ARTICLES
Into the Abyss: A deep dive into an underwater art world
Adventure.com, April 2017
Scuba diving the underwater art galleries with works from Jason deCaires Taylor started in Grenada, but has made its way across the Atlantic. (Adventure.com, April 2017)
5 Cycling Tours for Foodies
Furthermore from Equinox, April 2017
A round-up of culinary cycling tours, where you burn off what you eat, each day on a bike. (Furthermore from Equinox, April 2017)
La Tomatina, Valencia’s Biggest Food Fight
Puddingstone Post, August 2014
An anecdote about La Tomatina, the post-harvest tomato throwing celebration in Valencia, Spain. (Puddingstone Post, August 2014)
In Pamplona, Run Like Your Life Depends On It (It Probably Does)
Puddingstone Post, July 2014
An anecdote about running with the bulls in Pamplona’s famous San Fermin Festival. (Puddingstone Post, July 2014)
When Good Parades Go Bad
BootnsAll.com, September 2002
A parade is always fun—until it turns out it’s not a parade and the riot police is releasing tear gas.
ENTRIES FROM THE GLOBAL TRIP BLOG CHRONICLES
Out of Africa
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 03, 2004
DAY 254: “It’s the end of an era,” I told Sebastian as we rode on the last ferry from Africa into Europe across the Strait of Gibraltar. The nighttime ferry ride was the unforeseen final leg of a mad dash from Morocco to Spain.
Back in the Western World
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 03, 2004
DAY 255: Being in Spain, I was back in the Western World. On a morning walk to make a reservation at the train station, I saw the familiar images of scantily-clad women on billboards and the sounds of Vespas whizzing by. No longer would I be hearing Arabic, I was back to the language of Spanish, which I learned during the first two weeks of The Trip. However, the main difference between Latin American Spanish and European Spanish (other than some words being used differently) is that the Europeans pronounce their soft C’s with a lispy TH sound. I’m told that this was because a former king of Spain had a lisp and they changed the language entirely to suit him.
Second Time, Second Nature
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 10, 2004
DAY 256: Barcelona, has a particular allure unmatched by other Spanish city. It attracted the likes of wild and world-renowned artists like Picasso and Miro and lured the Olympic committee in 1992 for the Summer Games. It lured me once before and it was doing it again a second time.
City of The Phallus
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 10, 2004
DAY 257: I don’t know if it was intentional, but I’ve heard that Barcelona seems to be obsessed with phallic symbols.
My First Celebrity Sighting
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 10, 2004
DAY 258: You never know when you may bump into someone famous in a major city. During my days in New York City, I’ve randomly stumbled upon Keanu Reeves, Nathan Lane and Sarah Jessica Parker to name a few — friends and acquaintances of mine have encountered Kiefer Sutherland, Uma Thurman, Andre 3000 from Outkast, Jerry Seinfeld and even the guy who played his TV dad Morty. Being in the world city of Barcelona, another celebrity sighting was bound to happen.
Progression to the Typical
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 13, 2004
DAY 259: Pablo Picasso, the world famous painter, revolutionized the art world with his Cubist style. However, he didn’t always depict his subjects in the sharp angles and loud colors that made classical art buffs at the time what to hang themselves. Like most Modern artists that don’t get really famous until they die, Picasso had an artistic history of painting and drawing things formatively, mostly in his younger years in Barcelona. Gradually over time he progression his style into the one he is most famous for today.
Jack and I would also leave our “young days” in Barcelona and progress our travels together onto other parts of Spain, but not before one last day in the roots of our time together.
Guidance in the Home of Paella
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 13, 2004
DAY 260: Every great city can be characterized by its local cuisine. Philadelphia, the birthplace of America, has the American classic Philly cheesesteak sandwich. The chilled out vibe of the Florida Keys spawned the cool and relaxed Key Lime Pie. And Valencia, Spain, a perfect fusion of things old and new, is the Home of Paella, the fusion of saffron-spiced rice with any mix of meats, vegetables and seafood.
To Run Or Not To Run
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 13, 2004
DAY 261: Most non-Spaniards know Pamplona’s San Fermin Festival solely as “The Running of the Bulls.” However, the Running of the Bulls is just one part of an eight-day festival that transforms the normally peaceful northern Spanish town of Pamplona into a huge Spring Break party where even wild bulls are allowed to participate. It’s sort of like the biggest barbecue where cows skewer the flesh of humans instead of the other way around.
Run Erik Run
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 13, 2004
DAY 262: The Running of the Bulls. The title has been heard over and over every year between July 6-14, usually on the news in a world report about someone getting gored by a powerful male bovine. Evolved from the old tradition of people moving bulls across town to get them into the arena for a bullfight, the encierro, as it is called locally, is now the most famous (and most deadly) of all of the San Fermin Festival’s agenda of week-long events, occurring every morning at 8 a.m. sharp.
King For A Day
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 15, 2004
DAY 263: “If this gets anymore romantic,” I said as the two flautists and solo guitarist serenaded us and the handful of other outdoor cafe patrons, “I may have to ask you to marry me.”
