"Is It Worth Going to ...."?

A most excellent day in Gardabani, near Rustavi, Caucasus Georgia. March 2012. Photo courtesy of Eva K, who was part of that remarkable day.

On travel forums, I cringe when people ask if a place is "worth" going to.

Vakhtangisi, how many km to Rustavi, Caucasus Georgia. March 2012.

And on the other side of such a question is the response from self-appointed experts who rush to reply that, no, a place is not worth going to.

Music venue in the Lupus Garage, Lupus, Missouri. October 2013.

Or worse, when they offer such advice, unsolicited, to an individual expressing interest in a particular destination.

Antelope Wells, New Mexico. March 2013.

For example, touring the historic Route 66 (the Mother Road) in the U.S. is a popular draw for foreign tourists. But invariably, when these folks announce their Route 66 itinerary plans on a popular travel forum, a passel of Americans jump up to gleefully proclaim it's not "worth" doing the Mother Road because "there's nothing there." Which is false, of course.


Obviously, if you seek something very specific, it makes sense to know if the size and caliber of your specific something exists in a potential destination.

Columbus, New Mexico. April 2013.

But if you are:

• Looking for generally good travel experiences;
• Open to adventure;
• Observant; and 
• Flexible ....

... then just about everywhere is worth going to.

Cemetery in east El Paso, Texas. April 2017.

Like these:

• Gardabani, Part 2: Men in Black
• Lupus, Missouri: The Chili Fest, Part 3: Before You Die
• Columbus, New Mexico, Part 1: You Mean There's More Than One Part? Are You Kidding?
• Keshalo: A Tiny Adventure

10 Gifts Under 10 Bucks for the Portable, Budget-Minded Minimalists Who Like to Travel

A budget-minded, portable minimalist's space, dressed by light. Opelousas, Louisiana.

The title sounds so specific that surely it's all about me, right?

In a way, yes. But only in that I'm using myself as a focus group of one. This is because travel gift lists tend toward the extravagant. "Living simply" gift lists tend toward the smug and expensive. And "frugal" and "budget-minded" mean different things to different people, mostly resulting in gifts that are still over my price range.

If I were to create my own list of gifts for the portable, budget-minded minimalists who like to travel, this is what would be on it:

1. Write a letter with a pen and mail it to the recipient. Doesn't have to be lengthy or detailed. Might just be three sentences telling the recipient you were thinking about them, hope they are well, and that they have a wonderful year ahead.  
2. Make a phone call. Express the same three sentiments as above: I was thinking about you, hope you're well, want to wish you a wonderful year ahead. 
3. Cash. It fits everyone, is accepted everywhere (except Norway), and has no expiration date. Quantity unimportant. Five bucks- woohoo! There's a lot one can do with five bucks. 
4. Whistle. For one, whistles are cool. They're small. They're useful for security (or at least a reassurance of security). They may or may not scare bears.
5. Travel alarm. Sure, your recipient has a phone with an alarm clock app on it. But shit happens. The phone, for whatever reason is inaccessible or unusable. You inadvertently set the alarm volume to zero. (Not that I've ever done this. Not even three times.) You can get a perfectly serviceable, eminently packable travel alarm for less than 10 bucks. 
6. Paracord lanyard. If you're crafty, you can make your own and distribute them as gifts. Otherwise, you can buy one. I like the idea of a paracord lanyard because of its utility, strength, and style. Search on "paracord lanyard" and you'll find lots of DIY instructions and also where to buy them readymade. 
7. Drawstring bag (aka "sack bag"). I've come to appreciate my two cheap-ass drawstring bags, which I got free as promotional items from a booth at some event. They're lightweight, take up virtually no space in my car or apartment, and they attract no covetous interest by strangers. I use them on short hikes, at the grocery store as a plastic-bag substitute, and at dance venues, so I can take along a fan, bottle of water, and a few other items. 
8. Small flashlight. Do some review searches for the best-quality small, budget flashlights. Sure, your recipient may have a camera with a flashlight app, but this assumes a charged phone when, where, and for how long she may need it. Besides, like whistles, little flashlights are cool.
9. Duct tape. You can buy a travel-ready roll or you can create one for your recipient. 
10. L-o-n-g clothesline. Cotton or nylon, whatever. Just the rope; no fancy-schmancy hooks or rigs. I say long (i.e. 20 feet) because it will still pack up compactly and offer maxium utility to the recipient: Camping, tying down trunk lid when transporting bulky stuff, hanging laundry in hotel rooms, etc. If necessary, the recipient can cut off a length as needed. I currently use my clothesline as a way to hang artwork on one wall in my apartment. The excess length is coiled neatly (kind of) in a corner.

