Tour de Ronaldiño

Mexico

2009-05-30T13:16:00.001-05:00

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Hacer en presente y futuro

2008-07-05T03:46:00.002-05:00

¿Qué hago?

La pregunta de siempre. Quedar y volver a lo de siempre no es una opción, no lo puedo aceptar. Siento que estoy perdiendo, y este sentido no es algo nuevo. Tequila, esta noche, es mi mejor amigo. Dormir no puedo, fue un error de haber tomado tanto café.

Estoy escuchando un cubano, Silvio. Toca bien. Canta bien. Tiene sentido.

Siempre sigue. La búsqueda nunca terminará. El sentido de la vida, mi vida. Aquí estoy, aquí, lejos de ti. Lejos de mis sueños, ya ni siquiera los conozco.

La vida, mi vida, no ha cambiado. Sigue en lo mismo, sigue en lo de siempre. Las mismas preguntas, me las pregunto otra vez.

¿Qué haré?

El futuro no existe. El pasado nada mas me dio confusiones. ¿El presente? El presente me duele, cada vez mas.

¡No sé qué hacer!

2008-02-10T21:29:00.000-06:00

It´s four minutes to ten on a Sunday evening in Mexico City. I´ve been living in this megacity for a little more than a year now. These days I fill my life with being an English teacher. I´m still together with my girlfriend. A few months ago I moved from Romero Rubio (an area known for its hazards, but for me there´s this market where I tasted the best enchiladas de mole in Mexico... and I can say I´m getting close to an expert on enchiladas de mole) to Roma Sur, a fancy area, ´nice´ how mexicans put it.

I just looked at pictures from yesterday and before. I am still grateful to have seen so many different places on this planet, and I am very sure to continue visiting the wonders of this world.

Anyway, now you know, my life is continuing, maybe less exciting, but living in Mexico has been a very interesting experience. Maybe I should start writing about Mexican life... maybe I will.

Hope you are ok. Maybe life´s been treating you the same lately, I also know that some of you have married, have kids now, or simply changed boy- or girlfriend. Life goes on... and that´s a good thing.

Ronald

my last - mi ultimo - de laatste

2006-10-24T14:50:00.000-05:00

Van: Ronald van der Linden
Datum: 24-okt-2006 21:50
Onderwerp: my last - mi ultimo - de laatste

- My last bulkmail - Mi ultimo correo de mi viaje - Mijn laatste massamail -
This email will be first in English.
Despues el pinche inglés, podrias leer tu lengua.
De mail eindigt in het Nederlands.

ENGLISH

There you go. Almost 2 months home. Back in the usual life. Working - Sleeping - Working. Back home, living at my parents' place. The year of travelling finally forgotten. Was I actually in Alaska? Did I meet you there in San Diego? Was I really in Vegas? Mexico? Guatemala? Did I really see the blue ocean of the Caribean? It all seems ages ago and I wish I could do it all over again!!!

It's good to have pictures. If you go to the blogsite http://www.follow-my-footsteps.blogspot.com and go to the "pictures section" you are able to see all pictures. I will continue to add photos from time to time. The blog will stay available for rereading emails and reviewing pictures and you're more than welcome to continu visiting the travelblog of this Ronaldiño caracter.

If you want to know how it's like being home. Well the answer is... there are good things and there are bad things. I would have loved continuing the travel. The fact that almost everyday there will be new people to meet and new things to see. It's boring back home.... especially when one needs to work paying back the bank. ;-) Maybe I should thank my bank, ABN AMRO, for making my travel a reality hahaha The good thing is mainly food. The fastfood only known in Holland, the cheese only tasting good in Holland, the chocolate sprinkles to put on bread for breakfast only widely available in Holland. The luxory life compared to travelling is awesome. The fridge at my parents' place is a neverending delight of jummy stuff. The fact that putting clothes in a basket and a few days later the laundry is nicely folded or ironed and fresh back in the closet. The fact of my own bed, in my own room. Not hearing some party animals loudly snoring off their hangover in their sleep, not finding the upper bunk mate having sex with some random girl while I am enjoying my good sleep. Not necessary to wake up before 10am to make it for the free breakfast deal. Hmmm although now it's waking up 6.30am each day.... dammit!

Things that are different these days. The hair. My hair is long ;-) I can tell you I am almost the only male person at work that has the hair this long. Working days I cut down to 4, instead of 5 (yes americans... welcome to European working hours! ;-)) I also have a girlfriend. In Mexico. So the long hair works... found myself a girl. Plans are to meet up with her in January, probably in Mexico and after a year of trying to make a living in Mexico we both will hit the travel road again, probably ending up in Portugal. Only the future knows...

That's it. The English version is over. I will not molest you with my bulkmails any longer. I hereby say goodbye, hope to keep in touch, maybe see you some day on this planet. You never know where your path will cross my footsteps again.

With love, wishing you all the best and thanking you of being part of my travels I bid you farewell
Yours, Ronald

ESPAÑOL

Vaya, vaya... casí 2 meses ya pasaron. He regresado a mi vida vieja. Viviendo en la casa de mis padres. Trabajando en lo mismo. Que te puede decir? El año pasó prontisimo. Cuándo fue en Alaska? Yo estaba en San Francisco? En donde te conocí? Seguro que estuve en el pinche DF? Y cuando he visto el mar del caribe eh? Ay ay ay. Dos meses ya pasaron y si podria, voy a hacer el mismo viaje mañana. Que se me extraño la vida viajera! Quiero más! ;-)

Por lo menos tengo las fotos. Mi websitio http://www.follow-my-footsteps.blogspot.com tiene una sección de "PICTURES" allí podrias ver todas las fotos! Que las disfrutes mucho como yo las disfruta ;-) Continuaré manejar este websitio. Siempre lo podrias ver en el futuro.

Bueno, estoy en Holanda entonces. El país más plano en este mundo, creo. La vida es un poquita aburrida sin tomar un tequila, sin bailar salsa, sin la comida latina america, sin tantas guapas latinas ;-) Sin hablar castillano. Quizas te sorprenderá, pero aquí escuché la lengua hermosa más de una vez cada semana. A mi, sí, me sorprendia de eso. Pero no te ilusionas... aquí se hablan holandés y inglés... español quizas una persona cada cien personas o menos.

Por supuesto me gusto estar en mi país. Extrañé la comida holandesa. Ya puedo poner chocolate sobre mi pan, ya puedo comer el mas rico pescado en este mundo: arrinques, ya puedo dormir en mi propia cama, ya tengo un refri que siempre esta llena de cosas con bienes sabores ;-) Pero sí extraño mi cariña Rosí. Mi novia. Vive en el pinche DF... tan lejos de mi. Entonces el plan es venir a Mexico en el proximo enero, para que estaremos juntos, y después vamos a viajar juntos. Brazil, Canada pero seguro Portugal. Pues, quien sabe. Vamos a ver que va a pasar. Pero que sé, me ilusione estar cerca de ti, mi querida Rosí.

Bueno, es todo. La vida normal no tiene mucho para decir. Como siempre, la vida sigue. Sólo que quiero es que tú sabes que te deseo una buena vida, que la disfrutes y quizas tu camino va a cruzar mis pasos. Gracias que estabas en mi viaje, en mi vida. Hasta pronto!

Ronaldiño ;-)

NEDERLANDS
Tja dat is het dan. Nu toch echt de laatste massamail. Ik heb er een tijdje mee gewacht. Was er met mijn hoofd ook nog niet aan toe. Het is toch ook niet niks, om te erkennen dat er een jaar vrijheid/blijheid over-en-uit is. Voor diegenen die geen snars van mijn Engels of Spaans begrijpen hier nog een stukje in het nog altijd niet vergeten Hollands (wees blij, want de latinos en latinas die zich door mijn Spaans heen moeten worstelen..... ;-)

Ben dus weer terug, bijna 2 maanden alweer. Woon bij ouders. Kan weer genieten van hagelslag op brood, overheerlijke kaas, zoute harinkjes en als ik overmorgen mijn salaris weer eens op de bankrekening gestort krijg (want ik werk dus ook al weer) dan ga ik misschien dit weekend wel weer van de luxe genieten dat ik slechts 1,5uur van het strand van Scheveningen woon ;-)

Alles gaat alweer zo zijn gangetje. Beetje te rustig naar mijn smaak. Maar het is even niet anders, want ik mag alweer sparen voor de volgende reis. Ik heb tegenwoordig namelijk een vriendinnetje in Mexico zitten. Planning is in januari haar weer eens hallo te zeggen en een tijdje te blijven hangen. Hoe dat gaat aflopen.... ja, dat weet alleen Joost.

Ik wil eindigen met nog te verwijzen naar foto's: http://www.follow-my-footsteps.blogspot.com Daar staan alle foto's gemaakt door mij en anderen van het afgelopen jaar 03092005-03092006. Ik krijg her en der nog wat fotootjes toegestuurd dus het blijft de moeite waard de blogsite weer eens te bezoeken.

Ik wens je het allerbeste toe.

Ronald

- business rope picture: my current me
- foto con corbata: soy yo en este momento
- pak en stropdas: zo zie ik er dus nu uit

- me & beer bottle: new year's eve 2005 in Puerto Escondido, Mexico - cheers!
- yo & chela: ultima noche 2005 - salud!
- ik & bier: oud&nieuw 2005 - proost!

New photo links added

2006-10-11T17:06:00.000-05:00

You can now access all my photos (see PICTURES on the right side of this page) made during the Sep05-Sep06 year of travelling the north american continent... enjoy

Note: the albums Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama do not yet have text added to the photos... this will come with time.

Ronald

Düsseldorf, Deutschland

2006-09-17T04:16:00.000-05:00

Am visiting Germany this weekend. Düsseldorf to be exact. Came to meet a dear friend, a longtime friend. Also came to see 2 travel buddies I met a long time ago in the north of Mexico. Within 2 weeks I am already in foreign country. Neigbouring Germany. I must admit I really like Düsseldorf. It´s perfect for me, a city to enjoy a cup of coffee, lots of beers and just relax. Perfect!

Meeting my travel friends again was incredible! Watching my photos on the internet of the travel I made. I feel, I feel something I can hardly describe. A feeling of joy, wonderfuliality, a touch of sadness, but mostly I feel I cannot be the man no longer I was before the 3rd of September 2005. Something changed, profoundly changed. I have seen the beauties and the beasts. I want to write about what I saw, show with some really cool pictures I have. I need to write, to let the world know what is really going on. Maybe this is my only way to make a difference I long for, for such a long time.

Even more there is the urge to continue. To continue the travel I had in mind. In the end I hope to indeed have had the chance to have visited the places I needed to visit in my life. The travel will continue, but from this time not longer alone. It will be with parents and friends surrounding me. I guess this is the plan.

Ronald

Wageningen, Netherlands

2006-09-03T22:42:00.000-05:00

De: Ronald van der Linden
Para: vanderlinden.ronald@gmail.com
Fecha: 03-sep-2006 20:41
Asunto: Wageningen, Netherlands

Little more than 1 year ago I wrote my first bulk email to some 25 people, interested in my upcoming travels. Back then I planned a travel for about 2 years, Alaska to the southern tip of South America and I wanted to throw in a few months in New Zealand or Ozz Country. Now little over 200 people get this email. Incredible.

I am back in the place I was brought up, back with my loving parents. My country welcomed me with misery rain, grey clouds, never disappearing. It does feel good being back, although I would have loved continuing setting footsteps further south. I decided seeing my parents again was more important.

The way back to Holland, started in San José, Costa Rica. Although I still needed to get back north to Mexico City, I found myself going south to Panama. Bocas del Toro, paradise, my first glimpse of the Carribean and later further descending to Panama City, incredibly pretty and interesting. The countries of Central America differ so intensely much from eachother, the biggest contrast would be Guatemala and Panama. I started going north on a Thursday night bus, more than a week ago. Staying a few days more in San José, getting ready for the 72hour nonstop bustrip. I did not spend all the time on the bus.... there was one nightover in San Salvador. Shit happens when you're out of money and looking for the cheapest and fastest combination.

The bustrip would prove to be a drive down memory lane. Memories of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala kept flowing in again. It felt like those movie moments, when people feel their live rushing by. My travel memories flashed by. In Mexico City I found the comfort and kindness of my dear companion Rosí. Slowly I was ready. Ready to fly off.

Sunday 3rd Sept 2006, 7.04AM European Time I set foot on Dutch land again. Found the arms of my parents hugging me, almost choking me. Then it was a short 1hr drive to Wageningen, a small city (due to history matters, the town has the right to name itself a 'city').

I will probably send one more bulk email after this one, but that will be after I feel good again wearing my Dutch wooden shoes... clumps as we like to call them here.

Feel free to continue using my email address: vanderlinden.ronald@gmail.com
I you feel the need to chat, my msn account: ronald_vd_linden@hotmail.com
There is also such a thing as skype, my account: ronaldiscalling
Feel free to add me anytime!

My journey is over, a new year is about to start.
Does anybody know the defination of "finding a job"? Brrrrrrr let's have a little holiday before I even want to find out the meaning of "working".....

Until next time....

