Blog from Bolivia
July 10, 2009

My last day of riding in the Chaco, Paraguay--Magical

I just took the most dusty and bumpy bus ride I’ve had since back in Africa! I’m covered in dust as I write from the bus, looking out on the grey skies. I’m in Bolivia and feeling a bit low in the energy department but still pretty excited. Not as excited as I would be if my partner in crime Cristina was still with me, to be honest. We spent 18 days together adventuring Argentina and Paraguay together we grew quite close and used to being together. She was a great teammate, travel companion and now one of my best friends on the planet. Needless to say, yesterday was a teary one as she hopped a bus back to her backpack in Argentina and will be returning to Brazil soon after. I’m still recovering as I’m sure she is as well.

Divertido=Fun!

Golfing with Friendly German-Speaking Mennonites in Chaco Desert of Paraguay--Priceless

4 Flats in one sittin'. Classic. A grand adventure in the Chaco

And the people we met were just stunning...see the photo album for more!

Paraguay was magical. I’ll be writing a newsletter shortly so stay on the newsletter list for a full journal as you’ll love the stories. From golfing and staying with Mennonites in the dry Chaco Desert, to adventures with two indigenous families way off the beaten path, it was unforgettable. A few pics are below and a rough cut of the photos can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/peacepedalers/ParadiseInParaguay?feat=directlink#.

Here in Camiri, Bolivia I really lucked out. Although I lost my partner in crime Cristina I am blessed with a big festival that is here in town with live music, happy people and good times. Going to find some cool music and art for the show over the next few days and begin my ride into the mountains soon after.

If you are not on the newsletter list sign up. The next one will be a winner.

Peace,

Jamie

Blog from Asunción, Paraguay

July 2, 2009

The rodeo clown at the San Juan festival in San Juan...stellar!

So we are about 24 hours from departing on an expedition into the Chaco region of Paraguay! We are being hosted at an amazing crib in Asunción by a cool cat Ruben and life is grand. I just posted a newsletter for Argentina if you wanna check that out hit this link here. He're the update....

Giving a lift to the local tailor in Encarnacion

Cristina ended up buying a cheap bike in Encarnacion for about 50 bucks which was totally rebuilt by the super cool bike shop owner Batlome. We hit the road during the tail end of a cold southern storm that soon cleared in San Ignacio to tail winds and blue skies.

Cristina's bike all ready for the road :)

We had a magical adventure to San Juan where a huge festival was going on and we picked up a rider Christian who guided us into the wild festivities. From there we met Ronald who decided to join us the next day to Florida and offered to host us both at his house! Bonus!

Cristian led us to the San Juan festival--cool cat!


Live music in every direction...there is serious talent in Paraguay!




On the road with Ronald and Cristina

Ronald was an epic guest with lots of positive messages on the rolling interview to Florida. We found a sweet campsite there and pedaled our way towards Asuncion. We got word from a Couchsurfer Ruben he'd be at Lake San Bernardino so we made our way to the lake. The magic continues as we get invited to stay for free 2-nights with the gracious hosts Osvaldo and Tony at the historic Hotel del Lago founded back in 1888. Epic! Osvaldo is the king of culture and took us to check out artists of ceramics and a wild indiginous festival.

Lakeside in San Bernardino

The costumes n characters at the festival in Los Altos

From there we rode to Asuncion to stay here with Ruben where we've been treated like kings cooking, eating, jamming to music from all sorts of artists coming and going and doing final prep for the Chaco to Bolivia mission. Cristina is joining me in the Chaco and will finally head back to Argentina and on her own adventures next week. It's been nice having a partner in crime with her own bike for company, massages (she's really good...), help with filming/admin, and she's having just as much fun.

Off tomorow pedalin' northwest! Over n out!

Blog from Paraguay!

22 June, 2009

It´s pouring rain but meant to clear by tomorrow and could not be more stoked on it all. In Encarnacion, Paraguay on the border of Argentina staying with a lovely family Jazmin and her lovely daughter Costanza and more.


I crossed over after a wild adventure in Argentina starting on a low note with a last second cancelation by my planned rider Luis, back up with a picnic accompanied by dozens of butterflies then jungle riding for desert, down with 2 crashes in the dark, back up to sunshine and tail winds, then back down to a blown out front fork. Spirits were again high when Garryck got on the hunt for the part to fix the fork but back down when some guys I bought dinner for stole my camera.

My neighbors staying with the Guarani tribe near San Ignacio...special

Pedalin´with pure blood Guarani power! Niceness! Renato had POWER!

A taste of the Jesuit ruins...breathtaking!

