Juan P Ocharan

FatherSonJourney

Juan P Ocharan

Father taking his 16 year old son on a journey of his choosing. I've dreamed for a number of years that before my son turns into a man I wanted one last chance to experience something we will never forget - 1 month, anywhere in the World...

We started with a blank page and gave no limits to the region of the world (Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, etc...).

2009: Part Uno: Machu Picchu or Bust - Juan happened to choose Peru. I'll let you in a little secret - I was born in Peru, came to the US when I was 3 and although visited once when I was 7, I haven't been back since (I think he did it for me). We are both very excited to spend a month seeing the country! OK, maybe I am more than him...

2014: Part Due: Pizza in Pisa - Justin choose Italy. I'm not sure if it's for his love of Pizza or Pasta but I was excited when he choose Italy and so our adventure begins. Not a month but from my last trip, I realized a month was a little ambitous and evenutally you want to get back home. Ciao'

Milan Mon 6/23

Europe » Italy » Lombardy » Milan June 23rd 2014

FatherSonJourney

When we first got to Italy it was confusing and hot. We arrived in the country with no place to stay, the place dad had cancelled on him and we found out while in Switzerland. Luckily Dad found another bed and breakfast, the only bad part was, it wasn't easy because of no wifi. Once we found wifi at this cafe, jet lag hit me and hit me hard, the people ended up kicking us out. We arrived around 4:30 we had 2 hours till they let us in so we went to another cafe. first time ordering 2 sodas the lady was very rude and seemed to be yelling. After we dropped off the bag and said hi to our hosts, we went walking around. Italy seemed brighter, when your not carrying heavy bags in ... read more

Day 1: Jax to NJ

North America » United States » Florida June 20th 2014

FatherSonJourney

The journey begins. 3:30a, with loaded packs and off to the airport. Heading to Nj for Baber's wedding and Justin and I leave to Milan, Italy on Sunday 6/22 and arrive 6/23. No reservation in Milan yet but I'm confident we'll find our way, it's the adventure and discovery with my son that matters the most! Convincing him to blog may be the biggest challenge, hmmm?!? On the way to the airport, Juan (now 21) told him to take it all in and don't think of this as a trip that your dad is forcing you to go on. He said, you may think now, I don't want to go see that 'insert boring museum, artifact, architecture' but you will realize that it may be your only chance to have ever seen that part of the ... read more

Back home

North America » United States » Florida » St Augustine August 23rd 2009

FatherSonJourney

Home So, we had to make a red eye flight over to Atlanta and catch a connecting to Jax, where we would finally be re-united with the famous chef and the little retarded orphan child... I mean my mom and my brother. OH YOU GOTTA LOVE AIRPORT PROCEDURE! It was my favorite part of the whole trip! Lines and lines and hey! Lines. After waiting in line for the equivalent of waiting for space mountain, we got to our gate just in time for boarding. You know? You gotta love flying International. Cozy seats, personal screen filled with free movies, music, TV shows, and games, and those little peanuts too. I was there just chillin' watching X-men and family guy and listening to some good music. They even had a hot breakfast for us in the ... read more

Day 22-24 blarg

South America » Peru » Lima » Lima » Lima August 9th 2009

FatherSonJourney

Lima Day 22, we woke up late as usual over here and came down stairs. Our cousins offered to take us out for some Lomo Saltado and we were all cool. We headed back to the house and the day would have been a dud had we not gone to the water park. 17 degrees celsius and we go to the water park...hmm. No, it was actually a water show so to speak. I´ve seen disney´s water shows, but this one just blew disney right out of the water! (no pun intended) It was a dazzling display of water and lights. Simply amazing! The water in combination with the lights and projectors would ¨dance¨to the music of queen, aerosmith, and beethoven etc. The water would act as a screen while the lights and projectors made images ... read more

