Another year has passed, as I read through my 2010 resolutions and 2011 resolutions it is hard to believe that it has been two years since I started blogging. I honestly figured I would be a well seasoned traveler by now but truth be told, life has its own plans for you. It’s been an eventful year with graduate school, getting married, all that drinking and a few mini adventures. This past year we didn’t travel much, and this year will be limited until we take off next November/December.

It is always hard to look at a year passed and think about how fast it all went by, even more so when I’ve continued to dedicate time to blogging. That is, when I’m being a good blogging monkey and keep up on my posts. I think I’ve dedicated more to my New Brew Tuesday posts than travel but that is because of where I am at, for the time being. However I hope that this year marks the beginning of my life’s next chapter, which from the looks will be written in Spanish so I better learn more then cerveza and taco…is banana the same in Spanish?

So how did I fare with my 2011 resolutions? Well let’s see…

Fireworks International Fireworks Competition, Putrajaya, By Amani Hasan on August 31, 2007 via Flickr Creative Commons

Make Money Blogging – Well I’ve had the opportunity to publish sponsored guest posts. Which to be honest is hard. The idea of making money off of this site instead of just spending it sounds great. On the other hand I want to maintain the integrity of the site, so I have to filter through a lot of crap offers and then make sure this isn’t a guest post site, I need to balance it out with my own content.

Finish 90% of Grad School - I am on the ball with grad school and have only 3 classes left, two of which I am taking this semester – they start tomorrow night. Then I have one more class that I will take this summer and finally finish. I really can’t wait to get this one done because I think it takes up so much of my free time that between working, grad school, and volunteer tutoring (grad school requirement) I have little time for my wife and my blog…and I truly love both.

Blog about TESOL, Traveling and Drinking – Well the drinking part was easy but the TESOL aspect has been harder than I thought. Simply because most of the information is theoretical and I am not sure of its practical application. I will continue to work on this and try to share any tips that I come across, currently I am working on creating a list with one of my professors of must have TESOL books based on her 25+ years of working in the field. Traveling has been slow which means so is my writing on it.

Solidify Plans and Set a Date - This one was set and done awhile ago, but then plans had to change. Right now we are thinking end of November-beginning of December. However my father-in-law wants us to stay with him until March-ish when he can retire and return to Peru. The only reason he came to the states was to help my wife get residency but on the other hand anything delaying our departure has me groaning.

2012 Resolutions

Health -I am going to be in hot tropical South America this time next year so I need to work on the beer belly.  The plan is to put into practice Hara Hachi Bu, the Okinawan tradition of eating until you are 80% full. The other is the typical eat healthier and exercise once in a while type thing. I know with work, school and life this won’t be perfect but with the knowledge of sporting my bare belly on the beach I have the hope that I can slim down a bit.

Money - Save, save and then save some more. Right now we have a little over $10,000 in a CD. We have a total of $1,000 combined, a month going into our savings which we hope gets us close to $25,000 by our departure date. We figure that is a good amount to live off of and travel with. Especially since we plan to work in Lima, Peru for a little while after traveling.

Travel – Duh this is a travel blog, so we must travel…but smart so we don’t dip into our savings. We have plans to visit New York for St. Patty’s day and Niagara Falls sometime in June. The Niagara Falls is a belated honey moon gift from our parents with hotel and most of the flight costs covered. New York, we will be hitching a ride to visit my aunt so costs should be maintained there. Then there is that whole one way ticket to South America thing, you know just a little plan, which leads me to…

Get Organized – If we want to make this work and last we have to be smart about our travels. I’ve already started saving resources on our Google travel site, such as hostel & flight sites, legal documents, etc. Yet, there is still much to do, like set an itinerary, a shopping list of items we need to buy, formalize a budget, travel insurance, and the last minute to do list like changing mailing address and other items.

So much to do in a year, but I feel like this is going to be a great one because this is when we take that leap into the traveling world. I also talked with my boss today about our possible travel dates so I don’t feel the need to hide anything with is super great. What are your resolutions for the new year?

