Don't wanna go back! Seriously though if we run out of money and go back to Australia I could get a job real quick. Putting modesty aside I'm not too bad at what I do, and would get a job offer pretty quickly (last time I quit my job I put my resume out and had 3 job offers within 24 hours - End not so subtlety hidden brag).

Like I said before, while the hours and stress were high, I did enjoy it. After a few years of doing nothing I would have probably recharged the batteries.

The real question is if we decide we don't want to go back to Australia. While my degree is acknowledged around the world, the job market isn't as good as Australia and it would be much harder to land a good job.

I thought about trying to make a living out of online poker, but to be honest while I don't lose money I'm probably not good enough. Also I struggle playing more than 3 or 4 hour sessions without boredom killing me. Plus why grind 60 hours a week, when I could earn that much in 10 hours in my old job.

But the good news is I don't have to worry about that until at least the end of the year. I'll let future fidstar worry about that!

Yeah, sorry I meant gonna be tough to find the motivation to go back to work after traveling for so long - I didn't mean you'd have trouble finding work

You could maybe write a book about your travels - I'm sure a few publishers would be interested

That would require me being able to string a few sentences together.

Sick traveling so far. My missus would like me to travel US with her but never thought it was actually work, i guess your older and more serious. If these questions aren't to personal would you answer:

How do you think traveling with the woman is compared to traveling with mates ie more/less fun, more drama. Do use fight alot etc.

I feel il be put in one of these situations where u have both parties looking to do the same trip.

To be honest, haven't done a lot of travel with mates. I've been with my gf since I was 20 and before that I was poor and couldn't afford to travel.

We don't fight much at all. I think this is because:

• We are both relaxed non-confrontational people
• We have similar interests, which makes decisions on what we do easy
• We been in a relationship for 14 years, so we know about having to give and take in a relationship
• You don't have the regular life crap to upset you e.g. coming home from 12 hours of stressful work to have someone complain you didn't do the dishes
• We actually get along. We aren't one of those couples that are in a relationship just because they need to be in a relationship and only do it because life is easier that way
• 'insert some crap about soul mates here'

As we are with each other 24/7 we do get sick of each other on occasions, but I'll just go for a walk or she will go see a movie so we get some time alone.

did you have a sign on the outside of the van that said "If this vans rocking, don't bother knocking" ?

Sounds pretty solid relationship mate respect. I would say im a pretty good partner in terms of loyalty and giving her all that she needs and gifts etc but we both are confrontational people and i have a 1 sec temper which prob wont change. We have zero similar interests. We did go Paris together with no fighting but when were here 48 hours together and violence is on the cuffs, lol this doesnt look good when i put it on words.

Hahaaha

Curious too what it is you do now?

not much! Grind some pokerz. Chill. Explore the world

Costa Rica

Ok, so I’ve jumped all the rest of the travel and done a post of Costa Rica. Mainly because I’m here now and I’m getting old so it’s probably best to write it while it’s fresh in the mind. The funny thing is when I was writing the USA road trip post I was looking at photos and going “Oh yeah, I forgot I saw that”, “****, I remember that now. That was awesome” etc. I am getting old. Thank god I’ve got a million photos.

We are completing two house sits in Costa Rica. They are both in a little town called Ojochal down in the south west part of the country. We have 5 weeks house sitting here. Lucky for us we had just over a week before the house sit started to go exploring. So we hired a car with full insurance (you should see how they drive down here) and got going. The map below is a rough route of where we drove.



We started the trek to Poas Volcano. Beautiful area. Thick jungle, lots of wildlife, great views and really friendly people. The place we stayed at had a big window open to the jungle area and we were entertained by 100s of fireflies. Got quite cold at night as it is elevated, which is weird as you think of Central America as hot and humid. Here are some photos from that area.





We headed west to the coast line. Once we got down into the lower lying area everything was dead. This is the dryer area of the island and it is just after the dry season. As a result there was brown grass and dead trees everywhere. Thought I was back in Australia. So we couldn’t wait to hit the coast.

