Author Archives: Libby Tucker

The origin of Beer2Buds was in 2001 while sitting at my desk in Milwaukee. A friend from Sweden sent me a virtual beer in an email and I thought if I could only redeem that locally what a great idea that would be. What a great way to stay in touch with friends and reconnect over the feeling you had and the memories you created when you were together.  After spending time learning web and product development, payment systems, incorporating, choosing right – and wrong – business partners, Beer2Buds.com was launched in February 2009.  If you can’t convince people it is a good idea it’s for one of 2 reasons – 1) it’s a bad idea 2) it’s too early.  Now sending people drinks are popping up all over the country and the world – sounds like a good idea – just a little early.  But with advances in smartphones, web apps, and independent businesses adapting to needs of customers and coupons, sending a beer will start becoming even easier.  

I’ve been busy posting on libbystravels.tumblr.com, anywhereprofessional.tumblr.com, and liveworkanywhere.com.

I thought it might be a good idea to do a quick post to summarize and point to the latest happenings on those sites. I took a spontaneous 30 hour road trip to El Salvador from Nicaragua. So here I am surfing and working in El Tunco in El Salvador, about an hour outside of San Salvador.

The waves are great but dangerous, the sun is so hot I’ve been swollen and burnt for 2 days. I have internet access at the place where I’m staying, but, like I’ve found in many places, it can sometimes be slow. The people here are great, better in my opinion than Nicaragua. You can actually have a sense of trust, not short-term friendliness turned horribly wrong like Nicaragua, or the ‘don’t turn your back’ feeling in Costa Rica, or the ‘I feel like not letting you through the border without paying because I said so’ in Honduras. It’s cleaner and friendlier and other than the bad sunburn, I’m having a great time, enjoying the waves during the day, the fiestas and ambiance at night, and the 3/$1 bean and cheese pupusas in the street.

‘La Regia es mas barata y te pone a verga!’

I just joined the Live/Work Anywhere network on www.liveworkanywhere.com. One question was regarding the factors that help you decide where to live and work virtually. Here were my responses:

Climate –
Weather that is too hot or too cold makes it hard to concentrate on work.

Access to Internet –
Internet access must be reliable and fast enough to keep working.

Mail –
Sending packages and random things can be difficult in many countries, having reliable mail service is helpful.

Cost of Living –
Lower cost of living along with the other factors means higher potential return on my projects.

Some things I’ve learned from living in Central America are:

Internet access is nearly 1/8th that of the United States. If you are blogging, emailing, and uploading small files, you don’t notice too much. Anything bigger than that, watching youtube videos or uploading them, opening too many windows and uploading/downloading larger files will slow you down. Also, the power will sometimes go out and you have no option but to wait until everything is restored, or to find a place with a generator to keep going.

The cost of living is low, paying on average $150 for a 1 bedroom apartment, but finding reliable service for Internet makes the $150 for a shared room in a larger city like Buenos Aires in South America a more attractive option.

Routine is important to me and because of the climate, I’ve found the best times to work are either early in the morning or after the sun goes down. After 10 or 11 am, your brain slows down and it’s a must to head to the beach…. not so bad…. as long as you get your work done!

I am completely humbled by my trip experiences so far, and especially by the beating I took from yesterdays’ waves. I had never experienced a rip before nor had I been so pummeled by the ocean.

Standing up was impossible, everyone on the beach took one beating after another. Even where the waves broke at the shore would throw you upside down, tumbling, eating sand, being thrown 50 feet back to the beach uncontrollably. It was quite the battle! I crunched my back, smacked myself in the head with surf board and boogie board, swallowed tons of water, and grasped for air on several occasions.

I finally made it out to the larger waves after having been pulled to the shore by the rip a few times. This time I was equipped with flippers and a boogie board and a local champion professional boogie boarder. The waves were about 6 feet. I was able to catch three of them, one I rode almost back to the shore and actually had people whooping with me, collaborating our energy to combat the angry ocean.

Incredibly fun, but incredibly humbled. I’m so sunburnt that my face is swollen and my nose has blisters. My feet are cut up from the rocks and the flippers. My feet are still stinging from the ant bites after climbing a huge rock to watch the sun set and the surfers, from our private theater atop the rock.

I think later today I’ll take a break from the sun, and either head to Libertad or San Salvador. I just finished a $1.50 breakfast of eggs, bread, cheese, rice/beans. Last night’s dinner feast was fantastic. I am broken down today but still very happy, great energy flowing here.

I’ve been having a great time here. It’s more expensive than Nicaragua, but I feel safer and like I’m not getting ripped off every time I cough. The waves are great, the ocean is really salty and the beach sand is black, but watching the sunset over my right shoulder, the full moon on the left, and body surfing after the long drive yesterday made me smile, a fuller and more sincere smile than I’ve had in a while. Loving life right now.

