Travel has been a part of my life from a very young age. It has forced me to relocate time and time-again, adapting to new surroundings, finding new excitement, and creating an adventurous life for me that makes it hard for me to settle anywhere for long. But one exception to that rule is South Portland, Maine, the place that I call home.

If you are from the U.S. like myself, you may have a better understanding of what it is like to live in rural and urban areas of this country. Cities have the amenities, while country-side has the laid-back vibes and beautiful landscapes. There isn't a whole lot of in-between here, especially on the east coast. Portland, to me, is the perfect city to live on the outskirts of. It has one of the highest amounts of bars/restaurants per square mile of any city in the U.S. yet it also is one of the least congested and traffic free cities. Living in South Portland provides we with greater access to BOTH the city and rural surrounding areas, such as the beautiful beaches in Cape Elizabeth, the rolling farms in Gorham, or unequalled lakes of Windham to name a few, all within 5-30mins.

Another great advantage is that most cities on the east coast were designed hundreds of years ago, and so it has a mixed variety of all amenities wherever you go in the city. Where-as in the mid-west and west coasts, construction is often sprawling and completely new, requiring you to drive anytime that you need to do something.

South Portland (SP) is also known for it's amount of waterfront, which used to be home to a large naval shipyard, but is now mostly occupied by the second-largest oil port/oil tank storage on the entire east coast. The proximity to the sea is essential for me, on any given day you might find me in a number of different "lookouts", gazing at the calming sea, rocky islands and lighthouses, or rising skyline of Portland.

What makes South Portland the best place to call home though, are the people here. Maine is notorious for people looking to escape the city hustle/grind, and this is a great place to do that. SP is full of blue-collar workers who like to see what they did at the end of the day. People with a dream of a simpler living standard, where they don't need everything that the world has, only a few good friends and a small purpose that has meaning, and that is what I have found here. I haven't been everywhere,  and I'm sure that wherever you are, wherever you call home, it has a similar meaning to you, but I just found mine here!   

The best tool on the web for finding flight prices is, no surprise here, google. If you type www.google.com/flights into your url you can search flights and prices from all around the world. I haven't found a better tool on the internet since I read about this on Nomadic Matt's blog about a year ago.

It allows you to pick both your departure and desired arrival airports, lets you select dates for the flights, shows you comparisons with competitors prices below (so if you don't like/trust a particular company, you can simply see what another airline would cost), and much more. Perhaps the best parts of using this tool, however, are the ability to see a range of prices for the same flight for the next two weeks, and the world map, that highlights surrounding flights and prices. These two functions alone make it the ultimate planning tool. If you don't know where to travel, but have a small budget, you can simply pick ur current location and look at the cost of flights around the whole world. If you want to fly somewhere, but are worried that the price might be cheaper in a few weeks, after spring break ends, you can see up to 2 weeks in advance of the date you selected. Maybe you wanted to fly somewhere like Boston, but realized that a flight to Manchester was over $100 cheaper and the same distance from home (Maine)?

HOWEVER, this isn't the final step to finding the cheapest flight....Once you've found a particular flight, then you can use sites like cheapoair, kayak, expedia, etc...The reason that this will save you more money as opposed to simply using the discount rate sites to start is because of the above mentioned functions on google flights. Having the ability to see if the flight might be cheaper a week later is only possible by looking on google.com/flights first and then purchasing on cheapoair. Otherwise you have to spend all nights changing the dates on cheapoair, and checking a nearby airport one day and place at a time.

*Note this is only intended to help you FIND the cheapest flight. When it comes time to purchase the ticket there are all kinds of ways to sign up for credit cards with free miles, or things similar, to help save money. Nomadic Matt has another great blog regarding this here.

If you have any additional tips regarding cheap airline tickets please leave a comment below.

My travels recently have been limited because I have been so busy with work, but a few of my friends and I are talking about visiting some local islands in the area. There happen to be quite a few islands/WW2 forts reachable via the ferries that I work on, and so we were hoping to bring a canoe and checkout a few of the lesser frequented islands owned by the State. 

