I am currently in: Jakarta, Indonesia

If there really is a place called Hell and another called Heaven, and if getting to Heaven means I have to give up the things that could get me in Hell… well… I hope melanin and dark skin work in the afterlife.

When I travel, my morals still travel with me, but there is something about traveling that frees me; I live a few weeks of excess that I normally don’t partake in during my routine day-to-day life of work.

The Seven Deadly Sins are a Christian classification of objectionable vices, used since early times to educate Christian’s on mankind’s tendency to sin. My Seven Deadly Travel Sins are the sins I often always commit when I travel. Damn me to hell!

Definitions from Wikipedia

1. Gluttony

Derived from the Latin gluttire, meaning to gulp down or swallow, gluttony is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste- in particular, food.

When I travel, my taste buds travel too. If there is anything I can attest to over-indulging in, it is local food. Usually when I am planning my travel budget, I set aside almost 30% of it for food. I’ll try my best to get by on street food and small bites, but that usually last only a few days before I am inside of some nice restaurant taking advantage of the inexpensive, locally caught prawns, crab and fish. In Sihanoukville, Cambodia for instance, you could get prawns the size of Kimbo Slice’s fists for less than $10 for a dozen. Like his UFC career, those prawns did not last too long when they were placed on my table.

I am very gluttonous when it comes to sashimi as you can see.

2. Pride

Pride is considered the most original and serious sin. It is identified as a desire to be more important or attractive than others, failing to acknowledge the good work of others, and excessive love of self.

My definition of pride is different than what I posted above. For me, pride as a travel sin comes when I finally see or accomplish something that I dreamed of. For instance, the moment in 2009 when I stepped out of the Paris Metro station at Notre Dame, looked across the Seine River and saw the Eiffel Tower with my own eyes (a memory that still makes me smile). That was a prideful moment and since that day, I’ve had many of them. It is definitely a love of self- of self accomplishment. For many people, myself including, traveling gives us a sense of accomplishment, whether we save months for a trip or get sponsored. It is good to feel pride and being proud of the goals you achieve.

The exact moment when I saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time.

3. Greed

Greed is a sin of excess, characterized by a very excessive desire to pursue wealth, status and power.

I may not make anything close to a million, but I sure know how to look and act like a millionaire when I travel. You know what’s great about five-star hotels in third world countries? They cost about as much as a Best Western in the USA, only they don’t realize that and they treat you like a millionaire, especially when you have a million dollar swag. Get me in a suit, walking in pressing buttons on my iPhone and flashing a white smile, and I have them molded like puddy in my hands. It’s all about attitude and I’ve found that having the right attitude in many hotels and restaurants will get you a lot of free things. Greed is good.

Have suit, will travel well.

4. Sloth

Defined as having spiritual or emotional apathy, and being physically or emotionally inactive. In other words, sloth mean laziness.

Correct me if I am wrong, but don’t traveling and being lazy go hand-in-hand? At least when I am near a beach it does.

Turn the alarms off, matter of fact, don’t even let me see the time. When I’m vacationing where a beach is involved, sloth is the word of the week. I’m chillaxing on a beach sofa, umbrella above me, cerveza beside me and the sounds of the sea surrounding me. I love closing my eyes to the sounds of the waves and birds and waking up to the sun beginning to set. Come evenings, the beaches of Asia always seem to come alive with lively night markets and parties that don’t require the sloth in me to move much.

Yea, this is the definition of sloth right here. Koh Ngai, Thailand.

5. Envy

Those who commit the sin of envy not only resent that another person has something they perceive themselves as lacking, but also wish the other person to be deprived of it.

The envy I feel when I travel is directed at the locals. Many of them lack what we Westerners consider material wealth. Yet although they may be poor in the monetary sense, a lot of people I come across and meet on my travels appear to be full of emotional and spiritual wealth. Not only that, but they love living in the places that I only get to visit. I envy them for that.

A life of peace and tranquility.

