Im starting a hostel.

Well I have been back in Los Angeles for 6 months now. Thats crazy...
I have moved from my parents spare bedroom to an apartment in downtown Los Angeles, and my plan is to move back to Thailand after the summer and open a hostel.
What?! Open a hostel? Yep. Ever since my first night at Bigfoot hostel in Nicaragua in 2009, I knew that I loved hostels. Since then I have been to a ton of them, worked in a couple, lived in one, slept in a nice cozy private room and in a 40 person dorm room.
I feel pretty versed in hostels, and I believe that I would be good at running one.
I think for the majority of backpackers a hostel is much more than a place to sleep for cheap. A hostel is a place to meet other people, to come back to after a long day, to ask questions and leave your bag. A hostel is a home away from home.
Even the 40 person dorm room I slept at in Mumbai, India - there was no common area at all, it was a back alley that led to a piss soaked elevator with a young boy in it. You told him "sleep" and he would nod and press a button that had its ink rubbed off long ago. The elevator would creak to life and you popped out several floors up in a dirty little tile room. A wooden table sat on one end, and you payed 200 rupees for a locker key and the right to walk behind the desk into a big room with heaps of bunk beds. I dropped off my pack in the locker, and put all my valuables in my pockets. There where 4 chairs in the little tile room with the reception "desk" and soon enough a bottle of gin was produced, the 4 other backpackers who had been lucky enough to find this little gem, and myself set to telling stories and drinking gin tonics minus the tonic until late in the evening. One of them invited me to come with him in the morning, and we went and where extra's in a face cream commercial.
Now by all normal appearances, this was the worst hostel ever. The beds where dirty, the bathrooms where gross, there was no common area at all. In case of a fire EVERYONE would have died. (there was just the tiny elevator with the Indian boy to get in or out) But this was one of my favorite hostels, because it was a lonely time for me, and I found a place that fit my budget, and I made some friends there.
Hostels are more than their amenities, they are a community. A family. A home.

My plan is to head to Thailand doing something, teaching, working, being homeless... Something. And to start the process for starting a hostel of my own. To start off, I need to network and look for a location, then I need to find investors / get a loan, then Im going to start this sucker.

Thats the plan folks!

I went to a temple today.

I went to a temple today, I immediately flashed back to standing in wat pho in Bangkok. Men in robes ran around with incense, candles where slowly lit, mantra's where recited and chanted throughout the service. Young monks bowed before an older monk, they "splashed" incense smoke onto a red book, they talked to it, an older monk carried it around over his head and young monks bowed to it. I figured that the book was their diety.
I had a hard time though, figuring out what the whole thing was about... was it the book that we where all gathered to see? Was it the statue in the front of the temple? At least at wat pho the giant Buddha was so large, it was obvious what we where there to worship. But here, there where to many things to worship. Did I need to bow at the older priest? They kept quoting an revered monk, maybe I needed to worship him...
At one point, it reminded me if a Sikh temple that I had visited, there they blessed some snacks, and then we ate them. They didn't really explain what it was about, but the bread dough type stuff was tasty at the Sikh temple. The snacks at the temple today where really dry and flavorless.
This temple also was much less friendly, other temples in Asia people would offer me food, and if I forgot to take off my shoes they would kindly remind me with a smile and a laugh. But today at this temple I felt like I was treading on eggshells all day, nobody would tell me what I was doing wrong, but I felt judged by all of the super grumpy staff and priests and monks. There where chants in other languages, and although the priest spoke in English, his accent was so thick that I could barely understand him - but that is normal in my experience at temples. Just like at Buddhist temples, they asked for donations to keep them open, which I always found strange when the temple itself is so lavish, and the people just outside the doors have nothing. Similar to Asian temples, this one was lavish! A huge garden, beautiful property, and of course the essencial gift shop and food vendors. I may as well have been back in Thailand or China. But it felt strange being in LA, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. "this is Catholicism? This is the religion that people say is the same as what I believe?" I thought Christianity was about freedom, forgiveness, grace, gloryifying God and building a relationship with Him. But the people at this temple thought differently, they where religious. For them its all about tradition and liturgy. There is absolutely nothing personal about these peoples religion. Buddhism is more personal, and a ton more appealing to me. It felt like watching a well rehearsed play, not people worshipping God.

