iraq War really only began after it was invaded by American troops.  Thanks to a power vacuum, there was sporadic guerrilla activity, and even al-Queda was flourishing after their arch-nemesis, Saddam Hussein, was removed from power.  It was no longer a physical war characterized by tanks and airplanes, but a more intelligence gathering approach to find and flush out the insurgents and their armies of suicide bombers.

While the more cruel interrogation techniques (waterboarding, Abu Ghraib scandal, etc) are highly publicized, few know that it was mostly normal conversations, albeit with a psychological twist, with the prisoners that yielded real results such as the successful raid on Zarqawi’s (al Quada’s top leader) safe house.

It’s a faced paced read as the interrogators try to figure out what made the insurgents tick.  In fact, the book reads more like a psychological thriller than a war memoir.
This book will surely change the way you view insurgents and their ideologies.

Sperm Wars: Infidelity, Sexual Conflict, and Other Bedroom Battles

Verdict: recommended

Did you know that a women is far more likely to conceive through an affair rather than with her boyfriend or husband? Or that how most of a man’s sperm is actually created to battle other sperm? What about that a female is more likely to use the condom much less with a lover than her own partner and much more likely to conceive with her lover?

Reading this book is like taking the blue pill: rest assured, you will never think about sex the same.

It’s an easy and engaging read about human sexology written in a form of thirty three short stories about various sexual activities followed by a thorough explanation of why it happened the way it did.

“Initially, she can simply watch him in competition with other males. … But finally, the only real test a woman can set is whether a man can negotiate and overcome her own defenses. To test this, she has to resist first verbally, then physically. The stronger and more realistic her resistance, the better the test.”

"Less than 1% of sperm is capable of fertilizing an egg. The rest is warrior sperm, there to block any rival’s sperm."

“The shape of the penis is designed in such a way that, it can remove the semen of the rival from the vagina during intercourse. “

Killing Pablo

Verdict: recommended

I read this book because I wanted to understand Colombia in anticipation of my move earlier this year.  This book did not disappoint.

It was an interesting and a quick read about Pablo’s humble beginnings as a car thief in Medellin before slowly rising to the top of the drug cartel.

I found it interesting that Pablo always began a meeting by referring to his subordinates as “caballeros” (gentlemen in Spanish).  He was an extremely smart and capable man, and capturing him required the country’s full resources and more.

Each page felt like they were an inch closer to capture only to have him escape at the last minute.  I finished this medium-sized book in two sittings.

“I prefer to be in a grave in Colombia than in a jail cell in the United States.”

“Everyone has a price, the important thing is to find out what it is.”

“There are two hundred million idiots, manipulated by a million intelligent men.”

“All empires are created of blood and fire."

The Upgrade

Verdict: not recommended

Being somewhat of a flash-packer (backpacker with money) myself, I had high hopes for this book, which was recommended by a jet-setter friend who flies to a new destination every weekend and stays in expensive five star hotels.

Instead, I got a story about a binge drinking Englishman who first attempted to travel around US by train.  Most night outs usually ended up the same: after heavy drinking, the author barely remembered what happened and tried to retrace his steps back.  Instead of trying to weave an interesting plot from the same old storyline, the book seemed like it was repeating itself many times over.

Even the traveling was hard a bit hard to follow.  It started with traveling by train in US, followed by a few flights to California, only to again continue with traveling by train.  Then the author went to London for a bit and somehow ended up in Spain shortly after.

The traveling had no goal, no inspiration and was written in a sloppy style that one would expect to find in a blog instead of a well written book with an interesting plot.

Maybe it’s because I’m not English, don’t understand English humor, and not a heavy drinker, a lot of things in this book (actually most of it) seemed rather ridiculous, dumb, and as an Englishman would say, rubbish.

Pass.

 
To Travel Hopelessly

Verdict: buy it if you’re bored

Tales of an English teacher traveling the world teaching English, experiencing foreign lands and, occasionally trying to get laid.

Although I’ve never considered teaching English (a friend did offer it to me in Brazil), I can still relate to the author’s experiences and was nodding my head in agreement in certain situations.

His time in Russia was quite interesting.

I found the writing style a bit too informal and terse; something that’d you expect to see in a diary written by a teenage girl instead of an e-book.  However, I took a liking in the author’s humility and ego-less delivery to overlook the juvenile writing style.

It was a fun and enjoyable read, and for $2.99, I couldn’t have asked for more.

No related posts.

It first happened in Copenhagen when I was meeting a young Lithuanian girl whom I originally got to know few days before.  We made plans to meet up near the train station at exactly eight o’clock.  As usual, I was running fifteen minutes late and didn’t think that was much of a big deal.  I knew I was late but didn’t mention it, instead opting to judge her mood first and go from there.  Of course she was upset to have waited there fifteen minutes and not being shy at all quickly confronted me.  I felt bad and assured her I’d try to make it on time next time.

