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While markets often get the prize for variety and amazing local color, grocery stores also allow great insight into a culture. Not the supermarkets we see back home, but small, neighborhood grocery shops. The necessities on store shelves can serve as a cultural study, souvenir source, or simply a place where you can restock your travel supplies.
When I’m traveling, I like to purposely forget some … Read more »
For travelers expecting Asia to be all about pious monks and tranquil temples, they can be thrown off by the gigantic shopping centers. Some see them as monuments to the consumerism and materialism they were trying to leave behind.
This AP article talks about the malls of Manila. Despite being one of the poorest countries in the region, the Philippines has 3 of the 10 biggest malls in the world.
Shopping centers seem to … Read more »
Damascus, Syria
Yes, it is the last in my five-part series on the senses, and this post will address the fact that we vagabonders smell.
We do sometimes have an odor about us, especially after a long day in the tropical or desert heat, but what often stands out more … Read more »
Coming back across the bay from San Francisco this afternoon, I was surprised to discover that the front wheel of my bicycle had been stolen. After casing everyone and every corner I could see, I gave up ever seeing it again. Being the Bay Area, I walked a few hundred yards down to the bike shop and asked how much a new wheel would be ($130). This would of course be the bike shop that … Read more »
This morning I read about a hotel that’s under construction. There’s an art museum going up around the corner, and the hotel is designed to complement it by displaying contemporary art in the rooms and common areas. Construction is partly financed by a local nonprofit focused on downtown revitalization. The husband-and-wife operators are excited — Steve Wilson, the husband, says, “We have a totally embracing experience where [people] … Read more »
Malia Yoshioka
https://blogs.bootsnall.com/malia
Age: 30
Hometown: Honolulu, HI
Quote: “When I returned home, I not only appreciated what a beautiful place it is, I also was able to see my hometown through the eyes of a traveler. This was an entirely new way for me to view my own community.”
Unless you’re traveling somewhere pretty remote, you probably know that Apple announced a brand new iPhone yesterday.
Like most people in western nations, I’m not immune to advertising and possess a certain amount of technolust. Yesterday I found myself thinking, “huh, an iPhone would be handy for traveling… it has a camera, it’s an iPod, it can even hold guidebooks and translation apps, and…”
In fact the SFGate was quick to produce an article on … Read more »
Most people have at least heard of the idea of pilgrimage: “religiously-motivated travel to a sacred destination, often (but not always) performed in the hope of material benefit.” There were the medieval trips to Santiago de Compostela and the present-day Muslim journeys to Mecca. There is Chaucer’s Wife of Bath, whose wanderings led her to a naturally lusty life (which was really the only reason most residents of the Middle Ages could assume women were … Read more »
Many travelers experience a call to service while on the road. It’s common enough to find travelers stayed in an area to volunteer for weeks, and sometimes even years, when they only intended to be passing through. Travel can awaken a profound compassion within us. However, if you find yourself returned to the States permanently, or only for … Read more »
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.” –Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack, June 1746