Prompt #5: If you’ve never been to Asia, tell us about your dream trip in the region. Would you rather find your own paradise among the Thai Islands, or shop for crazy Harajuku fashion in Japan? Are the uncrowded temples of Burma calling you, or are you dreaming of a visit to China’s Great Wall?
This prompt was appropriate timing as I’m currently reading a book about one of my wish destinations, Bhutan. I want to visit Bhutan.
It’s a small landlocked country in the East Himalayas between India & China. Not only is it seemingly factoid-filled (the sale of tobacco is outlawed & the national sport is archery) but it is one of the most bio-diverse nations in the world. The Bhutanese government even has a constitutional policy that there must always be at least 60% green coverage (forest or other vegetation).
(photo courtesy of National Geographic)
What is perhaps the most intriguing thing to be is their take on Gross National Happiness. Choices are guided by the very Buddhist “four pillars of Gross National Happiness”—sustainable development, environmental protection, cultural preservation, and good governance. According to the ruler(s) , this is because measuring signs of happiness & well-being are much more relevant than measuring the amount of consumption occurring. Happy sigh.
Visiting Bhutan is something that (most likely) won’t happen in the near future as the cost to enter & travel is quite high. Foreigners are required to pay around $200 a day for the privilege (& this is after many years of being closed off completely). Of course, that $200 covers most of your on-the-ground costs & includes a personal tour guide to show you around. Someday…
It’s Week #4 of the 2012 Indie Travel Challenge. 1 month down, 11 months to go!
When the weather gets cold, do you prefer to head to sunnier locales or do you love the outdoor adventures or off-season prices of winter? Warm or cold, what’s your dream winter travel destination, and do you have any travel plans for the coming months?
This past year, my parents moved from California to Colorado. Previously, flying to California was my sunnier locale to escape some of the winter blues (& greys). This past holiday season was the first journey to Telluride, Colorado. Flying from a snowless December Toronto winter to a high-altitude–snowy Telluride was a little surreal.
Let me sum it up for you: I didn’t bring sandals with me. I bring sandals with me everywhere.
I don’t think I prefer one or another as long as I get to try a few new things. This past trip, I went snow shoeing for the first time! & went skiing for the first time in maybe 15 years (talk about rusty…). It is nice to arrive somewhere & just have the climate be different. Something new.
2012 Indie Travel Challenge
Have you ever studied or taken classes on a trip? What did you study, and perhaps more importantly, what did you learn while on that trip? What would you like to learn on your travels this year?
I have studied on trips. I have taken classes on trips. Part of this was bringing university work abroad with me & part of it is just the love of learning. My most notable class I’ve taken while traveling was a cooking class in Paris in 2005 – in which my travel companion & I perused the farmers market, bought fresh ingredients & were ushered back to a personal (& gorgeous) kitchen.
That part of the trip was also of interest as I was the only vegetarian in a decidedly non-vegetarian cooking class. But there was still plenty for me to do as a sous-chef.
The funny (& difficult) part was explaining why I am a vegetarian. Most of the time when people ask, they want to know whether it is ethical-based, compassion-based, health-based, etc. But when I was in Paris – people wanted to know why I would ever choose to limit the choices of delicious things I could have. It caught me more off guard than any other questions I’ve received about my vegetarianism.
What I learned? I tasted a radish that was so delicious by itself, it might have spoiled me forever. I finally understood what really good (& expensive) balsamic vinegar was – & why a drop on a single raspberry could be just enough.
I’m not sure if I have my eyes set on any specific learning for traveling this year. I would like to become a more relaxed traveler & do some ‘at home’ work to learn more vocabulary in different languages.
This is the face of a dog who loves a good walk.
This is the unsuspecting scene of someone who thinks it is a good idea to bring her little camera on a snowy walk in the woods of Colorado with aforementioned dog. Someone who is a little chilly but has no idea that her dog is about to sense an imaginary elk off in the distance & knock her camera to the icy ground, rendering it useless.
C’est la vie, little camera. Time to save up for something new!
Remember last week’s entry about the 2012 Indie Travel Challenge?
It’s time for Week #2, baby.
Are you an indie traveler? What do you think makes someone an indie traveler? What does indie travel mean to you?
Some types of titles I welcome more readily into my life. I like any instance when I’m described as Wonder-Woman-esque. I am a hot beverage drinker (hot cocoa, coffee, tea – I don’t discriminate) I’m a Capricorn.
It is easier to live within the boxes & the labels we have chosen ourselves but it doesn’t mean that they are any less confining. I don’t really know if I’m an indie traveler – but whether or not I am, I still plan on continuing to travel & seek out the experiences that interest me.
Maybe that’s one of the core beliefs – the personalized checklist. I want to stay at the Library Hotel in Manhattan. I want to pick a fresh mango. I want to see a kakapo. Wanting to see the things you’ve been told about your whole life as well as the quirky endeavors that have sculpted your personality isn’t indie or independent. It does, however, exhibit a drive oriented around self, connection, & fulfillment.
