Current News

I'll admit that I'm not the best when it comes to keeping up with the news, but some topics flood the media and bombard you in any form. Such is the case with swine flu. In the past week or two the cases of people infected with and dying from it are popping up all over the place! From Mexico to New York and now, even Europe is being affected by it. It's inciting all sorts of arguments about who's carrying it, where it's originating from, and why it's so deadly. It isn't comforting in the least to hear that the symptoms are like the regular flu, and that there isn't a cure or preventive method just yet. Of course tips on how to prevent catching it are trailing the stories of growing numbers of victims being infected by it, throwing about the most common of practical tips like:

-washing your hands
-covering your mouth and/or nose when you sneeze/cough
-staying away from people who sneeze/cough

and a bunch of other tips that would probably throw a germophobe into a tizzy. I'm surprised that I haven't heard as many stories about people delaying their travel plans, or putting off trips to destinations that are affected by the flu.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Buffy and co. sang it best when they posed that question. Granted, that was after fighting a few epic battles against evil. Now what?

Most of you may not know that this blog was created for a writing class, although some of you may have gathered that from the odd strictly academic posts here and there. Although the genesis of this blog lies in the, "it was a school assignment" category, I've become more aware of the broad range of topics that writing about travel can entail and even though I may become spotty with updating I'm motivated to keep an eye on travel news and blog about it when I can. I'll continue to blog about the places I'm going ("Oh the places you'll go!"), whether local or far, far, away.

As a heads up for my summer itinerary (when not occupied with job and grad. school hunting), there's an Irish culture and music festival down in Irvine [June 20-21], multiple film releases (HP: HBP anyone?), Gilroy's grand garlic gathering, and Spamalot is coming to the Ahmanson!

Keep in mind, an open mind is the most handy thing to have when traveling anywhere!

Widget Gadget Paper 4

As a novice traveler, it might take a bit of experience, or research to discover that there's an abundance of local attractions that provide just as much entertainment as a tourist one would, with the benefit of being immersed in the local culture.After dealing with the frustrations of booking flights and hotels, I always put off the task of planning an itinerary. It's not that I don't get excited about compiling a list of places I'd like to see, or things I'd like to do, but often because I don't know where to start. This is where Joobili comes in, and it's quite possibly one of the coolest things I've stumbled on through the internet. Joobili is an events generatorand social network, and all you have to do is let it know what dates you're planning your trip around and it pulls up events related to an assortment of topics, like: culture, food, arts, sports, and more!

Jared Salter and Tomas Gabor of Joobili Timely Travel, conceived the idea after returning from a trip to Switzerland and learning that they had each experienced vastly different events (tourist spots and Cartier's Polo World Cup) at the same time. With the realization that timing is essential to travel, and knowledge of attractions that are off the beaten path, Joobili was born.

The site aims to match events with travelers according to their interests and travel dates, while connecting users to other travelers via a social network. Users are encouraged to interact with one another and build connections through comments and ratings of events. It's still in the baby beta stage, which means that it suffers from occasional spazfests if you try to navigate the site too quickly, but the creators seem keen to perfect it, and take all manner of feedback as soon as it seems the site isn't working. Joobili is definitely geared to the recreational traveler, possibly the budget oriented college student on their three month pilgrimage to all things arty in Europe, or a retired couple eager to break free from the trite and true sightseeing landmarks.

Here's a breakdown of how it works and the background information behind it: Joobili Prezi

L.A. Is a Lady

I'm probably misquoting that, but I'm pulling it out of a dusty corner of my mind, mind you. My Cultural Guide to L.A. class has made a couple of interesting trips in the past weeks. We've visited the studio of a local, emerging designer brand (Endovanera in Echo Park), took a tour of Machine Project, and sat in for a Thursday night show at the Echo Park Film Center. Both were more fun than I would have given them credit for (but that just goes to show what I know, right?), and the latter two were designed for the community to enjoy. The Echo Park Film Center has an impressive library of DVDS, VHS, and actual film reels available to borrow for a week. They provide classes at various levels of expertise, and have weekly showings of different films. It's a hidden treasure, and one that I would never have known about if not for this class. I'm quickly learning that Los Angeles is a treasure trove for artsy, locally based institutions.

For our final class, we're going to be taking a trip to one of Los Angeles' iconic locations, the Stahl House (or Case Study #22). I can't wait! I've got to remember to pack my camera for that one.

Joobili

Ever get tired of lugging guide books around, circling "hot spots" that are sure to inject some level of uniqueness into a holiday? I often find that I stock up on guide books, and hardly ever refer to them once I get to my destination, leaving me with the sometimes anti-climactic tourist spots that everyone visits. Now if you've never been to, say... Paris, or seen the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, then it might be worth your while to pay her a visit. However, if you've trekked around the Louvre, taken candids at the Eiffel Tower, and walked the Champs-Élysées then you may want to base your next Paris trip around something a little different.