But I'm not much for creating lists. 

Travel Resolutions for 2015

Highway 3, New Mexico

Here is my tiny round-up of travel resolutions for 2013. Salt plays a prominent role.

An even tinier round-up of travel resolutions for 2014 is here. Greg Kohl's list remains solid.

A common theme for 2015 travel resolutions is to unplug. As is local travel, a model I've long espoused.

I especially like two of Pauline Frommer's 2015 resolutions: 

1. Connect with some of her social media's "friends of friends" on her travels - what a keen idea to arrange a meet-up with someone who is a stranger to you, but with whom you share a friend! 
2. Use an outlet multiplier at public venues so nearby strangers can still get plugged in. Open source in a  literal way - love it.

I also favored two of Wanderlust's resolutions for 2015: 

1. Remember to look up. The Wanderlust author refers to the heavens, and I agree. Looking up also applies to treetops, surrounding hills, ceilings, and rooftops. 
2. Call on local guides to get more local back-story. I have smiling memories of a local guide in Harar, Ethiopia, who took me to see the hyenas.  

After dipping in and out of dozens of lists, what I've got above is the best of the lot.

Travel Blasphemy #6: It's OK to Pay for Photos

There are travelers who refuse to pay locals in exchange for taking their photos. Some tourists indict locals as greedy or exploitive (!) if they ask for payment. Some tourists think their photos aren't "authentic" or "candid" if they have to pay for them. Then there are those travelers who believe it is corrupting a traditional society if they pay for photos.  


And yet these very same photographers use the photos for their own tangible or intangible benefit, and in ways that the subjects have no control over.

This makes no sense to me. Especially when we're snapping pics of folks who live in a place where it's difficult to earn a sustainable income.

We've all got the right to support ourselves and our families, don't we? 

Doctors and attorneys aren't going to dispense their services for free just because they happen to be standing on the street, are they?

Worst Travel Advice

The Lonely Planet has a list of the worst travel advice ever here. It's not bad.

Here's my list of worst tips:

1. "Let's ask if they can help us buy some coke." 

Yes, a temporary travel companion did propose this to me in Ecuador.

Don't do this.


2.  Bring candy, pencils, and small coins to give to the children in the streets.

This tip is offered to those visiting a country such as Ethiopia.

Do not do this. Do not do this. Do not do this.

It promotes begging in lieu of school (for those who have access to school). It causes a plague upon the tourists who follow you, as you set up the expectation that foreigners are walking Santas.

Besides, you will never have enough stuff to distribute. Never.

Finally, it is at best, a gesture of noblesse oblige. At worst, it is akin to feeding bread crumbs to pigeons - dehumanizing. 

If you want to contribute in some way to a country you're visiting, to offset in some way the terrible disparity of resources between you and most of the country's population -  identify an in-country organization that you admire and give it a donation.



3. Take traveler's checks. 

Travelers checks have gone the way of rotary phones. ("Rotary phones" - look it up.)

No matter how remote the country you're visiting, trust me, travelers checks are over.

Instead, take some cash (dollars or euros) + cash (local currency, upon arrival) + two cards that you can use as debit for ATMs. Stash the second card in a place that's separate from the other card.

And remember to inform your financial institution that you'll be traveling - you don't want to be abroad and find your card is locked.


4. From locals, about an area in their country - "Don't go there, it's too dangerous." 

This can be superb advice that you'd do well to heed. 

But.

I've discovered that locals in all countries suffer from the same malady as the locals in my country. How many times do we hear compatriots caution against going to a particular U.S. location, be it an entire city or a part of a city, or a certain rural location? Again, sometimes the advice has merit, but more often than not, it's a generalized and unsubstantiated fear that has little connection with reality.

So if a local cautions me about going to a particular place, I'm going to listen to him, but I'm also going to ask more questions, do some independent research, and then make a decision.