Diego had to cancel but Cristina takes his place

Ohhh, but then it gets rockin in San Ignacio where I am invited to stay with an indiginous Guarani tribe, ride with a Guarani boy Renato and sunshine and tailwinds set for my ride with Diego (same name as the guy who stole my camera!...ironically) after checking out the ruins of the Jesuits...yummy. But Diego had to cancel and in comes a new wild character Cristina from Barcelona, Spain. Cristina is a solo traveler and got word of the journey and hoped on for a short 20km trip to some more ruins.

The Statue of Victory. Posadas, Argentina. First stop...ICE CREAM!

After 20km she was hooked and we were having so much fun she went back for her passport and clothes and joined me all the way to Posadas and over the border to stay here with me in Encarncion. As we looked over the maps together and chatted about her coming on the tandem she decided to buy her own bike and pedal along to Asuncion and sell it up there or give it away to charity. Nice! So have have a massage therapist and acupunturist adventuring Spainard on the first leg of Paraguay and life is perrrrdy groovy.

Our lovely hosts Jazmin and Costanza

We´re off tomorrow into the wet winter wonderland of SE Paraguay. Stay tuned....


Big love!


Jamie

Blog from Argentina
12 June, 2009

Mom and I at Iguazu

My private tango teacher--awesome!

Riding the streets of Buenos Aires!

Greetings from Iguazu in Argentina. I'm on the border of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina now and preparing my route through Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Chile. Also finishing the last edits for my agent, doing admin work on various business projects and grounding up personally for a long adventure ahead. Once again I'm going to let the photos tell the story of my few weeks here in Argentina with Mom, Sara and some great new frineds. Check out this link to see photos of Buenos Aires to Iguazu Falls. Enjoy the ride! Once I get rollin' I hope to keep the blog a bit more colorful but for now this should keep ya stoked.

Peace,

Jamie

Blog from Uruguay

I'm on a boat from Montevideo, Uruguay to Buenos Aires, Argentina and life is good. Uruguay truly unforgettable. It's a country that most folks don't know that much about and it's a gem. I'll write more down the line but for now pictures are worth a thousand words and I'm landing soon on a festive Saturday night in hopin' Buenos Aires and in no mood to write much now.

Sooooo, just dig in and enjoy some pics with captions from my trip in Brazil and fresh off the press in Uruguay here:

"Uruguay Fresh Pics: Fresh online is an epic adventure of Uruguay. I had a few ups and downs and all arounds but, as always, it all came out fine and super dandy in the end. Enjoy!

"Peace Pedaling Brazil": The latest photos of my adventures on the tandem in Southern Brazil to Uruguay.

"Living in Brazil": Pictures and captions of 2.5 months living, learning and writing in Brazil from Carnival to Easter

Enjoy!

Jamie

Last Blog from Brazil: May 6, 2009

Loving the Cambara nature with Lucas

This is the last push folks! I only have a few days left adventuring here in Brazil and I’m going to suck up every second of it! My hosts Renata and Sheila were amazing and teleported me out of the busy streets of Caxias to the lovely mountains and Gaucho country of Cambara. We lived it up with great food, wine, riding and lovely bonding moments in nature. We picked up a great new addition to our crew named Lucas, an Argentinean cat who is too cool for school—we all fell in love with him right away.

My lovely couchsurfing hosts Renata and Shelia. And the new kid on the block Lucas

When the ladies took off I fell into the arms of the arms of the Janilce, Oliver and Lucas who took me in like family. I needed to get my bearings before finally departing and the nurturing, good food and quality quiet time was all I needed. Not only did I finally get back on the road but I managed to get Oliver out of bed and out riding. This is a huge deal since he’s been hurt, sad, depressed and drinking way too much lately due to a broken foot and spirit. The ride would do him well…

Oliver was pumped up with fresh air and positive vibes after our adventures

We took off into the perfect sunshine, tailwinds and nature with a support vessel driven by Lucas as we made our way to out to the Ruta do Sul highway. This would be my last goodbye to my crew and, after some amazing interviews for the cameras, I finally said my farewells. Plenty tears were a falling but when they dried I was pedaling solo from the high mountains of Southern Brazil towards the ocean once again.

Ruta do Sul is a stunner indeed—a legendary highway taking you from the high Gaucho country down to the ocean. On the way I was flagged down by 3 Evangelical guys sitting under a tree and was inspired to ask if I could pitch my tent for the night. We ate, sipped Chimarrão (an herbal tea like Mate), philosophized about Jesus, religion, peace and love…it was epic. They fed me well, prayed loud and passionately for me and my journey and off I went the next day.

