When 2011 began, I’d been home from my last trip of 2010 (which took me to Thailand, Myanmar and The Philippines, in case you don’t remember) for less than 72 hours. In many ways, travel was the last thing on my mind.
To be sure, I didn’t travel quite as much in 2011 as I had in 2010: 13 countries vs. 15, respectively. I do believe, however, that travel began to take on an even more significant role in my life this year that it ever had before.
South America
Feburary: My Israeli friend Assaf at the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Peru
The first of my two “big” trips in 2011 was to South America, between February and April. After touching down in Lima, I headed to Arequipa, Peru, where I enjoyed the fantastic Colca Canyon, twice as deep as the United States’ own Grand Canyon. Next I hit up the city of Cusco, ancient capital of the Incas, and visited both the Sacred Valley of the Incas and Machu Picchu.
Once I was done in Peru, I moved on to Bolivia. After spending a few days exploring the sky-high Bolivian capital of La Paz, I bussed it to the southwestern portion of the country and toured the Uyuni Salt Flats, one of the most alien landscapes I’d ever seen. Throughout my time in Peru and Bolivia, I stayed almost exclusively in Loki Hostels, some of the friendliest, most comfortable places I’ve ever slept.
March: Cosmpolitan Santiago, Chile
The next stop was Chile, the most “civilized” stop on my itinerary at that point. I spent a couple days in the gringo town of San Pedro de Atacama in the country’s northwest, where I literally ran into Amanda and Aeriel, two American girls who’d stayed at Loki Cusco with me. I then headed to Santiago, Chile’s cosmopolitan capital city. I explored Santiago for almost two weeks — it’s definitely one of my favorite cities I’ve ever visited. There, I reconnected with Martin, an Australian who’d been in my Salt Flat tour in Bolivia.
April: Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Following a day trip to the Chilean port of Valparaíso, I headed over the Andes to Argentina. My first stop in the land of Evita was Mendoza, anchor city of Argentina’s wine-producing region. Next was Córdoba, Argentina’s second-largest city, followed by the fantastic capital city of Buenos Aires. I stayed in San Telmo, in the historical part of the city, where I met up with Bethan and Danielle, two British girls who’d been on the same Salt Flat tour as Martin and I. After snapping up a Brazilian visa, I crossed into Argentina’s northern neighbor country at Iguazú Falls.
I divided my time between Brazil’s big cities, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. I was shocked at just how much I enjoyed São Paulo, having heard mostly bad things about the city from fellow travelers. My time in Rio, on the other hand, was defined mostly be relaxation and searching for cheap, delicious food. I had my fair share of romantic encounters in Brazil, but hey — sex is what you do in Brazil, after all.
Summer in the States
August: San Francisco, California
I flew home to Austin on April 24 and spent the first month or so after my return reflecting on my trip. South America was noteworthy for me in many ways. For one, it was the first time I’d done an entire trip traveling overland. I also forged deeper connections with fellow travelers than I ever had before — and with quite a few of the locals in some of the places I visited as well.
In June, I began preparing for the arriving of my best friend Bianca, who was coming from Switzerland to spend the whole summer in Texas. While she was here, we took a break from the scorching Austin heat and headed to California for a week. After starting in Los Angeles, we drove up the “1″ to San Francisco, stopping in Santa Cruz along the way. Unfortunately, Bianca left about a week after we returned to Austin.
The Mediterranean
September: Mykonos, Greece
Thankfully, my second trip of the year helped dry my tears. I flew to Athens on August 30, spending about three days in the Greek capital before hopping a ferry to Mykonos, a stunningly-beautiful Greek island. Apart from pleasingly low prices, I saw few signs of the Greek financial crisis.
In a surprising move (if you read about my 2010 visit there, anyway), I followed up Greece with Israel, where I spent the majority of my time exploring the city of Tel Aviv. While my time in “outer” Israel had been spent fearful of interrogation by police and military, my time in Tel Aviv was defined by joy and delight — and probably too much time between the sheets with Israeli men. I was also lucky enough to meet up with Assaf, an Israeli traveler I met at the Loki Hostel in Cusco. Good place that place!