5. Wait for the official instructions ... 

Like #4, this is sometimes the exact right thing to do. I learned in Ethiopia to be patient and let staff, such as those at a bus terminal, help me. They knew what they were doing and it was in their best interest for the maintenance of efficient operations to get me through the process smoothly.

But in an unusual situation, look at what the locals are doing. Are they waiting for instructions or are they moving?

In Ecuador long ago, a trio of us (all Americans) were on a train from Ibarra to San Lorenzo. En route, we encountered a landslide that had obliterated a section of track.We passengers disembarked and milled about for a bit. The train maestro said we should wait for instructions about what to do next.  While we waited, we noticed that all of the other passengers began streaming on foot through the compromised pathway.

By the time we decided to follow, our fate was sealed: On the other side was a waiting train - older, smaller -  in which all of the seats were taken.

This experience was a laugh-about-it-later one.

But on a much more serious level, there were people who died in the World Trade Center when they complied with instructions to "stay put."


6. Go here - the food is AMAZING!!! 

Yeah, OK, maybe.

But I invite you to redefine the term amazing!!!  to mean:

It is the ultimate experience in mediocrity! Nowhere else will you spend more money for such a stupendously average experience than this! 

I promise: If you redefine the word amazing as I suggest, you will never be disappointed. In fact, your expectations may be exceeded. Win-win.


What's your worst travel advice? 

Long Journeys: The River .... and a Sidebar on Journeywomen

Love Your Big Muddy

I love that this river adventurer is a woman, she's of a certain age, and she's a fellow Missourian. She lives 30 miles from my hometown.

Her precís (I've added the links):

My name is Janet Moreland. I am a Missouri River paddler from Columbia, MO, most often found at or near Cooper's Landing. I recently graduated from college with a degree in Education, and am now certified to teach middle school social studies and/or science. Currently, I am in the midst of a 3700-mile Source-to-Sea solo kayak expedition from the Missouri River source at Brower's Spring, Montana, to the Gulf of Mexico. I left Columbia on April 14, 2013, and anticipate a November completion. My mission includes elements of education, environmental stewardship, and empowering youth, women, and men to confidently pursue their dreams.

Here is a podcast interview with Ms. Moreland at The Pursuit Zone.


Fear

In her post here, Ms. Moreland talks about times recently when she felt fear. It was good to see how she felt it and what she did about it. [The bold and underlining are mine.] 

On a treacherous lake crossing that she'd received numerous warnings about, she wrote in her journal: “I need to stop wondering if I’m making the right decision and just trust my judgment. I can SO do this!”

At one campsite where she worried about mountain lions, she reported: " .... That very night, after I was zipped up in my tent, some animal made a loud noise right around dusk just outside my tent. Holy mackerel! It was a honk, cough, yell, growl, screech, or something, I don’t know what.  “Stay calm,” I told myself. “What do you need to do to survive?”  I took the safety off of my bear spray, got my buck knife out, grabbed my machete, and put my whistle around my neck.  I was hoping it was not a mountain lion. ..... "

During a nasty electrical storm: " .... I couldn’t help but think I had just inserted into the ground a lighting rod, which seemed to be the high point on shore, and right outside my shelter.  Oh well, there was nothing more I could do.  I had to wait out the storm, and I did it squatting with only my feet touching ground and my hand on my SPOT “SOS” button.  I thought if lightning struck me, my reflex would press the button....." 

How Ms. Moreland's handled her fear reminded me of two other women who undertook long journeys:

This hilarious telling of Molly Langmuir's four-day solo hike in the Tetons, where she was terrified of encountering a bear. My favorite bit:

On a scale of one to 10, how much fun did you have?
I'm actually not sure I had any fun. The trip was challenging, which I always like, and now that I'm through it, something I'm glad I did, but I basically spent the entire time in a state of sheer terror, so there wasn't much room for fun. I guess a one?

And the book, Wild, by Cheryl Strayed. She told herself that she did not fear mountain lions, bears, or rattlesnakes. That this was necessary for her to be able to embark on the hike. If she'd allowed herself to consider fear, then she couldn't have gone.


But here's the sidebar on journeywomen

There's a lot of debate in the news right now about banning the niqab in some places or not banning, and about imperialist countries imposing their cultural shoulds on other cultures, that a culture will stick up for itself, thank you very much, and so on.