That's where Joobili comes in. It's designed to give you a list of events (arts, cultural, sports, food and drinks...yay!, etc.) that match your designated travel dates, giving you a chance to explore the city or country of your choice the way the locals do. I'm keen on trying it out the next time I take a trip to Europe, and I've already got my sights set on a few events. There are things both familiar (depending on your knowledge of them): the Galway Oyester Festival, or Glastonbury, and obscure: The Spirit of Speyside Whiskey Festival and Fragrances of May (a festival devoted to the herbs sage, fennel, and nettle) in Croatia.

No. 3

I've been thinking a bit about paper no. 3. I found an article on JSTOR, after doing some serious digging, that explored the Western world's imperialistic complex concerning Africa and the continent's countries. What is it about Western civilizations that makes them think they're superior and obligated to assert control over others? It got my gears a'tickin' and made me think; when people travel to countries or locales that are admittedly deigned "third world" or "developing nations" what fuels the belief that they're contributing to the welfare of individuals in said country?

There are dozens of independent companies that offer student budget travel packages, and one of the ones my buddy linked me to offered a volunteering one. I haven't quite grasped the concept of paying to volunteer, it's like a reverse of the whole working structure to me, but paying to visit a third world nation (see the world!) to spend time in a developing village or city or some other sort of township seems ludicrus to me.

I finally got around to seeing Slumdog Millianaire, which was very good, but one scene in particular came to mind when I started thinking about the article. The main character, Jamal, dabbles as a tour guide to unsuspecting visitors. On one occasion, he leads an American couple down to the Dehli river while their taxi is stripped clean in a matter of minutes by a highly efficient gang led by his older brother, Salim. When the driver, Jamal, and the couple return to the car, Jamal receives the brunt of the driver's rage for the robbery. The couple steps in to his defense and the man gives him some money. Clearly his situation requires far more than a handful of money, but they are no more than blips in his life. Right before the stripped car is blamed on Jamal, he takes the tourists down to the river where people are washing their clothes in the filthy water.

The tourists don't think twice about the poverty they see before them, and I wondered long after the movie was over, whether or not that was part of what they'd intended to see in India. An assortment of articles deem this "voyeuristic," and dub it "slum tourism." Whether or not it really is, is left to debate. Unless tours of the slums aim to expose the harsh reality of the environment, and bring change via awareness, they aren't doing much but making a mint for groups that lead tourists around. A careful dissection of the argument on both sides of the issue could conclude that the form of slum tourism that exists may be well intentioned but poorly executed.

Spring Break! Is....Over

I know I promised exciting tales of discovering my hometown this semester, thanks to my Thursday night elective, and so far I've been lax in sharing them. Since I last made mention of the Cultural Guide to L.A. class we've:
-visited a couple in Hancock Park who collect art pieces and incorporate them into their home (imagine living in an art museum)
- saw a show at the famous Groundlings' theater on Melrose (the Progressive lady, "Flo" was the star comidienne)
-walked around the Arts district in Downtown (it felt like another city!) and peeked into galleries
-and took an adventurous ride on the Metro from Union Station to Hollywood for Thai food.

Needless to say, it's been a hell of a semester so far. Riding the subway in Los Angeles seems bizarre, especially given our city's "car culture". Still, I'm always amazed by this city and the people who live here. Just when you think the subways are going to be completely desolate and void of activity, along comes a train jam packed with people, AND THEIR BIKES. At rush hour I wouldn't think twice about it, but at ten p.m.? At least crowds are an opportune place to eavesdrop on conversations. Rude? Perhaps, but I think any person who projects their voice so the entire car can hear is aiming to be heard.

I digress. One of the great things about taking this class is learning about the budget friendly (i.e. usually really cheap, or free!) methods of discovering the city. Public transportation may not be up to par with that of cities like Chicago or New York, but I think Angelinos are embracing it, or trying to. It definitely comes in handy when you're traveling around the city's center. I feel motivated to check L.A. Weekly for shows, museum exhibits, plays, and any other assortment of events.

We'll Be Back After This Short Break

I'm off to Hawaii for spring break to visit family and sight see! See you in a week!

What to do, what to do

I'm probably a cynic, but I don't usually believe in tactics to jump start writing. Mostly because I tend to over think when I'm trying to utilize them (which utterly negates the practice, I know). Anyhow, here are some possible directions I could take this "travel" topic to with the TOPOI. I've got to say, after looking at some of the sources I dragged up, I think I like where this is going...

Topic: Travel
Possible Thesis: Something to do with travel, tourists, and the effect of tourism.

Notes: As applied by the TOPOI.

Contrasts: Visiting tourists create tension when they don't attempt to immerse themselves in, or understand the culture they're visiting.

Values: With the increasing trend of awareness of eco-friendliness, tourists face the ethical or moral conundrum of whether or not to travel to countries with fragile environments or poor economies.

Change: Are we (or can we) work(ing) towards a more economical method of travel, that's both beneficial in terms of our environment and the preservation of remote cultures?

Cause: What effects do tourists have on a local economy? Is it worth it for a country to exploit their natural resources or their one distinctive feature in order for them to generate revenue?

After trying this out, I'm starting to get interested in the we view the rest of the world as Western tourists...possibly exploring how tourism can be both beneficial as well as detrimental to a local environment, or how conflicts can arise when cultures interact...

