A lesson in practising my patience – MENDOZA
Posted on Jan 31, 2016 Leave a Comment
So you’re in South America..and you know clocks tick differently here..but actually experiencing quite how different… I found out over the last few days. Such a simple thing as buying a bus ticket to get to your destination – in my case MENDOZA (Argentina) – can turn into a true nightmare.
First attempt
We bought our first ticket to Mendoza nine days ago. We spent all day in a restaurant, with all our luggage around us, waiting for the evening bus leaving Viña del Mar. It was supposed to leave at 21.45. At 22.00 we were told it was not going to come, and we got our money back. It was already dark and late. What will we do now?
Second attempt
We started asking other companies whether they had two spaces left from anyone not showing up. At the last minute we got two spots. Not sitting together… but hey, we’re on the bus! We were very happy and made ourselves comfortable for the roughly 9 hour trip. After two hours the bus stopped and waited for 40 minutes! The Andes Pass was closed, and the bus was going to turn around. We arrived back in Viña in the middle of the night, and because the hostel was full, slept (not!) on the couch.
Day 2
The next day we went back to the bus station. The guy gave us a whatsapp number, told us to text after 4 and come back later. We went to the beach. Then we texted… a nice message… another one… a slightly annoyed one… an angry one!! No response. So we packed our towels and went back to the station again. My friend Kelly didn’t have time to wait so many days so we just wanted to get our money back. We were told they have no money left in the office and we should come back tomorrow…
Day 3
The next day we spent hours in the bus station. There were 50 people waiting in the line. We waited for about 2 hours when we finally reached to desk. We saw the woman that had sold us the ticket and we were at first relieved that now everything would be OK. But she was a different person. She told us she had no money and we should come again in …one hour!
In the end the security of the station called the police. The police called the bus company, and we got our money back! After us the local TV station arrived and started interviewing people in the still enormous queue… Did we start that? OMG!!
Day 4
I bought another bus ticket with another company for Friday. One week after the first attempt. I figured the road should be open again by then and it was the first day that had any availability. The whole station was crazy because there are so many people from MENDOZA here on a holiday and they all need get back to work.
Day 5 – Day 7
Waiting… got sick like crazy… waiting some more. Hanging out energy-less on the holllywoodschaukel (google that 😉 )
Third Attempt to get to Mendoza
I was there at 7.30, the bus was supposed to be there at 8.15 and now I was prepared. Now I knew everything about going to Mendoza and had everything with me that I did not have before. Warm jacket… check. Two Liters of water… check. Food… (cause you can spend 4 hours in customs if unlucky) check. 8.30… NO BUS! So this time I responded quickly. The office of the ticket sales of my company was closed so I bought a ticket to Santiago and jumped on to it at 8.30. I was supposed to change the bus there.
I arrived there, went to the office and they did not want to understand anything or do anything. They did not want to give me my money back and there were not going to be any other tickets for the next two days. That was too much for me. I was without sleep, still ill, and I just started crying like crazy. I found myself completely helpless at the Bus Terminal. I could not help it, but all the frustrations of the last few days came out.
Let Mate (Rieslingschorle) solve your problems
The new Argentinian friends I made in the hostel in Viña del Mar would have probably told me to have a seat and drink a Mate (Mate Tea). This drink seems to solve any problem and is the Rieslingschorle of Argentina cause you sit together and share from the same glass (cup) and tadddá!! All your problems are gone…
The problem is the only Mate I tried was the smoked, advanced drinker version and it tasted like drinking an ashtray filled with hot water. So drinking Mate was not an option! Neither was crying my eyes out again, so I needed to think. But after not sleeping the whole night because of the party-animals in my last accommodation, and still not having completely recovered from my illness a few days ago, I first just ran into an internet cafe. SKYSCANNER help me! I want to get out of this f…. place!! Ok no chance,..next flight is within an hour. All others are not affordable…
Saved by IBIS
I head over to the other terminal to see where else I could go. Tourist Information -closed. Still crying.. in the end of the corner I see a familiar sign.. IBIS!! First thing i thought.. I do not care what it costs or if it blows my budget: “I am going there!” After a small sleep, a shower and a nice dinner, life is sweet again. I gained strength and gave the bus terminal another go. And there was a different woman behind the glass. She called around but could not help me, at least she was sorry… Then another man started intervening. He also called and gave me his mobile. I couldn’t really understand anything… but he told me to follow him across the hallway… and HE GAVE ME MY MONEY BACK!! I kissed the guy on the cheek! There are still some good people out there! Yeah!!
