Travel Blogs (264)

I am beginning to lay a budget for my USA trip. These are based on my estimates, how much I usually spend here in Denmark, and how much I anticipate to spend each day.

My first draft came in at $196, which I thought was a bit.. Low.. I am going to be there for a week, after all, so $196 would seem a bit too low. I then did some tweaks, and added some things to it. This time, it came out to $536 for a week, which seems a bit more reasonable.

Food: $30 the first 6 days and $25 on the last day, for a total of $55.

Drinks: $62 for the week. I am not planning on going binge drinking. 3 crates of coca cola, a 40-pack of water and 4 drinks at $6 each seems reasonable. I might spend more or less on the drinks, but we'll see.

The biggest expenditure is entertainment. A massive $160 for the week, which gives me more than enough room to spend less, if needed. I don't think I will spend $20 a day on that, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

I will spend $76 on souvenirs for myself. I have found the perfect set for me to buy!

I am still going to bring close to $1000, which gives me a surplus of $464.

I will still tweak it a bit, but so far it looks alright. I am being picked up at the airport, and I am not going to stay in a hotel or do some sightseeing in NYC, since I am staying at her place in upstate New York, and I am pretty good with saving money anyway. This month, I have managed to live of $300. This is in a country that is 9.2% more expensive than the United States.

Given that there is a while until I travel, please bring your best money-saving tips, and let me know if my budget looks completely stupid.

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I went to the local money exchange agency, Forex, and I got $50. I am now home, and I decided to take a closer look at them.

They feel weird. The Danish currency feels smooth and paper-like, while the American one feels rough and coarse. Like sand.. I don't like the sand.. There was a reference there. If you know it, you have scored ten points.

Anyway.

On American dollars, there are Presidents on one side, and The White House on the other. On the Danish money, it's bridges on one side, and some artifacts on the other. The dollar also says "In God We Trust", which the Danish money doesn't, because Denmark isn't embracing God as much as the US does.

The notes I got was three times Hamilton and one Jackson. I would like Benjamins, but not now. Later, perhaps.

So far, in two days, I have planned a USA trip, gotten my ESTA and my first $50. I am $950 short of my target, which I have just over 9 months to get. Average: $100 per month. It's gonna be tough, but I have Christmas coming up. I can wish for some dollars there.

Anyway, that's all for me today. Toodles!

I applied for the ESTA yesterday, and I paid $14 for it. I have just looked at the application, and, as I suspected, it was approved.

I can now sit back and relax, since I am allowed to enter the US. The ESTA is valid for two years, so I will need to renew it in 2021.

One of the questions they asked me, to determine if I was worthy of an ESTA was: "Do you seek to engage in or have you ever engaged in terrorist activities, espionage, sabotage, or genocide?"

In the drop-down menu, I put in "yes" by accident, to which the popup said "Are you sure? If yes, please contact DHS for help". I then quickly selected "no", and then all was fine.

I need to shop for a duffel bag, since I don't have one. I am not sure how expensive they are, but they shouldn't be that expensive.

By the way, I loved what it said on the ESTA site: "Welcome to the USA".

Thank you!

I know, I know.. I am still a LONG way away from actually going, but it's not too early to make a list of things I need to do and get!

So first up: Book the flight. That's the main thing. I did that. I found a good deal on Google. The trip is from Copenhagen to London with British Airways (rated 5.9/10 in 2018, making it the 17th best airline that year), and then American Airlines (Rated 6.4/10 in 2018 on making it the best US airline) from London to Newark.

A return ticket was $348,59, making it a FANTASTIC deal. I am in basic economy, which is the cheapest ticket, which is fine. I am not really picky when it comes to seating on a flight. As long as I get there, I am happy. I might even sleep for the majority of the flight. Read more about the basic economy here

Next up on my list: Get an ESTA. ESTA stands for "Electronic System for Travel Authorization", and it's an automated system, that checks to see if I have been a bad boy regarding law enforcement, terrorism and other nasty stuff. Since I am clean, I don't see why they wouldn't approve it.

Third entry on my list: Read up on the US. Specifically how to tip, since I know it's expected of me to do so, when I visit a restaurant. I think it's 10% you leave in tips, but if that's not true, please feel free to correct me on that.

