As our grandiose trip is coming to an end, I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting on life in general, lessons learned, lifestyles experienced and the importance of happiness. I would be lying to you if I said that I was able to resolve all the questions I had going in however I did learn some extremely important lessons along the way. I found Africa teaching me the importance of life and happiness, health and family, and gratitude and friendship. The Middle East threw me a curve ball and taught me more about language, politics, world views, religion, and hospitality than I ever thought possible. India taught me the importance of tradition, family, culture, and acceptance and SE Asia has brought in the ideas of innovation, appreciation of life, relaxation, meditation and health and well-being.

I thought I’d walk away from my experience traveling the world knowing more, conquering more, accepting more, and having answers to everything in life but instead I come back with more questions than before I left. Why are groups of starving people still donning smiles and waving to me as I pass them in my big governmental SUV? Why do people in poverty not work longer hours so that they may begin saving money to help their family out of this impoverished state of living? Why do some people support wars against countries that challenge their beliefs, when they can easily accept me and my differing values? Why do cities and countries not work towards more developed and less harsh systems for technology, transport, building, energy, etc? Why do so many people die each year from diseases like malaria when it costs close to nothing to get tested and cured? Why, why why???

That’s when it hit me like a heavy weight. It’s a mindset that people all over the world have adjusted to. Why be angry and hungry when you can be happy and hungry. Why kill yourself working when you could enjoy the time you have with your family instead? Why change what already works. Why buck the cycle of life. I have punished myself ever since graduating from university because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t know what would make me happy and while my heart lead me one way, my mind would refuse to let it run. The one thing I’ve realized is that Americans in general are so focused on materialistic goods that we can never be truly satisfied because we won’t allow ourselves to create a healthier mindset. Societal norms tell us that we must have a certain salary, accommodated by a posh office, a fancy car, a beautiful house with a white picket fence and high-end designer goods. Yes, I agree, it’s healthy to have giant ambition but at what cost? It’s ironic actually. In Africa, I told a young local guy where I was from, and he said: “America! Where you can be anything you want to be and dreams really do come true.” Yes this is true to an extent but at what cost? People will never have enough material goods, because as we acquire more, the standard of what is acceptable rises to even greater heights, making us strive for something that will never satisfy our basic human instincts.

I’ve recently realized that I’ve been looking in all of the wrong places to find some of the answers to my personal questions. Diverse people around the world have taught me that all it really takes is a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and family and friends to make me happy. Everything beyond that will compliment the basics, not overrule them. Because at the end of the day, it’s all about mindset.

Hoi An is known for two things: custom tailored clothing and cooking classes (an excellent combination if you ask me). Chris was concerned that I’d over indulge in the clothing, so to “distract” me, he searched around for a cooking classes that we’d both enjoy. After checking out a few of the hundreds offered, we committed to a class that seemed to offer the most variety, flexibility, and friendly service (after all, that’s what all Americans look for isn’t it?).

We started the day meeting the chef over coffee. We looked over the menu and talked about what dishes would be best to prepare. After some debate, we decided on the following:

• Banana flower salad
• Fresh spring rolls
• Banh xeo (Vietnamese pancakes)
• Grilled fish in banana leaf

Then the chef surprised us each with traditional Vietnamese hats to wear to the market. The first phase of the class was visiting the local market to identify and purchase the ingredients we needed. Our first stop, the veggie section, was filled with women donning their silk pajamas and traditional hats crammed behind their baskets overflowing with red chilies, fresh morning glory, garlic, aubergine, carrots, etc. There were tomatoes stacked neatly in piles, purple onions flowering the walkways, and bright green bean sprouts scattered between several different tables. The chef pointed out the vegetables specific to Vietnam and bought the ones we would be using in our food later that morning.

The fruit section was filled with the standards: apples, mangos, bananas, oranges and more, but one local fruit, the dragonfruit, always caught my eye (if only it taste as good as it looked).

