StumbledUpon: Almost Fearless

Photo of Madrid by Adek2007 on Flickr

You can find the best blogs on StumbleUpon. It's how I found one of my favorites, Euros Ate My Dollars, and this morning, it led me to Almost Fearless, "a blog that follows one womans journey from corporate manager to free wheeling travel writer."

The author, Christine, recently quit her job and is planning to live abroad with her husband. Their first stop is Spain, where they are renting an apartment in Madrid for 3 months. So far, her posts are about deciding to live abroad, preparing for the move, and quitting her job. After reading through the archives this morning, I'm hooked. She started the blog less than six weeks ago, so it didn't take me long, but now I have to wait patiently for new posts.

Some of my favorite articles:
Getting the Nerve to Go
The Moment Before You Quit Your Job
10 Unexpected Costs of Owning Things

These are just a few, and I really could have listed her whole archive, so check it out and see what your favorites are.

See more of my favorites on StumbleUpon.

From other Travel Blogs...

Chocolate Hills, Philippines
Photo by dbqueen on Flickr

TRAVEL DESTINATIONS:
Gary from the Everything Everywhere Travel Blog shares The Seven Wonders of the Philippines.

TRAVEL TIPS:
From Vagabondish:
Kimberly Lang & Elizabeth Sanberg's 20 Cheap and Simple Ways to Travel Greener
Amanda's 8 Questions to Ask in Every New Place.

From The Traveler's Notebook:
Laurie Pickard's 7 Steps for Creating an In-Town Vacation
Mei-Ling McNamara's 10 Tips for Safe Travel as a Single Woman.

TRAVEL THOUGHTS:
One of my favorite articles comes from Pick the Brain. Peter recommends long term travel as The #1 Way to Shake Up Your Life.

For more travel articles, check out the section marked From other Blogs in my sidebar.

Travel Resolution: Run an Errand

Balloon Delivery by mrtruffle on Flickr

The latest issue of National Geographic Traveler has a great article by Daisann McLane. Special Delivery is about the errands she runs for people when she travels. Those errands usually involve delivering something or picking something up for a friend, sometimes in out of the way places, away from touristy areas.

She enjoys the errands because they bring her to different places where she meets interesting people and learns new things. "Errands give travel a mission: They take you outside your box, they escort you into other people's lives and cultures."

One of my favorite examples is the lai see she delivered for her Cantonese teacher to his elderly sister in Hong Kong. The teacher hadn't seen his sister in years and wanted to surprise her for her birthday. Not only did his sister receive a nice surprise from her brother, but the author was able to visit an old neighborhood in Kowloon that was off the tourist trail.

Getting Uncomfortable

Palisade Head, North Shore of Lake Superior
Photo by Connor Cashman

I came across an interesting post on Darrenbarefoot.com that includes this quote from Atomic-dogmA.com:

"I always feel most alive when I’ve been pushed out of my comfort zone."

The title of the Darren's post is Getting Uncomfortable, and is about deliberately doing things that scare you. Not screaming scary, but butterflies in the stomach scary. I like Darren's statement,

"... I think adversity builds character, and one way to make yourself a better person is to try things that make you uncomfortable."

When writers do a good job of putting ideas into words, everything makes sense. Finding posts like these are what makes surfing the web so satisfying.


side note: These quotes also remind me of the 5 Reasons Why I Travel meme that was going around last year. Many people listed reasons like the chance to challenge themselves or push their boundaries. While you can do that at home, the unfamiliar situations that happen while traveling give you so many more opportunities to experience those butterflies in your stomach.

From other Travel Blogs...

Chichicastenango, Guatemala

TRAVEL NARRATIVES
Thank you to Soloride on Stumble Upon for letting me know about The World by Road, a blog about driving around the world. Steve Shoppman and Steve Bouey started their two year trip in Denver, Colorado last February. I've just started reading the archives, but I'm already impressed. Interesting stories and great photographs make up for the awkward blog navigation (it would be great if they offered an archive search to make it easier to read the blog from the beginning). They are inviting travelers to join them for different parts of their journey. If you are interested, take a look at their time line for future countries to see where they are going next.

TRAVEL TIPS
Ubertramp is putting together lists of sites with airline promotions for cheap flights, deals and special offers. So far, he has links for North America and South America and the Caribbean.

Beth at Wanderluster shares 4 Reasons to Consider Traveling Solo. Although I'm still not sure traveling alone is for me, her reasons are making me reconsider.

Rolf Potts gives advice on Awakening Your Inner Vagabond on Vagablogging. Most of his suggestions come from his book, Vagabonding, and are good reminders of how to get the most from your travels.

TRAVEL DESTINATIONS
Travel Hacker shares a list of 25 Microbreweries across the United States.

Eyeflare has some good ideas for a New Zealand driving holiday.

