Olestravels

01/11/2026

A good morning and ‘The Smell of Freedom’

I’ve chosen to discontinue my studies in Chiang Mai and with that I had to figure out what I’m going to do for the next three weeks for which I’ve already booked my hotel. The money spent and my booking non-refundable. I do not consider myself cheap, but I am frugal, having grown up without the financial freedom that I now have. With that background, I abhor wasting money.

I also don’t want to sit around in my hotel room trying to figure out what to do, and in my mind I think I can go to a local Bistro, have a cup of coffee, and do a bit of research. I should know better, that is never what happens. What happens is that I go someplace, find a place to sit and wind up talking to people getting no research done whatsoever. I can't complain however because to me that interaction is a big part of joy in traveling. .Meeting others and sharing experiences

I will digress a moment and talk about last night, my first night after having arrived at the realization that I probably was never going to use the certification as a teacher of English as a foreign language, and with that freeing up the next three weeks for other options. I had a great night’s sleep, and good breakfast, and choose to wander to the train station where my intention was to find out about a daytime train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. I’ve taken sleeper trains before and find them to be with less than optimal and that you see no scenery and what’s the point of taking the train if you don’t have scenery? That said the train to Bangkok and leaves at 7:30 in the morning and I’m not so sure I want to do that! (I will write about that wander in my next missive.)

So this morning I was off to the Donut Café where I’ve had breakfast the last three mornings. Managing to get there right after the last two person table outside was taken by a bicyclist I had to sit inside at a round ‘table’, more of a platform around a pillar where two other people, not a couple, were also seated. My flat white and breakfast ordered, I actually did log on to TripAdvisor to look for options. Of course that research stopped when breakfast showed up and it was a good breakfast. But then the man to my left, Ray, a mid 30’s Chinese architect, started to chat with me. (No, I am not always the first one to reach out.)

He is a professor of architecture in China and recognized that his country was in a position where there were going to be fewer and fewer students and for him to keep his position he was going to have to get his PhD rather than rely on his master’s degree to retain his employment. Unlike most Chinese he had travelled fairly extensively and had in fact lived in New York City for several years where he both studied and worked. At one point he mentioned that he had also gone to Bangkok and this was years after returning to China, and the thing that struck him struck him in a 7/11. It was, he said, “The smell of freedom.”

I loved that… freedom has a smell!

The truth is I have smelled it many times but I’ve never put my finger on it. Anytime you go to a country where there is an authoritarian figure, or there is extreme poverty, there’s a different feel and in fact a different smell. There’s a French chef that says that texture is flavor. And here is right. Can you imagine Cheetos without the crunch? Crème brulee without this silkiness of the pudding? A Magnolia tree without the sweetness of its blossoms? Freedom too has a smell. I can’t describe it yet, but it is there nonetheless. perhaps somebody who is experienced a lack of freedom you can put the words together better and through those words elicit the emotion that is attached to the smell of freedom.

So today as I wander around, I will continuously go back to thinking about this and see if I can put my finger on it. But whether I do, or I don’t find the right words it will still be there.

And I hope that today, as you’re doing whatever you’re doing, you too notice the smell…

All the best,

Ole

01/09/2026

Sometimes things do not go the way you think they're going to. Other times you think you have a great idea and then you get involved with it and you go, "That's not going to work as well as I thought."

I have been in Chiang Mai for only a week. A week in which I have been attending classes from nine in the morning till after four o'clock in the afternoon to learn how to teach English as a foreign language. This I thought was a good idea inside of that it would give me access to experiences in other countries as a teacher that I wouldn't have if I was simply in the country doing my normal explorations. I would be involved. And I could do it in countries that I have an interest in staying in for more than a week or two like Japan and perhaps Poland. ( Don't ask me why Poland I don't really know.)

However, what has happened has been instruction in the English language to begin with. Duh! Who knew that before you could teach english as a foreign language you actually had to understand the grammar, the structure of sentences, what are the difference between simple tenses and perfect tenses? I mean, I know I use the words every day and I use the tenses every day, and typically my verb plurality matches my subject plurality. I have even heard of past perfect and present perfect tenses! Somewhere along the way probably in about 1964 through 1966, I actually studied this stuff. It turns out though that while I seem to have a passion for writing, I do not have the same passion for teaching others how to write or speak in a classroom setting, online, or probably even one on one.

