Indonesia is full of so many islands with their own diversity and culture that it is so difficult to see everything, which leads me to believe I will be back there again, and again, and again.

Part of the trip I went on in Christmas of 2012 was to Komodo Island to see the famed Komodo Dragon, which can kill humans in just a few hours as well as move at very high speeds.

I met my sister Valerie down there and we decided to take a small wooden engine boat that we slept and ate on.  The bunks were very small so we decided to sleep out on the boat deck around where we ate our dinner.  Unfortunately our luggage did not make it to the island so we were in our clothes we were wearing the whole three days.

First we went to a small island where the dragons live away from people but have been known to attack.  You can see the houses are on stilts to keep the dragons out and also for flooding:

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We watched the bats that night coming out of the Mangrove then went to bed on our nice little boat deck:

Next day we were off to the two islands that had dragons, however we had to be careful not to get to close to them as they move fast, but they just ignored us and went along their way:

We then finished off our delightful little cruise by going to another village that had been hit by damage in the previous years and saw exactly what life was like on these villages:

The last bastion of Communism in Europe– Lucion Tion

 

For information on seeing Transnistria please go to the following website and contact Andrey:  Transnistria Tour

Some of you reading this are probably saying the following:  “I have never heard of this country?”  If you are one of those people then you are not far off.

This country does not technically exist as it is a breakaway state of Moldova, it is not recognized by any UN member state and pretty much the only countries that recognize it are other breakaway states like Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and South Ossetia.

I was initially not going to include it on my list of countries visited but after talking to a friend Steve Spanrring, it fits all the criteria.  They have their own government, their own police force, their own Army, and their own currency.

So where is it?

Sandwiched in between Moldova and Ukraine and it is predominately Russian speaking.

I was with my friends Steve and Lucion and we ended up getting a train from Odessa to the capital Tiraspol.  It was a typical old Soviet style train with wooden benches and no aircon.

As we got there our contact named Andrey met us at the train station where we did our visa paperwork, then off to the currency exchange and hotel:

We had always heard from people how dangerous this place would be and how it is a pain in the ass getting in or out of there, and how they do not like Americans at all.  In fact, the opposite of all of this was true.  This was probably one of the most welcoming places I have been, albeit English was not widely spoken, but we were able to get by.  I did not feel in danger the whole time I was here as I do in other parts of the world (I imagine their crime rate is pretty low here).

We did day tours with the company listed above and they did not disappoint:

The Happiest Place on Earth????

 

I often have pondered the question:  How much do you need in your life to be happy?

I got my answer on this trip which made me look at life a totally different way.  As  I am known for having vast collections of toys, hard drives etc.

However as I saw people in this huge island that were very content with very little, I got my answer, and that is “You do not need much to be happy.”

Madagascar is a place that has fascinated me as long as I can remember. I have always had some weird obsession with Lemurs which has always propelled me to go. I decided to make this dream come true during Dec/Jan 13-14.  On this trip I ruined my Ipad, my iphone, my shoes, and a portion of my blood (to leaches).  Normally I would say that this is a horrible trip, but the opposite is true.  I got so much out of understanding how people live on this trip~~~

My approximate route I took on this trip is seen in the map below(note this is the fourth biggest Island in the world):

Here are some videos I made of driving through the small towns and countryside of Madagascar:

I had so many different things on my Agenda for this trip

1.  See as may species of Lemurs as I could-(I saw 12 total)

2.  Get to know people on the road and in small towns

3.  Trek around the vast national parks

4.  Visit villages that are poverty stricken (but still happy to live life) and deliver needed supplies for kids and adults

5.  See how the average person lives/gets around (outside of major cities)

For Alaska Click Here

For the National Park Series Click Here

Obviously I was born and raised in the USA.  I lived in El Paso, Texas pretty much my whole life (although born in Houston) and am proud to call El Paso my home.

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The Mexican food here is probably the best I have ever had in my life.  Couple that with BBQ, and you have a combo of food you will fall in love with:

I have traveled quite a bit in the United States and still have a lot more to go:

My top five cities in no particular order and cities I would live in if I lived back in the US would be the following:

1.  Nashville, Tennessee – Food, Music

2.  Eugene. Oregon-Food, Beer, Outdoors

3.  Asheville, North Carolina-Beer, Outdoors

4.  Ann Arbor, Michigan-Cleanliness, Good Atmosphere

5.  Sonoma Area, California-Wine, Food, Outdoors