Fun times in Minnesota

The journey continues!  From the west coast to now the Midwest. I had an epic time out in California and Portland, and the fun on this US tour doesn't stop. Seeing friends and family around the country, and just eating and drinking my way through amazing cities. 

I'm now in Minneapolis, which is quite the city. Surrounded by lakes, forests and chill people, it is surprisingly amazing. Full of life in the summer time, it's a super active city, loaded with bike paths all over the place. One of the only cities I know of with epic waterfalls right in the city, rushing over the Mississippi River. I've learned they they are a thriving Midwestern city, full of top businesses like Target, 3M and Wells Fargo. Mighty fine setup.

So far, there had been loads of biking involved. I was awoken just after the crack of dawn to get in a bike ride through the paths before breakfast. A round trip 15 miler took us through neighborhoods, lakes and paths to a huge waterfall feeding the Mississippi. After picking up another friend at the airport, it was back on the bike to go all over the city. Pretty damn fine tour of the city, from the university area to the mill area to underneath the baseball stadium. Blue skies and great vibes the whole way. 

Today was a hiking day up in the northern bit of Minnesota. Lake Superior is mighty superior. Very cool to be around it in several areas and finish with a cold dip in the lake. Nothing finer after a hot hike. 

The food has been better than average too, with fresh fish, amazing sweet corn and some wild rice burgers. Been living it up as always!  Great to be back in America enjoying the little things (like thousand island dressing)

Rock on y'all!

Good times in Portland

So I'm back in Portland, after a week in Los Angeles.  The Justus US Tour 2014 continues!

It's been great to reconnect with friends, walk around this amazing city, get out into the Pacific NW nature, and eat and drink my way through favorite places.  Portland has been the home base for the last 10+ years, so it does feel like home coming back.  A few new buildings, some civic improvements, friends have been married, bought houses or had kids, but overall, it's that same great city it's always been. 

I've been all over the city seeing people, often having a breakfast, lunch and dinner each day planned, living it up and loving life.  But the city isn't the only thing in the area, so I had a great hike up past waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge before swimming in the river.  Warmer than the Pacific and just as refreshing after some summertime heat.  Best time of year to be in Portland.

Another highlight so far was a Portland Timbers game.  Definitely one of the best atmospheres for any type of sport and it was wicked being back with old friends in the stadium cheering on the boys.  It feels more like European soccer than the US.  Crazy crowd, loud songs, on our feet for over 3 hours of fun and with a 2-0 victory, the perfect outcome.  Loved it!

Here are a few pictures from the time in Portland so far.  Off to Minneapolis soon to start the adventures in the Midwest.  Let the good times roll!

Timbers fans going crazy after a goal

Beer fest with Karl, Russell, myself and Ryan (Go Dodgers!)

Old mountain tunnel in the Gorge

Portland unipiper

Dressed as Darth Vader and getting Portland amped up for the MLS All Star game 8/6/14

Coming soon to a city near you!

Back in Los Angeles living it up at Dodger Stadium.  So good to be back.  Great game by the Dodgers with some excitement at the end, finishing up with a win in 10 innings.  It was my first time being at a game with Yasiel Puig playing, and the atmosphere was electric when he was up to bat.  The video below shows how hyped up everyone gets and then the disappointment of him popping out.  Great vibes, great times out with the boys and great baseball!  It's good to be back in America!

Reverse Culture Shock

I'm back in the US after almost 500 days of bouncing around the world.  Quite the adventure traveling, living and working out there in the world.  But it's time to get back to the roots and enjoy the homeland once again.  I've got a two month trip sorted out in the US going from the West Coast to the Midwest to the Northeast to the South.  Seeing friends and family all over.  After that, we'll see about settling down. 

People always talk about how crazy it can be in the world and how different it is, as they experience culture shock in another country.  Let me tell you, it's just as tricky coming back to your home country as leaving it.  You notice all the little things, and feel more like a foreigner at the start. Here are a few things that've jumped out at me so far:

Tipping.  That's right I forgot about tipping until my friend put cash on the table.  The rest of the world doesn't really tip unless the service was outright amazing.  I'm out of practice and didn't even think about it.  Dollar bills flying out of my pocket now!

Driving on the right.  Coming from Australia and New Zealand, where I've been the last 6+ months, I got quite used to being on the left side of the road.  I drove a couple times, and rode a bike almost every day.  It started to feel quite normal.  Now I have to switch the brain back over and remember to look left first.  Still a challenge, but I'm getting better and haven't been hit yet!

Different words.  Such as "connecting passengers" instead of "transferring passengers" at the airport.  Numerous people were confused on the flight from NZ with where to go to get to their next flight.  Just one different word throws it all off.  Most of the world uses transfer/transit for passengers who are just passing through an airport.  I spent 19 hours over two visits to the Istanbul airport as a transit passenger (happy memories sleeping on the floor).