Fourth entry, and this is important: Dollars. I need money to spend whilst I am in the US. I am thinking around $1000 would be sufficient, given I am there for a week only. It gives me roughly $142 per day to spend, which should be plenty.

So far, that is all on my list. Of course I need to pack as well, but I plan to pack a carry-on bag, that will fit underneath the seat, since my ticket doesn't include an overhead bin. If I have to check a bag, that will be extra at the airport. We'll see what I do, but if I have to pack for a week, I might just shove it all into a duffelbag and put that under my seat. I will pack the day before I leave, which is still months away.

I might come up with more items on my list, when we get closer to my departure.

I have just booked the flight to Newark Liberty International Airport (3 stars out of 5 on Google) on may 1st, 2020. It's gonna be my first time ever in the US, so I am looking forward to it a lot!

The trip takes me to London, England, where I have a 2 hour layover in Heathrow, before the trip to the USA. MAN I am excited for this! My first ever time in the US, but it's so far away! Time wise, I mean. 10 months away!

Those 10 months have to fly by!

But the main thing is: I am coming to the USA!

I have a few friends in the US, and I have always wanted to visit, so I went on Google to see, how cheap it would be for me to take a round trip in May 2020.

$473. Not that expensive, if I am honest. I have written to one of my friends there, to see if she would be able to entertain me at that time. I am just waiting to hear back from her. Or maybe I will do what I have always thought of doing - go to the US on the 1ts of July and then leave again on the 8th. That way I get to see how the US celebrates their independence day. But for now, I will focus on the 1st of May 2020, since I can't see dates further than May 2020. It gives me just under 11 months to save up for spending money to bring with me. If I use 100 dollars per day, that means I need to save up at least 800 dollars in total. 1000, just to be on the safe side. I also need an ESTA, but that isn't expensive. I might go for that next month.

The place I will be flying to, hopefully is New York. I want to have a slice of NY style pizza, as they say it's the best in the World. I have only had Danish, British and Portuguese pizza, so I look forward to try it. If it's as good as they say it is, I might become so addicted, that I will move to New York on a permanent basis, lol.

I don't need a visa, because Denmark is a part of the Visa Waiver Program, meaning that I can stay up to 90 days in the US without a visa. But for now, I will just be there for one week. If I love it, I can always come back.

A storm in Heaven.


I can't believe I'm still alive as I watch the giants passing by so close to me. But of course I always smile gently at the bus driver as I greet him and ask for my ticket.
I pull my sight away from that other bloke, so I won't be misunderstood. I am never mistaken by chance, even though it has happened before.
But yeah, it's dirty. My thought in Friday is purely f*cking dirty. And as I smell scents from my childhood I am for some reason taken to my time in Sweden. I remember having found this scent, this perfume somewhere in Sweden. This time it's not Iceland. No sir.
And as I remember this I recall what I have noticed lately at work, that all my coworkers around me age are getting married. I certainly consider myself too young for marriage, since I am younger than my age,but, for some reason it bothered me a lil bit. For sure I am confused now, and this will be a confused weekend. But confusion means fun to me, so I pray the Universe for enlightment. But those visions, they have to be made true, at all cost. This smell I'm tasting is almost bringing me to my knees. I need to fall on my knees and bow to the universe and love. And as an ambulance passes by, the urgency of my heart has to be complied with as well. I WILL NO LONGER STARE AT THESE BUILDINGS THE SAME WAY. Universe, love, me, her. It's all a huge ball of energy. Positive energy.

I pull my sight away from him one more time. He looks at me as if he knows what I'm speaking. And the smell. PARA MIS AMIGOS, ES EL OLOR A TABLETAS FUYÍ,EL QUE ME TRANSPORTA, ¿CUÁN LOCO ES ESO? Dudo que alguien en el bondi tenga tabletas Fuyí.

Back and forth, back & forth. The sensation of my position in the time line goes back and forth. I WONDER HOW BORING IT IS TO LIVE ONLY THE PRESENT TIME, NO PAST, NO FUTURE. Now I am put right next to him, as he casts looks no longer to me, therefore no pulling me eyes from him is performed. We shall part and say goodbye. Dock Sud has just swallowed him into a different world of the unknown, what I do not know.

