Gaucho Life

Hey all!  Sorry I haven't been posting, but the Internet is very limited at the ranch I am staying at.  I am having a great time and the place is amazing.  Great people fantastic views, horses, parties, and lots of good meat and wine.  One morning inparticulate was quite cool.  I was having breakfast in my kitchen with a gaucho three volunteers, a (German, a swede, and American), and the swedes little brother.  At one moment there were four different languages being spoken across several lively conversations.  It was truly a unique experience.

Below are some pictures that hopefully upload from my time here so far.  If you would like to contact me feel free to shoot me an email! Hugheyraymond@gmail.com

Eyes Open

What a great day yesterday. It started with a 10 hour red eye flight where I had to an entire row to myself. Yes I had three seats to myself and  I was living like a king.

My second flight was from Sao Paulo Brazil to Buenos Aires and it was like jumping into a pool for the first-time.  I was the only one on the flight that didn't speak fluent Spanish.  It was definitely a shock, but something I enjoyed.  And the atmosphere of the flight was much different too.  In the US nobody talks to each other, each person gets in their seats, puts their headphones on and counts down the minutes until the plane lands in the next destination.  On this flight everybody was talking to each other as if it was a family thanksgiving.  I slept through most of the flight but the majority of my dreams were in Spanish partly in thanks to the middle aged couple sharing the row with me.

Upon arrival in Buenos Aires, my goal was finding Calle Florida where they exchange pesos for dollars at a much better rate than the banks do. I was able to get 12.5 pesos per dollar.  From there I intended to head towards my Hostel, however I found myself getting caught up in the amazing scenery and vibrance that is Buenos Aires.  The city is definitely one of a kind with a perfect blend of high rises and lushes trees and parks mixed into one.  It is as if they built the city in the middle of a forest but built around the forest.  Trees line the sidewalks where they're used to support telephone and power lines instead of a brown wood tower.  There are so many people, it reminded me of times square, but tenfold at a much larger radius.  No one walks slow, cars drive with a purpose, and there is an abundance of motorcycles from the 70's and 80's weaving through the streets and sidewalks.  I saw a smile on the majority of people's faces and really feel like I'm in a place where so much can happen and such potential is available.  There is an atmosphere of open arms here and it definitely feels safe.  Here are some pics from the day.  I'm not sure what the concrete tower is but it looks like a smaller version of the Washington Monument.  Calle Florida is the second pic, and the others are from one of the parks in row middle of the city.  The last picture is the big from the balcony outside of my Hostel room.

Bigger is Better

The trip has begun! My series of flights from San Diego to Buenos Aires included a 24 hour layover in Dallas.  I have a couple of friends that live here and were nice enough to show me around Texas' capital.  I went to the infamous grassy knoll where Kennedy was shot.  There were two 'x's in the street marking the exact spots of where the bullets got him.  Here are a couple of pictures.  on the sixth floor of the building to the left of the road is where the suspected rifle shots came from..

There was also a cool park, Robert Lee Park, just on the outskirts of downtown in an area called Turtle Creek.  It was a great area, reminded me of an up and coming North Park.  Ironically it turns out it is a large gay community. (not that there is anything wrong with that)  Below are some pictures of that.

P.s. The picture of me is from the park, not the grassy knoll, too soon guys too soon

Packing Up

In the picture is all the stuff that will be traveling with me in one backpack for 4 months. It is strictly the essentials that will allow me to do anything from backpacking through Patagonia to working at the 100,000 acre self supporting ranch to enjoying the nightlife in Buenos Aires and Santiago.  I have packed assuming the weather will be unpredictable, even though it will be summertime in the southern hemisphere, rain and possible snowfall can happen anytime in the Andes Mountains.

Below is the list of all the items I am bringing:

Padres Hat

Stetson Crushable Cowboy Hat

San Diego Super Chargers Ya!

Went to the Chargers vs. Rams game yesterday with my amigo Cody yesterday.  Our seats were awesome, they were right behind the west endzone in the second deck.  We could see the play develop so well compared to watching on tv....But best of all the Chargers won! The game was following the typical Chargers storyline, they were making a lot of mistakes but the other team was making more...they had a two score lead going into the last four minutes of the game, the Rams scored a touchdown and then got the ball back and were about to score the game winning touchdown when out of nowhere the Chargers got an interception at the goal line to secure the win! They are in 2nd place in the AFC West and they've got a pretty good chance to make the playoffs.  I hope they make a run, to the Superbowl, I'll find a way to watch it from Argentina!  Aboves a cool picture of the field from our seats.