6. Wrath

Wrath may be described as inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger.

I feel wrath when I travel, when I look and learn about the injustice that local people have had to endure. In particular, I have strong feelings of wrath when I visit areas of Australia where the aborigines have a strong presence. Seeing how they have been mistreated for over a century upsets me, especially when it is so obvious. I also have felt strong feelings of wrath when visiting Cambodia and Vietnam. Anger at the treatment millions of innocent locals had to endure with decades of war.

Enough to make any person feel wrath at the injustices of fellow men.

7. Lust

Lust is usually thought of as excessive thoughts or desires of a sexual nature.

As much as some of you may want to read about sex here, unfortunately for you, that’s not what I am going to do. Lust for me when I travel is my lust for life and adventure.

I have a lust for happiness and I get that lust fulfilled every day that I am able to see somewhere new, meet local people, try new foods and simply take in every thing that surrounds me. I love being a part of this world in this day. Lust for life. Lust for love. Lust for adventure.

Lust for life!

These are my seven deadly travel sins. Hope you enjoyed reading and please share this post or subscribe to my updates to keep this page moving up

“Mister, mister, you have money for me?”

“Chocolate man, you buy a bracelet from me?”

“Damn you, chocolate man, why you so mean? You buy from me Obama man.”

I admit that at times I cracked a smile at the ways the kids in Phnom Penh and other parts of Cambodia would approach me to buy things or simply give them a dollar. I smiled at their inventiveness and charm, but was careful not to mock their predicament.

You can Google the numbers. They are staggering. In Phnom Penh alone, there are estimated to be anywhere between 2,000-10,000 children as young as four, working on the streets rather than attending schools. Children as young as 10 have been observed (not by myself) shooting heroin or sniffing glue. Some estimates I read said that over 70% of the street children reported to have had sex with tourists. Tragic statistics for a country trying hard to separate itself from a tragic history.

On my last night in Sihanoukville, Cambodia last weekend, as our tuk tuk driver took us back to the ship, I saw a young Cambodian boy asleep on the sidewalk; no pillow, blanket, not even a jacket for cushioning.

While walking along Pub Street in Siem Reap, a young girl approached my friends and I asking for milk for her sister. She was carrying her baby sister in a sling and said that she did not want money, she just needed milk for her sister. When I told her that I didn’t have money to get her milk, she said to me, “No money, no honey. No dollar, no boom boom.” I nearly broke down and cried at that moment. I couldn’t even stay out that night, opting to return to my hotel.

I saw these things not more than two days after visiting on of the sights where the Khmer Rouge had their killing fields outside of Phnom Penh. As I listened to the audio guide during my tour, I learned the different methods the Khmer Rouge used to kill innocent Cambodians from 1975-1979. At one point, they became conservative with their bullets and decided it would be more cost effective to beat people to death. There was a tree at the killing field and on that tree were 100′s of bracelets. Those bracelets were in memory of the 100′s of children who were beaten to death at the tree.

Tree at the killing fields where children were taken to and beaten against by the Khmer Rouge.

They were not beaten to death at the tree; they were beaten to death against the tree.

I can no longer contemplate the cruelty of man. I can’t imagine that scene actually happening. How are people who commit such crimes even allowed to live? There are men and women- free men and women- walking around Cambodia right now who committed these acts.

I cannot put into written or oral words how heart wrenching it is hearing about and seeing what children in Cambodia endure. They are not only being exploited by their families, but also by tourists. I hope Cambodia has the death penalty for any foreigner caught engaging in sexual acts with a minor. If they don’t, maybe they can send the tourists over the border into Thailand with a pound of weed strapped to them.

When is society as a whole going to protect our children? What drives people to exploit and commit crimes against children? I know it happens in cities and countries all around the world. It’s just that for myself, I’ve never seen it so in my face before. We’d be stopped at a gas station and the instant we got out of the car, kids would approach us. If we gave money, we’d see the kid go around the corner and then more kids would come from that area like puppets on a string. It was as if there were someone directing them on what to say and do when they approached us.

