Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.
~ Miriam Beard
Category: Travel – General (Page 3 of 6)
We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have, if only we seek them with our eyes open.
~Jawaharlal Nehru
Rick Steeves, the man who tires to “inspire, inform, and equip Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening,” has some advice for his compatriots. But they are not restricted to Americans. His suggestions apply to everyone who travels internationally, and not just to Europe.
Rick writes:
Travel more like Gandhi — with simple clothes, open eyes, and an uncluttered mind.
By developing a knack for connecting with people and their culture, we become temporary locals — approaching a new country on its level, accepting and enjoying its unique ways of life. When I’m in Europe, I strive to become what I call a “cultural chameleon” — a temporary European. I consume wine in France, beer in Germany — and when I get the urge for a good old-fashioned American breakfast, I beat it to death with a hard roll.
Find ways to really be in the place you came to see. If you can think positively, travel smartly, adapt well, and connect with the culture, you’ll banish the ugly and have a truly beautiful trip.
Read the whole article on Rick’s website. Follow his recommendations and you’ll have better, more enriching adventures.
According to the National Geographic, here are some of the things to do in the shadow of Tungurahua, one of South America’s most active volcanoes:
- Swing at the End of the World
- Bathe in hot springs
- Outside adventure: Mountain bike, Zipline, Rappel, Rafting, Bungee
- Hike to Devil’s Cauldron
Over than 3500 km traveled in 20 days, capturing landscapes from the bluish tones of Pamukkale to the warm ones of Cappadocia, the all passing by a great variation of colors, lights and weathers through six other cities.
I’ve crossed Cappadocia, Pamukkale, Ephesus, Istanbul, Konya; and tasted baklava, kunefe, doner, the turkish tea; and got the chance to meet the soul of Turkey, its people.. and got their smiles and their hospitality.
This is Turkey lived by me from north to south, and I hope you enjoy it 🙂
Directed and edited by Leonardo Dalessandri
Music: “Experience” by Ludovico Einaudi
Voice off: Meryem Aboulouafa
Travellers who refuse to hand over their phone or laptop passwords to Customs officials can now be slapped with a NZ$5000 fine.
The updated law makes clear that travellers must provide access – whether that be a password, pin-code or fingerprint – but officials would need to have a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing.
“It is a file-by-file [search] on your phone. We’re not going into ‘the cloud’. We’ll examine your phone while it’s on flight mode,” Customs spokesperson Terry Brown said.
If people refused to comply, they could be fined up to $5000 and their device would be seized and forensically searched.
More at RadioNZ, ZDNet, The Register
In 2011 Jonathan Look took early retirement, sold everything, and began traveling the world. Before that, he had lived a relatively typical American life, however at the age of 50, he found myself surrounded by possessions, but longing for adventure and endowed with an unquenchable curiosity to see far beyond my familiar little corner of the globe.
Before I retired, even though my schedule was dictated by limited vacation days, I was able to discover that I was happiest when I was traveling, having new experiences, interacting with other people and expanding my comfort zones. However, because I didn’t have the time, I often found myself fruitlessly trying to bridge the gap between what I longed to do and what I was actually doing, with material things. I didn’t feel that I had much control or choice in my life, so I used consumption to fill the void.
With the opportunity of early retirement came the necessity to examine my life and decide what I wanted for my future. I could stay the course, plodding along the deeply-rutted road that I had been lazily prodded to, or I could study the possibilities, make a leap of faith and pursue my dreams of discovering new horizons. The right choice for me now seems obvious but, at the moment, plotting a new course in retirement was as scary as it was exciting.
Read more at Forbes
Jon blogs at LifePart2
Here’s why:
- You’ll recharge emotionally and increase empathy
- You’ll engage in new surroundings and eliminate stress
- You’ll wind down and rest up
- You’ll boost your mood
Read more from Julie Loffredi in US News
Millennials especially have embraced this so-called FIRE movement — the acronym stands for financial independence, retire early — seeing it as a way out of soul-sucking, time-stealing work and an economy fueled by consumerism.
Followers of FIRE tend to be male and work in the tech industry, left-brained engineer-types who geek out on calculating compound interest over 40 years, or the return on investment (R.O.I.) on low-fee index funds versus real estate rentals.
Indeed, much of the conversation around FIRE, on Reddit message boards or blogs like Mr. Money Mustache, revolves around hacking one’s finances: strategies for increasing your savings rate to the hallowed 70 percent, tips for cheap travel through airline rewards cards, ways to save nickels and dimes at the grocery store.
Some practice “lean FIRE” (extreme frugality), others “fat FIRE” (maintaining a more typical standard of living while saving and investing), and still others “barista FIRE” (working part-time at Starbucks after retiring, for the company’s health insurance). To be “firing” is to slash one’s expenses to maximize saving while amassing income-generating investments sufficient to support oneself. To have “fired” is to have achieved that goal.
More at the NY Times (paywall)
Unless we rethink our holiday choices, the damage and destruction to global beauty spots can only grow.
Travel is no longer a luxury good. Airlines like Ryanair and EasyJet have contributed to a form of mass tourism that has made local residents feel like foreigners in cities like Barcelona and Rome. The infrastructure is buckling under the pressure.
More: Newsweek, The Guardian