And so what do I do now? I mean, I have flown all the way to Thailand, a trip of 32 hours, booked hotels, and paid for my training. I have three weeks that if I drop out now are going to shift from being fairly full to being wildly open with no real idea what I want to do or where I want to go, with my newly found free time.

I do know this though, I've been struggling for the last couple of days with coming to a choice as to whether or not I was going to finish the school. I think about things like "Am I being a quitter? I'm wasting money. I know I don't want to sit in a hotel room for 3 weeks!!!

This morning, though I've arrived at what I'd think is the best direction to take. I'm going to say goodbye to this school and thank them for the opportunity. With that, no longer a concern, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to sleep better and believe it or not, that's a pretty big deal in itself.

From there, my current plan is to wander around the city over the weekend, get a massage or two - they cost just under $10 for an hour. $11 including the tip. I will go on a couple of forms and find additional things to do in the area. I know one of them is a loop that you can take over the course of a day or two through the mountains nearby. Another is an ATV tour, which takes us to the sticky waterfalls and then on to whitewater rafting. Golf is a distinct possibility. So don't worry about me, I'll find something to do, and when I do I will probably write about it here.

Happy New Year to all you Buddhists.

01/01/2026

It has been a long time since i've written and posted here.

It's not that I haven't traveled.I certainly have, however I haven't written that much about my travels. I got out of the mood because I found myself reporting rather than writing and I don't enjoy reporting. That's one of the things about traveling, you think you're going to explore the world and learn about other cultures and you wind up learning about yourself.

Oh yeah, certainly, there is the experience of being someplace unique and strange compared with where you live and where you grew up, everything else that you've done. At the same time evaluations are made, opinions formed, lessons learned. After more than fifty years of traveling, sometimes I think i'm about traveled out. I think I could just stay home and join a group. Almost any group. Take dance lessons perhaps. Get involved with an improvisational comedy troupe. Create a weekly or bi-weekly, get together of people who are foodies and cooks. A small group of had one that would be cohesive in exploring the cuisines of various places of the world.

But not this week. Not this month.

This month I am in Thailand. Again.

Thailand is not my favorite country, however, it's not one that I swore I would not ever go back to again either. And this drip is unique in that I signed up to take a course not in cooking but in how to teach english as a foreign language. It sounded like a good idea when I set it up but somewhere along the 32 hours of traveling, it became less exciting for me. I found myself talking myself into and out of staying in the course for the four weeks that it takes to get certified. I ask myself if i'm ever going to use this certification. And I chuckle, as I ask myself, having recently looked at various diplomas that i've received over the course of the last 75 years and how many of them I still am involved with.

Oh well...

So I got to my hotel in Bangkok. It's a very nice hotel with some really nice restaurants. I booked it with Chase Sapphire Reserve points so it feels like i'm not day in anything at all when in fact I'm sure I've paid for it somewhere along the way. The cost has been hidden inside of 'loyalty', and I'm not that loyal, but my spending patterns are.

Bangkok is a really big city. Over 11 million inhabitants so if you come here, you'll never see it all. The heck, if you live here, you'll never see it all! It is also hot. 91°F the high today, 72° the low but if you don't wake up before 5 o'clock in the morning and get outside, you'll never know that! It is also polluted. Most big asian cities are so I wonder how much all that Green New Deal hoopla in the United States made. I'm sure the difference is insignificant.

But here I am, and my room is not ready so I went for a two mile walk before the heat became suffocating. And on that walk, thought once again about what we see, and how much our own perceptions dictate what we see. If you're an architect, you see the buildings send the insides of them, much like a doctor might see the skeleton inside of your skin without the use of an x ray. If you're a photographer, though, you might see that same building in a different light. Somebody in finance or economics sees the businesses involved. And each of those perceptions is correct.

I see different things. The amateur photographer me and the brother of an architect, I see shapes and patterns. The explorer and inquirer, in me notices a girl sitting side saddle on a Grab motorcycle that she has hired to get to work. I see people going about their jobs, some quietly others in groups, laughing and working together. I see an elevated walkway, winding back-and-forth as I wander, some environmental architect's idea of a soothing pattern. And then I see that same pathway from below and think to myself, that it's nothing special from down there.

