Friday, August 5, 2011

Birthdays

I've never been much for birthdays. Even when I was little I can remember having arguments with my mom trying to get out of having a birthday party. I'm not one for gifts and I'm not much for people being overly enthused when telling me Happy Birthday! It's another day, I'll enjoy it and live it and love life just the same. No need to celebrate the day of my birth. ha

Anyways, up until I was 18 my mom threw a birthday party. I played the role and smiled and acted excited and stuff. I received the material gifts which I never really wanted, material objects hold little to no value in my life. (sorry if any family is reading this...blame my mom for throwing me parties, thereby making you buy me a gift, you know how she is ;) mom...you know I love you :))

So ever since I turned 18 I've tried to not be around for my birthdays. I've tried to get away from celebrations and the excuse for drinking that everybody tries to turn it into. My outlook: Why get drunk? travel, do something, make a story...

The most epic one yet was meeting the son of one of the founders of cancun, having him buy me drinks, take me to some boxing bar in cancun, then introducing me to some big names around town...Not sure if I'll top that for a while but this year my plan is to go to Seattle in my style.

What that means is just a plane ticket there and a plane ticket back. No place to stay or itinerary set in place. The story and days there will unfold as they come at me. Of course, there are always some things I have planned in the case that life becomes stale for a bit but for the most part I'll take life as it comes... So a month from now I should have some unique stories to tell and things to write about. Love life and embrace it...

P.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Old People Are Great

Ever since I was young I would found myself starting up conversations with older people. The reason I find myself drawn to them is because of their lives, stories and knowledge. I won't lie, sometimes they may be bitter and quiet and want to avoid people but even then I find myself wanting to talk to them.

I always want to know where they've been, what they've done and of course what secrets they have. We only live this life once...how have they lived theirs? What knowledge can they bestow upon me? Where have they gone wrong and what have they learned from it?

I've said it for a long time now...I want to live my life by grandpa stories. I don't want to just cruise through life, I want to take it on head first and experience everything that I can and learn everything that I can. With that mentality and drive I will have created so many memories and stories. One day I can sit my grandchildren on my lap and pull out stories left and write. I will hopefully be able to open up their minds and inspire them...

So, the reason this post came to be was due to the other night... I was shooting around (basketball) at one of the local outdoor courts like I usually am. The sun was coming down and very few people were left at the park. As I was shooting I notice an old man and old woman walking towards the courts... I ended up having a great conversation with them. Its amazing to see a cute old couple, happily together and still active : ). Always inspiring...

For a short story on the conversation that I had with them, go to Wherespablo.com. This will be the first addition to the Their Story section on the website. If you enjoy it, please subscribe to the site. I will continue to post stories about people that I encounter in my travels and adventures. Thanks

P.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

A Different Route

I initially began my WheresPablo website with the thought that I would be able to entertain and inspire people with places that I have been and people that I have met. I wanted it, with time, to grow in the amount of subscribers following and interacting. I wanted to somehow transfer the love for life that I have to my friends and readers. I always get asked, "So where have you traveled to lately? or Where are you traveling to next?" With WheresPablo I could provide a fun entertaining view to what I do, and it would allow me to connect with more people... That however was the initial idea...

So now that I have had the website going for some time, I have had the chance to talk to friends about their thoughts and opinions on the matter. A lot of people enjoy it and like to read about the local things that I have seen and done, and with that have gone on some trips of their own. This has been very inspiring to see. With that though, I want to start to expand. Sure I don't have too many subscribers or thousands of viewers yet, but its climbing. And what better to make that happen then to develop a website that has potential for growth?

The old site was based on me, this new site will be based on us. When I say us I mean any of us who have a story to tell. The new layout and style will has more of a magazine feel to it. With time I want to add contributors and topics. Eventually (talking 1 to 2 years down the road) I want to have anywhere from 10 to 20 writers. These writers will offer their own experiences and stories to the website. With these writers, more people will sign up and in turn interact with us (the writers) and each other.  Also, people can be looking forward to a handful of brief refreshing stories every week rather than my handful every month.

In addition to writers I will have topics that we will broach. These topics will include: Traveling Abroad, Travel Gear, Hostels/Hotels, Life, Give a Hand, Photography, World News, and Their Story. This list isn't set but just thoughts on where we could expand. Each category will have posts being continually added each relating to its own topic. This would provide a more simplistic and user friendly layout.

I started out with a simple idea, and it has started to take shape and grown into something else... I know this will be quite the project but in the end I feel that I can learn a so much from those who I will encounter and hear stories from. I always love to see and meet people who turned a hobby and passion into a career. It would be amazing to see if maybe 3 or 4 years down the line that this traveling network can be a lifestyle for myself and other contributors who wish to join me in the endeavor...

Until next post,

P.

Friday, April 15, 2011

To post or not to post

So, a few weeks ago I went on a random road trip on my own. I woke up at 5AM and took off south. My trip led me to bishop's castle which you can read more about on wherepablo.com. Afterward I decided that I would stay in a hostel in Albuquerque, so I continued on my journey south. (bishops castle is about 20 min south of Pueblo, CO)

As I was driving I recalled reading somewhere that the painted desert allows for overnight backpacking, I figured that I if I can drive straight through with little stops I would make it with 15 minutes left to get my permit. So it was set, I made the decision and would drive a little of 4 hours straight to make it in time. So I get to the park center and realized that I made it with over an hour to spare...different time zone... silly me. I ended up putting on every article of clothing i had that night to survive the cold (i didn't plan on camping). I found a nook and fell asleep. I awoke to a cloudless night sky with a shooting star passing directly overhead. I this point I realized that I was more ill prepared then expected. I decided to make the trek back to my car to sleep that last hours to sunrise in a warmer place.

After waking up and shooting some pictures I had another choice, turn around and stay in Albuquerque or go a little further, check out the Grand Canyon. Obvious choice...Grand Canyon! I proceeded to drive through flagstaff and up to the grand canyon where along with a truly breathtaking view I was able to enjoy a beer and afterward, longboard on the highway outlining the south rim...

I started off again, destination: Moab, Utah. Driving up and toward home the storms began to chase me. I would outrun the snow and then get hit with rain and vice versa. I drove up through Moab and was wired off of some redbulls and Pretty Lights and decided to finish the drive home.

Everything was going smoothly until the Rocky Mountains... A blizzard ended up coming down on me. Its now about midnight and I find myself driving down the mountains at 25mph hoping that my car will make it successfully back home. As I'm driving, a white mustang two cars in front of me begins to slide and ends up pulling over. Myself along with the guy in front of me pull aside as well. In the mustang was a Mexican woman and her 9 year old daughter making a trek from California to visit some friends. Seeing that I was bilingual the other man left immediately. Luckily they were headed to Ft. Lupton which is on the way to my house. So over the next 2 hours I conversed with this nice lady from California.

Good deed done, I arrived back home safe and sound at around 3AM. Good trip... good trip...

So the question - To post or not to post. I have been dying to post more of the stories on wherespablo.com but am hesitant to do so. I started with Bishop's Castle and will continue but don't know if knocking out all of the stories in one week would be too much. I feel like one week increments will suffice and keep the readers more intrigued. I guess we'll see. til next time...

P.