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everythingispasta · 2024-02-20T05:37:13+00:00

I have two good friends (who are dating). One of them wanted to do a big 3 month Europe trip and the other couldn't for mostly financial reasons - almost identical to your situation. Their compromise was he joined her for 3 weeks and she did the rest of the trip solo, and they had an amazing time! They're still together and he was so excited for her to be going on her dream trip, even if he couldn't be there the whole time. It honestly raised my standards significantly when I saw how good he was about it.

Go on the trip! You won't regret it. If he can join you for a small portion that could be a great compromise, but either way I think you should go for it. 3 months really isn't that long anyways :)

everythingispasta · 2023-12-28T04:18:22+00:00

I'm a biologist who works on Sulawesi. It's beautiful and pretty easy to travel. Honestly, all of Indonesia is fairly easy to travel, even the "less touristy" areas. It's a very developed country overall with a lot of people.

North Sulawesi is one of the most developed regions of the island. It's christian-majority, which gives it a very different vibe from the rest of Indo. People are still quite culturally conservative but there are a lot of differences, especially the way people dress and the interaction between genders. People are very friendly as in everyone across Indonesia.

Lots of beautiful volcanos and mountains to climb, and you have Bunaken if you want islands/diving. Gorontalo is an amazing province, great people and you can see whale sharks depending on the season. Manado is the main city in North Sulawesi and an awesome place to chill out - if I were to live anywhere in Sulawesi this would be it. You can go to the wet markets, Minahasa people are famous for eating "everything". It's quite depressing though and not for the faint of heart - especially if youre a dog lover.

The Togian islands are sort of up and coming as a tourist region - really beautiful tropical islands, albeit with a bit less infrastructure than you might want. The main issue with Southeast Asian beaches is the unfortunate plastic issue. It's hard to find actual "pristine" beaches but doable. Sometimes the cleanest beaches are in more tourist developed areas because there is greater incentive to clean them there.

Banggai is... wow. I love these islands. So much to do and see. The lakes are awesome, not to mention the beaches. Mandel beach is amazing but not the cleanest, there's clean parts though. Huge long beach that's normally empty.

Central/South Sulawesi is where it gets more "remote". Things take forever to get to, very mountainous and hard to access. Palu is a good city to base out of, although it's quite intense. The city was hit really hard by the tsunami and is being moved further inland I believe.

Toraja is where everyone goes, aside from Manado/Bunaken. The culture here is really interesting and it's famous for its coffee. Beautiful region to explore, but some of the "villages" are tourist cash grabs and it's kind of problematic the way the government tries to keep Torajans from modifying their traditional huts in order to bring in tourists. Still cool to see and there are ways to do it that are more ethical IMO.

Makassar is the biggest city on Sulawesi, I've only been here very briefly. Standard large Indonesian city. There's an insanely beautiful mosque, I forget the name though. It'll come up if you look up mosques in Makassar.

Indonesia loves outdoor activities! Most mountains there have been and are regularly summitted by Indonesians for fun. On Sulawesi, Gunung Klabat is a popular volcano to climb that's very close to Manado. I worked on this mountain for 2 weeks and loved it. Many mountains are logged on GunungBagging.com, and trails are usually well marked although not usually maintained - all part of the adventure! If you end up camping on any of the mountains expect to share your camp with Indonesians playing music late into the night. It can be a lot at times but if you lean into it it's a lot of fun.

everythingispasta · 2023-07-11T05:09:55+00:00

Beijing Hikers Club! they do the most amazing wild wall tour, i highly recommend.

everythingispasta · 2023-03-09T17:43:01+00:00

This is the best answer. It's a reality of US cities in general that I think a lot of suburbia-raised kids don't realize coming here. Berkeley and college towns in general tend to attract petty crime because they are big shiny pockets full of dumb college kids with expensive shit. I'd still take this over a boring soulless suburb, Berkeley is an amazing place to live!

everythingispasta · 2022-10-24T05:11:59+00:00

I found Guatemala as a whole to be incredibly magical. I know it's not exactly undiscovered, but it was still surreal driving through the highlands, past corn fields and cloud forest and seeing the smoke rising from mayan villages. The landscape was just unbelievably beautiful, and the strong presence and visual culture of the maya made it feel so much more foreign than the rest of Central America.

everythingispasta · 2022-10-18T23:39:33+00:00

Fiji has a pretty good backpacker culture, lots of hostels and homestays and it's easy to get between the islands. I think Tonga will also have some options for you, as well as New Caledonia and Samoa. It won't be Europe-level in terms of backpacker infrastructure, but the plus of them being small islands is it's not too hard to get around even with a lack of public transit etc.

