Travelers from certain countries usually carry some stereotypes. Some deserved and others not. For instance, any backpacker will say Israeli travelers are notorious for being arrogant, cheap, and traveling in packs. Of course there are many possible reasons for this such as English being a non-native language or most of them just finished military service.

Well I have some observations of my own to add to the list of stereotypes. This time about American backpackers. To start off I have met very few fat American backpackers in South America if it makes any difference. Australia is now most obese country anyways! But what I do encounter often are what I like to call “experts“.

Within minutes of meeting or just observing an American backpacker I already know  the most important fact about him or her without even having to ask. In comparison its pretty rare that I know much about any other foreigner. In just one night at a hostel in Bogota, Colombia, I encountered three different Americans. For reference, I did not talk to either of these three for more than one minute at the most.

The first was an American-Asian from California obsessed with his military tours to Iraq who explained the ins and outs of each gun he has used. I also know how many people he killed. Three.

The second was a Jewish guy from New York who was passionate for bashing every aspect the United States and mentioning his religion at every opportunity. He encouraged others to make jokes about him being Jewish at every opportunity.

The third American was a middle aged guy obsessed with traveling to dangerous countries. He took pride in explaining how Colombia is such a dangerous place or the time he visited Pakistan. He was also the obnoxious type who liked to brag about visiting certain countries before they were touristy. He did not stop talking.

What these three American travelers have in common is that the minute a stranger was to offer any of their own insight about the topic they would be quick to correct them. While I only provided three examples this type of attitude is all to common. There are many more!

Related posts:

1. The Young Backpacker
2. Notes From Bogota
3. The Young Backpacker

Now safely in Colombia for the 5th time since 2007 immediately did the first thing most exciting to me at that moment. I slept.

As I woke up later still in time to catch some daylight I continued my day-1 Bogota routine. This routine consists of first walking to Crepes y Waffles which while just a chain restaurant, is absolutely delicious.

It’s probably best known for the presentation of its deserts.

But I typically order a waffle with either hot chocolate sauce, white chocolate, or arrequipe (Colombian version of dulce de leche) along with a cup of strong coffee.  Plus the complementary chocolate covered coffee bean completely sweetens the deal. This time  I suffered because of my poor accent. My Spanish accent is so bad that when I asked for a waffle with white chocolate I recieved a cup of hot chocolate with marshmellows.

First part of the routine interrupted

Next part is a stop at Juan Valdez around 10 blocks away past the colonial buildings of downtown Bogota. No matter how many times I do this walk I never bore.

So once at Juan Valdez i’ll buy a large tinto (word for plain coffee) in this exact location where I sit outside and just stare dumbfounded that I am back in probably my favorite city in the world.

I then continue walking the streets until I reach Plaza Bolivar where I take a seat on the large steps amazed that each new time I visit the plaza has been decorated different. This time with ants wtf?

I finally end my stroll around downtown as it becomes dark and make my way back to hostel sue where I am greeted by the staff calling out my name.

Related posts:

1. Notes From Bogota
2. Notes From Colombia
3. Nestor the Bogota Taxi Driver

After a busy weekend of going out the pace slowed down. Mark and I met Carolina and her friend at a movie theater. I couldn’t make out the name of the film we were going to see when Carolina told me on the phone. Itrusted whatever it was would be cool.

I have never been more wrong. She and her friend expected us to see the film, Coco Channelle, a biography about a famous fashion designer. As fate would have it the movie theater literally closed down maybe that day or something and so at the other theater they were not showing it at the right time. Instead we went for coffee at Juan Valdez inside this trendy mini mall and talked for a while.

Seeing as our humor is not quite adjusted for Latin America we learned a few new responses for when people ask us what we do. Rather than tell people I work at McDonalds flipping burgers we learned it would be much funnier to tell people:

“I sell Cuy (guinea pig)”

“I am a lottery vendor”

Determined to see some movie other than on my laptop I tagged along with Mark to see Avatar in 3d for my second time. But my highlight of the day was sitting in the living room watching The Motorcyle Diaries with a group of Argentines. The best part came when they passed me a cup of mate. This happened no more than 2 times in the 4 months I spent in Argentina last year.

Lately work has increased and on Wednesday that meant waking up to 24 new emails in my inbox – no spam either. To give you a better idea I earned US$1,200 profit in 2 days. Not that I enjoyed spending 9 hours each day working with no break.

In contrast my time in Ecuador was  coming to a close as I booked my flight to Bogota, Colombia for Thursday morning. I say in contrast because I made sure to enjoy my free time as much as I could. On Wednesday night Mark and I went for drinks in the main plaza. Carolina joined us soon after, followed by another few friends even later. Another example of my many going away parties.

Like tradition we ended at Bungalow 6 for their insane ladies night. The place was absolutely packed and I muttered this is insane an infinite amount of times that night. By 1:30 I walked back to my hostel where I rested for a few hours until 3:30 AM when I took a taxi to the airport. I was exhausted and had a headache. I never wanted to miss a flight so badly but once I was stamped out of Ecuador there was no calling it quits.