And then I think to myself, what else do I think is not special when, in fact, it might have something wondrous to it.

But I'm probably boring you. I can't philosophical when what I should have done is be more humorous.

I promise I'll work on that.

07/13/2025

07/13/2025

Just another day in Mongolia

07/09/2025

I cannot believe that I did it… again!

I started this story on Facebook and I knew better than to leave the page where I was writing but I wanted to do a bit of research and when I came back it was gone.

Arghhhh!

Ok, OK let me see if I can get this going again. Let me see if I can get this going again. I am flying out of Frankfurt today to one of the most unique places I probably have ever, or will ever visit. A country so amazingly different from any I've yet visited that I'm both excited, and hesitant.

But I get ahead of myself. I’ve been in Europe now for 12 days and it feels very normal for me. I've now spent more than 2 years in Europe including 1 stays of 3 1/2 months and 2 of 9 months each so when I hop on a plane that winds up landing in Frankfurt, Paris (both Charles de Gaulle and Orly – which I'll never got into again) , Milano, Madrid, or London, I'm familiar with the routine. What does amaze me is the little things that put a smile on my face. Things like knowing how to pay for parking, understanding the speed limit signs, names of cities, and not tipping are all routine… sort of. Even driving, which used to be an experience in itself after the initial driving through a car park in a newly rented car, is it's pretty darn easy for me.

So I got really off track here, I started out on the right foot, but then started digressing, and that pathway had no cheese in it…

So, moving on, I am now on a flight to one of the most unique and foreign cultures that I’ve ever encountered. I'm headed to a place that few go to other than during this particular week of festivities, the Nadaam festival. The country for the next 10 days will be relatively crowded with idiots like me who thought “What the heck, I'll give it a shot.” The festival is held throughout the country, but has his primary opening ceremonies in it's capital, Ulaanbatar. It is there that we hordes will begin our journeys, and there that they'll end.

In the middle will be home stays in Gers, daily chores to mimic, long rides in 4X wheeled vehicles made in Russia. (I don't know that for sure but it makes some sense. ), eagle hunting exhibitions, and one wouldn't want to miss the statue of Genghis Kahn!

So what I’m trying to say is that the trip that started out as two weeks to hang out with by NSX buddies, has turned into yet another expedition. It seems I cannot help myself.

07/07/2025

Let’s move on from Manhattan now.

A 7 hour flight is not enough for a good rest, even on Singapore Air in their business class seats, especially when the dinner service is an hour and a half into the flight. However, it is enough (with a 40 minute delay on the tarmac) to watch a Japanese film ‘The 35 Year Promise’. (Good film/recommended.)

So, unrested, but hopeful, I strode off the plane, breezed through immigration, and hiked to the Hertz counter where a nonchalant, semi-disinterested, attendant provided me with a key, an admonition to video the car before driving it, and a bill for an additional €35 since a part of my trip was to be in France.

I'm in a literary roundabout, sorry. This is actually supposed to be about Friedhelm Tang.

Who?

Friedhelm Tang.

He's what you come up with when you take a man raised to take on his father's hair styling business, but has a penchant for hot air balloons, a degree in Economics, a knack for making money, the Jay Leno gene for collecting unique cars, a Hunter S. Thompson on acid imagination, and a follow through reminiscent of Rafael Nadal, only in business. He is smart, fun, successful, and overly generous and he invited me to join my friends to visit his auto museum… as opposed to his garage which he has in another place, as opposed to his racing stable which he has in yet another place. He also invited me to go with him to Nurburgring if it was open, but unfortunately it was not. Riding on that circuit is one of my very few bucket list items. Unfulfilled at this point, But a worthwhile goal.

What follows then are photos of this museum, and of his total insanity where he created a successful indoor campground!

Enjoy.

07/01/2025

Once again I’ve started a story and had to stop for a conversation and the beginnings were disappeared by Facebook…

So let me start again.

Oddly enough I’m off again on yet another adventure. I packed the normal things in my carry-on and backpack and once again feel like I’ve taken too much. However, after years of practice I know that there are some things that I would rather have and not need than need and not have. Still I am way under the weight limits necessary for a small inter country carrier that I will name later.

