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Claire Litton wrote earlier this week about traveling low-res as a genuine option to lugging all those i-products around. The timing was right on the heels of my recent digital breakdown.
I probably should have known better than to plan to do a few social media updates and minor editing tasks while I was spending a long weekend in St. Kitts. My cellular carrier assured me that I’d be able to get service on the island, and I brought along my iPad so I could take advantage of the Wi-Fi in the common areas of my hotel. It’s not like I planned to spend a lot of time online. With all that availability, I’d just be able to connect when I wanted to.
What happened? No cellular service. (It turns out that I could have changed that by manually reprogramming my phone, but I had no idea. Lesson learned.) And the reliable Wi-Fi in the hotel? Not reliable. I spent the first 24 hours worried that I’d miss something. But then, I calmed down and realized that it wasn’t the biggest deal and others would understand.
I’m not proud that I’ve allowed technology to get the better of me. But it’s taught me a lesson: Plug in only when it’s essential and it means a paycheck that you can’t do without. Even then, if you can plan in advance to avoid it, do so. Technology may be convenient, but real relaxation doesn’t need a thing.
A backpacker walks up to Barnacles hostel in Ireland. Photo: Barnacles Hostels / Flickr Creative Commons
Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine travel without digital cameras, Facebook, and iPods. The New York Times was lucky to interview one of the original Frugral Travelers, John Wilcock:
A budget travel pioneer on a time when $5 a day was real (frugal) money
Wilcock has credentials that would make any aspiring writer mad with envy: he wrote some of the first guidebooks for Arthur Frommer, co-founded The Village Voice, and started up Interview magazine with Andy Warhol.
What stood out most to me was Wilcock’s reliable method of research: talking to people. Although websites like TripAdvisor and Yelp can serve that function these days, it’s essentially the same thing. Word-of-mouth is the best way to find the hidden gems of a place.
The fascinating part was where he talked about the forerunners of websites we take for granted now. In the interview, Wilcock described The Travel Directory, a project in the 1960s where people could sign up to offer spare rooms to travelers. This was CouchSurfing, decades before that website was even founded. Again, an old traveler’s practice that found its way online.
A refreshing change of tone was how Wilcock didn’t romanticize the past. Certainly, we all know someone who criticizes anything new, but he doesn’t fall into that camp at all. In particular, Wilcock actually criticized some of the ways travel writing was handled back when he worked for The Times.
How has travel changed since you first started? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Who draws the line between “corporate travel” and “leisure travel”?
(My answer: The travel industry.)
Is this a good thing or a bad thing for travelers? Why?
Discuss.
http://sites.google.com/site/inderjeetmani
Age: 55
Hometown: Boston, MA
Quote: “I was pleasantly surprised to find that the rest of the world was as normal or insane as everywhere else.”
(more…)
Istanbul, Turkey
I’m typing this post from a coffee shop in Jerusalem, and I’m resonating with an opening line of — and I’m a little embarrassed to say this — a soap opera I used to watch during a summer break or two in my elementary school years: “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”
I’ve been on the road photographing things for more than seven months, and I have just three weeks left before I return to Tennessee. I have a lot I still want to do in this time, more than I can hope to finish. But I’ll try.
And while trying, with increasing intensity thoughts and emotions will start tugging on my sleeve, reminding me that I’m about to leave people and experiences behind, that I’ll even be leaving a part of myself behind. A portion of my life has just been spent here in the Middle East and Ethiopia. A portion of my life has been shaped too, and has probably contributed to the shape of others I’ve met along the way. These are weighty matters, and now somehow it is coming to a close, at least this chapter of it, and I’m about to go home.
I’ve returned home from several long journeys before, and the account of one was recently published at WorldHum. Set at an Istanbul Starbucks in December 2004, “A Cup of Coffee and a Soft Chair” chronicles the emotions, including fear, that I experienced on the eve of my return. It’s not everyday that a warning on a coffee cup puts you on the verge of a mental breakdown, but neither is it everyday that you prepare to return home after a long trip.
While comments on my story are welcome, even more I’d enjoy hearing about your own experiences in preparing to go home.
Unplug yourself (image from Adbusters)
We all have so many little gadgets that travel with us every day. We have mobile phones, which may or may not have internet enabled on them. Maybe we also have mp3 players to throw in our bags as well. Perhaps there’s a personal organizer or diary of somekind too…if you haven’t been able to afford a gadget that has one already embedded (can anyone say “iPhone”?). Wanna Skype your friends and family? A webcam will come in handy. There might be wifi in every cafe, a laptop in your bag, a miniature folding keyboard in your pocket, and a Facebook update on your mind when you catch a glimpse of that next cool cathedral.
So what about leaving all that junk behind and going on a bit of a digital detox? I have some friends who are off for a five week trip around Europe and doing it old school…meaning no phones except for emergencies (cause they cost so much to use overseas), not too many internet cafes, definitely no laptops, and the freedom and peace of mind that comes from not carrying $2000 worth of valuable electronic equipment with you on a trip. You might also enjoy things more if you don’t see them through the lens of every blog post, status update, and tweet you can make. Imagine a digital-free trip. What would it be like?