Hey there, 2012. Let’s be best friends. I’m upping the ante on my travel focus.
BootsnAll announced their Indie Travel Challenge. Each week, a new prompt will be posted, allowing for travelers to reflect, share & rejoice in their experiences. & #1 is (not shockingly) about resolutions, dreams & desires for the new year.
What I Know For Sure
- Southern California in October for a dear friend’s wedding
- Writing more! Natch. Specifically, throwing in a dash of bravery & submitting some work.
What I Hope Will Develop
- Visiting Italy (Cinque Terre, Palermo…)
- Researching long term travel to Oceania
- Colorado for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in June
- Buying a new camera. Mine is kaput after a mediocre dog walk turned into an elk hunting leash lunge.
- Seeing some of Canada’s east coast – I’m thinking Nova Scotia.
Meanwhile, the first part of my year will be devoted to developing a more stable income & work routine.
A Taste of Bucket List Action
- Travel through Europe on the Orient Express (thanks Agatha Christie)
- Fly in a hot air balloon
- Go on a pilgrimage to Dollywood
My hair is bigger than my hosts have ever seen. When I venture out of my little room, bleary-eyed from a solid night’s sleep – Amanda ruffles it & exclaims, “I LOVE IT!” I feel no qualms about being my authentic self here.
Now sitting with my feet half buried in the sands of Lake Huron, I review my book on the 7 Healing Chakras. Tears well up occasionally as I identify strongly with certain passage – making me scribble in my notebook wildly.
That’s it. I abandon my writing accoutrement & head for the water.
A poem for those who choose to travel the familiar homeland. There’s a time and place for all types of exploration.
Consolation by Billy Collins
How agreeable it is not to be touring Italy this summer,
wandering her cities and ascending her torrid hilltowns.
How much better to cruise these local, familiar streets,
fully grasping the meaning of every roadsign and billboard
and all the sudden hand gestures of my compatriots.
There are no abbeys here, no crumbling frescoes or famous
domes and there is no need to memorize a succession
of kings or tour the dripping corners of a dungeon.
No need to stand around a sarcophagus, see Napoleon’s
little bed on Elba, or view the bones of a saint under glass.
How much better to command the simple precinct of home
than be dwarfed by pillar, arch, and basilica.
Why hide my head in phrase books and wrinkled maps?
Why feed scenery into a hungry, one-eyes camera
eager to eat the world one monument at a time?
Instead of slouching in a café ignorant of the word for ice,
I will head down to the coffee shop and the waitress
known as Dot. I will slide into the flow of the morning
paper, all language barriers down,
rivers of idiom running freely, eggs over easy on the way.
And after breakfast, I will not have to find someone
willing to photograph me with my arm around the owner.
I will not puzzle over the bill or record in a journal
what I had to eat and how the sun came in the window.
It is enough to climb back into the car
as if it were the great car of English itself
and sounding my loud vernacular horn, speed off
down a road that will never lead to Rome, not even Bologna.
I wrote this curled up on my hostess’ couch, sweating out the half day’s travel to Brooklyn.
I’m smiling in a contented fashion at my new surroundings. But how is a Brooklyn apartment THAT different from the Zen Apartment in Toronto? There are definitely less ‘real life’ responsibilities, at least for now — before returning home looms up. Traveling could be seen as avoidance by some but it could also be seen as a return to appreciation.
I appreciate air conditioned subway cars. Pitchers of margaritas. Yoko Ono’s “Wish Tree” at MOMA. The Jim Henson exhibit. Cucumber Lime Paletas. Tree-lined streets. Vegan ice cream. I appreciate Olivia & Tristan’s hospitality. Flying on Porter. Sweating-like-I’m-in-hot-yoga-in-polite-company. The serenity of St. Patrick’s cathedral. I appreciate urban nature. Travel writing anthologies. Returning home with a refreshed mindset.
I have liked Jim Henson for as long as I can remember. In 4th grade, we had to choose a public figure we liked on which to write a biographical report. Amongst the past presidents & historical figures was my report on Jim Henson. I’m sure I was stressing the importance of living and expressing yourself creatively …even back then.
When we visited the States recently – my friend Olivia asked if we would be interested in checking out the Jim Henson’s “Fantastic World” exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. Of course! Not only did I admire him & the Muppets in my childhood but during my short stint at a puppet company here in Toronto – I appreciated the nuances of puppet building & the behind-the-scenes work.
No photography was allowed inside the exhibit, so here is the part where you have to dig deep in your imaginations & imagine me gasping as I rounded corners & saw REAL Muppets (behind plexiglass…but still–) I left feeling so creatively fueled by his optimistic and driven process. Totally an amazing excursion.
Also – the rest of the museum was so fun! They had a sound booth where you could dub over conversations in your favorite movies, tons of ol’ timey cameras, an amazing makeup/special effects section…