Tour-tastic

I'll admit, I'm not totally tech illiterate, but I'm not completely up to date with the different types of technologies that continually emerge. Usually I tend to bookmark every single site I find compelling the moment I stumble on it, leaving me with loads of unsorted links that are frustrating to sort through. Sure, I do make folders to segregate them according to topics, but I like to have a visual because it's easier to remember things when I see them. My writing class comes in handy in this instance, we learn about a different service and some new web service every week.

Most recently, we've signed up for Pageflakes, which collects various links and allows users to arrange them to their liking on their respective pages. It's almost like a visual version of Diigo and Bloglines combined. Since this blog is about travel, and traveling as a student with a limited budget, you can guess what my Pageflake looks like. It has two columns to house my RSS feeds on the left, and annotated bibliography on the right.

RSS Feeds

In this column I've got a spattering of nifty widgets that keep me up to date on feeds that I usually check out at Bloglines. Only, this is narrowed down to feeds that solely pertain to travel. I've listed my social bookmarking soulmate's (jeanoid on del.ic.ious) bookmarks, as well as my own for reference. The neat thing about these widgets is that they're refreshable, so the content can be updated at any time. I have a feed to my own blog in the left column as well, which is helpful because I spend most of my time looking at the post window (and writing in here) that I forget what my blog looks like from a reader's point of view. I think it makes me pay more attention to certain entries when I view it outside of the editing "room."

Annotated Bibliography

Thanks to MIT and their awesome creation, Citeline, I can create bibliographies without having to hunt for all of the publishing information or do any typing! Actually, I have to include that last bit myself, seeing as this is an annotated bibliography and all. Check out the notes I've left for each of the sources I've found, I've got to spruce them up a bit, and make them a little more coherent, but they'll do for now.

Searching....searching....got it!

On the right hand side of my Pageflakes page, I also have several search windows, two for news and two for blogs. I've tested "travel" and "expat" as search subjects, but nothing that comes up has grabbed my interest yet. I'm still practicing my search tactics! Just above that I have a mini Google search, which I think it pretty nifty. It looks just like the Google web page, but it fits right into the little package of a flake! It's just as helpful (or not, depending on how successful I've deemed it) as the four little search engines below it.

Annotations the Second

Here are some more resources that are helpful (hopefully I can find four, travel seems to be such an arbitrary search topic, and I'm pulling up articles for the most random things...unrelated to this):

Dunn, Kevin C. (2004).
Fear of a Black Planet: Anarchy Anxieties and Postcolonial Travel to Africa.
Third World Quarterly, 25(3), 483--499

This article looks at the way the Western world has constructed an "otherness" when traveling to Africa and in its consumption and connection to it. This postcolonial approach is exemplified in the exotic image that has been thrust onto the continent's countries as a destination that is both "natural" and "native" (somehow implying primitive) The article looks at the way the Western world has historically viewed Africa as a place that needs external "fixing," and how places that don't adhere to this perceived image are seen as a threat to the Western world. Dunn looks at the way the world has changed its perception of Africa in a post 9-11 world, and the possible implications for its future in international relations.

Koenker, Diane P. (2003).
Travel to Work, Travel to Play: On Russian Tourism, Travel, and Leisure.
Slavic Review, 62(4), 657--665

Diane P. Koenker examines the interrelations of travel, tourism, and leisure through Russian tourists and their contrasting definitions of both the tourist and the traveler. She raises the theme of a quest for knowledge and the importance placed on it, the creation of leisure activities, and the issues that arise from tourists and travels wanting to be in control of their own experiences. Koenker explores the ways travel has formed identities, both national and cosmopolitan, and analysizes the consequences of travel, and leisure outside of the home.

Gabriel, Philip (2002).
Back to the Unfamiliar: The Travel Writings of Murakami Haruki.
Japanese Language and Literature, 36(2), 151--169.

In this article, Philip Gabriel looks at the writigs of Haruki Murakami relative to Japanese travel writings. Murakami's writings are imbued with a sense of nostalgia, loss, and reflection of the limits of knowledge. He writes about Murakami's reactions to his own work and how it's received as well as his philosphy about writing. The article functions as a discussion about the works of another writer and his focus on traveling.

Annotations the First

I'm hardly the best at remembering what I've bookmarked sources for, which is why annotating them is helpful when I need to sort them out at a later time. Plus, I'll admit, I'm lazy and having to reread whatever I've piled up later is a major pain. We're supposed to start forming the skeleton for a paper in my writing class, and utilizing these sources as a spring point from which to develop. I'm not sure where I'll find peer edited sources for travel, or what I want to write about (this seems to be a reoccurring obstacle for this blog....) Anyway, I thought I'd start out at Amazon and look at some of the guide books, or memoirs (since everyone seems to be writing one nowadays)

Tessan, Christina Henry De (2002).

Expat: Women's True Tales of Life Abroad.