__________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

2012 Resolutions – Countdown to RTW is a post from: Monkey Brewster

Image property of Yuengling.com

Type: Beer – Porter / Black & Tan
Name: Yuengling – Black & Tan
Price: $6.00 for a 6-pack
Made: Pottsville, PA
Alc/Vol: 4.7%

In the words of Yuengling, “It took 180 years to become an overnight success” …that is, in Ohio at least. I’ve heard of Yuengling for years but never had the opportunity to enjoy it until I traveled east out of Ohio. The way I heard it was that due to those dirty distributer who were in the back pocket of Bud, Miller and Coors companies. Yuengling didn’t have a fighting chance to even break ground in Ohio. I’m not sure if that is true, but what I do know is that I had to travel to Savannah, New Bern, and other eastern locations to enjoy this brew.

I am a fan of microbrews, their only downside is that they typically cost more than your Millers, Buds or Coors. The catch with this brew is that it typically runs the same price as your watered down beers – which I guess isn’t really a catch.

Now that we are done with the history and economics lesson onto the brew. Assuming you’ve all been fully educated at Monkey Brew U.’s Half and Half vs the Black and Tan lesson you are aware that this is not your self concocted mix. No, my furless friend this is a pre-mix batch and Yuengling isn’t the only brewery that does this.

This beer has a deep porter scent, while it is a slightly mild scent it still comes through. You get the air of coffee and caramel through the nose and the taste. The coffee taste lingers at the tip of the tongue, with a slight carbonated ting. The aftertaste has bit of a bitter dryness to it.

The truth is that it doesn’t have the strongest taste compared to your typical microbrews nor can be compared to the strong taste of a Guinness mixed into a half-n-half  but that doesn’t mean it is watered down like the major breweries. It lands somewhere in between, it really is a good introduction for someone who wants to know what real beer taste like, or you know that beer has a taste.

Nowadays since Yuengling has made a recent and huge presence Ohio, I typically enjoy their beer, especially when my draft options are ick, yuck, blah and Yuengling Lager. I would recommend this beer to anyone who hasn’t tried it, especially if they don’t want to buy two different types of beer but still want that black and tan mix. Overall I give this brew 3 and a half out of 5 bananas, not to shabby for a pre-mix.

What’s your thought on this brew?

__________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

New Brew Tuesday: Yuengling – Original Black and Tan is a post from: Monkey Brewster

さる, by Jaako on March 8, 2008 through Flickr via Creative Commons

I feel like a sorry addict pedaling the same sorry plea that this is the last time I pawn off our VCR to find cash for my habit. Except, who would even buy a VCR nowadays? Honestly, I don’t even think I could find one at a garage sale, especially a stand alone one. Not the new kind that has the fancy regular DVD player in it, you know since everything is blue ray now.

So back to the poo storm. Well I’m doing that whole graduate school thing where they make your read, then write, then read some more and more and more to the point that words like “the” sound funny and you begin to question if it is even a real word in the dark hours of the night when you should be sleeping.  Well, that has been me and my lovely wife. Our date nights have turned into coffee shop visits where we deeply stare into our computer screen for hours, sitting across from each other without saying a single word for hours.

On top of this, I decided to teach a class to first semester college freshman on the basic skills to succeed. Which sounds all nice and wholesome but teaching a Monday and Wednesday 8am class was not a good idea. It is like pulling teeth to get them to talk, and trust me no one wants to hear me rattle on for 50 mins about why actually reading your $150 text book is important. Then again, what do I know, sure never take it out of the packaging at the cost of a failing grade and the bookstore will give you more money when you resell it to them, you know like $5.50 instead of just $5.

I tried to be a good blogger but then the poo sprinkle turned into an all out shit storm as if an army of 1,000 monkeys decided to wage war on me. Yet that dark smelly cloud is starting to break apart, I blame it on the lack of fiber in their diet. That or you know my classes are about to end, the ones I take and teach…on November 12, in like a week and a half. Can you tell I’m excited? @(^_^)@  <— how about now?

The only crappy thing that has skidded into this poo storm is that my car got the death touch. It will cost at minimum $1,200 to fix it and it won’t last me the 12 months till I run away to South America. This means I need a new car and instead of spending my fleeting free moments at work blogging away like a good little monkey, I’ve been searching the depths of CraigsList for something to get me to work without violating my wallet in naughty ways. I think I’ve found a truck, it looks and drives nice, a mechanic is going to check it out tomorrow and may be mine by the week’s end. That is, if all goes according to plan. The down side, is this will all cost me around $1,500 out of my savings for backpacking the world and all. True it is more expensive then fixing my car but I’m not sure fixing my car will fix it for more than 1 month. It’s getting to that point, sad to say.

