300 club

Today signifies a big milestone in my travels. It's day 300 of my voyage.
Actually it's not that big of a deal, it's just a slow news day here in China.
But for no reason other than to pass time, (and maybe pass some suggestions and advice on some of the places i've been to) here's my last 300 days, starting with day 1 on December 5th.

day 1 :: San Francisco to New York to San Paolo to Rio de Janiero, Brasil. Long day.
day 2-8 :: Rio de Janiero, Brasil. Great city, beautiful. Dangerous because the nightlife is incredible, but have heard of crime stories from others.
day 9-10 :: Ouro Preto, Brasil. Ouro Preto means Black Gold, not to be confused with the Oscar winning film 'White Gold'. By the way, this is where the idea for travelling while shooting films originally came up thanks to a Dutch guy I met. Wish I could remember his name, but my sketchbook got stolen which had his info in it (see day 26).
day 11-12 :: Ilha Grande, Brasil. Favorite island/beach in Brasil.
day 13-15 :: Paraty, Brasil. Hi David and Jimena.
day 16-20 :: Florionopolis, Brasil. Second favorite beach. Good surf.
day 21-23 :: Iguassu Falls, Brasil/Argentina. Christmas in Iguassu. Massive falls. Breathtaking.
day 24-40 :: Buenos Aires, Argentina. The start of my love/hate affair with this city. Getting robbed on Day 26 was the worst part of the trip. Was bummed and numb for 10 days straight.
day 41 :: Colonia, Uruguay. Pretty little town, but very touristy. Got a new passport stamp though.
day 42-50 :: Buenos Aires, Argentina. Took a break on Day 46 and went to Tigre.
day 51-53 :: Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Incredible wildlife. Killer whales, seals, sea elephants and penguins, oh my.
day 54-57 :: Bariloche, Argentina. Greatest hostel in the world, La Morada. Incredible view of Lake Manuel Nahuapi.
day 58-61 :: Cerro Catedral and Mount Tronador, Argentina. Incredible hikes in Patagonia. Que linda!
day 62-65 :: Bariloche, Argentina. Introduced to the backpacker's card game of choice, 'shithead'. Travel has never been the same.
day 66-69 :: El Bolson, Argentina. Hippies and trance fest.
day 70-71 :: Trevelin, Argentina. The most incredible sunset I've ever seen, and I never took a photo of it. Doh.
day 72-74 :: Los Antiguos, Argentina. Unless you're crossing over to Chile, never ever go here past one day. Trust me. We played paper football, cards, coin hockey and basketball to pass the time. We were about to slit each other's wrists.
day 75-79 :: El Chalten, Argentina. The greatest single peak I've ever seen, Mt. Fitzroy. Well worth the hike.
day 80-81 :: El Calafate, Argentina. Touristy, but the Perito Moreno glacier is incredible. You can fit the city of San Francisco in it twice.
day 82-85 :: Puerto Natales, Chile. Got stuck waiting for a friend to do the 'W' hike in Torres del Paine.
day 86-89 :: Torres del Paine, Chile. Easily South America's greatest National Park. Can you believe another backpacker/camper stole our fruit and vegetables? Bad karma.
day 90-91 :: Punta Arenas, Chile. Nothing to see here. Keep moving.
day 92-96 :: Ushuaia, Argentina. The most southern city in the world. Got a last minute trip to Antarctica. 24 hours of initial sticker shock.
day 97-104 :: Antarctica. One of the most incredible things I've ever seen. Hard to put into words.
day 105-106 :: Ushuaia, Argentina. Start heading north.
day 107-113 :: Buenos Aires, Argentina. Oh, you again.
day 114-117 :: Mendoza, Argentina. Lots of wine.
day 118-120 :: Salta, Argentina. Pretty, but needed to get out of Argentina.
day 121-122 :: Tupiza, Bolivia. Back to the real South America.
day 123-126 :: Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia. One of the most incredible landscapes I've ever seen.
day 127-130 :: Sucre, Bolivia. City has a nice feel and scale to it.
day 131-134 :: La Paz, Bolivia. Back to the crater city.
day 135-141 :: Rurrenabaque, Bolivia. Jungle and pampas. Played chicken with a crocodile.
day 142 :: La Paz, Bolivia. Heading back north again.
day 143-144 :: Puno and Chiclayo and Piura, Peru. Skipped through Peru and Customs thought I was smuggling contraband.
day 145 :: Loja, Ecuador. Ehh, it's ok.
day 146-148 :: Vilcabamba, Ecuador. Really liked this relaxing little town.
day 149-151 : Cuenca, Ecuador. Rained a lot here. Actually, in all of Ecuador.
day 152-153 :: Riobamba, Ecuador. In transit after hopping a ride on the top of a train. Try doing that in the States.
day 154-156 :: Banos, Ecuador. 2 months after I visited this town, supposedly it got smothered by a volcano. Or at least the surrounding area did.
day 157-162 :: Quito, Ecuador. Second greatest hostel in the world is here, 'The Secret Garden'.
day 163-178 :: Las Palmas, Ecuador. Spending too much money. Needed to plant myself and work for free room and board.
day 179-184 :: Quito, Ecuador. Also went to Cotopaxi volcano for a 2-day mountain bike trip.
day 185-220 :: San Francisco and Long Beach, California. OK, so I cheated. I went home for a month.
day 221-223 :: Buenos Aires, Argentina. I can't believe I'm back here again.
day 224-229 :: Bogota, Colombia. One of my favorite countries in the world.
day 230-234 :: Salento, Colombia. Charming coffee town. First introduced to the gun powder-horseshoe-like game of tejo.
day 235-239 :: Medellin, Colombia. Man, do I love this city. Can't recommend the nightlife enough.
day 240-241 :: Cartagena, Colombia. Beautiful in the touristy area. Crack ghetto where the hostels are. Typical tourist town scenario.
day 242-244 :: Playa Blanca, Colombia. Great beach, secluded and devoid of civilization.
day 245-248 :: Taganga, Colombia. Cool little fishing village. If Colombians didn't throw trash in the streets and the beaches, it would be so beautiful.
day 249-252 :: Ciudad Perdida trek, Colombia. Saw hidden ruins, slept with M-16 carrying military, and learned how to make cocaine.
day 253-254 :: Bogota, Colombia. I really wish I could have stayed in Colombia longer.
day 255-283 :: Buenos Aires, Argentina. Again?!?! Worked on the Global Transmission multinational conglomerate projects.
day 284-285 :: San Francisco, California. 24 hours at home.
day 286-289 :: Beijing, China. Mao, Mao, and more Mao.
day 290-291 :: Xi'an, China. Does anyone speak English?
day 292-295 :: Chengdu, China. I said, 'Does anyone speak English?'
day 296 :: Guilin, China. I gotta get out of the city and into the countryside.
day 297-300 :: Yangshou, China. Touristy, but if you get away from the herd, beautiful Karst mountain scenery.

Phew, that's it. I hope this doesn't come off as snobbish or anything like that. I keep a travel journal/sketchbook to help maintain my memories of places I've visited. Sometimes places start blending into one another, and this helps keep everything unique and special.
Anyway, the thing that has been on my mind since I've started travelling, from the very start of my trip, from day 1, has been, Dónde está Ché Pelotas?'