Next, we snaked our way through the small aisles fighting the bustling local crowd to the fish. It was right along the river, but being out in the open didn’t help whisk away the hot, muggy, fishy smell. There were large fish and small fish, live fish and dead fish, there were fish that were being filleted and even fish being ground into fish cakes. We picked our cuttle fish quickly and kept moving (trying to dodge the fish guts on the ground with our sandals).

Finally to the meat market, where in addition to the standard cuts of raw meat (not refrigerated of course), we found live chickens in their cages, full size pigs waiting to be slaughtered, and numerous other animal parts including hooves, ears, intestines and brains. It had less of a smell than the fish market, but seeing the pigs squealing as they were being pulled from their pen by their hind legs didn’t make me feel any better. Finally, we stopped to pick up a few lovely smelling spices on our way out of the market.

We headed back to the restaurant where we were given our chef jackets and hats. We worked our way through the process of making each dish. First chopping and slicing the ingredients, then mixing the sauces, filleted the meat and finally preparing the dishes. To top it off, we were even taught a few tips on food presentation. By noon, we had successfully prepared 4 beautiful dishes each! And of course we saved the best part for last… sitting down and enjoy our freshly prepared Vietnamese meal!

If you’re interested in any of the recipes, feel free to email us at contact[at]withoutaguide[dot]com and we’d be more than happy to send them to you!

It all started about a month ago, when my friend Joe Stump started tweeting about how his friend shot an RPG in Cambodia. Sure enough, when I got to Phnom Penh, it was all I could think about. So we headed to the ATM and then told a tuk tuk we wanted to go to the shooting range. To our surprise, the shooting range was actually in the back of a military base. In fact the whole shooting range operation was run by the Cambodian military. I was expecting to pay around $150 to shoot an RPG, but when I saw the price was $300 (after our tuk tuk negotiated the $50 discount from $350), I had second thoughts. However, my good friend Austin Bryan gave me $100 to spend on something I wouldn’t normally use my own money for. That dropped the price to $200, and for something I surely wouldn’t get the chance to do ever again, it was definitley worth it.

We drove another 45 minutes to a remote military base where we loaded the trunk with weapons. While I was just there for the RPG, our car mates were there for the RPG, Grenade Launcher, Hand Grenades and K57 Machine Gun. Finally we arrived. With a propane tank on the horizon (which we all missed) I set the RPG launcher on my shoulder, put on ear protection an pulled the trigger. It was an awesome experience! I actually felt like I was inside one of the hundreds of video games I’ve played where shooting an RPG is routine. It might have cost $300, but I’ll certainly have a great conversation starter for years to come!

Here’s the video:

For some unexplained reason, Chris and I love trying new and sometimes outrageous foods while traveling. In the past, we’ve enjoyed, devoured and sometimes just barely swallowed foods like duck tongue, blood clots, bone marrow and moving lobster heads. Since we’ve been to SE Asia, we’ve already opened up to our crazy taste buds in the Cambodian markets.

The Bug + Spider Lady

Today, we decided to explore the Khmer cuisine, looking specifically for one thing: fried tarantulas. Not knowing where these creepy crawlers were hiding, we got lost in the labyrinth of the Central Market of Phenom Penh where they have women butchering carcasses of animals next to manicure chairs, oiled car parts next to undergarments, and fruits and vegetables next to turtles, frogs, and fish (both dead and alive). The rain found it’s way between the tarp roofs very quickly and before we knew it, we were wading around in a mix of muddy water, fish guts, meat shards, and vegetable peelings. Needless to say it was not pleasant but we knew it’d be worth the effort. After asking several local workers where the “a-ping” was (the word for spider in Khmer), we were finally pointed in the direction where we finally located the bugs… right next to the jewelry of course!

Our Bag of Bugs

There were two women sitting on small plastic foot stools with 4 sacks in front of them: tarantulas, crickets, mealworms and king-size cockroaches. I was excited for the adventure but when I finally got up close and personal with these massive bugs, I was no longer enthused about the thought eating them. They looked too alive to be dead much less edible but we couldn’t turn away now. We ordered a bag of assorted buggy goodness and thanked the women for helping us fulfill our strange desire. By now, I was not hungry nor impressed with the bag I was holding. I looked to Chris, who had a massive smile across his face, and while I tried to give off a quick grin, deep down I was sick because I knew what came next… eating them. For those of you who don’t know, I’m deathly afraid of spiders so holding this huge tarantula amongst other huge bugs was already creepy for me.

