Travel for Love

Bad news. I just saw today that, starting Tuesday, the Travel Channel will no longer be available on my cheap-azz, basic, $5.95 per month cable lineup. They have been systematically cutting channels for years now to force customers to go to Premium, but the Travel Channel has always survived. Last round of slashings already cut Animal Planet; and I’m sure the Discover Channel will be next.

Pretty soon I will be paying $6 per month JUST to watch TBS reruns of The Office, Friends, and Seinfeld. Oh, and if I cut cable entirely, they jack up the internet price. It may be time to search for a new cable/high speed internet supplier.

Any suggestions?

The UNESCO World Heritage Sites are a list of sites around the world that have a physical or cultural significance. I thought it would be fun to make a list of all the World Heritage Sites I have visited. Hopefully I’ll be able to add to this list soon!

Africa
Historic Cairo in Egypt

Memphis and the Acropolis (including Giza Pyramids) in Egypt

Americas
Atlantic Forest Southeast Reserves in Brazil
Iguazu National Park in Brazil
Area de Conservacion Guanacaste in Costa Rica
Everglades National Park in the US

Great Smokey Mountains National Park in the US
Mesa Verde National Park in the US
Montecello and the University of Virginia in the US
Statue of Liberty in the US
Yellowstone National Park in the US

Europe
La Grand Place in Belgium

Historic Centre of Bruges in Belgium
Cathedral of Notre Dame in France
Banks of the Seine in France

Acropolis, Athens in Greece
Old Town of Corfu in Greece

Historic Areas of Istanbul in Turkey

So far I’ve been to 18 of the 890 sites. I have a (literal and figurative) long way to go.

South America has had its share of torrential rains in the past few months, with the latest stranding thousands of people in Aguas Calientes, near the Machu Picchu site. The main method of accessing the ruins of the historic Inca city is by train (if you don’t want to hike, anyway). Due to heavy rains causing mudslides and washing out portions of the train tracks, many visitors found themselves stuck on the mountain. Considering most people visit Machu Picchu as a day trip, getting “stuck” there would be no picnic. I am especially intrigued by this story since Machu Picchu is very high on my list of places to see.

Here is a youtube video showing the flood waters and evacuation effort.

Peru came to the aid of the nearly 4000 stranded people by flying them out in helicopters. I can only imagine what it would be like waiting for space in a helicopter to come get you, with thousands of other people. Imagine all the vacation plans ruined as I’m sure people missed flights and tours and couldn’t partake in scheduled plans. According to the news, Aguas Calientes was very short on food and hotel rooms for the unexpected customers. Many people were forced to sleep in the train station and depend on generous locals for food. Although I haven’t been, I have heard many reviews stating that Aguas Calientes is NOT the kind of town you want to spend more time than absolutely necessary.

Almost reminiscent of the Titanic evacuation, elderly and very young tourists were evacuated first, probably leaving a crowd of 20-30 something backpackers stuck. There have been rumors of price-gouging, as hotels and restaurants raised prices due to the sudden high demand. It also sounds like many of the residents were generous with what food and space they had. I found it interesting the Fox news reported the most of the Americans paid for hotels, and left the sleeping in the park to the South Americans.

The Inca Trail has also closed, after a mudslide along the trail reportedly killed two people. The reports are indicating a total of 7 deaths in the region due to the rain. The area has been declared a state of emergency. Machu Picchu is going to be closed for several weeks, if not months, while the train tracks are repaired. This is very unfortunate for the region, and also travelers who have booked trips during this time period.

I’m sure some people may be more hesitant to visit MP after this news. Some may wonder if people would have been stranded for so long if this had happened in a “first world” country. What would the US have done in this disaster? I did read that the US actually did send 2 helicopters. Unfortunately this is a consideration when traveling to a country whose infrastructure is not as advanced as the US, who may not be as prepared to pull off a large scale evacuation effort. From what it sounds like, Peru has pulled off a very successful evacuation. But, I am sure there are people hearing this story and saying, “This is why I don’t leave the US.” Their loss, I guess.

I got this survey from Trip Advisor in an email today and thought it was really funny. It lists all the different kinds of bad airplane seat-mates and you vote on the worst. I think I’ve experienced all of these except the nervous wreck. I voted for the oblivious parent. The ones whose little angels can do no wrong. Definitely different from the poor frazzled moms who shush their baby’s every whimper – I just feel bad for them.

One seat-mate they forgot to mention was the drunk business man. Often found in first class, these travelers usually order 3 or 4 red wines or Jacks on the rocks on a 1.5 hour flight. After they’ve had a few they just love to talk about their families, jobs, and travels. Then they start talking your ear off with the life lessons and career advice. My advice is to put in your earbuds or pretend to be sleeping before they have their first drink and get more chatty.

Round the World (RTW) trips, gap years, walkabouts, vagabonding, whatever you call them, the concept of extended travel has been around for ages. Maybe they are most popular with Europeans and Australians, but people from all walks of life often go on these trips. Many Americans take off the summer after college and backpack through Europe, some people quit their jobs for dream trips around the world before settling down, and some entire families live on the road for extended periods of time. With the internet and technology on the road it’s now very easy for travelers to blog on the road, sharing their experiences with the world. This affords us blog readers the opportunity to see what it’s really like on this kind of travel.

I read several blogs of people just like us who saved a bunch of money, spent months preparing, and quit their jobs to travel around the world for a year or two. Two of my favorites are Lives of Wander, who are “home” now, and Two Backpackers who are just beginning their journey. The website Briefcase to Backpack also did a round-up of “career breakers” with a list of RTW backpackers’ blogs here.

I love the concept of dropping everything to travel around the world. I think it would be a blast to visit all kinds of great places, meet interesting locals and fellow travelers, and not have to cram it into 15 days a year. I’m sure this is the kind of experience that changes people forever.

But, I have some reservations which prevent me from seriously considering doing the same. Maybe not the normal worries about getting sick, missing home, or giving up security and steady income, but other things bother me about considering a RTW trip. One big issue is that the trip is temporary. With rare exception, this type of lifestyle doesn’t seem to be sustainable. After dreaming, and planning, and executing, you have to come back to a “normal” life. Sure, you come back with amazing memories and I’m sure people that do this grow as individuals throughout their travels, and maybe can pursue new opportunities during their trips. But theoretically after your savings run out, you have to come back to the life you left.

That leads me to my second reservation. Unless you set yourself up with a really good system, you are taking a year out of your life away from pursuing other life dreams. I know my goals don’t culminate with a trip around the world, so it doesn’t seem very sensible to take a whole year or two away from pursuing and working towards those goals. Fulfilling the dream to be free and travel might come at the expense of realizing other, more important dreams.

Some say this type of travel is escapism. You’re not satisfied with your current life so you run away from everything, no clue what you want, just knowing it’s not this. RTW travelers get criticized for trying to escape from reality, but will surely argue that they are out there chasing their dreams and becoming better people because of it.

So what’s my conclusion? I don’t know. I really don’t think it’s healthy to think that everything will be better if only you can escape from the normal life and backpack around the world. This is just another symptom of living for the future – “once I get here/do this/experience that I’ll be happy.” To really be happy we have to work on a combination being happy with what we have and fulfilling our goals to build the lifestyle we want, don’t we?

It seems like some of the happiest people are those that not only took that initial “leap,” but also didn’t stop there. And that leap doesn’t have to be travel, but whatever they’ve always wanted to do. They continued to work on building their life their way so they could continue to reach their goals. And they have the courage to create the lifestyle that works best for them rather than what society thinks is supposed to work. I really admire that courage in people.