One of these is the infamous Ft.Gorges, a fort that was built during the civil war era to support surrounding forts on the entrance of the Fore river and the Portland-South Portland harbors. The structure took so long to complete that by the time they finished, the cannons and fort itself were obsolete. One lone cannon was left at the top of the southern spire if you get a chance to visit.

Another option is Jewel Island. An infamous island in Casco Bay (rumored to house buried treasure from Captain Kidd), Jewel Island is a common place for day cruises and cocktail parties from local pleasure boats. The island is heavily wooded and has a very jagged/rocky shoreline, which wouldn't make for the most comfortable camping conditions....

In terms of camping, there is a much more friendly island accessible via sandbar at low tide from "Great Chebeague". Little Chebeague used to be a training facility for fire fighters training in the Portland area, and recreational facilities for stationed naval members during WW2. It is much flatter, has plenty of beach front, and makes for great picnicking and camping.

It was once rumored that Casco Bay had an island for every day of the year (in reality there are somewhere around 280 I believe). This comes from a mixture of publicly and privately owned islands, which are mostly inaccessible without a small vessel of your own. The entire Bay is littered by beautiful rocky coast including a town with the most shoreline in the continental U.S. If you are looking for a reason to come and visit Maine this summer, there are at least 280 in these islands, their wildlife, and their sandy beaches along the Atlantic coast.       

As I mentioned in previous blogs, Esteli was a more secluded, less-traveled-to, destination in Nicaragua. It was high in the mountains, where it rained almost daily. The city seemed small because it sat atop a mountain instead of in a valley, like most cities, so there was no real vantage point to get perspective on it's size. However, this is considered the third largest city in Nicaragua (based on population) and is called the "Diamond of the Segovias" because of it's beautiful natural settings and diverse and prosperous economy. The surrounding area is some of the best farmland in all of Nica. and there are several horse-back guided tours of coffee plantations if you're looking for a reason to go. There are also cuban-cigar making factories (tours often include a cigar), and several professional sport teams. A great place to enjoy some relaxed, off the beaten-path, down time. You'll enjoy cool nights and less tourists in this great city.

I did however have a rather exciting evening in town here though. As you can imagine of most of these countries, where there is fertile land, and opportunity to make money in the drug industry, there are those who are looking to make a few more dollars (just like in any other country). In areas like these, there is usually a boss, and his name in Esteli was the same that we see in movies, "El Jefe". I happened across this man, while visiting a more local bar with two women that I had met at the restaurant across from my hostel. We had tried a more "lively" bar down the street where some locals had told us we might be able to dance, but it was a Tuesday if I recall correctly and when we showed up, all that we found was a bar full of maybe 16 year-olds hanging out with each-other in small cliques, similar to those in high school here in the U.S. So we got a recommendation from the bar tender for what people would call here, a dive bar. When we arrived there was quite a crowd, and to me, it seemed that no-one paid us much attention. What I didn't know was that as soon as I would leave to use the restrooms, the girls would be swarmed by local men. As I walked back to my table I saw maybe 8 or so guys sitting/standing around where I had previously been sitting, as I got to the table, almost immediately they all cleared out to their near-by surrounding tables. That is, except for El Jefe and his friend. We chatted amongst us for a while in half-Spanish/half-English broken statements and managed to communicate a few jokes, but before long I was quite tired from trying to make small talk in a language that I wasn't fluent in. So I managed to start talking with another local sitting behind me who spoke fluent English. El Jefe and his friend talked with the girls for a while, but I think that the girls uneasiness with the situation was made obvious and he didn't make any obvious advances aside from jokes. As the night was ending he made a few more jokes with the ladies, but they were a little more direct, and kept asking which one was my girlfriend. I didn't want to put either girl into a situation where they didn't feel comfortable (either from having to be my pretend girlfriend, or from me telling El Jefe that they were single) so I would simply respond with something like, "los dos" or both of them. We would all laugh and after a few more attempts El Jefe told us that he was concerned for our safety walking back to the hostel at night, offered us a ride, but when we refused was very polite. The waitress came to give us our tab, and I couldn't help but notice that they didn't ask for any money from our new friends, but his friend left a considerable amount of cash on the table and said these are for your drinks. We insisted that we would pay for our own drinks, but thanked them, and he left the cash anyhow. We decided to walk home anyhow, and managed to make it safely back to my hostel where we joked about what had happened. 