We weren’t ready to eat our new delicacies yet, so we carried them around for the rest of the day. Finally, after a few beers at a bar, it was time to open the bag. Chris started with the *main course* (the spider), first trying one of the legs, and finally taking the plunge to eat its massive body. In his words: “It’s good. It doesn’t taste like much more than something fairly tasteless that’s fried. I’d definitely eat another!” I couldn’t bring myself to eat a spider, but I did try a mealworm, cricket and part of the giant cockroach. They definitely weren’t the worst things I’ve ever tried, but I won’t be eating them again any time soon.

To top off the night, our waitress noticed we had many leftover bugs that we weren’t going to finish and called the other waitresses over. They all started to chow down like they hadn’t eaten all day. I guess it’s a good thing someone loves those little guys (or should I say big guys). I’d much rather them be eaten than be running around my $10 hotel room!

As you all know, we’ve been traveling now for over 5 months now. There are days where I feel like leaving it all behind and getting back to a comfortable routine and my productive day to day life. After several “insane” moments along the journey, I’ve taken time to think about the things I’ve done to stay sane along our travels. The following are things that every long term traveler should consider (they have definitely helped me along the way):

1. Take time apart from your travel buddy. Whether it’s just for a few hours or several days, it is a necessity.
2. Reward yourself when you feel the world is getting the best of you. Stay at a place with a hot shower or take yourself out to a nice dinner. Trust me, it’s worth the money once in a while.
3. Take care of yourself. If you feel you need to a good rest after sleepless nights on the trains and buses, then make a point to not set your alarm. Even take a sleeping aid if you can’t get good rest on your own.
4. Stay connected to things that interest you physically, mentally and emotionally. Always have a hobby that you can turn to even if it seems completely bogus at times.
5. Learn. Learn. Learn. There are so many cultural experiences available to anyone who’s interested. Learning about different countries and their customs provide a whole new appreciation for things that may have not have made sense before.
6. Talk with other travelers and locals. It’s extremely easy to make friends, get travel tips and find local hidden gems. Even better, it keeps you entertained from someone other than your travel mate.
7. Be adventuresome. I know it’s easy to fall into a routine and it’s often uncomfortable to break old habits. However it’s definitely worth breaking outside the norm and do something new, like white water rafting or shooting an AK-47. These are the experiences you’ll never regret. They are the memories that fill your trip with excitement.
8. Create “you” time. Whether it’s reading a book, watching the sunset, or journaling, be sure you have time to relax for you and you only.
9. Learn to accept everything for what it is. It may not be logical or reasonable to you, but it works for other people. All you can do is embrace it and smile through gritted teeth.
10. Have fun. The minute you’re no longer enjoying your travels you need to change it up or head home. It’s that simple.

Click for PDF version of article

Given that the recent floods in Northern Kenya were not the perfect answer to a 2-year drought, the tribes people whom we fed in Northern Kenya back in September are still extremely grateful for yours and our efforts and they made sure to share their gratitude with reporters and the rest of Nairobi’s community. During our experience of a lifetime up North, we had the pleasure of two journalists joining us, Fatuma and Jack. Their sole purpose was to document our life-changing journey and interact with the local communities. Not only did Fatuma and Jack find the droughts impact to be shocking but they also found our commitment in helping others to be fascinating. Upon arriving back into Nairobi, Fatuma and Jack shared their stories and photographs with their newspaper only to find that the paper had made the swift decision to publish our story from the North. Check it out below:

I know we’ve said this before, but a huge THANK YOU again to those of you who contributed to the cause in Northern Kenya. You people are the ones changing the world through every effort and contribution you made in September. Our gratitude for your efforts is endless.