For more travel articles, check out the section marked From other Blogs in my sidebar.

From other Blogs...

TRAVEL NARRATIVES:
A post on Dooce led me to The Daily Coyote, which in turn led me to Vespa Vagabond. Both sites are written by Shreve, who lives in a small cabin in Wyoming. The Daily Coyote is about her experience raising an orphaned coyote, and Vespa Vagabond is about her journey from San Francisco to New York City on her Vespa scooter.

Travis on Tour has a great story about his experience in a public bathhouse in Busan, South Korea.


TRAVEL DESTINATIONS:
National Parks Traveler writes about America's National Lakeshores.

The London Traveler shares A visitor's guide to Westminster Abbey.


TRAVEL TIPS:
If you liked my article on 10 Tricks to Meeting People While Traveling, you can read more tips on Brave New Traveler's How to Actually Meet Locals On The Road.

If you are considering a backpacking trip, Hiking Trip Reports shares some Hiking Trip Tips that will help you get started.

For more travel articles, check out the section marked From other Blogs in my sidebar.

Respectful Travel

Photo by dangerding on Flickr

Greg from Vagabonding Begins! wrote something in a recent post that really struck me. He mentioned meeting a Frenchman who, like Greg, is on a quest "to prove to one person at a time that not all (French or Americans) are snobs/idiots." What a great goal to have when traveling.

Another article that ties into this idea comes from Amanda at Vagabondish. Although I don't agree with the Traveler vs. Tourist debate, 4 Ways To Be A Traveler, Not A Tourist is basically about being respectful while traveling. Below are Amanda's recommendations (in italics) with my own suggestions of what you can do to show respect, and in the process, leave a good impression.

1. Research the area you are traveling to- You can avoid showing disrespect by being familiar with expectations, so read up on local customs. What are the norms for dress, bargaining and tipping? Are certain gestures offensive? What about public displays of affection?

2. Slow down- When you are in a rush, it is hard to be patient or polite. Take time to appreciate what you are seeing. Show respect by giving people and places the time they deserve.

3. Connect with the locals- Treat others as you would like to be treated.
*remember to say "please" "thank you" "excuse me" and "I'm sorry"
*be friendly, and smile
*learn a few phrases in the local language
*don't expect everyone to speak English
*be kind, not rude or condescending
*learn from people you meet by asking questions and listening to what they have to say

4. Surround yourself with new experiences- Be open to trying new foods. While food from chain restaurants can be comforting in an unfamiliar place, if you rely on them for all your meals, your travel experience will be lacking. Likewise, don't be a food snob. Avoid comparing your meal to other ones you've enjoyed, and if it isn't to your liking, keep the negative comments to yourself.

Although Amanda's article focuses on the local community, Greg's quest is probably for everyone he meets, including other travelers. Luckily, the above suggestions work with anyone (at home, too!) If you have a difficult time connecting with people, you can read 10 Tricks to Meeting People While Traveling to help you get started.

It is also important to treat your destination with respect. Avoid wasting food and water, and don't litter or damage travel sites. Learn about reducing your impact on destinations by reading about responsible travel.

For more suggestions on respectful travel, I also recommend Brave New Traveler's article on How To Respectfully Visit Holy Places.

*I couldn't resist the above photo. Whenever I see those beautiful faces and wonderful expressions, it makes me grin. I hope it made you smile, too. :-)

The Best Travel Experiences

Becky the Bartender by Dance Party Duo on Flickr

I read an article recently where the author mentioned the best travel experiences come from interactions with people.* I can't stop thinking about that idea. Many articles mention the importance of interacting with locals when you travel, but this made it seem so much more than that. It is more about the connections you make with anyone you meet while traveling.

When we make connections with other people, it shows us just how small our world really is. Those connections can teach us about other cultures, and give us a better understanding of our differences and similarities. Best of all, though, they can be a great source of humor and friendship.

The travel memories that make me smile usually involve other people; the bartender and other diners at a restaurant bar, fellow hikers in a state park, the locals in a small town Irish pub, and the instructors at a falconry school are a few of those memories. Sometimes the other people are my own travel companions when we share a special moment or humorous experience.

It is the same for other people, too. Think about the travel stories that people share. My aunt and uncle recently returned from a trip that included stops in Switzerland and Italy, where one branch of our family emigrated from. They saw some incredible sites on their trip, but their best memories were of the people. Their favorite stories were about the distant cousins they met and the Australian who befriended them in Rome.

The lesson here? Go out and make those connections. Make your travel experience even better.

*Unfortunately, I didn't mark the article, and now I can't remember where I read it. Many of you follow the same travel sites I do, and if you think you know which article it was, please let me know in the comments.

From other Travel Blogs...

Autumn in New Market, Maryland

This week, World Hum is hosting a Women's Travel E-Mail Roundtable. A series of posts between Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Liz Sinclair, Terry Ward and Catherine Watson, they write about "the rewards and perils of hitting the road alone as a woman."

