I recently traveled to a town called Boquete in Panama for three weeks. It is located on the western side of the country. It is over 1200 meters above sea level and this makes for a very comfortable climate. The town is very tranquil and quite affordable. It has been ranked as one of the top destinations for retirees. After spending only a short time here, I realized why.

Accommodation: The best place to stay in town is the Mamallena hostel. A dorm room costs $11 and privates are $33. The staff is very personable and will answer any question you have. There is a common area, community kitchen, free wi-fi and wait for it…..free pancakes all day!

Food and drinks: A typical Panamanian meal will run you only US $2.50 – 3.00. A few recommended restaurants are Sobrason, Orquideas and Nelvi’s. A bottle of wine at the store cost US $3-5. There is a supermarket called Romero’s. It is conveniently opened 24/7.

Getting here: The fastest way to Boquete is by plane from Panama City to David. From David, it is about an hour bus ride. Most take the bus from Panama City. Depending if it is express or not, the trip will take between 6-8 hours.

Hiking: The grueling hike up Volcan Baru should only be attempted if you are in decent physical condition. This very steep hike will take you 5-7 hours to ascend and 4-5 hours to descend. The view at the top is breathtaking. At about 11,498 feet high, it is the highest point in all of Panama. On a good day, you can see both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea at the top. If you are not up to this hike, try the more moderate Quetzales trail.

Activities: There is no beach close by, but there are other things to do. Hot springs, ziplining, horseback riding, whitewater rafting, coffee plantation tours, ATVs and scooter rentals.

Study Spanish: If you want to brush up on your Spanish, the very popular Habla Ya Spanish school is fantastic. The staff is very attentive and will provide you with any information about the town and activities. Try their survival Spanish course. It will help a lot especially if you plan on a long trip throughout Central and South America.

Nightlife: Zanzibar is popular. A Balboa beer costs $1.50, cuba libre about $4.00. La Cabanas is opened only on Fridays and Saturdays. They have a ladies night on Fridays 8-11pm which offers free drinks to the ladies.

The climate in Boquete is perfect. It remains 60-80 degrees fahrenheit year round. You will not find heat or air conditioning anywhere. It is not needed. One of the  greatest perks about Panama is that they use the US currency. No need to worry about calculating the exchange rate.

I did not stay home for long after coming back from deployment. After living within a three mile radius for almost one year, I needed to expand my travels. Continuing with my wonders of the world theme, I first went to Chichen Itza in Mexico. If you have never read about the history of this famous Mayan ruin, do so. It is amazing how all the numbers correlate to almost an exact science. Do I think the world will end 21.12.2012? Not sure about that.

I next travelled to Panama to study Spanish. I am currently still here in a wonderful town called Boquete. I will blog more about Panama after I leave here. Next, I will be going to Costa Rica; looking forward to meeting my friend in Costa Rica and just lounge on a hammock with a view of the Pacific ocean for a while.

I have met so many people during my stay here in Boquete. One conversation that comes up a lot is how so many Americans do not have passports. I think the statistics are that only 10-12% of Americans have passports. There is so much in this world, I really cannot comprehend why Americans do not get out more. Maybe it is fear of what is out there or just the comfort they already have at home.

I love traveling. I love meeting new people and hearing their stories. Where are you from and where are you going are the standard questions. And it never gets boring. Two days ago, I met a couple and their son traveling (by land) from New York City to Buenos Aires. They have been on the road since October 2009. We spent the last two nights drinking red wine and speaking Spanish. I knew right away that we would be friends for life. I hope to be able to join them in Peru in August to hike the Inca Trail towards Macchu Picchu.

So here is a shout out to Maximo, Romina and Joaquin. Follow them on facebook or visit their blog. www.nytoba.com

I have been home for 48 hours. I am still in shock and awe. It feels different to not breathe sand, not walk on rocks, having to pay for my own food and drinks and not having a set schedule. I have the freedom to do whatever I want without anybody watching; not having to live under a microscope. I plan eating a lot of normal food. I will try my hardest to keep in shape like I did overseas. But the first thing is for me to take off again soon, this time on a long vacation. I am going to travel the world. Hopefully when I return, I will have figured out a few things.