Ronaldiño

The countdown has begun... again

2006-08-22T22:33:00.000-05:00

De: Ronald van der Linden
Para: vanderlinden.ronald@gmail.com
Fecha: 22-ago-2006 20:33
Asunto: the countdown has begun... again

A todos: muchisimos saludos desde el paraiso Bocas del Toro, Panama. Son islas en el mar de caribe cerca la frontera con Costa Rica. Desde hoy va a empezar el ¨countdown¨ de los días que faltan para regressar a Holanda. Un año de viaje. Un año conocer buena honda, gente como uds. Un año no es nada, ya casí pasó. Faltan 11. Todavía estoy viajando para el sur.... El 2 de Septiembre salirá un avion para Holanda... podria ser que estaré en este vuelo?

To all: a zillion greetings, hugs and whatever more from paradise, Bocas del Toro, Panama, a group of islands on the Costa Rican/Panaman border in the Carribean Sea. As of today the major countdown has begun. Almost a year of travelling passed by. A year of meeting cool people like yourselves. A year is nothing, now it´s almost over, passé. Only 11 days left to catch the flight back to Holland, from Mexico City, and I am still heading south. On 2nd September a flight will depart from Mexico City... will I be on it?

Aan eenieder die mij dierbaar is in Nederland of waar ook op deze aardbol je ook moge bevinden: hartelijke groeten vanuit een paradijs op aard´ Het heet Bocas del Toro. Eilandengroep op de Costaricaanse en Panamaanse grens maar wel ff in de Caribische Zee. Palmpjes, blauwe zee, schitterende stranden. Nu is bijna een jaar voorbij, een jaar vol reizen, een jaar vol ontmoetingen met goeie lui. Een jaar is niets, mijn goede vrienden, het is nu bijna voorbij. Nog enkel 11 dagen resten mij... maar nog altijd trek ik naar het Zuiden. Op 2 september vliegt er een vliegtuig vanuit Mexico Stad... zal ik het halen?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama
Another threesome of countries in just a few days.

Visited León, which is in Nicaragua.
Loved it. Stayed, left and came back again. Fell in love with the city, although at first I thought ¨where the hell am I now?¨
Met girls. Dutch girls, German girls, American girls some boys as well, English, Swiss and Dutchies. Also got to know some Nicaraguan guys. Really cool and fun guys. Mostly León was a place to relax, do nothing, then change your mind and stay another day, because, well, one just doesn´t want to pack the bags just yet. Live music, Nicaraguan music. Cool, raw, rock revolutionairy ¨be proud of Nicaragua¨ music. Some softies to satify the girls ofcourse were to be heard as well. León, the hostel owned by Belgians. I loved hearing the soft version of Dutch, the smoothness and again the hospitality of this really fun and relaxing place. So if you think this place was all about doing nothing, drinking loads of alcohol and sing & dance till you drop dead in bed... that would fit the perfect description of my weekandahalf there. I am never really on a rush anyways. But it was not only the place, this particular time it was definately the people. Fun people, kind people, people that make the heart pound a little bit faster...

Visited Granada, also Nicaragua.
Beautiful place, plazas, churches, other buildings, but too pretty for my taste. I had seen it all in Mexico and Guatemala. The colonial towns. However, León and Granada were founded in 1524 (give or take a year) and therefor the oldest places around in Latin America. Granada was not really something to stay for, so I left for a laguna... Laguna de Apoyo. A giant crater lake. Accompanied by 2 Hollandisch girls I had met earlier in León. I seemed to follow their footsteps wherever theirs walked by. León, Masaya, León again and now Granada. It was a time that got me accustomed to Dutch language and girls again. The minister of Immigration of Holland would be proud... doing my own reintegration project. Ah, the laguna... preciously beautiful. It was also my mums birthday, so with a bottle of 7 yearsold Flor de Caña (pure nicaraguan rum), Coca Cola and good friends I celebrated. Some full moon lake swimming at night was also involved. No nakedness involved... nobody was drunk enough I guess.

Isla Ometepe, Nicaragua
I did not want to go there. But I found myself on the docks of Granada (sounds better than it is) thinking, thinking, trying to make a decision. Then I just went, again a day behind the girls, but determined not to find myself in the same hostel as theirs again. Pretty boattrip to the island... the largest freshwater island in the world according to Lonely Planet or was it my own Footprint that said that? Doesn´t matter. I arrived and I did not blame myself for going. On the last bus going round the island I met 2 other Dutchies. Them I met earlier in León as well. (León was a reunion city... Isla Ometepe was going to have the same fate) Swam in the lake during sunset. Gorgeous. Silence and cows drinking on the beaches the fresh and cool water of the lake. With the Dutchies and some others I met during the boat trip to the island we went volcano climbing. Cloudy day. Unlucky, but determined to climb and maybe swim in the crater lake up above. The climb took 5 long hours. Through mud, lots of mud. But as a team we made it to the top. I had one moment, I wanted to return... get of the damn volcano, but 2 minutes later I found myself again... stupidly saying ¨the only way is up¨ Almost at the top I met my 2 fun and dear Israeli girls... talk about a coincidence. Big hugs and weird looks from others... it is always good to meet up again, wherever you are... in this case on the top of the volcano. Now I was thinking maybe the 2 Dutch girls would be next... they would have gone crazy I think... but no dutchies. Downhill took another 6 hours. The top was misty by the way, nothing to see, but the feeling of ¨I finally climbed a volcano¨ overcame all sadness that mist and fog can provide a human being. The English know exactly what I mean....
On Ometepe I also met a kind American couple. Met them in Coban, Guatemala. At the time when the wife told the husband ¨dear I am pregnant...¨ So you see, while travelling lots can happen... even the creation of new life. Perhaps another new traveller? It was good meeting them again... and this time seeing a real advanced belly ;-)

San José, Costa Rica
Next day was another decision making morning. Take the 7pm boat to San Carlos (an overnight boattrip) or go directly to San José and meet a dear friend of mine, Iris. German and we met eachother in Oaxaca, Mexico. Together we crossed the border of Mexico/Guatemala and saw the ruins of Tikal. I liked the girl and have good memories. So I decided ¨San José it is!¨ Ofcourse whenever one makes a decision, reality always does its atmost efforts to avoid one going there... missed one ferry... had to wait 3 hours for the next. Almost changed my mind. But when I finally arrived in San José and be able to give Iris a big hugg and a ¨good to see you again¨ all was worth it. Together we had the evening to ourselves. A few beers, a spaghetti meal and talks about travelling. Travel life is good.
Stayed one more day in San José, meeting Yorleny. Costarican girl, met in Antigua, Guatemala. Had an excellent meal of ¨gallo pinto¨ rice, beans and chicken at the local artesanias market with Yorleny, Iris and her German friend. Next was visited a museum meant for kids about all aspects of life... biology, technology... stuff to try out. Since we are all still kids in our hearts... we went and stayed a long while. At 4am Iris woke me up, gave her a big farewell hugg... she was off for Cuba, the reason why I wanted to see her was just to see her one more time in Central America and wish her all the best for Cuba.

From Costa Rica I went with Yorleny to paradise... Panama... Islas del Toro... the Bull´s Islands. Beautiful. For the first time in my life in the Carribean. Snorkling... beautiful fish... red, blue, purple, white, small, larger, coral, blue waters, gorgeous beaches. And again we met up with a Dutchie girl... also met her in León. The 3 of us went discovering the islands. Later follow by 2 men from Barcelona. Those I met in Granada, Nicaragua. The world is a small place.... The now 5 of us went yesterday to the most gorgeous beach I have ever seen in my life. Bluff beach. Gorgeous I tell you! Incredible I tell you! Also learned a new card game... a Dutch card game. Something about selling cows on the market... ¨Koehandel¨. Interesting game...

And now the time has come to visit the ultimate last part of my travels... although originally I wanted to be in the southern tip of Southamerica... I will now make it until Panama City. That´s the reason I will end my little tiny story. I have to go. Eleven hours on the bus. Panama may be small... it sure is streched out!!!

Only 11 days left.
From Panama I say goodbye and to those in Mexico City I will say hello around the 30th August (creo que voy a llegar en DF el 30 agosto.... me esperen eh!!)

To all, lots of love, all the best and many many happy smileys. I hope the story was again good to read just before you go to sleep in your bed. I hope this bed is in the place that surrounds you with friends, family and happiness. Wherever my bed will be, I know with knowing you, each and every single one of you. I am surrounded by good and wonderful people. These days the world is only as far as you want it to be. Enjoy your travels, always, each and every day...

I have only 11 days left...
mayday mayday... the countdown has already begun
South America here I come! hahahaha

Ronald

--
http://follow-my-footsteps.blogspot.com/

León, Nicaragua

2006-07-29T14:41:00.000-05:00

From: Ronald van der Linden
Date: 29-Jul-2006 13:41
Subject: León, Nicaragua

Hola amigos, amigas del mundo!

Como en Europa, también en Latina America se puede cruzar 3 paises en un día... lo hice... 9am desde San Salvador, frontera con Honduras, otra camion hasta la frontera con Nicaragua, otra camion hasta un ciudad Chinandega. Llege a las 10 de la noche, totalmente cansado. Totalmente muerto. Que bueno que habia un hotel con un tele.... Tom e Jerry era la primera progamma que puse ver ;-))

Ahorita estoy en León, Nicaragua, hace calor... 30C y más! León se puede comparar con San Cristobal de las Casas en Chiapas o con Suchitoto en El Salvador. Hmmm hoy hace exactemente un mes que no enscribé mis adventuras. Bueno, voy a empezar entonces.

Después Chichicastenango (ciudad más conocido por su mercado allí) fui para Antigua. Una ciudad tan hermosa!! Sólo que pasa era que habia tanto tanto turistas, estudiantes extranjeras que estudiaran español y los guatemaltecos? No he visto muchos de guates. Entonces, si te vas a conocer sólomente Antigua en Guatemala, no conocerás nada de propio Guatemala. No habia tantos colores como en Nebaj, Todos Santos, Chichicastenango porque allí sí viven los originales inhabitantes de Guatemala, los de Maya. Antigua era bonita, sí!! Pero me puse imaginar que lo mismo se puede ver en España, Italia y México. Mi amiga mexicana siempre dijo que Antigua era muy aparecido a San Cristobal, bueno para mi Antigua era lo mismo como la ciudad de Oaxaca. Pero no estoy diciendo que no debes irte a Antigua, sí deberias conocer Antigua, pero Guatemala tiene mas lugares bonitos. El Lago de Atitlán por ejemplo. Debes ir... y pronto! Este lago de maravilloso no puedes ver en muchos paises. Con Rosa Elía, mi amigita mexicana, fui desde Antigua para este lago. Despues fuimos para El Salvador. Un país que me sorprende muchisimo!!

Voy a continuar en inglés ahorita... porque no todo el mundo entiende este lengua hermoso, me reffieré por supuesto al castillano.

ENGLISH
After Chichicastenango I met up with my dear friend Rosa Elia. Met in Antigua, after some worrying waiting hours. She supposed to arrive a Wednesday evening, but she had to stay a night in Guatemala City, not a pretty place to stay, let alone a place for a woman alone. Fortunately she left me an email next morning saying ¨all is well¨ and we met in Antigua. After a few days of the city and a little visit to the city centre of Guatemala City (I needed to visit it... just to make sure it was as horrible as people say... and? well yes it´s a hiddious place, but as always there are some pretty spots to see... so it did turn out to be an enjoyable afternoon... enjoyable because we could leave the city!) we left for the beautiful Lake Atitlan. Totally one of Guatemala´s or maybe the world´s prettiest places! Go there!

Then El Salvador was on the schedule. I have always been the person to go to places which a normal sain person would gladly avoid. El Salvador turned out to be my biggest surprise so far. I expected the country to be much much poorer than Guatemala, but due to lots of external, international funding roads are excellent, tourism is well develloped and the people, my dear friend, the people are so incredibly friendly. We have met taxi drivers, who normally just want your money and all of it, being the nicest people on earth, guiding us to good and safe hostels, showing us the way when we were a little bit lost. And the people of El Salvador in general are very hospitable, making a call to a friend to ask for directions, very serviceminded people. In El Salvador we arrived in Sonsonate, close to the border with Guatemala to stay the night. To be honest when we arrived in the night and everyone we meet tells us basically to stay inside the hotel and order pizza instead of finding a restaurant, it all did not give me any sign of security... and Rosí and I both thought ¨what the hell are we doing here!¨ But ofcourse next day was a sunny day and we left to explore the city and the country.

Visited another lake, Lago Coatepeque, pretty, pretty and relaxing, then to La Palma to visit the highest point of the country for some incredible views. Turned out that I celebrated my birthday at the highest point of El Salvador ;-) Later we left for Suchitoto, a wonderful colonial town with no cash machines (ATMs) so we went to have dinner at the most expensive hotel in town where they did exept my wonderful visa creditcard and had a wonderful belated birthday dinner ;-)) Because on the night of my birthday Rosí and I only had the choice to have a sandwich with the local drunks.... And poor Rosí dressed up so fine that night.

After Suchitoto it was time to visit yet another capital of a latin american country... San Salvador. It turned out to be mainly big malls, gasstations... it reminded me a lot of the good old US of A. And even here in the capital, people were extremely friendly, offering us a ride back to the hostel from the cinema.

Then the time came, 3 weeks travelling together, while only thinking it would be 5 days.... time flew by very fast. Rosí and I said our goodbyes and see yous back in Mexico City. She left for Mexico and I for Nicaragua.

