Took a long while for me to know that this want for travel and adventure is not to subside by simply taking three week holidays to Southeast Asia. It's not going to go away by taking weekend city breaks to Europe. And it certainly will not go away if I keep ordering my food and drinks in English where ever I go.
I realised that for this to count I would have to go away long enough to see and feel the seasons change. That I would have to learn more of the local language than just the translation of "excuse me, do you speak English?" I realised I would have to put my attempts at the accumulation of wealth on hold (not that I am very good at it anyway) . I must say good bye to the Rat race for a while.
Well this is it.... the trek begins now. I have wanted this for such a long time and now its 4 days away. It could have just as well been southeast Asia or Europe and Russia but I am glad its South America. For one thing, I would only have to learn one Language: Espanol.
Let the record show that this is my attempt to connect with God's earth. I am going away with the bare necessities (pun intended), and here are the contents of my backpack:
3x Pairs of shorts
5x T-shirts
1 pair of Jeans
1 pair of shoes
Spanish English Dictionary
Solar powered speakers
Water and shock proof mobile phone
Water and shock proof camera
2x Universal USB chargers
Movie player with camera card backup system
Solar Panel stitched on to the backpack
Reserve power Battery
Alright, fine! I guess I am not quite ready to cut away yet..... and so what?.. I can still connect with the earth by putting my ear to the ground while simultaneously texting home. I can absorb take in a new culture while listening to music through my solar powered speakers as my solar backpack charges the reserve battery.
6th January, Day one: Guadalajara, Mexico.
What are the chances I get robbed at knife point as soon as I have left the airport. Murphy's Law has never applied more so than in my person. I am now taking bets.
Asad.
12 days in Havana, Cuba so far. Arrived late night on a Thursday night. The first surprise I got was the use of 2 different currencies in Cuba. The CUC: Cuban Convertible Peso seems to have been created just for tourism to replace the dollar but now many cubans use it since most of them come in contact with tourists in Havana. 
The Cuban national pesos are used by cubans mostly. I thought it might be worth changing 100 CUCs for national money. I recieved a big bundle of 2,400 pesos. That was a silly mistake... only managed to use about a 100 so far.
Most tourists would get approached by dozens of cuban wanting to sell something. I dont have that problem. I look like most other cubans... infact found a look alike of myself and took a picture with him. There is a downside though. On the second noght I was walking in old Havana with Frank (whome I met at the hostel and is travelling in Cuba for 5 months). Now Frank is as white as they come and blonde. 
A police officer mistook me for a Cuban and asked for documents. Frank said I dont have any but the police officer wasn't interested in checking his documents and pointed instead to me. After checking my drivers license it was fine. It turns out he thought I was a cuban trying to rip off Frank... Great!
On the up side if I keep my mouth shut, I can pass myself off as a Cuban when buying food and drinks which means sometimes I can get away with paying Cuban rates. Now that is 10 times cheaper.
