25 Travel-Related Things About Me
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2009
1
22
134
Trip End
Dec 31, 2009
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Tres Lagoas,
Brazil
Monday, February 16, 2009
1. My preferred method of travel is driving, next would be by boat. I would drive around the world if it was possible. I will have to settle for driving across each continent.
2. But I do plan to take a boat trip around the world one of these years.
3. I have driven a NASCAR Winston Cup race car at the Walt Disney Speedway in Orlando Florida with the Richard Petty Racing experience. And I had the fastest lap time of any of the 20-something people racing that day!
4. I have a goal of being able to join the Traveler's Century Club by the time I'm 30. And I want to have visited every country in the world (by the TCC standards) by the time I'm 35.
5. Unless the plane is almost at the freezing point, I will sweat profusely. The little vents don't seem to help that much.
6. My first international trip was to El Salvador when I was 4. I managed to find myself a little "girlfriend" while I was there too!
7. I didn't leave the country again for another 15 years, until I went to Canada at 19.
8. I prefer to sit in the aisle seats. Because my shoulders are so wide, I am always being whacked by the drink cart and people's butts. One woman even sat on my shoulder one day (while she was putting her things in overhead compartment) thinking she was leaning against the back of my seat.
9. Speaking of leaning on me...people tend to fall asleep snuggled against me when traveling: my wife, our old dog Charlie, little girl on plane from US to Brazil, girl on plane from China to US, older woman from South Korea(I think) to the US, previous girlfriends on roadtrips. My hypothesis is that I am very warm and radiate heat, which attracts cold people sleeping next to me.
10. I can understand many different "dialects" of English...Spanglish, Chinglish, Finnglish, Portuglish, etc. No matter how someone might butcher English, I almost always can understand them. I think growing up in Alabama helped.
11. I prefer to do active things when traveling for fun. Climbing things, whitewater rafting, bungee-jumping, sky-diving, river cruises...anything that is fast or slightly dangerous.
12. But I also like to see some sights, like pretty landscapes and vistas. I am only really interested in museums if I can play with something in them.
13. I used to drive from college in Rochester, NY to my parent's house in Huntsville, Alabama in 13 hours flat. I would stop only once, usually in Kentucky on the south side of Louisville, for gas, food, and a bathroom break. I'd do it at night so I wouldn't have to worry about traffic jams and would go through half a dozen Wild Cherry Pepsi's and at least 4 No-Dozes so I would stay awake.
14. I had to get new passport pages added to my current passport after having it for less than 2 years.
15. I was the first person in my office in Glens Falls to be issued a 2-year Multiple-Entry Chinese business visa
16. I have eaten many weird (weird for me anyways) foods including cow's intestine, fish eyes, rooster testicles, Rocky Mountain oysters, pigeon, swan... Still have never had brain though.
17. I have been skinny-dipping in Lake Champlain, the Tennessee River, and the Gulf of Mexico.
18. I have also jumped off of 80-foot cliffs into the Tennessee River.
19. I learned how to play Squash in Brazil. I had blisters underneath the calluses on my feet for days. It's actually a fun sport, but I don't usually have anyone to play with.
20. I learned how to drive a boat when I was 12. (Thanks Dad!) It took a while longer before Dad let me try to pull the boat up on the trailer.
21. I like to buy paintings made by locals when I travel to new places. Our house's walls are VERY eclectic. One room can represent several continents. I also buy them as gifts for people if I can find a good deal.
22. I'm not scared of high heights (planes, skydiving, very, very tall cliffs), but I am fairly anxious in new situations at low heights. I justify it as if I'm falling from a long way up, I have my time to make my peace and say sorry for all the things I've done. If I fall from 50 feet up, all you get is an "OH SHIT!" moment and then SPLAT!
23. During my travels(and around home), I have gotten to touch, pet, or hold Kangaroos, a Saltwater Crocodile, a Koala, Wallabies, a multitude of Snakes(including Boa Constrictor, Python, Rattlesnake), Iguanas, a Macaw, Rainbow trout, Silver Salmon, Camel, Llama, Emu, Elephant, Dolphin, Sea Turtle, Echidna, Crabs, a Wombat, a Peacock, Tarantula, Chameleon. And that's just what I can remember off the top of my head!
24. I have gotten into trouble for speeding on 3 continents: North America, South America, and Australia. I'm not sure if I can drive crazy enough to get in trouble driving in China...they never let me try to find out. Hopefully I can get all 6 inhabited continents. At the moment, I think it'd be impossible in Antarctica, though if global warming turns out to be right, maybe there will be roads there soon enough!
25. I find it easier to adjust to time zones completely around the world easier than a few hours difference. When flying from NY to Asia/Australia or back, I'm adjusted to the new time zone by the time I wake up the next morning. But when flying from NY to California or Oregon, it takes me 2 or 3 days to get adjusted...weird