The other day, when I went to the Alamogordo Balloon Invitational by myself, without asking the permission of a brother or father or uncle or husband or son, having driven to the event by myself, in a car that I alone own, and walked around the event unescorted, I appreciated - yet again - how lucky I am that I have the choice to do all of the things I just listed.

When I think about Ms. Moreland, or Ms. Strayed, or Ms. Longmuir's journeys, it is with appreciation that these women have the choice to do such things.

"Such things" including the fundamental human right to use our intelligence and talents to their fullest, without religious, cultural, or other restriction imposed on us because we are women.

This right is called self-determination: the determination of one's own fate or course of action without compulsion; free will.

So while the debate goes on, I'd like this basic tenet not to be lost.


When I'm feeling exasperated about the latest indignity done to women somewhere - control dressed up in the guise of culture - I like to play this video.

Some might consider it a metaphorical middle finger. 

On Solo Dining

Lalibela, Ethiopia

I know there was a time long, long ago that I felt trepidation about dining out solo, but it's been so long I don't recall the negative feeling.

Once I began solo dining, always with a book or newspaper at hand, I loved eating in restaurants alone. For an introvert like me, it's perfect - I get to enjoy perfect solitude while in the ambient company of people, amidst the noises of activity and social conversation, but not of it.

Trabzon Restaurant, Istanbul

But I didn't get how someone could dine alone without anything to read. (Or texting or listening to music or using any external diversions whatsoever.) When I saw such a person, usually a man, I'd wonder what he was thinking while he was eating. It wasn't a matter of him just looking at his plate and shoveling the food in. No, the typical solo-diner-without-something-to-read often sat quietly while eating, looking out into space.  

I just didn't get the attraction of this.

Tlaxcala, Mexico

Until. I think I noticed it in Georgia, maybe as early as Ethiopia. I'd go to a restaurant and have a book with me, and then realize I wasn't reading it. I was just .... being there. Just eating. Just drinking. Just looking out into the distance. And it was OK. Sometimes when I caught myself, I'd pick up the book, and then let it go again. ... just eating, just drinking ...

And now, if someone were to ask me, what are you thinking about when you dine alone and you're not engaged in a book or newspaper or music or texting or whatever, the answer would have to be: I don't know, nothing really. 

Keshalo, Georgia

Travel Resolutions for 2013

Lonely Planet has weighed in here with staff lists of where they intend to go in 2013.

Salt flats, Bolivia. Credit: Best Travel Places

Sidebar: Reading about one staffer's desire to enter a new continent, with a photo of Bolivia's salt flats, made me wonder about an itinerary, executed over the course of several years or so, based on salt.

I like salt. It's necessary for one's survival, and has been demonized unfairly by so-called advanced medical experts. It figures prominently in local histories.

In a favorite book of mine, Alas, Babylon, there comes a time when the survivors of an apocalypse have a desperate need for salt, which prompts the search for same.

Salt Flats, Texas

I've already been to the site of a war over salt (and other things) - Salt Flats, Texas. 

The movie, The Wind Journeys, showed spectacular scenes of the salt mines in Colombia.

]

But I digress. 

Back to travel resolutions for 2013. 

CNN offers a list of 2013 travel resolutions that isn't about specific destinations, but about choices and planning. I like it.

Chicago Tribunes' "Travel Troubleshooter" offers one 2013 resolution for us to consider: Don't Be A Jerk.

Arthur Frommer offers a thoughtful list of 2013 travel resolutions. I like it so much, here it is in full:

"At the end of last year, I hastily scribbled a list of 18 New Year's resolutions for travel in 2012, realizing as I did so that I was including too many marginal and minor ones. I have since pared down the list to 12 important rules for the year ahead, which I genuinely believe reflect important and realistic suggestions. Here they are:

1. I will be courteous and respectful to airport and airline personnel and members of the TSA; they work under stressful conditions, and deserve our smiles and understanding.
2. I will constantly remind myself of the moral obligation to leave a generous daily tip to the housekeepers who have made up my hotel room -- theirs is an underpaid profession, and we should supplement the measly wages of the hotel chains.
3. I will avoid traveling on airlines that delight in public-be-damned attitudes, the companies that exult in an openly-expressed disdain for the traveler.
4. On my very next flight, I will politely ask permission of the person sitting behind me to recline my seat.
5. I will stop burying my head in a newspaper or book, and converse with the airline passenger sitting beside me, if they have indicated a desire to talk.
6. I will continue to argue for high-speed rail -- either in journalism or meetings -- to make a case for a technology so urgently needed in a nation that will soon have 400,000,000 people, as dense as any other on earth.
7. I will agitate as well for an easing of our nation's overly-restrictive visa requirements for incoming tourism, that have prevented so many foreign residents from visiting our country.
8. I will bring sandwiches with me, prepared at home, to substitute for that atrocious airline food.
9. I will never leave on any trip before spending at least a few hours reading about the history and culture of the place I am about to visit.
10. I will supplement the recommended tipping policies of the cruiselines with additional sums meant to recognize the hard labors of the people who staff the ships.
11. I will never book any Caribbean cruise that stops at the many artificial "private islands" or "private beaches" that the cruiselines are substituting for encounters with actual local people.
12. And finally, in the writing I do and the talks I deliver, I will continue to regard travel not as a mere recreation, but as a serious learning activity, a way of understanding the world, an essential element of a civilized life."

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/community/blogs/blog.cfm/arthur-frommer-online/arthurs-blog-2013-new-years-travel-resolutions#ixzz2GknLttR4

Gifts for the Frugal Traveler?

The New York Times' Frugal Traveler posted this list of items he'd like to get for himself.

Sixteen dollars for a travel toothbrush? Frugal?

Obviously, we have a different idea of what's frugal. The only item I thought was practical for me was the Petzl headlight, rechargeable via USB. Everything else was frivolous. 

Here's my list of what to buy a frugal traveler, i.e. me

1. Cash, always in fashion, welcome everywhere, doesn't take up a lot of space, and self-corrects the space it does consume as time goes on
2. Diminutive, but good quality headphones for my mp3 player; I think I've had it with earbuds
3. Amazon gift card I can use for downloading ebooks and music
4. Good quality ear plugs
5. Crossword puzzles book - maybe at the level of NYT's Monday through Wednesdays (they get progressively more difficult as the week goes on)

Here are some other folks' ideas of great travel gifts:

Frommer's - Gifts under $100. The solar cell phone charger is kind of seductive. But at $50, I don't think I'd get enough use out of it, and the vast majority of places I go to there's an outlet I can use. If I'm in my car and I need to charge my phone, I have a converter I bought many years ago prior to the Alaska road trip. One end goes into the lighter port and the other end is a blocky power strip in which I plug my charger.  

Executive Travel's gift suggestions. Are they kidding? Here's one of their ideas (besides the airplane tie): "triple-milled, handcrafted vegetable-oil-based maritime soap." At $19.

Travel and Leisure - Seven travel-size perfumes to throw into a carry-on? I checked to make sure this was for 2012 and not for 1999. Oh, wait. Maybe they're assuming you'd only take one at a time. Doh.

Budget Traveler's list isn't too bad. If only it hadn't made this silly statement:  True lovers of travel don't want to be weighed down with stuff.

Finally, here's a list to do something with, from International Business Times. Some of the items are too expensive for me, but there are budget-priced versions of same, like a portable drive.  And can you ever have too many packing cubes? I think not. I do think a few choices are too personal, the kind of thing I'd prefer to choose for myself, such as a backpack (but see #1 in my list above).  

Overall, I'm surprised at how few of the list items appeal to me.

Airline Freebies You Should Collect

Ethiopian Airlines, amenity kit

You can get some cool travel stuff on your flights.

Based on the detritus I see when I debark planes, I think most passengers discount the post-flight usefulness of these items. 

A caveat: Domestic flights in the U.S. are pretty Spartan when it comes to freebies. So this post is based mostly on international flights. But: Keep your eyes peeled on domestic flights as you pass through business and first class when you debark at your destination.

A number of airlines provide these free goodies on international flights, even for cattle class:

The amenity kit: 

• Lip balm
• Sleep mask
• Slipper socks
• Ear plugs
• Tiny toothbrush and toothpaste
• A container to hold these items

In-flight meals: 

• Packaged crackers
• Packaged cheese
• Packaged jam or honey
• Packaged moist towelette
• Pretty-good quality paper napkins
• In some airlines, free alcohol dispensed in cute little sealed bottles

Lip balm

I'm not a user myself, but many fellow travelers are addicted to the stuff. It's a nice item to give to someone.