Days before I was due to arrive in Prague, I made separate plans to meet up with several Czech girls to do some sightseeing and perhaps to grab a drink.  I was due to arrive Monday night, so we arranged to meet on Tuesday afternoon; while the other was free Thursday at 9pm.  Since I wasn’t even in Czech Republic at the time I made plans, I vaguely remembered having to do something on those dates but thanks to past experiences, knew the likelihood of us actually meeting up was small.  About an hour or two before each appointment, both girls confirmed if we were still on.  I ended meeting both of them at exactly the specified time.

When I was in Dubrovnik, I had a very interesting conversation with a Croatian girl who couldn’t have been over twenty-one years old.  I needed an opening so I spoke to her in Russian and asked her if she understood what I’d just say.

“Not all of it, but the languages are similar, so I can pick up a word every now and then,” she countered.

“Great, so Serbo-Croatian and Russian are similar?” I remembered Serbo-Croatian as the standard language on Couchsurfing.org website and didn’t realize the possible implications.

“No, it’s not Serbo-Croatian, it’s Croatian!”

“Oh, I didn’t realize the languages were that different, I thought they were quite similar”

“No, we’re different people with different traditions”

“So you guys still don’t get along with Serbs?”

“Why would we, they heavily bombed us, and wanted to takeover our lands.”

“What about the Russians, do you hate them also?” She obviously knew I was Russian

“Well, they supported the Serbs during the War, but we’re kinda neutral to them now”

“Come on, you were probably less than three years old, if you were even born when this happened!” I countered, waiting for her reaction.

“Yes, but my father remembers this very well.”

I was astonished.  Here, a random twenty-one (maybe twenty-four at the most) girl was telling me things that I only expected to hear from someone her father’s generation.  Not only did she know the whole story (even the Russian side of things), but she had a very strong opinion about the conflict herself.

Kiev is a gloomy place in late fall and winter.  People on the streets don’t smile and ignore eye contact at any cost.  The metro might as well be in a state of daily mourning; sporting exclusively black jackets and coats, the people stay quiet without any eye contact.  But make plans with a girl to do something, and she would show up on time and give you her undivided attention without looking at her phone every five minutes.  The guys are cold, but should you break through that and make friends with one, you’ve got a friend for life.  It helps to have real friends in this part of the world.  It can make a difference of finding your next job, or even getting out of a jam with the cops.

In Colombia, I couldn’t for the life of me create any kind of lasting connection with a guy or a girl, so I spent all my time hanging out with gringos.  Girls were spoiled and would cancel dates on a whim, so double-booking or triple-booking was the norm.

In Brazil, you learn the art of flaking.  It’s as tightly ingrained into life’s fabric as samba or coconut juice.  If someone says they’ll show up at 10pm, you can expect to see them at 11:30pm, or might as well head out yourself, they might be at the club anyway.  A typical ‘let’s meet 1pm on Posto 9’ means ‘I’ll be there anytime between 1pm and before the sun starts to set’.  Somehow even with the lack of commitments, things end up working out in Brazil because of the ease of meeting new people.

It was finally in Central and Eastern Europe that I started to see values I can appreciate.

Makes sense in many ways.  People are much less spoiled.  People aren’t as rich.  They actually have to work for a living.  I rarely saw people glued to their smart phones like you see on the streets of New York or Los Angeles.

Family traditions run supreme.  Families sit down together at dinnertime and discuss the day’s events.  It’s not unusual for children to live with their parents until marriage helping out with whatever is needed.

Wars helped to enforce what really mattered.  From Germany and eastward, countries were effectively trying to destroy each other for much of the last century and beyond.  Overtime people developed values and appreciation for what really matters.

When I flew from Italy to Croatia, I was beaming with excitement.  I was excited that I was leaving a laid back Latin commitment-less country and going to a more grounded Balkan country.  I had high expectation for a region that I wanted to explore for so long.  I would not be disappointed with the hospitality and straightforwardness of the locals.

My friend in LA complains that it’s impossible to find people to commit to anything.  People make arbitrary plans but rarely follow through.

Well, what do you expect from a place where people make a living of entertaining and of being someone they’re not (acting)?

Where it’s sunny all year long and people never really need to “suffer” to rain or less than 50F (10C) degree weather?

Where superficiality and plastic surgeries are as common as the $5 latte?

Who would think such conditions wouldn’t attract people that are “too free”?