Seal Press

Keywords: {Anecdotes, Voyages} and {travels, and Women} travelers

Through a collection put together by 22 contributors, Expat: Women's True Tales of Life Abroad, detail life abroad through the eyes of women. The writers come from a variety of backgrounds, from: students, teachers, and workers, to those chasing after a romanticised ideal of a foreign country. The one thing all of the contributors have in common (aside from this book) is that they've lived as expatriates. Through a recounting of their experiences, the writers reflect on the obstacles they've faced, different perspectives they've come to accept, and the lessons they've learned overall.

Bond, Marybeth (2003)
A Woman's World: True Life Stories of World Travel.
Travelers' Tales

This series of essays is similar to the tales told in Expat: Women's True Tales of Life Abroad, but the tales in this collection aren't from women who've exclusively lived as expatriates. This mix of contributions comes from novice as well as veteran travelers, as well as writers. One of the chapters, an essay by Jo Broyles Yohay, recounts her time in India and and the change in perspective she experienced once she accepted the cultural differences she encountered. With essays spanning countries on a number of continents, the variety of experiences documented offer advice mingled with entertaining anecdotes about cultural misunderstandings

the thing about blogging is...

While I was looking over my blog roll, and a few rss feeds, I came around to the idea of writing on one of these topics;

-american expats (us citizens leaving the country to live elsewhere)
-budget accommodations becoming more chic

It's a bit difficult to narrow things down when it comes to traveling, since the blanket topic itself is so broad, but as a student I think it's pretty nifty when the traveling industry shifts to attract a younger or more budget inclined demographic. I'm interested in the various reasons Americans choose to leave their country and settle in another, and why they've chosen their adopted homes.

Surf's Up Dude!

When I was in Dublin with my roomies, we befriended a brother and sister from Northern California (which always feels like it ought to be a separate state) who were traveling around Europe for three months. I remember the brother telling us that they were going to backpack it through at least ten countries and stay with friends studying abroad and couchsurfing.


There's a pretty neat site that allows people from different countries to volunteer their couches to other users, or look up people in countries they want to visit. It's presented as a project, with global participants, and I'm curious enough to want to sign up for this!

You and Me, and Me and You

The great thing about the internet is that you can find people (in a totally non-stalker way) who share the same interests you have, and whom you would never meet without the handy dandy assistance of some networking tool. I don't know if it's possible to find your "soul mate" over the internet, but digging up someone who's interests are specific enough to match yours is challenging.

I found this user on Del.icio.us, jeanoid. I was snooping around her entire list of bookmarks on Del.icio.us, which is more helpful than Googling anything related to travel, and I like that she's got loads of sites saved that are related to budget travel and Europe. In fact, I think I saved a good number of sites she had bookmarked...

Blogorama

Voice Critique

It seems pretty easy to establish a voice when writing a blog, particularly if you're writing about your travels. Creating a voice that doesn't alienate potential readers is another thing entirely. After all, what is blogging but a means to interact with others and acquire a readership? In this post, I'll be looking at a fellow blogger's posts drawn from her blog as a person torn between her native home, and the one she adopted whilst traveling. I stumbled across Lisa E.'s Homesick Wanderlust whilst hunting for travel blogs that hadn't been abandoned or relegated to self promotional topics, and after a few posts I was hooked (okay, I admit, I liked it as soon as I learned that she's an Anglophile and yearns to return to the UK...a bit of that kindred spirit thing, if you catch my drift).

What I really like about Lisa E.'s Homesick Wanderlust, is that she writes with a confident, yet easygoing tone. I feel like I could see myself getting wrapped up in a conversation with her about all of the things I miss about Europe after reading a few of her posts. With this blog (she has another devoted to her personal every day life), I feel Lisa E.'s passion for the UK as she blends her wistful anecdotes with recountings of other travels and tips. The title of her blog alone conjures the desire to be in two places at once. Ever since I've returned from Ireland, I feel like I'm torn. Half of me wants to be in Galway, and that part never really missed Los Angeles at all. The other half is slowly reacclimating to being at home, and is eager to dig into the heart of this town and really explore it for all its worth. I wonder if it's possible to feel homesick for a place you've only resided in temporarily, which makes me re-evaluate my definition of "home." As for wanderlust, I do think that traveling is addictive. I can't say I appreciate the actual "traveling" part of it, but the feeling of being in a completely different environment (even the ones that seem similar), and exploring the unknown is such an overwhelmingly liberating feeling. It's almost like a high, if that analogy isn't too radical to state. I think it's one that can be universally understood.

One of her more recent posts, dedicated to things she daydreams when nostalgically thinking of London, grabbed my attention. Her descriptions of images, and sounds that pervade the city were so clear that I found myself nodding along in agreement while I was reading. Her recollections of the Underground, or "Tube" as it's fondly referred to, had me thinking of the sounds those two words summon in my own mind. I could visualize the passageways and multitudes of people, jostling to catch their trains.

The soft beep of the Oyster Card reader followed by the forceful clunk of the turnstile doors.