Now I’m a big beach person as there is nothing better than a good beach. I was disappointed. Even the beaches on the East Coast were the same. In fact this may be one of the only countries I like the inland bit better than the beach bit. The beaches themselves are fine, but the sand is grey. Something about volcano ash. Anyway, even with a perfect backdrop of green jungle and palm trees, something doesn’t look right about a beach without white sand. Walking off a beach with dirty feet doesn’t seem right either. Anyway, lucky for Costa Rica the inland bit is really good.

While the beaches were average I liked the coastal towns. Very laid back, decent food and bars as well as a happy feel to the town. We went out at night for food and felt quite safe. There were lots of tourists mixed in with the locals. I don’t mind this as it means most people speak English, which makes my life easier.

After that we headed back inland to Montverde and Arenal Volcano. We complete a couple of hikes in both spots and got some great photos. Unfortunately there was a lot of cloud cover near the volcano so didn’t get any photos of that. Arenal is very touristy, but there is a reason lots of people visit there. It’s a beautiful place.








We also met some mean looking bugs. Here’s one.



We then headed to the East Coast. First stop was Limon. Looked like a ****hole. Was a ****hole. We stayed at a hotel with a restaurant on the bottom floor. As we were entering we saw a rat run past. We ate there anyway. Wasn’t too bad actually. Expensive though. Eight dollars for a Corona! I must be back in Australia!

After leaving this average place we headed south along the coast. Much better. Back to the nice little laid back coastal towns. We visited a couple of wildlife sanctuaries and took some happy snaps. Sloths are awesome.





This one is a little sleepy. Been a big day.



Monkeys are cool too



We then cruised across to where we are doing our house sits. Jungle everywhere. Here’s the view from where I grind some pokerz



Here’s the view I wake up to everyday out the bedroom window



Here’s a toucan that landed in the tree out the back



So we still got another 3 or 4 weeks to go. The only form of transport we have is a quad bike. That’s fun! There isn’t that much to do where we are other than a bunch of restaurants and bars. You can see why people retire here. Just a place to chill out and do nothing. Lucky I like that kind of lifestyle. I am happy it is only for a month or so though, as after that it might get a bit boring. No air-con isn’t cool but!

Poker bitz:

Brag – Grinded more poker in the last week here than in all of 2012 combined. Silverstarring it.
Beat – ****ing power outages aren’t uncommon. Only been hit once so far while playing poker. Power was out for 30 minutes. I play 45 man turbos, so 30 minutes is not good! Also grinding on a lap top is a pain in the ass!
Variance – My poker game.

Excellent stuff fid.

+1

Awesome OP, just awesome.

Amazing wildlife, I'm very jelly.

Really cool pics m8 - sloths are cool

Great TR - keep it coming.

Gents

This has been posted in Travel, but I thought I would cross post it here, as I value BBVs input *cough*.

I am planning on being in Europe early August and would like some suggestions on what to do. We have 5 and a half weeks total.

We are flying into Paris and will stay 4 days and then get a train up to Amsterdam, were we will spend 4-5 days.

After that we are not too sure. I have done most of the Western side, so the plan was to do a trip as shown below. We will hire a car.



We have 4 weeks. Tell me what is good along the way, what I am missing etc etc.

Will there be any issues with the driving side of things? I've driven in Spain, Costa Rica, Mexico etc so am use to driving in foreign countries.

The end point is where we need to be at the end of the trip.

Just found this thread now but looks amazing and I am definitely subbed. Long time BBV lurker, but am glad I find this pot of gold in the dump! Sounds like an awesome journey you're on (the Native Americans might call it a spirit walk) either way, I look forward to the next post and wish you the best of luck!

Hamburg n Prague for u

Lake como in Italy for ur gf

+1 for Hamburg

Poker in Vienna! There are at least 2 MTTs with 100+ people each day, and if your gf doesn't want to rail there's plenty of stuff she can do in that time (opera, museums, coffee binch drinking...).

I would consider taking the train until Vienna. The connections are pretty good and cheap if you book early; and you don't need a car in the cities anyway. I know you want to speed on the Autobahn but that sounds funnier than it is.

Come to Murcia mate, Ill show you some good places to camp we have a very good weather here, loads of weed, good food, woman and obviously mediterranean

ladybois in Amsterdam

There's some nice buildings in rome

If you don't mind a little detour on your way from Amsterdam to Berlin, you could visit Quedlinburg. And take your time when you drive along the Ligurian coast, there's a lot to see there.