I told him he’s crazy to think it should be any other way.  People get spoiled and adapt to their environment quickly, so if everyone around them doesn’t take commitments seriously, then soon they won’t either.

That Croatian girl I met doesn’t exist in America.  At least with her Croatian values intact.  If she ever did move, I’d give her a few years at most before she becomes a spoiled, robotic human completely disconnected with her the values of her parents or grandparents.  Instead of us actually having interesting human conversation, I’d probably see her glued to her iPhone 4S on a subway car in Manhattan.  She might tell you that she’s Croatian, but you’d have a hard time differentiating her from the run of the mill native-born American.

Last week, a girl who I used to know in California moved to New York for school.  Since I was back in the big apple, I asked her on Monday if she was free to grab a drink.  She agreed and we planned for Friday evening at ten.  Fifteen minutes to ten, I received a text saying that she couldn’t make it.  Already in my pajamas, I quickly glanced at the phone, and without ever replying, slowly put it back on the table fully relieved that I won’t miss another second of this interesting movie.

Related posts:

1. From The Pickup Artists To The Tim Ferriss Groupies: The 9 Types Of People In The World

I could write about how “enlightening” it is to travel through other countries, how the cultural immersion somehow “changed me” as a man for the better, how the people are “mysteriously” nicer and friendlier compared to America, or how being outside my comfort zone somehow changed me for the better and made me a stronger man, but I won’t.

Instead, here’s a dedication to all things that I hate about Latin America. 

Central America
The only words that come to mind when thinking back about my travels through this region: an authentically true third-world shit hole. Even looking back on my years of traveling, I have yet to find to find another place that rivals the region’s ability to showcase how bad things can get.

The big cities like Guatemala City and Tegucigalpa, the capitals of Guatemala and Honduras, respectively, are beyond seedy and dangerous and it’s best not wonder around after the sun sets.

Nicaragua is a bit better thanks to two decent towns, Leon and Granada, but just make sure to not stop for too long in the capital of Managua, when going from one town to the other.  If you’re a food buff, you will love stuffing yourself with Nicaragua’s culinary gift to the world: the deep fried whatever-you-call-it diabetes-in-a-bun oily goodness.

Panama City, thanks to the canal, is the only shining star city with its tall skyscrapers and a Miami-esque waterfront area, the nightlife on Calle Uruguay is always on full gear and secure thanks armed private guards, but wonder outside to the poorer neighborhoods of El Chorillo, which was burned down during the ‘89 US invasion, or the historical old town of Casco Viejo, worlds away from the secure wealthier districts, and you better watch your belongings.

Venezuela
Venezuela, the undisputed shining star of civilization in an uncivilized world. 

You haven’t seen the pinnacle of civilization until you’ve witnessed an unruly hoard of angry airplane customers storm an airplane check-in counter after a standby flight was cancelled because of unruly hoard of angry airplane customers demanding to be put on the aforementioned standby flight.

Everyone knows that Caracas is one of the most dangerous cities in the world.  It’s also a dirty, polluted city, whose only allure is the constant bearable weather of 75F (25C) thanks its slight altitude near the Caribbean.  Thanks to Hugo Chavez’s successful propaganda, they hate Americans with a passion, although the taxi driver brimmed with joy when I mentioned being from California and asked if Arnold (ex-Governor) would ever run for president. 

Looking for price bargains?  Forget it.  Unless you exchange your money on a black market, it’s a very expensive country thanks to a stupidly retarded overvalued exchange rate. Exchange on the black market and risk going to jail.  
Chances are you won’t hear this from your travel agent or see it on your local billboards.

Peru
Lima, Peru’s capital, is a hard city to like.  If the constant overcast-bordering-on-fog-and-rain weather doesn’t get you down psychologically, the constant pollution from exhausts surely will affect you physically.  From the shitty, run-down downtown, with it’s crumpling cathedrals covered in bird shit, it’s not a place you’d see yourself spending a honeymoon anytime soon. 

The affluent area of Miraflores offers some redemption if you love seeing McDonald’s on every block and shopping in traditional, American-inspired, mega malls. 

Peru does have excellent food delicacies, however.  If you love fried guinea pigs, then you will surely love the country’s main dish: the cuy.  It’s a fried guinea pig, that tastes like chicken.  Just kidding — it tastes exactly like a guinea pig.

Ecuador
Off all the travelers who I know that passed through Ecuador, a small number came away completely unscathed. 

To a common traveler, getting away from the gritty rat-race of the first world, a trip to Ecuador offers a unique cultural experience. One way is to get mugged either during broad daylight or while staggering home from bars in Quito, the country’s capital.  Another, more sinister method is when someone cuts a large hole in your bag and empties it on one of those long bus rides.