Photos of children taken prisoner and tortured at the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh during the reign of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

I think about that sleeping boy. Can’t get him out of my mind. No shoes on his feet. Nothing to lay his head on. His future is already written for him. The little girl with the baby. Does she have a chance? Or will she wind up working at a hostess bar at an age where she isn’t legally old enough to drink?

What will become of these street children? Is Cambodia doing anything to lessen their numbers and educate them and the adults surrounding them?

In future posts, I will tell you how great the food is in Cambodia or how amazing my hotels were. But why should I entice anyone to visit a country that does not take care of its people and improve their lot, not the livelihood of the tourists flooding in from China with their new money.

The street children of Phnom Penh are the children that the gods have forgotten. No way any higher power would allow children to be exploited to the extent they are now. Come to think of it, no way any man should allow children to be exploited as they are now.

This twisted tree at the killing fields speaks to me. It tells me about the twisted lives that it saw daily during the reign of terror the Khmer Rouge imposed upon the Cambodian people.

I have to admit, keeping a blog like this can be frustrating at times. Despite how much of it may be personal and may be my way of keeping a record of my life, sometimes I want to feel like people care. When you spend hours editing photos, writing and rewriting your thoughts, hit that post button and smile, all you want is to see a like, a share or even a comment. When it seems like no one cares, it can be a let down.

“Do people not like me?” “Am I not good enough?” “Do I need to be funnier?” “What does that person do that I’m not doing?” Those are things I honestly ask myself when I’m wondering why I don’t see more likes or shares. Not only on here but also on Facebook, Instagram and other places. Then I read travel bloggers giving advice on how they amass thousands of readers and fans and I realize that it takes a lot more than just telling a good story and sharing great pictures to be considered a “successful travel blogger.” It seems to take a lot of work, lol.

I like letting my writing do the work, but that isn’t always good enough. You really have to sell yourself. I don’t mean sell yourself as in selling out, but sell yourself as in hitting the online pavement and networking like crazy. I don’t have the luxury of time to do that, so I suppose I’ll just keep doing what I have been- building an audience one person at a time.

I do commend those friends who the talent and have built great audiences. I definitely admire them and love how humble they stay.

I received an email today that reminded me that no matter how frustrating I may feel sometimes, that I started this travel blog for a reason. It’s an email like I get every so often and the message to me is to keep doing what I am doing, because no matter how few seem to “like” it, at least there are people who I am inspiring. With that said, allow me to say thank you to all of you who stop by and read. I love seeing all the countries that visited my site in the week. From the USA to UAE, Saudi Arabia to Switzerland, this site is allowing me to reach people in places I haven’t been yet. Thank you!

Here are three recent emails I’ve received from readers that make me happy to have this page:

Hey Fidel,

My name is James, I really enjoy your blog posts and rich photography. I was contemplating joining the navy for a long time and when I was researching jobs I stumbled upon your web site. Anyhow, not to sound like a fanboy or a kisass but- you seemingly have the things I want out of life- travel, simplicity, and a cool career. I just signed my contract for an MC in the navy and feel super blessed. I was wondering if you had any advice or insight into navy life, the job, and any other wisdom.

I will be sure to pass your site along to any like minded people. You are an inspiration for your travel excursions and service to our country.

Keep up the travels,

James-

Hi,

I just came across your blog, please allow me to commend you on the beautiful pictures and of course the valuable and entertaining stories of your travels.  Anyway I came across the blog as I was looking for information on Japanese travel, I live in England, and for 3weeks in the summer I will be travelling in Japan.  I am going to a 2week summer school in Hiroshima and then have an extra 5 days to tour, I really would love some ideas for those extra five days, excuse! if I am assuming that you are well seasoned for Japan travel advise but I am sure you might be able to offer me some good value ideas on how I can see a bit of Japan.  I am usually the ‘cultural, monuments’ tourist and I will also be travelling on a tight budget, I plan to travel in and out from Osaka, in Hiroshima I will be staying with a Japanese family and then I need to make my own plans after the summer school.  The days are from the 29/07-15/08, I am not so fussed about Tokyo but would really love some ideas on Kyoto (lovely! lovely pics, btw), Osaka and any other interesting places within the vicinity of Osaka.