If you are wondering how travelling life is these days, well it is mainly about having a short walk through the cities, enjoy a coffee and reading the newspaper, watching people, talking with people. Churches, cathedrals, museums they can hardly make my heart beat faster. I have seen things before, it´s all very recognizable, so all I do, is what I do best.... relax. To be honest... I´m loving it! ;-))

Till next time! Hasta Pronto
Ronaldiño

20 July 2006 El Salvador

2006-07-20T16:45:00.000-05:00

From: Ronald van der Linden
Date: 20-Jul-2006 15:45
Subject: 20 July 2006 El Salvador

Hola mis queridos amigos!
Es en La Palma, El Salvador (cerquit a con la frontera con Honduras) estoy celebrando mis cumpleaños... hoy cumplo 29 añitos. Soy viejo, un otro año pasó ;-)
Muchos saludos a todos: SALUD

Goeienacht beste vrienden en vriendinnetjes,
Bevind mij momenteel in het prachtige La Palma, El Salvador, hetgeen niet omringd is door palmen. Ook lig ik niet met een biertje aan het strand. Zit ergens in de bergen aan de grens met Honduras. Vandaag mooie uitzichten mogen genieten vanaf de hoogste berg in El Salvador (nog altijd zo´n 2400metertjes) Omdat ik mij ergens in Verweggistan bevind, hierbij een toost op mij en iedereen die Nederlands verstaat en begrijpt hahahaha Dikke knuffels en SANTÉ!

My dear English speaking and understanding friends
My current location is La Palma, El Salvador, in the mountains bordering with Honduras. Enjoyed a marvelous view from El Salvador highest place, viewing the whole country... which is half the size of my dear Orange Holland. Today is the day I have to fortune to celebrate my 29th birthday... as they say in English... Still alive ´n´ kicking! ;-) To you all: CHEERS!

Till next time! Hasta Pronto! Tot de volgende keer zei DikkieDik altijd
Ronaldiño

Initiary until September 2006

2006-07-02T15:11:00.000-05:00

10 July: leave Guatemala for El Salvador
17 July: leave El Salvador for Nicaragua
30 July: leave Nicaragua for a few days in Costa Rica and Panama
07 August: leave Panama for Honduras
21 August: leave Honduras for Belize & Mexican Yucatan
30 August: arrive in Mexico City to prepare myself for return to Holland

Chichicastenango, Guatemala

2006-06-29T18:23:00.000-05:00

Hello, Hola,
Hope all is going well with you.
All is well where I am. It is actually more sunny these days than rainy. (Keep in mind that I am in rain season here!) Where I am is still Guatemala. A country I had to get used to the first 10 days or so, but can fully enjoy now.

Guatemala is poor, but rich at the same time. Crime rates are high, infrastructure exists, but that´s enough said, men lie drunk in the streets, women harrasment is evident every second of the day. With all the problems you could expect the people to be unfriendly, harsh and whatever else comes to mind. People here however are friendly, smiling, sometimes eager to touch a white person for the first time in their life. The colours of the this country, evident in the chickenbuses, in the clothes the natives wear, in the nature of people. Guatemala is rich, more rich than a Holland, a Germany, an US. The western man can afford many things, but he lost the ability to be kind to it´s neighbour or any other person he does not know. At times I wonder how I will ever can go back to my home, with so many people, so many people who forgot how it is to be kind to another. It is the ever existing paradox... to be rich and yet to have nothing of real value.

The nature here is a wonderful thing to explore here in this country, but at the same time it is destructive and people die and have died. Travellers I meet are mostly US Americans, doing voluntary work or other good work in this wonderous country. It is a country with many problems, socially, economically, environmentally but trying to get better... a slow proces. Too many examples I can mention, a man dragging his woman through the streets, drunk, while beating and strangling the women and the woman screeming and crying for her life, nobody to rescue her, and this happened in a reasonably big city. Nature being used as a garbage dump, ravines, rivers all full of rubbish, people, old and young throwing plastic bottles, bags, napkins out the bus´ windows. Each Sunday you can see men lying around on streets, too drunk to do anything else than sleep, other days you see it also, so sometimes I wonder ¨is it Sunday today too?¨ The hardest thing to see, are the so many children, working when they´re old enough, maybe 4, 5 but at least 6 years old. Carrying wood, mais, clothes, or whatever is it... it is too heavy to carry. They should be in school, if there is a school, but mostly it is just that a family cannot survive without her kids being out there... working... 6am or earlier till late. Just like it´s parents and grandparents.

I have heard many people, friends say Guatemala is such a wonderful country. I disagree. Every day I think, hey this might be a good day for a change. I see friendly people, colourful robes, beautiful sights the country has to offer and yet not a day goes by when something happens that puts you right back in reality. If people believe Mexico is poor, a development country, then I do not know where Guatemala fits in. Guatemala is not a travelling country, luxury hardly exists and is only for the 1% that has money. It is however a country full of experiences and this is exactly why I am here. These days I am tired of specifically going to a market, yet another town, or seeing churches everywhere. What I do, is sit down and see what is going on, observing. Guatemala is just different, not pretty, not the worst place I have been too, just different. And this is exactly the reason why I am still in Guatemala. I simply have to see it all. I spent days in places no traveller or tourist goes to and in other places just hours where they are present by the thousands.

I will continue to travel, but it is different these days. I am more or less at the end (even though I still have 2 more months left) and thinking what to do when my trip is over. Maybe I will go back and study, if so I would like to study cultures, languages, antropology with latin america as a background. But nothing is final, nothing is definitive... and for the people living here, change would be a wonderful thing to have.

I guess this email is a bit serious, perhaps I am in a serious mood ;-) It shows that travelling is not only about drinking, going out, even though the cuba libres (rum&coke) are about 70eurocents... It´s not only about following the football games each and every day. I guess I am a bit confused, with the things I see, the things I experience every single day, with the fact that going home is probably inevitable, with the fact that travelling has become something I do each and every single day. It has become my way of life, at times boring, at times totally unforgetable.

From Chichicastenango I wish you all the best,
that you may prosper where you want to prosper,
that your dreams may be fullfilled,
just as I fullfilled mine by being here,
that you are happy and if you are not,
that you may find happiness with the next sunset.

Warm wishes, all the best and till next time.
Ronaldiño

PS the photo was taken in Quetzaltenango at a market... it is a picture of me, enjoying the best corn I had, with mayonaise, ketchup and hot salsa stuff.... JUMMMY!!

PS Para les que solo entienden castillano, el proximo correo va a tener unos frases en español... seguro! Pero en fin... estoy bien! Muy contento! Deseo que estes bien tambien!! Un abrazo.

Naranja mecánica ganará el MUNDIAL!!!

2006-06-11T10:18:00.000-05:00

Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
ben ik, van Duitsen bloed,
den vaderland getrouwe
blijf ik tot in den dood.
Een Prinse van Oranje
ben ik, vrij onverveerd,
den Koning van Hispanje
heb ik altijd geëerd

Het is lang geleden, maar het volkslied klonk weer eens. Het Wilhelmus. Op Duits grondgebied, het Leipzig stadion. Het klonk goed, duizenden paisanos zongen uit volle borst mee. Het was helemaal tot in de uithoeken van Guatemala te horen. Ik moest wel ff een traantje wegpinken. Want deze keer gaat het dan toch echt gebeuren, niet 4e, 3e of een 2e plek... Nee deze keer gaat het anders zijn: NEDERLAND WERELDKAMPIOEN!

Plans, plans & plans

2006-06-05T18:48:00.000-05:00

My eigth day in Guatemala
It is Monday, 5th June 2006. It took me a few days to accustom myself to Guatemala. Ever since I left the wonderous beaches of Mazunte, Oax. in Mexico travelling life was on hyperspeed, 2 nights there, 2 nights here and boom the 29 of May came. The exact amount of 180 days on my tourist visa had pased by (given to me by the kind Mexican customs official - who probably had future visions of Ronald staying in Mexico more than just a few weeks - while crossing the border from El Paso, TX USA to Ciudad de Juarez, Chi MEX on 1 December 2005).

Time flies. Six months seem just a breeze, a day before yesterday ago. Met some many wonderful people, saw so many pretty sites, so many pretty girls and my Spanish is existent nowadays. Never thought that Mexico would be a country to fill my heart with joy, passion and to be a home for such a long time.

Just as the days before hitting Mexico, Guatemala seemed a country that gave me the chills. Let alone the passage from Palenque to Flores. Two buses were needed and a motorboat over a river and pesos was something I really ran out of in Palenque. So you can imagine how pleased I was when Iris (German girl I met in Oaxaca, failed to meet in Mazunte (there is only one beach and it´s really not that big!), remet again in San Cristobal & Palenque) decided to join me into a joint endeavour to get into Guatemala. I think I will always be grateful... scary cityboy as I am :-)

Leaving Mexico City
On May 1st, 2006 after 3 months of living in one of the world´s biggest and polluted cities (damn I loved the town :-) I left for Papantla, Veracruz after giving Alberto (Italy, uni friend) a big handshake and Rosa Elia a long kiss. It was beautiful busride to this city where they sell white powder sacks on the street... vanilla for those thinking otherwise. After taking in the ruins of El Tajin I decided I needed some beach time, so I went to Tecolutla, one of Veracruz´ best beaches! Met Vanía, a chilango girl (people from DF are called chilangos), we talked, walked around, enjoyed some beachtime together and said goodbye.

After the beach it was time to visit the capital of Veracruz: Xalapa (pronounced as galapa). I was surprised by the charm of the capital, beautiful plazas, good museums and excellent food! It was 5th of May during my stay here. During this they the Mexicans remember the Battle of Puebla, this year 144 years ago. (In this battle the Mexicans defeated the French invaders. To make a long story short: the most popular president of Mexico, Juarez in the years just after the Mexican Independance, froze payments of intrest of loans provided by England, France etc. to be able to put this money to the development of Mexico. England and France invaded to protect their intrests, England left but France advanced to Puebla (2 hrs southeast of Mexico DF) where they were defeated by the Mexicans. In the year 2006 on 5 May Mexico won again, this time in a friendly football game against Venezuela. 1-0. The area around Xalapa is very interesting, covered with small towns and the gorgeous waterfalls of Texolo.

Leaving Veracruz for Oaxaca
Arrived in Tuxtepec, because I wanted to visit a little village famous for indigenous clothing (got there and ofcourse my book was a bit out of date, did meet a nice mexican girl and chatted some, but when we wanted to meet up again later that night in Tuxtepec all failed. It was extremely busy due to festivals and parades... looked like Carnaval in Holland :-) My intentions to go to a lake formed by dams were blocked by the fact that it was pretty difficult getting to the island on the lake (read difficult as: needed to take an extremely early bus 4AM...) Instead I took the bus through valleys and mountains of Oaxaca to the city of Oaxaca. Beautiful busride!

Oaxaca & Mazunte
I stayed more than I intended in Oaxaca. About a week. Met crazy Italians and Spanish and lovely Iris from Germany (how I always end up with the damn Germans nobody knows... it seems there are over 90 millions of these creatures walking this earth...) With her visited the beautiful botanical gardens located in a former monestrary. Together with jazz music on the back ground and seeing nature´s beauties, it was a perfect mix. During my first days I went to see the biggest tree in the world... damn the tree is BIG! Also visited the ruins of Mitla, small but pretty (you can really see how the Spanish destroyed the arquitecture of the indigenous people when they invaded in 1521 and built churches on top of temples made by Aztecs, Olmecs, Mixtecs, Mayas etc.

Oaxaca had a forthnight of music, art and dance going on. Amazing is the perfect description! I asked if Rosa Elia, Rosí for short, wanted to join me in Oaxaca, since it would be the last time me being close to her. She came. Together we enjoyed Oaxaca and a perfect performance of French Africans a la Cirque de Soleil. We both needed time to adapt to eachother, so not all was paradise. Luckily after a few days of adjusting we got along very well. Went to Mazunte together, which proved to be heaven on earth! Enjoying sun, beach, beers, new friends (a crazy Bask and good to handle Germans). Ofcourse life cannot remain paradise, I had to say goodbye to Rosí, she needed to attend clases at the UNAM and I had to start to get the hell out of Mexico! Ofcourse I stayed a few extra days in Mazunte, alledgedly to find Iris on the beaches, but nobody there but this crazy Bask, Gatu. With him spent a few fun days extra in Mazunte. Unfortunately I got really ill after eating some bad fish, so he was supporting me a bit a well with: have another chela!! (chela = beer)

Chiapas: reunions
The state of Chiapas has many beauties hidden, natural beauties! The capital, San Cristobal de las Casas is impressively beautiful. The first night out with people I met at the hostel (dutchie, ozzy girl, english guy and 2 canadians) I heard the most incredible jamaican flavoured rock. Met Iris, had few nice dances and I also met 2 girls I had met in Guanajuato (3weeks earlier during Semana Santa). Loved seeing everybody again! Next day, the day started early. Went on a tour with the guys from the hostel to see waterfalls and beautiful blue lagoons!! Impressive!! Then it was time to leave for Palenque, finally! It was 10 January 2006 when I decided not to continue travelling with Alex&Marie, but to return to Mexico City instead. And now I was there in Palenque. The ruins were an amazing site to see!

The rest is history.