Water, Sun, and Fun

This past weekend I enjoyed a great day at Canyon Lake in Lake Elsinore with Keenan, Peters, Sam, Steph, and Jessica.  The water was glassy and warm, the weather was beautiful and it was a great day all together.  We all wakeboarded behind the boat, with different outcomes for each person but it was a blast all around!  With the sun creeping away earlier with each day and the hand of winter upon us, it was a nice taste of summer that is still alive in southern california.

Santiago, the Shepherd

A good friend of mine recommended this book to me two days ago.  And with the utmost enthusiasm I suggest if you haven't already, give The Alchemist a read.  It's an easy read, a fable of a young boy who makes decisions in his life that may not make sense to the closest people around him, but decisions he knows are true to him.

"The greatest lie in this world, is that life is eventually engulfed by fate."

Scuba Time

I went scuba diving this week! It's a pretty cool story how it happened. I had previously gotten Open Water Certified in August, which means I can dive down to 60ft deep. When I got certified, I also bought fins and snorkel from the shop. Two weeks ago I went snorkeling with my friends and my snorkel had a hole in it, so it kept filling up with water! So i went to the shop to return it, and the shop was under new ownership. The new owner, Mike hooked me up anyways with a new snorkel and said if I want to come by the shop and go out and scuba, he goes all the time by the jetti in mission beach/bay. So I dropped by the shop on Wednesday this week and went out with him and his friend. It was sweet! There were a couple seals that swam by us and we saw a lot of wildlife in the jetti rocks....goes down to about 30 ft. I really hit it off with the new owners and we struck a deal. They will take me out scuba diving whenever I want in exchange for some volunteer time on my part, helping put the new shop together and getting it up and running. It's a sweet gig and I'm learning a lot about scuba gear, equipment, etc. as well as how to start up a new company. If any of you are interested in getting scuba certified I say do it! It's awesome, quite a cool experience being in the world below land. The shop that I am helping out at used to be PB Sports and a new name is coming soon. Later!

Downhill Biking

Went to Big Bear, CA this past weekend and did some downhill mountain biking.  Took the ski lifts up the mountain, but rode mountain bikes down.  It was such an adrenaline rush.  What a blast.  I have a little war wound from a slide out on one of the berms.

Fire In the Hole

It was my last day of work yesterday and the first afternoon of this extended time off.  And to start it off with a bang I received a call from my neighbor telling me to come outside and see what was happening across the street.  A car had literally exploded and ran into the back of my parked pickup.  This is a hell of sign that these next months are going to be nowhere close to ordinary.

Here are some pictures of the mayhem.

Working and Living

I made the decision yesterday to do the trip to Argentina and Chile I have been planning for the past six months.  I was very close to backing out and not doing it and after a phone conversation with my dad I almost believed I made a bad choice.  I chose to go, come December 1st and by doing so I chose to pass on an offer to work for a great company in a new position.  A position that I would excel at.

But the reason I chose to do what I am doing is because I have my whole life to work.  Right now I want to explore while I have the chance.  I want to be with people who are different and I don't understand.  And I don't want to figure them out, I want to just be and react and have fun.  I don't want to worry about a deadline.  I can't remember the last time I didn't have a deadline decided by someone else for me.  I had a deadline in 1st grade when Ms. Falls gave out my first book report assignment and I have had an assignment ever since.

I am going to have six months where I can do anything I want, it's up to me.  And it's going to be incredible, its going to hard, because with unlimited freedom comes much personal responsibility.  It's going to be completely unknown and I am scared and excited at the same time.

Think what you want about it.  But I don't care.  It might not be the smart decision, but its the decision I won't regret.  I'm not looking for a paved road.  I'm looking to make my own.

Here's the link to the Ranch I will be staying at from December 8th - March 2nd

ranquilco.com

And if anyone has any suggestions or tips for traveling let me know!  I'm new to this so the more I can know the better.