It’s a small, crime-infested, uninteresting country that offers absolutely nothing else to the visitor that can’t be found in the surrounding big crime infested countries. 

Colombia
It wasn’t Colombia that broke the camel’s back, but it sure happened in Colombia.  After spending four months in Colombia early this year, I remember feeling the exact moment that I started to despise Latin culture.  I was sick and tired of the gold digging women, the constant flakiness (from both sexes), and the general pretentiousness and arrogance of the people.  It seems that the overall unwillingness to be honest to your face, just to screw you over behind your back is ingrained in the culture’s DNA.

The country has tons to offer to a prospective visitor.  Take Medellin for instance, Colombia’s darling city.  The home of the late Pablo Escobar, it’s a city without any charm or soul, that was, in all likelihood, built on drug money.  It’s as authentic as the silicon breasts or the Americanized malls that you see everywhere you look.

One would think the capital, Bogotá, would be better, but the unending construction (that almost paralyzed half the city when I was there), dirt and pollution do not win the city, nor the country, many points.

Argentina
If you are new to the English language and want to know what the word ‘arrogance’ means, look no further and just head to Buenos Aires.  The city and their residents pretty much personify the word.  Somehow the locals, called porteños, never learned geography in high school, and think they’re part of Europe, not South America. 

The city is cool though, with a certain flair that reminds you of Rome or Paris, just watch out for the constant shit on the sidewalks thanks to tons of dog walkers with five, six, or fifteen dogs each parading the streets. 

The language they speak is up for debate.  A tale has is that it’s an indigenous language first spoken by the local tribes after they came in contact with the Spanish conquistadors.  I beg to differ.  It sounds more like a drunk Italian tourist trying to speak a beginner level Spanish, but eventually stumbles and fails because of too much malbec.

Argentinian food revolves around three things: overhyped steak, crappy pizza, and edible pasta.  Anything else and you’re out of luck.  Want to stumble an Argentinian?  Ask them where you can get a bowl of soup.  Try it, it’s fun.

Chile
When God made a deal with Chile and promised to give them the most advanced and resilient economy of Latin America, but asked for their soul in return, Chile didn’t blink and promptly agreed.  If you’re airdropped into Santiago, the capital, you dare not to confuse it for any American city with its countless McDonald’s and Burger Kings, not to mention other quality American exports.

Chile’s culinary gift to the world is the “completo”: a big, fat hotdog stuffed to the gills with other fattening crap.  There’s more stuff, right? Nope. The “completo” pretty much highlights Chile’s culinary accomplishments. 

Chilean girls are the most generic creatures on the planet, even rivaling their American counterparts.  When I lived in Brazil, my friends and I hanged around hostels in Rio, my Mexican friend who would pretty much chase any tail, would refuse to pursue Chilean women.  “They have no soul,” he would shrug and move onto a more interesting target.  I couldn’t come up with a better metaphor for the whole country if I tried.

Brazil
Last and definitely not least, it’s the biggest and baddest country of them all: Brazil.  In many ways it’s worlds apart from other Latin American with its different language, different history and different traditions.  The previous sentence is not even meant to be taken figuratively — to most Brazilians the concept that there are other surrounding, albeit inferior, countries that, God forbid may speak an inferior Portuguese dialect, aka Spanish, is simply ludicrous. 

To Brazilians their country is the only one that really matters.  In fact why remember all those pesky non-Brazilian nationalities.  Makes it ten times easier to just categorize someone as a Brazilian or a mere gringo (foreigner).

They have the world’s best beaches, the world’s best parties, the world’s most beautiful women.  In fact they don’t even make you pay a fine for overstaying tourist visa because they know you will come back!  But why stop there: they also have the world’s best favelas (shanty towns), best poverty, and best racial segregation.

Brazilian Portuguese sounds exactly like Portuguese but only when mumbled by a lazy drunk, completely wasted after a long night of cachaça and non-stop weed.

It’s no surprise that with such a big country, comes even a bigger ego.  Last summer, in Lisbon, Portugal, I saw a bus full of Brazilians proudly displaying Brazilian flags everywhere they went.  Right — otherwise I would never have guessed those were Brazilians.  One of the world’s greatest challenges is to pickup the sophistication, elegance and humility of Brazilians abroad.

Related posts:

1. Is Latin America Really Dangerous?
2. The Top Cities To Live In Latin America
3. Why America Is Great

This summer I did some unconventional traveling.  After mostly living in countries, I blitzed through twenty countries in about four and a half months.

It was a huge change from my usual travel, which entails actually living in a place few months or years at a time.