The masterplan
The future is all about:
- exploring Guatemala during June
- visiting El Salvador for 2 weeks
- taking the southern route through Honduras, Nicaragua to Costa Rica
- return the northern route from Costa Rica
- maybe visit Belize and Yucatan
- return to Holland on 2nd September 2006

Guatemala baby!!

2006-05-30T14:32:00.000-05:00

From: Ronald van der Linden
Date: 30-May-2006 13:32
Subject: Guatemala baby!!

To all dear & beloved friends,

I left Mexico, after spending exactly 180days, for Guatemala. From the ruines of Palenque I travelled together with Iris to Guatemala, by first taking a 4th class bus, a wooden boat with outboard engine for 30mins, crossing the river that divides Mexico and Guatemala, arrived in some backyard of a Guatemaltec family, saying hello and getting yet another entrance stamp from the very friendly Guatemaltec customs police. Waiting 3 hours in the middle of nowhere, well actually a small town and then ¨hoppa¨ 4 hours in an old schoolbus (USA type), also called chicken bus, over unpaved roads (boem-de-de-boem-de-de-boem.... Dutch for extremely shaky) to Flores, which is a small island in the Lake of Peten. Took a taxi and arrived in a superdooper hostel, named Los Amigos, which is run by 2 Dutchies and a Guatemalteca.

But as usual, all is well & now I am off to some markets to get some jummy fruits, like papaya, mango, bananas.... Life is slow, people talk slower than in Mexico, service is even more slower, but all is friendly. Tranquilo is the word.

Which I wish you all... tranquilidad. As together with friends on the beach of Mazunte, Oaxaca invented the following toast: salud, suerte, felicidad, libertad y amor (health, luck, happiness, liberty and love)

With these words I end this short email.
From Flores, Guatemala I bid you all adios.
Ronaldiño

Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico

2006-05-01T21:53:00.000-05:00

From: Ronald van der Linden
To: vanderlinden.ronald@gmail.com
Date: 01-May-2006 20:53
Subject: Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico

Hallo vriendjes en vriendinnetjes,
Daar ben ik weer. Vandaag is het vervolg begonnen. Afscheid genomen van Jan en alleman in Mexico Stad. 6 uur in de bus en mooie valleien mogen aanschouwen. Kortom mijn reis gaat verder. In het Spaans kan ik me nu wel een beetje uitdrukken, dus ineens gaat alles ook veel vlotter en is het contact met de mexicaantjes ook veel gezelliger en uitgebreider in plaats van ¨waar ben ik?¨ Kortom ik leg fijntjes uit dat ik Hollandees ben en geen gringo en dat scheelt ook meteen een slok op een borrel... men blaat er op los en ik luister graag.

Tot zover dit nieuwsbericht in het Nederlands.

Hola amigos y amigas!
Ahorita estoy en Papantla, Veracruz. Hoy empezo mi continuacion de mi viaje... estoy muy muy feliz. Por supuesto un pocito triste también por deja DF, pero teniamos muchisimas fiestas y comidas y bebidas, especialmente este pinche tequila ;-) Entonces no recuerda nada... pero me parece todo estuve bien ;-)) Cuando sí hay un opportunidad... voy a buscarte! por unas chelas.... El tiempo de 4 meses fue un muy grande placer para mi, para encontrarte y para divertirme contigo! Gracias.

Hola gringos and other English speaking nationalities ;-)
I just heard Mexico is going to approve a law to legalise mota (marihuana)... so I am feeling right at home in this little country. Today I left Mexico City, my classes are over (although I admit I was not a very good attendant lately), I said my farewells and my travels have restarted. I have until 2 September 06 (for now :-) to travel through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua,
Costa Rica and maybe Panama. Where I will go exactly is a question I cannot answer.... (PS latest news is that the drug law did not pass)

Ofcourse I have new pictures....
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2106848271
Enjoy the 366 pictures... :p

Gracias a la vida
Ronaldiño

La vida perfecta

2006-04-24T15:58:00.000-05:00

Sí la vida perfecta existe! Mira a mi gata, Prue... Siempre - como yo - relaje y disfrute su vida muy tranquila ;-)

Travels are about to be continued

2006-04-11T16:32:00.000-05:00

Travel is in the veins
of those who cherish exploration,
travel through history,
wander through streets,
encounter new people.
It is a neverending tale

Currently I am posted in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. Arrived here last Sunday and fell in love, imminently. Semana Santa (week of celebrations regarding Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter) provided me with a week off from studying. It´s a week vacation within a yearlong vacation. Tomorrow I will visit Patzcuaro and it´s lake. This area is very famous the celebrations of Day of the Dead (1-2 November). Death in this country is ofcourse also a sad part of life, but it is also celebrated, because it is assumed that people go to a better place after life. It is also a day to spend with deceased loved ones. I think I saw a tv program once when this was taken quite literally by digging up the cascets...

Anyway, apparently Patzcuaro is one of Mexico´s most beautiful cities... Later Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende will be visited. After this week most of the cities around Mexico DF I planned to visit, will be visited. My language course will be ending at the end of April. There are friendships that I will leave behind when I continue my travels through the Americas, but no doubt I will visit them wherever they are. Slowly it is time to say goodbye to Mexico.

Ciudad de México
que nunca quiere perderme
un imán que tira a mí
sí, voy a venir por unas semanas
pero el 1 mayo voy a salirte
sólo físicamente
porque siempre estarás en mis piensamentes.

Por más de 4 meses eras mi casa, mi vida
Grazie!

Wageningen

2006-03-21T14:52:00.000-06:00

It is a special place. A place I grew up, where I have friends and most importantly it is where my loving parents live. A place I can always call my home...

Last night I was reading my travelguide Footprint (I carry 2, one about Central America and one about South America) and my eyes fell on Suriname, a country more or less bordering Venezuela and Brazil. I always knew there where 2 places that are named Wageningen. One is located in the Netherlands, the other resides in Suriname. While reading just 3 sentences, I knew there is only one hotel to stay a night. The name of the hotel Hotel de Wereld... there is also one in Holland, where WorldWar 2 ended by means of the signature on the Treaty of Surrender by some General of the German Army on May 5, 1945.

I am now in Mexico, its capital to be precise. I was thinking to stay here maybe until October, because I thought I need to work, because money is running out. However I cannot. May 3 will approximately be the day Ronaldiño will be on the move again. Then I will have spent 4 full months in DF. Four months of partying, studying and exploring Central Mexico. I feel the need to move on again. My Spanish has improved tremendously, and with the time ahead it will grow and grow.

I also feel, slowly, that my travelling time will come to an end. I changed my flight ticket to 16 July 2006. Almost 11 months of travelling will have passed by then. I still want to travel through Central America, through South America, work in New Zealand and Australia, take a ferry to Indonesia, get to Korea, Japan, China and take the Siberia train back to Europe. This continues to be my dream. There is however a difference between dreams and realities.

Maybe I will find a way to continue making footsteps, as I found a way to travel to the place where I am now. I ended a life, which was good; lived in an appartment, working a fine job. Now I wonder to what I will return to.

I wonder how I can return home, to a life in Holland
I wonder how I can return back to an old life that I left
For all, I guess, it is certain
I will not be able to return to my former way of living

But what is truth and what is reality?
These are questions I struggle to answer
I try to seek a path in which I can be truly happy

Maybe my trip will be over in July
I truly hope it will not, but whatever happens
I know it will not be an end
it will be a new beginning
and it scares the living hell out of me

Greetings from Mexico!

2006-03-15T20:47:00.000-06:00

From: Ronald van der Linden
To: vanderlinden.ronald@gmail.com
Date: 15-Mar-2006 19:47
Subject: Greetings from Mexico!

I remember in the beginning I saw a sky full of stars, MilkyWay and maybe only one or 2 lights. I saw the northern lights during a ferry trip from Juneau, Alaska to Prince Rupert, Canada. Lucky man. I remember nature, wildlife and fresh water and air.

Now the sky is full of greyish clouds, and lights are everywhere. Wildlife consists of MightyMouse, a few birds and dogs, muchisimo dogs. On the 3rd of March ´06 I completed 6 months of staying away from Holland.

I changed from a sky full of stars to the hills of Mexico, fully shining bright with their more than 20 million lights. I changed from English to Spanish, a language I hardly had known even while entering Mexico on 1st of December. From a working life living in a little town of 50,000 inhabitants I now live a student life in one of the world´s biggest cities of give or take 21 million people. I even changed from
hostelling life to a more permanent stay here in Mexico. I live near the university, heck it´s only 15mins walking distance. Slowly I am learning the language, the culture and the good and bad that happens in this worldly city.

Next will be to find a job, it is becoming more urgent since I want to continue my travels, and my money, however cheap this country might be, it is running away like SpeedyGonzales... at least I am contributing to this country´s economy ;-)

An example is today. I went with a microbus to one of the many markets they have near each metro station. Markets like these, you can buy almost everything, from jummy tacos, tortas (=sandwiches) to clothes, to useless rubbish everybody here seems to buy. I bought shoes and shorts because apparently I am going to be the goalie for The Fumas... the football (=soccer you damn Americans!) team of the faculty I am studying Spanish. Why Fumas? Probably because it sounds like Pumas, which is the University´s football team... to be honest... they suck ;-) But it is nice to go to an Olympic Stadium and watch a game from time to time, especially when friends have free tickets to share...

It is not only fun to live a life in this big city. Things like taxi robberies, getting beaten up at the streets, pickpocketing in the metro are only examples that unfortunately do occur. The only thing that happened to me, was that I left my bank card in the cash machine, my own stupidity. Then there is the neverending traffic, air pollution that will probably take a few years of my life and the massity of this place.

Still I encounter people who can say a friendly hello, and provide life with a smile. Be it the torta seller, where I buy many hawaiian deliciousities, or the guy at newspaperstand, waiting for me to buy another newspaper of El Pais or La Jornada. Mexicans are a curious and communative people, they wish to know everything: where I´m from, how Holland is like, and why it is possible I love Mexico so damn much.

So to all a little request... if you like, send me a postcard with the caracteristics of your place or country... besides, I like receiving mail ;-)

Ronald van der Linden
* address deleted for privacy purposes *

What else? Nothing really. The usual student life combined with a little travelling... I went to the beaches of Veracruz the other weekend. So I have some new pictures to show on my blog ;-) And for those who only know me with a short hearcut... well things kindoff changed ;-) Next trip on the agenda is most likely a visit to one of the volcanos near Mexico City. Looking forward to it. Ofcourse fiestas are inevitable in a student life... so I went to hook up with a good friend I met in Puerto Escondido. A goodbye party, because she went away to home, to Germany. I guess there is a time to go home, the clock however is not sounding the last of the 12 bells... it is not midnight yet, not by far.

As always I wish each of you all the best and enjoy life ;-)

From Mexico with muchisimo abrazos
Ronaldiño

Que??? Veracruz!

2006-03-10T14:36:00.000-06:00

Ofcourse, I may live in Mexico City at the moment, this does not mean the travelling has stopped. During the last weekend I went to Veracruz, from Thursday to Tuesday. A few days off in between my Spanish courses. Don´t you just love student life? So it was hot, humid and sweating like a pig was not uncommon. But what do you do when the local girls are so-so? Exactemundo! You bring your own... Thank the heavens I got to know some cuties in Mexico City, and they wanted to come along as well... there is heaven on earth hahaha

So the first 2 days (Thursday and Friday) were spent with my friend Michael. Days were spent relaxing, exploring Veracruz and its beaches. Ofcourse a nice coffee on the central plaza and a few beers were present as well. Our tradition of playing some games of pool resulted in exploring the city even more... I guess you can say we are addicts ;-)

On Friday night 2 Quebecois girls came to visit us in Veracruz, on Saturday morning Delphine and Ghyslain arrived as well and the gang was complete. To the BEACH! Dinner at 100%Natural, deciding to stay an extra day, more beach, more alcoholic beverages, more live salsa music. A little boat tour to Cancunsito (a very very very small island and seeing colourful fish in real nature not in an aquarium). In short a nice long weekend...

Now it is studytime again. Again fiestas. Again cervezas. Again the company of fine friends... and the opportunity to stay another 6 weeks in Mexico City. Who knew I would enjoy Mexico thát much!?

Plans to stay in DF until October 2006

2006-02-25T16:16:00.000-06:00

So I guess I decided to stay for a while in Mexico City (or DF). Will do yet another language course, try to find a job to supplement financial needs for the future but most importantly find an employer that will provide me with projects during my trip from Mexico to South America.

To stay another 6 weeks implies travelling during rain season in Central America, which I want to avoid. Therefor I want to find a job and live in Mexico DF until October and then perhaps continu my travels to Cuba and Central America.

Then I can reach South America in their summer... then Tierra del Fuego will not be all that cold ;-) I love it how things fit like a puzzle sometimes.

So it is time to find an appartment, a job and learn more Spanish.
But the good part of being a student is, that you have time off in between courses, therefor a little trip to Veracruz (beach & sun) is on schedule for next week!

