iBankCoin
My name is Rob and I'm a gregarious gentleman who travels and blogs. http://stophavingaboringlife.com/
Joined Jan 9, 2014
222 Blog Posts

Manic in Manhattan

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Greetings!

I’m in Manhattan and feeling most manic, how I love this place! You see if you’ve been to countless cities you know when you like somewhere immediately, it’s a feeling. I just love it here and I had all these errands to run for friends on the islands and guess what? I got all of theme one in ~30 minutes of shopping in Manhattan. Granted, it was mostly health supplement stuff but still, whatever!

I’m in a hotel on 48th Ave and something. After the gym this morning I walked across the street to this delicious looking diner that sold all sorts of things including smoothies with protein; I need little else! Anyways, I tell you this because as I was crossing these street outside scrambling to avoid taxis I saw the Empire State Building and wow, what a building it is.

I think I’m going to check out Frick House today as Le Fly suggested it and it’s just my speed. After that, I’m not sure but a friend says the beer always flows at his studio in Soho so I might pop over there (I have no idea where that is FYI). I’ll tell you this much though and that is SHABL is a new man of sorts… I uploaded today a half gig to Youtube in ~2 minutes; changed my $@#$ing life.

I’m also a new man in regards to my mantra. I just want to feel great and avoid pain so in the past I’d be like I’m in NYC I need to go out FULL but now I’m like, I’m in NYC so I need to be easy because wasting a morning feeling like crap is simply not in the cards considering I’m here for a GREAT time and not a long time. Frankly, I don’t even want a beer I just want another smoothie with some protein in it but whatever.

So I heard rent in Manhattan can be like $6,000US a month for a studio, screw that. I also saw online that a hotel had rates as low as $110US a night. I’d rather just sleep in then hotel Howard Hughes style than rent an apartment but I digress.

Great thing about living on a remote island which costs me near nothing is that when I’m NOT there I can kinda live wherever I want. Really liking it here and curious how it continues because it’s in the running with London for a mega city hang out, thing with London is you’re in Europe… Here you’re just here.

So I’d go on but I’ve said enough really. I could show you a photo or two but who cares really and something I like about blogging here is I don’t need to worry about images.

I digress once more.

I’m in the Big Apple and loving it.

It’s 7:30am and I’ve been up for hours, you alarm should be going off NOW.

Tips hat,

P.S: This place has a serious pulse and I’m a motivated man here…

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Off to New York City

Good day,

I’m in Managua at my friend’s house sweating it out in a room that I quite like but it has no desk which has me a bit lost. Also, my friend’s husband is on a mission to download the internet so it’s moving slow which really slows my roll. Today was great and I rolled the dice on a random haircut from a random barber / hairdresser and they figured I didn’t need sideburns; wonderful.

Tomorrow I’m off to New York City for the first time. I’m leaving at 8am and will arrive at around 6pm or so. I’m there until the 23rd which is somewhere near the end of the week when I’ll be flying back to Nicaragua. I did a campaign with Visit Britain in 2014 and they are having an event that I’ll be participating in; should be a good time.

I won’t be doing much touristy stuff as I have limited free time. You see, I’m not into cold weather and know I’ll be back in New York at some point in my life unless I die young and in that case it doesn’t really matter anyways, does it? I plan on doing some shopping for stuff I need and exploring at my leisure while resting up for the main event on the 22nd. Shopping wise think external solid-state drives, perhaps a new camera and a bunch of other stuff I should really write down.

I do plan on seeing Times Square if it’s not far and a few other things. That said, it’s more of a work trip and I’ll be quite busy for the most part. I’m also curious what “New York Chic” means for dress attire, can someone enlighten me? From Nicaragua to New York City, that’s a route I never thought I’d take. Ahh the life of travel is an interesting one and really, most people can do it if they play their cards right and manage to keep themselves completely removed from most commitments but enough about stuff you already know.

I’m excited to be going to New York City! I really can’t believe I haven’t been before and above all else, I’m there to feel the vibe and become part of it even if only for a few days. The sights will always be there and I would like to see them but I’m not about to go trekking around in the cold like my life depends on taking the 000,000,000’s photo of landmark X. I just want to sit in diners, people watch and be anonymous in what I’ve heard is one of the greatest cities in the world…

I absolutely love London and have a feeling I’ll love New York as well.

Tips hat,

P.S: Vincenzo, if you see this and wish to grab a beverage please get in touch.

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Egregious Registration Error

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Good day,

I’m writing this from Little Corn after a week or so on Corn Island. While there in my office I had a knock on the door from a lawyer and the conversation definitely raised my blood pressure. I answered the door and a gent  informs me he is a lawyer and there is a land registration issue; that’s when your heart starts accelerating…

So it turns out there was an egregious registration error in Bluefields and somehow the entire seller’s land is in my name. The gent who recently bought a piece was doing the registration process when they hit a roadblock because the gent selling wasn’t registered as the owner. They said “Rigoberto Dubz” is the owner of this and not the gent selling then refused to register the land.

