Articles Archive
Why the Journey is Better When You Have Someone to Share it With
Going it alone has its advantages, of course. If you’re looking for maximum freedom to go where you desire, when you desire and in whatever way you desire, solo travel might be the right thing for you. But for many people, having someone along for the ride is indispensable.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll look a little at the How of travelling with someone: How to not kill your travel partner, How to negotiate with each other, etc. But today, we’re focusing on the Why. Check out why these travellers think travel is better when you have someone to share it with.
Late, For Nowhere in Particular: A Reflection
Rolling down some back-road cloaked in the bliss of anonymity, one arm in contact with the wheel at the point that encourages my wrist to flop carefree at the end of it, head bobbling to a slow rhythmic beat that doesn’t match my rousing vocal accompaniment to Life is a Highway that’s cranked up so loud it’s oozing from the Yukon like displaced mortar, I come across this.
Do Solo Female Travellers have it Easier than Guys Travelling Alone?
It niggled at me in Morocco. It snapped at me in Hungary. It tore chunks out of me in Iran and by the time China came along I’d given up on noticing how solo women travelers seem to get away with more than solo men. But, having spent so much time in the Philippines traveling solo, it reared its head again when I bumped into Jodi, another solo traveler in the Philippines.
5 Ways to Take Photos that Truly Capture Your Journey
Taking beautiful photographs in exotic, far-flung locales is a surprisingly easy thing to do, once you’re there. But really showing a place—its ins and outs, its people and its surroundings—is a much more difficult pursuit. It’s easy to become overwhelmed, to find yourself walking around wide-eyed, your camera still lost somewhere at the bottom of your bag; or, conversely, snapping off rapid fire shots of anything that moves (and many things that don’t), only to find when you return home that you haven’t captured anything meaningful or worthwhile from your journey. A pretty landscape is one thing, but a collection of images that work well together and truly show a place will have people coming back to view them over and over again. Below are five things I try to do before, during and after any trip; I’ve found they help me get the most out of my photographs.
Summer Family Road Trips
This could be the year of the family road trip. The summer of 2009 may go down in history as the summer we rediscovered the open road as the solution for the conflicting need of a much needed break coupled with the lack of ability to spend on a foreign vacation destination; the need for frugality versus the promise of rejuvenation. With fuel prices being the lowest in 4 years, and vacation budgets being a non-factor in a lot of Americans minds right now, the stage is set for summer family road trips to be the boon.
Since we’ve covered thoughts and tips on solo road trips, let’s talk about ways to extend the initial promise of the nostalgic memories that Dads everywhere seem to dreamily envision as they herd the brood into the family sedan for a view of roadside Americana.
18 Things You Don’t Need on Your Packing List
Over the limit? Need to shed a few pounds or fork out cash for going over your weight allowance? This inverted packing list – it tells you what you don’t need – will help you figure out how you can lighten the load.
Camping 101: Campground Etiquette
A series on camping wouldn’t be complete without a discussion about etiquette. We camp to get away from it all. The problem with that yearning is that during high season, most campgrounds are crowded. So you either need to toughen up and camp during the off-season (meaning you’ll need to deal with colder weather), or learn some manners. Even for those who consider themselves a seasoned camper or outdoors person, the leap to knowing how to play well with others when your playground is a campground isn’t always a given. I assure you however that it is possible to happily co-exist in nature when the most you’ve got separating you from your neighbor is a few feet and a tent wall.
Camping 101: Knowing What to Pack
More and more baby boomers are retiring and heading back to nature after decades of material excess. We‘re no longer interested in crawling in and out of a small tent, sleeping on the ground, scrounging up a meal over a 3 inch burner, and deploying the grunge look for that week in the wilderness. But camping has an irresistible nostalgic allure, is a very affordable means of travel and unfortunately, still has many women digging in their 3-inch heels against it.
Baby boomer or not, female or male, this article is for all of you who want to camp, but can’t (or don’t want to) hack the roughing-it part.
Camping 101: Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
With fuel prices being the lowest in 4 years and vacation budgets being a non-factor in a lot of people’s minds right now, the stage is set for summer camping trips to be the boon. As our inability to spend on a foreign vacation destination is pitted against our need to have a break, we have an opportunity to rediscover the campground. Camping meets our need for frugality as well as our desire for rejuvenation.
4 Ways to Help Kids Adjust to the Realities of Life Overseas
My children officially became Third-Culture-Kids (TCKs) when they stepped off an airplane into a hot dusty Saharan night in April, 2001. The stars were obscured by sand and the wind felt like it was coming off an oven, but we were all too tired to care. My oldest was nearly 6, and the twins had just celebrated their 4th birthday. In 28 hours, including layovers, we had traversed the globe, moving from Portland, Oregon (USA) to Nouakchott, Mauritania (West Africa) with 12 suitcases and one guitar. None of our luggage showed up with us.
Although I had read myriad articles and books on raising children between cultures, nothing really prepared me for that first meal of goat head; or for how I would react to children wanting to sit next to me on the couch when it was 115 degrees out and I was sweating in places I had no idea it was possible to sweat.