Spending a summer in Europe was always on my radar, but the lack of novelty and the high cost kept holding me back.  So when a friend whom I had met in Brazil invited me to stay at his London apartment for a few days, I knew that London was just the beginning of a great European adventure.

Once in Europe, everything is very close, and making those journeys is also very cheap.  My Barcelona – Amsterdam flight, for instance, was only 40 euros – an amazing price considering I reserved it only two days in advance.  If you plan right, it’s not atypical to snatch a 10 euro ticket or even less for the same journey.

Complete list of cities: Reykjavik, IS; London, UK; Paris, FR; Barcelona, ES; Amsterdam, NL; Brussels, BE; Brugge, BE; Ghent, BE; Antwerp, BE; Cologne, DE; Berlin, DE; Copenhagen, DK; Malmo, SE; Tallinn, EE; Riga, LV; Lisbon, PT; Porto, PT; Poznan, PL; Lvov, UA; Kiev, UA; Odessa, UA; Venice, IT; Florence, IT; Siena, IT; Split, HR; Dubrovnik, HR; Cavtat, HR; Rome, IT; Prague, CZ; Budapest, HU; Vilnius, LT

Which gives a grand total of 31 cities in 22 countries (I also briefly passed but stopped in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Slovakia, but I didn’t count cities that I merely had a stopover like Moscow)

While a lot of my traveling was solo, I also used it as an opportunity to visit people I originally met elsewhere – mostly in Brazil where I was living few years back.

At times it felt like a surreal, almost a James Bond-esque lifestyle, as I was spending most of my time on skyscanner.com and hotels.com booking flights and hotels.  One day I was in Kiev, next day I had to say goodbye to a girl I just met because I had an early morning flight to Venice.  One day I was lying in my hotel room in Berlin sweating to blistering sun, the next day I was waking up to a rainy morning in a friend’s apartment in Copenhagen.

The downside is that it’s definitely not for penny pinchers.  While the base flights can be cheap, adding in luggage and various other fees quickly jacks up ticket price.  A lot of times I stayed in expensive hotels and went out all the time, easily spending good money that would’ve been saved had I had my own apartment and cooked my own meals.

The constant moving around eventually caught up with me.  Cities began to look the same.  I stopped trying to decipher the local language.  One morning I woke up in a house on the outskirts of Budapest, and for the first ten minutes my mind was completely blank in terms of realizing where I was the last few days, and how I ended up in Budapest.  And, no, I wasn’t involved in binge drinking the night before.

Nevertheless, while it definitely wasn’t a “deep” style of traveling where I get an apartment, learn a foreign language and build a social circle, it was a nice break from the monotony of Latin America and a way to experience many new countries in rapid succession.

Europe – Winners and Losers

Longest time spent: Copenhagen (1 month)

Shortest time spent: Reykjavik (8 hrs)

Longest journey: Poznan to Krakow (10 hours train)

Shortest Journey: Riga to Tallinn (40 min flight)

Best beer: Belgium

Worst beer: Latvia

Best food: Italy

Worst food: Czech Rep

Tallest people: Lithuania

Shortest people: Portugal

Most beautiful city: Paris

Ugliest cities: Lisbon

Most beautiful old town: Prague

Ugliest old town: Lisbon

Overrated city: Venice

Underrated city: Berlin

Most beautiful girls: Ukraine

Ugliest girls: Spain

Nicest people: Denmark

Rudest people: Spain

Most Picturesque: Croatia

Least Picturesque: None

First place to revisit: Riga

Last place to revisit: Barcelona

Most diverse: Barcelona

Least diverse: Croatia

Hardest Language: Hungary

Easiest Language: Italy

Best Weather: Croatia

Worst Weather: Denmark

Nicest Airport: Budapest

Ugliest Airport: Odessa

Best English non-native Speakers: Denmark

Worst English non-native Speakers: Ukraine

Best place to retire: Croatia

Best place right now: Denmark

Related posts:

1. The End Game: The Last Push Into Eastern Europe
2. A Russian Who Spoke Fluent Spanish

Life is too short to live all your life in the same city, same country or even in the same continent.  In the past four years I’ve setup camp and lived in various cities for an extended amount of time.  I’ve stayed anywhere from one month (Copenhagen, Denmark) to almost two years (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and many, more places in between.

When I was younger, I used to zigzag across continents sleeping in dingy hostels, on roach-infested bed sheets next to snoring backpackers that haven’t seen a shower all month.  Now that I’m a bit older, my traveling pace has morphed into a more living approach than the whiplash-inducing trailblazing of the past.

Having experienced moving around and living in different spots, I developed a system that enables me to hit the ground running smoothly and with minimum fuss.