What can I say about my deployment to Iraq the past year? There is a lot, but I think I will keep most of it to myself. The truth is, that the war is over and has been over for a long time.

I ran my first ever marathon today, the Oklahoma City Marathon Shadow Run in Baghdad, Iraq. There was an option for a half-marathon, but I wanted to test my limits. I wanted to challenge my body; to see how far I could push it. The race started at 6am, but by 7am it was already getting hot. It got up to 30 celsius / 86 fahrenheit. I have tan lines on my arms and legs to prove it.

I ran the first half (13.1 miles) in 1:50:00. I was excited and thought to myself that I could finish the whole thing in under 4 hours. But at mile 18, I hit the wall. Every little step I took hurt. My arms hurt, my abs hurt. But the back of my knees, I am guessing the tendons or ligaments started getting really painful with each step. From here, I had to walk a mile, then run a mile and so on. So my second half took me 2:35:24. My pace went from about a 8:30/mile to about a 10:20/mile. And this is what is bothering me right now. It was great to be able to finish the race, but I had such a drastic drop in average mile time. I guess running 18 miles non-stop is a feat in itself. I do not know if I will ever run another marathon, but to be able to say that my first was in Baghdad, Iraq is something.

Final results: 26.2 miles, 4:25:24,  3709 calories burned, 3.5 pounds lost. I did this while training for only 10 days!

My plan was to spend 2-3 days in Cairo and then relax the rest of the time in Dahab. The plan did not go accordingly. I do not know exactly how to blog this because so much happened. I will just go with a time line and lots of run-on sentences. There was definitely a lack of sleep towards this aggressive schedule, but time was allotted to regroup, reset, refresh. It was more fun this way.

Day 1: Pyramids of Giza, Sphinx, camel ride

Day 2: Egyptian museum, mummies, fly to Luxor, Karnak Temple light show

Day 3: Valley of the Kings, personal driver, hiking up a mountain, Hatsheput, fly to Sharm El Sheikh, taxi to Dahab with three German girls

Day 4: checked out Sea Dancer dive center, roamed Dahab, hike Mount Sinai (Moses Ten Commandments) at 0230 hrs, 2 hour hike up, temperature below zero, wind chill was extreme, 3,750 steps, Saint Katherine’s Monastery

Day 5: taxi, ferry, bus to Petra in Jordan, 3-hour tour, oldest bar (2000 year old cave)

Day 6: Petra again, 5.5 hours of hiking up and down, pink everywhere, gorgeous experience, mesmerizing views, head back to Dahab

Day 7, 8,9, 10:  Open Water Diver course, PADI certification, fresh fruit drinks, relaxing on the beach listening to Jack Johnson, Egyptian food, Bedouin style, relaxing, meeting people,  diving 18 meters/60 feet

Day 11: relax, first dive after course, The Islands, swim through small cave, coral, fish

Day 12: relax, reminisce about Dahab and trip so far, fly to Amman

Day 13: Roman Amphitheater, Citadel, Mount Nebo, Madaba

Day 14: Crossing King Hussein/Allenby bridge, Jerusalem in Israel, Old City, Western Wall, Mount Zion, Via Dolorosa, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Armenian, Room of the Last Supper, weird energy, eery experience, hostel cave

Day 15: Back to Amman, headed to Movenpick Dead Sea Resort, float on Dead Sea, Zara Spa, infinity pool, sunset

Day 16: breakfast buffet, float on Dead Sea again, prepare to fly back to Kuwait

Books, TV, movies do not  do any justice to actually being there. Actually seeing it in person, the sight, the smell, the sound; it was all amazing. I realized that traveling is a bigger part of my life than I thought and that I need to continue to do so all the time.

All in all, this trip was a life changing experience in many ways.

So I overhear a conversation about investing in a home NOW. I heard this advice being given to someone in their twenties. I chime in and give my two cents about how they should not be doing that. Why succumb yourself to being in one place? Having to worry about a mortgage every month? I get some backlash that investing in real estate will pay off. What…..in 30+ years!!! How about “investing” in life right now!!!

