As I have been recently posting, after living in Chicago for a year, I decided to go to South America. While living in Chicago, I was studying, so I only had enough time to work part-time. In that time, though, I still managed to go to a couple conventions, I went to Canada, and I managed to save up enough for my South-America trip. Continue reading
Author Archives: bzcummings
South America: Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia
I was running out of time in my 3-month journey in South America, and there was still so much I wanted to see: notably Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and then I somehow had to get to Bogota, Colombia, since that’s where my flight back home left from.
I got to the outskirts of Santiago de Chile where I started hitchhiking towards the pass that would take me to Argentina. Somebody picked me up and then took me as far as the Casa de Aduana (border control) on the Chilean side of the border.
I went inside, as is standard procedure, to get my passport checked before continuing on, but we were notified that the pass was being shut down due to a blizzard that was setting in.
South America: Chile
Following my departure from Peru into Chile, I went through border control without any real issues. They X-rayed my backpack, asked me some standard questions, and then I was through. On the other side of the Chilean border control, I stuck out my thumb again.
South America: Peru (Part 3)
After Nazca, I took a bus to Cusco. It was a long and winding road that ascended into the mountains, and there wasn’t too much along the way other than the nice scenery.
I remember that there wasn’t even really a bathroom to stop at, so at one point, the bus just pulled over on the side of the road and everyone got out and peed next to the bus. I also needed to relieve myself, so when in Rome…
After a while, we arrived in Cusco. Continue reading
South America: Peru (Part 2)
After I left Trujillo on the bus, I arrived in Huaraz, which is one of my favorite cities in Peru, if not my favorite. Tucked up in the mountains with lots of nature in the surrounding area, it reminded me of my hometown, Jackson, WY.
The air was crisp and clear with a nice chill that made sure you stayed awake. I was in Huaraz for a couple days, but my main goal was to go hiking in the mountains. Continue reading
South America: Peru (Part 1)
While I was living in Chicago, I had been studying online through colleges in Wyoming since the tuition was cheaper than studying in Chicago. As I progressed toward my degree, the possible classes that I could take online became fewer and fewer, and eventually, I had to take classes in person which meant that I had to move to Laramie, WY, to continue going to class.
In between the spring semester of 2011, which I took online while living in Chicago, and the fall semester (when I would have to be in Wyoming) I had a summer off. I had decided that I wanted to travel while simultaneously improving my terrible Spanish skills and it worked out that I would go to South America.
I didn’t plan everything out and instead opted to just go there without any plans and see where the wind blew me. As such, I purchased a flight into Lima, Peru, and I purchased a flight out of Bogota, Columbia, about 3 months afterwards. What happened between the 2 events would be up to destiny to decide.
I drove back home from Chicago and visited my family before going to the airport and flying to Lima.
Iceland Beers
While I was in Iceland, I had a few different beers, and all of them were expensive!
As I mentioned in my previous post, one of the places I got some beers was a craft beer shop I had discovered.
Iceland and the EVE Fanfest
Almost two years ago now, I went to Iceland in April of 2016. I went primarily because there was a fanfest for an online game I was playing a lot of at the time, namely, EVE Online. I posted about some of my adventures in the game here and even made a few videos.
I was quite into EVE (addicted?), and I thought it would be fun to go to the annual fan meetup in Reykjavik, Iceland, where the fanfest is held since that’s where CCP, the company that develops of EVE, is located.
So I bought a ticket to the fanfest as well as a flight and hostel tickets. The day came, and it already started off with a hitch. My first of two flights was extremely delayed due to the pilots simply not showing up. I guess it was too early for them…
Since my first flight didn’t happen at all, I was put on a later flight, which of course meant that my connecting flight would be missed. In the end, I got to Reykjavik in the late evening when I should have arrived in the morning. I did, however, get a free bump up to business class which was kind of cool because I got to sit in the exclusive business lounge and drink unlimited beer from tap (which was about 60% foam, but hey, it was free).
I had booked some extra time outside of the fanfest so I could check out Reykjavik for a few days before the fanfest started, and that I did. Continue reading
Guinness Extra Stout Review
Brewery: Guinness
Brewery Location: Dublin, Ireland
Alcohol: 4.1%
Following my post about my visit to Ireland and the Guinness Storehouse, I thought it would be fitting to post a review about a Guinness beer. This was actually just part of my crate of beer I was given by my friends and coworkers when I quit my last job. I didn’t actually drink this while I was in Ireland, but it was fitting to post it now. Continue reading
Ireland
A few years ago, I went to Ireland for work. We had a partner who was going to start selling our product, and I had to show their sales and support team how it all worked.
Our partner was located in Carlow, which is a smaller town in Ireland. I flew into Dublin and had a day there before I took the train to Carlow.
One of the first things I noticed in Dublin was the very helpful reminders on all street crossings for those who drive on the right side of the road. Continue reading