German Route

I am in the pre-production phase of a language and culture series. These are the 12 locations that I have decided to shoot while in Germany. My plan is to incorporate 10-20 words per episode and travel around Germany while learning the basic language.

After watching the entire series you should have a very basic foundation in the language. I have selected vocabulary which will be most beneficial to a traveler. Topics will range from Transportation, Numbers, Shopping, Basic Conversation etc.

Once I begin releasing these videos, I hope to get feedback on how I can improve these videos.

A Day in Aspen, Colorado, United States

A few weeks ago I took a trip to Aspen, Colorado. I didn't know what to expect when I got there, but I have seen plenty of photographs and was excited. I imagined Aspen as a small place, with a lot of people walking around interacting. I thought about coffee shops, small restaurants and other places for people to meet up.

I didn't enjoy my time in Aspen at all. Everything is overpriced and it's rather boring. The ski/snowboard slopes close at 3:30pm. Once the slopes close there is a few places to occupy, such as a handful of bars and restaurants. Unless you go to Aspen with a group of people, I would suggest skipping this location.

In my opinion, the best part of the entire trip was the drive. I left from Denver and drove west on a scenic route. Along the way the mountains grew taller until I felt I was inside of them. Although I did not enjoy my time in Aspen, I may visit again in the late future.

Train Trip Across Eastern Europe

In addition to the 14 countries I previously posted, I have a great interest in these 8 countries as well. I would like to take a train from Bulgaria and ride north to Estonia. I am still undecided on how to film them. I might compile each country into one show or just do individual episodes. If I compile them into one, the episode would run much longer than 30 minutes.

Travel Show Update

I have taken a few weeks to research information on which countries I would like to make shows on. Each show will be approximately 30 minutes and will include various topics. The 14 countries I came up with are Switzerland, Luxembourg, Austria, Czech Republic, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Slovenia, Italy, Slovakia, Poland, Croatia, Hungary and Denmark.

This is just a rough draft and I am sure this will change more than once. In addition to these 14 countries I will be producing a separate show which features 12-20 cities in Germany.

Khmer Monkeys

In 2010 I spent about a week in Sihanoukville, Kompong Som, Cambodia. My plan was to explore the area so I rented a motorbike from the place I was staying at. Naturally, I had my list of Khmer vocabulary, which included the word Monkey*.

After riding around for a bit and getting used to the area, I spoke with some locals and they pointed me in the direction of the monkeys. If you travel along the road towards the Independence Hotel, you will find a large group of monkeys hanging out.

I spotted 2 baby monkeys, sitting alone against a chain fence. At the end of the road I saw a little wooden stand that sold bananas, I bought a bunch and brought them up the street. After getting off my motorbike and walking the bananas up to them, the 2 original monkeys started multiplying. Within 45 seconds I was completely surrounded by monkeys.

Before I left on this trip, I was quite excited at the opportunity to interact with "exotic" animals. Animals that are not indigenous to my area. This thought started changing when a few adult monkeys occupied my motorbike and a baby tried ripping off my mirrors. I tried to make loud noises, I tried to shoo them as though they were a troublesome cat. Neither of these tactics worked and when I made one last attempt to shoo them by throwing my hand at them, my gesture was returned with a yell.

I decided they can borrow my motorbike for as long as they wanted. At one point in time I had the idea to chuck a rock in their direction and i'm glad I didn't. A few years later while in Indonesia, I learned they operate as a group. When one is threatened, they will all react to defend the group, which would have made for a really bad day.

So enjoy your time visiting the monkeys in Sihanoukville, just take some caution when approaching them and leaving your motorbike unoccupied.

*Normally I wouldn't include "Monkey" on a vocabulary list unless it was for a specific purpose. If I was going to the zoo, jungle or an area that I know they exist I will include it. I consider this a specialty word, because it's not for everyday use.

First Day in Laos

The morning started early. After nearly crashing off the runway, I safely entered Laos. From the airport, I took a taxi to a bus station in Vientiane, Laos. The scene was chaotic, with buses and people all over the place, in what seemed to be no logical order. No one spoke English at the ticket counter, but they understood Vang Vieng. This was the start of my 4 hour bus trip through small villages and dangerously winding roads.

The bus was packed and I took the last remaining seat in the back. We sat for a few more minutes and they started letting on everyone who had a ticket. The aisles were filled and I believe a few people were riding inside the luggage compartment as well.

After traveling down the road for about an hour we stopped off at a little village in the middle of no where. We were allowed to get out for about 30 minutes to get food, drinks, smoke and stretch out. Once the bus pulled up, it seemed as though everyone came out from the jungle. Villagers were selling everything from food to live animals. One lady bought a caged chicken, which later joined us inside the bus for the next 3 hours.

Aside from the airport, taxi and bus, this was my first interaction with Laotians. I only knew a hand full of words, but it was better than nothing. I ate chicken, bought some cigarettes and attempted to mingle.

Finally arriving at my destination of Vang Vieng, I was rushed by a group of motorbike drivers all wanting to drive me into town. I always travel light, a small backpack with 2 changes of clothes. I immediately grabbed by pockets and moved through the crowd. Last thing I needed was to have my cash lifted, while I was far from town.

I finally got to my bamboo bungalow on stilts. It was a little different from the ones the locals stayed in. For one, the structure was sealed with clear epoxy, so as to keep bugs out - that was fine with me. I want a local experience, but not into malaria or any other inconveniences.

Travel Show

Since I returned from my last trip to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia I've started giving serious thought to filming a travel show.