For extra special bonus points, try traveling with no TV. Imagine the space in your evening to go for a wander, meet new friends, or just listen to the honk and bustle of traffic on the street. They don’t call it an idiot box for nothing.
Has a place ever changed your tastes, literally? One of the best parts of travel, in my opinion, is the culinary tourism. Before I go somewhere I usually make a list of the most celebrated dishes or drinks for that particular area. In addition to this, I usually tack on those things that appeal specifically to my tastes, and those things that might be considered a little more adventurous fare, like insects or snake blood in Thailand.
When it comes to dining, I’m pretty much open to anything. Even if I’ve preferred a particular palate over others, I’ve certainly enjoyed the food everywhere I’ve been, so it’s very rare that I try something on the road that I do not enjoy. However, I have had certain culinary prejudices before I’ve hit that road that have been changed after experiencing those things in a certain area. For example, I used to have a very strong dislike for beer. I would try to be casual when I was out with friends and drink whatever was offered to me, usually some watered-down cheap domestic special. I choked back enough of it to be social, but I could never understand the draw of it. However, that all changed on my first visit to Belgium. As usual, I read up on all of the great drinks and dishes out of Belgium, and there is no denying the country’s reputation for producing great brews. I’d had Kriek and Framboise before, but their sweetness leads one to think of them as a bit of an exception to a typical beer. I chose at random and wound up sampling Corsendonck first. I surprised myself by truly liking it. The same thing happened with each Belgian bottle I tried, from Chimay to Duvel to Leffe, and on and on. The strong dislike that I had had for beer was completely changed. It was easy, if expensive, to find these brands once I returned from my trip and throughout my travels in other places.
Have you ever disliked a certain dish, fruit, herb, or drink and found that your tastes had changed after experiencing it on the road?
(Image credit: chow.com)
“To travel somewhere is almost always to support someone and to exploit someone — often the same person.”
–Donald Ross, quoted by Jason Wilson in Salon “Trip Lit”, Jan. 26, 2000
It’s not often that you run into an industry that encourages sabbaticals. In my past employment with Internet portals, only one company’s HR department considered it, but only after you’d worked there 10 years or more.
Does that mean you’re out of luck if you’re yearning for a travel break from work?
Not according to a recent article by Susan Stellin in The New York Times. The article highlights tips from Sherry Ott and fellow founders of Briefcase to Backpack, which provides seminars on how to plan for that career break. You may remember the Meet, Plan, Go events around the country last month. That’s exactly how they help.
Highlights and tips from the article:
• Plan, and save, for your travel budget. Consider working along the way, or volunteering, to keep the costs low.
• Expect that family and friends may not understand your need to take a break. Quitting a steady job is scary for some, so their fears may chip away at your resolve to hit the road.
• Consider easing into your trip. You don’t have to do it all at once.
• If you have concerns about traveling alone in a destination, join a group trip.
• Plan and be prepared for your return. Keep in touch with your colleagues, and refresh your resume. Use your travels as experience to make you stand out as an employee.
• If you intend to return to the same company, make a solid plan to present to your manager, telling her how your career break can improve your value to the company.
Have you taken an extended career break? What tips do you have to add?
Easy Peasy Linux for netbooks. Photo: Andrew Currie / Flickr Creative Commons
The rapid advances in communications technology are enabling people to work from anywhere. This can be a big relief for people who stress over choosing between traveling and their careers. Luckily, now you don’t have to give up either.
Six Revisions, a blog for web designers and developers, wrote a great article on How to set up an effective mobile office. It covers the hardware and web apps you’ll need to get the job done while on the road. Technology isn’t perfect, however. The piece does talk about some of the pitfalls and traps of not working in a traditional office.
The time difference can be a big headache. Imagine if your client is in a country that’s 12 hours ahead of where are you are now. You’d be perpetually be behind deadline. Or worse, the client wants to be able to call you for support, but they call you at 4:00 a.m.
For a more in-depth list of good tools, take a look at 50 essential web apps for freelancers. Published by the AppStorm website, this list describes web-based programs that can do virtually anything you’d need to get work done. Using web apps can free up resources on your computer. Another advantage is that if your laptop gets stolen or broken, your workflow is still safe. With everything stored in the “cloud,” you don’t have to worry about losing a computer. You can get back on the Internet and be working again in no time.
I’d like our readers to share their thoughts on this. Do you use a laptop or a netbook? I’ve heard some people get away with just having a USB drive with their preferred operating system and files stored on it. Or sticking with Internet cafes, although I’d be concerned about security.
When our Rolf Potts did his no-baggage trip, he only used an iPod touch with a roll-up keyboard to write for his RTW blog.
Anything we missed? Please post your suggestions in the comments.
