How to Find the Offbeat When You Travel

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Exploring Mt Ranier

Through many years of travel, I’ve seen my share of “big attractions.” I’m talking about the places that one can’t pass up when they visit a destination. Things like the Eiffel Tower, Tower of London, The Emperor’s Palace in Tokyo, and a multitude of other popular sights. You know, top 10 lists of attractions for a country.

While I still seek out important tourist draws, I noticed a few years ago that they usually don’t thrill me as much. Maybe they’re highly commercialized or just too overrun with other people, but I feel like I’ve built up a tolerance to them. It’s a bad drug analogy, but I imagine this is what it must feel like to be hooked on heroin and constantly need a bigger fix. Read More

10 Reasons To Be Thankful for Travel

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During hectic holiday season, it’s easy to get frustrated by long security lines and cramped airplanes. But this Thanksgiving, when it comes to travel, I am ever so thankful. What about you?

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What aspects of travel are you thankful for?

The Travel and Happiness Link

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In recent years, I’ve become minimalist.

I’ve reduced the material possessions I bring into my home, and I consciously eliminate clutter. I do enjoy clothes, home decorations, books, and souvenirs, but I don’t get much satisfaction from them for very long. In short, I get bored with my stuff easily.

But one place I get great happiness returns for my money is through travel.

For every $1 real dollar I sink into travel, I feel like I get $10 happiness dollars back (and often even more). Read More

Favorite Travels: Feeling the Love in Suzhou

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This post is part of a series of favorite travels around the world. Read other entries about Alaska, and Tahiti.

When one of history’s very first travel writers, Marco Polo visited Suzhou, China in 1276, he labeled it “Venice of the East.”

With lazy waterway canals and over 200 opulent gardens, Suzhou shares Venice’s notable charms. However, unlike the European counterpart, which has taken on a reputation (unfair, in my opinion) for sinking (and stinking), Suzhou is certainly not in decline. On the contrary, it’s thriving due to its status as a world manufacturing capitol for silk and western style poofy white wedding dresses. Read More

Technicolor Island Culture

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One of the things I love about Okinawa is that there is cultural festival almost monthly. I previously wrote posts about the 10,000 Eisa Parade and the World’s Largest Tug of War.

Those are certainly larger events drawing crowd, but a week ago, I attended a smaller event too, with no less pomp and pageantry. It was a procession of 1,500 locals donned in ancient island costumes, a tradition going back hundreds of years. Take a look at the gorgeous colors and textures of this parade… Read More

Forgive Me, Trash Collectors of the World

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Even when we think we’re open-minded,  we can be proven wrong. It happened to me last week in Japan. There I was thinking I was all free of judgment and stereotypes… then Bam! Exposed! Let me explain.

I regularly go to an Ikebana class, which I enjoy very much, but no one else in my life seems to value or pay much attention to it. My husband barely notices when I bring flowers into our house,  and when I participated in a flower exhibition last spring, I couldn’t even GIVE AWAY the tickets to friends! In my experience, most people have a ho-hum attitude towards flowers.

So, last week I went to my ikebana class and I created a gargantuan scary arrangement. I say scary because the branches were huge and seriously out of control, and could poke your eyes out.

Anyway, I walked out of the building with another woman from the class and we waited at the curb holding our flowers.

Just then a Japanese trash collector drove around the corner in his truck coming our way.

He noticed us from a distance and took on the strangest expression. Looking our direction, he got a wide eyed look of wonder or surprise. I turned around to look behind me, thinking that something had happened to catch his attention.

But nope, nothing. Just us holding our arrangements.

The trash collector pulled up in front of us, stopped, and rolled down the window. He grinned the biggest grin I’ve seen, and gave us a thumbs up.

“Sugoi!” (Super!) he said enthusiastically and then drove away.

I stood there stunned, and then laughed in surprise. I never expected a trash collector to even notice flowers, let alone be excited by them.

Sorry trash collectors of the world. I will never judge you again…

When have you been surprised by someone and your expectation proven wrong? Do tell…

Could you write a novel about your travels? I bet you could…

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Thank you blog friends Steve of Do Something Cool and Becca of The Finish Line for first planting this idea in my mind!

