Where in the World is DMac? Your #RemoteYear Update.
Córdoba, Argentina, then to Buenos Aires and now in La Paz, Bolivia, Acuity’s Account Manager, David McLaughlin is traveling the world with Remote Year. If you haven’t been following along, this program allows its participants to work remotely while traveling around the world to 12 different cities, spending one month in each location. This month David explored Bolivia and agreed with the locals who often describe it with the following quote:
“Your eyes are in heaven; but your body is in hell.”
He continues to share, “Bolivia is a beautiful place to visit; but you’re constantly fighting altitude sickness, food poisoning, polluted air and water.” Sounds fun right?
The first attraction David explored was Death Road, an amazing white knuckle ride on the “world’s deadliest road”. As you plummet from La Cumbre Pass at 15.2K feet and hold on for dear life, you’ll finally land at the bottom around 3.9K feet.
The next stop was Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable body of water in the world and the birthplace of the Incas (does that one take you back to history class?). It was a beautiful view and offered a lot of insight into the Incan culture and heritage.
Finally, David landed in Salar de Uyuni, a prehistoric lake that has since gone dry and created the world’s largest salt flat. At 11,000 square kilometers of bright white salt DMac explains, “Its beauty cannot be described with words or captured in pictures. It is truly breath-taking.”
So what topped DMac’s list of favorites from La Paz? That award went to the Bolivian countryside in the Chuguana Desert. You may have heard of the Dakar Rally – part of their grueling course runs through this vast desert. DMac had a blast driving a Toyota LandCruiser through the desert, daydreaming of being a true competitor in Dakar’s next race.
And now for a lightening round of questions with DMac to get his final thoughts as he heads on to his next destination:
- What are the biggest cultural shocks you’ve encountered in La Paz?
The lack of proper sanitation. You cannot flush papel higienico (aka. toilet paper) in Bolivia. There’s a trash can next to each toilet where you place the used paper. As you can imagine, it smells and is very unsanitary. - What one dish will you crave once you leave La Paz?
Without a doubt, the 14 course meal at Gustu, rated one of the 50 best restaurants in South America. It’s absolutely divine. - Any technology hurdles you’ve run into?
None. Most of our work was done in a coffee shop here (no co-working spaces were available – who would’ve thought?!) Remote Year is taking good care of us though, and had two fiber lines installed, so we were up and running in no time.
- If we only had one day to spend in La Paz what would you recommend we do?
Start the day off right and have breakfast at Alexander’s, the Starbucks of Bolivia. Next, head over to the Witches Market and go shopping for a llama fetus for your new house (you heard me correctly). It’s a tradition to bury a llama fetus under the front porch to receive blessings and good luck. If you’re brave (and dumb), try the street food for lunch. Then head downtown to take in the sites and see the famous churches and government buildings. Take in the scenery and watch the sunset on the Mi Teleferico, the cable cars are used for public transportation (no buses or subway systems here). When you start getting hungry, head to Gustu for their delicious 14 course meal. And last but definitely not least, leave La Paz quickly and go see the real beauty of Bolivia…. the countryside.
Want to know which location is up next? Check out the itinerary below:
- Córdoba, Argentina
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- La Paz, Bolivia
- Cusco, Peru → up next
- London, England
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Belgrade, Serbia
- Split, Croatia
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Chiang Mai, Thailand
- Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