Chicago

I got into Chicago finally, after a four hour delay.
Kristin, Cheyenne and Chris where there to meet me at the station, I had worked with them in Amsterdam and seeing them again was great, we walked right to Ed Debevicks, and I ate a huge plate of nacho's, and washed it down with a Blue Moon. 'Merica!
We dropped off my bag in Chris's dorm room at Moody Bible Institute, the school my dad attended 31 years ago, I was just a couple floors above where he had lived! We headed out and explored, the Bean, Navy Pier, the El, the tunnels, it was great! We finished the night off with Lou Malnaties Chicago classic deep dish pizza, and I crashed into bed at 9pm and was asleep before I could realize I was laying down.
Kristin and I got coffee the next morning, and ended up talking at starbucks for a long time, then we headed across town to the Burgeous Pig and drank more coffee and talked more. Kristin headed to her house, and I headed to Wheaton on the train, and met up with Erin, Cheyenne, Linley, Jessica, Maria, Kara and later Kristin for dinner! Taylor and the Amsterdamsels...

The next morning I went to class with Kristin and learned a bit about the law in her Hermaneutics class, even though I think I disagree with the prof a little...
We hung out in the lounge, and ate lunch with a bunch of cool Moody students, I made a couple sandwiches and stashed them in my bag for the train ride, and at 2pm we headed to the train station. I climbed abord, and here I am. Sitting with my sandwiches, some gin I bought in Iceland, plenty of books and movies, and 40 hous to go until Los Angeles.

New York

The train pulled into New York Penn station, and I had three hours before my train upstate to visit my aunts and uncle's there.
I walked down 8th to Times Square and just took in the imensity of the place... I thought about how much the various companies spent on the billboards around there, and how much I had been doing and learning over the last year. I spent about $7,000 in total ($3,000 of which I still owe to a couple credit card companies...) and a small chunk of advertising on times square is around three million a year.
I wanted to film a video of me dancing there (yes, a wherethehellismatt style video of me dancing all around the world is coming soon folks!) but my video camera wasnt working. So I asked a random guy if he would film it on his iPhone and email it to me, he agreed and we are still emailing! I danced, shot some pictures, and then set into eating. I ate a bunch of pizza, a White Castle burger, and a street dog. I called my old friend Bryce and he and his wife Channelle came down to the train station to meet me, they showed up at the perfect time, I needed an excuse to get out of the 30 minute conversation I had been in with a crack dealer who kept showing me his head, he had been stabbed 30 times in the face and head the night before. I chatted to them for a while, and then got on my train onward. And 6 hours later I was hugging my uncle Randy in Syracuse, New York.
The next day I went to work with him and helped set trusses on a building that he is building.
I spent a few days there, hanging out with my aunts and uncles, working, eating amazing food, and I even got to visit my grandfather in his nursing home! One day after helping him work, my uncle asked if I wanted to ride Harleys with him... I did. We did. It was amazing! Then after we god back, he asked "wana shoot guns?" and we shot a bunch of guns then. Awesome.

My uncle took me to the train station a few days later, and I took the overnight to Chicago, for yet another couple days of exploring American cities!

Washington DC

My flight from Iceland to DC was nice, I watched a bunch of movies and slept a little. My heart started beating fast though when we landed in America... It was really surreal.
I got off the plane and onto a bus, a man shouted "yall move on to the back there ya hear?" A huge smile grew across my face, Im in America again.
Customs was painless, the agent thumbed through my passport and took a double take, something I have gotten used to. He asked a few questions about how much tobacco and alcahol I was bringing back, stamped my passport for the last time of this trip, and I was off. I had carried my bag on, so I just changed my leftover euro's to dollars and stepped outside for a smoke. America. An old woman glared at me for smoking, and I chuckled - Oh yea, smoking isnt as universaly accepted here as in Europe...
I went back in the terminal and found Kelsey, we headed towards Virgina and I was glued to the window of the car, seeing route 495 again, and all the signs for "Capial" "Pennysylvania Avenue" and remembering things from when I used to live in DC.
We got to her house and sat in the car talking for a while, then I went in and met her roomates. We headed right out to an awesome all American dive bar and I ate chicken wings and drank budweiser. It was great.
Then she dropped me off at a house full of guys that she knows, and I hung out with them watching movies and drinking beer. I told some stories, and realized that these where awesome guys.
I went to bed pretty early, and in the morning went to work with Kim at the thrift store that she manages, it was strange hanging out with Kim and Kelsey, I hadent seen them for many many months since Amsterdam, and this was such a different enviroment.
Kim and I sorted clothes and priced stuff, and then headed to her house and took naps. That night we went to a beer garden and I discovered Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale... My faith in American beer grew just a bit. Then we headed to a party, which was hilarious. I just sat outside with Kim and we watched drunk people interacting with eachother - something I had never done before in America. Oh yea, the party was America themed, so everyone was wearing flags and argueing about politics - welcome back Taylor!!