North Africa
September: Cairo, Egypt
After Israel I headed south along the Red Sea to Egypt, where I chilled for a couple days in Sharm el Sheikh. I followed Sinai up with the fantastic Egyptian capital of Cairo and, not surprisingly, a trip to the famous Giza pyramids. I also toured some lesser-known pyramids before heading the south of Egypt, where I rode a felucca boat up the Nile River. Egypt was someplace I’d been dreaming about visiting since I was a little boy and it didn’t disappoint. As had been the case in Greece, I saw little indication of the upheaval the media had so hyped in Egypt.
October: Morocco's central valley
I spent about two weeks in Egypt, then flew across North Africa to Morocco, where I started my adventure in the love-it-or-hate-it city of Marrakech. I relaxed for a couple days in the coastal city of Essaouira, then spent three days and two nights camping in the Sahara desert, one of my all-time travel highlights. I ended my trip in Morocco with a couple days in the blue city of Chefchaouen — and in complete awe of how diverse and abundant Morocco’s culture and landscapes were, in spite of its small size.
Europe
October: Las Ramblas, Barcelona
Following a flight to Barcelona, I found myself all of a sudden back in the developed world, a jarring transition if there ever was one. Thankfully, Spain’s cheap prices made this less dramatic. After a few days in Barcelona, I took a bus down to the city of Granada, where I saw Nellie, who runs WildJunket, and had participated in the Thailand Medical Blog Content with me the previous November in Thailand. I ended my second trip to Spain in Madrid, which surprisingly gave Barcelona a run for its money as my favorite city in Spain, an awesomeness underscores by the incredible Parque del Buen Retiro.
Part of the reason I didn’t let myself get too upset about Bianca leaving at the end of August is that I had worked a trip back to Switzerland to see her into my schedule. The week I spent there in October marked my third visit to the land of chocolate, which further underscored to me that Switzerland is anything but boring. We stayed mainly in and around Zürich, where Bianca lives, but also visited the city of Luzern.
October: Modernity Party in Zürich
We followed up my week in Switzerland with a visit to Amsterdam, our third together and something of a tradition. Although most of our time together there was spent legally smoking marijuana in Amsterdam’s coffee shops, I focused my two days in Amsterdam post-Bianca on enjoying the city sober. I also made the acquaintance of a charming young German man named Björn. Thump-thump.
The last stop on the trip was Portugal, the only country in Western Europe I hadn’t yet visited prior to this trip. I was pleasantly surprised at how different Portugal was from Spain — you’d think, after all, that they’d be similar, since Spain almost completely encircles Portugal. I fell in love with the northern city of Porto and its port wineries, as well as the fabulous capital of Lisbon, home to Travellers House — literally the top-rated hostel in the world.
November: Amsterdam's "Bloemenmarkt"
I returned to the U.S. in early November completely exhausted, but also completely refreshed. Each trip is a spiritual reinvention of sorts, but this one in particular had been a doozy, defined by contrast and undulation. Cultural openness was one dimension of these dramatic shifts. Less than a week every bedding every other man I met in Tel Aviv, for example, I was traveling closeted in Muslim North Africa. The first thing I saw when I stepped off the plane in Barcelona was a young man kissing his boyfriend in plain sight!
My 2012 Travel Plans
November: Lisbon, Portugal.
As of this moment, my only set 2010 travel plan is a six-week trip to Australia which begins on January 31 — soon, I know? I’ll meet up with Martin, whom I mentioned a few paragraphs up, as well as dozens of other Aussies I’ve met out on the road. I’ll be updating during my trip, although you shouldn’t expect to see Australia content being added until I get back in mid-March.
Beyond that, I’m not really sure what 2012 will bring. It depends on a lot of things, but mainly finances. Ideally, I’d like to also visit Russia and Eastern Europe, southeastern Africa, northern South America and the Himalayan region. Ambitious, right? Well as I like to say, you have to dream big to travel big.
As 2011 draws to a close — for some of you, it already did — I wanted to thank each and every one of you for reading Leave Your Daily Hell. Download my new photo e-book if you haven’t already and get ready for lots more good stuff is to come in 2012!
About The Author
Robert Schrader is the author of 255 posts on Leave Your Daily Hell.
Robert founded Leave Your Daily Hell in 2010 so that other travelers would have an entertaining, reliable source of information, advice and inspiration at their fingertips. Robert has traveled to more than 36 countries since he got his first passport stamp in 2005. Want to travel more often? Subscribe to email updates today!
