Portable Mind: A sort of travel guide

favorite things

photo: icy 4337, originally uploaded by fragmented.

This week I am happily distracted by the holidays, friends, family and my upcoming trip to Barcelona. Work has been enjoyable too, consisting mainly of reading and research - two activities I relish. Maybe it's the nature of the holiday season, but I've come across a few things that have given me cheer ~ like this wonderful, postcard-ready photograph from my cousin Maura... and,

this photo blog. I particularly love the photograph posted yesterday - December 20, 2007 - titled guitar hero.

Murmurs

I missed PopTech this year. While I was home unpacking my suitcases, conference-goers recharged their minds on the gorgeous coast of Maine. I kept up by watching live streams from the conference, but got the most out of Ethan Zuckerman, who is a master blogger and was posting live during the conference. His post on October 19 led me to We Feel Fine - a site that explores human emotion by providing real time insight into what people are thinking and feeling through a data collection engine. It's simply amazing. 

A Charmed Life

I have a charm bracelet that was given to me when I was a child. The gold links are loaded with charms my parents brought back to me from places they'd traveled to and I would gaze at it for hours, imagining the places they'd been and where I would go someday.

My modern, not-at-all-romantic version of the charm bracelet is an excel spreadsheet where I keep The List Of Places To Go Next. Over cafe au lait (above pic - how beautiful is that cafe au lait?!) this morning at French Roast, I read through it. It is ridiculously long and badly in need of editing and sorting (like, I think I can now remove 'hang gliding at Kitty Hawk' and 'get tribal tattoo in New Orleans' ~?) but it's great to have for ideas and inspiration. I've posted items from The List in the left nav and will change/update them, just in case you need ideas for your next trip.

Overheard

at the Post Office today...
"Can you tell me how much the postage is for this?"
"58 cents.
"Ok, do you have a stamp with an American Flag?"
"We have a 41 cent stamp with an American Flag on it."
"Ok, do you have a 17 cent stamp with an American Flag on it? I really want the stamps to match."
"No. But we have a 39 cent stamp with an American Flag on it - er, but that's more than 58 cents, so.."
"Well... I really want the stamps to match."
Pause.
"Ok. Do you have a different stamp that will match the 41 cent stamp that has the American Flag on it?"
"Um. I don't know."

notes from TED... still downloading.

Words of Wisdom

I brought chinese food to the hospital and in my father's fortune cookie was this Jewish proverb~ When you have no choice, mobilize the spirit of courage. A poignant reminder.

It is the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina (as Hurricane Ernesto breathes down our back) and I recently watched When The Levees Broke, a film for HBO by Spike Lee about the aftermath of Katrina. It is tragic frustrating maddening and embarrassing all at once to see how we fell apart, too unprepared and careless to save one of our most important cities. I have been a regular visitor since 1994, driven by a need to get the cultural fix that only New Orleans can provide and I miss it terribly. I would like to take a volunteer vacation to NOLA  when I can get back on the road. In the spirit of staying positive, I have planned travel for this fall to (she writes hopefully) San Francisco, Copenhagen, and Wales for the Cardiff Film Festival... the most recent festival to accept our film. Cheers for that! at least...

image from drp's photostream on Flickr

I found this beautiful photograph on Flickr and couldn't help but post it... to me, it is the perfect image of summer (road trips!). Taken by Mike, who has a traveler's eye...

Playing House

In the June issue of Traveler, Wendy Perrin authored a smart and thorough account of renting a villa while traveling. As a proponent of villa rental vs. hotel every now and then, I found her article full of smart tips that I wish I'd known several years ago.

Nine friends and I headed to Portugal for a three week holiday and rented a villa through an online agency. Like Ms Perrin, the villa we landed in didn't quite fit the needs of each guest (details that should be sorted out before the trip, as I learned the hard way; but that's another post altogether) and wasn't as pristine as promised - a few appliances fell apart mid-stay, the housekeeper had a nasty disposition that kept her from doing her job on a regular basis and the interior climate was unexpectedly cold and damp - something both the rental agency and the owners neglected to mention.

It took a solid week for us to work out the kinks with the house and find our rhythm as a group, but once we did the trip was absolutely unrivaled. The best part of renting a home away from home is the freedom you experience without the pressure of life as usual. Simple things like cooking your own meals and having people over for dinner become exotic adventures. We traded traditional American dishes for traditional Portuguese dishes with the house manager on several occasions, enjoying the culinary contrast in our lovely villa dining room. We could sleep late and have breakfast at 3pm without the pressure of restaurant meal turnover, stay up chatting as a group until 4am, or wander around the house all day in slippers. The cost savings are an added bonus, of course - our 12-bedroom villa was $1100 per week: 10 people = $330 per person.

The invauable resource of a rental agency rolodex accompanies the article, and I've begun an inspired search for a villa to rent in the Carribean this summer. Now, if only I could do something about hurricane season...

It's all in the wardrobe, just like I told you

Here's a suggestion for travel guidebook publishers - a good travel guide for women. Something beyond travel essays and books filled with travel "tips" (like don't leave your hotel room after 6pm - ?). A few years ago I traveled to Tahiti on business and upon arrival, discovered I'd forgotten my bathing suit. Luckily I was staying at the Sheraton Tahiti and knew the hotel shop would have the suit I needed. I'd even thought the situation would turn out to be a bonus - I mean, the suits in Tahiti had to be better than what I'd find back home in New Jersey. The shop did indeed have a solid stock of swimsuits and, as if shopping for a bathing suit isn't depressing enough, all were intended for 19 year old girls with perfect bodies. I stood surrounded by string bikinis, thongs, and semi transparent crocheted one-pieces in a panic; not only was I way past the age of 19, but had the added bonus of having to wear the suit in front of male business colleagues during unavoidable beach and boat outings. It was at that precise moment that I realized there aren't any great travel guidebooks for women - frequent fliers like me who might find themselves stuck in the middle of a swimsuit crisis and need a guide to tell them where or how to find a solution. I ended up spending $100 out of desperation on a suit similar to this crocheted number (except mine was the delicious shade of day glo pink) that now sits in the back of my dresser drawer until I finally get over the experience and throw it away. Lucky magazine, where was an issue on Tahiti when I needed it? Since then I have been searching for that perfect guidebook and I still haven't found it. Looks like I will have to write one myself. (artwork by Brian Demarest, www.electricshogun.com)