The next day Kelsey and I went to Taco Bell, which was mind blowing. And then we went to DC and wandered around the capital of this nation that I had been away from for so long. We spent the day drinking coffee, and the evening at a house warming party for Kelsey, where a couple of old friends from when I lived in DC showed up, it was so strange hanging out with friends that I had been living with in Amsterdam recently, friends I had just met, and friends from 9 years ago. I loved it.
The next morning Kelsey dropped me off at the metro station at 6am, and took the metro into the city and then boarded my train bound for New York - the next stop on my trans-continental part of my round-the-world journey.

The Golden Circle - Iceland

So today Hilmar gave me his car to drive the Golden Circle, a loop around three of the most beautiful and famous sites in Iceland. I picked up 4 other people to fill the car, and we got some food at a grocery store for lunch and then took off across the frozen rocky wasteland that is Iceland.
The first stop was Þingvellir, and it was awesome, its a big rocky rift that separates the continent of Europe from North America, it used to be the site of the first Icelandic parliament! We climbed in the giant crack in the earth and froze. It was very cold.

We got back to the car and cranked up the heat and drove on to our next stop. Gullfoss! I somehow got confused and typed Sullfoss into the GPS, and ended up going 100km out of the way... But it was all part of the adventure! We course corrected and sped towards the waterfall.
Right as we neared Geysir, another stop on the trip, the gear shift got stuck, and I couldnt get the car into any gear... We pushed it into a parking spot and prepared lunch. I borrowed a phone from the manager of the gift shop (He just handed it to me and let me take it out to the car and call some people. I love small town community!) After lunch, I tried it again and it worked. Very confusing! But we headed up to the geysir anyway...

This time I geared up with all the cold weather clothes that Sigrun's father had lent to me, I was much warmer! We watched the geysir Strokkur erupt twice, and waddled back to the car. It was cold.

We drove on, the car worked pretty well, to the last stop, Gullfoss. It was incredible! I would say that it easily topped Niagra falls. So huge and beautiful. When you drive up to it, the river just disapears into a huge crack in the ground, and when you get closer you see the water being thrown around rocks and falls and cracks. Everything is icy from the mist, and huge outcroppings of ice have grown on the surface of the ground. We hiked up to a rock that the river bends around and took in the immensity of the place.

We ran screaming back to the car and danced around to get warm, then we settled in for the drive home. One of the guys had the new Sigur Ros live album on his iPad, and he played it while I drank an Icelandic malt (it tastes like Christmas) and drove us back toward Reykjavic. The sun set, and it was the most perfect ending to an awesome day. Everyone but me fell asleep, and I just listened and drove and took in the view...

When we got back into town, I dropped off two of our companions, and Claire, Michael and I went to the pool and soaked in the hot water before I headed back to Hilmar and Sigrun's house for an amazing dinner of Reindeer steak cooked by Hilmar's mother! We ate it almost raw, and it was so delicious. After dinner they drove me to Jonsi's house (Sigur Ros) and I gawked like a dumbstruck tourist. But we didnt see him.

I slept well, and the next morning on the way to the airport Hilmar took me to the Blue Lagoon, and we snuck in for a secret footbath. Forget the $100 entry fee! Ha!

Iceland is amazing. Easily the most beautiful place I have seen, and it was the first country that I visited because I really wanted to - everywhere else on this trip has been because it was cheap or it worked out. Iceland was a place that I really wanted to experience, and I really did.
I was able to

• Wander around Reykjavic
• Eat Icelandic famous hamburgers
• See 3 celebreties
• Wander around the Harpa concert hall during a Bjork concert
• explore Reykjavic with natives
• eat Icelandic pizza - awesome.
• drink coffee in the favorite cafe of my favorite band
• listen to records in a awesome little record store
• see the government buildings and hear about the economic crash
• tour all the buildings I wanted to see, and more!
• discuss Icelandic tobacco with the owner of the only tobacco store in Iceland
• try Icelandic nose tobacco with Hilmar's dad
• drive a car around the south of the island
• bathe in the local geothermal pools
• watch the northern lights
• see Sigur Ros's studio
• eat fresh reindeer steak
• drink Icelandic stout, impressive beer!