Back to the hotel I went! Called my best friend and started a new plan. How good it is to have a best friend that is so experienced in travel, and who always stays calm. “Andrea for any flight out there you can stay a lot of nights in nice rooms… better just hang in there and wait and enjoy the time while you are there”. Pretty much sounds like…just have a Mate…
Maybe Europe and South America are not really that different…
I will let you know when I have managed to reach Mendoza!!! I bought a ticket for Monday morning… (Fourth and last attempt)!
Santiago de Chile – coffee with legs
Posted on Jan 16, 2016
Santiago de Chile is an amazing city! So far I really like it. It feels like Europe in South America. Even when I’m being aware, I feel a lot safer than I felt in Brazil. Santiago is a very modern city and the city is surrounded by stunning mountains.
Two days ago, I joined the free walking tour in Santiago and learned many new things about this amazing place. Brazil is famous for its coffee. Chile – or Santiago – was known for its horrible coffee. One day a woman came up with a great idea “coffee with legs” (cafe con piernas). Really hot girls in short dresses or mini bikinis serving coffee to distract from its awful taste and offering a nice experience instead.
The concept was a winner and many galleries in the heart of Santiago de Chile have coffee with legs. If you see them from the outside, you would think twice about going inside. The windows are tanned and dark and they all look a little shabby.
But our great tour guide opened the door of one of them and let us take a peak inside. Black light, loud disco music, and girls in tiny bikinis. He told us that women are very welcome there, because most places are owned by women. Many times women even get something for free there! The Dutchies heart was awake 😉 and so me and Kelly, who I met on the tour, agreed to go check it out the next day.
Our visit to the coffee con piernas
Our hearts were beating like crazy… Just open the door and in we go!
My eyes needed a moment to adjust to the dark. Then I saw 4 half-naked women in tiny bikinis standing around. We ordered a coffee (very cheap by the way), and a woman, who wore something we could only call a hint of fabric, served us.
What we saw then made us speechless. Men come in and the ladies start shaking their butts. There is touching, and grabbing and…well it sure didn’t look like only waitresses in bikinis.
After a while sitting there and our eyes almost falling out – (and of course trying to observe as good as we could without being noticed), we see a woman and a man go upstairs. “This is not a coffee Kelly”. I hear myself saying. “This looks more like the red light district of Amsterdam”. In the middle of businesses and in a shopping area of Santiago de Chile. Next door you can buy printing paper for your office.
After a while, one of the girls started speaking to us. We told her about the free guide tour and the coffee con piernas. She smiled and explained to us that this is a coffee con … (and makes the move of a cowboy on a horse). Alright…! Even when we both didn’t understand the word in Spanish, we were now sure that we were right! We were sitting amongst whores. Oh my god! My need to use the bathroom instantly disappeared. We quickly finished our coffee – which tasted amazingly good by the way – and out we went!
Knowledge is power! Best speech on the cruise
Posted on Dec 1, 2015 Leave a Comment
QUOTE: “Knowledge is Power”
Is this true? Most people might think so, but really it isn’t. Knowledge is only potential power – you must use the knowledge.
Knowledge is only power when you take action from the knowledge. A lot of people gain a lot of knowledge, but never take action upon it. It is more powerful to have little knowledge, but to use this knowledge, than to have a lot but not use it. Chris explains this with the example of a BMW. If you have a big BMW with a giant engine, but the engine is not connected to the wheels, you are not going anywhere. If you have a small car with a small engine but the engine is connected to the wheels you will be able to move. Even though it might be slowly.
