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Happy belated Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year, and now Apocalypse??? Maintaining a website for 8+ years on the side can be rough proposition with that whole (LIFE) thing so I recognize my ridiculous time gaps on this blog feed. But since the world has exploded in 2020 I'm back to try my hand at updates while teleworking. Admittedly, 2020 has been a gut punch for all of us who ran around in their backyards dreams of being Indiana Jones one day but FEAR NOT. I've still got some ideas to offer this year, regardless of what curveballs might come next........................(Click here and scroll down) to read more.
As you can see there has been a bit of radio silence over the past 12 months but all the more to catch up on. For the record the Tecumseh 50k Ultra was a gnarly race in OCT19. Not sure I can truly impart how ridiculous it was since the entire duration of the race it was an absolute downpour, like monsoon rains. Zipped up in a rain jacket running 31 miles through ankle deep mud wasn't exactly what I consider a good time but it gave me a lot of time to reconsider my entire life lol It got done though. Thanks again to all the family and friends for your support and raising $700 for charity to support our troops!  So it is the week 5 of my training for the 50km. Unfortunately, I had to have the doc finally address a foot infection I had been stubborn about. He stuck a big old needle into my foot and carved it up. And I've only achieved 40 miles this week. So you might be thinking " well good game Buf, you win some you lose some". But like I said from the beginning I'm gunna Ricky Bobby this thing ; ) Its gunna be a really crappy 10 miler tomorrow.
So I've completed over a dozen half marathons and even 8 full marathons but surely after my last experience in South Africa I swore to myself i was officially retired from the marathon business. Unfortunately I found a way to do something even worse, the world of ultra running.  Ladies and gentlemen, I have found one person stupid enough to volunteer to teaming up with me for the next Buftravels adventure and no its not my wife, she's actually smart. Of course its my brother, who better to take the challenge of completing what is known as the Monkey Run in Romania! Stay tuned but I see the forecast and it looks like 2020 Monkey Run- ROMANIA. Long story short you get a mini bike and x number of days to get to the destination for the celebration party; no rules, no assistance, no itinerary, no help, 100% your challenge to get there in time. Exciting-definitely.... Stupid- definitely.... Priceless- well it does cost money but you know what I mean. Apologies anyone out there who actually looks at this site. I promise I have not given up on my never ending pursuit of world travel and exploration! I have been again on the move to live in another state in the U.S. But thats for another post. Pulled this little video gem from my trip through Beijing, China. Forgive my ignorance if I was wrong but this appeared to be some sort of wedding procession as I was leaving a shop in a neighborhood. For this clip we are back in South Korea. I lived in for a bit over 2 years. This is Haesindang "Penis Park" which is a very expansive park featuring exactly what it states, penis everything, everywhere. Pretty strange when looking at it from a western angle but it is actually rooted in Korean lore. Learn more by checking out my South Korea page or my previous blog post here. For this video post I am going way back and digging into the Buftravels vault to pull out an awesome little pub clip from Dublin years ago. The pub scene is obviously renowned in Ireland as a cultural staple and rightfully so. Part of every Ireland trip should be to enjoy some good "criac" in local pubs through the country. This month I bring back one of my favorite experiences I had when I was living in South Korea. After meeting a few locals I had them take me to eat some Sannakji (live octopus) at the Jagalchi Fish Market in Busan. And well.... it was an experience for sure. This video comes from recent travels to Cape Town, South Africa. Came upon some outstanding street performers. Lucky had my camera out already taking other pics so I was able to capture this moment. Cape Town was a complex city with a lot going on and on the whole South Africa was fascinating. Two weeks and I felt I didn't even scratch the surface, definitely wouldn't mind going back one day. This video is also available in 1080p HD so adjust your YouTube settings. Enjoy! After years of traveling all over the world I have a ton of raw footage that I have never released. So from the Buftravels vaults here you go! These videos are of varying quality and time frame so some footage is better quality than others. Lucky many are available in 1080P HD like this one. I will kick it off with some wild footage of the Robot restaurant in Tokyo, Japan. Don't even try to make any sense of it, believe me. Make sure to check in each month to see where I'll be next. Cheers!
I used my Canon Powershot SD1000 (left) for over 10 years. It was with me from the snow laden mountains of Pennsylvania to the vast expanse of Oklahoma, and across the world to the fjords of Southern New Zealand. I even took pictures of my first car with it, captured my marriage proposal with it, and my commissioning into the military. The time had come to retire it to the drawer only to appear for house parties and family occasions. With that said, the pictures on buftravels got a lot more interesting since I upgraded to a Nikon D3300 back in 2015. If your in the market for a camera I humbly recommend the entry level Nikon D3300, 400, or 5400 series of DSLR. Here are my top five reasons why.
