jenjoy

Brave New Traveler Article

I thought this article in Brave New Traveler, Why Do We Crave Escape From The Modern World , did a good job addressing our desires to travel.  Check it out and make sure to read the comments at the end.

Trip Around the World

To celebrate his 50th birthday, a co-worker and his best friend are taking a month to go around the world and see all the sights left unseen on their "list".   The Great Wall of China, Petra, the Pyramids and Machu Picu to name a few.   Why is it that so many of us wait until we feel time marching past us to do and see the things that are important to us?  Are we so caught up in the moments of life; picking the kids up from school, the promotion at work, global warming,  that we lose sight of the other things that are important to us?  Or is that the choice that we make?  Why do we have to make a choice?

It seems these quests are for the young and the old.  Those who have yet to step into responsbility and for those that have lived past it.

I am fascinated by the prospect of this kind of grand travel and, while 50 is fast approaching, I don't want to wait.  But how do we balance the requirements of our life with our desires and dreams?  In many aspects I am lucky to have the opportunity to travel extensively.    My job allows me months off at a time, with an income to support it.  And though my heart desires a family, I have not been blessed with  one.   I only have a commitment to two loving and furry cats.  And yet, I find myself at work more often than in travel.  Worried that the next job may not come, or the money will run out, or saving for retirement.  What is the compromise?

Until we figure out the perfect combination of life, fun, travel, family and obligations--let us dream.  Of private jets, world cruises, cultures we have yet to experience and sights that take our breaths away.  Read this article from MSN  or check out the decadence of Starquest Expeditions .

Costa Rican Vacation

"Describe your most memorable vacation or travel moment and how it changed or affected you.”

Costa Rican Vacations  has challenged me and in return, if my entry is the best, will reward me with a week long trip to Costa Rica in September, worth $3,000 (airfare not included).    How do you pick one moment or vacation?  Each trip is unique and has it own special experiences.

Ultimately I chose to tell the story of me and David and a mountain in Belize.  Some of you may remember the day from my email blogs.  The day after I broke my rib horseback riding, the day we explored the amazing cave on top of the mountain.  What I didn't tell you about was the journey up that mountain and how it lives with me everyday.  How hiking that jungle trail was a defining moment for me and the insight of my guide, the way he saw into my soul, still travels with me today.

Please, check out my entry, "Heart of a Mountain".   Give it a rating, and comment on it.

I will let you know if I win.

More Luggage Tags

Look at what I found this weekend while I was in Phoenix.

Fun, colorful luggage tags.

One of my favorites, that I didn't buy, was "Does this bag make my butt look bigger?"

You can browse for your favorites at

Innovative Travel .

Go Local

Your hometown may be the next person's destination,  so step back and look at your city with the eye of a tourist.  Its easy to check off the obvious places.  In Memphis, you'd see Graceland and Beale Street but to get to know the locals and feel the underlying beat of the Memphis heartbeat you should head to mid-town for dinner, drive past the grand mansions on the parkways or have barbecue in a dive.

Take a closer look at the lesser museums in your area or revisit the big ones.  Its probably been years
since you have taken the time to wander through the exhibits.  Take one weekend day a month to be a tourist in your own town.

I live in Los Angeles which, in fact, is many tourist's final destination.  And I have seen/done all the "must dos";  The Hollywood Sign, Universal Tours, Mann's Chinese, Rodeo Drive and Venice Beach.   Those are things that are in Los Angeles but they don't define what makes Los Angeles tick.  In an effort to reconnect with my hometown I have made a list of things either to revisit or visit anew:

1.  Phillipe's Restaurant:  Located near downtown L.A.  and home of the French Dip Sandwich.

2.  The Museum of Television and Radio :  Now known as the Paley Center for Media, it is located in Beverly Hills (near Rodeo Drive).

3.The Griffith Observatory: New renovated, it offers amazing vistas of the LA basin.  I hope to plan my visit to correspond with sunset.

4. Nixon Library:  In Yorba Linda, California. I have already visited the Regan and Clinton Libraries.

5.  Movie at the Cemetery:  Every summer, Forever Hollywood Cemetery   shows movies outdoors.  I love cemeteries, especially this one, and I love movies.  Sounds like the perfect combination.

That is just the beginning of my list for my city.  Open you eyes.  Take another look at your town, set aside the chores and errands for a day, and go explore.

Magazines

Hi.  My name is Jennifer Blair and I am a magazine addict.  O, O at Home, Vanity Fair, More, Reader's Digest and Hollywood Life...those are just the tip of the iceberg.  Then come the travel magazines.  By far my favorite is Budget Travel but I am equally addicted to National Geographic Traveler and National Geographic Adventure.    Whenever I fly, I scour the new stands for other travel magazines, the ones that
aren't delivered directly to my door.   I fantasize about the trips listed in Islands and Conde Nast Traveler, and one of the newest travel magazines, Sherman's Travel .

 

What is your favorite travel magazine?

View From My Room

Check out my new photo album, View From My Room.  I will update this album after every trip.

In Bruges

The town of Bruges becomes its own character in the newly released film, "In Bruges"  .   Canals reminiscent of Venice, medieval architecture and quaint streets serve as the backdrop for two Irish hit men (Collin Farrell and Brenden Gleeson) sent to Bruges to hide after a "hit" gone bad.  Ralph Fiennes, who plays the hit men's boss, describes the town as a "fairytale" and, honestly, it enchanted me.

I know very little about Belgium  and hadn't even heard of Bruges  before this movie but I quickly added it to my list of "must see" places.    I can't wait to walk the cobbled streets and, maybe, hopefully, even stumble across Collin Farrell.

Travel Defined

Modern travel, even with its airport delays and highway traffic, is  easy compared to the travel of bygone days. The  South Rim of Grand Canyon, before the railway line was built, was only accessible via a twelve hour, back breaking, hot and dusty stagecoach ride.  Early travel was difficult, extremely uncomfortable and perilous.  You risked your life to journey from one destination to another.

These dangers are reflected in the origins of the word travel.  Travailler, to work hard, and travail, extreme agony, are two French words that helped formed our English word, travel.  According to Word Origins by Wilfred Funk & D. Litt, travailler "has a remote ancestor,the Late Latin trepalium, which was a device for torturing".  I am sure those early travelers considered stage coaches and wagons torture devices.

Next time you begin to complain about long lines at airport security or the price of rental cars, remember the agonies our ancestors experienced and be thankful for the relatively effortless way we now traverse.