Travel for Love

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.

Boy people get cranky around the holidays. I’m sitting at my gate at the Pittsburgh airport with a guy in the seat behind me who is slamming into my back like it’s his job. This is a bad day to be traveling, right before Christmas and during the biggest East Coast snowstorm of the year. There are tons of delays and cancellations, and the US Airways ticketing agents, gate agents, and flight attendants are even more short than usual.

My adventure started at the ticketing counter, where the least helpful agent in the world made me check my backpack and informed me that the third bag I was checking was overweight. And since she had already sent my other two bags down the conveyor I was informed that I would need to pay $50, and accused of trying to take advantage of the system. As in I purposely saved the heavy bag for last, I knew how much it weighed, and was trying to slip it by her. I think I gave her the blankest stare ever and said I did not in fact weigh my luggage before I got there and come up with a scheme to get it through for free. It was 7 pounds overweight (yea, all of SEVEN) so I begrudgingly took out my work binder and stuffed it into my shoulder bag carry-on. I did not appreciate being accused of trying to cheat the system by this awful lady! Like I know anything about checked bag fees and weights – you would be crazy to try to check a bag at this airport! I always carry on whenever possible.

Then at security they actually dug and confiscated up my full sized container of face wash that I had successfully taken over 100,000 miles in my carry-on. WTF! And the TSA guy gave me major attitude too, asking me all snidely if I knew the limits of how much liquid you are allowed to bring. I know my face wash was too much liquid and I don’t blame them for taking it but I found it odd they would take it at PIT of all places, after all this time. Maybe it’s because I am walking around like a hobo with a Macy’s bag containing toiletries, comfy pants, socks, underwear, my brush, and a bathing suit. It was my backup anticipating they would make me check my backpack. And those are my Rio necessities in case US Airways loses my bags.

So after great fun at PIT, Charlotte was no better. We landed kinda on time and then had to sit on the tarmac for about 20 minutes because there was still a plane at our gate. Once that plane got out of the way we headed up to the gate and stopped about 20 feet short because the ground crew that needed to bring us in “went inside.” And these licensed pilots that just flew us 500 miles cannot possibly be trusted to go forward 20 feet and then stop. Not when there are union jobs at stake I guess. Oh and the Charlotte airport is full of stranded passengers on cots. Lovely. And it’s great that the airline workers are so cranky to these poor people just trying to get to their destinations.

The flight to Rio was pretty disappointing. We were on a really old 767 that didn’t even have individual TVs. I thought I would be happy with my seat arrangement – next to a nice fellow with a Brazilian mom and American dad who was interesting and not annoying – but my seat didn’t recline. When I asked the flight attendant about it (maybe there was a trick to these seats that have been in those planes since before I was born?) she barked at me that she was not a mechanic. So I ended up moving back about 10 rows to an aisle seat in a row of 3 with the middle seat empty. The rest of the flight was uneventful. Then, upon arrival in Rio, I was selected to go through the additional screening at customs. I had a bunch of gifts and clothes with tags and was afraid they were going to make me pay taxes on the crap. They wanted to go through my suitcase where I put my work laptop, so I quickly got it out, as I said “this must be what you guys wanted to look at.” I opened it up to the work sticker and showed them my business card, and they left the rest of my stuff alone. Phew. All said and done, I was the last person to come out of the terminal, an hour late, to be greeted by a very nervous (and happy!) Roberto.

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.

I recently read an article about the trend of building bigger and bigger mega cruise ships in the November issue of Smart Money (yea I know, I’m behind). You can read “Cruise Ships on Steroids” here. The article discusses the recent trend of new HUGE cruise ships, with each new amenity crazier than the last.

One issue the article hits on is that this idea doesn’t seem to fit in very well with the current slow economy. But of course, there was no recession when these cruise ships were ordered several years back. It’s almost like the cruise lines are stuck with these mega ships now, like someone stuck living in a home that made sense for old circumstances long after those circumstances changed. Revenue is expected to drop 14-16% and cruise lines are currently cutting fares on average of 20% according to the article. So will these mega ships help entice passengers, or will the costs be too great?

I’ve been on 3 cruises but I’m not sure I consider myself a typical cruiser (if there is such a thing). I enjoy cruising because it’s a very economical way to take a trip, because you get to see lots of different places, and because you don’t have to worry about packing and unpacking at each destination. To me, the cruise ship amenities are a much lower priority than crucial factors like ports visited and duration on shore. I do enjoy the nice dinners, but the standard dining room and buffet fare is good enough for me. I don’t ever visit the restaurants that cost extra and begrudge having to pay for cocktails.

Traditional cruisers that enjoy every amenity the ships have to offer will surely be impressed with the ice skating rinks, wave machines, ziplines, and Cirque du Soleil shows. These new ideas are really cool considering it’s all found on a ship, and it would definitely be interesting to partake in those new activities. The problem is, in order to offset the costs and combat the recession, the cruise lines are continuing to tack on the fees for these extra amenities.

The last cruise I took was a Norwegian ship, which advertise their Freestyle Cruising like crazy. They play up how great it is to have all these different restaurant choices instead of assigned seating in the main dining room. The problem was, each and every one of the Freestyle restaurants cost extra. So basically we ate in the main restaurants every day anyway, and felt like the best food and service was reserved for the passengers paying extra. We also noticed that several areas advertised in ship photos were restricted to passengers in suites. We really felt “nickel and dimed” on this cruise line.

If this is the direction these cruise ships are heading – nickel and diming the passengers for all the fun stuff – I think they will end up alienating lots of customers. One of the biggest appeals of a cruise ship is the cheap initial price and that once onboard, almost everything is included. Charging for each and every amenity adds a hassle that many people just don’t want to deal with.

It will be interesting to see if this “let’s see what sorts of ridiculous things we can pack on a cruise ship” trend continues. It really doesn’t seem very “recession friendly” and certainly not very green. It makes me wonder how many people actually select a cruise because it has an Ice Bar.