April 2025 – North American Darrell

It’s Go Time again – Mi casa in Mexico

It was a weird two weeks back home in AZ, to say the least.

I left on January 12th, 2025, which seems like a different world when you’re a dual citizen and love Canada, America, and Mexico. I am still the same person, but it felt different.

It was time to head to Mexico for a few weeks to shake off the international rust with some good old home-cooked meals, beach beers, and visit my Mexican Familia.

I took the shuttle from Phoenix for $55, and it dropped me off down the street from my casa, which is perfect. It takes me about four hours to drive door to door from my condo in Mesa. The shuttle leaves from West Phoenix and takes about the same time. The USA van takes you to the border, and you walk across, and the Mexican van is waiting. It works out perfectly!

I keep my truck here as it is only $175 a year to insure and inexpensive to maintain. It is a 2003 F-150 I bought off the showroom floor, so I don’t want to let it go. Any major issues will be the end in the United States. My mechanic here is a tenth of the price, so it is a good place to try to keep it on the road. I only drive it around town, which should keep it going for a long time.

When I arrived, my landlord greeted me with a high five and let me know that they deep deep-cleaned my room. It felt so good to open that door after almost four months of being away. I have everything I need here to live a simple life. Comfy bed, beer fridge, grill, office, and a 55″ TV all for $150 a month. That is why I have zero issues keeping it empty most of the year. It is here when my AZ Airbnb is rented or when I want to just get away.

I always have a couple of first stops to see local faces and grab some of my favorites when I come to town. The prices are about half of what I would pay in the United States or Canada which makes it take even better.

I had my favorite chicken enchiladas with green sauce (pollo enchiladas verde).

I know what you’re thinking, yes, I demolished it all in one sitting! I also had the best sleep in months, as it is such a comfortable situation here.

Lower prices, oceanfront beers, playoff hockey, and everyone always has a great time!

The Oilers played horribly but the $3 cervezas and 2 for-1 wings made up for it! 👌One of the most famous restaurants in Rocky Point is Pollo Lucas (Lucas Chicken). It is a short ten-minute walk from my pad, and it is amazing.

You can order 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, or the whole chicken and eat it or take it to go.

Each order comes with onions and lettuce, with the awesome homemade salsa and tortillas.

I get the 1/4 chicken for 65 pesos, which is $2.32 for the best lunch ever! The half chicken is 120 Pesos which can feed two people easily for $5 and the 3/4 and whole chicken can feed larger families.

Friday nights are surf and turn night at my local watering hole down the street.

The prices cannot be beat as that was $32 USD and absolutely amazing with a draft beer and hockey.

Naples, Italy – Pompeii Museum

Look for the cost, accommodation, and how to get there cheap at the bottom of this blog!

I am the first to admit that I knew very little about the history of Greece and Italy until my visit in the spring of 2025. Due to rain, I did not make it to the actual city, so this post will be dedicated to the Pompeii Museum in Naples, Italy.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the ancient city of Pompei. For the Classical Roman leader, see Pompey. For the Roman family, see Pompeia gens. For the Pacific Island, see Pohnpei.

Largely preserved under the ash, Pompeii offers a unique snapshot of Roman life, frozen at the moment it was buried, as well as insight into ancient urban planning. It was a wealthy town of 10,000 to 20,000 residents at the time it was destroyed. It hosted many fine public buildings and luxurious private houses with lavish decorations, furnishings and artworks, which were the main attractions for early excavators; subsequent excavations have found hundreds of private homes and businesses reflecting various architectural styles and social classes, as well as numerous public buildings. Organic remains, including wooden objects and human bodies, were interred in the ash; their eventual decay allowed archaeologists to create Moulds of figures in their final moments of life. The numerous graffiti carved on outside walls and inside rooms provide a wealth of examples of the largely lost Vulgar Latin spoken colloquially at the time, contrasting with the formal language of classical writers.

