Why Travel

Living Abroad

What is the difference between travel and living abroad or the expat life?  Many expats I know, both abroad and in the US (which is, of course, abroad to them and their folks back home) also love to travel, take the opportunity to explore the region they are living in as well as others, and embrace living in other places not just as a necessity but for the very reasons that many of us travel.

I just lived abroad as a student and only in London, twice.  But that's a little like saying we are just friends.  Friendship may be the most essential and at times difficult relationship. Being a student may be the most travel like and the most difficult way of living abroad.  The student mode of openness and inquiry is very much like that of the traveler.  The student budget is very much like that of the backpacker.  The foreign student is much less walled off and air conditioned than the banker.

But moving as a student is so much easier, especially since it is temporary, as is everything else during student years (whenever they my fall).  I moved both times with two big suitcases. In those two suitcases was my teapot, both times. Bought on a previous trip it was one object both useful and pretty that made me feel at home. 

I just lived abroad in London, in the UK, a country famously divided from my own by a common language. Communication changed radically between the two times I lived there. The first time I had my first mobile phone there but still used phone boxes for most international calls and spent a lot of time (and money) on Internet cafes to keep in touch.

What has been your experience with living or movinng abroad?  With keeping in touch?  What do you do when moving or traveling to make things feel "like home"?

 

Home Cafe

Some of the best trips, or best bits of trips, come down to discovering a great cafe early on (or whenever it strikes you) and returning there many times over even the few days you are in the destination, city or otherwise. 

There is nothing quite like making yourself an instant regular, as it were.  It gives you a home base, a place to meet one another and the locals, and a lense to experience your experience through.  And a place to miss once you return home, or wherever you are on to next or later.

Our family week in Barcelona was lovely, and we all miss Bar Calders, the little cafe around the corner in an alley that our rental agent suggested to us for our first coffee and lunch when she checked us in.  We returned there, for one drink or snack or another, day after day, first thing in the morning or last thing at night.  We watched the corner of the screen from outside as FC Barcelona played the European Cup and drank free cava poured by the owners when they won.  This is where I first discovered Vichy Catelan, and the perfect way that Barcelona cafes serve iced espresso (a small glass of espresso, and a big glass with giant ice cubs on the side).  Nevermind the cava, the sangria, and the theatrical way they poured a little bottle of tonic water down a straw to make the gin and tonic.

A home away from your home away from home seems even more critical when sharing accomodation with family members.  But it is always a treat, even when traveling alone.

 

Trip Planning: Barcelona with Parents

More and more I tend and prefer to plan less and less, when it comes to travel.  And this is starting from a point where on my first trip outside the English speaking world I photocopied the Budapest and Prague articles from back issues of Time Out London office.  Literally.

I think of it as both fun and funny to show up with barely a guidebook or a single article, tips from a few friends, and hopefully one or more local contacts however vague (a cousin's cousin's study abroad roomate in a 3rd country from 20 years ago is usually good for a cup of tea, a walk, or even a free lunch or getting to sit in a chair on the floor of the parliament).

I like to wander, ask strangers' advice, get tips from the B&B owner or bartender.

Now I have a husband who likes to buy or at least peruse at the bookstore as many guidebooks as he can find, usually from three of our favorite bookstores, one of which is a travel bookstore, and bring them all along.  Plus dictionaries.

My parents rarely travel abraod and since this trip has been in the works and put off for several years, we've had many Christmases to buy each other guidebooks for this one.

And we're just going to Barcelona for a week.

I've never traveled as a grown up with family before.  So what are your tips for planning a grown up family vacation?  How can we make the planning, and the exploring, a bonding experience, rather than a source of potential conflict? And what are your tips for Barcelona or nearby?

Chelsea Hotel

 

"I remember you well from the Chelsea Hotel..." Leonard Cohen

I never thought I would stay at the Chelsea Hotel.  I never really thought I would stay in any hotel in New York, which is fast approaching another place I live, rather than travel to.

But when a friend asked me if I knew a hotel, I knew one.  And it turned out to be surprisingly easy and affordable to stay there.  Not to mention, awesome!  I guess the ghosts liked us.

If I'm going to join the crowd that splits their time between somewhere and New York, I might just need my own place.  At least from time to time.

I never thought I would check into a hotel to have the privacy to just talk, and I never thought that I would have one of the best nights of sleep in years if not ever in a hotel, let alone a run down, famous artist, rock and roll, druggie hotel that’s being sold and recently opened a nightclub.

But, you never do know, do you.

Life just keeps on happening.

I was in the midst of reading Just Kids by Patty Smith, and Leonard Cohen holds the place in my heart among musicians and poets of: worth living for.

And there I was.

I never thought the lobby would be so small.  Or that it would be 7 degrees outside.