Another post, a slightly older one lists signs that you're turning into an anglophile, or simply recognizing that you have been one. It's a lighthearted list of things, from thoughts on British names:

You no longer think names like Hermione and Rufus are just cruel pranks British parents played on their helpless children.

to well known British shows (like Top Gear, which is absolutely addictive even if you know zilch about cars):

While watching Jeremy Clarkson’s hysterical review of the Ford F150 pickup truck on “Top Gear”, you don’t even realize it has been modified as a right-side driver until he points it out.

to musings on conversions (of money, measurements, etc.):

You find yourself calculating pound to dollar, working out GMT/BST or converting Celsius to Fahrenheit without even really thinking about it.

As with her Daydreams post, I found myself nodding in agreement to more than half of the list that Lisa put together, even chuckling when she mentioned Top Gear and British names. Even if I didn't spend a lot of time in England, her enthusiasm for the country and its culture translate so well. She's incredibly straightforward, and I like that her writing is devoid of any extraneous embellishment. Her admissions to hunting for bargains on flights or accommodations make the blog feel relatable, and as a new reader, I feel inclined to continue reading because it doesn't feel like she's preaching about her knowledge as a traveler. No reader wants to feel as if they're getting a lecture each time they check a blog for updates, and the fact that Lisa manages to relay information about airline deals, or accommodation tips as if it were advice passed down from a well traveled buddy makes her blog more appealing to read.

Profile Blog

This week I'm profiling a fellow travel blog by a blogger who has clearly logged more miles than I have. The blog I'm looking at is called Hobo Traveler , and it's written by a man named Andy Graham, who has lived as a homeless traveler for more than ten years. It doesn't seem like he has a clearly defined occupation by trade, aside from his blog, and he defines a hobo as a person who travels in order to work. I suppose he could be termed a professional traveler, having covered around 79 countries or more. Andy posts daily-multiple times daily, less often when his access to the internet is limited. I'm not sure how to determine how popular Andy's blog is, but he has been recognized as a top travel blog by Forbes, About.com, and BudgetTravel.com. The comments on his posts vary by the topic of the entry, and I suspect a large number of readers simply don't comment at all.

It's difficult to narrow down which posts are the most interesting from Andy's archive, it's extensive and he posts consistently. However, a couple of Andy's posts that caught my interest. One addressed the issue of airlines charging fees for baggage, which is a topic I could relate to, having been frustrated with the concept of being charged for my luggage. It's something I've taken for granted because US airlines allow two items of baggage at a set weight for free. The other post I found interesting had to do with tipping in other countries, specifically developing ones. My roommates and I had our own issues with whether or not tipping was acceptable while in Europe, and it seemed like we could never agree on it. Andy's perspective on tipping seems logical, and certainly raised a discussion in the comments section of this specific entry.

Like my blog, Andy's focuses on traveling, and interspersed with his current goings on, he utilizes anecdotes from his trips to pass on tips to readers. Unlike mine, however, he actually travels from one country to another and posts about it. Andy Graham has undertaken his blog as a profession, living off of the revenue generated by the ads on his site, and using his profits to continue traveling and writing about his ventures. The detail exhibited in his entries vary from post to post, sometimes accompanied by photographs of the places he's currently in, and sometimes devoid of them. He covers his topics in as much detail as they allow, never shirking important details in any of his "tip" posts. I don't think his blog has a targeted audience aside from anyone who feels the thrill of traveling from one place to another and truly enjoying the experience. He constantly marks the difference from his own blog and vacation blogs that masquerade as travel blogs, only to become dead once the owners' vacation is over.

After looking through Andy's blog, I'm inspired to take advantage of the immediate adventures to be had in my own town because I won't be able to travel too far. The simplicity and straightforward delivery of Andy's blog has made me think about how I'm going to present topics in my own blog, I like the utter lack of pretense that he offers through his entries, and I hope I can find my own way to present that to readers. In the most obvious sense, I won't be going on intercontinental trips while writing this blog (for the near future, anyhow) and I won't try to hand out tips about traveling, since I haven't had too much experience with the most efficient methods of it. However, I will draw from my own trips and through anecdotes and articles I'll try to sort out issues that I had to confront when exploring Europe during my study abroad.

Hi!

I’m an English major with a newfound love for traveling. I’ve just returned from a semester abroad in Ireland, enlightened and more conscious of the world beyond Los Angeles County. I’ve lived a relatively sheltered life in spite of the multicultural upbringing I was exposed to, and only realized how many misconceptions I had about other cultures when I ventured to various countries and interacted with people. I never thought I would want to travel beyond the familiar, much less waste half a day trying to get from one place to another. But my opinion of this all changed when I actually did spend half a day running to catch a bus, a train, a plane to get to whatever destination. There’s a thrill that comes with traveling, a euphoric sense of the unknown, and even the things you think are familiar to an extent, really aren’t. It was a revelation to be in a country that also spoke English but was vastly different from what I knew. While in Europe I learned that travel isn’t exclusively limited to people with an expendable bank account, and that college truly is the best time to take advantage of living outside of the United States for an extended length of time. I’ve also come to realize that travel doesn’t have to mean hopping on a plane and flying half way around the world to experience something culturally satisfying.