The first stop was Manhattan. Where I was supposed to spend the day and hang out with my older son. Unfortunately he got called out of town on business so my first 24 hour plans were completely obliterated. You make do. I made ‘do’ (Is that even a correct wording I’ve never used it before, nor have I seen anybody else use that phraseology) by going to Cha Long for a very tasty goat Curry dinner and heading back to my hotel for a nice rest.

The next morning included a walk into Central Park, hot coffee with a bagel, scallion cream cheese, and lox Before heading back to the hotel and changing for the matinee addition of ‘MJ’, the story of Michael Jackson’s career With many of his famous songs and fabulous dance routines.

From there it was racing back to the hotel and grab a limo with 3 Italians who were headed back to Rome during rush hour and showed me to share their ride so I could make my flight to Frankfurt.

There, Frankfurt, I walked somewhat north of a mile to pick up my rental car then weave my way through the narrow passageways of a parking garage and onto the autobahn. The nearly two hour ride from there to my friend’s home outside of Bonn was made easier by the fact that I speak more than a smattering of German and knew many of the cities that the signs were pointing me Frankfurt.If that were not the case i'm sure i would have missed several of the turns and it would have taken much much longer.

But I am here and my friend set up a ‘Welcome to Germany’ party which was a ton of fun and today they prepared a special surprise for me which I’m quite looking forward to.

05/26/2025

Dead man's corner. His death was simply a marker, a place where you turned, or went straight ahead. There was no time to bury him.

02/20/2025

New Zealand the first several days.

Flying business has its advantages but flying long distance even business class can drain you. Over 19 hours from Santiago, Chile, to Christchurch certainly drained me. That’s OK though I got into Christchurch and into my motel and life was good.

‘Motel?’ you ask and I would tell you ‘Yep that’s right.’ Turns out there are darned few actual hotels in Christchurch and the New Zealand population loves their automobile travel. So motels are the order of the day most often. I am in one now and will be in at least three more next week when I hit the North Island and actually rent a car and pretend that I am a New Zealander. I spent only two nights in Christchurch, that portion of my trip having been shortened by a day when I realized the direction I was flying took a day off of my planned itinerary and there were other obligations that I had committed to, so two nights it was instead of three

I have a little to say about Christchurch other than there is nothing spectacular about the city. Perhaps that’s because I was dead tired and am only now finally adjusting to the difference in time having rested fairly well that first night and again last night.

My third day in New Zealand was a trip by scenic train from Christchurch to Picton. That was actually quite nice and I enjoyed not driving and not being on a plane. .That trip went through some nice scenery and there was actually an open air car towards the back of the train which I found out about 2 ½ hours into the 5 hour trip. There you could not only check out the scenery but enjoy the fresh air and. There is plenty of that here in New Zealand. So anyway I did make it to Picton, and Picton happens to be in the Marlborough wine region and I simply love the. Marlborough, New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs which is in fact a big part of why I’m here. Today was accented by an actual trip into the Marlborough wine region with a bunch of people that were here on the 2000 passenger cruise ship. .While I quite enjoyed the trip I wasn’t actually impressed with any of the wines that I was provided with.. that however probably is a good thing since it was a full day wine tour and I did not over drink! So tonight I’m going to go out for a nice dinner at a place called Sisu, and tomorrow I catch a Interislander ferry to Wellington for the second-half of my trip here. .I’m expecting big things on that part of the chip which is on the North Island of New Zealand. Stay tuned for some fun.

Ole

02/12/2025

Sometimes when things don't go your way, they go your way.

Tonight I am having dinner, on the house, at the Mediterranean restaurant in the Intercontinental Hotel in Buenos Aires. I've ordered a Caesar salad and a ribeye with mushrooms, and a glass of their upper level red wine to go along with it. (The sommelier just came by to ask me what I would like to have with my dinner. After a short conversation we went with an Argentinian white to go with my Caesar salad and a special edition Malbec for my steak.)

I guess I’ve gotten ahead of myself a little bit here. I started talking about the dinner, rather than why the dinner is on the house.