We got a large room on the 6^th floor, with two big beds, a bathroom with a tub, and a desk with a mirror over it, and a TV.

It didn’t smell like anything, the room, or the hallways, to my surprise.  The hallways were faintly musty, but the room had very calm air.  It was somehow airy and just the right temperature all the time.  Even though, it had old radiators and I’ve never been in a hotel where the air was quite right.

The staff was friendly and welcoming, even as they tried to keep the club goers from taking over the lobby to warm up on the coldest night of the year.

But the most striking thing about the Chelsea Hotel were the spiral staircases with all the art hung along them.  I took the elevator up, but walked down several times.  And I tried to capture that staircase in the photo.

Markets

 

It looks like Boston will be getting a Public Market, to be located indoors in a location near the still new Rose Kennedy Greenway. 

My grandmother sometimes complains about markets being included on the tours she favors when traveling (which she still does a lot), and how much time her fellow tourists spend at them.  "What's the point, you're not going to cook these vegetables!"

Well, I am one of those who wants to look at them, wants to cook them if possible, and certainly wants to photograph them.

One of the highlights of travel for me more and more is visiting local markets, from hyper local pop up markets and actual run of the mill supermarkets to full on public markets like Pike Place in Seattle and Eastern Market in Washington, DC. 

On our recent trip to London we actually stayed in a hotel with kitchenettes so that we could shop at Borough Market, still my favorite in the world (so far!) though it's gone even more upscale, and then eat foods from there all week, mainly for breakfast and snacks.  But, often when traveling, I am left just taking photos of the beautiful vegetables, or perhaps picking up some fruit and cheese for lunch in a park.

The picture above is from Catania, Sicily where the morning market is assembled virtually from scratch every morning (I watched!), and is a main visual attraction for tourists.  It is beautiful, yes those aren't fish, and yes those are packing crates.  I got to see for myself what foods were local and fresh and of the moment, I got to take pictures.

Do you visit markets when you travel?  If so, do you have favorites?  How do you do it? Do you just take pictures, or actually buy food?  If so, what kind?

Favorite Places (Favourite Places?): London

 

London is one of those iconic cities that means so many things to so many different people that it soon means nothing and disappears into a bank of fog, while being whisked away into an underground tunnel, drowned in a sea of gin or bitte.

When it comes to travel and perhaps to cities, London is my first love.  It's the first foreign city I went to, and I went just as soon as I could, on a high school exchange with a town outside London.  Heathrow is the first stamp in my passports, ever.  (What's yours?)

I've had the pleasure of living in London twice now, and visiting many times, and I can't imagine a life without London in it.

One of my favorite places is pictured here, Turbine hall at the Tate Modern.  For a year I walked by it almost every day, stopping in every other week or so.  The Tate Modern in gloriously free (except for special exhibitions).

I have many other favorite places in London.  What are yours, dear bloggers?

If You Are Going

If you are going to San Francisco, remember to wear a flower in your hair...

And you should probably be prepared to move there.  Or at least to go back, many, many times.

In the past few years six friends have moved to San Francisco from Boston alone, and that doesn't include Facebook friends or other friends I haven't seen on any on my past three or more visits (hope you're reading this anyway guys!). And, additional friends have moved there from wherever they were.  And just last week another friend announced a 5 year plan to move out there the minute she got home.  (I'm skeptical of 5 year plans. But still.)

But, with that one little caveat, San Francisco IS a fantastic place to visit, and you will certainly not be the only tourist.  Tourism is huge and very well set up.  Or you can just hang out in a neighborhood or set out to explore lots of them if well-set-up tourism isn't your thing.

And, since it's a giant magnet, you probably know at least one friend or friend-of-a-friend who can loan you their couch, show you around, or meet you for coffee.  Or, if not, don't worry because coffee can be your friend.  Start with Philz, I like the Mission Location.  While you're in the Mission, enjoy a burrito, wherever you walk by, then continue with your coffee pilgrimage at Ritual, and Four Barrel.  You can pick up as many reading materials as you need to accompany your coffee at the used bookstores scattered along the way.  If you are really committed to the coffee pilgrimage, continue to Pirate Cat Radio for their Maple Bacon Latte, which luckily has enough something to it that its like a meal in itself. Or you can ironically eat a vegan treat if you bring more than $4 with you unlike I did.)  Another day, make your way to Blue Bottle, which you can also experience together with an artist-inspired pastry at SF MOMA.  

I could go on for days, or years.  And you will too.   And you probably already have.  So let me know when you are moving to San Francisco, or what coffee or other attraction I shouldn't miss on my next visit.  (Yes I've been to Alcatraz.)

Zero Luggage Travel?