So to make a long story short, sorry for not blogging. I miss you. I really do, and I have a few posts in mind and a few New Brew Tuesday‘s that I owe you. So drink one for me and see you in a day or two.

__________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

…And Then the Poo Storm Began is a post from: Monkey Brewster

_________________________________________________________
Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

Flinging Photos: Quote Me Not is a post from: Monkey Brewster

I’ve been a bad little monkey, well outside of my normal flingings. I haven’t been present on this site as much as I would like which being the sole flinger here, that’s a bad thing. I won’t woe you with stories that boast my responsibilities being greater than yours, because truth be told everyone is busy with something or the other. What I will tell you is my plans for the next year and why I’m going to keep being busy until I me and the Mrs. sail away to far off lands…or fly….you get the point.

If you weren’t already aware, I work at a university and August is a busy time as everyone prepares for school. I’m excitedly working on creating a module for my First Year Experience class that I’m teaching that helps gets students acclimated to college. I’m also working on my Masters in TESOL, which I hope to have done by May. I love my job and I feel like I really get to help make a difference in my students lives, which is why I’ve been busily working on formalizing everything I do so that my future replacement can pick up where I left off. Along with that, I’ve been uploading resources on my Google site, so when the day comes to leave everything is in its place. I haven’t created a to do list yet but it’s on my list to do. Yeah I like lists.

We’ve set a tentative travel date.

Although, our plans are a little different than what many others are doing. First we plan on traveling through Brazil, to revisit some old friends I haven’t seen since I moved from Rio in 2008. After a few weeks to a month we plan on heading to Peru, where my wife is from. Maybe we will travel through Argentina and Chile or just catch a flight. I’m hoping for the former.
Sometime around March 2013 we may or may not have a Peruvian wedding, as our USA one was small and unfortunately didn’t include many of her family. My family is saving up for their journey to Peru so we need to solidify our plans soon. The only problem is in order to have a church wedding down there, el padre wants to speak with us directly. I don’t speak Spanish beyond my high school class level and either way that is some long distance calling for two monkeys who are already technically married.

After that, we plan on staying there for a few months where we can work, save up and make plans for our next journey. I’ve contacted Trinity College, in Dublin, Ireland,  about their PhD program but I’m not in a rush to go back to school. Another option would be to backpack Asia and try to find a job in Japan, where my wife’s sister lives. Although, I wouldn’t mind stopping to live and work in Thailand for a bit, the wonderful family of three at GotPassport are doing big and exciting things over there and maybe they wouldn’t mind showing a little monkey ‘n his mate around @(^_^)@

It’s a 14 month count down till we launch and  things may change along the way but for the most part we have a plan and a date, Oct. 25, 2012 . Those two alone will be enough to get us moving, the rest of it that will keep us going we won’t truly discover until we get there.

So, yes I’m a busy little monkey and I can’t promise I’ll be the best blogger for the next 10 days but hopefully I’ll get back into the swing of things and from there, everything else is just a swing in the park.

_________________________________________________________
Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

The Busy Little Monkey is a post from: Monkey Brewster

* Side note: I love my old college rommie’s laugh

_________________________________________________________
Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

Ultimate Doggie Road Trip is a post from: Monkey Brewster

The Goal

“To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again”

THE RULES

1)   The Blogger is nominated to take part by another blogger
2)   He/She publishes their 7 links on their own blog. One Link for each category
3) They nominate up to five more bloggers to take part.

Simple enough right, so lets get flinging!

- My most beautiful post – Marriage is Forever!
I’d say this is a beautiful post because beyond all the worries and fears of marriage it boils down to one true point, I love my wife @(^_^)@

I have someone stop by this post almost daily, and I’m sure it isn’t exactly what they are looking for but I still think the points I made then hold true today, especially for us travelers.

OK, so I’m a monkey. You aren’t going to take me serious anyways but I lay the smack down on the Travel Channel, or fling down I guess.

In a world where space and weight make all the difference when traveling I wanted to see how we could get the most out of our luggage. Rolling vs Folding is a disagreement that’s probably as old as the Wright brother, I add one more into the mix and add small plastic individual container bags to help organize as well.

– A post whose success surprised me – 50 Women Travelers – Eat Your Heart Out ‘Eat, Pray Love’

I came to the realization that of all the lists out there, there wasn’t one highlighting women travelers and travel bloggers so I did just that. I figured with highlighting so many great women it would be kind of popular but never to the extend that I would need to make a part II list.

