We installed the Linux Ubuntu operating system on our eeePC Netbook just before we departed for Africa. Somewhere around the start of our time in South America our computer, then using MS Windows, developed insomnia where it would wake up from its stand by, or sleep status while closed, inside its case, tucked away in my backpack. Fire was an obvious concern, but we were more worried the computer would fry itself on the inside. Add that to a couchsurf in Argentina where a self-proclaimed ‘Linux Geek’ pointed out that all the applications we were using (since they were all free) ran natively inside Linux.
We took the plunge. Backed up everything. Formatted the hard drive. Erased all our precious …

It’s 1pm and I’m sitting in Danny’s parents kitchen looking out at the backyard. The air conditioning is on, the fridge is fully stocked, the bathrooms have ultra-soft toilet paper,and the toilets are guaranteed to flush. These may sound totally normal to you, but these small conveniences don’t really exist in my world. Every few days we pick ourselves up and move to a new location. Sometimes the electricity doesn’t work for hours, sometimes the water will go out all day, often there isn’t a shred of toilet paper to be found in a public bathroom. Travel is all very exiting, but after 16 months we needed a vacation from our travels.
Vacation means freedom from something: work, duty or responsibility. …

The Tour de France is a huge event in cycling, and as with all sports, advertising plays a big role in the Tour.  Before each stage there’s a “advertiser’s parade” officially called the publicity caravan.  Tour officials call it an essential part of the tour, but we generally love these things for the plethora of junk and candy they throw at you.  Unfortunately we only scored one package of candy and a few free goodies, but it was worth it to see the ridiculous floats and “motivators” do their thing on the business-like streets of Brussels.  Vive le tour!

As I sit here now, watching the final stages of the 2010 Tour de France, it is incredible to think of all that has happened on this year’s tour. The first few stages were a train wreck of crashes and disasters, those were some of the ones we were able to see while we were in Belgium. The team I cheer for, Garmin, lost its lead rider almost immediately. Another race favorite lost the yellow jersey (that’s first place) when the wrist he broke the day prior, and kept secret from the rest of the racers, got the best of him. Since that point, it has been a two man race and after all 2,200 miles …

Wedding gift registry’s are really popular in the United States. For the first week, our registry only had one item- a Belgian waffle maker. We really, really wanted it. Affectionately in Spanglish we call our waffle maker “casa de los waffles” (house of waffles), and place a dot on it every time we use it. Needless to say it has a lot of dots.
Belgium is known for its waffles and of course its chocolate. For research purposes we had to try both, individually and together. And with ice cream. And strawberries….Turns out our little casa de los waffles doesn’t do such a bad job: it makes practically perfect Belgian waffles, American sized of …

We were determined to prove two Belgian travelers wrong about their country: it is NOT possible to see Belgium in one day. In fact we spent 4 days in Belgium and only left Brussels once. So there.
More than any place on this entire trip, Brussels reminded us of home. No, it wasn’t the french accent, the chocolate, the strange little boy statue or the little-Africa neighborhood downtown. While these could all be said of DC, it was the vibe of “power” in the city. The political center of the European Union, we attended a birthday party where the attendees were from no less than a dozen nations.  (In fact, ‘Happy Birthday’ was sung in three different languages.)  It was the first …

We took this picture hiking around the Juan Curi waterfall outside of San Gil, Colombia. After trying to touch the butterflies, I looked down and saw why they were congregating at that spot. Dung. Needless to say, I haven’t tried to catch or touch a butterfly since. Want to see more photos from Colombia? click here.

Before we left on this journey we hosted some couchsurfers from Malaga, Spain.  He was a chef, so when they told us they wanted to make tortilla espanola, I was all for it.
Also called tortilla de patata, its probably the most common dish throughout Spain.  Eaten as a light dinner or served between a baguette, for us it was a nice change from the constant ham and cheese options.   Simple & easy to make, our couchsurfing chef spiced his up with a delicious red pepper sauce.  Here’s his recipe for both the tortilla and the sauce:
Tortilla Ingredients:

4 medium potatoes
3 eggs
1/2l olive oil
onion & green pepper as you like

Directions:
Peel, cut and fry potatoes on low heat.  Remove from heat. …

For the weeks leading up to the running, everyone I met who knew anything about San Fermin had the exact same conversation with me:
Them: You’re going for San Fermin.
Me: Yes
Them: Are you running?
Me: Why else would I go?
Them: (not answering my question because clearly there was no answer) Be careful.
So we went. Flying first to Barcelona (that was the cheap flight) and spending a very brief night with an old friend we boarded a bus the next day for Pamplona. We arrived in the evening, after the opening festivities, and felt as though we’d missed the entire party. Everywhere we looked were people dressed in all white with only a red neck-scarf and belt. Many were …

Starting something new on the blog today, a Photo Tuesday feature.  Each Tuesday we’ll highlight an amazing photo from our adventure.  As always, our entire photo collection is visible on flickr and our most recent photos are presented on the photo tab.

This photo was taken day 2 of our trip, less than 24 hours after crossing the border into Mexico. Half way down the Baja penninsula, we stopped at a small town called Guerrero Negro to “visit” with the grey whales. After a choppy ride out in miserable weather, we waited in the lagoon for what seemed like forever before the whales approached us. This mother and calf stayed near our boat for several minutes, playfully swimming from side to …