Setting Precedence in Travel

In the Pink Palace, our love for surfing, ocean, and adventure inspired a small movie night. Up in the north-west quarters of the house, a large 36” LCD was screening The Drifter on my dresser top shelf. The rays of light danced against the walls as we soaked in the sun, cinematography, music and waves Rob Machado surfed. The movie was over, and suddenly life felt so dry without the touch of spontaneity. Our thirst for travel surfaced and within 15 minutes, a roommate pact was made promising warm water, waves, and South America…

Nate tangled in his exams, Kenn and I faithful to our movie screening, we fly to Quito, Ecuador unannounced, untrained, and eager to explore. After three days upon our arrival, two fresh roommates venture into the city of Latacunga at midnight with a general direction in mind. Greeted by a friendly prostitute, the walk was serene, and lights flickered their yellow cast over the abundant shadows lurking the streets. The following morning we went to a fruit market in search of the best mango, pineapple and papaya smoothies. We swaggered around the isles and filled our bags with the most succulent fruits filled with nature’s best sugar. Our dining room awaited us at the center of a busy car roundabout. The statue behind us stood strong, and we devoured from the peel to our fingers, with a slight overcast of smog for cinematographic excellence.  No longer hungry, we awaited for our next conquest pondering how we remove the mango juicy pulp from our fingers. During our return to an amiable Ecuadorian merchant, a crippled looking pick up truck shouts a seemingly familiar city name to our gringo direction. “Quilotoa! Quilotoa!!”. We kindly said no thank you and continued upon our way. Curiously taking a two second glance of our Lonely Planet map, with no place to go, we had nothing to loose. Kenn and I looked at each other, smiled, and started running after our pick up truck before the light turns green for GO!

Ecuador, then and there, opened its arms and welcomed us for our joint venture. The precedence was established.  

No rules, no pain, no game!