Day 21

South America » Peru » Lima » Lima » Miraflores August 7th 2009

FatherSonJourney

Miraflores So we woke up today around 10 and came down at about noon. Went over to the bank and then came back to the house for some lunch. She made some sort of dish that I´m not sure what to call. It was rice with some sort of freezed dried potatoe. It was alright. We decided to head over to the zoo today. My dad has become quite the negotiator over here in Peru, you see taxi rides vary on the drivers. To get to the zoo, my dad wanted to pay 7 soles while the cab driver wanted 15 soles. I could have walked to the zoo by the time they agreed on 8 soles. I can tell the cab driver hated life all the way to the zoo. The zoo was bigger than ... read more

Day 20

South America » Peru » Lima » Lima » Lima August 5th 2009

FatherSonJourney

Huacachina So we got up at about 8:30 so I can go more sandboarding. Dad didn´t want to go, so he took a vineyard tour instead. So he left and about a half hour later, I left for the dune buggy/sandboarding tour. Before going into the dessert, we all have to sign a manifest, as I looked down the list, there were 2 Americans, 2 spaniards, 1 french, 1 german, and 1 dude from Japan! I was so impressed I said ¨Hola! Bejour! Gutentag! Konichiwa! Hey whats up?¨ The tour before was pretty nice, but this guy knew how to use a dune buggy! I want a helping of whatever his mom fed him that morning! He was going up giant dunes, grabbing air, and popping donuts in the sand! The dunes we sandboarded today were ... read more

Day 19 Huacachina/Ica

South America » Peru » Ica » Huacachina August 4th 2009

FatherSonJourney

Huacachina So, we caught a local bus for about 10 soles (3 dollars) versus the 35 soles bus company that we have been riding with for a 3 hour ride to Huacachina. We stayed in a very interesting hostal. I´ve noticed a pattern of complaining in my blogs, so I´m gonna try and be positive about this place as much as possible. Creeky wooden floors make it fun to walk across the room, my dad calls it rustic. The abscence of a roof over the bathroom leaves a natural sky light. The giant gaping hole in the bathroom gives you something to ponder while you´re on the toilet. Whats back there you may ask yourself, I wanna know. Trekking across these areas requires quite a bit of stretching, fortunately you have to reach for the sky ... read more

Day 19 Nazca lines

South America » Peru » Ica » Nazca » Nazca Lines August 4th 2009

FatherSonJourney

This place never ceases to amaze me. We got up around 8:30 in order to enjoy our breakfast buffet. Wasn´t a huge buffet with bustling people like you would imagine. Then we decided to chill in the hotel room till noon because our flight wasn´t until then. My dad decided to put his peruvian phone chip in his phone about 2 minutes before the airlines told us our flight could leave about 2 hours early. The conditions and wind patterns were perfect for our cesna (small plane, seats 8) plane ride. We took plenty of video and pictures in our cramped little plane as it shot off the runway and above the dusty plains. The plain (not plane) had plenty of dirt lines dancing across the dirt. I guess if you squint you can see your ... read more

Day 18

South America August 3rd 2009

FatherSonJourney

Ballestas, Nazca So we had to wake up at about 3 am again, I rose but I didn´t shine. Caught a 4:30 am bus to Islas Ballestas. I barely got any sleep because the roads were so noisy and some comedian decided to leave the lights on the bus on. They served us ¨breakfast¨ which consisted of a fruit cup, an unknown substance, and an odd looking sandwhich. I was hungry so I took a huge bite of what looked like a jelly sandwhich and gagged it out in front of my neighbor to find out it was an olive sandwhich, yum. Straight off the bus we took an 8:00 am tour of Islas Ballestas. Before getting on the boat, we met up with the same europeans that helped me out back in ollantaytambo. They were ... read more

Day 17

South America » Peru » Lima » Lima » Lima August 2nd 2009

FatherSonJourney

Lima Day 17 wasn´t much for me at least. I woke up around 1 pm and immediately got dressed for a house party at some family´s house. After getting full dressed and ready, it was such a dire emergency for me to take a shower at that very moment, so I went back up and showered even though we were kinda already late. There were plenty of people there to talk most of the party, we had to make a 2 hour toast to the couple who were having a baby. My soda was flat by the time we actually toasted, and when it came around for me to say something I was all ¨good luck¨We had a nice dinner of fried rice and chicken. Alcohol was being passed out like candy, but I didn´t have ... read more

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