Taxes.  Most of the world has the taxes already included in the price.  Here you pay extra.  Those $1.25 tacos aren't quite the even number they appear to be.  But at least they are authentic Mexican and still cheap.

Venice Beach

Spent the day exploring one of the best parts of the LA beach life; Venice Beach.  Busy no matter what day of the week, it was popping with activity and people.  Lots of fun to check out the scene, soak up some sun and get into the water.  Coming from winter in Australia, it was perfect.  Living the good life here in LA!

Basketball with palm trees and the ocean, can't go wrong with that

More good street art in Venice

Houses shut down?  Paint 'em up!

Venice Skatepark

One of the best settings out there

Bit of the Santa Monica mountains in the background

Pop up gardens

Not only is Melbourne filled with street art popping up overnight and pop up cafes & shops, there is also a pop up garden.  Right in the heart of the city, on top of a parking garage, the garden is tended by individuals, restaurants and who knows.  It's got great skyline views, a little cafe open on the weekends and lots of tasty looking veggies.  One of the best uses of wide open concrete out there.  Come down and sign up for a box!

Notes on living abroad

I live for the changes in culture, the accents, the thrill of something new, an adventurous lifestyle and a life where you don't think about work.  Then there's always the little things that are different from wherever you come from.  Sometimes you notice it right away from the call to prayer at an early hour in a Muslim country, or driving on the other side of the road.  The brain easily adjusts to this as you travel.

Other times it takes a while for you to recognize.  I've been out in the world so often, that the fact that the rest of the world uses the date format as dd/mm/yy seems normal to me.  Putting the day before the month does in fact make sense and goes on the list of things the US should adopt to make life easier (along with the metric system and Celsius).  When I see the date 12/07/14, I think of the 12th of July.  That's become normal in the last year plus of travels.  Yesterday I received an email from one of my frequent flier accounts and it took me a while to realize that the expiry of the miles was not June 12th of next year, it was December 6th.  Just got an extra 6 months on what I originally thought, which is nice, but proves that the brain has adapted to the international lifestyle and that is what comes to mind first.  Going to be a bit of an adjustment living back in the US.

Regarding driving on the other side of the road, I've been in Australia for 6 months and I ride my bike everyday.  It seems perfectly normal to drive on the left, and I'm not even tempted to go on the right.  About a month ago, I was watching a Hollywood movie and when they got in a car and drove on the right, it didn't seem correct.  Something was off.  My brain now thinks driving on the left is the norm, another thing I'll get used to being back in the US. 

I'm getting super pumped up for the return to the US.  Lots of amazing people to see, places to visit and an American life to be lived.  After traveling and hearing from others how great the US is, and where they went on their big trips over to the US, it's my time to live it up.  Looking forward to seeing everyone, eating Mexican, catching a few baseball games and turning 30 with the family in Boston.  Fun times ahead!

The two Peacocks in Melboure

It's my last month in Melbourne and this city is sending me off in the best way possible.  So many good things going on, amazing people out there and great coffee to drink.  It's always when you buy the ticket to leave a place that you start having second thoughts and want to stay.  But I'm always a fan of leaving on a high note and not overstaying in one place.  It'll have been 6 months in Melbourne when I leave and while it would have been longer, it's been a wicked time and will leave me wanting to return as soon as possible.

Here's just a snippet of the last days:

Thursday:   Free performance of Peter & the Wolf (reliving my childhood with storytelling, music and a ton of kids clapping), exploring the outdoor markets of Melbourne (coming away with 8 avocados left behind the stall because they were too ripe), drinking coffee at some of the best places around, attending a boutique shop's opening party (full on tasting of olive oils, vinegars, dips and an open bar), staying up til 4am watching the US lose to Germany and still go on to the next round of the World Cup

Friday:    Watching the NBA Draft in the morning, getting paid to "mystery shop" and visit an amazing tea shop, where I got a full tasting ceremony and then bought a minted mate tea (all of which was paid back to me after), did some more of that bikram yoga sweating, and then had numerous friends over for a six pack party where everyone brought along new beers for everyone to try.  Great times, great beers and lots of laughter.

Today:    The sun is shining (and the cold wind blowing of course), but it's still time for a run, some yoga, some coffee, some French Toast and chilling before working the hostel overnight.  Life is good!

Bikram Yoga

As I entered through the door, it definitely seemed like I was in the midst of a cult.  Half-naked people lay with their heads pointing towards a long wall filled with mirrors, with a steamy half lit atmosphere that was filled with the sound of breathing.  The heat hit me within the first few steps in the room.  It's wintertime here in Australia (yes, it does get a bit cold in the South Pacific) and yet, in the room, sweat was already coming off the bodies, with an uncomfortable stale smell of old sweat and heat attacking the nostrils.