Sleep mask

Generally, I don't need a sleep mask, but many people have a terrible time sleeping when there's the least sliver of light in their vicinity. So it makes a thoughtful small gift to a light sleeper.

For an ESL teacher, sleep masks are great tools for classroom games. For example, split a class into two or more teams. Each team has someone who wears the mask while the other team members direct him through a maze of obstacles using only English. The team who gets its masked member through the obstacle the fastest wins.

Slipper socks

Good to wear to bed in a cold climate, whether on your feet or your hands. Pitch 'em out when you want. Or continue to wash and wear.

Ear plugs

I've found that in some countries, people PLAY THEIR TELEVISIONS REALLY, REALLY LOUD! OR THEY TALK VERY LOUDLY! OR THERE'S CONSTRUCTION GOING ON NEXT DOOR! OR THE CALL TO PRAYER BY THE MUEZZIN IS RIGHT OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW!

Ahhhh, so anyway, even these cheap ear plugs take the edge off the volume. They make the difference between painful and tolerable.

Collect all unopened packages of ear plugs you can find, left behind by fellow passengers. Keep one pair in your personal bag. Just a few weeks ago, I pulled a pair out of my purse when I found myself too close to the speakers during the international dance competition in Istanbul. 

Tiny toothbrush and toothpaste

Collect for:

• Houseguests who forget their toothbrush 
• Domestic flights in your personal bag or a pocket
• Cleaning grout or other hard-to-reach areas

Container the freebies come in

I use the Ethiopian Airlines case to keep my small electronic paraphernalia.

Until recently, Turkish Airlines put its comfort items into a nice, ivory-colored, leather-like zippered bag that was useful as a small toiletry bag. Now TA uses a flat metal container; don't know why.

Other potential uses for such bags:

• Small toys or crayons for kiddos
• Sewing kit
• First-aid kit
• Hand laundry kit (line, clothespins, universal plug)
• A tidy place to pack a collapsible hat, lightweight scarves or bandanas
• For one-night trips to hold underwear, socks
• Pack a swimsuit    

Packaged crackers, cheese, jams, etc.

If you've got a long layover for a second flight after you debark, you can save some serious money by conserving such items til you land.

Alcohol

Unless you've got to move through another security check to board a next flight, conserve a sealed bottle of your desired alcohol for:

• A relaxing drink upon arrival at your destination; or
• A sweet token gift to someone

Decent-quality paper napkins

If your destination is a developing country, then these will come in handy for toilet paper. Stash your extras into a snack-size ziplock bag you packed. (You did pack ziplock bags, didn't you?)  

Debarking through business or first class

Take a look at what these passengers have left behind but not used, such as the ear plugs, socks, or whatever your favorite amenity is.  Collect one or two on your way out.

Amenity kit reviews

Some folks take their amenity kits very seriously.

Amenity Kit Review series from Frequently Flying

Exceptional Amenity Kits From First-Class from Fodor's

In Airline Gift Bags, A Chance to Sell from the New York Times

 





 

Travel Blasphemy #3: It's OK Not to Travel

It's OK not to travel.  

What is travel, really?

Is there a minimum physical distance one must transfer one's body from Point A to Point B before it counts as travel?

To qualify as travel, must there be a minimum number of variables that differ between Point B and Point A, such as scenery, climate, language, cuisine, culture, or customs? Do some variables carry more weight than others?

Is unfamiliarity the key criterion for an activity to qualify as travel?

Is international travel "better" than domestic travel? Or the reverse?

Then there's the un-killable "tourist" v. "traveler" debate.

Some argue that one should travel in order to:

• Broaden one's horizons;
• Become more tolerant;
• Learn what really matters; and
• Learn how we're all the same.

 ... and that people who don't travel are:

• Xenophobes
• Close-minded
• Scaredy-cats
• Boring, couch-potato slugs
• Unable to understand why they should travel
• Unwilling to cast off the bourgeois shackles imprisoning them in a soul-less cubical life

But, really, it's OK not to travel if we don't want to. And if we don't want to travel, no excuses and no embarrassment are necessary. We just don't care to.

We can live a big, rich life without ever leaving our home town.

I'm not talking about just reading books, watching TV, or surfing the web, either, though all of those activities can bring the world to us.