Jealous? hahahaha

Ronald

Mi estudiante vida aborada ;-)

2006-02-10T14:44:00.000-06:00

From: Ronald van der Linden
Date: 10-Feb-2006 14:41
Subject: My boring student lifestyle

Buenas tardes amigas y amigas,

It´s a hard hard life... anyone know this song? Poor little me, a student. A Spanish student. A Spanish and a mexican history student. I will let you in on a few events that happened lately. Ofcourse most of you know by now I have halted my travels for a few weeks, but it really does not mean travelling life has ended prematurely. Por ejemplo last weekend, I went with 3 friends to Acapulco. Going loco in Acapulco as they say. Beautiful beaches, relaxing sun, restaurant service that serves you with a mind that always will forget your order and guys: the women my oh my the women... Ofcourse I had the company of yet again a German, but more interesting 2 lovely girls. Be assured nothing eventful happened since it was all about making our Spanish homework and discussions about damn bloody Spanish grammar! ,-) Por su puesto cervezas were involved, live music and just lots of fun! We even bought our taxi driver a few beers and he drank the first one during our taxi ride... hey it´s Mexico! People drink and drive... trust me... it is a lot of fun!!

Ofcourse student life is hard. One needs to get up on time (as most of you know this is very difficult for Ronald), make homework (I even asked for more but ofcourse refused to do it). One needs to attend many many parties and nights out, which makes getting up in the morning even more difficult. In short, my neverending quality of NOT getting up on time has not improved here. You could say it has adjusted even more to Mexican lifestyle. Keep in mind though that many of my Mexican friends are like Germans... 5 mins before arranged time they are present... me however tend to always be late for 30mins or more. Qué pedo!

Good news however, my grades for my exams (yes I do actually have exams on my long streched holiday!) are around 8 in the scale from 0 - 10. Not bad eh? And even though my Spanish sucks big time, I now have the ability to express myself and even write a few sentences... This after only 3-4 weeks... Not bad I think. Not bad at all.

Best thing here is though that I really enjoy living in Mexico DF (or Mexico City). Life is good as they say. Women are friendly. Beer is flowing, as is tequila and cuban rum. I even found a Dutchy staying in my hostel who wakes me up in the morning so I can actually be on time. Last night for example I was invited to the birthdayparty of my German friend, Michael, or Miguel as I now call him. Salsa music, a bit of dancing, birthday cakes and friends surrounding... a wonderful thing to be welcomed in Mexico and enjoy the people who make Mexico DF a wonderful city.

So since I am now having a boring life of studying you guys and girls do not have excuses anymore that maybe your lives at home are somewhat less adventures than mine. I really like to hear what you´re up to even though it is just a little message, like yes yes last weekend I was drunk again and yes yes work is stressful. Keep in mind that this is what you would usually tell me if I was actually still living next door to you. So get your fingers to work and write me some emails about what´s happening... Because one day I will come back and I really would not like to miss out on your life you have lived... I don´t like the black holes... not even when they come from drinking the night before.

I will end by saying...

We all live our life like we do,
make choices, make mistakes
so in the end we learn,
learn that we are just people,
people which are linked to others
and even though that link is a cable and a monitor,
we care about others,
no matter of their fortune,
no matter of their poverty,
we are all travelling
step by step in our path of life.

Thank you for following mine,
thank you for being part of who I am today.

Ronald

--
http://follow-my-footsteps.blogspot.com/

Feliz cumpleaños Reina de Paisos Bajos

2006-02-02T18:18:00.000-06:00

My dear Queen Beatrix.

Ofcourse as always I am late with birthday wishes. My friends can tell You many stories about me being late with quite many things. It was Your birthday on January 31 last. My diary noticed it and ofcourse it is with proud that I hereby want to wish You a very happy belated birthday. Ofcourse even though I am far away I still read with much interest the events ongoing in our little country. So I also wish you health and strength in the recovery of surgery You went through a few weeks ago.

My Orange heart is still going strong after having travelled for 5 months now. I always tell the Germans it is impossible to beat us at the WorldCup 2006. I always tell every man or woman who wants to know that Holland might be a small country, and the people are always complaining, a country where grass is not always green as people think, but it is my Orange country. Proud of it too. I do must admit Your Highness that I do love being in Mexico. Nice and warm, roses bloom in the heart of winter. 25 C every day and the women, my dear Bea, the women they are so nicely formed hehehe

I must go now. Today it is Día de Candelaría. A day to celebrate together with Mexicans. So You see dear Bea, I try to be a good Orange Dutchie.

Yours truly,
Ronald

Mexican time

2006-01-28T22:13:00.000-06:00

On my page at Virtualtourist.com there is a sentence saying that I only had one single more day left in Mexico City. I wrote this on 22 December 2005. It is now 28 January 2006. Interesting this city truly is. It somehow has the right magnet, because I am still here. Somehow I keep returning to this city, which is home to so many. A place where the pollution just shortened my life with a year and, just because I have walked the streets over little more than a month.

Hmmm I will be here for another few weeks ...

Time is something I cannot control. It was 1 December 2005 when I crossed the US/Mexican border. Plans are that I will be leaving Mexico by mid March by the means of an aircraft, but more preferably by boat to Cuba. I keep thinking 'I have such little time!'

In my original plan Cuba did not exist and I would be in Costa Rica by 18 March 2006, since that is the return date for my ticket back to the Netherlands. I chose this date because I thought that I might be having money problems, homesickness to deal with after having travelled for 6 months. It is now 5 months minus 1 week that I have been on the road. No signs of problems... Only signs of wanting to see more and more and more.

To buy more time I started writing to newspapers and magazines to see if they would be interested in kickstarting my writing career. Otherwise I am destined to go back to Holland and watch the World's Football Championship from my parents' home. At times it is appealing, but mostly I just enjoy my time travelling Drinking a few beers, taking salsa lessons at Mama Rumba (a Cuban bar) and enjoying female attention.

So here I am in Mexico City, were the initial plan told me to be in Honduras by now. But I love it. Studying Spanish, being a foreign student (something I always wanted to be during my student years), missing classes because a students' life is hard work. Getting up early in the morning, going to bed early in the morning, so little time to sleep. And you must keep in mind that besides food and travelling, sleeping is a wonderful hobby of mine I choose not to let go to waste.

I am also trying to get out of my current hostel, perfectly located near all the historic sites as the Zocalo (the plaza), Palacio Nacional (with famous murals from Diego Riviera), Belles Artes museo which currently has a fantastic photography display. However I am no longer a traveller in its purest sense, so I decided I would move to another hostel more closer to the UNAM university. Instead of commuting by metro for 45mins I can now walk for 15mins starting next Monday. Talk about home improvement. Ofcourse I tried to find apartments, rooms etc, although my efforts were very minimal. My price I am willing to pay is MX$ 2,000 which makes the search for my new home quite difficult.

The UNAM university is a wonderful place. Bureaucracy is vividly alive. An example is my effort to try and get access to sport facilities, such as the Olympic swimming pool. First step is to get some papers. Western efficiency demands that letters are fully automatically provided to school staff. Mexico however chooses other paths. Important aspects of the request, such as my name, my courses I follow are written by hand. Next step is to go to the Medical Centre, because one needs a medical approval. This medical exam costs MX$ 0,05 (5 centavos). The smallest coin in use is MX$ 0,10 (which is the equivalent of US$ 0,01). The reason for charging at least some money lies in the fact that years ago 5 centavos actually was a lot of money. Hard to imagine now, but imagine students commuting to the University by car. They are usually the less coloured Mexicans. Since UNAM is a public university, it is accessible to all, which means poor Mexicans can also get a degree on university level. UNAM is as far as I know the only public university Mexico has to offer.

What I mean with 'less coloured Mexicans', are Mexicans who are white or tanned like the Spanish in Europe. It is (very) slowly changing, but the darker the skin, it automatically means you are poor. A newspaper informed me a month ago that the Mexicans have a population of give or take 90 million people of which in 2005 about 65% is poor or extremely poor. The newspaper also mentioned it was actually a slight improvement to the 70% estimated in 2000.

The price I am willing to pay for a place to stay, the mentioned 2,000 pesos, is for 65% of the Mexicans an amount they would dream to earn in a month, or 2. So do I care if I get ripped off a 50 pesos in a taxi ride. Or when buying fruits on markets people tend to charge me a little more. Sometimes it is ridiculous to be travelling in a country which is full of beauties, but poverty is widespread and corruption difficult to eliminate.

Mexico is by far an interesting country, with its cultures, with it problems, a big neighbour it depends upon economically and its wonderful friendly people who only show their anger by letting the car's horn sound from time to time... I consider myself lucky to be travelling in this country and I am looking forward to continue on starting March 1st. This time with more knowledge of the Mexican language.

???

2006-01-13T01:20:00.000-06:00

Travelling is over... finito... beendet... cancelado... yeah right!

2006-01-13T00:56:00.000-06:00

From: Ronald van der Linden
To: vanderlinden.ronald@gmail.com
Date: 12-Jan-2006 23:56
Subject: Travelling is over... finito... beendet... cancelado... yeah right!

A little Dutch/German hassle to light the Orange fire....

There is a little song in my head right now, it goes something like this.... Schade Deutschland alles ist vorbei, alles ist vorbei...

Somewhere in June 2006, in Schalke's Stadium, when Holland becomes 2nd in its group and Germany 1st (the bastards always do...) I cannot think of a better place than right at the Dutch / German border... We will prevail... For at least one day the west of Germany will become Orange... can't wait!! Why did I start this again... because I am meeting so many Germans here... and they all think they'll win the Weltmeisterschaft... well this time... a big no no hehehe

Where was I? Ah yes, sorry, this little monologue was a little selling the bear's skin before it actually got shot. For those who do not know there is a football championship going on in Germany during June 2006... shame on you!!

Wow I did get a little carried away here eh? Well this is exactly how the Mexicans, Argentinians, all Europeans, Brazilians, Japanese, Koreans feel about football. It is alive over here... oh yes baby it is definitely alive here hehehe

Alright enough about that... let's talk about me and how I am doing. Not being selfish here at all!

I have no idea what I wrote the last time. It was probably a long while ago. Probably I was being in Mexico City? Oh no, actually I was in Guanajuato. Damn that really was a long time ago.

You missed out on

- spending Christmas in Mexico City with lots and lots of tequila (oh my i was drunk as hell...)
- spending that same night partying with Mona, directly flown in from Seattle
- spending a week or so in Puerto Escondido, beach baby! beach! and a wonderful New Year's celebration it was (btw I am black now... people just keep saying "are you from the Caribbean?") and the best part was that I met up with good old Alex again... what better start to have for 2006 than to be with old travel friends like Mona and Alex... damn what a great time!
- next on the agenda was Oaxaca, beautiful town, saying goodbye to Mona (some people do need to work and keep the economy going...)
- after Oaxaca was the gorgeous town of San Cristobal where I said my goodbyes to Alex and his friend Marie.

In San Cristobal de las Casas I was only 5 hours away from Guatemala. Only 5 hours away from jungle pyramid Palenque. Only 5 hours away to travel further on route to Cuba. Maybe even travelling together with Alex. After many days of thinking I decided to stop travelling. It sounds tragic. It is tragic. Had I enough? Nah I seriously doubt it. Is it time to come home to good old Kikkerlandje... not this winter baby! What then? What the hell is going on... well here it comes... I AM A UNIVERSITY STUDENT OF MEXICO... go figure!

As of today I am offically again to my greatest pleasure a student for the period of 6 weeks. For the period of 6 weeks I will learn Spanish at UNAM, the public University of Mexico in Mexico City. Am I crazy? Yes! hahaha But I think it is necessario! I think learning Spanish will benefit me after I finished the course. Because ofcourse I will not stop travelling... The show must go on... March it will be Cuba. April will be Guatamala and I will probably reach Costa Rica by June or maybe July. The future looks dark after that though...

Which brings me to another subject. Work & Travel. It seems inevitable. So let me explain a little bit about a long lasting dream of mine. It's a dream of writing and photography. As you may have noticed by now, I love to write. Ofcourse my emails are becoming more and more like bulk and junk mail, nobody seems to be reading in the first place, but there is a crowd out there I want to reach with travel stories and travel pictures. So I ask each and everyone of you to think with those 2 brain cells of yours how you can assist me. Do you have tips how to engage newspapers, magazines etc to sell my writings for serious cash? I know there are some news reporters out there who receive this email... Seriously. In the next 6 weeks I plan to see if anything like that would be possible. So help RocketRonny achieve his goal into reaching Tierra del Fuego, because without the cash... it all stops on my birthday... 20 July 2006. Who wants that to happen?

To all of those who actually read this email till this far... I wish you all health, happiness, a huge bite by the travelbug but most of all... here is a big Ronald hug! (apparently it is famous with the girls...)

Ronald

PS the best news ofcourse is that I am in Mexico City for 6 weeks... come over and visit... I can be your guide... yes yes it will be free of charge... you can buy me a taco or 3.

--
http://follow-my-footsteps.blogspot.com/

Reunions & Celebrations and a map

2006-01-05T17:05:00.000-06:00

There she is. The new year of 2006. Unimaginable but true. Good party in Puerto Escondido. Tequila everywhere. Cerveza everywhere. Party anywhere.