Everybody knows life is way too short. Do they realize how big the world really is? How much there is out there? Maybe it is a fear of the unknown. For me, I like the excitement.

I have been told that I should buy a home now and have something for my golden years.Why would I do that? What would I waste my present life now; waiting for the unknown. It is insane for me to think I would be stuck in the same place, same job, same house, same people. The people that worry so much about their future usually wind up with unfulfilled dreams. I bet they regret not doing so many things. It is cliche to say live life without regrets, but it is so true!!! I do not want to look back and say I was too scared, too worried, too comfortable or too lazy. I guess you could say I am a risk taker. But I know that I would not be satisfied if I did not give it a try.

We end up (as in Thoreau) “spending the best part of one’s life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it”. Instead of carpe diem, CARPE VITA!!!

It is the last day in February today. My birthday on the 21st was definitely very memorable. I also am 2/3 of the way in the Tony Horton P90X workout program. Physically I am in good shape. And not a day goes by that I do not think of how lucky I am to be healthy. Emotionally, I am tired. Iraq is not the problem. It is that I am surrounded by a lot of angry, sad, depressing, stupid people. This does not mean they are not a great American though. Everyday I see complaints, gripes, anger.

Why can’t we all just play nice together, work as a team and enjoy life? Do you really think your issues are that bad compared to so many others in the world? Don’t you realize that you have 100 times more than millions of others in the world?

People don’t realize how lucky they really are. I have traveled a lot and I have seen so many poor and hungry people. People that have no home, no education, no real future, no idea that there is so much in life to experience. On my facebook, my status reads “open relationship”. It is an open relationship with life. I cannot always plan things the way I want. There are times that I just have to accept it.

I am not saying I am the perfect human being. I know I cannot saved the world. But I try my hardest to go through everyday without anger. So I say to all the angry people out there, “Stop Bitching!”.

2010. A month gone by already. February is a great month; mainly because it is my birthday month. And this year, Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day both fall on the same day, February 14th. (by the way, I am not a fan of Valentine’s Day)

I have a new favorite book right now, Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. I am so obsessed with this book that I am tempted to keep hundreds of copies around and give them as birthday gifts, christmas gifts and etc. Everybody needs to experience this book. It has also made me realize how much I miss traveling. I have been in Iraq for about 6 months now. My job does not require me to travel on the dangerous roads of Baghdad. I have pretty much lived within a 2-3 mile radius. I need to get away!

The main thing I got out of reading Vagabonding was how sorry I felt. I felt so sorry for the many people that I know that have never traveled nor have the desire to. There is so much out there. I felt sorry that they subjected themselves to such a solitary lifestyle; a constrictive paradigm. I will call it what it is, plain “boring”.

Anyways, I need to start traveling again, and soon. I also have a confession. I love chocolate. I cannot and will not resist it. Whoever invented Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Almond Joys deserves a lifetime achievement award.

I’m almost home. I’ve reached the halfway point of this deployment which began June 10th.  Besides a 4-day pass in July, I haven’t had a cigarette (I’m just a social smoker) nor had any alcohol since. My body is reacting fine to it. Heck, I ran 2-miles in 13:10. As I’ve mentioned numerous times, I’m not a good writer. But this video shows you that I’m doing alright in my temporary home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKaTuCso4_o

Birthdays, Weddings, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Independence Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Parades, Bachelor Parties, Celebrations, New Year’s Eve, Housewarmings, Going Away Parties, Babies First Everything.  These are just some of the many things that you will miss as a Soldier on deployment. As a single guy, this doesn’t affect me so much. But everyday, I see how much these things mean to a dating, engaged or a married Soldier.

Why did I choose to become a Soldier? I’m not a war junkie. I don’t yearn for some combat action. I just want to make a difference. How? In what way? I really don’t know the answer.  I just want to try; ESSAYONS. Whether or not others agree with me on this, it doesn’t matter.

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”  —E.B. White

For me, I arise in the morning with my Hello Kitty bed set.

As I write this, I am really missing my family and friends back home more and more everyday.