Raf's Travel Diaries

I have the best job in the world. There, I said it. It's a tough, up-hill walk, on a pathless jungle. On this journey I have had to take up other jobs which were no where near my dream job. I took them as an adventure, as part of the process to my desired lifestyle. Even kiwi-packing and being a waitress taught me more than I can recount. Oddly enough, I very much enjoyed most of my random jobs. Physical jobs give you a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. Nowadays, I get payed to design and draw. I sketch, paint, make wireframes and play with typography all day long. It's like I'm a kid again, only now I have deadlines instead of scolding teachers telling me to concentrate on my schoolwork and stop doodling. Traveling and keeping active is my main source of inspiration. Nothing like discovering a new place, a day surfing or a good book to recharge energies.

Buenos Aires has this certain something that makes me claustrophobic. Maybe it’s the lack of real nature, all the cement, the smog or the grim-faced fast-paced people that come and go unceasingly. This particular story I’m about to tell you is set on a Friday afternoon, at about 6pm. My boyfriend and I where in need of breaking the routine and a bit of fresh air, but we where also on a tight budget and we had to be back for work early the following Monday. After looking at a few possible destinations, we chose Mar del Plata where, oddly enough for an Argentine, I had never been to. By then it was about 7pm, we rushed to the closest Camping gear shop and bought a decent tent for two. We searched online and the next train heading there left at 11pm. We headed to the train station at about 10 and got seats for Economy class at something like 35 pesos each (cheap, very cheap). --------- 11pm, the station is packed, people sitting on the dirty floor, kids running aroun

I have a soft spot for abrupt change of plans. Raf

I sometimes stop and look back; and to my surprise, I realize that I don't have a clear picture, a lot of it is blurry, like it was a dream, or someone else's life. I am not sure what happened there; some events, people that used to be key at some point of my life, wishes, desires, are inexistent to the extent of being surreal.  Raf

I was just randomly remembering a 10Kg cheese that sat on a chair in the barn of a farm I was living in. Boy did I eat cheese those next few weeks. The cheese looked something like this, except it was on  an old chair and was cut with a rusty knife. Raf

"Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still - [...]" William Penn - 'More fruits of Solitude'

Year 2007- Ezeiza- Hand-luggage inspection before boarding the plane. Four people in front of me in the queue; the first guy puts his man-bag through the x-ray. The immigration officer checking the screen frowns in disbelief, shakes his head and squints. He calls a second security man and points at something showing on his screen. In a matter of seconds, they are surrounded by at least half a dozen more staff from the airport. Some can't conceal their smiles but try to look serious. They take the bag, hand it back to the owner and ask him to open it. The guy does as he is told. The Security man puts his hands into the open bag and takes out a frozen chicken wrapped in a plastic bag.  Damn! we were thinking of grilling the chicken on the plane, it sounded a lot more promising than the plane food. It looked something like this. Raf

Street Art - Montevideo

"Do not go where the path might lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" Ralph Waldo Emerson

Making travel plans calms me down, eases my anxieties and makes me smile.  Raf (that's probably why I'll always be erratic).

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.  Jack Kerouac Street Art- Amsterdam

Si, ando de vuelta por Buenos Aires.  Ahora miro a través de mi ventana la pared gris del edificio de al lado, y este Buenos Aires no me agrada tanto como el que venden por ahí.  Pero la mayor parte del tiempo ni me acuerdo de eso. Basta con sentarme a charlar, mate de por medio, con mis hermanas y mi vieja, o salir a tomar algo con amigos para que me perdone por haber vuelto. Me agrada el tiempo que tengo libre, y aunque no sepa bien mi rumbo me gusta creer que todo es increiblemente impredecible, cambiante y divertido, lleno de incógnitas y posibilidades. Buenos Aires Raf 

Ya conozco esta sensación, la de despedida.  Pense que iba a pasar un largo tiempo antes de tener que despedirme nuevamente, y no me disgustaba la idea. Pero supongo que mi permanente busqueda e inquietud no condicen con esa dinamica de vida.  A veces siento que mi vida es una sucesión inevitable de despedidas, y no puedo dejar de pensar en Antoine Roquetin. Raf -Chau Rio de Janeiro, Hola no se bien que.

The one person out of place. The music is pounding; high people are dancing in trance to the electro beat that pierces your eardrums. You can't believe you got so lucky to have ended up here.  The combination of a Medieval Castle, a XXI century Dj and people dressed up in mafia costumes popping pills somehow manages not to look surreal, although it does seem more like a movie set than an actual party. The people are perfect, the settings as well, there are even log fires burning in the stone fireplaces. The lights are dim, drinks and food abundant, girls try to look even more plastic than they already do and somehow manage to get away with it. A huge mirrored disco ball hangs from the ceiling, contrasting with the 300-year-old lamp that hangs besides it. Flashing colored lights fill the room. A woman from the Russian Mafia in a fur coat tosses her head back with laughter as a man from the Italian mafia whispers in her ear something in a French accented Italian. Two girls

Vista de Rio de Janeiro desde Pedra da Gavea

I close my eyes and I plunge. I immediately open them widely, I want to see the crash. I'm fascinated by the oncoming solid ground, it rushes towards me. I believed it would take long, that I would see my whole life flash past and experience everything everyone talks about. I don't. I can't take my mind off the anticipation of the crash, the tension in my body is unbearable, I'm milliseconds away from reaching the most mysterious thing in life, THUMP! -There. Raf

Estoy descubriendo que no son los lugares los que me ahogan, sino mi incontrolable ansiedad. Disfruto con intensidad, pero mi angustia es proporcional. Busco el equilibrio con entorpece dora desesperacion, sin poder evitar la antinomia. Intento concientizarme de mis emociones y reacciones, intento controlarlos pero no se como. Me refugio aca. Raf (Conoci a alguien que me dijo que no importaba la decision que tomara, inmediatamente se daba cuenta de que era la decision equivocada. Que frustrante debe ser).

Contacts and good impressions, I am learning, are incredibly helpful tools. Raf

In Mozambique it's an unstoppable chain, linked by chronic ignorance, poverty beyond inhumane and sealed together by the hope of superstition. Raf T.I.A.

They've been following me for weeks as if trying to challenge my joyful mood. Keep trying for all I care. Raf (still hoping to see some sun)