Following its destruction, Pompeii remained largely undisturbed until its rediscovery in the late 16th century. Major excavations did not begin until the mid-18th century, which marked the emergence of modern archeology; initial efforts to unearth the city were haphazard or marred by looting, resulting in many items or sites being damaged or destroyed. By 1960, most of Pompeii had been uncovered but left in decay; further major excavations were banned or limited to targeted, prioritized areas. Since 2018, these efforts have led to new discoveries in some previously unexplored areas of the city.

Pompeii is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, owing to its status as “the only archaeological site in the world that provides a complete picture of an ancient Roman city.

It is among the most popular tourist attractions in Italy, with approximately 2.5 million visitors annually.

Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, 79 CE. The volcanic debris covered the city, burying it beneath a blanket of ash and pumice.

Following its destruction, Pompeii remained largely undisturbed until its rediscovery in the late 16th century. Major excavations did not begin until the mid-18th century, which marked the emergence of modern archeology;[5] initial efforts to unearth the city were haphazard or marred by looting, resulting in many items or sites being damaged or destroyed.[6] By 1960, most of Pompeii had been uncovered but left in decay;[7] further major excavations were banned or limited to targeted, prioritized areas.

Since 2018, these efforts have led to discoveries in some previously unexplored areas of the city.

Less than ten years ago, which is what made this museum so fascinating to me. Here is the entrance:

I must have taken over a hundred pictures and videos, as everywhere you looked was incredible.

Here are some favorite pictures, a nd you can find all of the pictures here:

One of the most incredible things about Pompeii is that they are still discovering new things as they continue to roll back time, excavating the site.

The ruins at Pompeii were first discovered late in the 16th century by the architect Domenico Fontana. Herculaneum was discovered in 1709, and systematic excavation began there in 1738. Work did not begin at Pompeii until 1748, and in 176,3 an inscription (“Rei publicae Pompeianorum”) was found that identified the site as Pompeii. The work at these towns in the mid-18th century marked the start of the modern science of archaeology.

Here is a recent article I found that explains they are still discovering ruins:

Archaeologists make a breakthrough as life-size sculptures are discovered in a Pompeii tomb

Archaeologists make a breakthrough as life-size sculptures are discovered in a Pompeii tomb

Visitors to the site of Pompeii, the ancient Roman town buried (and so preserved for thousands of years) by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, don’t often think to look beyond the city walls. And it’s easy to understand why: there’s plenty on offer within this monumentally well-preserved town, from jewel-like wall paintings of myths and legends like Helen of Troy, to the majestic amphitheatre and sumptuously stuccoed baths.

But step outside the gates for a moment, and you’re in a very different – yet no less important – world.

For the ancient Romans, the roads and paths leading into and out of cities were crucial: not just for getting places, but as a very real kind of “memory lane”. Tombs lined these ancient byways – some simply bearing inscriptions to the memories of loved ones lost, others, more grand, accommodating space for friends and family to feast in remembrance of the dead.

Some of the tombs even address the passerby directly, as if their occupant could speak again, and pass on what they’ve learned. Take one Pompeian example, set up by the freedman Publius Vesonius Phileros, which opens with ineffable politeness: “Stranger, wait a while if it’s no trouble, and learn what not to do.”

Going into Pompeii, and leaving it, was about being reminded of ways of living and ways of dying – as well as an invitation to tip your hat to those who trod the path before you, and to learn from their example.

Click the link to read the entire article.

During my travels, I try to balance the cheap, thrifty and going for it while trying to remain on budget. It normally makes me feel like I missed out when leaving a new City/Country.

Rain or Shine, I will visit Pompeii as I missed out. I will share some sweet dance moves too! 🕺

How to get to Italy, cheap: I recommend flying Norse Airlines from Los Angeles to Rome for $220. You can get to Los Angeles cheaply from anywhere in Canada and the United States using Google Travel. Consider staying in LA a day or two, doubling up your vacation, and save a ton of money. It is a quick ~$13 train ride from Rome to Naples. Keep in mind that the high-speed train can be very expensive, so check out the milk run to see the countryside.

Where I stayed: Hopestel Secret Garden It was a great hostel in a historic building in the city center. I paid $28 euro / $30 USD a night which is spectacular for Naples City center. There are also studio rooms that can be rented for about $125 which is also a steal in the area.

