The happiest guy in the world

 

Meet the happiest guy in the world.

Sort of.

Is he happy?

What kind of person takes a cruise not for a week or a month, but for the rest of his life? Meet Mario Salcedo, who says that nearly 20 years of nonstop cruise ship living have made him “The Happiest Guy in the World” — though the truth of that claim may be in the eye of the beholder. Read the article here: https://nyti.ms/2HRa7BY

From the article:

For nearly two decades, Mario had been living out of his suitcase, traveling extensively for his corporate job as the director of international finance at a multinational corporation. He spent more time in and out of hotel rooms scattered across Latin America than he did at his home in Miami. After working nonstop for nearly 21 years, Mario — burned out — decided it was time to pursue a lifelong goal: to travel around the world, without leaving home. In 1997, he quit his job, packed an even bigger suitcase and quietly disappeared from the lives of his friends and family to pursue a new life on the open water.

Would you be happy?

 

Reunited and it feels so …

 

Over the weekend, I flew out to Portland, OR to visit my best friend, old studio partner, and professional photographer Bill Whitmire who moved out there with his wife Mer to live closer to nature and live in a super cool town.

I documented as much as I could and put together this TraVlog of the experience.

Portland is a great place filled with quirky people and surrounded by lush green, mountains and coastlines. There’s great food and bars.

We went out to eat on Saturday night to one of Bill and Mer’s favorite Mexican joints, but it was Cinco de Mayo and it was crowded as hell. Top it off, the restaurant was like a lot of places in NYC, super small with only a few tables and a bar for eating.

We noticed the staff was bringing trays to a neighboring bar, so we ended up sitting across the way and enjoying the food and having a beer outside the place.

When we ordered our food, Bill said, “If you have to use the bathroom, you should use it here. The bathrooms are really cool.

So I went to the bathroom, which was through a door in the back. Like crossing through the wardrobe into Narnia, I walked into the back of a strip club, where a woman was on stage, topless, in a thong, and waiting on stage for her song to begin. It was awkward, because it was a bit shocking, but also because there must have been technical difficulties and the person running the sound board couldn’t get a song to play.

I watched for a few seconds, laughed to myself, and used the bathroom.

When I got back to Bill and Mer, I told them how cool it was, but I got kicked out, because I started recording the topless dancer with my cell phone.

“Nooooooo!” they both exclaimed.

“Of course I didn’t.”

We all laughed.

Portland is a GREAT town!

Enjoy.