I'm talking about people who travel their home environs via keen observation and study skills. Or who have avocations that teach them about the multiple natural and human universes within a small radius of their home base. Mushroom-hunting, for example. Working with refugees. Writing poetry. Micro-travelers, if you will.

And even if we were to drop all reference to travel, there are legions of well-rounded, non-judgmental, complete people who derive joy in "just" raising a family, walking in the woods, tending a garden, participating in local theater, chopping wood, or whatever it is that gives them pleasure. They simply don't care to travel; they prefer other enriching activities.

Me, I love to visit places that pique my curiosity, whether domestic or international. I'm not a better person for it, and to claim I have some higher calling to explain my travel would be bullshit. I just like it.

While on the topic of bullshit and travel, the truism about travel making people more open-minded, tolerant, etc. is bullshit. My experience is that the ratio of traveling assholes : pleasant travelers is about the same as non-traveling assholes : pleasant non-travelers. Furthermore, said asshole-ness is an equal opportunity state of being regardless of where s/he is on the tourist food chain.

I am among a tiny fraction of the planet's occupants who have the wherewithal to travel more than 100 miles from their residence.

I am supremely grateful that I can afford the luxury of travel.

Travel Blasphemy #2: Bus Tours Are OK

Credit: HotelClub

"Real" travel is all about exploring on our own, getting lost and laughing about it, discovering hidden nooks and crannies of a place, stepping off that much-maligned beaten path, having that memorable conversation with the old guy you encountered in the dusty corner shop who's experienced a remarkable, adventurous life, and eating a homey meal offered to you, out of the blue, by a complete stranger who invited you into her house. Right?  

All of these are wonderful parts of travel. I love them.

And. Sometimes it makes sense to take a bus tour.

"A bus tour?" You ask, aghast. "Only bourgeois peegs take bus tours! Je suis un voyageur!"

Well, I dunno about you, but I've got finite resources in time, money, the number of learning curves I want to climb per day, and tolerance for arrangement hassles. I want my satisfaction utils to exceed the expenditures of these resources.

Here are circumstances where a bus tour might make sense: 

1. First visit to a large, sprawling city
2. First visit to a city with many landmarks 
3. Limited time
4. Limited knowledge about a location (i.e., event, cultural, or architectural history)  
5. An experience or secondary destination that is difficult to arrange on one's own
6. Physical challenges

Credit: Euro Travel

1. First visit to a large, sprawling city

In some cities, most of the interesting sights are concentrated in a relatively small geographic area. With some exceptions, Washington, D.C. is a good example of this; Chicago is another. I can walk to most of the sights or get around via the fairly-easy public transportation systems.

But in other cities, the landmarks are dispersed throughout a large geographic area, requiring one to master local transportation systems, the hours of operation at various venues, and the distances to visit them on my own. I'm totally on top of this for some trips. Other trips, I don't want to work so hard.

A bus tour is an easy-button way to visit the sights in such cities. If I want to take a longer look at one or two of the sites, I can return on my own. 

Another advantage of the bus tour is it gives me a 3D recon of the city. As I sit in my comfortable bus seat and watch the city roll by, brain pleasantly in neutral, I can note interesting neighborhoods and venues that I  want to explore later.


2. First visit to a city with many landmarks

Not all landmarks are created equal. I know some won't keep my interest longer than 15-20 minutes, but I do want to see them. Allocating more than, say, one hour of energy (physical, mental, emotional, financial) to get to and from each of these sights = poor return on my investment.

String a number of these kinds of landmarks together, and I've got an excellent case for a bus tour. I can  consolidate the sights in half a day with a small allocation of my finite resources, freeing up more to spend on other, more fascinating things on my trip list.

3. Limited time

If I'm going to be in a city for only a day or two, a bus tour may be the only way for me to see parts of the city I don't have the time to negotiate on my own.

In Istanbul, if you've got a long-enough layover and it's at the right time, you can get a tour of the city for the cost of a visa - 20 bucks.

4. Limited knowledge

Some of us do advance research on intended destinations, reading not only travel guides, but fiction and nonfiction books about the destination, perhaps even taking up some language lessons before departure.

I wish I were more like such travelers (well, not really, but I feel I should want to be more like them), but I'm not. An advantage of a bus tour is that tour guides usually provide interesting color commentary on the city, its history, the various sights and neighborhoods the bus passes, and often a scandalous bit here and there.