I recently read the amazing Vagabonding by Rolf Potts.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone who would even consider reading this blog, and that means you.  It is a truly inspiring take on the question of Why Travel and travel philosophy, and weaves in some good practical advice along the way.  I especially enjoyed coming across a quote from a traveler I randomly met on a boat in India as well.

I just looked Rolf Potts up to see what he has been doing or where he is these days. It turns out Rolf is now off vagabonding again, but this time with zero baggage.  I haven't read much about it yet, but he's blogging about it here . This extreme even by my standards and while it sounds like an interesting exercise, carrying a T shirt in your cargo pants pocket to avoid having even a "man purse"does seem a bit gimicky.  I can see the appeal of never needing to find a locker or worry about where else to stash your bag, but what is wrong with a man purse?  Or a woman purse if you're a woman?   I look forward to reading about it and wonder what he and his readers can learn from this that is different from simply minimal packing.

I also recommend this interesting guest post by Rolf on Tim Ferriss (the Four Hour Work Week guy)'s blog on lessons you can use at home from travel, whether you travel (or even dream about it) or not.  Well, I guess I'll have to go ahead and read The Four Hour Work Week now too.

Travel Without Geography?

Last week I came across the "Closing 50%" sale at Rodney's, a used bookstore in Central Square that I imagine is famous and storied, though I have no idea, I only discovered it for the first time on my way home from a Red Cross course a few months ago.  Now, they are preparing to close.  I bought the first book that caught my eye.  Surfing the Internet by J.C. Herz , out in 1995. 

I settle in to the 1369 Cafe with an iced coffee and the book and... whoosh, I'm right in there in the "Net" and she and they called it, that glorious place that was the Internet before it became the Web.  That place that is no place, thats hard to get to before or after college.  That has long since been superceded by--what exactly?  Corporate schlock?  Live Journal?  Photo heavy blogs about what we all ate?  The only thing now similar seems to be, maybe Chat Roulette, which I have yet to try.  Maybe Twitter, which I seem to follow the wrong people on (sorry, people). 

What a trip dipping back into the future of the past or the past of the future. Seeing this brave new world translated--so artfully--for the book reader.  At a time when people still read books!  On paper! 
No wonder William Gibson called this "post geographical travel writing."  And what an idea, but Herz wasn't the only one traveling.  Post geographical travel.  What an idea.

That's what this stuff was.  Zines. Pen pals.  The Net.  The ability to truly wander, without leaving your chair, and the crux of it was to meet strangers and sometimes have a deep if fleeting and text-based connection, intellectual, artistic, sarcastic.  Whatever.  With someone you never would have met otherwise.  And now, I don't know.  Something that's coming up, back, or under, hopefully will take us there again.

But for the moment, I've got the rest of the book to read.

Let's Call It Americanism

Conservative and Liberal labels must go, we need new labels.  It's not just that they are used to confuse the situation.  They truly don't clarify anything or add anymore.  I'm sorry to sound like Tony Blair of long ago, but we need new labels for new ideas and new ways of thinking.

Clearly the response to the gulf crisis, nevermind its prevention, is a failure of Conservative and Liberal alike.  A mess of this proportion requires resources that only the federal government can wield, but expertise that only local governments and people have.  What we are seeing is a worst of both worlds mess instead of true cooperation to do the best people possibly can with an awful situation. 

Local governments need to be "allowed" to act on their own, to take care of their local marshes or coastline as best they can.  "Allowed" here means both authorizing it, or at least not barring it or requiring permissions that slow things down, and also funding it. 

The money may theoretically or eventually come from BP, but local and state governments across the country are already broke and laying off thousands.  How are they supposed to pony up millions they don't have in states and communities that have had their entire economy -- both the fishing and tourism half AND the oil industry half -- destroyed after a 2 year recession that already emptied their coffers? 

If they were New York City they might be able to go to the bond markets or someone to borrow money for an initiative to save the city, based on their extreme track record of comebacks from near death experiences.  But, even they have not been able to do that without federal assistance.

Is it Conservative to say that local communities should be allowed the autonomy to protect themselves?  Is it Liberal to say that the Feds should put up the money for the effort and take charge of recovering that money from BP?

But to be a Conservative I'd have to oppose Health Care and Abortion and to be a Liberal I'd have to be against any more stimulus spending or growth of government spending, even if we as a society need to get some stuff done?

Forget it.  Our generation has been called post-idiological.  But we really need a new ideology.  Maybe it's pragmatism.  Maybe we can make up a new name eventually.  For now I'll call it Americanism: I grew up with stories of America as a can-do nation landing a man on the moon, winning World War II and rebuilding Europe with the Marshall Plan.  We can do it.  With or without a particular leader or politician, with or without a particular company.  If anyone says we can't, call that what it is: unacceptable.