Location

Once I decide where I want to go, I begin researching the city.  Location is an important factor for someone that will only stay for 3-6 months so I place that above everything else.  Most smaller cities in Europe (Riga, Vilnius, Copenhagen) have an old town: a central area where all the stores, restaurants, bars and clubs are which makes it an ideal starting point. On the other hand, many other bigger cities (Rio de Janeiro, Paris, London) don’t have a specific center so you need to do more research and see which neighborhood suits you best.

I place a great location above all else and will devote a large chunk of my budget to ensuring a great apartment close to the city’s main attractions.

For smaller cities, a quick and dirty way to find a center  is to enter the city name in maps.google.com and where the pin drops is usually right where you want to be.

Accommodation

They’re several options when it comes to picking a place to stay: hostels, hotels/b&b, furnished/unfurnished private apartments. Before arriving, I usually book a more expensive accommodation such as a hotel or short-term rental for about a week while I scout out the city and look for a more permanent and cheaper longer term option.  Once I understand the city better, and have a clearer idea how long I’d want to stay, I negotiate a good deal for a studio/one-bedroom in the best part of the city for a few months.

There are many rental agencies that would assist you with the above. In Kiev and Odessa, Ukraine, I had success with apartment rentals via Dobovo.  Even doing a simple Google search for “<city name> apartment rental” does wonders.

Communication

Bring an unlocked GSM phone with you because one of the first things you’d want to do is buy a local SIM card.  Local SIM card provides an immediate local number in the country for making and receiving calls.  The advantage is two-fold: you can txt/call local numbers (taxis, restaurants, friends) for pennies instead of the ludicrous roaming fees, and locals that you just met would be more willing to text/call you because their costs will be predictable.  No need to wander if that hot brunette you just met in the park is not replying because she doesn’t like you or because texting international numbers is not part of her plan.

I used to have a rule that I would need to stay in the city for at least a week before buying one.  Now, I just buy one right away even if I’m staying for a couple of days.  They cost few dollars at most and come handy in many situations.  Last month when I landed in Vilnius, Lithuania having a local SIM card allowed me to order a cab right from the airport at much reduced rates — up to 10x less expensive than hailing one from the airport.

It’s also fun collection local SIM cards.  I have about ten now, and plan to reusing them when I get back to the country.

Food and Drink

Once you have setup a pad in the center of town, it’s time to stock the place with the proper necessities.

Right away I buy:

• 5L jug of water (if the water is not potable)
• Oatmeal (for a hearty breakfast)
• Eggs (easy source of protein)
• Bread, Cheese, Ham (for quick sandwiches)
• Pasta, Sauce (for easy no-fuss dinner)
• Liquor (bottle of red wine)

The above is bare bones list to get started.  Water is important especially if the place you’re staying in doesn’t have potable water.  I learned from experience that having nothing to drink while lying completely dehydrated and drenched in sweat after vigorous sex is not the greatest feeling in the world.

Once I get settled in, I start eating out less, and cooking in more.  In that case, I would stock on more stuff such as meat, fruits, vegetables, etc.

I typically aim for three square meals a day, and unless there’s an exceptional culinary experience to be had (rare for Central/Eastern Europe), I tend to go out about once or twice a week, preferring to cook my own food instead.

Meeting People

I use Couch Surfing to kick-start my social life by contacting locals, and attending a meeting or two every now and then.  Couch Surfing is a social network of travelers who either surf or host other travelers.  While I’ve done a bit of both, I mainly use it for meeting locals. However, usually the locals you meet there are definitely not representative of the greater population since most of the members people have excellent English and have either travelled or lived abroad.

Social networks can have uses as well.  I know people that use Facebook and/or local social networks to quickly build a social circle by just messaging people and meeting up later on.

I hate to rely on nightlife for meeting people because in some places (Medellin, Cali) nightlife is more about hanging out with friends you already have rather than meeting new people.  Nightlife in other places (Brazil) are structured for meeting other people, and if you’re single male, being in a place with a usual 2:1/3:1 female to male ration doesn’t hurt either.

Having said that, the most interesting interactions I usually had were in random situations, such as at bus stops, supermarkets or airports.  It helps to be out of your shell and be ready to have a conversation anytime and in any place.

Having packed up and moved somewhere new and exotic has truly been an eye opening experience.  It wasn’t always peaches and cream. The time I spent in Brazil was the best years of my life, while the time I spent in Colombia had me counting the days until my flight out.  Nevertheless, having a plan ensures a smooth transition to hit the ground the running.  The rest is up to you.

Related posts:

1. Medellin – The Monotone City; The Truth About Living in Medellin, Colombia

[Note: this post is a bit overdue as I’m already in Eastern Europe]

It took me many years of constant travelling, living and discovering the world to realize I cannot be and will never be a citizen of the world.