And so much more. The total that I spent while in Iceland? The most expensive country in the world? 3000 kronur. Or $25.

My hosts where amazing, and I owe it all to them! Thank you Hilmar and Sigrun!

Iceland

It was really hard waking up on the morning I had to leave Amsterdam, partly because it was weird knowing I was leaving, and partly because I had only gone to bed a few hours earlier (I was out enjoying my newly earned freedom from the rules of the hostel)
I got up, grabbed my bag, and headed for the train station with a couple of friends. Next thing I knew I was at the airport. Then I was through security, then I was on my plane in my exit row window seat. It didnt hit me that I was leaving until we started to take off, I was of course listening to Sigur Ros, and the beautiful music mixed with the emotion of leaving my home of the last 8 months brought a weird but sad smile to my face...
I just listened to music for the 3 hour flight, and as we descended from the clouds, and I cought my first glimpse of Iceland, Glósóli, the song I had been listening to hit its crescendo. I was plastered to the window and soaked in the bizarre Icelandic landscape. Huge clouds of steam rising from countless geothermal pools, not a single tree, just volcanic rock and brown grass. Strange brown hills and cracks, with snowy mountains in the distance. We landed, and I walked out of the airport into the cold air. It smacked me in the face, ok. Iceland is pretty cold...

ICELAND!

I met Hilmar, and we drove into town. I dropped off my bag at his house and had a quick coffee (the 4th one that day) then we headed to the gym. While he was training, I wandered around a park near the center of Reykjavic, and realized that when the sun sets at 5pm - it gets even colder. But I sat on a bench and smoked and enjoyed the stares that I got from people. "who is this idiot in shorts and flip flops?!"

After training, Hilmar drove me around and showed me some of the sights, then we went and met up with a couple of his friends and ate hamburgers at a famous Icelandic place, where we saw 2 Icelandic celebrities. In a country with only 300,000 people - everyone goes to the same places.

After that, we drove around the docks and checked out whaling ships and the new Icelandic coast guard ship. We went to the new concert hall where Bjork was playing, and wandered around for a while and tried to sneak in... We didnt get in. Then we met up with Hilmar's girlfriend Sigrun, and a few of their friends and we went to the pool, a huge outdoor community pool where everyone hangs out in the warm water and talks. There where tons of different pools with different temps, and all the water is heated by the volcanoes. In fact all of the head in Reykjavic comes from natural geothermal water, and all the electricity is produced from the steam found in nature.

I sat in the 44 degree pool (thats over 111 degrees Fahrenheit!) while it was below freezing outside. And I went down the waterslide. Awesome.

Hilmar is going to let me use his car tomorrow to drive a 300km loop around the most beautiful sites in Iceland. A tour on a bus costs over 10,000 kronur ($100), and I get to do it in my own car at my own pace for the price of gas. Amazing. The only problem is I cant afford gas, Hilmar and Eyvindur and I went to all the hostels to look for people to go with me, I put up a flyer and this morning had enough people email me to fill the car. Amazing. So tomorrow I will set off with a guy from somewhere I dont know, a girl from Poland and a girl from Australia for a big all day loop around Iceland! Im so excited for a sick road trip.

On our way home, we saw the northern lights flash across the sky, and I crawled into bed around 3am and I slept like a baby.

This morning I woke up to the sound of Hoppípolla (one of my favorite Sigur Ros songs) and Hilmar made me breakfast of this crazy thick almost yogurt chunky milk stuff. And toast with cheese and coffee. Then he dropped me off in the city, and I have been wandering around. My first stop was a record store, and I listened to an entire vinyl record of this amazing band called Rokkurro. The music here is so amazing... Then I stepped back out into the cold, and now Im sitting at a cafe drinking espresso to warm up before heading back out to see what else I can find. I heard there is a salvation army store here, and I might try and find some pants... But I kinda like the stares I get :)