The best local beer and meal: PIZZA! It was a no-brainer since Napoli is where pizza was invented. I tried several different variations and washed it down with a local Ichnusa unfiltered brewski, which hit the spot every time.

Would I return? 100% YES! I missed the most important historical area due to rain, Pompeii.

Three months looking out windows!

I left Arizona on January 12 – April 7th, 2025, and headed to Vietnam. I visited Cambodia, Thailand, London (twice), Singapore, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, and Spain in that order.

Eight of the ten are new pins on the map, making it so awesome! 📍🌍

I spent the first three months in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. Then, with my all-you-can-fly pass, I whizzed (Wizz Air) through London, Singapore, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, and Spain.

Let me see if I can recall the flights, ferries, bus, and train rides in order:

(I also took local transportation and over 25 grab/uber/bolt/Indrive shared rides in all countries).

✈️Phoenix to Los Angeles✈️Los Angeles to Singapore✈️Singapore to Saigon, Vietnam.

🚆Saigon to Nha Trang🚆Nha Trang to Hue🚆Hue to Da Nang🚆Da Nang to Hoi An🚆Da Nang to Saigon🚢Saigon to Phu Quoc🚢Phu Quoc to Saigon.

🚌Saigon to Phnom Penh 🚌Phnom Penh to Siem Reap 🚌Siem Reap to Anghor Wat

🚌Angkor Wat to Bangkok🚢Bangkok Koh Tao🚢Koh Phagan🚢Koh Samui

🚢🚌Koh Samui to Bangkok ✈️Bangkok to Singapore✈️Singapore to Athens

✈️Athens to Istanbul🚢Istanbul to Princess Islands day trip✈️Istanbul to London✈️London to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt,✈️ Sharm El Sheikh to London✈️London to Naples🚆Naples to Rome

✈️Rome to Madrid🚆Madrid to Barcelona🚆Barcelona to Madrid✈️Madrid to Rome✈️Rome to Los Angeles ✈️LAX home to Phoenix.

Here is some of the fun along the way and a good laugh after traveling three months … LOL

This trip was by far the longest and most expensive trip of my life. I blew through my budget, but decided to keep on going since I was already there. I ended up cancelling my Europass train ticket and coming home three weeks early.

At the time, I did not think I would use my all you can fly pass so visited as many countries as possible. I did miss a few countries so there is a good chance that I try to go one more time as I am not renewing the pass.

Zero regrets blowing money on travel at the end of every trip. I just need to be smarter and learn from my mistakes.

Rome, Italy – Second visit to Vatican City!

Look for the cost, accommodation, and how to get there cheap at the bottom of this blog!

I spent the last day of my recent travels in Rome, Italy. I had already been to the location tourist traps, but felt it was essential to revisit the Colosseum and Vatican City. Ironically, the Vatican Museum and Sixteenth Chapel are closed on Sunday. Unbeknownst to me, I was in for a bigger treat that day!

Here is a video of St Peter’s Basilica from the outside, walking inside, and I took it earlier in the week:

It was just a good feeling knowing that I was there the same day that the Pope was well enough to make an appearance. Holy week was approaching soon, I am sure they were testing his strength and endurance for a very busy week. Unfortunately, I read that he had to cut his speech short due to lack of breath.

As I walked around Vatican City, there was a massive crowd lined up to enter St Peter’s Basilica.

How to get to Italy, cheap: I recommend flying Norse Airlines from Los Angeles to Rome for ~$220. You can get to Los Angeles cheaply from anywhere in Canada and the United States using Google Travel. Consider staying in LA a day or two, doubling up your vacation and save a ton of money.

Where I stayed: I stayed at the Freedom Traveler, which provided a single bed for 40 euros a night. A hotel can cost over $150, so consider renting a studio in this hostel under $100 for a good night’s sleep on the cheap. I stayed here twice, once before and once after my trip to Barcelona. The staff were awesome, ensuring I got my pick of beds/rooms based on availability.