I had copies of my paperwork as I was there to take care of some final this and that so I gave him the copy to make more copies to prove that I had only in fact bought a small portion. I tell you this story as a reminder to all of us that at anytime a lawyer can walk in and give you a heart attack. It doesn’t have to be land related or even a lawyer at all if you’re following along.

The best part of this story is that the piece of land being registered is something that I was entertaining the idea of purchasing but technically already had in my name. It also happens to be the first piece I ever looked at and adjacent to mine; no regrets but it would have been cool to have picked that up as well. Like any investment, when the tide rises with all the ships you wish you had more, yes?

This was one of those “We’re not in Kansas anymore…” moments.

I got a crash course on construction today, it’s pretty simple without all the codes.

Tips hat,

P.S Flying to New York City on Monday, more on that later…

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Big or Little Corn Island?!

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Greetings,

There are few people better to write this than me as I was once one of those douche bags who would denounce Big Corn Island like some kind of ignorant fool. You know what though, life isn’t about accumulating assets or showing off to neighbours who really couldn’t care less. It’s not about anything really other than becoming a better person and growing wiser with time; chances are if you’re wise you’ll be accumulating cash too but that’s just an offshoot of wisdom or that’s how I see it.

I came to Big Corn in 2011 with these siesta loving Spanish girls and we stopped in at this dump called Casa Blanca… I remember vividly looking at the crew and saying “I didn’t just take that awful boat ride to stay here, there has to be more?!” As a result, we waited a few hours and took the panga to Little Corn Island. Then for ~2 winters I never went to Big Corn, only to get cash and would say things like it sucks and that it’s good for the ATM and not much more.

I was wrong, dead wrong and Big Corn Island is quickly becoming one of my favourite places to hang out. I can now officially say that if you come to the Corn Islands you should see the Corn Islands as there are only two of them. Think of them as brothers from the same mother and one is more grown up while the other more laid-back. One is relaxed wearing pink pants because that trip to India really melted their mind while the other is wearing a pair of Air Jordan’s and if you slip up will slap you upside the head; yeah, something like that.

Or think of it like this, Little Corn Island and Big Corn Island are two diamonds from the same mine but Little Corn has been smoothed and put into a ring of sorts where as Big Corn has only been slightly processed and is still quite rough around the edges… I’m going to stop but I think you get the point. Just remember they are both Caribbean Islands and anywhere you go in that wonderful sea is more similar than different to the rest of the world; you’ll always know you’re there.

I mention this as I’m seeing lots of people on Big Corn this year who are my age and NOT making the trip to Little Corn Island. I feel like trying to talk sense into them and then I realize that I don’t actually care what they do with their trip or their life. If they want my opinion I’ll mention it but if not, who cares? You lot on the other hand, you should know that you should see both and missing one is a real shame.

I’ve been on Big Corn Island all week living in my office and loving it. I used to come over for the morning to do web work and I’d buy this breakfast at touristy restaurant near the port. Some character one day said “Dude, why don’t you just rent a room at X, they have fast internet and it’s run by this cool family.” Naturally I investigated and years later I’m still there. I used to rent this room for not much more than a breakfast and still commute because I too was like “Forget Big Corn”. Then I started staying here…

A night or so turned into a few and then into a week at a time. Now I have no desire to really go back to Little Corn Island until the weekend as this place has 24/7 power, a faster pace, decent internet and I’m still a working man. One day, Little Corn Island will catch up and it has already started but I can’t be a 3G Vampire my whole life and hanging out with tourists, drifters or the like will get you nowhere when you’re sailing your on ship and you know exactly where you want to go…

Advice is start on Big for a night or two before going to Little for as long as you please. Just make sure you come back to Big Corn for at least a night before you fly out; unless of course you didn’t like it. If you really liked it, maybe you’ll come back for longer but the choice is yours and you’ll have an idea of what both are all about.

I’m rambling and click here to see more on the subject.

Like anything in life, either or is for small minds; always think both.

Tips hat,

P.S: Wood to concrete permit swap a success and construction starts soon(ish).

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Road Trip to Corfu, Greece

Greetings,

This video blog is from my time in Greece not too long ago. I had just finished visiting Meteora when I ran into an old friend Gary who writes Everything Everywhere and he found out I was going to Albania. Turns out Gary was driving to Corfu and he informed me that Saranda, Albania is just a short ferry ride away, how perfect.

 

That was all that needed to be said and my plan of taking a bus and arriving in Tirana during the witching hour quickly evaporated. I was thrilled as I hate arriving places at odd times because it increases your likelihood of getting jacked significantly. In this video we visit the Meteora Monasteries on a foggy day before driving to the coast and taking a ferry to Corfu. Corfu is cool but you’ll see more of what it’s all about in the next video…

 

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Meteora Monasteries in Greece

Good day,

I’m in my office doing some work here on the island and figured I should start adding some of the videos I”ve been busy producing. I wish I had been sharing them more in real-time because as you get better at anything, you often hate your old stuff unless you’re a delusional ego maniac.

