u/similarities

Been traveling for almost a year now. Half in Central America half in Asia, and a couple months in Brazil. I’m in colombia now and the heat and humidity in Cartagena have really gotten to me and I feel like maybe I’m just burnt out. And reading about all the horror stories of crime in Medellin feels bad. And the thought of continuing overland on my journey southward through Ecuador and peru also feels so tiring.

I’m now thinking of flying to a South American city where I can just chill out. I don’t have to stay in colombia. Hoping to find one that is pretty safe, has a good dating scene, affordable, and has enough stuff to do for a month. Also not blazingly hot this time of year. Does anyone have suggestions? Thanks.

Edit: did a lil quick research too. Is Mendoza or Cordoba any good for this?

I had some food poisoning while I was traveling (still am traveling for an extended period of time), and then I started PEP and now my stomach is irritated every single day from the PEP and cannot heal at a normal rate. As a result, I’ve just been eating white rice and egg whites for the last two weeks. if I eat anything else, it seems to upset my stomach and takes me a step back in terms of recovery. Even normal recovery foods like sourdough bread, coconut water, and cassava biscuits upset my stomach.

Luckily I still have 11 days left of PEP, but this is so torturous especially since I’m still traveling, but I can’t even eat any of the local delicious looking food because it will upset my stomach. I can’t really put down more than 20 g of egg whites per day, I don’t really feel like doing much. I know I need to finish the PEP but this entire month has been wasted on just chilling in hotel rooms while waiting for these 28 days to be over.

I don’t think my risk for HIV is actually that high considering the person that I slept with is a normal person and she got tested 9 months ago and only had unprotected sex with her ex-boyfriend since she got tested. And she doesn’t seem unhealthy or anything like that. She’s just like a normal girl. That being said, I did have unprotected sex with her as well, so I’m just playing it safe.

I also had unprotected oral sex with a transsexual guy and protected condom anal sex, but that was two weeks before I started PEP so hopefully I did not get anything from that person. They said they were on PREP but I think they also gave me chlamydia or gonorrhea so I don’t know if I can really trust this person completely. I got the chlamydia and gonorrhea treated already.

Anyway, I can’t wait for this all to be over, so I can get back into trying new foods and actually having the energy to do a lot of different things instead of just wasting away inside these hotel rooms dealing with these stomach issues.

If anyone has any suggestions for me in general, please let me know because I feel like I’m in a dark place right now.

I saw a periodontist and he told me to use interdental brushes on my receding gums, but I'm just wondering if that constant friction from the brushes will cause more gum recession? I already use floss picks and soniccare, but I guess there's still some plaque around the roots when I saw him. I can see how the interdental brushes would clean up the plaque, but at the same time, it's literally more scrubbing on the gums area, so I feel like it could be abrasive to the gums over time?

My gums are receding and I have black triangles, but not quite at the level where I absolutely need gum grafting. He did say I could get gum grafting to prevent further recession though. Anyway, what are your thoughts on using interdental brushes?

See purpose first that may affect a lot of how you view the credit profile. Thank you.

CREDIT PROFILE

• * Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of:
  • Capital One venture X maybe started 2-3 years ago
  • Amex Gold
  • Chase Freedom Flex
  • Chase Freedom (old one)
• * FICO Scores with source (see note on FICO score sources below):
  • Above 800
• * Oldest credit card account age with you as primary name on the account:
  • Freedom Chase cards 10+ years
• * Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 6 months:
  • None
• * Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 12 months:
  • None
• * Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 24 months:
  • Possibly Amex gold just a little over 2 years ago
• * Annual income $: (Approximations are fine. Accuracy is most important if your income is under $20k. See what counts as income below.)
  • 70-120k, but not really working while traveling.

CATEGORIES

• * OK with category-specific cards?: 
  • Yes
• * OK with rotating category cards?: 
  • I guess, but not really sure if it's relevant since I'm traveling abroad.
• * Estimate average monthly spend in the categories below. Only include what you can pay by credit card.
  • * Dining $: 500? (However, I have noticed that using the Amex Gold abroad at dining places and groceries does not actually log as that inside the system as those categores.)
  • * Groceries $: 0 since I'm abroad a
  • * Gas $: 0
  • * Travel $:
    • Flights: $200/month on avg, but I'm also using points.
    • Local rideshare (not Uber): $50/month
    • Local groceries: $50/month?
    • Hotels: $700/month. Usually via hostels and airbnbs. I don't really spend a lot on big hotels, but if I go for the CSR, I guess I could do a small splurge from time to time to redeem the credit.
  • * Do you plan on using this card abroad for a significant length of time (study abroad, digital nomad, expat, extended travel)?:
    • 1 year extended travel
  • * Any other categories (examples: phone/internet, insurance) or stores (example: Amazon) with significant, regular credit card spend (the more you specify, the better): $
  • * Any other significant, regular credit card spend you didn't include above?: $
  • * Can you pay rent by credit card? If yes, list rent amount and if there's a fee for paying by credit card: $

MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS (delete lines that don't apply)

• * Current member of Amazon Prime?: yes
• * Current Verizon postpaid customer?: No
• * Current member of Costco or Sam's Club? Yes
• * Current member of Chase, US Bank or any other big bank?: Chase
• * Are you or your spouse active US military?: No
• * Are you open to Business Cards?: (Not applicable

PURPOSE

• * What's the purpose of your next card ?: 
  • Travel Rewards. I am currently traveling and will continue to do so for another year. Looking for a travel card that I can use to gain some points to use for flight redemptions. I do not have a preference on airlines. Even though the Amex Gold is good for this, I am thinking of getting the Amex Everyday to maintain my MR points and cancelling the Gold because I can't really use the Uber and Grubhub credit while abroad. I am looking into possibly getting another travel card in addition to my Venture X as a fallback and maybe also churn a little and get more points available for more flight redemptions.
  • Looking at CSP and CSR, but I don't know if I can really apply the CSR hotel credits to my somewhat frugal hotel lifestyle. Maybe it can work for me though? I do like the big points they give me. CSP travel insurance looks good, but the scenario seems rare, and it feels like I'm actually paying for the card since the benefits don't make it break even like the Venture X does.

I'm doing a roadtrip right now around Hokkaido, and I haven't quite planned out the last leg of my journey. Prior to this, I will have driven over a lot of places already. Sapporo, Hakodate, Noboribetsu, Otaru, Biei, Furano, Niikappu (for Nijukken cherry blossoms), Erimo, Obihiro, Otofuke, Kushiro, Akangawa, Sounkyo Gorge, and finally Asahikawa. From Asahikawa, I'm not sure what else to do with my remaining 2 days and where to stay in the evenings (On the 3rd day, I'm flying out of CTS).

Here's what I'm thinking so far:

The night before the remaining days, I will be staying in Asahikawa. I guess the next morning on Day 1, I can go to the sake brewery and ramen village, and maybe the zoo if I'm feeling up to it (but I visited another zoo recently so I'm not sure I'd be down). Not sure what else I should do here? I will already have seen Biei and Furano by that point. Is it good to stay in Asahikawa another night? Or just go down towards Chitose during the afternoon of Day 1, and if I did, what's a good stopping point? Another to consider is that on Day 2, I'm thinking of going to Mitsui Outlets en route to Chitose. Maybe see Costco too haha. On Day 3 I gotta fly out. Anyone got any suggestions for my questions? Thank you.