I hope I  made some kind of sense and would really love to hear your ideas, and I would appreciate your kind assistance.  Thank you again for sharing your stories and life experiences.

Kind regards,

Sellina

Hi Fidel,

I came across your blog and really enjoyed reading through you entries. I recently decided to join the navy and met with a recruiter who told me about the opportunities to be had in the navy. I have about two days to decide whether i want to sign up or not and i feel very conflicted about it, i really hope to get some insider information from you.

I happen to be a very bored professional accountant (stuck in a cubicle) who has a BS and masters degree, i love to travel and have been to 13 countries so far and one of the main reason i was interested in the navy was the travel opportunity. I understand i will have to take a pay cut if i was to join the navy and being 32 yrs old i feel i may be too old to fit in. Is joining the navy out of the need to switch careers and travel worth it especially at my age? Any tips or insight would be greatly appreciated, i hope to hear back from you. Thanks.

Thank all of you! And if you’re a reader with any questions about life in the Navy, life in Japan or just travel in general, I am always happy to answer and assist you. hartsallovertheworld@gmail.com or facebook.com/ihartravel is how you can reach me. Happy travels!

Hello friends! Back on the ship after four wonderful days off in Cambodia. Went from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and back. It was quite the adventure but that’s one thing I live for. Stay tuned for posts about my thoughts on Cambodia’s street children, returning to Angkor, where to stay in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, plus more from Hoi An and the sakura season in Japan. I know I am behind on my posts, but please be patient with me. Lots of things going on on the ship and it isn’t easy writing personal things when I have superiors constantly over my shoulder. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite pictures from the great week I had in Cambodia.

(not actual color of the sky) Photo edited in Photoshop CS5.

A young Cambodian dress as an Aspara dancer poses at Angkor Wat.

Young Buddhist walking through Bayon temple.

Yea, I know exactly what you're thinking.

Horroring reminders of man's injustice to fellow man at the Killing Fields.

Posing with Khmer dancers at Angkor Wat.

A woman prays in front of a Buddhist monk in Phnom Penh.

The faces at Bayon temple.

Racing through the streets of Siem Reap in a tuk tuk.

Thank you for viewing! Please show your support by liking this post, sharing it with friends and also liking my Facebook page today. Every “like” counts! Thank you!

After a full day spent in the hot sun touring the temples of Angkor Park, I was spent. Low on energy and not really feeling like walking around temples in the rain, I sought something else to do. Luckily, I made friends with some travelers from Vancouver at my hostel in Siem Reap and one of them recommended going to the floating village at Tonle Sap Lake.

The people living at the floating village near Siem Reap called Chong Kneas, depend on the lake for their livelihoods. I doubt that they see any of the $20 USD that each traveler pays to take a tour of their floating village; similar to how doubtful it is that any of the money going to enter Angkor Park actually goes back to the people who live in Siem Reap. But I digress.

The floating village is poverty but poverty as we see it in the Western world. Despite what our definition is, what I saw at the village were families who were still together; people who knew their neighbors; a village that made sure no one starved; children who were laughing and who could play in an area bigger than a backyard. Yes, it might be poverty, but I don’t think the people I saw that day were poor. In fact, their lives may be richer than any of ours because they knew family, community and man’s connection to nature.

Following are images I took at Tonle Sap Lake. Today, I decided to edit the photographs and make them black and white. I think the lack of color brings out the village even more, especially the people. Let me know what you think.

Thank you for reading and as always, please follow me on Facebook. Your support allows this website to grow.