Yes, I was about to do my first bikram yoga class.  I'd heard it was hot, but this hot was HOT!  The kind of hot that towards the end of the first class, you feel like you're choking and can't breathe hot.  The kind where the body is numb, tingling all over, telling you not to move or you're going to pass out hot.

For some reason, I decided to attend the 6pm class, which turned out to be the one packed full of everyone just off of work.  Probably about 50 people were in the room ready to get to it.  I stuck to the back, so I could watch and learn.  Overall, it was similar to a standard yoga class, apart from the fact that when you tried to grab your foot with your hand, it kept slipping out.  Sweat was everywhere.  Puddles were forming below certain people.  The towel underneath me got thoroughly soaked.  I sweated in places I didn't know was possible.  There was no hope of trying to dry my palms on my shorts after 20 minutes, as my shorts became wetter than a swimsuit in the ocean.

The highlight of the first class is a tie between the water breaks and feeling very loose and flexible.  Some of the positions just didn't seem natural, but the body definitely could move in new ways unlike before.  After 90 minutes of movement, sweating and attempting to balance while looking straight ahead, it was time to lie on the ground and let the body recover.  I don't know if recover is the right word, since just lying there with my heartbeat racing, the body thoroughly whooped, my hands could not remain open.  Just kept cramping up as I searched for normal breathing.  10 minutes later I slowly worked my way up to start the mission of returning to a normal human being.  Quite the experience, of which I ended probably 3-4 pounds lighter, wearing a pair of extremely wet shorts and a sweated soaked towel.  On my walk home, a sense of euphoria him me, with the body feeling tip top and alive.

Day in, day out

Sorry for the lack of posts everyone.  Life is golden in Melbourne and it's been a busy fun time of working, kicking it with friends, exploring the city and catching up on a few movies and books during the Australian winter.  Here are a few things I've been up to:

• Continued giving walking tours of the city, showing backpackers the hidden cafes and bars tucked away down the many laneways of Melbourne.  Melbourne is made up of so many places that you need time to just wander around, and check them out.  It's not Sydney, which is full of the sights (Opera House, Harbor Bridge, etc), it's a city that is all about the experience, the people, and most of all the coffee.  Having become over the last decade, a cup (or more) of coffee a day guy, this place is a caffeinated paradise.  The love that goes into each cup is unbelievable as it is ground fresh and made just for you.  None of this brewed an hour ago like in the US, this is the real deal: fresh, aromatic, full bodied and strong.  

• I flew out west to visit friends in Fremantle, Western Australia.  I lived there in 2005 and this was my second time visiting since then.  Fremantle was such an amazing place to live back then, and yet, the city has somehow gotten even better (unlike my English grammar through the travels).  New shops, cafes and still that good weather.  It was wicked to catch up with friends (some of the best in the world) and eat/drink at the favorite places.  Since I was there on a weekend, there was also the Sunday run and swim at Cottesloe Beach.  It is winter, but swimming in the Indian Ocean was just as amazing as it is in the summertime.  In the last year, I've been swimming in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian.  Love me some beach!

• I finally sold my Moroccan rugs through an auction house.  If you recall, I was talked into buying two amazing rugs in Morocco with the thought to sell them here in Australia. It turned out to be a bit more difficult than I had thought, but last Saturday morning, I went and watched the auction where the rugs were sold.  It was a fun excursion, watching the people bid on everything from 1700s silverware sets, to a 1785 candlestick (sold for over $1500), to paintings.  A statues of an ancient Chinese warrior went for $4200.  Quite impressive what people were paying and the auction moved along at a quick pace and wasn't as stereotypical as I thought it would be from all the movies.  My two rugs were sold separately and several people in the audience were going for them, including the person next to me, and a phone bidder.  My heart was beating faster with anticipation of the sale.  It felt good to know they were being passed off, a weight off my shoulders (literally as I carried them around the world with me through 4 airports and 4 houses in Melbourne).  Business mission: success.  Making money: not worth it.  Story: priceless.

Brighton Beach Bathing Boxes

Spent a few hours walking around Brighton Beach, a relaxed beach 25 minutes south of Melbourne, which as you can tell, is quite famous for its bathing boxes.  All colors and designs, and most retailing for over $400,000.  Good times, good vibes!

The bathing boxes with the skyline in the disance

The Tannery in Fes, Morroco

Here's a good video explaining how a tannery in Morocco works.  Fun to hear the guide in his thick Moroccan accent explaining the colors and what the workers do, plus a good overall view of the main part of the operation.  Tanneries are key to the Moroccan economy, although they are not as prevalent as they used to be. The largest tanneries are this one here in Fes and also in Marrakesh.  Very impressive in size and the amount of workers.  This was during the winter (in January 2014) when the tannery is only being worked with 1/4 the amount of workers normally in the summer.