Three years ago when I was living in Argentina I had this crazy idea of living 3-6 months in various places around the world, while learning various languages and absorbing the culture. I was going to live in Argentina to perfect my Spanish then maybe move to France (or Montreal) to learn French, and then maybe Berlin to learn German, followed by somewhere in Italy to learn Italian.

Thinking back it seems like a perfectly fine plan, a plan that would’ve greatly expanded my horizons of picking up world’s greatest languages as well as valuable life experience.

But all that is in the past now.

Six months ago I came to Colombia with open arms and an open mind and was planning to live there for six months. Thinking it would be similar to Brazil, and having heard many positive things I was naturally very excited about living somewhere new.

Unfortunately things didn’t go as planned. The city where I settled was, for the lack of a better word, underwhelming, with people mostly uninterested in having anything to do with tourists. A perfect example of a city built for Colombians by Colombians. An insider’s city that duly shut outsiders out and away.

I lasted three months and was very happy when I boarded a bus out of the city. Eventually things got better when I discovered Cali, a city that very much redeemed Colombia in my eyes. I  immediately realized that that’s the city I should’ve been living in right from the beginning.

In many ways I’m happy of the life lessons and experiences from this trip. It’s experiences in cities like Medellin that make a profound impact on how you view the world. Experiences that make you reanalyze what you’re doing and force you to focus on what’s important. Because, let’s be brutally honest, if you don’t NEED to be in a place like Medellin; if you don’t have any BUSINESS there, then the city will fight back and will eventually win.

So I’m done.

I’m done with Latin America. I feel that I’ve seen enough of the continent. I’ve been visiting the land for 6 years now; initially as quick weekend trip to Tijuana culminating in years of living in places such as Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.

I still haven’t been to Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia and the Guyanas, but I really have no interest in any of them save for the bragging rights of boasting that I’ve been everywhere in Latin America. But I’m not that kind of person; I don’t need to visit a place just to complete some checklist or to fill in any gaps on my “countries visited” map.

I also won’t miss being called a gringo.

After six years of travelling and living there, it’s time to retire Latin America.

I also have less of a desire to live around the world like I used to. There’re a bunch of places I’m still curious about (the Balkans, the Baltics) but I can’t live everywhere and I’m not getting any younger. As much as I love this nomadic lifestyle, I don’t see doing it much longer than perhaps another year or two at the max. Sooner or later I’d need to get serious about what I want out of life by setting up a more permanent base and making certain investments such as buying property and focusing more on my business.

Soon I will embark on a one-way trip to London, a trip that will take me through most of the countries of Western Europe, a continent that I was born in, but have only visited once in the last ten years. I’ll try to visit most of my friends that I made while living in Brazil as well as a few that I made when I was living in Colombia, most of which are back to their normal lives in Europe.

After I’m done with Western Europe, I plan on going back to my roots. I will visit Ukraine, a country where I was born and left more twenty years ago. There’s a possibility that I will meet up with a friend in Berlin and make the trip to Odessa by car, so I booked a one-way ticket to a city in Poland, just outside of Berlin in case that happens. If not, I’ll be happy to catch a few trains through Poland into Ukraine.

So why back to Eastern Europe?

It’s time for a change. It’s time to return to my and my family’s birthplace. A place where I can freely speak the language (although it’s been a while since I spoke it day to day, though I don’t believe I have an accent). A place where I’m no longer a foreigner, but a local.

A place where I can hopefully connect with the people, and develop a regular social life that any foreigner can only be envious of.

I have two advantages over foreigners trying to do the same. First, Russian is one of the hardest languages in Europe, so learning it isn’t a piece of cake. Second, in this part of the world (Russia, Ukraine) few people speak conversational English so it breaking the cultural barrier will be difficult for non-Russian speakers. This is in contrast to most foreigners who easily pick up Spanish and end up getting around Latin America with ease.

The time has come to capitalize on my heritage and become the person that I could never become in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico or Argentina.

I’m not coming alone, though. I’m taking with me all the experience, the blood, the tears, the happiness, the sadness, the good and the bad that I’ve accumulated while travelling and living abroad for the past six years.

I’m no longer just a Russian speaking New Yorker born in Ukraine — but a Brazilian, Colombian, Mexican and Argentine all rolled into a Russian speaking Maverick Traveler from New York.

I can’t wait to get out of the train station and see cars bearing Ukrainian license plates; to stand on the soil of my birthplace; to answer “here” when people ask where you’re from; to speak the same language that my mother speaks to me in. You truly take some of those for granted when you travel and immerse yourself into other cultures.

As always I’m hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. Nevertheless, it should be interesting how this unfolds.