Perhaps it was my naivete, or arrogance from the beer, but I really didn't feel that unsafe around the guy. So if you're looking for something to do at night in Esteli, and you see a guy who fits the part of "El Jefe" make sure to joke with him about the American with two girlfriends, haha.   

Here I go again...I haven't written a single blog post in months...why some of you might ask? Quite simple really, I came home. My dreams of escaping into a fantasy land of constant travel, meeting new people, experiencing daily challenges of life, all came tumbling down with the weight of reality.

The first thing to hit me was the RCS (reverse culture shock), which is more just the realization that you can't afford to continue doing what you've been doing. An utter disappoint, realizing that all of your friends and family, whom you put on hold while traveling, haven't broken any molds either. Like being awoken from a dream, the sense of insecurity comes rushing back to you. That same insecurity that told you not to leave in the first place. The same insecurity that keeps your friends and family at their day jobs working day in and out to provide stability in life. It whispers to you, like your ever inquisitive aunt at Thanksgiving, "So what now Adrian?" This question will get asked of you daily, perhaps more if you see distant acquaintances and family. They ask partially because of curiosity, partially because of jealousy, and partially because it feels good to point out others failures. I didn't, and still don't have a real answer to this question yet...

I managed to live for a few months at home off of the additional tax return from my former engineering job, but soon enough work came back to hit me in the face. I came back to a job on the Ferries in my hometown, a steady job with opportunities for overtime, low stress, and great community. Financially it doesn't provide much hope for future travels, but it's a great gig with some great people.

Winter is fast approaching, people seem washed of their summer daze, I see glum and distant looks from people instead of wide-eyed excitement and rejuvenation, and I have doubts that I will be able to continue working on the boats much after late fall. My options don't seem cheerful and I catch myself drifting off at work thinking about what comes next.

But I do feel different...I am starting to understand that I can be passionate about something, and it seems to be travel! So today after work I explored a few inspirational travel videos on YouTube, read a few blogs, and will begin to try and write consistently again! I have created a vision in my head of expanding my blog into a legitimate website, buying a computer with video-processing compatible with adobe premier and photoshop, and perhaps planning another low-budget winter escape. 

These ideas and plans will have to keep me motivated, but I feel that I can build upon what I made here while I was traveling, and perhaps that will keep my mind busy enough to focus on positive things to come, rather than negative influences in the immediate. The RCS can be reversed again, and I am the only one who can change my outlook on the future. Thanks for reading and supporting!

2. Computer, $750 I bought a light-weight travel laptop for uploading photos and videos before leaving. I wish that I had purchased something with a little more power, so that I could edit videos without the thing crashing :/. However, it was great to have for days that it rained, and worked fantastic for uploading photos and short videos.

3. Camera(s), $600 For me, I actually spent this money prior to traveling, but I know that a lot of people will invest in camera(s) and equipment for traveling so I decided to include it. Personally, this was just a single GoPro Hero 3+ Black, one SD card, and a few accessories. These things add up fast and already I am outdated by the Hero 4...

4. Backpack/Tent, $400, This is just an estimate again, as I was lucky enough to borrow my brothers pack and tent. I would strongly recommend picking a backpack that you really enjoy, and is extremely comfortable. This is your house for the next few months or years. My brothers was great, but as an older model, it had a bulky metal frame support that made getting on and off buses a living nightmare.