The best local beer and meal: PIZZA! Suprise suprise, but there were so many corner stores selling freshly made pizza so walking past them was almost impossible for me. Vino/wine is so much more popular than beer in Italy. I would walk into a pizza joint with 10 taps, and they were all Vino!

This was my favorite, around the corner from Vatican City:

I picked three, as you can see in the top left! So yummy and the best I had in Italy!!

Would I return? Not to Rome – Once I spent a day at the Vatican and Colosseum, I was ready to move on and booked my trip to Barcelona to break up the week I had planned to stay. There are plenty of other cities you can visit to stay in Italy (Venice, Sicily, Milan, Capri, Amalfi coast, etc.), but the last-minute train tickets were over $200. If you want to stay in one Country, book your train tickets early as they can be 5X as much last minute, just like plane tickets.

Real Madrid and Barcelona FC stadiums!

The first week of April 2025 would be my last week on this adventure. I left on January 12th, and it was time to return to Arizona. My Airbnb tenants were checking out, and I had a home to go back to, finally.

The plan was to hang around Italy since my flight left from Rome on April 7th.

My first day, I toured the Colosseum, and the second day was the Vatican. I did not want to spend five more days in Rome, and the train to Venice was over $200 return.

I checked out my Wizz pass to see if there was availability to depart and return within a 72-hour window. My choices were Gdansk, Poland, or Madrid, Spain. I honestly did consider Poland before I found the Madrid flight.

Ultimately, I chose Madrid so I could also visit Barcelona with a quick train ride.

There is no better feeling than booking a last-minute flight for $10 on an all-you-can-fly pass!

One minute, I am in Italy and the next day flying to Spain, watching football locals in a Madrid pub! It sure beats working for a living!!

I also like to think that I am responsible when traveling, but not this time. Once I arrived in Madrid, I was very hungry, so I went to find food. I thought there was food in the Irish pub, but only beer.

I was going to find a hostel after the game as I stayed for the whole game, plus, whoopsie!

GOOOOAAAALLLLLL!!!

After the game, slight panic started as it was after midnight, dark, rainy, and in a City I had never been to in my life. How is that for an adrenaline rush! I reset and looked for food and nailed it!

I have honestly never had Tapa’s before, as it reminds me of the foos-fos that go for Dim Sum or Sushi. Well, holy shit – I am foo fucking foo for this Tapa’s gig!! Check this out!

Pushing 2 AM, still no hostel but new friends! We pigged out on so many items!

Since it was past midnight and check-in time, I set out on foot, in the rain and half in the bag, looking for a place to sleep.

** I have a string chain around my neck with two charms, a cross and a foot for adventure. I was rubbing the cross this time, and it always works out! ***

After knocking on door after door, I came to find out that the entire City center was sold out.

Well SHIT!! This is where I do my best thinking, WTF now dumbass? Why not head to the train station, catch a high-speed train to Barcelona for $40? Perfect recovery plan!!

I was able to get a couple of hours’ sleep on the train even though it was going 300K/H. I woke up in Barcelona (huge bucket list) and I was able to find a great hostel in the city center for $30 a night. After touring the city for a couple of days, I was off to find the biggest attraction, the Barcelona FC iconic Stadium, on my last day.

Ironically, the football stadium was closed for renovations. I visited the amazing team store and do not think I have seen anything else like it in the world. It was massive:

I cannot wait to reference this memory when the new ultra-modern stadium opens. I can say, I sat in this pub pre-gaming months/years earlier, preparing for the grand opening. LOL

I had better luck when I got back to Madrid. I was able to take the metro with fans to a Real Madrid game and experience gameday. I was flying back to Rome that night, so I could not go to the game, but this was amazing enough without paying hundreds of dollars for tickets.

It was a match between Barcelona FC and Valencia, and here is a little pre-game action:

After waiting an hour walking around as fans entered the stadium, I needed to leave. I was one of the few headed the other direction on the metro as more fans arrived for the game.

It looks like I missed a great game which an exciting ending.

Spain – Madrid and Barcelona!