Best gift for the new year was to meet up with my travel buddy Alex. Yes indeed Alex (the guy I travelled with for 5 weeks in the US of A) caught up with me. I guess I slowed down my pace to Mexican standards. Together with Mona good fun at Puerto Escondido´s best & most gorgeous beach: Playa Coral. You better believe it baby! Carribean blue waters, waves 1-2 meters high, and a sea salt enough you do not really need to do anything to keep being afloat. Definately relaxing. As you all know travelling is exhausting, so I needed a week vacation at a beach ;-)

Now it is Oaxaca where I am. Beautiful city. With a Zocalo (Spanish name for square or plaza apparantly) so gorgeous I feel like I am in Italy´s Rome or Venice. Cappuccios replacing the cervezas at the moment.

Yesterday I saw the site Monte Albán. Gorgeous ruines of the Zapotec people, these people were the same that built the pyramides near Mexico City: Teotihuacan. So cultural day yesterday... and exhausting as well as we all walked back to the city of Oaxaca (pronounced as Oagaka or Oachaka) More exhausting was the night out... in a bar called Elefante... good fun... good beer... gorgeous women! Damn I love Mexico hahaha

Plans: tomorrow to San Cristobal de las Casas, which is only a few hours from Guatamala, but as I did in the US of A, a little detour through Yucatan and Cuba is at hand. I am especially looking forward to Cuba! Since I want this trip to be without a lot of flying, it is my goal to find a boat or yacht to Cuba. Might be difficult since the damn Americans still have this incredibly stupid embargo against Cuba (I think this year this embargo exists for about 45 years... calls for a breach I would say)

Last but not least: HAPPY NEW YEAR / FELIZ AÑO NUEVO !!

PS Here is a map of my route. I started my trip on 3 September 2005 in Fairbanks, Alaska. After 4 months of travelling I managed to reach Oaxaca... not bad. Not bad at all ;-))

11 dias en Mexico DF y ahora jo salir para Puerto Escondido

2005-12-27T17:06:00.000-06:00

Mexico City. It's actually a country. More than 20 million inhabitants. Polluted air. So many cars. So many people. So many different faces. I thought at first to leave after about 3 to 4 days. I stayed for more than a week. Teotihuacan, Cuyoacan, San Angel, Zocalo are places I really loved strolling around. I also met up with friends from travels. 2 girls from Germany, Rolf the Dutchie and more recently Mona from Seattle. I think I also made new friends here in Mexico City. So I have a place to return to... Perhaps one day I will.

Now it is time to slowly say goodbye. Together with Mona I depart for some beach adventure. I need the 30 degrees Celsius. I need to feel the sand. I need to feel the Pacific sea breeze again! We will probably stay there until after New Years. Hopefully there is also Alex to meet up in the coming days or maybe just after New Years. It is interesting to feel at home in a city so gigantic. As always it is the people that made the stay absolutely memorable!

Everybody meet Gina, a gorgeous 23 year old true Mexican City girl. Together with her and her friends and her big brother I had a little taste of how people live their lives in Mexico. I loved every second of it.

Feliz Navidad

2005-12-24T17:30:00.000-06:00

To all... Feliz Navidad from Mexico City

My first night in Mexico City

2005-12-17T03:01:00.000-06:00

Tonight I met up with Merle, Laura and Rolf once again. I made it just in time to be able to spend a wonderful evening and night. Started with a few beers and catching up, even though we only did not see eachother for a week. Good fun!

It got better though. I also met with Gaby, a girl living in Mexico City. I know her through Virtualtourist.com. Apparently I was just in time to really get to meet her, because she would have been to busy this weekend, since she is off for Christmas vacation. Lucky me! Together with her friend, Christina, she came over to the Zona Rosa. Met at McDonalds. Somehow McDonalds is always a good meeting point... Had my first hamburger in months! Tasty as well! Had some more beers and absolute good live music! Even some dancing was involved. Then something happened that not that much happens in Mexico. Gaby and her friend brought me and Rolf to our different hostels. Women bringing the men home, that is rare.

I loved the whole evening...

It is now 3 in the morning or way past that even... Time for bed.

It is amazing how you can enjoy a night with strangers. So I ask myself. Is there a difference between people you meet just for a few minutes and those who you consider are your friends for life? I guess to me that difference is not existent. Does a friendship for life not start with a few minutes? I actually never thought of this before.

I guess my friends are the people I meet. And good people they are!

Mexico mi corazon!

2005-12-15T18:50:00.000-06:00

Van: Ronald van der Linden
Verzonden: donderdag 15 december 2005 2:49:20
Aan: vanderlinden.ronald@gmail.com

Hola amigos, amigas!
To all who are new... welcome to my periodical bulk email...
This time I will try and see if I can put some Dutch in there, I need the practice because even with the Dutch people I meet we tend to speak English instead of Dutch. Nederlands has become difficult hehehe

Hier gaan we dan. Laatste keer was een mail vanuit Texas, met het vriendelijke verzoek eens een mailtje te sturen, zo van, hier is alles goed en koud. Het was een beetje een dipje. Ik was speciaal afgereisd naar Austin, Texas (ruim 20uur in de bus) om music city te bezoeken en de vrouwelijke studentes eens nader te onderzoeken, wat blijkt echter... Austin was uitgestorven vanwege Thanksgiving. Ik had het niet slechter kunnen plannen. Maar toch weer de nodige mensen ontmoet en er een leuk weekje van gemaakt. Toen was het op weg naar Mexico. Nog een tussenstop gemaakt in San Antonio, Texas. Dé plek waar Texas z´n vrijheid van Mexico heeft bevochten... famous Alamo gezien en het stadje is vol met grachten, zoals in Utrecht, Amsterdam. Erg sfeervol, nog meer vanwege kerstversieringen.

Ergens om 6 uur ´s ochtends (weer een 15uur in de bus vanuit San Antonio) was ik in El Paso, Texas gearriveerd. Geen zin om diezelfde dag nog door te reizen naar Mexico. Te moe, en eigenlijk nog niet echt de behoefte om Mexico binnen te trekken. Kortom dagje extra gebleven en per 1 december jl. Mexico binnen getrokken. Veel gedoe aan de grens, want ik moest mijn groene toeristenkaart bij de Amerikaanse helft van de grens inleveren en de bus die ik wilde nemen, stopte enkel aan de Mexicaanse grens. Dus veel heen en weer gewandel en uiteindelijk verdwijnt die o zo belangrijke groene kaart ergens in de handen van een Amerikaanse douanier en huppa in de la. Daar doe je die moeite voor....

Eenmaal in Mexico is alles anders. Het is maar goed dat ik wat Spaans heb opgepikt tijdens mijn geforens tussen Wageningen en Zeist. En omdat alles anders is, bevalt het reizen direct stukken meer. Ik was waarschijnlijk Amerika gewoon moe. Had alle dingen die ik zo graag wilde zien, gezien (nou ja... alles......) en het was tijd om het reizen maar weer eens uitdagender te maken. Mexico´s eerste stad die ik bezocht was Chihuahua. Hoofdstad van de staat Chihuahua (Mexico is net als VS onderverdeeld in staten, een stuk of 30) en Chihuahua is de grootste. Natuurlijk maar ik direct kennis met het afdingen als je een taxi wil. Laatst was ik nog in Guadalajara en men vroeg 150 pesos... stelletje geldduivels!! Toen ik de hostel belde en vroeg wat het ongeveer zou zijn... maximum was de helft. Uiteindelijk toch maar 90 betaald. Het was middernacht en dan wil die vermaledijde taxi chauffeur ook een extra pesootje verdienen aan die witte tourist.

Maar ik maak er weer een lange mail van... nou ja... als je verder wilt lezen... prima... maar het gaat Engels worden.

And yes it is English now. My trip in Mexico started in Chihuahua after crossing the US border in El Paso, Texas.
The moment I entered Mexico I had this good feeling I was about to get killed, robbed or harrassed at every corner. I saw too many Hollywood movies. It took me a few days but then I just felt like I was at home in Mexico. At home, without knowing the language. People are superfriendly. My first night in Chihuahua was pretty difficult. I wanted to get a room, but didn´t find the words. And then my US dollars were no good, so I had to go and get some pesos. But ofcourse I got a room. And my first night in Mexico started with a great football (soccer for those who are North Americans) match. Good fun to see!! Next day was all about exploring Chihuahua. Nice plazas, beautifully decorated with glitter saying Feliz Navid. I liked the town, but I really could not find a proper place to have some food. So pizza it was.

I left Chihuahua after 2 nights. Took a bus to Creel, (still state of Chihuahua... it´s Mexico´s biggest!) I met the first white person while I was in Mexico! David. A German exchange student. Together with him we stayed in Creel. Had a long mountainbike ride. Met with 2 gorgeous German girls and another Dutchie. The group of 5 went to the Copper Canyon. Comparable with Grand Canyon, but there is a train going through it. Train trip was awesome (sorry for my american slang!) Got of 2 hours later at Passada Barrancas and this wonderful motellike place with fireplaces (which were so badly needed at night... freezing cold!!) Next day we all went for a horse/mule ride and enjoyed wonderful scenery. Absolutely breathtaking!! Stayed another night before we were off to the beaches of Mazatlan at the Pacific coast.
I forget to mention I was out of money in Creel and I was completely reliant on my companions...
I also forget to mention that I had to share a twin bed with David almost every night. If you´re Dutch and we known to save money... you do certain things...
I forget to say we all celebrated Sinterklaas properly the Dutch way. Poem. Shoe. Beer in shoe as present. Good fun!
I also forget to mention they call me ´turtle´ now, because of my backpack... it´s my home... or schildkrote in German
It was more German, than English that week. And football wars were present. Ofcourse Holland wins the Worldcup next year!

After mountainous Creel and Possada Barranca it was a long but beautiful traintrip to Los Mochis and a 6 hours bus ride to Mazatlan. Boy it was such a change. Mountains... beach. How wonderful life can be. In Mazatlan we enjoyed the beaches and we even found a distant beach at Isla la Piedro. Beautifully remote. Had my first coconut water... drinking right out of the coconut. The hotel in Mazatlan was greatly located! In the morning (I still miss it now!) you walk out the door, cross the street and order Mexican breakfast (mashed beans, tortillas, more tortillas, veggies and lots of salsa sauce) at the restaurant, which was just located inside a redecorated car garage. Each went our different ways after a week. C´est la vie. I stayed with David one more night at Isla la Piedro to enjoy the area. We had a few liters of beer right at the beach. Met a Dutch girl from Nijmegen who´s been travelling for 4 years with a Kiwi guy. Lots of guitar music. Great atmosphere!

Then it was time for Guadalajara, Mexico´s 2nd biggest city (about 5 million people)... I hooked up with Dutchie (Rolf) again.
Yesterday Rolf, me and Canadian Dan went to Tequila. There is a city named Tequila here! And besides being a pretty place... the tequila factory had some good tequila to drink. Was I drunk? You can guess hahaha

And now? Now I am in Guanajuato. Unesco heritage. Hilly town with tunnels, original architecture from Spanish days. Beautiful place.
Now I need to stop. I wrote a too long email and besides. Mexico is playing again Bulgaria tonight. Starts at 8 pm here... only 15 minutes.

I hope you enjoyed this email. I did enjoy writing it.

Mucho Greetings
Ronald

PS If anyone has Mona´s email address (Seattle people!), please let her know I will probably be celebrating Christmas in Oaxaca, but the email address she gave me did not work. Let her send an email to me!

--
http://follow-my-footsteps.blogspot.com/

¿Habla Español?... not quite yet :-)

2005-12-02T19:06:00.000-06:00

Truth be told. I admit I was postponing the crossover to Mexico... So yesterday ( Dec 1) I could no longer wait. My tourist visa for the USA was at it's end. I woke up 8.30am but by the time I crossed into Ciudad Juarez, Mexico it was well after 1pm! And my oh my is my Spanish rubbish. Last night when I arrived in Chihuahua, I tried to get a room. I thought I knew the words by heart, but no. I stumbled, choked in my Spanish vocabulary. Finally I was fed up and got the book of words.

It's then was very interesting to go to a ATM and to withdraw cash in Spanish. I probably withdrew about a million euros... I only got 1,500 pesos...

Even though I no very little Español: I love Mexico! It has a European feel to things. European cars such as Opel Corsa and even Peugeot has cars driving around! No such thing in the US. The best part: my favorite car the VW Beetle (old version) has the majority here. Christmas festivities make it all even nicer with having gorgeous decorations everywhere!

Besides all the beauty, I also encountered poverty. At night 8 year old girls sell candy while standing between stopped cars (the cars actually do stop for the red traffic lights). And military is more present: they even guard the military museum of Pancho Villa (the famous revolutionist of the 1910 revolution in Mexico)

Tomorrow I'm of to a place named Creel. Moving west again. Towards the Pacific Coast, because people! it's warm here! Summertime!

Take care and as they say in Mexico: hasta luego!
Ronald

PS My first night in Mexico brought me my first European football game! I didn't know I would miss football THAT much... great game between the Monterrey Tigres and Mexico City's Amerigo. Amerigo beat the shit out of the Tigres ,-)

Greetings from Austin, Texas

2005-11-26T20:38:00.000-06:00

What am I doing here? It seems to be a perfect question... I cannot answer yet, even though by now I have been in Austin for a couple of days. I came to Austin for no particular reason other than the urge from the inside saying: go man GO! Maybe I just bought myself some time not ready for Mexico... maybe... but a few days off from travelling did do me good...