– A post I feel didn’t get the attention it deserved – Falling Whistles – Will You Be A Whistleblower for Peace?

I was really moved by their story and mission and want to help in any way I can. I wear my whistle and that sparks some interest but I was hoping this post would cause a bit more of a stir than it did.

OK the reason I’m proud of this post is not because of the post but what the post is about. Especially because it always tends to happen, the infamous question, “So how did you propose?” It is all about the story and I think that this is a great one, and the best part is it didn’t go at all with my original plan.

Drum roll please …………………….. Ta Da! I’d like to nominate these wonderful flingers to participate and share their 7 links. Are you up for the challenge? (Oh and I included Tripbase, I’m not nominating them since they are the ones who started but just wanted to add them to who I’m highlighting)

Chris Richardson The Aussie Nomad.com	The amazing family of three (A, M & J) Got Passport.org	Ayngelina Bacon is Magic.ca
Brittani Brittani Photography.com	Caz and Craig Y Travel Blog.com	The creators of My Seven Links Trip Base.com

__________________________________________________________
Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

My Seven Links is a post from: Monkey Brewster

There is another reason to fold cranes, when someone gets married, has a baby or if there is a death. It is as if each crane is a prayer or a well wishing hope sealed along the lines of each fold. You are supposed to fold 1000 cranes with the 1001st crane being red.

The other weekend my father came to visit me and told me about a coworker of his. They were driving home from a family picnic when a drunk driver hit them head on killing the wife and son, the daughter was seriously injured but was going to be OK. The father, they were unsure about the likelihood that he would survive and had been in and out of surgery for a week. He hasn’t been conscious long enough to find out that not everybody made it.

My wife was deeply touched by this story, and before I knew it came down with a stack of paper, on a mission to send a message of hope. So we folded, and folded and folded. Long into the night and into the next day. Truth be told we only completed 101 cranes, but we stringed them together and sent them home with my father the next day in hopes that things turn out better for the guy, and maybe to inspire others to complete the other 900 cranes. Who knows but you too can fold cranes for peace, for Sadako, for cancer, or just to spend time with your family.

__________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

Flinging Photos: Origami Cranes is a post from: Monkey Brewster

You ever have one of those mornings were your first thought was, I shouldn’t have drank that much?

It’s even worse when you realize how much stuff you have to do that day, it could be work, school, travel…anything really. The fun of last night comes rushing to a halt while sobriety smacks you in the face reminding you of what is yet left undone.

Well I’m working with Zaca and their fun new product – a recovery patch to help prevent that morning from happening. On my recent trip to North Carolina I had the opportunity to try out this patch with my old college room mate. This was like a free-for-all to relive our freshmen dorm days.

To be honest the results were slightly mixed, true neither of us had a hint of a hangover the next day but I did have some sort of an allergic reaction to it. Nothing major that a benadryl couldn’t fix, but according to the people over at Zaca I’m one of the lucky few who end up finding an allergic reaction. Which there is always one lucky fellah who is, no matter what product. Although compared to things like anti-depressent pills whose side effects can be suicidal thoughts mine was a rash on my arms and sun reaction to the adhesive. My roomate – he ended up right as rain which is odd because he ends up with allergic reactions to everything  and usually I am not allergic to anything. Like the time he became all blotchy when we made a giant vase with tubes into a harry buffalo of sorts, except no fruit just juice and liquor.

That’s besides the point. Now I can’t make a bold claim as to say this patch is why we didn’t have a hangover, I’m no scientist, but I can say that after power hours, $2.50 Margaritas and $1 beers I wasn’t feeling as groggy as I should have been. If I had to put money on it, I’d say it at least helped, especially because I didn’t do anything else to help prevent the hangover. And when you are faced with a night of drinking why not be prepared for the morning and try and one-up that hangover. All the ingredients are natural and was even shown on NBC so it doesn’t hurt to win this contest and put it to the test for free!

How To Enter: Just comment below on where you would use this patch and how it could help you. I will use Random.org to select the winner and will announce them on my Twitter, Facebook and notify via email.

It doesn’t improve your odds but you could also Like My Fanpage, Follow me on Twitter or tweet this to your followers (Hit the Tweet button).

Contest Ends: Saturday June 25th, 2011 at 11:59pm EST.

__________________________________________________________
Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

Contest: Win a Free Zaca Patch is a post from: Monkey Brewster

__________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to fling this post to others if you like what you see!

Driving Through Appalachia is a post from: Monkey Brewster