The most intelligent people are often the most stuck. They take in all information but do not take the necessary action to do do something with it. Really, I see a lot of myself in this. I learned a lot. Went to many seminars and workshops, but how much did I really put into action? But what I did do is quit my job and get rid of my house and unchained myself from a lot of my things. I did not know where the road would go, but hey I took serious action! But only because of the growing desire and need inside to finally want things to change!! The thought of spending another New Years Eve still living in the same place, and working on the same job drove me crazy. Something needed to change.
A lot of people don’t do things because they have the limiting belief that they are not good enough (yet). They think that others are better and use the excuse that they need to get better first, to be able to start things. This is not true ! It does not matter if you know a lot or a little. I matters what you do with it.
Learn by trial and error. Not ready, aim, fire. But ready, fire, aim. Do it first and optimize it later…
Chris put it all together in what he calls the best slogan in the World: JUST DO IT!
Why and How – Part one of the Speech
Posted on Dec 1, 2015 Leave a Comment
There are two very important questions to ASK: WHY AND HOW
I would like to share the content of my favorite speech on the boat… It starts with a story about a woman baking a banana bread. She makes the dough and before baking it, she cuts the ends off. One day she taught her son how the make it and he asked her: WHY do you cut the ends of the banana bread off before you put it in the oven? The mother answered: “Because that is how it is supposed to be done. That is how my mother taught me to do it.”
The son was not satisfied with this answer and went to his grandmother and asked her: “Why do you cut the ends of the banana bread before you bake it?” And she answered: “Because the bread is too big to fit in the tray”.
If you do not ask WHY you would have stupidly repeated doing things in the same way, when you could have also decided to take a little less of the ingredients or simply buy a bigger tray instead of wasting the dough. If things are not clear to you, or people teach you something and you do not understand why things are done in a certain way – don’t be afraid to ask why? (Das haben wir immer schon so gemacht, ist keine Antwort!). Maybe there is a better way of doing it!!
WHEN IS IT STUPID TO ASK WHY?
But there are also situations when it is stupid to why! If you go out and the girls or guys are not interested in you… it is stupid to start asking yourself why? Because all answers will be negative and take you nowhere. You will be saying things to yourself like:
- because I am not pretty or handsome enough
- because my clothes are not nice enough
- because my hair is not nice enough
You are putting yourself down and this thinking takes you nowhere… You are confronting yourself with assumptions about yourself. A better question to ask here is HOW?
HOW CAN I MAKE WOMEN OR MEN LIKE ME?
Now you get constructive answers that can help you do something about it.
You could say:
- I could buy nicer clothes
- I could get a new haircut
- I could learn to be more funny and spontaneous
Now you are thinking in a way that enables you to change the situation.
I love how this guy makes everything really simple 🙂
Nomad Cruise from Las Palmas to Santos Brazil
Posted on Nov 30, 2015 Leave a Comment
It’s great to experience how traveling was in the past. Traveling over the ocean on a boat with nothing but the ocean around us for days and days. Since we enjoyed the pool, nice food, cocktails, and digital nomad cruise seminars and conferences – really, traveling could be worse 😉
The nomad cruise was a great experience! I met many interesting people, who do all kinds of amazing things to live their dream. They are traveling the world and working from anywhere. Our first stop after crossing the internet and being on a diet (not a food diet! ) – just a no internet and no smartphone diet 😉 was Salvador.
When we arrived at the harbor I look outside and saw the broken buildings of Salvador. The only thing that came to my mind was “there is now way I am getting of the boat here!”
Ready to become a Digital Nomad
Posted on Nov 14, 2015
I got my digital nomad picture taken yesterday. The first step on a journey to becoming a digital nomad. I am really excited to learn lots of new stuff! Looking forward to meeting many other digital nomads that are already living the life of their dreams.
I met the first digital nomads on Tenerife and was so inspired by the concept of working and traveling at the same time, that I knew instantly that I wanted the same! It took another year to start living my dream. But today here I am. Ready to start my digital nomad journey!
Thank you Bryce and Nuria of www.ifihadavisa.com for making this amazing digital nomad picture!