5. An experience or side trip that is difficult to arrange on my own

I'm defining difficult to mean "more trouble than I care to take" or "more time than I can afford" to design a custom experience or find my own way to a desired destination.

6. Physical challenges

There are some people who love to travel, but who have physical challenges that limit their abilities to explore on their own for any length of time.

For one, it may be an endurance issue - she knows she can go strong for a couple of hours, but then must rest. Another might have eyesight issues that affect his peripheral vision or depth perceptions, making walking about difficult. A third person may have mobility issues. Bus tours can extend the travel day and expand the travel experience for those of us with physical obstacles. 

So, put on those bermuda shorts, a fanny pack, and Bing Crosby hat and get on the bus!

Missouri: From Country Bumpkin to World Traveler

Rosalyn Pursley. Credit: eMissourian

From Country Bumpkin to World Traveler is a cool article about Rosalyn Pursley, age 69, who lives in Port Hudson, Missouri. (Written by Karen Myers, featured in Senior Times, eMissourian.)

Port Hudson, Missouri, isn't so much a town as it is a widening in the road. Closest actual town is Leslie, population 87.

Rosalyn didn't venture outside Missouri til after she graduated from high school.

Since then, Rosalyn began out-of-state vacations with her husband and children, later on duo trips with her daughter, and then eventually out on her own. Rosalyn's backpacked solo to Europe, Asia, Africa, the middle East, and South America. 

Cool.

A Rooted Moment

This morning, as I reviewed "furniture" with my police English class, the image of my old house came into my head. Specifically, the kitchen and dining room, with me wiping down the table and counter. The Sears & Roebuck oak table I'd bought at an auction ten bajillion years ago for $12.50, now belonging to new owners. The light that came through the kitchen's dutch door that goes out onto the back deck.

It was a moment of .... not regret, I don't think .... more of wistful remembrance.  It took me by surprise.

Tourist or Traveler

Tourist and traveler.

Same species, despite pretentious protests to the contrary.

From Merriam-Webster:

• A tourist is one who makes a tour for pleasure or culture. 
• A traveler is one that travels, as one who goes on a trip or journey. 

Based on the above definitions, one could argue that the tourist has the higher calling, as s/he seeks pleasure or culture from a trip, while the traveler simply moves his or her carcass from point A to point Z in some fashion. 

Nevertheless, there are self-proclaimed "travelers" who would have us believe there are proper ways to experience pleasure and culture, and "tourists" can't meet those criteria.

Often, these are the same individuals who advise visitors to the U.S. to fly from one coast to the other because there is "nothing" "worth" seeing in between.

These are the same folks who seek the "real" Mexico or Thailand or Tanzania or [fill in the blank], who hunt up the small, "authentic" villages and street foods, and the "real" people, who take the cheap buses, yet disdain all of those very same things in the U.S. as being uninteresting and not worth the trouble, instead directing visitors to a tiny selection of American destinations they deem "worth" seeing.

I find it disheartening when tourists disrespect others because they enjoy different ways of seeing the world. This seems the antithesis of the tolerance one supposedly accrues through travel.

Rootless Lit: Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels

"Rootless lit" - Literature that speaks to travel, migration, displacement, exploration, discovery, transience, divesting of stuff, or portability. 

Rootless lit book review: The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels, by Janet Soskice.

Credit: Amazon

Setting aside the story of the sisters for the moment, I loved how much I learned about things I didn't know existed before.

For example, I had no idea there was an ancient (and still active) Christian monastery in Egypt - St. Catherine's. Or that such a place had, since its inception, been the repository of historic manuscripts ... wow.

Or how about the existence of Jewish "genizah," a sort of cosmic recycling bin for sacred texts? Wow again.

Or palimpsests? Fascinating.

On the sisters Agnes and Margaret as people, I like the author's affectionate, but not blind, treatment of them; she includes their human frailties along with the glamorous stuff.

Ms. Soskice did a splendid job of describing the dog-eat-dog world of scholarly competition. And she did so without villainizing any of the players in the sisters' world.

Yet another layer of the story bespoke of women's power (or lack thereof) in England and Scotland during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Ms. Soskice is a good storyteller.

Why I Travel

I'm curious.