New Zealand- South Island

After ditching our cruiser van, we decided to head south for Christchurch. The town was pretty cool, but a little colder. The landscape was definitely better than the north Island. While in Christchurch, Taylor and I participated in the world's largest synchronized dancing session for the Genus Book of World Records. It was pretty rad, everyone dressed up in some serious 80's gear and we danced to Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name." So look out for us in the Genus Book of World Records next year and you might be able to find it on Youtube. I will check.

After our synchronized dancing careers were over, we decided to go snow skiing in the New Zealand Alps. The day was awesome, I ate more snow than I'd ever eaten in my life. We had the best day skiing and snow boarding together. You could see the ocean and beautiful ice rivers coming from the mountains passing through green pastures. It was pretty psychedelic.

Click here to see ALL my New Zealand pictures and slideshow.

New Zealand - North Island

New Zealand was pretty trick. The weather was completely different from Samoa since it was the end of New Zealand’s winter. Since I hate cold weather, (unless I'm wearing tube socks watching a movie and snuggling around a fire with a lucky young girl) I wasn't sure how the New Zealand trip was going to turn out. The first day was beautiful; Taylor did his Yoga on the beach and rode beach cruisers while Halen and I went surfing in 58 degree water. I loved it! There was just something about being in the dark blue New Zealand water, staring out to different Islands, sitting on a board, and making peepee in my wet suit.

After staying a few days at Halen's friend's house, we decided to rent a camper van and explore the country. We had a pretty small van and the sleeping situation was a little too close for our comfort. Accidental night groping was not in the cards for us. Other than that, the country was beautiful with mountains, beaches, and baby lambs running and playing around. The baby lambs are probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen. We wanted to grab one and put it in our camping van for snuggling purposes.

We also did an under water cave tour that was filled with glow worms. If you do not know what glow worms are, I suggest you "google it" or rent an episode of Planet Earth. Being in an underwater cave for 4 hours and staring at thousands of glow worms wasn't too bad. For a second, I felt like I was a Goonie, swimming through different tunnels and climbing up cave waterfalls. If you do not know what a Goonie is, I suggest you "google it" or watch the Goonies.





Click here to see ALL my New Zealand pictures and slideshow.

Samoa Islands

Samoa Islands is a place where people live like Indians and worship the land they come from. When we first arrived in Samoa, we headed to the furthest place away from the airport. We found these amazing beach fales (huts) right on the beach where we played endless card games of Uno and listened to the waves crash while watching the constellations pass over our heads. There is not much to do in Samoa as far as activities go. Taylor, Halen, and I brought our own snorkel and we pretty much swam with some of the most tropical fish I'd ever seen. We snorkeled everyday until we headed to the town of Apia.

While in Apia, we were on a mission to find some hot traveling chicks that were looking for some hot traveling guys. The Samoan girls weren't cuttin it so we headed to the bars and clubs. The first night out we found about 10 girls from England that were in Samoa doing medical work for school. Doctors... that means lots of money, show me the money sugar mamma. After a few failed attempts we called it a night. The next night out was pretty interesting. Taylor couldn't get into the club because his shorts were too high, and the bouncer said that it wasn't fair for everyone else. (Don't ask me why his shorts didn't meet male dress code requirements). As we left and sat at the next bar, we suddenly felt a spray fall upon us, but mostly Halen. We then took a whiff of the air and realized that it was puke from the guy up on the balcony. Halen had spew all over his shirt and shorts while the rest of us had some sprayage on our arms and beer. We left immediately to take showers and to call it another night.

Then next day we followed some medical girls across the fairy to another lush Island. Looking like the creepy American guys, they opened their arms to us and we spent the next four days with four girls from London with raging English accents. We went to a beautiful surf resort and had the time of our lives. Watching the stars, playing pool and ping pong, drinking local beer and vodka, we were definitely putting off the spring break vibe that was needed in Samoa. After missing our flight to New Zealand by ten hours, we left the Spice Girls with broken hearts and hugs. We had the best time with this bunch and it was definitely icing on the cake.

click here to see ALL my Samoa pictures and slideshow.

Los Angeles, California

I wasn't going to create a post on California, but some things happened and I was excited to tell some people.  California is OK, nothing to special. We waited in traffic yesterday for 2 hours to go to the beach, then another 45 minutes looking for a parking spot. Not that cool. The beaches were crowded and you couldn't surf on any of the waves. 

 I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to work out at Muscle Beach, but things perked up for me while I was at CVS.  Dog The Bounty Hunter walked in with a full raging mullet, tight brown cargo pants with leather cell phone belt clip, opened white non heavy material button up shirt, 24k gold dog tag, angry muscles, and killer shades to compliment his blondish wavy mullet.  I think the back of his mullet was about a yard from top to bottom.  As I approached him like a typical non important fan, he complimented me on my hair.  Such a rush from someone who has nailed the mullet down to perfection.  Los Angeles totally redeemed its self from that moment on.

Costa Rica

Wow! I don't even know where to start. I just spent almost three weeks in Nosara, Costa Rica.

My friend Halen had a house there, so I decided with a few others to spend some time down there as an appetizer to my trip.

The first day in Costa Rica was amazing!! We woke up early, surfed, ate lunch, then back out to surf. It started raining while we were sitting out on our boards, and it was just perfect to relax and stare out towards the jungle to see the mist come down. Everything was so green and lush. After the rain stopped, we enjoyed a picture perfect sunset while sipping on some Imperials (beer) and just taking it all in. I was thinking "wow, I'm in Costa Rica straight up living the dream." That night we returned to the beach (with our Imperials) to watch an amazing lightning storm. I had never seen anything like it. We hardly spoke and we just sat in silence amazed to what we were seeing. Speechless!!

During the rest of the trip, five of us met up with 4 more at the Arenal Volcano. While swimming in the natural sulfur hot springs, we watched the lava glow from the volcano. We then hopped in our mini van with a local and got a close view of "liquid hot magma" flowing down. You could see giant lava rocks being launched into the air and tumbling down.

After the four Austinites left the country, the "Jungle Five" continued our journey around Costa Rica. We went to a town called Montezuma where we jumped off a 50 foot waterfall followed by two other 50 foot waterfalls. That night, as the girls got ready for dinner, I laid in a hammock, watched the spider monkeys jump around me, thanked the bats for eating the mosquitos, and just listened to the ocean while swaying in the jungle. I never wanted to return home.

So the appetizer trip was perfect, and I couldn't have asked for anything more. We surfed everyday, watched the sunset from either the ocean or a mountain top dinner, searched for the best beaches, traveled with the best group of friends ever, drowned ourselves in smoothies, and lived "Pura Vida."

Click here to see all of my Costa Rica photos and slide show.

The Journey

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Since I really really enjoy long walks on the beach, I figured I would quit my job and do it for 4 1/2 months. We chose Southeast Asia and the south pacific since it was a little more exotic then going to Europe or South America (which I hope to do when I get back, Rickygotravel Part II). Here are the destinations in order. Costa Rica, L.A., Samoa Islands, Apia, New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Fiji. Hope that you will enjoy my travel blog. I will update it as much as I can with lavishing photos of myself as well as the beautiful scenery. Bon Voyage!!