This video is from my trip to Meteora which is the incredible Orthodox Christian monasteries which were built ages ago back when being a Christian was dangerous business, oh how times have changed! Supposedly if you got caught you’d be tortured and all that jazz so these hardcore monks built these fortresses / monasteries high in the hills.

Seriously, this place sorta blew my mind and I was there at the end of October so by no means high season or the best time to visit. If you’re in Greece and looking for something a little different, hit these ups as it will be fun for the whole family and is a great day out. Also great food abound in the nearby town but that’s no surprise as you can’t really go wrong with any restaurant you ever walk in to in Greece…

I’ve also attached the video of the train ride there I almost missed because my friend wanted a gyro, seriously. Ahh, I’m really liking these videos because SHABL was started as a diary of sorts so I can remember what I got up to after leaving my old life behind, video is the future anyways when it comes to travel as it paints a more vibrant picture of what really happened and we all know the world most certainly DOES NOT NEED another top 5 list…

Tips hat,

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Clearing Land for Construction

Greetings,

Been a bit quiet around here, yes? My apologies but I’ve literally fallen off the face of the earth in some Caribbean Island vortex filled with sun, sand, rum, lobsters and the like. Also, if you’re going to “get a life” for a week or two why not do it over the holiday season when nobody is around the internet parts as much?

I hope you’ve all had a great holiday season regardless of what you celebrate, even if it’s nothing at all. I’ve begun clearing my plot here on the island to get ready for construction. I rushed through a wood permit last year which makes me scratch my head because wood is no good if you have the cash for concrete.  I like stone but it’s hard to get here and I know of nobody who is experienced working with it.

You see, if you’re building on a small island and you don’t know how to build yourself; you need to do something that has local flavour so someone can just build it for you. Big problems come when people have all sorts of weird and whack visions and expect the builder to be some magician.

Below are some photos from the plot; I had it chopped as it turned into a real jungle. The photo of before is on my other iPhone and I can’t be bothered to get it, apologies but this should give you an idea. It’s not so big just 1/8th an acre and doesn’t have a sea view but it is peaceful and not far from the village or beach. It also has a big apple tree at the back where I like to sit in the shade and enjoy the breeze coming off the ocean.

On Monday I’m off to try and get the permit fixed, I have a feeling it won’t be as straight forward as I hope but we’ll see. Also, after x years of traveling around it’s nice to be building something permanent(ish). I spent the day yesterday burning and I’ll do more today; I never thought I’d say it but there is arguably nothing more rewarding then spending a day taking pride in your property.

I must be getting old.

Side note, prices here are going vertical and more on the canal later…

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3G Caribbean Vampire

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Greetings,

The time is very early in the morning but for me it’s late; it’s 4:59am and in an hour or so the power will cut; also people will start waking up and life as we know it on Little Corn Island in the Caribbean will continue as it always has. For me, it’s the end of the day because once people start to wake up, the cell tower gets stressed…

When I first came to these islands there was only an edge connection the loveable “E” that you see and cringe as you wait for an email to download. I came back this time and for the whatever of it, I brought my phone into my office area and began resetting it from airplane mode until I got a 3G?! What? Normally I’d have to take a panga ride aka high-speed skiff to Big Corn Island to get work done.

This signal was surprisingly fast as well and suddenly an email is no longer an issue and I can stream youtube videos!? To give you an idea of how unpredictable it is; my room which is not far from my “office” still gets an edge. Either way, this changes everything but now my needs have changed. I don’t just need to surf the net, upload photos and listen to inspiring music; I need to upload gigabyte files to Youtube…

One thing lead to another but I figured out pretty fast that late night would be my time of day. It’s cool so my office is enjoyable, the network is blazing and it keeps me inspired to avoid the ever fun yet evil happy hour tradition that is so prevalent on Caribbean islands of this kind.

The sun should be rising in a half hour or so and a gigabyte costs me a cool $5 and change. Life is good and this morning I’m going to test the signal strength on my properties. Should this place get blazing which it looks like it will, the idea of building my primary residence here looks all the more appealing, indeed.

Happy holidays,

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Eating King Cobra Heart

Greetings,

I’m in Managua hanging out with friends and editing videos on my new MacBook Pro like a maniac. I can’t believe I didn’t get one sooner but enough of that. This video is from back in the day when I’d go on random missions with random people and eat random things. We caught a King Cobra in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam and well, we eat it.

I didn’t catch it, the dude missing a finger wearing pyjamas did. He’s missing a finger because a cobra bit him one time so he cut his own finger off with the a clever similar to the one he beheads the snake with. Supposedly if you eat the heart while it’s still beating you get untold virility and wisdom; I’m going to say it’s legit.

When I got back to Saigon the oddest thing happened but can’t share it here.

You’ll just have to believe me.

Considering I was loaded with high beta stocks during this time of my life, no wonder my portfolio imploded with devastating losses that would cause a lesser man to go homeless talking about the great mistake they made. If you’re young(ish) and sick of the grind, just leave who knows what might happen…

Tips hat,

P.S: Lost footage of us drinking the blood; sigh.

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