November is National Novel Writing Month. Thousands of people have committed to writing a 50,000 word novel over the coming weeks. If it seems daunting to you, think of it like this… you only have to write 1,667 words a day, and at the end of the month, it’s done. It may have terrible grammar, a rambling plot, and an nonsensical structure, but you have a novel!

So what to write about? How about… your travels?

I recently got inspired by Rick Steve’s book, Travel as a Political Act. Essentially, he tells us that we have unprecedented chances to explore the world, and that our impressions and experiences matter. Given the lack of accurate news coverage and misconceptions about other cultures, we have a responsibility to tell the truth. We can also learn from other countries’ solutions to similar problems and gain insight into our role on the globe.

With Rick Steves as our cheerleader, my husband and I signed up for the Novel project. We’re writing as a team, which may or may not be a good idea. Like any two people on the planet, we have different ideas about what constitutes a good story. But here’s the basic strategy:

1. It’s a detective novel starring a crime fighting couple (Think Hart to Hart, that awful show from the 80s or maybe even Mr and Mrs. Smith)

2. It takes place in different parts of the world. (That’s where all those details abroad come in)

3. We set the timer each evening for one hour and write like banshees to get our 1,667 words.

Like all worthy goals such as running a marathon or climbing Mount Fuji, there will be difficulties and set-backs. Here’s a snapshot of Writing Day 1.

7:00 pm- Timer set

7:13 pm- Husband says, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

7:21 pm- Husband says again, this time with arms crossed, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

7:22 pm- I hiss at him, “You are so not fun!”

7:30 pm- We get into a groove (even though there’s still eye-rolling) and a story takes shape in Mexico

7:45 pm- I think, “My husband cannot spell for the life of him.”

7:55 pm- Husband sighs and says, “That doesn’t make any sense.”

7:59 pm- We reach word goal

8:00 pm- Husband titles our novel “Hell Story: A Tale of Divorce in Progress”

Okay, the first time didn’t go so well, but other nights have gotten progressively better. Our story has all kinds of mystery, a Mark Twain impersonator, and so far a beautiful setting among ancient ruins of Mexico.

What about your travel novel? What would it be about?

Zen and the Art of Flying Coach Class

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In the coming months, I’m taking two very long international flights. While a younger Mary would have gotten all queasy just at the thought, the more enlightened Mary is so much better at finding inner peace these days.

Here are my strategies for achieving a zen-like state while travel.

1. Wear comfy clothes and take off your shoes on the plane. Put on thick fuzzy socks. Trust me, it’s relaxing.

2. Pack good snacks and water. There’s nothing worse than being parched and hungry and dissatisfied with the food selection on an international flight- especially those wee in between awkward hours when they turn off the lights.

3. Bring a book to read, and make sure it’s a good one. Not just a book you grab off the shelf. If you’re not genuinely interested, you won’t read it and it becomes extra weight. I tend not to bring magazines on flights. While they are fine for doctor’s offices, they just don’t sustain me long term.

*4. This one is my new personal favorite tip. Bring an ipod programmed with a couple hours worth of radio programs. I recommend This American Life series from NPR. They run an hour, and you can choose the subjects that interest you. I’ve been known to get so into them on flights that I actually laugh out loud or even cry (drawing attention from other passengers)…

5. If you’re a person of the creative persuasion, bring a journal to jot down ideas and insights. You never know when inspiration will strike!

6. Better yet, use the time to start your first novel. More on this idea to come…

7. Try to absorb the details of the moment. Concentrate on your breaths, observe the surroundings, and pay attention to what you’re thinking. This tip is totally stolen from Power of Now and other new age philosophies about living in the present. In my own experience, it serves a brilliant practical function of getting you to notice whatever anxiety or judgement you are dredging up and to squelch it. It also seems to speed time up (At least for me).

*8. Another favorite tip is to never check your baggage. You might be wondering what this has to do with finding inner peace on the plane, but in my own experience, it’s psychological. I feel dread flying if I have to worry about my luggage getting lost and waiting at baggage claim. It’s great sitting on the plane knowing that once you land, you’re free!

9. Finally, I consider all the much more hellish travel situations I’ve endured in my life. Hitchhiking. Crouching in the back of an overcrowded truck. Sitting on open springs on a smelly bus. I’m sure you have a few horrid memories in your history as well.

What about you? Got any enlightened strategies for flight appropriate body mind disassociation?