I just bought a couple pounds of shrimp for about $5 bucks and tonight I’m planning to cook up a ceviche and maybe some tortilla espanola for a group of peeps.

I’ll post pictures soon, I promise. But right now I’m headed out to rent either a boogie board or surf board for the day. Already sitting here sweating in this cafe, time to be out in the middle of it all.

Adios!

UPDATE 4/29/09: I just learned the reason why ceviche is supposed to sit for 5 hours is because the juices from the limes ‘cook’ the raw shrimp. I cooked the shrimp and added them to the ceviche. 1/2 hour seemed fine to me!

I’ve had some of the craziest moments in the last 30 hours. I left the finca and San Juan del Sur before all the chaos of Semana Santa.

I hitched a ride with my friend Justin so I could avoid all the taxi drivers in the city center yelling ‘taxi chica, rivas rivas rivas’. Justin was headed to Guatemala but I only wanted a ride to Managua or Leon, final destination Leon. After taking hours longer than we thought, turning around for forgotten items, I decided that instead of 4 hours to Leon, I would take the 8 hour trip to El Salvador. 8 hours versus 4 to go to a new country and pass back through Leon on the way back sounded like a great idea.

4 hours turned into 6, which turned into 8, which turned into 27. Tired, sweaty, weary, we’ve finally arrived in El Tunco on the pacific coast of El Salvador after 27 long hours in a car with 5 people and bags.

Border crossings here are not as easy as other places, especially if you have a car that wasn’t in your name the last time you passed through.

Leaving Nicaragua wasn’t without surprises. Justin passed a truck around a straight yellow line, and committed an ‘infraction’. Just as I had heard the stories, we got pulled over and we were told that we would have to pay a fine of $50 and go to the capital city while the police held his license until he could pay the ticket. Impossible. I ended up acting as the Spanish translator and realized pretty quickly that this guy would accept a bribe to let us go. A final negotiation of $7 passed discretely through the window and we were on our way again! Woohoo.

Seeing as things were going well, we decided to stop for a full meal just before the border to Honduras, where we would spend the next few hours or so. After a great meal and a couple of drinks, laughs, and excitement to get into El Salvador hopefully in time to get a good night’s sleep.

When we got to the border we discovered that Justin’s car permit had expired a few days earlier. A fine of $100 dollars we were told or we would have to wait until the morning. Thinking this was another bribe, we slipped a $20 then a $50 under the window to no avail. Again acting as translator, I argued for 2 hours why we shouldn’t have to pay, asking the customs agent to show me the law, explain it, and talking to two other agents, we finally just caved in and paid $100. On our way….. for 200 meters… until the border to Honduras.

It was now past midnight and as we were all struggling to stay awake. A ‘propina’, a licensed guide that helps people at the border for a negotiated, sometimes surprise, fee, approached us. He entered the locked office and woke up the night agent.

The night administrator randomly decided he didn’t like the wording on Justin’s documents that proved the car was sold to him by his earlier travel companion. Stamped, notarized, and valid in Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, it was not valid here. If the word ‘obligation’ had been ‘rights’, according to him, he could approve it as valid. Are you kidding me? Another hour goes by negotiating with the officer, who again won’t take bribes.

Finally Justin found another unarguable piece of paper that showed the title in his name, plus another bill of sale that apparently had wording that would pass. Whew. The other option was to sleep at the border. After another hour, making copies – where we finally negotiated the price down to $5, paid the propina $5 to his dismay, we finally were able to leave. Yes!

Being the navigator, I was told to watch for logs or any obstacle in the road that seemed ‘strange’. At 2 am we might be safer, but generally there are gangs ‘bandilleros’ that will throw something in the road to force you to stop and then proceed to rob you, probably at gunpoint. As Justin said ‘no matter what, we’re not stopping’. Alas, we eventually made it across the border to arrive into El Salvador’s border crossing around 5:30 am.

A much quicker process, but still tedious paperwork and waiting for the shift change to occur at 6 am (ish), we finally got approved and headed into El Salvador! No bribing, no gangs of robbers, we drove through the beautiful country headed to the beach south of San Salvador. The only thing to look out for is Central America’s largest and most notorious criminal gang, M-18, but we should be safe.

After a few wrong turns and several stops for better directions, we finally made it to El Tunco around 4 pm, an amazing little beach town on the pacific coast, to stay for Semana Santa. Found a great hostel with wi-fi where I can write this post. Spent the rest of the day body surfing and doing some boogie boarding a few short miles away from some of the best known surf breaks in the world!