Spain and Portugal have been pretty high on my European bucket list because it is supposed to be two of the cheapest Countries on the Western side of Europe. Cheap is all relative, I guess, as I did not see it being any cheaper overall.

I flew to Madrid, Spain at the last minute as I found a return ticket on my all-you-can-fly pass. The flight had me getting to Madrid late on a Wednesday night and flying back to Rome on Saturday night. That was not nearly enough time, but I got a pretty good idea, Spain is NOT cheap!

As I blogged about in my Spain football blog, I was able to visit both Madrid and Spain.

I whipped back and forth on the high-speed train, which was an unreal experience. I had taken the Chunnel between London and Paris, but somehow, this felt faster. We topped out at almost 300 KM/H.

There were two different companies to choose from, which was nice as it kept the prices down. I paid $40 from Madrid to Barcelona and then $63 to get back on a Saturday night.

Barcelona was very nice with the cobblestoned narrow roads in the city center area.

I stayed two days in Barcelona, which barely scratched the surface. I guess the main advantage of Barcelona is that you are located on the sea, so you get the best of both worlds. I toured 30 miles of the cost on the bus tour and couldn’t imagine how amazing it would be in the summertime.

I just rode the metro around the city for most of the day.

I only spent a few hours in Madrid before bolting to Barcelona, so I made sure I had a full to wrap up Spain. I arrived back in Madrid at an amazing hostel on 04/04/25 and had one night booked.

When you stay in a hostel, you can store your bags including a towel and shower later in the day. That was perfect as my flight did not leave Madrid until 9 PM on 04/05/25.

There were only a few things that I needed to see in Madrid:

Naples and Rome – pizza everywhere!

⬆️A few days in Italy reminded me of High School gym class.⬆️

My first stop was Naples, or Napoli as the locals call it! The original home of the Pizza!

I have written separate blogs for the Vatican and Colosseum experiences.

Vatican City blog

Coliseum blog

The history of pizza began in antiquity, as various ancient cultures produced flatbreads with several toppings. Pizza today is an Italian dish with a flat dough-based base and toppings, with significant Italian roots in history.

A precursor of pizza was probably the focaccia, a flatbread known to the Romans as panis focacius, to which toppings were then added. Modern pizza evolved from similar flatbread dishes in Naples, Italy, between the 16th and mid-18th centuries.

The word pizza was first documented in 997 CE in Gaeta[4] and successively in different parts of central and southern Italy. Furthermore, the Etymological Dictionary of the Italian Language explains the word pizza as coming from dialectal pinza, ‘clamp’, as in modern Italian pinze, ‘pliers, pincers, tongs, forceps’. Their origin is from Latin pincere, ‘to pound, stamp’.

I had pizza every day that I was in Italy and even had a couple two a day!!

The below was one of my favorites near Vatican City. The Chef will make pizzas on massive sheets and then place them in the window for display. Once you decide on a flavor or three, in my case, on this day, in the top left. They take a pair of scissors, cut to your desired size and weight it for the amount.

This was a fried pizza. It was similar to a calzone but fried instead of baked.

The second picture is my first meal when I landed in Naples, as stromboli is my favorite!

The others are just random pizza stops!!

Yummy!!

After eating my share of pizza throughout Italy, it was time to prepare for my long flight home to Phoeniz, AZ

After an incredibly long day, I made it home on 04/07/25! That is 84 days since leaving on 01/12/25, and I saw so many incredible things.

I will almost always take the metro home after my trips. It saves me $30-$40 and gives me time to reflect on my trips. Uber is normally $50ish while the train is $2, and Uber from the furthest station EAST is $10sih.

** Avoiding Uber only saved me $13, but I stuck to my routine!

The Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica

Look for the cost, accommodation, and how to get there cheap at the bottom of this blog!

When in Rome – visiting the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica was not an option! I needed to throw a few Hail Mary’s so not a better place to make some peace. We had a good talk, and we are good! 👌 The Vatican grounds were a short 15-minute metro ride from my hostel and easy to access. It was amazing to think that I could hop a metro train and be there in under 20 minutes.