5. Flight, Each way was around $300 for me, but as I purchased these separately, and well in advance, there is huge fluctuation in this area of travel expenses. Take a look on google.com/flights to see prices ahead of your departure and maybe use sites like cheapoair to find the best rates.

6. Hostels, I primarily stayed in shared hostel rooms, which run for around $8-$16 per night, this price goes up for private rooms and down for tent-space. Prices also change depending on proximity to cities, location in the world (1st vs 3rd world countries) but I would say a budget with $20-$25 per night would do you pretty well in most areas of the world for hostel dorms!

7. Food, this is another fluctuating expense, I tend to be extremely frugal when it comes to food, often eating pasta with butter or several bananas for an entire meal (beans and rice when eating out). I don't recommend eating that way, it simply was another way to save for me. Usually I tried to cook my own meals, and would splurge on a very nice meal once or twice a week to assure proper nutrition! Budget another $15 a day for food in 3rd world countries, more for populace areas.

8. Fun, I'll lump activities, beer, social events, and all general fun into this. I really can't anticipate a cost for others here. I personally found plenty to do without spending any money, but if I had the cash, I could have spent it and done some really exciting stuff (i.e. I skipped out on Volcano boarding because I didn't think it was worth the $35).

9. Filler, This is the wiggle-room in your budget, $10-$20 a day should cover most buses under 10hours in Central America, South America was more spread out, so you may need more. Other than that it is good to have a few extra dollars a day in-case of unexpected expenses (boarder crossings, getting sick and buying more medicine, forgotten/lost sunglasses).

Total upfront (first-time) costs: ~$3000 ($200 more if you don't have your passport)
Daily Budget: $30-$40/day for myself last trip, recommended $50-$60/day with ample planning

I know this isn't a complete list of ALL expenses while traveling, and these should simply be used as guidelines for planning. If you have more detailed questions, especially when it comes to travel inside the US or within Central & South America, please feel free to email me!

As I mentioned last night my options seem to be drying up faster than the reservoirs in California (too soon?). Today I talked with my boss about staying late into the season. He told me that he certainly saw me being able to stick around until Columbus Day, but that work most likely would die-off then. Even then, hours may diminish and opportunities for overtime with them. So the way that I see it is I have a few options...

I can try to substitute in my hometown to offset some of the loss of hours, in hopes of building my resume and eventually getting a full-time teaching job, where I could travel during the summer months and over school vacations. There really aren't many other jobs that offer the same amount of time off, however the pay-rate is certainly lower than that of most traditional career paths. I know that I would enjoy teaching and hopefully inspiring kids, but I don't know how likely it is to acquire a full-time position in my hometown, especially without a degree in teaching (perhaps engineers can teach math without one?)

Another option would be to look for another engineering job. I would hate to leave home again for this, but I think with a warmer climate, and possibly with a government position I could really enjoy it for a few years and save some serious cash for a second trip with equipment!

My last option and the one I feel most likely to take, as it is the easiest and most exciting, would be to travel again over the winter and spend the small amount of savings I have...Although it would bring me immediate satisfaction, and contribute to my travel blog, I think that I would come back next summer and feel like I was back at square one. No savings, not many job opportunities, and a burning desire to be on the road. I have thought about approaching banks to apply for a small business loan for starting an adventure/travel blog/vlog website, but I'm not sure how I would pitch it to them, and if they would bite. If anyone has had any success with taking out loans, or asking local businesses for sponsors, I would love to hear any advice you might have. Email is: Adrian.amy06@gmail.com.

Let me know if you have been reading and can think of any alternative options, or if you have comments/suggestions regarding my listed options above. Thanks, Adrian

Did you come to Medellin for the nightlife? Want to know what it's like partying in a city where cocaine is as common as beer? Well...

When you're traveling, anything can happen. That is both exciting, and exhausting. It's exactly what ends up making life an adventure. You have total and complete control of your reigns, which is something that we lose sight of in the western world...