As a college student, with a limited budget to devote to jet setting, I want to explore alternative methods of experiencing other countries that aren’t restricted to study abroad programs. I’ve come to learn that luxurious accommodations are pretty much useless if you’re going to be on the run exploring a city, and that backpacking isn’t as sketchy as I had originally assumed it to be. I’m new to traveling, and won’t attest to knowing the tricks of packing efficiently (still working on it), or traveling in the same manner. I have however, done a little bit of research about other travel blogs, and I’m intrigued by the number of trips people take that actually have a purpose that reaches beyond simply sightseeing.

I’ve found one by two brothers who are attempting to walk the world to return home as part of a peace project, and a now defunct one from four Englishmen who traveled from their home country to Australia through a number of means, excluding airplanes (unfortunately,this link no longer works at all). One of the most interesting blogs I’ve come across in looking up other travel blogs is one by a man who’s a self proclaimed homeless traveler. A man named Andy has been traveling from country to country for ten years, never remaining in one country for longer than a month. The one common element I’ve found in all of their blogs is the sheer love of experiencing the unknown, interacting with local cultures, and appreciating the diversity within our world. It sounds hokey, but the best moments while traveling come from immersing oneself in a culture.

While it’s usually expected that a travel blog would cover various expeditions to other countries, I’m tied to my hometown for this semester. Not to say that I can’t take advantage of that, as there are parts of Los Angeles I haven’t visited, and I’m a native! With this blog, I hope to explore more wallet friendly options of travel, the latest (or near to) updates with regards to airlines, accommodations, and everything else related to it. I hope to intersperse entries with posts of my own explorations of this city I live in, with a new insight into the things that makes Los Angeles one of those destinations that people desire to visit. The central aspect of travel that makes it universally enjoyable is that anyone can be a part of it, all it requires is an open mind and a bit of know how. I’ve got a few stamps on my passport, and I’m itching for more!

Bookmark This!

If you're anything like me, you probably have a gazillion URLs saved in a bookmarks or favorites folder somewhere. I tend to impulsively click the "bookmark" button any time there's something of remote interest, and end up with folders of websites I tend to forget within a month's time. Through my writing class I signed up for this pretty neat site called Digg that allows users to save, categorize, and share bookmarked sites.

There are a few other pretty interesting sites out there, but the feature that solidified my interest in Digg was the fact that you could highlight and add sticky notes on whatever page you visited. It's like taking a highlighter to the screen and tagging post it notes, without the permanency or the intrusion of little bits of paper everywhere. It has an installable toolbar that has all of the functions that Digg provides. In terms of the services it provides its users, Digg allows them to create groups on the main page.

Let's Get Away From it All

The Chairman of the Board couldn't have sung it better, and if I could, I would in a heartbeat. Last week, my Thursday night class attempted to take a field trip up to Los Angeles' famed Griffith Park Observatory. Sadly, I have to confess that I've never made it to the observatory. I've been up on the hill, but somehow my every attempt is thwarted by some accidental happenstance. In this case, it was a turn in the weather for the worse, and after wandering around the opposite side of the hill with my carpool, we discovered that the observatory had been closed due to a mudslide. It's just one of those things that I've learned from traveling, it's prudent to expect the unexpected (as trite as that sounds), and always be open to an alternative. Hopefully I'll make it up to the observatory sometime in the future, and will actually get to see the downtown skyline from there.

In other news, I opened the paper Sunday morning to find an insert tucked away next to the Travel section advertising this weekend's upcoming Travel and Adventure Show at the Convention center in downtown. Looking through the schedule of speakers which included the Travel Channel's very own Samantha Brown (if Anthony Bourdain were speaking I'd camp out) and Rick Steves, piqued my curiosity, and now I'm considering squeezing it in this weekend.

Okay, I admit that I'm also tempted by the thought of door prizes, which I never win, and the thought of scoping out booths representing different countries. If you're in town this Valentine's weekend, check it out. The Travel and Adventure Show looks promising, and if you get the Sunday Times, there's a coupon for a discount on the entrance fee.

Itty bitty Comment In a Bite.

Homesick Wanderlust


I love this post! Your descriptions of the Tube, and the sounds of London had me thinking about "mind the gap!" I find myself daydreaming about some of these things too, having just returned from the semester abroad....I find myself missing and constantly thinking about the little details that made Galway (the city I studied in) so fabulous. It's all of the little details like topping up, riding Citylink, or growing used to one litred cartons as the largest size that I think I took for granted whilst abroad, and now that I'm home in Los Angeles, I can't think of anything else.

Since I've returned from Ireland, there have been times I meditate on Galway, and visualize walking around the streets, stopping at favorite haunts and absorbing it in a way I never do when I'm at home. In retrospect, I wish I had taken more advantage of the proximity of locations in Galway to explore. Now that I'm back in a city where it's practically necessary to use a car to get anywhere, I miss being able to walk freely more than anything.