I blogged about my second time visiting, but here are more details, pictures, and videos.

The train ride from my hostel to Vatican City was under 20 minutes:

Once you exit the Vatican station, there is a short walk to St Peters square.

Italy train travel! Fast and faster!!

I am at the point in my travels where I was supposed to be using a Europass to travel Europe by train.

I bailed on that plan a month ago after taking a 20-hour train trip up and down the Vietnam coast. I realize that taking a train across Europe would be a lot nicer than Vietnam but sitting in coach would be the same back breaking experience.

Here was the plan, and I still feel good about my decision as it is time to go home:

I did get a chance to take a train from Naples to Rome, which was pretty awesome and had me second-guessing. The ten-day Europass was an amazing deal, but taking the train once scratched that itch for $13 USD.

It was not the highspeed train as that was $60 and would have been an hour a half instead of four hours.

Since I enjoyed my first train experience in Europe, I followed it up with another train trip later that week!

This time, I took the smoking fast-speed train between Madrid and Barcelona, Spain.

The train almost hit 300KM/H (292KM hour was the highest I noticed as I fell in and out of sleep for the three-hour trip.) Imagine a flight doing ~500KM/H is about an hour and a half, and the train doing ~300KM/H is about three hours.

Amazing!

I had taken the “Chunnel” from London to Paris in the past, but this was a great reminder of how fast train travel can be compared to flying. The line at the train station was a lot longer than most airports, as they do not have the same setup, which can delay travel.

Lucky for me, I am a dumbass and went to the wrong departure station. Once I realized it, I took a 15-minute taxi to the correct station and cut to the front of the line with my sob or SOB story, so it took less than five minutes as opposed to over an hour.

It was stressful, but it worked out perfectly as I did not sleep. I landed in Madrid and took the subway to the City Center and there was a football game on, so I jumped into the fun without finding a hostel.

After the game, I grabbed some tapas and beer and quickly found out that the prices were $150 euros that night. After a bit of panic, walking in the rain and soul searching my shitty situation, I headed to the wrong train station. It all worked out amazingly as always!

Check out all those tapas and awesome local beer!

The closest I have ever experienced Tapas is when a Ukrainian whips up a meal with whatever is in the fridge, and it turns out to be a five-star meal. Same idea, a little bit of everything and refilling your plate.

What an amazing sequence of events, which is why I love to travel so much!

The Colosseum experience!

Below is the Colessem location about Rome and Italy in general.

The top can be zoomed in and out if you are curious!

I am not a big history guy, but Athens, Greece, and now Rome, Italy, had me caught up in the experience!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, for all of us, as it was so overwhelming:

The Colosseum ultimately derives from the Ancient Greek word “kolossos,” meaning a large statue or giant. It is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum.

It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world, despite its age. Construction began under the Emperor Vespasian (r. 69–79 AD) and was completed in AD 80 under his successor and heir, Titus.

Further modifications were made during the reign of Domitian (r. 81–96). The three emperors who were patrons of the work are known as the Flavian dynasty, and the amphitheatre was named the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium; Italian: Anfiteatro Flavio by later classicists and archaeologists for its association with their family name (Flavius).

The Colosseum is built of travertine limestone, tuff (volcanic rock), and brick-faced concrete. It could hold an estimated 50,000 to 80,000 spectators at various points in its history,[4][5] having an average audience of some 65,000; it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles including animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, dramas based on Roman mythology, and briefly mock sea battles.

The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.

Although substantially ruined by earthquakes and stone robbers taking spolia, the Colosseum is still a renowned symbol of Imperial Rome and was listed as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. It is one of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions and has links to the Catholic Church, as each Good Friday, the Pope leads a torchlit “Way of the Cross” procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum. The Colosseum is depicted on the Italian version of the 5 euro cent coin.

It was about a 30-minute walk from my hostel to the Colosseum and the ancient ruins area.

I rarely pay to enter tourist traps, but this was another one that I could not miss out on. Here are some pictures and videos of the Colosseum inside and out. It was so amazing to see, and unsure if these will help portray it properly