Jack took my joke only semi-lightly. “Alright, cut the music, that’s enough!”
An Invitation For Trouble
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 16, 2004
DAY 264: Part of the drama of travel is getting into trouble whether you like it or not — or caused it or not for that matter. On the road, you never know if trouble is lurking right around the corner.
Last Night Out (Take Two)
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 17, 2004
DAY 265: I woke up not really much hung over. My brain was too busy cursing myself out for being robbed just a couple of hours before. I sucked it up and just spent the morning on my laptop, attending to Blog duties while Juan and Jack were passed out cold all morning.
The Race to Paris
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 17, 2004
DAY 266: There is a familiar scene on CBS’ The Amazing Race: confused, hurried Americans in a foreign country at a ticket counter, begging for the first ride out of town. Immediately after I parted with Jack, I sucked up the fact that I had only one hour of sleep the night before (only three the night before), and rushed over to the train station as fast as I could, whistling the theme to The Amazing Race. From my experience, it was best to reserve a train seat the day before you plan to travel, and you cut it pretty close doing it the day of, especially for a long distance on a Sunday night.
United Nations of Malaga
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted August 27, 2006
DAY 2: “So most people don’t go out until midnight around here?” I asked my buddy Jack as we walked from Malaga’s airport to the train that would take us to his apartment by the beach.
“People don’t go out until one,” he told me. “This is actually pretty early.” My watch read about 11 p.m. local time.
“I got here just in time then.”
Breaking Up With Spain
Posted August 30, 2006
DAY 3: “It’s a shame,” Jack said. “It feels like when I’m breaking up with a chick.”
“You’re breaking up with Spain,” I said.
“Yeah, I’m breaking up with Spain.”
Homes
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted August 30, 2006
DAY 4: “Erik, we are homeless,” Sylvina told me at El Mercader, after they had packed all their belongings in suitcases and bags to move their lives out of Malaga.
“I’m homeless too,” I smirked.
“No, you have your home in New York.”
“Mi casa es tu casa.”
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted August 31, 2006
DAY 5: “Two tickets to Tomatina, with a return ticket,” said the young traveler in his British accent.
The Spaniard behind the ticket counter rolled his eyes, unimpressed at the Brit’s complete disregard of the local language. However, he knew what the guy wanted since almost everyone in the Valencia train station was headed towards the same place: La Tomatina, the world-renowned tomato food fight in the small town of Buñol, about 45 minutes from the city center of Valencia. At 7:45 that morning, the station was crowded with Brits, Germans, Aussies, Japanese, Americans, Canadians, and some Spaniards — some wearing Tomatina t-shirts, some toting waterproof disposable cameras — all gearing up for the sloppy tomato-filled G8 summit.
“Dos para Buñol,” I requested at the counter.
Stuff In Me
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted September 02, 2006
DAY 6: There’s an underrated but funny quotable line from M. Night Shamalan’s movie Unbreakable where a comic book store owner tells Samuel L. Jackson that he has to leave his store because he’s closing up and he’s hungry. It goes something to the effect of, “You don’t understand. I gotta go. I gotta get some chicken in me!”
How this popped in my head I don’t know, but it spawned an on-going joke throughout the day.
“I need to get some paella in me!”
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ABOUT ERIK R. TRINIDAD
When he’s not making a living as an interactive/motion designer or playing with fast food, Erik R. Trinidad is a travel writer, blogger, video host and producer focusing on adventure and culinary content. His work has been featured on National Geographic Intelligent Travel, Adventure.com, Discovery.com, Saveur, Condé Nast Traveler, and 
Hyenas Laughed at Me and Now I Know Why, which also includes the work of Tim Cahill, Doug Lansky, Jennifer Leo and Rolf Potts. He has also referenced his travel experiences in his solo book, Fancy Fast Food: Ironic Recipes with No Bun Intended.
For over ten years, Erik has traveled to the seven continents of the world — from Timbuktu to Kalamazoo — with a curiosity for exotic foods and a thirst for adventure (and writing material). In his travels, he has been mugged at knifepoint in Cape Town, extorted by corrupt Russian police on the Trans-Siberian Railway, stranded in tornadic storms in the American midwest, and air-lifted off the Everest Trail by a helicopter that was thankfully paid for by his travel insurance. But it hasn’t been all fun; he has also donned a tuxedo amidst the penguins of Antarctica, paraded with Carnival-winning samba school Beija Flor in Rio, run for his life at Pamplona’s “Running of the Bulls,” cage-dived with great white sharks, gotten shot point-blank in the stomach in Colombia (while wearing a bulletproof jacket), and above all, encountered many people around the world, including some Peruvian musicians in Cuzco who learned and played “Y.M.C.A.” at his request. He loves the irony that, after everywhere he’s been, he has never been to Mexico.
Erik writes stories and news articles when he’s at his base camp in New York City, and continues his blog when he is on the road — provided he’s not occupied tracking down lost luggage.
Additional news/article clippings at ErikTrinidad.com.
See Erik talk about travel in an American Express ad:
Read about Erik in this feature article from Filipinas magazine by National Geographic Traveler Associate Editor Amy Alipio.