…is travelling by bus. It makes me crazy. Young hotshot drivers on a testosterone overdose careen dangerously around curves and pass slow trucks on blind stretches, making it hard to enjoy the spectacular mountain scenery. I am the only one complaining about this, though, so take it with a grain of salt. I have endured a lifetime of bad bus driving, so I am fed up with it.

Bus travel is quite expensive, too. An overnight bus to the coast is about US$30 from here, about double what you would pay in Peru, as I recall. And you always need to try and bargain even if you think you have no leverage.

I bought four plane tickets today, including two that will confound future scholars at the Kent Foster Presidential Library: a round trip from Muenster/Osnabrueck to Istanbul next month. Who flies from Muenster/Osnabrueck—and on midnight flights in both directions?
That part of Germany is my least favorite to hitchhike as it is more difficult and the police have stopped me on occasion. I might need to come up with a gimmick this time.

I go to Washington DC next week via Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I am taking the exact same $15 flight I took to Bogota. Including American taxes, the total to come here was $83, but Colombian taxes are so prohibitive, to return is more than twice the price–$175!