My wife Brenda and I started participating in Couchsurfing Link to our Couchsurfing Profile several years ago. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a kind of a “pay it forward hospitality exchange network” where you host travelers or may be hosted when you travel. One of our first guests was a young Frenchman named Guillaume. On his first night in our home, we struck up the dreaded political conversation that you typically avoid with friends and family members for fear of damaging your relationship. In this case, Guillaume was a stranger so the conversation was fair game.
Monthly Archives: December 2015
Something Smells Fishy Around Here
I believe I mentioned that Crucita is a small fishing village. The town is pretty small and there is not much happening except for at the port early in the morning. Apparently the boats go out around 4am and continue bringing in fish until the fishing is no longer any good – usually around 10am. I typically run past the operation around 7:30am and it seems the entire town is working. Today I took a camera along and got a closer look at the operation. I was amazed at the amount of fish and the speed at which the workers prepared them for shipping. Chop-chop-scale-scale-done! 
I remember cleaning fish at my grandpas as a kid and it probably took me at least 5 minutes per filet – only about a second for these skilled workers. The fish are then cleaned in fresh water and packaged in ice for shipping. Today I learned that, on average, these workers earn about $20/day yet they were jovial and making fun out of their work. One of the purposes for this adventure is to figure out what I want to be when I grow up – Maybe a fish worker (or not)!
First Week in Ecuador
Hola from Crucita Ecuador!
I left Denver on Saturday December 5th with paraglider on my back and pack on my front with what I’m already finding to be more than I need or want to begin an 18 month journey around the world. I spent my first day in Quito, Ecuador and quickly felt at home when I discovered the Quito Incline! Not quite as intense as the Manitou Incline
but a good workout from climbing more than 2000 steps about 3/4 mile up to the highest point in Quito with a great view of the City. I only stayed in Quito for a couple of days as Brenda will be meeting me there again in January.
On Tuesday I arrived in Crucita where I plan to stay for almost a month practicing my newly acquired paragliding skills and attempting to learn Spanish. On Saturday the local paragliding club in Crucita hosted a Christmas party for the kiddos in the community complete with a clown, presents, and free tandem paragliding flights for the kids that wanted to try. I assisted with the launching and even managed to get 3 flights in with nearly 1-1/2 hours combined flight time. After a week in Crucita, I’m starting to get into a routine – run in the early mornings, paragliding in the afternoons, and learning patience in dealing with power outages and antiquated internet connections.
Learning to Paraglide
Several years had passed since I’d been “airborne” in free flight but apparently my passion for soaring still exists. About 5 years ago while visiting Brazil, I signed up for a tandem hang gliding flight with Konrad from Rio Hang Gliding. Rio has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world and flying near Sugar Loaf and Corcovado with the Ocean beyond was another of my most cherished experiences. When I returned, I decided that I wanted to take up the sport but quickly found it to be logistically challenging. In addition to a requirement for near perfect air conditions, you had to be able to drive to a launch site which didn’t bode well with me so I quickly discovered that paragliding was a more practical option.
A Love for Flying
I’ve always considered myself a bit of an adventure seeker and dreamed of flying as a kid. As a teenager, I wanted to be a pilot and took an introductory flying lesson as soon as I was old enough. My dreams of becoming an airline pilot were squashed when I learned the cost of acquiring enough instruction hours to obtain a commercial pilots license. Little did I know, I would have probably spent less acquiring a pilots license than I spent attending traditional college but the other issue was that my eyesight didn’t meet commercial pilot requirements so I chose other career options.
Mrs. Thisted
Speaking of learning, my favorite teacher in high school was Mrs. Thisted. I was not very interested in the classes she taught – English, Drama, Writing, etc. as I was more of a math and physics kind of guy at the time but I liked her. In addition to teaching core courses, she headed up the yearbook staff and I was the photographer. I did OK in her classes as I had a pretty good knowledge of English language and vocabulary but I didn’t really like to read or write and had a bit of difficulty with those assignments. Mostly just that I wouldn’t apply myself but, over the course of a few short years, we became friends. For graduation, Mrs. Thisted gave me a very nice blank book. My first thought was “why would she give me this kind of gift – she doesn’t know me at all”
Learning to learn
One of the primary purposes of this adventure for me is to learn new things. I’ve found that I’ve become a bit stagnant in my learning. As a child, learning came easy – I showed up in class and got straight A’s. That pretty much happened all the way through high school. When I showed up at Colorado State University, one of the first things I learned is that didn’t know as much as I thought I knew. Continue reading Learning to learn
Hello Friends!
Welcome to my new blog about living, loving, laughing, learning, and experiencing all of the great things that life has to offer.