I actually miss the past 3 months. They truly were fun & exciting! I guess I can go on and on about seeing moose, grizzlies, Oregon's coast, my time in California, Crazy Vegas, Zion's Utah and Arizona's Sedona & Grand Canyon. Actually I will go on and on about it... while writing my travel journal ;-) if I ever make some time to do that... even Austin does not allow me any free time to keep my journal up to date. Maybe some things are not meant to be on paper anyways... how convenient would THAT be eh?

I am looking forward to Mexico though. Probably on December 1st (the exact date my USA tourist visum expires) I will enter Mexico via Cuidad Juarez and stay in a city named Chihuahua (yep that small dog! However I should not expect dwarf dogs to swarm the streets... From Chihuahua I will take the train to Mexico's Pacific coast, to a town called Los Mochis. The train trip is to be very impressing: Copper Canyon Train. From Los Mochis the plan is to slowly go south along the coastline taking in Mazatlan & Puerta Vallarta. Then it is all about going inland... Guardalajara, Mexico City, Oaxaca, San Cristobal, maybe Yucatan. But definately Guatamala after that. I have no idea about how much time I will spend in Mexico. I will most likely spend Christmas and New Year's in Mexico. My guess is I will hit the Mexican/Guatemalan border by the end of January 2006. Wow the new year is only a few weeks away. Time does go fast. Maybe a bit to fast if you ask me!

The Wild Wild West

2005-11-14T17:21:00.000-06:00

Ronald van der Linden Mon, Nov 14, 2005 at 4:21 PM
To: vanderlinden.ronald@gmail.com

Welcome to the Wild Wild West.
Reporting to you live from Flagstaff, Arizona, land of raging bulls, cowboys & horses and university girls ;-) 70 miles south of the Grand Canyon. Here is my 2 week reporting ever since San Francisco. Bear with me though, I am experiencing altitude sickness, since Flagstaff is 2,000meters/7,000feet high. Or perhaps it is only the beer I had last night... who knows... who cares!

After San Francisco, Alex and I carried on along westcoast of California with many many stops... Including Santa Barbara, where Scott (guy I met in Anchorage, Alaska) bought us breakfast & gave us a tour of Santa Barbara. It was good fun to meet up with Scott! It is always fun to get together with friends you meet along the way. Los Angeles was our next stop. Los Angeles is big! Huge even. It is about 75km from east to west. And that took us 3 days ;-) We stopped in SantaMonica/Venice Beach. Enjoyed the beach and Venice canals there and Hollywood was next. Crazy Hollywood! Great hostel, it had a comedy night... a few beers & lots of laughs... you get the picture! After Los Angeles San Diego was next. It's a nice city. Relaxing city. We
played football the whole afternoon in one of its parks. Talk about relaxation ;-) San Diego was also fun due to the people we met including 2 gorgeous Ozziegirls (Sara & Sarah.. go figure); we'd meet them again in Las Vegas. First night in San Diego was beer night. Second night in San Diego was beer night & Smirnoff Vodka, third night in San Diego was... I actually cannot remember ;-))

Then it was Las Vegas. A 6 hour drive at 120kph or 75mph (America is huge people!... huge!) Alex and I arrived around 7 at night and there were the girls treating us on pizza and with others from the hostel we went to discover Las Vegas. Vegas is mad. Mad I tell ya! But some parts are absolutely gorgeous! There was a fountain show at the Bellagio hotel. Unbelievable. Imagine a watershow, with lights & music. I think I stayed there for 2 hours or so ;-) Until I got dragged away... Vegas was a one night stop only. Time is money and I am getting out of money! Next was neighbouring Hoover Dam. Very impressive.

Although Flagstaff was to be next right after Vegas, Alex was persuaded to visit the Zion and Grand Canyon national parks... we were in the "neighbourhood" anyways... so that eat up 2 days as well. But the views were magnificent! Maybe tomorrow we will pay a visit to the Grand Canyon again... this time from the southern part. So from San Francisco to Flagstaff... that took Alex and myself 2 weeks. Last night when we arrived at the Flagstaff hostel a couple just left San
Francisco 8am that day. Some people travel fast... I do not. ;-)

Mexico is only 250miles away. I am thinking of a little detour through yet another state... New Mexico and Texas ;-) But only time will learn what my path will be tomorrow. I need to learn some Spanish soon. Maybe my next email will be in Espanol... that will be the day!

I will end this email saying: enjoy every single day

Next beer I will have... I will propose a toast. To all of you back home in the Netherlands (which is basically the size of state Maryland!) and to all of you I encountered in my travels. It is a pleasure to be able to write to some many and I hope this email gave you just a little twinkle smile. Be well wherever thy is.

Hasta la vista Baby!
Ronald

Only a few days until Mexico

2005-11-14T12:53:00.000-06:00

Over more than 2 months travelling showed me that the United States is an amazingly big country, with all the wonders nature has to offer and with all the hospitality Americans provide travellers. My travel started in Fairbanks, Alaska on September's first Saturday. It will probably end in El Paso, Texas and then my journey through Spanish speaking countries will begin. The distances however are huge. To travel from San Francisco to San Diego for instance took about a whole week. Driving from Las Vegas to Flagstaff 3 days. Flagstaff to El Paso will take another week including a stop in New Mexico. But I haven't decided yet where I will cross the USA/Mexican border. A fact is that I need to leave the USA asap, but that is more a money matter.

Alaska was beautiful. The Oregon coast magnificent. California, absolutely worth staying and the Grand Canyon/Zion national parks... not a word, nor a picture can describe it's beauty. The people, both from abroad as Americans surprised me with their open minded views and generosity. I guess it is sad thing to depart to USA. It sure was fun!

I am still travelling together with Alex, who I met in Seattle. I really only expected to be travelling for about 3 days to San Francisco. Turns out a month later I am still sitting in his car enjoying the USA. This also is likely to end after Flagstaff.

Right now I am suffering from altitude sickness. Mind you, Flagstaff is situated on an altitude of about 2,000meters or 7,000feet. Or maybe it was just the local beers that killed me last night ;-)

There is so much to write. So many details that will last a lifetime in my memories. Maybe it is just enough to let you know I enjoy travelling every single millisecond.

Greetings from San Francisco ;-)

2005-10-28T14:17:00.000-05:00

Date: 31-Oct-2005 16:32
Subject: Halloween 31 Oct 2005

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY ;-)

Currently I am in San Francisco, have been here since last Wednesday. My last email stopped with surfing adventures in Tofino, Vancouver Island, Canada, which was like 3-4 weeks ago. In the meantime again so much good has happened.

From Tofino I revisited Victoria, capital of British Columbia just for the night. Next day I took the ferry to USA, Port Angeles (which is a dreadfull long way from LOS Angeles ;-) Rented a car, drove around for 3 days along the western part of Washington state. Visited Olympic National Park: rainforest and also the most northwestern point of the Lower48: Cape Flattery (imagine standing on a cliff 50meters high and rough wind, the ocean bashing into the cliffs and turquoise sea) then on to gorgeous little town Port Townsend, where the hostel was in beautiful Fort Warden. I could definately had stayed there for another day! Then Seattle was there. Stayed there for a week and partied... oh boy was it party time! Met Alex, from UK there and with him we had a little 8day road trip from Seattle to San Francisco. We visited Mount St Helens, which we unfortunately could not see at all (too much fogg). Mt St Helens is actually an active volcano... and it never stopped changing since 1980s When the mountain was cut in half (the top of the mountain blew off!) Then it was time for a new state: Oregon. We skipped on Portland and went on to Eugene. A university city, full of vegetarian communists ;-) Then we hit the westcoast. Gorgeous! I would definately recommend the southwestcoast of Oregon and the northwestcoast of California, which was next.

California, the state of " I will be back " ;-) The governator. ;-) It is a gorgeous state. Lots and lots of forest! Gorgeous coastlines. Friendly people. Now I am in San Francisco. I just cannot describe the beauty of this city. Tonight there is gonna be a major Halloween party. (Imagine 250.000 people in a few streets... Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro... you get the picture ;-)

So in short... I AM HAVING A WONDERFUL TIME ;-)

Hope you do too!

Adios!
Ronald

--
http://follow-my-footsteps.blogspot.com/

Gold, pure gold!

2005-10-10T00:08:00.000-05:00

I walked through a section of Olympic National Park today. The southwestern part, where the Hoh rainforest can be visited. I saw gold. The sun shined brightly for a few minutes, just before clouds announced light rain again. I walked alongside trees, populars maybe, cedars quite possibly, anyway the yellow leaves turned gold. I just stood there. Can you imagine walking under a golden heaven. Nothing to hear, it was so quiet. The same thing happened later on when I parked my rental car next to a small pond. The water was reflecting the trees' fall colours. Again not a sound to be heard. It was gorgeous, simply gorgeous.

Earlier I traveled along the beaches of the Park together with Roy, a 50 or so guy traveling on the mainland trying to find his way back to Hawaii. I met him last night at the Rainforest Hostel, south of Forks, WA. We pulled over at a whale watching point, hidden away from Highway 101. Dark clouds drifted away letting the sun shine bright right on the Pacific Ocean. I could hardly see to my left, because the sun shined so bright and the sea reflected that light so much. It was such an incredible view to see. I saw gold, liquid gold.

We turned the car heading north again. To Ruby Beach. Only 5 miles south of the hostel. It was a little bit later than noon, I suppose, tide was coming in again. Waves pounded hard onto the rocks. Imagine the wind going through your hair, smell the salt air, breathe deep 1-2-3, that is my high. I sat down and listened. I watched the waves growing bigger. A few days ago on Vancouver Island, one wave took me by surprise and I was wet from toe to just beneath my knees. So this time I took notice of the waves. This time the ocean would not play the same trick on me again! I think I may have sit there for 30 mins, just sitting there, relaxing. Then Roy shouted me awake: "Want a beer?!"

I had left Roy behind on Ruby beach. He would go further south to Olympia then to Portland. One day soon he will return to Hawaii again, getting in tune with life again.

After my 3hour visit to the Rainforest area of Olympic Park I drove further north to Forks, a small former lumber town, once called the lumber town of the world! Forks was just a drivethrough town. It had a lumber museum, a huge locomotive display next to the road. I went on, took a left after a few miles and drove to Rialto Beach. It was getting more cloudy and getting dark by that time. Waves where even higher. Lumber or logs where everywhere. It looked like a forest graveyard with all those logs lying there. Huge chuncks too!

After Rialto Beach it was still a 50miles-or-so drive back to Port Angeles. Somehow I still calculate it to Dutch travel time, forgetting there are usually miles and miles of road where you cannot drive faster than 25 or 35, while the top speed on highways generally is about 60 mph. I also figured out why in USA there are no patrol cameras or cameras checking your speed. In USA that is a breach of one's privacy. They should introduce that in Holland one day ;-) Radar control however is very present! As well are the police!

Anyway the trip back to Port Angeles was a nice one. Driving the highway 101 is sure a pleasant way to go from A to B. I drove alongside very pretty Lake Crescent and just where signs where warning traffic for deer crossings I saw this gorgeous deer right next to the road. Just having grass for dinner. Right next to the road! Maybe 6 feet between my car and the animal. Good thing I have brakes! The deer was incredible to see though.

Tomorrow I will go to Hurricane Ridge or something, a more alpine section of the park. Perhaps I will move on to Port Townsend, but anyways I will end up in Seattle by this Tuesday.

I think I want to be a writer one day and live on the beach, enjoying the ocean's breeze from time to time. Lucky me, I am on my way to travel the entire westcoast, from Alaska to Chile. I will have lots of time to enjoy the ocean's scent, wind, waves until one day I will get sick of it hahaha

Ferrying down southeast Alaska to Vancouver Island

2005-10-07T21:59:00.000-05:00

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Ronald van der Linden"
Reply-To: vanderlinden.ronald@gmail.com
To: ronald_vd_linden@hotmail.com
Subject: 6 October 2005
Date: Fri, 07 Oct 2005 18:43:22 +0200

Hi all,
Greetings! I just arrived in Victoria, province capital of British Columbia, Canada ;-)
This is the 2nd time I visited Victoria in my life and I truly did not recognize it at all. A lot can change in 5 years I guess. But I found my way to the library to escape yet again a rainy day.

I hope all of you are well. I am currently recovering from a major hangover. It was karaoke night in Tofino last night and beer was flowing quite well ;-)

Anyway: the last time was around mid September that I told you my stories. I was just about to leave Anchorage, Alaska for Juneau. I was about to arrive in the most wettest area of North America (I believe it truly was) It was a 2 day ferry ride to Juneau. The 1st day was quite a tumble on the boat. Open sea had a little storm for me to encounter. So I found out I was not a person to get sea sick, while 75% of the others where, I was getting more and more and more hungry by the minute. On the ferry I met Walter, an Austrian guy, traveling around for about 8 months (from asia to australia to hawaii and now alaska). Together with Walter we subsidized the state ferries with our lunch/dinner meals ;-) I also met a Dutch girl, Shauna. We kept meeting of and on from that ferry all the way to Vancouver Island, Port Hardy about 2 weeks later. It was fun to meet the same people going south ;-)

Juneau. I hated Juneau the moment I set foot on land there. The ferry arrived late, because of the storm, it arrived beyond midnight. Motels where far away and way to expensive. So I found myself a row of chairs and slept at the ferry terminal, until the next ferry left for Skagway, around 6 in the morning. Skagway is the northest port of Southeast Alaska. I truly enjoyed my stay there! Met 2 crazy cycling girls from Juneau, who where on a few days off having fun. I guess I helped out with one of the bikes or something and then I ended up having a beer or 3 later in the Red Onion. Fun night that was!

