AROUND THE WORLD No Porn Challenge! JOIN US as we take a trip to every country on the planet!

Since I have so much free time these days, I took a trip to Brazil. It is vast and there is so much to see, do and absorb that it takes a while. I missed Carnaval in Rio, but it is a party place year round so no shortage of festivities. Some locals even took me up to the favellas, which was quite an experience. I also spent some time on the Amazon, and saw all kinds of things I'd only seen in movies before. Iguazu Falls was amazing. It is a massive conglomeration of 275 waterfalls, and not to be missed. One of my favorite places was Sao Luis, known as the 'Brazilian Jamaica' due to its love of reggae music. Ya Mon!

A great trip. Before my flight home in Sao Paolo, I popped into a 24 hour convenience store for some snacks. The cashier asked me why I was in Brazil, and I told her all about the things I did. She was so happy that I had such a good time in her country that she gave me an official pin from the convenience store that the employees have to wear. Good times.

 

Good stuff! Vienna is a beautiful city for sure. I especially enjoyed seeing Sigmund Freud's office. A move there is not the craziest idea.

Travel Board Updated!!

 

Nice! All they need now are some spiffy uniforms.

 

Awesome! Yes, especially these days when real life travel is a no-go. Have you watched the travel video at the top of the first post?

 

Just got back from Brunei. It is a tiny Muslim country on the island of Borneo, which it shares with Malaysia and Indonesia. It is a monarchy run by the Sultan, who is one of the richest people in the world. Because of his wealth, citizens pay no income tax, medical bills, etc. It is essentially a welfare state. This all due to its large reserves of oil. Speaking of oil, Brunei operates a cattle farm in Australia which is larger than the whole country of Brunei itself. This is to provide the country with beef. Although cattle could easily be farmed in Brunei, they don't want to tie up the land in case there is oil underneath.

I had some interesting experiences in Brunei. Here I went to my first real speakeasy. Alcohol is not allowed to be sold in the country, however our taxi driver knew of a secret bar. He took us to a hotel. Inside we asked a worker about it. He brought us up a hallway of guest rooms, and at the very end of the hallway there was a door facing us with a plant in front of it. He let us into one of the adjacent guest rooms. When we went in, the room was empty. We turned a corner to see that the wall had been knocked out, and where that end room should have been there was a bar. It was nothing special. They only served beer (and just one kind), the design and furniture were bare bones with a single TV set on the wall. There were other people there but the vibe was very low key. But we were stoked because we were at a real speakeasy.

On another day, we went to the Kampong Ayer water stilt village. A local guy invited us into his home. There he had a cat in a cage that was clearly being neglected and abused. He asked us if we wanted it, because 'the cat was mean'. After discussing it a bit, we told him yes. Of course none of us could adopt the cat, but we decided to let him out behind a row of street food vendors, where another local told us the vendors feed the stray cats that live back there. At least he had a chance. I never thought that I would take part in taking a cat with a home and making it a stray, but this is what happened. (Both really happened in real life.)

 

Passport Issued!!

Yep, I feel the same way Henry. I am itching to get out and travel again. But luckily, this challenge takes place in a parallel universe where we can all travel as much as we want without worrying about getting sick from any viruses. Since you are at 19 days, if you want you can wait one more day and post a report about Albania and jump in there. Or, you can do Afghanistan now and another about Albania later, your choice. Welcome aboard!

 

Passport Issued!!

Welcome to the challenge, Matt! And thanks for including the link in your signature!

Since you are at 31 days, you can jump in at Algeria. So just watch a video each for Afghanistan and Albania (honor system- no reports) and watch a video and leave a report for Algeria and I'll be happy to update the Travel Board.

Happy travels!

 

So glad to hear about your trips! Yes there is definitely some stunning scenery in all of those countries. And yes, I have seen those 'Don't go to (country)' videos (there are a number of them). I avoided them at first cuz I didn't need the negativity, until I finally watched one and was like ah, yeah, I get it. Good stuff.

And thanks for filling us in on the first two countries even though you didn't have to. You have been awarded the Hatching Chick trophy to celebrate your new porn-free life. Looking forward to your next destination. Travel Board Updated!!

 

You surely may Gef!
Passport Issued!!!
And your ticket to Afghanistan is booked for a week from now.
Looking forward to hearing all about it!
Welcome aboard.

 

90 days no-P today!

Just took a trip to Bulgaria. Spent a lot of time exploring its natural formations. It has lots of funky rock formations, such as a field of large rocks that look like mushrooms and a formation that looks like a natural fortress. And then there are the caves. It has an insane amount of caves, and also an insane amount of bats that live in them. Not for the faint of heart. After all this I decided to chill out at Varna, one of the two big Black Sea resort towns. It was a bit frustrating getting around, because in Bulgaria they nod to say no, and shake their heads to say yes. A few locals were very proud to point out to me that the Cyrillic alphabet originated there.

I also caught up with @bromor , who was kind enough to show me his collection of motivational videos.