I enjoy learning about cultures and languages. Every time I travel to a foreign country, I make a list of at least 100-200 words that I may need.

It may seem like that amount of vocabulary would be limited, but it's very helpful. On many occasions, I have benefited greatly by being able to communicate in a foreign language - even at such a low level.

The hardest part of this (show) process for me, is the subject matter. What do I want to focus on? I was thinking about focusing on what each country is best known for, but I still have a lot of planning to do.

I will be living in Germany by April, so naturally European countries will be the first on my list.

To Cambodia In April

I just went on a well known website to book a flight and the best it had to offer from Germany to Cambodia was a 40 hour trip. Lately I've found it easier to book each leg of a trip independently.

This will be my second trip to Cambodia and I think I wanna explore the northern part of the country this time.

Japan Day 2

I woke up early in the morning to start my second day in Japan. I was awake for well over a day and only slept for a few hours, but I was fine. I already knew what I was up against. A new culture and an inability to speak the language have created some obstacles for me, but nothing I wouldn't be able to overcome. Thankfully we live in a digital age and I had my laptop.

My plan was to explore the local area and attempt to become familiar with it, but not so much to establish a routine. Once I find myself going to the same places everyday - morning coffee at the same place at the same time - it's time for me to move on to a new location. I try to maximize my experience by moving around a lot.

I rewrote my phrase and vocabulary list in order to make it a little more organized. I proceeded to look up a few things on the internet. I enjoy parks, botanical gardens, markets, villages etc. I wanted to try some local food and do what the locals do. I think that is a fairly common goal among travelers. What's the point of hanging out in McD's all day...or a 5 star resort for that matter. If I can do it at home, for thousands of dollars less, why not just stay at home? Travelers are looking to experience a different culture.

The streets were just as erratic as the previous night. Except, instead of teenagers running around from arcade to arcade, smoking out on the street and courting girls under the Big Screen, it was locals in suits and dress pants. This still messes me up when I travel. I often forget that not everyone is on vacation like me. Life is continuously moving.

I was staying in Shinjuku and I wanted to take a train to Harajuku. This was the location I had originally thought Tokyo was, when I first came to Japan. Girls dressed as Manga and Lolita characters, hanging out on the bridge all day. Using my phrase paper, I successfully asked for directions to the train station. I was quite surprised and pleased. It was a strange feeling to say something in a foreign language, be understood and gain knowledge of a train station from it.

I am an artist. The reason I bring this up, is the fact that reading and writing Haragana and Katakana is an art form. I asked the lady at the counter for a ticket to Harajuku. I walked up to a large map, which was all in Japanese and found out which train line Harajuku was on. I then followed the signs through the terminal and got on.

First Trip: Japan Day 1

My first introduction to international travel happened in August 2010. I was on a flight en route to the Republic of Korea. I departed from Raleigh, NC and had connections in Atlanta, New York and Seattle. By the time I landed in Tokyo, I had one last leg to my journey, but was more than happy to stay in Tokyo for a bit.

At this point in time I had been traveling for approximately 18 hours. This would be my first foreign country, I had never traveled internationally prior to this. I was not familiar with the language, I had no idea where to go and not a clue what to expect.

I bought all of my tickets from an online website. Since I had no experience with this type of situation, I didn't know if I would be able to change my original travel plans. I walked up to the counter of the airline I used, told them my intention and they changed my ticket right then and there. I gave myself about a week to explore.

At this point in time it was about 8-9pm. I went through customs and got my Visa stamp. In my mind, I imagined walking out of the airport into a world of neon lights and girls dressed in Manga and Lolita outfits. That assumption couldn't be further from the truth, although I would have been perfectly happy with that.

I wasn't nervous in the least, just very confused. Telling someone you want to visit Tokyo is like saying you want to visit New York City. Well...what part? Are you going to Midtown? The Village? I went to a counter near the taxi stands to grab a map. Nothing was distinct and there was no clear indication of where I should go. I wanted to see everything in the movies, everything you see on TV and what we as foreigners think of when we hear the word Tokyo.

The lady at the counter suggested I go to Shinjuku. I told her downtown. From my experience, everything downtown is better than uptown - and usually cheaper. So I bought a ticket for a bus and off I went. The trip from the airport to Shinjuku was roughly 1 hour. It arrived at the drop off point, which was a hotel I reserved at the airport.

I was completely exhausted. I was awake for about 20-22 hours now, but there was no way I was going to sleep. I am in Tokyo, this is supposed to be exciting. How could I possibly sleep, at the very least I need to go outside and just walk around, see what's happening. I dropped off my bags, I took a quick shower and changed then I left the hotel.

At this point in time is when I realized I had been lied to. News articles and other sources always talked about how English was the most popular language in the world. That it is practically spoken everywhere. I distinctly remember reading articles that said China...Japan etc. all taught English as a second language. Then again in America, Spanish is taught as a second language. How many people habla espanol? Exactly.

All I wanted to do was eat. I lived the entire day off of airport/airline food and wasn't all that happy. I started walking down the street and everything was lit up. It's late at night but people are still moving around and I felt at home. However, everywhere I went I couldn't find a single person who spoke English. I finally got desperate and went to McDonalds. I couldn't even order from there. I was completely down, but I wasn't out.

I walked back to my hotel and broke open my laptop. I started writing Japanese phrases down in my notebook. "May I have ____?", "How much for ____?" and similar phrases. Then I made another list of items that I would need. Water, chicken, rice etc.

I finally got food. I made it back to my hotel. I passed out for a solid night of sleep.