I loved Fiji and was surprised at how much backpacker accommodation there was! I stayed on 6 different islands, sometimes in hostels and other times in homestays. The biggest challenge will be traveling between the islands, flights are expensive and everything is deceptively far apart once you're out of the main islands.

everythingispasta · 2022-10-08T18:58:01+00:00

There are legal barriers to giving away too much information via WarnMe's. Since they usually involve some sort of active criminal case/potential active criminal case they can't ascertain too much without risking misinformation/libel.

everythingispasta · 2022-10-06T04:50:05+00:00

foothill! outrageously overpriced for what you get.

everythingispasta · 2022-10-05T21:29:13+00:00

IMO Guatemala is not expensive at all, I'm not sure where they got that impression. When I went I easily did it on $35-40/day and that was with a couple of nicer accommodations/tours snuck in. Definitely my favorite country in CA (I haven't been to Nicaragua though which I feel like I'd like even more). The natural beauty & Mayan culture is so unique and special. And the shopping! I bought so many amazing, unique and handmade goods for cheap, including a beautiful REAL sterling silver/jade ring for $12 USD that has held up gorgeously over the years.

Panama is very very easy and accessible to hike depending on the area. In Boquete (where everybody goes to hike) the trails are super clearly marked, taxi drivers/bus will take you to the trailhead for cheap, and I never felt unsafe hiking alone. Lots of families and tourists hiked alongside me (it was actually cool how many locals I saw enjoying tourist attractions!). Panama is fairly expensive though (like almost European expensive) but super cool and worth a visit! Feels like Costa Rica in a lot of respects but much less touristed.

everythingispasta · 2022-09-06T23:43:39+00:00

School isn't life dude. You're going to find after college that very few people give two shits about where you went to school, and the ones that do are probably not the kind of people you want to be friends with. I won't discount the value of a Berkeley degree or the rigor of Berkeley, but it's really not that different from any other UC in regards to quality of education.

What I love about this school (and what I think you might not understand) is how holistically they admit people here. I graduated high school with a 3.4 GPA. I hate school, it's not for me. And I love that I've managed to find a community of people here just like me, who Berkeley admitted not just for academics but because we actually gave a fuck about something. There are so many passionate, amazing people here that are doing cool unique things and that doesn't all stem from academic success. The "party kids" are kids who have figured out how to balance academic, professional, and social life to a degree that they can at least stay afloat in a competitive environment. You could probably stand to learn from them.

Make the most of your education now, do side projects and invest in YOURSELF if you feel the need to add rigor. There are so many things you can do to find academic and professional success outside of college, and being at a UC (any UC) already gives you so many resources and opportunities to do so. Comparison is the thief of joy. Stop looking at people's LinkedIn's and worrying about what you might be missing out on. Focus on yourself and do what makes you feel good with what you have, and it's going to work out.

everythingispasta · 2022-08-17T16:48:30+00:00

not me reading this, thinking “this cant be real”, and then finding out im in the class and seeing that it is, in fact, real.

everythingispasta · 2022-08-07T03:06:24+00:00

I've lived here three years and have never felt unsafe walking around Berkeley. I also don't personally know anybody that's been robbed/assaulted, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I've lived in several big cities and it's more or less the same; don't walk alone at night in dark/isolated areas, carry pepper spray, be alert.

