Happy Anniversary to me (part 1)

It's hard for me to imagine, but it appears I'm rapidly approaching the first anniversary of my departure from DC. With hardly any routine for 12 months, my sense of time is pretty well skewed, with last week feeling about the same as 9 months ago. But it's hard to argue with calendar, and the memories of 25 countries since last seeing Washington. I thought to commemorate the big date, I would write up a couple of ideas I've had for posts for a while now, starting with the common things I've come across in every country I've visited so far, and then move on to answering one of the most common questions I get, "What do you miss most?"

The first thing I do when traveling to a new place is feel for the differences, the ways that the place I'm in is not like anywhere I've been before. However, after traveling for so long, I've begun to pick up on the things that show up everywhere. I'm not talking about in the big cities, because almost every big city in the 21st century is like every other big city, and they all have Starbucks and 7-11 and Subway restaurants. Outside the metropolitan areas, the differences and local cultures are much easier to see, but so are these common outside influences. And they aren't the ones that probably leap to mind first; not Coca-Cola or McDonalds or even Starbucks (Fanta is probably more popular than Coke most places, Subways are more numerous than McDonalds, and a lot of the world doesn't like - or know how to make - good coffee).

For example, I've not yet been in a city, town, or village that didn't sell Pringles in most of the shops, no matter how small. I can only assume it's the tube packaging, and the fact that the tubes come in several different sizes, that make Pringles so appealing to shopkeepers everywhere. In several countries, I didn't see any "real" potato chips sold, but did see Pringles and one or two fake Pringles competitors for sale, in several flavors.

My first of thousands of Pringles sighting, stuck at Newark Airport

In the States, we frequently make jokes about Starbucks taking over the world, but let me tell you, I think the real danger of a corporation taking over the world comes from Sanrio, owners of the Hello Kitty brand. And and opposed to Starbucks, we would probably all welcome the Hello Kitty troops into most towns with open arms, just because they would be so darned cute. Hello Kitty's adorable face is literally everywhere in the world, no matter how remote, and branded in the most incongruous places, from appliances to cars to office equipment.

All must bow to the Kitty! Hello Kitty sees all.

And speaking of incongruous, something else that turns up everywhere is the music of Bob Marley. Don't get me wrong, I love Bob Marley's music - I just can't quite figure out how a man who's music is all about strife, revolution, hardship, and poverty has somehow come to symbolize kicking back and taking it easy... although the automatic association with marijuana probably explains at least part of it. Even outside tourist areas, Bob's smiling face is almost as likely to be found as Hello Kitty's, and I've heard his music on public buses, barbershops, and grocery stores all over the world.

Then there are the categories that show up everywhere that get even a minimal number of tourists. Irish pubs and Chinese restaurants seem to spontaneous appear anywhere American, Australian, or European tourists stop, although the "Irish" pubs may serve Pad Thai and don't know there is a difference between scotch and Irish whiskey, and the "Chinese" restaurants may be operated entirely by Ecuadorans. Similar to Bob Marley, Irish pubs seem to be synonymous with "good times" all the world over.

And speaking of good time, I've been enjoying my time in Philippines quite a bit. Since some of the best times I've had this year have been in southeast Asia and/or SCUBA diving, I decided to go back to that area and spend some serious time on tiny islands, occasionally diving, and the Philippines is a fantastic place to make that happen. The islands I've been to don't have the cultural elements that Indonesia or Malaysia do, but they are friendly, inexpensive, and laid back. And in the two weeks I've been here, I've been diving on torpedoed Japanese WWII wrecks, in a freshwater hot spring, and with thresher sharks, so no complaints about the underwater side of things either. I'll post more Philippines photos later, as well as a description of where I've been...once I don't have the constant distractions of a beach to lure me away.

From my B&B's front porch in El Nido, Phliippines

Sunset in El Nido. Those banca boats make for some nice photography subjects.

As a friend told me before I left, "I won't be surprised if your blog postings get less and less frequent as the trip goes on." Her prediction turned out to be true, but less due to lack of interest in retelling my adventures, and more because the nature of my adventures was different over the last couple of months. Since leaving Bariloche, Argentina, I've been spending the majority of my time in modern cities and, just as I have a hard time with taking interesting urban photographs, I have a tough time telling interesting urban stories. It's not that I haven't been having fun and doing interesting things, it's just that they aren't the "snorkeling with whale sharks" and "dealing with Indian traffic accidents" sort of events that I like to blog about (they're more like the "drinking in pubs with ghost tour guides*" and "how many consecutive meals of tapas can I eat before it gets old**" sort of adventures). But, it wouldn't be fair to neglect a month of travels just because the countries I was visiting had clean toilets and microbrewed beer, so before I start posting about SCUBA diving, lack of electricity, and televised cockfighting (yep, roosters killing each other for sport on Filipino local TV), here's a recap of May.