I set my alarm for 6:15 AM and fell asleep laying across 3 seats only waking up just in time to board my flight to Colombia. The travel gods hate me because in Bogota public transportation went on strike turning a 20 minute taxi ride into nearly 1 1/2 hours through the city inch by inch. But at least I made it to Colombia!

Related posts:

1. One Way Ticket to Ecuador
2. Notes from Ecuador
3. Cheap Travelers

Back in Bogota last August I did the usual. I  ate well, drank at cafe’s and partied non-stop. I flew from Buenos Aires to Bogota and stayed at my favorite hostel, Hostel Sue #2, which has turned into a tradition as history shows I can be expected to stay with them in Bogota at least once a year.

I arrived on a Monday night and ran into some people I had met on previous trips, like a Peruvian chef who has been living in the hostel for over 6 months. I met a few regular backpackers, one of which was dumb enough to tattoo “Pittsburgh” on his shoulder. Pittsburgh was where I went to college so after meeting him he gave me his book, Lonely Planet South America on a Shoestring. I have not looked at it since my brain has become an encyclopedia of useful and useless information about South America.

Another person I ran into again was a girl who worked at the hostel last time I visited. She was excited to see me but that excitement was confusing because we were supposed to meet for a date one time, but she flaked out.

We made plans the next day and met for coffee at Juan Valdez downtown. I found out that the reason she flaked out was because she had a boyfriend, who she recently broke up with. As I learned more about her I noticed she was completely different than I assumed. She was older…27. Also still in school studying environmental engineering which she talked about too much. One interesting fact about her family is that her grandparents owned one of the biggest food companies in Colombia, producing the main ingredient for Colombia’s staple food, Arepas. So her family is beyond wealthy but because her Mom eloped her family did not receive much. Meanwhile, her cousins own multiple mansions in different countries.

Others I ran into again was the maid and owners of course, who were as hospitable as ever. I talked to a Swiss backpacker I met my second day in Colombia in 2007.

I went over a Colombian friend’s house one night and caught up with everything while I was away. Heard some interesting rumors about certain people…haha. I won’t say what they are as they are just rumors.

One morning I went to Crepes & Waffles for breakfast and I swear the same woman always works the counter. She smiled and I know she remembers me from my many visits in the past.

I also did some chores. I bought a new sim card for my phone and got my glasses fixed. At the eyeshop an older Colombian man, Raphael, befriended me. He lived in New York City and Miami for a long time so i think he was just happy to be able to practice his English. We exchanged numbers and he urged me to call him so we could get some coffee.

Another day I hung out with my Colombian friend I wrote about above. He recently bought a new dog and so he dragged me to a park a few blocks from his home. The park was pretty neat because every day an official dog club meets up so each of their dogs can run around and socialize together. The fun thing was that the people there were such an odd mix full of rich older men, teens with the gothic look, good looking middle aged women, a poor looking guy with missing teeth, and more.

I one day moved to another hostel for easier access to people wanting to go out at night and that upset the owners a bit. But it was worth it because the new hostel was so lively. I ran into an Australian backpacker I took a day trip with to a salt mine in Zipaquira. I also walked right into a a guy I studied with in Buenos Aires who I had given tons of advice to before he left Buenos Aires.

One night a bunch of us from the hostel went out together and I met a really cute architect but her annoying friend just kept clinging to both of us. Other nights we drank rum in the hostel, where quite a few people were long term backpackers stuck in Bogota teaching English. I really met some fun people. A group of Chileans, a cool Australian, and other nights we also went out not coming back to the hostel until it was light outside. Classic Bogota.

If you stuck it out this long reading this you are kind of lucky. This marks the end of my writing about old travels and the next posts you read will be about my trip to Ecuador that I leave for in 2 days.

Related posts:

1. Nestor the Bogota Taxi Driver
2. Notes From Colombia
3. Bus Times In Colombia (from Bogota)

I really did not mean for that to rhyme. Back in August while in Bogota I met up with my friend Carlos to see a movie at the mall. On the way back I took the first taxi I saw, which is when I met Nestor.

Of the hundreds of taxi’s I have ridden throughout South America, whether in Brazil or Colombia, Nestor was my favorite. He wasn’t nuts like the driver who drove me to the airport in 2008 or such a romantic driver like this guy.

Nestor was just kind. We chatted pleasantly about all sorts of topics like business travelers, how Bogota has changed in the past five years, his family, my family, and more. Even if the ride lasted twenty minutes Nestor was a pleasure to meet and so genuine.

As he dropped me off in my neighborhood, La Candelaria, he invited me to have dinner with him and his family the next day. He wrote his phone number on the back of his business card in case I ever needed any help or had questions.

I thanked Nestor and left the taxi. He waited until I safely entered my hostel and then waved goodbye as he drove off.

Related posts:

1. Notes From Bogota
2. Exciting Happenings In Bogota
3. Bus Times In Colombia (from Bogota)