My Evangelical Christian hosts cooking up a lovely meal.

Yesterday was a stunner of a ride. I could did not find any Pedalers but I was happily able to enjoy a cycling experience like no other. Riding from 1200 meters to sea level and feeling, seeing and tasting all the changes of temperature, vegetation, food, people—wow. A must do for all you touring folks out there! Took a lovely swim in the ocean before realizing I was dead tired and needed to take a day off the bike ASAP. Hoped a bus to Porto Alegre where I hit the town and enjoyed some nice music and company with the local city folks, charged the batteries, offloaded footage and washed the clothes. Ready for action tomorrow!

The amazing decent from the mountains to the ocean...epic!

I’ll be in Uruguay this weekend! Very excited! Check a preview of the all the latest pics here J http://picasaweb.google.com/peacepedalers/FloripaToPortoAlegreGoodness?authkey=Gv1sRgCKOhmrC5s_Klfw#

Live Big. Give Big. Love Big.

Jamie

On the Road in Brazil!!

The lovely scenery in the hills above Caxias

Yo yo!

Big ups from Caxias do Sul, Brazil! I’m blessed to be in the loving care of my new Brazilian sisters Sheila and Renata. I met them through www.couchsurfing.com which, if you have not done so already, you MUST check out and get involved. It’s just an amazing project. I arrived via bus from my former Brazilian home of Florianopolis where I was fortunate enough to have lived for 2.5 months in total paradise. The roads are horribly under construction on the 101 south and the rains heavy so the bus turned out to be the best option to get me to the dry and less populated state of Rio Grande does Sul.

My Brazilian Sisters Renata and Sheila enjoying some LOVELY Colonial food


The South of Brazil has tons of Italian roots

My last week in Florianopolis, or Floripa for short, was amazing. For some reason Mother Nature decided to rain on most of my plans to go out riding with all my crew and the island was buried in inches of water. But I went with the flow and had some lovely intimate final moments with my amazing crew Gil, Serg, Ulrike, Ben, Victor, Natalia, Irmaooooo (Victor 2), Vincent, Anna, Lulu, Leonardo and Kristina. Caught some epic last waves and finally donated my board to a charity that teaches kids to surf from the favelas. I did some nice rides, caught some live Samba and Capoeira on tape, got my new tattoo of a dolphin on my foot and had a farewell BBQ with everyone. It was a sad goodbye with tears flowing by several folks but the overall feeling at the time of writing is one of total gratitude and awe.

My two best Brazilan buddies Gil and Natalia on my last night in Floripa


Catching some Capoeira on film


My new tatoo :)


My bro Leo enjoying some of Serg's amazing cooking


I did an amazing filmed ride in S. Floripa with Natalia and Vincent

So just a few days before heading out of Floripa on my trip two big things started to happen with Peace Pedalers. One was a call from a well known agent in San Francisco who is interested and optimistic about my book being published. The second is communication with a experienced producer working with MTV in Europe who is now coaching me on my next series of TV and hoping to get me on the map. All good stuff, but the book proposals needed to be dialed in more so I did a 60+ hour computer session in 4 days back to the computer. At 3AM last night I pressed send and it’s now in the hands of my agent who is off to New York on May 2 to hopefully find me a publisher. Say some prayers for it!

Sheila cookin' up the grub for my welcome meal. Yummy!

The book is currently entitled Live Big, Give Big: A 37 Country Karmic Adventure to Balance Pleasure and Contribution. It is the first book of two I plan to write. This book covers my travels in Asia, Oceania and Africa. The sequel book Love Big will cover Europe and the Americas. If all goes as planned I’ll have my book in print by next April in time to share it with folks in North America when I arrive and finish my ride in Canada and USA.

My buddy Gatino Led Zepplin kept my company as I wrote for 4 days non-stop

So its Friday here in Brazil and it’s another holiday, so a three-day weekend is in store. My hosts and I are planning to escape the city and chare into the lovely mountain towns near Cambara. Info on this region is at http://www.cambaraonline.com.br/. From here I will officially be “on the road”—no more major stops to write, learn languages or surf (although I’ve heard Uruguay has some nuggets) until I reach Chile in July. I’m very, very excited about this. My body and mind are dying to get out riding again!

It will be interesting to ride in S. Brazil now since I was just featured in a big article by one of the state’s more respected journalists Carlos. Turns out that Carlos is a fellow Couchsurfer and he was stoked to do a piece on the Peace Pedalers. Check out this video here and see if you can follow my Portuguese.






Over and out from Brazil!

Live Big. Give Big. Love Big ;)

Jamie