Related posts:

1. A Blitz Through Europe – Impressions from Visiting Over 20 New Countries This Summer
2. A Russian Who Spoke Fluent Spanish
3. The Top Cities To Live In Latin America

Danger in Latin America

The beauty of the Internet is that you can, easily, from the comfort of your own home, get first hand impressions from people about particular topics.  Anything from how dangerous a certain part of the world is, to how easily do the women put out, and anything in between.  People love shortcuts, and would rather get their views via second hand sources, than putting themselves out there and learning themselves.

One of the first questions people ask me after finding out that I lived in Brazil, is how dangerous the country is.  The short answer: it depends.  It depends on about a million things: a big chunk that you have control over, and a big chunk that you don’t.

Simple example to illustrate my point. When I was living in Rio, I was at the same time frequenting various travel forums.  On one of these forums, there was a discussion started by a guy who was robbed twice in Rio on the exact same street and close to the same hour that you’d usually find me walking home from my Jiu Jitsu training.  The street in question (Avenida Copacabana) was a busy artery in one of the busiest neighborhoods in Rio and at the said hour was filled with tons of people coming home from work.

Knowing that I walked that street pretty much five days a week, week in and week out, I was quite perplexed how can something unfortunate happen twice to someone when I personally found the area anything but dangerous or shady.

“How the heck can you get robbed twice in two weeks, when as I’m reading your story I had just come back from being on the same street, and nothing bad had ever happened to me.  Am I from another planet, or am I missing some key information?”  I was completely dumbfounded as I read this guy’s story in my apartment in Copacabana.

It was at this point that I realized that every single person will have a unique experience, and no one can be trusted to provide any kind of “de facto” reference written in stone that other people can infer conclusions from.  It’s silly, stupid and downright dangerous.

Sure it seems common sense, but tell it to the hundreds or thousands of people who ask these questions on Internet forums every single day.

Everybody is different and everyone will have a unique experience.  Period.  End of story.

Having travelled as long as I have and talked to hundreds of travelers about their stories, I can probably look at you and tell what your chances are of being robbed/mugged/assaulted in Latin America.

There was an 18-year old Dutch kid who got robbed in Venezuela when he crossed the border from Colombia.  Does this make Venezuela dangerous? Maybe.  But when you actually meet the kid things become clearer.  He is a scrawny kid with a baby face.  He’s a virgin traveller on his first trip outside Europe.  His body language reveals someone who wouldn’t be able to defend himself if a situation arose.

An English guy who I met in Colombia was robbed in one of the safest places I’ve ever been: Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Does it send shivers down my spine of ever visiting the place?  Of course not.  I’ve been there five or six times, and never even came close to having any kind of  problem.  Of course, I’d argue that I look more Latin American, have more New York swagger, and being a more seasoned traveller than someone experiencing their first culture shock on a plane from London.  Or it could just luck of the draw.

Speaking of Colombia, a guy and his wife were robbed in an affluent area of Medellin.  He is Venezuelan but his wife is as American as apple pie.  I’ll be the first to bet the farm that had it been just him walking down that dark alley alone, nobody would ever step up to him.

On the flip-side, take a typical 25+ year old guy from Brooklyn, NY.  He could be a native New Yorker but with an Italian, Russian, or (insert your Southern/Eastern European country here) heritage.  He could also be foreign born.  He is not a hipster and doesn’t live in Williamsburg, Park Slope or Dumbo, but in a more “working class” neighborhood like Coney Island, Midwood or Bensonhurst.  He’s street smart and knows how to hustle.  He’ll probably be OK.

Same goes for a Mexican guy from LA, or a Cuban guy from Miami Beach.

The proliferation of travel blogs made it seem that independent travel is easy; that it’s for everyone; and that you’ll be OK travelling anywhere if you just follow common sense precautions like keeping a copy of your passport and knowing where the nearest embassy is.  The result is that Latin America is flooded with first-time travelers, many from small cities with limited experience of dealing with less savory individuals.  Many of those are from rich countries and are not accustomed to the chaos of less developed nations.  Many of those will have the time of their lives, some will not.  The latter will probably write about it and scare the rest.

It all depends on your prior experience in life, what obstacles you faced and how you dealt with them.  But don’t take a page out of my thick and worn book; get on that plane and start writing your own very first chapter.  Just be aware that your experience can be vastly different than that latest thread about being assaulted on 5th Avenue on a busy Saturday in New York that is spreading virally on the Internet.

Related posts:

1. Why Latin America Sucks: The Dark Side of Latin America Nobody Talks About
2. The Top Cities To Live In Latin America
3. A Russian Who Spoke Fluent Spanish