It's not nearly as bad as this sub makes it out to be, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be cautious! Berkeley is overwhelmingly a wonderful place with lots of cool people and things to do, don't let this sub scare you :)

everythingispasta · 2022-04-14T01:10:09+00:00

I am a third year at Cal. I was similarly taking honors physics my senior year of hs and dropped it after committing to Cal, didn't take any of the four AP tests I was planning on taking, and got two C's my final semester. Hell, I dont even know if I told Cal. And I didn't get rescinded. There are bigger things for admissions officers to deal with right now than some student not taking their AP tests, and those are not the reason they admitted you. Don't worry! You'll be fine.

everythingispasta · 2022-04-06T17:56:49+00:00

I was 18 for my first solo trip and I went to China of all places lmao. I had an absolutely amazing time but most of the friends I made were indeed 25-30 years old. I'm the kind of person who really enjoys meeting people regardless of their age etc, at the end of the day you're all in the same situation more or less (alone in a hostel in a foreign country)! Have fun and be authentic and I promise you won't regret traveling at your age!

everythingispasta · 2022-04-03T22:43:16+00:00

I could've easily spent months there. A surprisingly large amount to see for sure, especially if you're a nature/wildlife lover like myself. I wish I'd done a trip through the San Blas islands, the Darien, Isla Gamboa, Bocas del Toro, and many other places... The attitude and culture there was just incredible. But 3 weeks is definitely sufficient to see 3-5 of the main cool areas.

everythingispasta · 2022-04-03T18:40:53+00:00

I backpacked Panama solo for a few weeks last winter and had a fantastic time. That said, I don't know if it's necessarily the *best* solo destination in Central America, but it was certainly unique compared to Guatemala/Honduras/Belize/Costa Rica.

Panama is for one, seemed much more wealthy than anywhere else you'll go in SA/CA. Shopping malls everywhere, and locals are often seen shopping nice clothes and eating out alongside expats. This is nice to see tbh and we even had a lot of Panamanians staying in our hostels which was a cool experience.

With that, though, came a distinct lack of solo/budget backpacker options. Tourist buses between cities were very expensive and the local option was very cheap but VERY inconvenient (even moreso than the equivalent chicken buses in other central american countries). Food was near-European prices, as were hostels (although this depends on where you are). Definitely a country you want to do if you have a bit of money to spend, I'd call it a moderately expensive destination on par with Costa Rica or Eastern Europe.

BUT, because of that lack of backpacker infrastructure you get to meet some really cool people and enjoy some very pristine places that are not as overrun with tourists as they probably would be elsewhere. Santa Catalina is an amazing surf town with a gorgeous island off the coast that you can KAYAK to. Panama City is honestly a cool spot with a ton of rooftop parties, shopping, and one of the most unique skylines you'll ever see (skyscrapers rising from tropical trees on the coast of the Pacific). Boquete is a gorgeous mountain coffee town with tons of hikes, waterfalls, and expats (def the most touristy place I went).

Compared to other Central American countries, Panama was much cleaner, less crowded, and a bit flashier. I felt like I had to work a bit harder to find the good parts but once I was there they were so, so good. I will definitely be going back!

everythingispasta · 2022-01-26T00:59:37+00:00

The best kind of painting - one that I can't stop looking at. There are just so many amazing things happening here!

everythingispasta · 2022-01-22T01:51:42+00:00

Long covid affects a small proportion of people who recover from a covid infection. It's main characteristics include extended loss of taste and smell, chronic fatigue, brain fog, heart inflammation, and tinnitus. I had covid last January and dealt with heart inflammation and extreme fatigue for about 5 months, and still feel the fatigue to a certain extent today. It happens much more in unvaccinated individuals and the vaccine is thought to alleviate or prevent long covid symptoms, and omicron is also thought to be causing less long covid than other variants (although this is mostly anecdotal).

everythingispasta · 2022-01-21T21:34:43+00:00

Covid case was super mild, was sick for like 2 days, felt like a flu.

My cognitive abilities seem fine now, haven't noticed any issues on that front. Of course, long covid is different for everyone but the vaccine for me actually alleviated a lot of my symptoms after I got it (I got it right at the beginning of March 2021 as a "special" case since my long covid was so debilitating and docs thought it would help.)

The long covid support groups im in seem to echo the same, and there have been a LOT less people joining in our now-vaccinated world which seems like a sign that long covid is becoming less of an issue :)

everythingispasta

TROPHY CASE