The Southeast of Alaska is plagued with cruise ships. Skagway is a little town with maybe 1000 residents living there. But when 3-4 cruise ships dock for the day, the main street (which is nothing more than a woman's paradise: souvenir shopping) is flooded with thousands of people. I escaped the main street and went hiking up the neigbouring mountains. Beautiful views! And I soon discovered I spent too much time working in the office! I love the outdoors! Fresh air, animals everywhere (luckily the bears stayed out of my way ;-) Bears are actually everywhere, you should know that. Alaska truly is a bear country. They stroll down the town's streets and are on hiking trails. In the cities there are special garbage deposits to keep the bears out or the smaller animal that is on the bear's dietary program...

After a few days of Skagway I ferried down to Juneau again, giving it a second chance. I also met up with Shauna again, who spent a few nights in a cabin near a glacier. Must have been wonderful! The bike girls also went home, and gave us a ride to the hostel. Juneau hostel is cheap, 10USD, but incredibly rigid with their lockouts. You needed to leave the hostel at 9am (I usually sleep till 10am) and you could come back again at 5pm... but then here's the most terrible thing ever! They close the hostel at 10.30pm! So we were checking our watches all the time when we're out for dinners of beers... unbelievable!

Even though Juneau had it setbacks and it rained alllll the time! I did have at least one really fun day together with Amy (one of the bike girls... the other one Rebekah was off to New Zealand and then on to Antartica! yes you can believe that!) and Shauna and Amy's big cute dog, Doug. Together we traveled around. Went even to Mendenhall glacier. Very very pretty, although I saw it from a distance, because the hike trail was to harsh for me... I am such a city boy!

So I left rainy Juneau with good memories... went on to Canada, Prince Rupert to be exact. Just an overnight stay to catch the famous Inside Passage ferry to Vancouver Island. On the ferry I met 2 funny German girls and Ken, he was from Alberta, Canada. That trio met eachother in Skagway were the girls were hitchhiking. To be really honest I was terrible at first. I had met so many wonderful people, now I just wanted peace and quiet. But you don't have that when you're traveling. You keep on meeting the most wonderful people on and on and on.

It was great to be in Canada again. Good feelings and memories came back to life again. This time I was determined to visit Tofino. A little city at the Pacific Ocean on huge Vancouver Island. (Boy was I about to have fun!! ;-)

The girls and Ken also were on the Inside Passage from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy, the second last ferry of the season that goes during the day. Unfortunately the weather was not the best. A bit rainy and very cloudy/misty it was a bit boring after a while. The whole ferry trip took about 15hours. It was also the first time I saw a whole bunch of Dutch traveling. I however don't really like to chat up with Dutch while I'm traveling so I kindoff stayed out of their ways ;-) I arrived at Port Hardy 11pm. Had a good sleep at the hostel there (thank god they had one!! ... the showers were still in the make!) Together with Ken, Sarah and Martina we got in Ken's truck and drove down from Port Hardy to Parksville. A pretty trip along the eastcoast of Vancouver Island. Shared a motel room together and enjoyed the beach the next day. (the beach was our backyard!) Did I mention that deer was everywhere? Alongside the road... even running through our kindergarten playground in the back of the motel. Anyway Parksville is a more fancy resort kindoff area. Very pretty! After Parksville I said goodbye to the trio in Port Alberni. The girls would also go on to Tofino, hitchhiking, but I preferred the bus. The bus however was sold out... so I put on my bold shoes and stuck out my thumb for the first time in my life... Oh boy!
I arrived in Tofino about 4 hours later, 10pm. It was a fun experience to go hitchhiking! I had a ride with a native couple. They explained me more about the area and the reserve they live in.

Only 5 minutes of internettime left. Highlights. Tofino was sooo much fun. Did a whale boat tour... it got to be a tumbling rollercoaster trip! And ofcourse I saw lots of whales, sea lions etc. That was on a wonderful sunny day! I met up in Tofino with again wonderful people! And I got surfing lessons .... Yes, me on a surf board hahaha Ofcourse I sucked at it... BIG time! But it was sooo much fun! Check out this site... and try to find me in my surf suit: http://www.specker.li/canadagallery/surfing

And last night was the best. In a whole month I did not really go out and party... but yesterday I did ;-) That beer tasted GOOD!

Take care all of you! There are times I miss you, going out in Wageningen, having a beer, or dinner with my parents or my colleagues from work... just to say "how's life!" And sometimes it is hard to say goodbye to friends you meet along the way. It was fun meeting you & I will remember the time spent together!

I wish you all the best & enjoy life!

Ronald

email address:
vanderlinden.ronald@gmail.com

homepage:
http://follow-my-footsteps.blogspot.com

Still in Tofino, Vancouver Island Canada

2005-10-04T15:55:00.000-05:00

and I went surfing today ;-) my oh my do I suck at it!! hahaha but it was sooo much fun!! If you want to know how the Pacific Ocean tastes like... let me know ;-)

take care!
enjoy life!

My last day on Alaskan soil

2005-09-25T15:40:00.000-05:00

Today it's Sunday, 25Sept2005, somehow I did not imagine to be leaving Alaska already after 3 weeks, although it was the plan to reach Canada before 1 October 2005!

There is so much I haven't seen here in Alaska. I heard so many magnificent stories about flying to Barrow (situated on the north coast) or kayaking the Yukon river from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada all the way to the ocean out west north of Nome. I even did not make it to Homer on the Kenai Peninsula. However I have so much to be grateful for. So much I did see!

Fairbanks is where I started my trip, then on to Denali National Park, Anchorage, renting a car to drive to Seward and back, from Whittier to Juneau to Skagway by ferry and returning to Juneau by ferry again. Today, or better said, tonight 12.15AM the ferry leaves Juneau, Alaska, USA for Canada, Prince Rupert, westcoast of British Columbia. I will be in Canada once again, a country very dear to me.

How can I express the Alaskan beauty? The scenic villages, the wildlife, Mother Nature, the people, the "not to worry" attitude. It is so gorgeous up here and I have only seen so little of it all. Waterfalls at every corner, mountains as far as the eye can see, forest as there if there are no environment problems. I think coming to Alaska in September was a good decision! Colour changing from green, yellow to red. I must stop, because there are no words to explain the beauty of this part of the USA, both for nature as for the people.

Traveling can be sad sometimes, to be leaving a wonderful place, or 30minute friends going their separate ways. Again it amazes me how quickly you will get a smile on your face again, remembering the good times, meeting new people and exploring new places. Life goes on, so does my travels... on route to Canada it is...

Alaska: from Fairbanks till Seward

2005-09-14T15:20:00.000-05:00

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Ronald van der Linden"
To: ronald_vd_linden@hotmail.com
Subject: 14 Sept 2005
Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 07:28:35 +0200

Guys & Girls,

Greetings from Anchorage, Alaska. Where all is well ;-) Hope all is well wherever you are too!

Here is a little update (I haven't even started to update my own travel book... so you guys are lucky!)

I had a really good weekandahalf starting out in Fairbanks, going to Denali National Park, doing laundry in Anchorage and then on to Seward, from which I just returned. Boy oh boy it sure was interesting. Meeting so many good & fun people from Alaska and all over the world. And the wildlife and scenery here is incredibly beautiful! I've encountered grizzly bears, moose, caribou, fox and loads of screaming ground squirrels Chip 'n' Dale (Knabbel & Babbel in Dutch ;-)

In Fairbanks I spent like 3 days in hot summer weather. Met a really nice Austrian, Willie. Willie is in his 60s and loves traveling, maybe even more than I do. Right now he's having fun British Columbia, Canada visiting the Rocky Mountains. Spent a day with him and now I speak German flawlessly ;-) We went to an amazingly good museum at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. I myself got a bit in shape again after I needed to go back to the hostel from Fairbanks downtown, and the buses were not going on Labour Day (5th Sept). As Fairbanks is pretty spread out, that was 1.5hr walk! Labour Day for Americans is a family day. They barbecue, play games with horseshoes just remembering that summer has passed and school/work days are there again ;-)

After Fairbanks I went to Denali National Park to see the bears and the moose. And I did. In the bus from to Denali I met 2 native Americans. Very interesting to learn about their ways and the different tribes there are in Alaska (about 8 tribes speaking over 20 different languages). It was a very rainy day when I got my first hike into the hills at the park's entrance, but good fun and pretty scenery. The next 2 days were spent in Denali park as well, taking a bus into the park (I stayed in a very comfortable hostel outside the park) The thing I will remember most is seeing 4 grizzly bears, mother and 3 cubs. We stayed for about 15mins and one of the cubs was digging into the ground trying to catch a ground squirrel... it was so funny to see! The park is beautiful, all the autumn colours were there. It literally took my breath away! I also went hiking along the roadside with a guy from Vancouver. It makes you feel so small to be walking around in such a huge park with sights as far as the horizon. Beautiful.

From Denali I took the train to Anchorage together with Carolyn and Brian, from Toronto and New York. The train went through amazing nature. We got to see moose drinking at lakes and that was outside any park. The whole of Alaska is a wildlife and nature park as far as I'm concerned ;-)

Anchorage is only a rest stop. A day off from traveling... a day off from sight seeing. I even got theory and practical lessons in American driving from another hostel guest. That was great fun and gave me enough reassuring to rent a car and go out driving! So I rented a car to go to Seward and took Andy (from North Carolina; originally Poland) with me. Andy is a story on it's own. Interesting to say the least. Made be both CRAZY! as smiling as well ;-) The drive to Seward was again gorgeous! We stopped lots of times to take pictures of have a hot dog ;-)

Near Seward we went to Exit Glacier. You can actually go and touch the glacier itself. Beautiful. And ofcourse you only meet the Dutch in those places where no one else goes. I met a couple from Ede. That's like 5km away from were I live. In Alaska of all places ;-) Next day I took a cruise to Kenai National Park together with Alex (Barcelona) and a very very nice German couple Lena & Mathias. This couple went from Whitehorse, Canada all the way to westcoast Alaska (near Nome) kayaking on the Yukon river for 6 weeks... now that's what I call an adventure!!

The cruise (that was yesterday) is still vivid in my minds. Absolutely beautiful 6hours on a boat. Again seeing the wonders of nature. Bald eagles (symbol of USA), cute horned puffins, harbour seals even the back of a humpback whale! And the best part was a glacier. Ice everywhere! We stayed there for about 30mins just watching and hearing the thunder from breaking ice, falling into the water.

And now I am back in Anchorage. Tomorrow I'm leaving for Juneau. A 2 day ferry trip :/ And now the setbacks start. The Juneau hostel is closed, my brand new camera doesn't work anymore so tomorrow I have to rush to take back my rented car, fix the camera, book the ferry and try to see if I have a place to stay when I arrive there. So on my next update you will here how these matters resolved themselves almost automatically, but right now it's getting on my nerves!! ;-)

Small update eh?

Take care everyone!

Ronald

email address:
vanderlinden.ronald@gmail.com

homepage:
http://follow-my-footsteps.blogspot.com

The trip has begun...

2005-09-04T17:53:00.000-05:00

Whoooohoooo!

So yes... I made it to Alaska... Fairbanks even!

Putting reason to feelings

2005-08-21T15:18:00.000-05:00

It is good to travel
It is fun to travel
It is to challenge yourself
It is to accomplish something
Mostly it is simply just something I want to do
if only it would be possible to do...

My travel urge started a 3 month trip to Canada in 2000. I never knew why. I never asked why. I just wanted to go to Canada and somehow I actually did it. After my return I passed my exams, I got a job as a junior accountant working for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Great plans professionally. Met a girl, shared life in a not-too-bad appartment. Job changes, later on relationship changes. Now 5 years later I somehow got from planning 2 weeks of fly-drive Florida to 2 years of travelling. To plans of giving up my profession, my appartment. Now I have been living @ my parents' place since March 2005. Saving money. Having fun again with old friends, reaquainting myself with them, with my badminton hobby. I felt home again. It feels real not to just be working as a madman. I admit, I am a workaholic, I enjoy being a workaholic, but now it ends right here.

The plan to travel from north to south of the Americas, was born quite easy. I already did Canada from east to west, why not go from north to south? New Zealand is the same for me as Canada. I think I will feel right at home. All the other destinations? Japan, I think I love the Japanese culture. Think!? because I only know the country from TV, travel shows. I have even never been inside a Japanese restaurant. The country interests me. Nicaragua, Peru, Bolivia, Panama, Costa Rica, Alaska, Grand Canyon, Utah, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Mexico, Guatamala, Honduras, learning to dive at the Bay Islands, Chile, Argentina, Brazil. They all interest me.

It is more than pure interest. It is a feeling of must go! It is a feeling like being in love and you want to be with this special girl. You want to seduce her, conquer her heart, her corazón That is why I go to the Americas, the language. How can I explore a world without words of understanding?

Only one thing is certain
I am going to see new places
places I have never seen in my dreams before
The biggest challenge is to fullfil my need for travel
Will I ever reach Chile? Will I ever reach Mexico even?
You can be my witness
You can be my guide