Crazy Friend Stuck In mexico

Welcome to the next post! I was up all night writing and working on my website when I got a chat message  from a friend in Mexico through Facebook. This was an old buddy I met in Nicaragua a few years back. This guy started writing me the craziest of crazy. He said he's homeless in Tijuana Mexico, stuck without his papers and has no way to get over the boarder and  back to Canada where he was living. This guy is from Nicaragua, but was married to his Canadian girl and had dual citizenship. At the time I was talking to him,  he had just woke up from sleeping on a bench some where in Tijuana, and while he was sleeping someone stole all his shit, including his socks and shoes. Knowing this crazy dude he probably  passed out wasted and woke up clueless, with no socks and shoes. When I last left him 2 years before in Nicaragua, he was on a journey to the tip of Chile, where he had a girlfriend. Mind you this guy had no car, no job, and no money. Some how he did make it to Chile. I heard from him a few times and then he disappeared until yesterday. He also told me Mexico is a war zone right now, like he has never seen it. He said there is really bad shit going on all over the place. I know this dude pretty well and even though he's crazy I  believe what he is saying. This is coming from a local Latino, that blends in very well and even he didn't feel safe. Take it for what it's worth, just be careful while traveling south of the boarder right now. I have been through there many times, and it always went pretty smooth. Just know things are getting out of hand in some countries especially at the borders! I suggest if your crossing borders, always do it during the day and try to stick to the more common border crossings used more frequently by travelers. As for my friend , last he said was he was going to find a Coyote to get him back over the boarder. Lets wish him luck!

Backpackers Dream

Now a days there are two types of travelers, the vacationers, and the backpackers! Being a backpacker is to be  a modern day explorer. Living with no cares, only to roam with the essentials, backpack, surfboard, and guitar. Who could ever ask for more! For many years I would wander finding warmth in strangers, and home to where ever I laid my head. I can tell you this  first hand, it will change your life forever! To see so many different places, each with it's own uniqueness, and really step into living amongst other cultures, other life and languages will always make you realize how beautiful life really is. Just traveling around the United States is a trip but when you travel out of the country it's a whole new world. Today is February something 2011 and if it's all the same to you I would like to share a little of life's secrets. Most of which I have learned on the road. Almost everything you are told in life, you know the crazy sounding things your parents told you and there parents told them, like keep your friends close and your enemy's even closer etc, etc... it's all true! You have to live it.. to know it. Same goes for traveling, some call them travel tips, I know them as life lessons! The biggest mistake people make, and usually the first when It comes to hitting the road, is fear. I can't tell you how many people I know, when it comes time to plan a trip or to travel,  they have a fear in just about everything they want to do.The who, how, what, where,when, the costs etc etc... For real stop! Take a breath. I start to tell them, imagine yourself  already being  there... feeling comfortable and that everything is going smooth. Imagine you are on your way to one of  the best experience's you will ever have, keep focusing on the good parts, the reasons why you're taking this trip in the first place. I promise you we all can control the way we want our life to be. Most definitely when we have any negative energy flow in or around us it will cause negative out comes to everything we do or want. So keep in mind even when your planning your trip, to always look at it with a positive feeling and get yourself excited! keep that to be your focus. This works with just about everything you do in life and most definitely has worked for me in every situation traveling. Some of the best times of my life were spent on the road. When I was younger I never understood what it was like to feel homesick. Many years later after being on the road for so long, and long past the homesick feelings, I started to feel like the road was my home. I was able to feel every city I passed through, every beach I surfed, the places I stayed and people I met. Almost every passer by has some story to tell of just about everything you could think of. I wish I  recorded them all. Thankfully my memory is still functioning so I can pass their story's on as well as some of mine. I was just reading a story of this dude in mexico, a Canadian tourist , shot in the leg during a  gang land execution a few weeks  ago. This guy was hit by a stray bullet while he was leaving his hotel heading for a plaza. You know what the Canadian guy said.. "he still feels safe in Mexico"!!.. At 69 years old. Now that is a trooper! Hats off my man... keep on keepin on! To be honest violence and crazy shit is always going to be present where ever you go in this world. Remember, this guy probably didn't want to be shot, nor did he probably bring this upon himself. Even though we do control how our life is to be, we cannot control gravity, or the action of others and the consequences they may bring. Thats it for now!! More to come and safe travels!