So it all started with my first room on the 14th floor of the 19 floor Intercontinental Hotel, a four and a half star hotel with a great reputation. I have some status at the hotel group having purchased their stupidly expensive credit card and a whole bunch of points primarily for this trip. In fact, I am a 'Platinum elite" member of the IHG group. Once I stay seventy more nights in the IHG group, I will become a 'Diamond Elite' member. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I'm a Platinum Elite member and that gains me an automatic upgrade at any hotel that I’ve picked inside of the IHG group. This status level shifted me into a very nice room on the 14th floor, which had an unfortunate scenario in that the aroma when entering reminded me of a nineteen sixties boy scout camping latrine. This, of course, may me wonder what room they would have given to somebody who is only 'Gold Elite', much less ‘Silver Wannabe” or my former status level, ‘Talc’. But I digress. The powers that be very kindly moved me to a nicer room on the 17th floor. I was quite happy with that until I went to bed, at which point I realized my room was directly next to the three elevators which were constantly going up and down at rapid speeds (which is nice if you’re on the elevator, but not so nice if you’re listening to them all night long) since this hotel is not only the home of many airline crews, but also the choice for Viking cruise lines which had a 350 passenger ship leaving the next morning or the morning after that, and those passengers were definitely arriving throughout the night. The result of that was no sleep.

Dreary eyed and dragging I went to the concierge lounge the next morning (I had spent $50 a day for this, another upgrade) in order to have a double espresso and a little breakfast. I mentioned my plight to the young lady receptionist, then I gave her my room number which allowed me into the lounge but the next thing I knew, a concierge came up to move me from my upgraded room to yet another upgraded room. This one on the 18th floor and was a freaking sweet, suite. I certainly did not deserve this but I was not going to complain about having something this nice which also included a gift of a platter of fruit and some wonderfully delicious chocolate macaroon cookies which I should not have eaten all of, but misery loves company and the only company I had was chocolate macaroon cookies and fruit.

Life was good and I was happy.

Unpacking, which I do when I’m staying in a room for more than one or two nights, there was a smile on my face.

But then I had to laugh… It was was a hearty laugh and one which was accompanied by a tiny bit of nervousness since I was laughing in the middle of taking a shower in a bathroom with absolutely no light. I mean it was pitch black (I had already pulled the blackout curtains closed so there was literally no light in the room whatsoever) and I’m surrounded by glass, soaking wet, soaped up, And I’m laughing so hard I’m almost crying, as in what else could possibly go wrong at this point? I couldn’t even remember if the door to the shower it opened up towards the shower or outwards, I did figure that out though and managed to find a towel to wipe the water and soap out of my eyes. That didn’t help me see any better since, as I said, it was pitch black. So now like an elderly man who has just lost his sight I am feeling my way through the shower room, the toilet room is on the other side of an entryway, gingerly touching counters and walls and hoping that I don’t stumble over something in a search for my cell phone which I know has a flashlight on it. I’m shuffling one foot in front of the other not wanting to stub my toe and rip off a toenail, which I have done before, and I don’t recommend to anybody whose name is not Mengele. But there are also empty spaces where I’m not touching a wall or a counter or the bed in my hand outstretched is searching for any clue as to where I am in the room and where my phone might be. Ahh… I found the bed so now I know where I am and I can relatively quickly work my way around the bed to the counter where I know my phone is sitting. and thanks to the gods it was in fact there and wasn't out of battery. I turned the flashlight on went to the door to my room, noticed that the hall light actually was on outside of my room but there was no light in my room so I flipped all the switches. Nope, no light. This informed I found the phone dialed ‘0’. Reception answered and I let them know of my plight. About 6 minutes later lights came on in my room. Life was once again good. That is, until I woke up at 5:00 in the morning freezing since the temperature at which I had set my air conditioner to was not the temperature which the air conditioner wanted to be at. This air conditioner was used to working with teenage children who have metabolisms that burn up calories much akin to sitting on the sunny side of Mercury whereas my own is much closer to that of Pluto and it's much harder to stay warm. Once again I turned on the flashlight on my phone in order to be able to read the thermostats and turn them off completely which did in fact work.

