Bogota and a Brief Trip to Reality

A lot has happened in the week or so since we last spoke.  We left off in Cali, where I found myself rolling solo in a city with not much catching my fancy.  I made an 11th hour decision to wake up early the next day and head to a small town in the countryside that supposedly held the honor of having one of the best views in Colombia.  It proved to be a good decision and as luck would have it, the town was comfortably jammed with vacationing Colombians celebrating their Labor Day holiday weekend.  I joined the holiday spirit with a fun English couple, Stephen & Creed, who were similarly toasting the day in the in the town center.  They were just wrapping up the 17th month of an 18th month global trip and showed no signs of fatigue.  They had been practically everywhere and still the itch for more travel, with the next planned expedition being a road trip across the States.  I spent the greater part of an hour touting the draws of a Mid-Western route and the glorious mecca the Lake of the Ozarks.  The festivities lasted well into the next morning and ended with us leaving half of the town still partying.

 

Through the fog of the repercussions of the previous night, I spent the next 10 hours getting myself to Bogota via buses.  Once arriving in Bogota, I re-united with the Irish girls that were befriended 5 countries back and spent the next 2 days doing some city exploration.  Knowing that I would be back within the month I was a little unconcerned with a full tour and instead prepared myself for the flight back to the States.  It was more of a mental preparing for my exit from the culture of traveling that I had found myself in the last few months and emergence into the my counter-culture position as a jobless drifter back in the States.  Here comes a round of justifications that I don't think I have the energy to pitch...

My five city tour started in Chicago, where I spent my first 2 days back carousing with old friends and falling back in love with White Castle.  Next stop was a brief one to St. Louis, where the revelry was just as intense with the celebration of the Tiehen's dog Carlos' first birthday... 

Currently de-toxing in KC with my family and enjoying every minute of it.  The plan is head down to the Lake for a few days and then prepare for the next two weeks of weddings.  

I still need to talk to you about the future plans and maybe a quick first leg recap---maybe later this week....

On track to gain 10 pounds in 2 weeks,

BQ