Buftravels just got back from its latest adventure to South Africa. And when I say adventure I mean it; safaris, locals, helicopters, cage diving with great white sharks, running a marathon through lion territory, we got it all! Check out the quick post here or go to the South Africa page on top to see all the pictures.
 So its been quite a year. Being an active duty officer and a Battery Commander with over 80 Soldiers and families cut into my "blogging time". But hey its all for MERICA! Having a year long hiatus in internet speak is equivalent to digital suicide but don't count Buftravels out. We've been here since 2012 and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. I am out of command for the next 2 months or so. That's gives me a window to tell you about the past year in review and the end of the great Asian adventure which began in 2015. Lets do this! First addition, Thailand...
 Stopping along the coastline in the Samecheok region with the fams.Long and awaited the second chapter has arrived. Busan, Samecheok, and Seoul the capital city of the Republic of Korea. The parentals enjoyed some raw rockfish, temples, endless beaches, a land locked cruise liner converted to a hotel and more. Get ready people we're going to the finish line. Cheers and as always great travels.
-Larry CEO/ Founder of Buftravels.com  Joking aside, my parents are going to be visiting to one of the most exotic places Buftravels has been to thus far, South Korea!
So what happens when you've spent 50+ years of your life in the good old USA and then get dropped half way across the planet? I guess we are going to find out. I have quite a few special surprises planned to make sure we have an "eventful" time. But if you knew my parents you would know it isn't that hard to get something eventful out of them. I think "unpredictable" is the word. Roll up your sleeves and grab some chopsticks, a bottle opener, and hiking boots. Its gunna be an interesting two weeks. Let me just apologize for my long hiatus. Unfortunately, the Army is pretty busy in Korea. Between administrative nonsense and this asshole (pic below) I don't have much time.  The good news is that in the past 3 months or so I have been able to do a few exciting things including traveling to Samcheok, South Korea to run a half marathon with the wife. And believe me, in Korea there was some strange oddities along the way. If terms like "boat hotel" and "penis park" don't mean anything to you, after reading this post they will.
See how I ended up in this situation on my BUSAN page under the South Korea tab or just click here! Oh yeah and see what happens next.......how did it taste you ask? Well...
 HELLO! I know its been a long time. I do sincerely apologize for neglecting you for so long. Unfortunately, the Buftravels website isn't gunna pay my bills so I have to prioritize my military career first. Pictured above is a gorgeous picture of me sporting dog face. Unfortunately, I have been receiving hate mail from dogs across the country saying its racist. Anyway, as promised we have a lot of catching up to do. Basically covering my great adventure from NC to OK and the stops in between. If you want to see first stop in my journey click the "read more", I be waiting on the other side....
Let's just say I know a guy. I was given the opportunity to go along for a 2hr training flight. Thought I would share a bit of the highlights, enjoy.  Only 6 weeks out from the race. Really needed to step up the training, I thought, hitting mile 7 on a 14 mile stint. It was getting dark and I wasn't enthusiastic about getting clipped by a car with the way people drive in Fayetteville. I decided to transition to the treadmill at the neighborhood gym. Soon enough, I found myself limping back home cursing the whole way. Never transition from outdoor running to a treadmill. I earned myself a messed up knee and three weeks of recovery. Of course my pride was stronger than my common sense and after minimal train up and knee brace in hand I was driving to Pennsylvania for the Pocono Mountain Marathon. This could only go one way and it wasn't looking good.  A friend mentioned that he was doing a half marathon in Asheville, NC; arguably one of the best destinations in the state. The opportunity had finally arrived. Of course I had to give myself trouble and sign up for the marathon as well. If your a fan of the outdoors and small town intricacies, look no further than Asheville. My only regret was that I couldn't stay longer.....and maybe running all those hills....
Looking like a kid in a candy store. It has all of the best elements; fire, food, its tactical. I used my REI gift certificate to get a Jetboil cooking system. I have not had the opportunity to test it the field yet. I feel a product review coming in the near future though ; ) And yes, I know it specifically says not to use indoors. I never said I was a good example.
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Copyright © 2011-2020 I Greenwood, Indiana I 570-466-2666 I larryb.bufalino@gmail.com