Flocktoberfest

Just like any good festival or worldly historic tradition on planet earth comes a cost with the rise tourism hitting it. People flock from all over the world to hit these events to see how the countries respective culture has engrained itself into it. My recent experience came in Munich, Germany where Octoberfest is held in the latter weeks of September and a few days in October. Most people know the drill but essentially it's a giant carnival / fair with beer tents spread throughout the interior. Inside these tents are tables upon tables of beer drinking Germans and tourists prost'n (cheers) their steins from morning till night exchanging stories with each other and shouting old Bavarian drinking tunes. Whats not to like about that? Not a whole lot is the correct answer.

While I wish I could give a strong opinion one way or another on the conglomeration people that hit Octoberfest I sit right on top of the wall like humpty dumpty and do not plan to fall off. On one hand it's a fantastic meeting point to see other travellers and meet up with old travel friends from past trips (Both of which I did and a few of my old travel friends I saw there I honestly thought I might never see again). On the other hand some of the time I selfishly wish I could have experienced it in its most organic form when it started over 200 years ago. Me, a tent full of Bavarian Germans and lots of beer.  That's just not possible anymore. With traveling becoming less of a strictly luxury pastime people from all stretches of the earth are hopping on board and hitting wonderful festivals just like myself.

To get a little more specific with who of my travel friends I got the opportunity to see was my good friend Liam from England. You know sometimes you just click with people from the get go? Well Liam is one of those people for me. We met each other in Bangkok, Thailand about 4 years ago when I had just started my extended journey through Southeast Asia and he had just started a very lengthy around-the-world adventure. Right when I got into Bangkok I got sick from some sort of street and things were definitely up in the air if I should continue on with my trip. With Liam be a little older than me he was the level head I needed to not necessarily talk me through the situation but to just listen and help push past the initial pain. To this day I can't thank him enough. We ended up traveling through northern Thailand together and met up in Vietnam after we split in different directions for a few months. 

Just sitting in that tent with Liam a week back was an incredible feeling and how life can truly come full circle. Sure the beers were good, paired with nice basketball sized pretzel but catching up with him was something I definitely didn't expect going to Munich as I didn't find out he was there until my second day. We chatted over Facebook, set up a meeting point and it was off from there. 

Life really is about the people not the places....

Liam, Nicole and Whitey (from right to left) all of us enjoying our beers and pretzels

Late night in one of the beer tents when they get PACKED!!!

In the fair grounds with some delicious barrels of beer 

Whitey and I

Some more of my travel friends who I care about dearly. I met them in Morocco a few months back and decided to make the trip to Munich just a few weeks before Octoberfest with hanging out with them as my #1 goal. They showed the true authentic ways of Octoberfest as all three are born and raised in Germany.

So Close to Home I Can Taste It

Lagos, Portugal is a special place. Surfing, kayaking, scuba diving, numerous beaches along the water divided by geological structures shooting high into the sky. While there are other places around the world that such things are in one spot, Lagos does it on the perfect scale. Not too big of a beach town and not too small. Just enough fine dining for the people on proper holiday to get their fix and just enough dive bars for backpackers to get their cheap meals and beer. My experience in Lagos all started(and pretty much finished) with the hostel.

Old Town Lagos. A quaint spot in the center of old town (wouldn't have thunk that one huh?..). While the rooms in the hostel felt like a sauna sleeping at night it was all overshadowed by the tight knit quarters of the common area that pushed for social interaction to an extreme. Not to mention one of the loveliest couples I've had the opportunity of meeting in my entire life. The afternoon crew at the front desk went by the names of Jason and Amy who were the cogs to this well oiled social setting. No matter the day, what they did the night before, how much sleep they got, they stepped into that hostel with the same wonderful attitude. From my point of view it was almost as if they were on a mission to make sure no one stepped foot onto any bus, train or car out of Lagos without having a good time. Amy cooked delicious homemade meals nightly and Jason scrambled around setting up activities for all the guests the following day. They even joined guests out on their nightly adventures depending on the day of the week.

All those personal amenities casted a smoke-an-mirrors effect as if I were with my real family and friends back at home in Seattle. But it was simply the warm hearts that were brought out from the city, its atmosphere and of course Jason and Amy.

As always I share some photos from my time at each respective city, which I will still do, but I never got a chance to get one with Jason or Amy. Guess I'll have to go back, darn!

Scuba Graffiti! 

One of the many beaches just outside of Old Town 

The massive rock structures dividing the beaches

Scuba Diving Boat Crew