As I sit here I was just offered a tiny shot of El Salvadorean Rum mixed with herbs and spices. Cheers! Off to eat some pupusos!

Note: This is an outdated this, check out the updated Global Traveler Essential Packing List 2

Trying to pack can be one of the hardest things to plan, especially if you’ll be gone for several months and through changing seasons!

But, I’ve found here are some of the basic necessities, below.  If you need anything else, make sure to bring some extra cash just in case (like if your luggage gets lost like mine did).  Or, just learn to be very very creative and rely on your instincts.

Here’s my list:

MUST HAVES:

Passport ID Visa card Backup visa card (this came in very handy when my first card was cut off unexpectedly)

Cash – $120-$150
—— The above are a necessity —- with these you can get anywhere or do anything.  I would pack all these in a money pack, like Eagle Creek money belts from REI, so nothing is lost.
Tip:  I would also carry an extra set of clothes in your CARRY ON if you have room.  Even just something light, like underwear and a t-shirt.  Don’t forget toothbrush and deodorant too.

CLOTHES:

1. Underwear – enough for 1-2 weeks
2. Socks – 2 pair
3. Flip flops – 1 pair (optional shower pair also)
4. Tennies / walking shoes – 1 pair Dress shoes – 1 pair (optional)
5. Jeans – 1 pair Pants – 1 pairShorts/Capris – 2 pair
6. Tshirts – 2 Tanktop – 2 Long tops – 2 (best if these can go over the tanktops, good to pack layers to put on and undo)

Tip: Cut out anything you can.  Study the season(s) beforehand.  Is it cold at night?  How do they dress?  Will you be doing hiking? If you are in a very hot climate, shed shed shed.  If it is temperate during the day but chilly at night, pack smart layers.

TECHNOLOGY:

1. Travel laptop > see blog for reviews, I carry an Acer Aspire One laptop.
Tip: If you’re working, I would recommend a travel laptop.  If you want to save weight/space and travel free of worry, I would rely on trusty, cheap internet cafes.

2. Pocket-sized camera + camera card

Tip:  Again, if you aren’t working on a photo or film project, why not just get the practical, cheap camera that you wouldn’t cry over losing.  I sold my two nice Canon cameras and bought a Canon SD-110.  I don’t have to worry if it’s lost or stolen and I back my pictures up regularly online.

TOILETRIES / OTHER:

1. 1 bar soap in container
2. Shampoo/conditioner combo in small bottle
3. Toothbrush with cap, small toothpaste tube
4. Cheap razor Makeup – only necessities Towel – lite dry – from REI

Remember: You can always buy more when you run out.  Travelers are also great at helping out if you are in a pinch.  It’s more fun to go to the store to find what you need and you’ll be happy you’re carrying less!

Ever experience times when the wind blows or there’s a smell in the air and it instantly takes you back into time?

I recall this experience like it was last week.  There were light gusts of wind blowing dustings of sand on my netbook as I sat at the ‘El Globo’ restaurant in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.  Right on the beach, steps from the water, enjoying a lemon iced tea. I signed El Globo as well as a remote client, all before the ice melted in my tea.

This was one of the first times I felt accomplished from running Beer2Buds virtually, knowing that digital travel was becoming a reality and I was doing it.

Today I was told from Bank of America that my visa card was ‘massively compromised’ and was cut off – rest assured, they sent a new card to my Seattle address…

I thought I was being well prepared by notifying the travel department ahead of time. However, this wasn’t the issue.  A random, compromise from a 3rd party that affected several accounts was all they would disclose.  So, basically, I’m S.O.L.

The options are:

1) emergency cash via Western Union

2) emergency debit card sent in mail

Let’s talk about the Nicaraguan mail system. ‘Overnighting’ probably takes 3 weeks, if it arrives at all.  It may get to the capital of Managua, but trying to navigate the roads, if they exist or if they aren’t being fixed for hours on end for several tire-piercing rocks or perhaps a sudden steep dropoff in the middle of the road into a deep river valley, and trying to find an address, if it exists, is a miracle.

An address might be ‘1 block south from the restaurant El Timon’ or ‘200 meters north of the beach, next to Sanchez store’, then the town name, no such thing as a postal code.

SOL… and I don’t mean the sun.

Actually, I am very fortunate that I decided to bring a backup debit card to another account.  This card was not compromised.  So, potentially (until my next adventure) I will have access to some funds. Hooray.

At least I can soak my feet in the pool to lessen the sting of the ants that bit – or was it stinging pee – all over my feet last night.  I ‘got in their way’, of course, and they were angry.  Ouch.  At least they didn’t get in my hair like a friend in Samara, Costa Rica.  I don’t know how long I could hold my head underwater!