Top Spot Travel

December 28, 2012 by jfalbelda

The Only Thing Permanent in My Life – Tattoos!

I like tattoos. Always have. So much in fact that I didn’t even wait one day after my 18th birthday to hop on a train with my friend Jooce (yup, we actually call him that) from Philly to NYC to get one.

Well, we really went up there to get Fake I.D’s which we accomplished as well, but I knew why I was truly going up there (even if Jooce didn’t). I wanted one so badly that I didn’t even take recommendations from anyone, and I just walked right to the first place I found, paid the guy a hundred bucks and he put my family crest on my right shoulder. It was a tasteful design, but lets just say it didn’t end up like the picture, and I still have a pretty shit tattoo, but, you live and learn…right? :S

I waited a whole year to even consider getting another one. This time, I wanted something on my leg right before going away to college so that I’d be the coolest freshman there (which I obviously was). Instead of just being a “yes man”, I opted to visit a more reputable tattoo parlor in Philadelphia, Kadillac Tattoo, in the Manyunk section of the city. It was so “legit” that I had to go in twice before they even inked me up to drop off my design, have the artist get the mock up ready for my approval and then finally the big day. It came out great with lines so crisp, you could use them as a ruler.

After my first two tattoos, my desire for new tatty tats went dormant as I often forgot I even had them or couldn’t think of anything meaningful that I’d want to bury it under my skin until it decomposed off of my rotting bones (sorry got a little into that one). That was until my recent trip to Asia.

Throughout my trip, I really felt good about everything that was happening. New experiences, complete self-reliance, living by my own rules, you know, renegade shit that makes you want to get a tattoo.

I remembered a painting I had done a couple years ago that still hangs in my living room and I thought, “wow, that would make for a perfect tattoo” – something to live by, something to look down at and go, “yup, every day son”. It says this:

Being that I have made a living out of traveling, I thought it would be the perfect, self-inflicted indelible mark to say a respectable, “Fuck You Corporate America!”. Coffee shop warrior fo’ life!

So, instead of opting to have my tattoo done in Asia (that’s my 25 year old judgement kicking in), I waited until I got back to the city of my birth and site of my last tattoo to get it done up. Six years later since the last one, and with the rise of online reviews dictating much of our off-screen decisions, I opted to search Yelp this time to see where might be the “best place in Philadelphia” to get a tattoo (Kadillac was too far from where I was staying). Continue reading →

December 17, 2012 by jfalbelda

My First Urban Love Affair

Architecture in Barcelona

When I studied abroad in Barcelona back in 2007, it was my first real experience living on my own (lets be real, sharing a dorm room on campus with another awkward freshman goon doesn’t count). I had decided to study abroad earlier than most kids (sophomore year) along with one of my friends, Pranay.

We thought it would be cool to venture to the same destination to study, so after a little back and forth, we both agreed that Spain and Barcelona in particular would be an amazing place to go. Once we handled a bunch of paperwork, locked down Spanish Student Visas, and got things straight with our home university, we were ready to plan the next part of living abroad, where to live. Continue reading →

December 2, 2012 by jfalbelda

The Quest for the Perfect Guitar in The Philippines

When I travel to the emerging world, (more often than not on my sojourns), I like to take advantage of my “spending power”. While I’m not buying diamond rings and Louis Vuitton neckties (stuff like that costs more in third world countries anyways), I do try and purchase other things that I would normally shell out for in America like eye glasses, custom-made clothes and instruments.

Hand-made, custom shirts I got made in Thailand for $45 total!

I really discovered this truth when I was in Mexico last year for a Radiohead concert. I had been recently disappointed when I headed to a LensCrafters in Miami (chain glasses store in America) and found out my new pair would come out to over $400 with the upgraded lenses. I decided that was just too much for what I was getting and left disheartened and still blind.

Well, the next week when I was strolling the streets of Mexico City and saw a whole strip of eyeglasses stores, I popped into one, found two pairs I liked more than anything I saw in the states, got a free eye exam and upgraded lenses for $90 total, Bam! Continue reading →

November 17, 2012 by jfalbelda

London’s Quirky Streets!

roads in England

There are two places in the world where men can most effectively disappear ― the city of London and the South Seas. –Herman Melville

When you think about the intricate pattern around which the streets of London are woven, these wise words start to make perfect sense. The capital of Great Britain is notorious for its extremely narrow, winding streets which oddly enough have become a major attraction for tourists all over the world.

Travelers are simply in love with the congeries of alleys, roads, lanes and the charming ‘mews’ which conveniently conceal within their midst a variety of homes, pubs, restaurants, boutiques and some of the city’s last vestiges of community spirit. Although tourists come in search of something precise, they usually end up getting lost between the crooked alleys and the historically filled buildings. For those who have been there before it no secret that every house has its unique character and story. Continue reading →

November 4, 2012 by jfalbelda

My Official Transition from Backpacker to Flashpacker

What is a Flashpacker?

I am now 25 years old. Sometimes, it’s hard for me to believe that I’ve made it to a quarter century as I have only legally been allowed to have a beer in my own country for less than five years. As far as the world goes, I am definitely well into the dreaded “adult” bracket, but don’t get me wrong though, it’s a great age. I can hang with the 21 year olds and not be that weird older guy who insinuated himself into the table, and I can still be respected in a conversation about my stance on the presidential race with those double my age. I guess I have the best of both worlds, and I have really felt that same sentiment in my recent travels in Asia.

Up until very recently, (i.e. my trip to Istanbul and Bulgaria exactly one year ago), I felt that when on the road, the only accommodation option my “kid” budget could accommodate would be a shit hostel bed, bumping heads and brushing toes with fringe members of society. Continue reading →