Voice Critique

It seems pretty easy to establish a voice when writing a blog, particularly if you're writing about your travels. Creating a voice that doesn't alienate potential readers is another thing entirely. After all, what is blogging but a means to interact with others and acquire a readership? In this post, I'll be looking at a fellow blogger's posts drawn from her blog as a person torn between her native home, and the one she adopted whilst traveling. I stumbled across Lisa E.'s Homesick Wanderlust whilst hunting for travel blogs that hadn't been abandoned or relegated to self promotional topics, and after a few posts (okay, I admit, I was hooked from the moment I learned that she's an Anglophile and yearns to return to the UK...a bit of that kindred spirit thing, if you catch my drift).

What I really like about Lisa E.'s Homesick Wanderlust, is that she writes with a confident, yet easygoing tone. I feel like I could see myself getting wrapped up in a conversation with her about all of the things I miss about Europe after reading a few of her posts. With this blog (she has another devoted to her personal every day life), I feel Lisa E.'s passion for the UK and in her wistful retellings of anecdotes blend with recountings of her other travels and tips. The title of her blog alone conjures the desire to be in two places at once. Ever since I've returned from Ireland, I feel like I'm torn. Half of me wants to be in Galway, and that part never really missed Los Angeles at all. The other half is slowly reacclimating to being at home, and is eager to dig into the heart of this town and really explore it for all its worth. I wonder if it's possible to feel homesick for a place you've only resided in temporarily, which makes me re-evaluate my definition of "home." As for wanderlust, I do think that traveling is addictive. I can't say I appreciate the actual "traveling" part of it, but the feeling of being in a completely different environment (even the ones that seem similar), and exploring the unknown is such an overwhelmingly liberating feeling. It's almost like a high, if that analogy isn't too radical to state, and it's one can be universally understood.

One of her more recent posts, dedicated to things she daydreams about when nostalgically thinking of London, grabbed my attention. Her descriptions of images, and sounds that pervade the city where so clear that I found myself nodding along in agreement while I was reading. Her recollections of the Underground, or "Tube" as it's fondly referred to, had me thinking of the sounds those two words summon in my own mind.

The soft beep of the Oyster Card reader followed by the forceful clunk of the turnstile doors.

Another post, a slightly older one lists signs that you're turning into an anglophile, or simply recognizing that you have been one. It's a lighthearted list of things, from thoughts on British names:

You no longer think names like Hermione and Rufus are just cruel pranks British parents played on their helpless children.

to well known British shows (like Top Gear, which is absolutely addictive even if you know zilch about cars):

While watching Jeremy Clarkson’s hysterical review of the Ford F150 pickup truck on “Top Gear”, you don’t even realize it has been modified as a right-side driver until he points it out.

to musings on conversions (of money, measurements, etc.):

You find yourself calculating pound to dollar, working out GMT/BST or converting Celsius to Fahrenheit without even really thinking about it.

As with her Daydreams post, I found myself nodding in agreement to more than half of the list that Lisa put together. Even if I didn't spend a lot of time in England, her enthusiasm for the country and its culture translate so well. She's incredibly straightforward, and I like that her writing is devoid of any extraneous embellishment. Her admissions to hunting for bargains on flights or accommodations make the blog feel relatable, and as a new reader, I feel inclined to continue reading because it doesn't feel like she's preaching about her knowledge as a traveler. No reader wants to feel as if they're getting a lecture each time they check a blog for updates, and the fact that Lisa manages to relay information about airline deals, or accommodation tips as if it were advice passed down from a well traveled buddy makes her blog more appealing to read.

The Short List

The cool thing about blogs is that they seem like they're never ending. Each blog varies in length, that much is true, but a reader could spend a significant amount of time following the train of blogs available on the blogroll. This is a short list of blogs about travel, or specific trips that I thought I could relate back to the shoe.

1. Europe A La Carte- This blog looks like it researches cheap travel throughout Europe. I love a bargain, and I love Europe!

2. Homesick Wanderlust- This speaks to me on so many levels. Wanting to be in two places at once, and harboring deep affection for both is essentially what I feel recovering from a semester abroad.

3. This non-American Life- I love the use of pictures to accompany the various posts in this blog.

4. The Travels of Stacey- It's difficult to find bloggers who aren't tracking their vacation. Which narrows down the pool of potential blogs significantly. This one (as well as the one above it) are by American ex-patriots living in another, or several other countries.

5. Runaway Rubber Ducky - Admittedly, this is more of a collaborative project to see where the duck ends up, but the concept of having a small item travel and have its picture taken is neat.

Profile Blog

This week I'm profiling a fellow travel blog by a blogger who has clearly logged more miles than I have. The blog I'm looking at is called Hobo Traveler , and it's written by a man named Andy Graham, who has lived as a homeless traveler for more than ten years. It doesn't seem like he has a clearly defined occupation by trade, aside from his blog, and he defines a hobo as a person who travels in order to work. I suppose he could be termed a professional traveler, having covered around 79 countries or more. Andy posts daily-multiple times daily, less often when his access to the internet is limited. I'm not sure how to determine how popular Andy's blog is, but he has been recognized as a top travel blog by Forbes, About.com, and BudgetTravel.com. The comments on his posts vary by the topic of the entry, and I suspect a large number of readers simply don't comment at all.