My favorite view in London: St. Paul's from the Millennium Bridge

This statue is in the middle of Inverness. Since I didn't see a plaque, I assume it's there to commemorate the last unicorn killed on Scottish soil

To start with, my plans for May were shifted slightly due to the fact that my backpack - containing my computer, camera, passport, and various other items - was stolen while I was in Buenos Aires. I only mention this to highlight one thing: the only real effect it had on my trip was to cause me to stay in the UK a couple additional weeks than planned while my passport was replaced. Yes, I had a moment of panic when I realized I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings and my bag was missing, but once I got over that, it took me two hours to file a police report, cancel my credit card, change my reservations for the next stop, and contact the US embassy about getting an emergency replacement passport. Within a week, I had a gotten a new temporary passport, moved on to London, replaced all the missing electronics and gear, and applied for a new permanent passport, which was shipping to my friends' flat in London. When I started planning out my trip, I had intended for everything to be I was taking with me to be replaceable or redundant, and more than anything else, I feel pleased it worked out that way when it needed to. However, I had to stay in the same country for an extra two weeks while my permanent passport was being prepared, and since I've developed an allergic reaction to staying in the same city for more than 5 days, I took the opportunity to get out of London and explore more of the UK.

A panoramic view of Inverness, with the River Ness running through it

On a walk in Lake District

First up was a long weekend in Inverness, Scotland, a nice little city next to a very famous lake, Loch Ness. I'm happy to report that Inverness is not just one big souvenir shop for Nessie; in fact, you have to work hard to even find references to the monster while in town. And although the river cruise on Loch Ness I took was scenic and full of the landscape I had gone up to Scotland to see (plus rain), there were no signs of any prehistoric beasts beyond the stuffed animals they sold on the boat. From Inverness, I headed back south into England to visit York, one of the oldest cities in England and center of enough events to make a history nerd like me quite happy. If you've ever been to London and though it just didn't feel "English" enough for you, go to York. It has all the tiny winding alleys, classic neighborhood pubs, and remnant stone gates into the city you could want, plus vikings, ghost tours, and a city-wide cat statue scavenger hunt. Even better, I got to visit a friend I met volunteering in the Maldives, as well as making a few new ones at one of the best hostels I've stayed in all year. Last on the UK itinerary was Windermere, in England's Lake District. The Lake District is where the English go to holiday in the summer, when the weather has a chance of being pleasant in England (as opposed to the rest of the year), and the landscape and scenery is spectacular, and perfect for hiking and biking. After a few days in Windermere going hiking and refilling burned calories with hearty English breakfasts at the B&B, I headed back to London to pick up my passport just in time to leave for Spain.

The gardens in the Alhambra

A cathedral in Granada, Spain

In Spain, I met up with a friend from DC to celebrate our birthdays, which fall a couple of days apart from each other, and just generally eat delicious food and drink sangria every day until the wee hours of the morning, with a little light sightseeing. OK, I'm joking about the "light" sightseeing; we actually hopped from Madrid to Málaga to Granada to Barcelona over the course of week, but it was a lot of fun and we got to see historic sites, beautiful architecture, and some great beaches. I love the vibe in Spain, even when I can't get a morning coffee because the cafes don't open early enough, and it's hard not to get swept up in the "what's your hurry?" feel of the country. Even though I've been spending much of the last year on tropical islands, the only times I've spent entire days just sprawling out on beaches have been in Greece and Spain - there's something about the Mediterranean that just fills me with the urge to do absolutely nothing. It's a good thing.

Some of the beautiful stained glass in La Familia Sangrada in Barcelona

A dizzying view down the staircase inside the tower in La Familia Sangrada

Part of the Passion Facade at La Familia Sangrada

The vaulted ceiling inside La Familia Sangrada

* A guide who leads tours about ghosts, not the spirit of a deceased tour guide.

**Trick question, it never gets old. I even discovered breakfast tapas this trip; they're like dinner tapas, you just have coffee with them instead of sangria.