So what happened next was what brought me to the hotel’s restaurant and a very enjoyable meal, gratis. I was sitting in the lounge having a glass of champagne when the manager on duty, Adrian Perez, It came in and introduced himself and let me know that he had heard of my situation edge asked if there is anything else he could do to make my stay enjoyable. I told him a story of my own about how service sometimes gets mucked up and it’s no fault of the people who are providing this service it’s just that God sometimes likes to play games with his toys, us humans. How in my own business when something like this went wrong I would let my client know that I was going to fix it come on give them a discount for future trades, and that they needed to know that for the next month or so other things were going to happen to their account that were totally unrelated but it's just the way it went. Their account was the one that had been chosen to be messed with for the next several weeks and if they were patient I would make sure they were taken care of. I told him this inside of that I felt like God felt like it was my turn at this hotel to have things go hilariously wrong, that I knew that he was doing everything he could to make It right, but he didn't have a chance since it was a higher power that was playing with us. We laughed a bit and I thought that was the end of it. But once again I was wrong. That afternoon I was in the bar having a Manhattan made by their most enjoyable bartender Nicholas when Mr. Perez came in and started talking with me again. I told him of my experience the previous night at a high end restaurant by the name of Roux And how I was disappointed in not only their service, but the quality of the steak I was served. Argentina is known for their beef and my thought perfectly cooked was not nearly as good as ribeye’s that I’ve had at home. I asked him for a recommendation for another restaurant that I could go to and have a really great steak and he said “I’m going to do something for you.” And with that he gave me a certificate for dinner at the Mediterranean restaurant right there in the Intercontinental hotel and that is why I’m here.

Things could not have gone much more wrong at this stage of my trip, but then they couldn’t have been any better either. I’m actually finishing up this story at the airport lounge in Buenos Aires, my KLM flight delayed for who knows how long and yet I still have a smile on my face.

Life IS good.

Ole John

02/08/2025

The South America portion…
February 8th 2025 8th

¿Vale la pena? Spanish for ‘Is it worth the effort?’

I often wonder if what I am doing is worth the effort that I put into that which I’m doing. I say this as I’m sitting at the AMAE lounge in Iguazú, Argentina. I’m waiting for my flight to Buenos Aires which will board in about 1/2 an hour and take two hours of actual flight time before I then need to find a taxi to get to my hotel which will usually be another half hour to 45 minutes. Waking up at about 5:15, which was way too early, my alarm had been set for 6:14, This was one of those times when I knew that anymore sleep was going to elude me. Typically my alarms on both my Galaxy 5 Pro watch and my Galaxy S-24 cell phone are set for a minute or two before the time which I have informed the front desk I would like a wake up call. I don’t know why I do this, but I just do.

This morning, since I was awake, I thought perhaps I could get in touch with my driver and leave a bit early for the airport, which was a good 45 minutes to an hour away crossing the Argentine and Brazil borders. Sometimes border crossings are easy, other times there are huge lines. This morning going from Brazil to Argentina was easy, but seeing the long line of cars headed the other direction I was glad I was not going that way.

So here I am. I’ve spent four nights in Foz do Iguazú, Brazil and toured both sides of the waterfalls, Brazil’s and Argentina's, oddly enough different experiences. I have also visited the Parque de Aves aviary (a bit disappointing) and then making a foray into Paraguay (a shopping mecca of total madness) before taking a 2 ½ hour tour of the Itaipu damn, which actually was well worth the effort.

(I just laughed sitting now in the boarding area for my flight listening to the Chinese contingent, there are quite a few here and it's really odd to hear them speaking Spanish oftentimes much better than me and then switching back into mandarin as if it were simply another tributary of the same river. And I thought ‘Here I am again, a B+ student in life’. Not the world's best traveler, but a well above average bench warmer. I get to get into the game occasionally and even play hard and well in those moments, but not the ‘A’ team. Those are the ones who have lived in other countries for years at a time and speak several languages much more fluently than my slightly above average abilities in Spanish and German. Still, at least I'm playing in a game of my choosing. Not everyone can be a star.)

Anyway I’ve gotten off track. I am halfway through (well not quite halfway through) this current excursion and think back on the hours upon hours upon hours of effort that I’ve put into determining where I was going to go, where I was going to stay, and how I was going to get from here to there. I think about all the work that I put into becoming someone who was capable of doing these things. I think of the barriers and boundaries that I’ve crossed, the failures, the fears that I’ve had, the anxiety , of leaving that which was comfortable, home, and and I smile.

Yes… it has been ‘Vale de pena.’

Ole