Why do I keep hearing this girl calling my name? "Mariano... ¡Mariano!" But I just hear the sound of her voice, not can I see her.
What was the name of that place with the people dancing? THAT PLACE, WITH THE COUPLE DANCING, AND THE LIGHTS. Right in Avellaneda, that reminded me of Reykjavik.
Back & forth, the breaking and accelerating of the bus can be compared to my motion through time. And my motion through time can only be determined by the state of my mood...

You see, my mood alone does all the movement. But sometimes I can also be stationary. Just get me a warm blanket, a cold rainy day and a cup of warm chocolate, and I shall remain stationary for a while :)
And while this stationary state I will do all the thinking there is to be done in order for all the things to take proper place in my universe, and the universe of those around me.
The people around me are subject to a law of attraction ruled by the stages of the moon, and the stages of my mood. My state of mind manager concepts that can only be understood by a few, and a few only, for not many will be allowed to stay too close, yet not too far.

I am, what I was supposed to become.

If I get this on a bus trip back from the office, can you imagine what comes out on a long flight to another place? Someone up for a long flight with me?

Good luck, I'm coming home.

Quisiera poder teletransportarme de la oficina directo a casa. No fui criado para habitar con las palomas. Ni para soportar los boludos con complejos de inferioridad que pintan un segundo de mi existir con un ruido muy fuerte y motorizado. Qué pelotudos de mierda.

A veces todo movimiento frente a mis ojos se vuelve algo hostil e inaguantable. Pero yo digo ahora eh, en el bondi vuelta a casa, ver la repetición de rayas en el asfalto hace algún cortocircuito en mi cabeza y me siento mal. Es como si necesitase estar colgado de algo inmóvil. Como si necesitase una crucifixión de mis sentidos.

Mis sentidos deben ser crucificados a veces, para salvaguardar mi bienestar.

Being watchful over sheep.

Yeah you're being watchful over sheep, aren't you? Of course you are, you bloody bastard, that's what you're supposed to do. You are watchful over sheep as though I was not a liberation to the relationship between them and the land. If you knew me, if you knew my intentions, you would deliver your sheep to me.

Porque los corderos que yo acecho, se entregan solitos a su liberación ;)

And no, I am not the wolf. I am far from being the wolf.
Until I am ;D

There are several stories about me becoming the wolf, and I don't know what's all the fuss about, since me becoming the wolf has been described as, well...

AND THEN EVERYBODY GOES "omg why? why you became the wolf and why do you howl and scream and bite, and lick, and then bite some more and lick, running your tongue all over, being a wolf??

" . Cos that what wolves do" , I say.

I am a wolf. I said I wasn't, but now I am. And the pigeons, the pigeons I was talking about in the begining, I don't like them, cos, see, us wolves we don't like pigeons, and we don't like cities. Wolves dislike Buenos Aires, they belong to wherever is colder, to wherever is darker. I am a wolf and I show my teeth to the people riding this bus. That's what wolves do.

I am a wolf and I smell the fish around and think of delicious crime. I am cheeky and shameless, and I know many fun things ;)

Argentina is a country for wolves. Argentina is not a country for wolves. Do you know of any other country for wolves?

Look at him crying. And look at the other one being violent. Look at me being peaceful.

It got dark. It always gets dark. What's the f*cking point in it? It just, got, f*cking, dark. And this place, is completely different at night, as it is at day. Which brings me to the conclusion that I must look for answers.

BUT BEWARE, I HAVE BEEN RECEIVING ANSWERS FROM SOMEONE. And if we're able to pull this up, it will be a success!


I have decided it's time to re-invent myself.

Again I have the urge to look at everyone and connect, but I am not of their kind today. Over 40 people in the bus, and no one I can connect to.

I am the black sheep. I am the wolf. Black sheep, wolf. I am wearing a black shirt today, I am the black sheep. I am bad, but I am better.

This wolf is getting back home. I didn't get my day off tomorrow, grrr! *wolf growl* but I get monday and tuesday off!