It's difficult to narrow down which posts are the most interesting from Andy's archive, it's extensive and he posts consistently. However, a couple of Andy's posts that caught my interest. One addressed the issue of airlines charging fees for baggage, which is a topic I could relate to, having been frustrated with the concept of being charged for my luggage. It's something I've taken for granted because US airlines allow two items of baggage at a set weight for free. The other post I found interesting had to do with tipping in other countries, specifically developing ones. My roommates and I had our own issues with whether or not tipping was acceptable while in Europe, and it seemed like we could never agree on it. Andy's perspective on tipping seems logical, and certainly raised an entire discussion in the comments section of this specific entry.

Like my blog, Andy's focuses on traveling and interspersed with his current goings on, he utilizes anecdotes from his trips to pass on tips to readers. Unlike mine, however, he actually travels from one country to another and posts about it. The writer of the blog, Andy Graham, has undertaken his blog as a profession, living off of the revenue generated by the ads on his site, and using his profits to continue traveling and writing about his ventures. The detail exhibited in his entries vary from post to post, sometimes accompanied by photographs of the places he's currently in, and sometimes devoid of them. He covers his topics in as much detail as they allow, never shirking important details in any of his "tip" posts. I don't think his blog has a targeted audience aside from anyone who feels the thrill of traveling from one place to another and truly enjoying the experience. He constantly marks the difference from his own blog and vacation blogs that masquerade as travel blogs, only to become dead once the owners' vacation is over.

After looking through Andy's blog, I'm inspired to take advantage of the immediate adventures to be had in my own town because I won't be able to travel too far. The simplicity and straightforward delivery of Andy's blog has made me think about how I'm going to present topics in my own blog, I like the utter lack of pretense that he offers through his entries, and I hope I can find my own way to present that to readers. In the most obvious sense, I won't be going on intercontinental trips while writing this blog (for the near future, anyhow) and I won't try to hand out tips about traveling, since I haven't had too much experience with the most efficient methods of it. However, I will draw from my own trips and through anecdotes and articles I'll try to sort out issues that I had to confront when exploring Europe during my study abroad.

Hi!

I’m an English major with a newfound love for traveling. I’ve just returned from a semester abroad in Ireland, enlightened and more conscious of the world beyond Los Angeles County. I’ve lived a relatively sheltered life in spite of the multicultural upbringing I was exposed to, and only realized how many misconceptions I had about other cultures when I ventured to various countries and interacted with people. I never thought I would want to travel beyond the familiar, much less waste half a day trying to get from one place to another. But my opinion of this all changed when I actually did spend half a day running to catch a bus, a train, a plane to get to whatever destination. There’s a thrill that comes with traveling, a euphoric sense of the unknown, and even the things you think are familiar to an extent, really aren’t. It was a revelation to be in a country that also spoke English but was vastly different from what I knew. While in Europe I learned that travel isn’t exclusively limited to people with an expendable bank account, and that college truly is the best time to take advantage of living outside of the United States for an extended length of time. I’ve also come to realize that travel doesn’t have to mean hopping on a plane and flying half way around the world to experience something culturally satisfying.

As a college student, with a limited budget to devote to jet setting, I want to explore alternative methods of experiencing other countries that aren’t restricted to study abroad programs. I’ve come to learn that luxurious accommodations are pretty much useless if you’re going to be on the run exploring a city, and that backpacking isn’t as sketchy as I had originally assumed it to be. I’m new to traveling, and won’t attest to knowing the tricks of packing efficiently (still working on it), or traveling in the same manner. I have however, done a little bit of research about other travel blogs, and I’m intrigued by the number of trips people take that actually have a purpose that reaches beyond simply sightseeing.

I’ve found one by two brothers who are attempting to walk the world to return home as part of a peace project (http://worldwalk-peacetour.blogspot.com/), and a now defunct one from four Englishmen who traveled from their home country to Australia through a number of means, excluding airplanes (http://www.geocities.com/fourontour/). One of the most interesting blogs I’ve come across in looking up other travel blogs is one by a man who’s a self proclaimed homeless traveler. A man named Andy has been traveling from country to country for ten years, never remaining in one country for longer than a month (http://www.hobotraveler.com/blogger.html). The one common element I’ve found in all of their blogs is the sheer love of experiencing the unknown. Interacting with local cultures, and appreciating the diversity within our world. It sounds hokey, but the best moments while traveling come from immersing oneself in a culture.

While it’s usually expected that a travel blog would cover various expeditions to other countries, I’m tied to my hometown for this semester. Not to say that I can’t take advantage of that, as there are parts of Los Angeles I haven’t visited, and I’m a native! With this blog, I hope to explore more wallet friendly options of travel, the latest (or near to) updates with regards to airlines, accommodations, and everything else related to it. I hope to intersperse entries with posts of my own explorations of this city I live in, with a new insight into the things that makes Los Angeles one of those destinations that people desire to visit. The central aspect of travel that makes it universally enjoyable is that anyone can be a part of it, all it requires is an open mind and a bit of know how. I’ve got a few stamps on my passport, and I’m itching for more!