Tori

Colorado is so amazing. I don't even have the words to describe. Everyday here I have done something amazing. Mostly rafting with Carla's amazing friends and coworkers, or mountain biking, or hiking in some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. If you have never been to the rockies, here or in Wyoming or Montana, you have to go. It is truly America's most spectacular scenery. Amazing. I can only let the pictures speak for themselves.... read more

On July 18th 2008 I got in my car and drove away. Again. But this time its a little different. I'm flying solo this time. And I have quite a bit more experience at this sort of thing than from the last time I drove across North America. This is the beginning of USA Roadtrip, take 2. 4 weeks, 4 distinct locations (and bits and bobs inbetween). And all by myself. After an easy 8 hour drive, I arrived in Elk Park, North Carolina. First destination was the mountains of North Carolina to do a little rockclimbing. Over the next 4 days became a lesson not so much in climbing but in living in the moment. My friend Evan greeted me in the tiny little town and took me to his house outside of town. Evan ... read more

I arrived in Copacabana from La Paz having no expectation and about $12 to my name (in Bolivianos) because I thought I was headed straight for Peru. Well, like one artesano put it, I got trapped in Copacabana for two reasons. The first is that I liked it there, and the second is that I had to wait for the bank to open because there is no ATM in Copacabana. Copacabana lies on the shore of Lake Titicaca, and the altitude is high enough to make me woozy anytime I needed to walk up stairs or a hill or something. I spent a lazy few days wandering around the touristy town, drinking beer and eating trout along the shore, and hanging out with an awesome Argentinian called Veronica. I decided to join Veronica on her ... read more

Cochabamba, or Cbba, for short. We´ve had good times (paragliding, rock climbing, monkey in my shirt), we´ve had bad times (broken bike, attempted french-kiss from 80 yr old, chicha), but all in all its been good. I have been living a working in Cochabamba, Bolivia for about a month now. Its been relaxing, fun, and mostly a wonderful learning experience. The main attraction to Cbba is the climate. It hasn´t rained once since I have been here. During the days I sweat in my pants, and at night it cools down enough to need a sweater. But in general its about the closest thing to perfect weather that you could ask for. And the surrounding mountains rise dramatically on all sides. Nice to look at, nice to be in, I can understand why people recommended ... read more

Despite warnings from people that Bolivia was closed due to protests involving burning cars and barricades, I made the crossing from La Quiaca to Villazon (by foot, over a bridge) very easily and found myself pretty shocked by what I found on the other side of the border. ( Note: Shock when you are traveling is actually a good thing, so I must make a note here that when I use words like ¨strange,¨ ¨weird,¨ ¨crazy,¨etc, that they are part of the experience and in reality describe the sorts of things that I enjoy coming across while traveling. This note is brought on by my experience of getting yelled at by a neurotic American girl from California to describe an aspect of South America culture as ¨strange.¨ I like strange things, just for the record) ... read more