Sheila at Perceptive Travel looks at how travelers can use social media to research and plan trips.

Interested in long term travel but not sure about carrying a backpack? Rob at Go Budget Travel asks, "Is the Backpack Even Necessary?"

Smart Traveler shares practical tips for those times when your travel plans go awry.

Brave New Traveler has some great articles this week. Check out Tim Patterson's 7 Tips For Learning A Foreign Language On The Road and Eric Daams' article on Dark Tourism.

From Gadling:
Neil Woodburn recommends Home & Abroad; Matching People to Places , "a rather cool website that will help build your vacation itinerary based upon your personality and likes."
If you are planning an extended stay, and you are tired of living in hotels, Grant Martin recommends three sites for booking apartments for your vacation.

For other travel articles, check out the section marked From Other Blogs in my sidebar.

From other Travel Blogs...

Photo by harryalverson on flickr

I've been reading about the torture Greg from Vagabonding Begins! is going through at his kung fu school in Henan, China. Yikes! From Everybody was kung fu HURTING to Another day in paradise, his stories make me question his sanity. I admire his perseverance because the temptation to quit must be very strong. He is halfway through his training sessions, so at least the end is in sight!

Part of Greg's day is spent studying the Chinese language. He admits the class is difficult, but he has a great attitude about it. If he gets frustrated, though, he could read Rob's 5 Tips to Learning a Language Abroad over at Go Budget Travel.

For a more pleasant experience, Gadling has an article about the Denali Road Lottery. Even though Catherine didn't win one of the 1600 passes for this weekend, we can still read about the experience because Angie at Alaskan Explorer not only won a pass, but she also received a second pass for another day from a friend.

Rolf Potts at Vagablogging shared a great quote about traveling.

"That's what I like about traveling -- you can sit down, maybe talk to someone interesting, see something beautiful, read a book, and that's enough to qualify as a good day. You do that at home and everyone thinks you're a bum."
--Richard Linklater and Kim Krazan, Before Sunrise screenplay (1995)

How did I miss this movie? Probably because I was dealing with a 3 year old and a 1 year old and we didn't go out to movies back then.

For other travel articles, check out the section marked From Other Blogs in my sidebar.

From other Blogs...

Tile Soffit in La Antigua Guatemala

Some interesting articles I read this past week:

For my dad, who will be visiting Paris, Intelligent Travel has an article on Parisian Markets. There is something for everyone, and hopefully he will find that perfect something and tell me all about it!

Smarter Travel has two articles on cultural vacations, Ten Great Cultural Travel Bargains and The Best Websites for Planning Cultural Vacations.

Neil Woodburn at Gadling writes about the living paintings at the Pageant of the Masters, where performers in Laguna Beach replicate famous paintings through the month of August. I think this is a great idea, and I wish I could see it.

Rick Steves reflects on three decades of travel in an interview at World Hum.

Ian at Brave New Traveler is helping his friend, Sean Aiken, by filming episodes of Sean's experiences working one week jobs.

Read about visiting McCarthy and Kennicott on Angie's blog, Alaskan Explorer. They are definitely on my list of places to see.

For more articles, check out the section marked From Other Blogs in my sidebar.

From other Blogs...

On Brave New Traveler, Madeleine Somerville wrote a great review of Wanderlust and Lipstick by Beth Whitman. I decided to give the book a chance and ordered it from Amazon.

If you have a great travel story, Ian at Brave New Traveler has put together a list of online travel magazines that publish travel stories.

Traveling Stories Magazine is having a Summer Story Contest, with a prize of $50 for the story that gets the best ratings by August 31st.

Rolf Potts recently wrote some travel articles for the LA Times. They are all great reads, but my favorite was How much money for a dream trip?, where he encouraged saving money by living simply.

Are you looking for a festival to add to your travel itinerary? Go Budget Travel has a list of resources to help you find festivals and cultural events around the world.

The Guardian Unlimited takes a fresh look at the Midwest with an article about Minnesota.

The New York Times explores the last wilderness with an article about north-central Idaho. Another article in the Times gives tips on how to picnic in Central Park, New York City.

Is There a Golden Age of a Place?

Ian at Brave New Traveler bookmarked an article from the San Francisco Chronicle titled, "OK, we get it: No place is as good as it used to be." I had to check it out, because the title reminded me of a comment I left on Ian's blog back in March:

"I read an article once, written by an expat in Rome who had lived there over 30 years. He talked about how it seemed like every 10 years, someone will tell him how awful Rome is compared to the last time they had visited. It was an interesting idea. When is the golden age of a place? People who go right now for the first time might love it, but hate it in 10 years. People who went 10 years ago and loved it, might hate it now."

John Flynn, the author of the SFC article, describes a phenomenon that he names "the Kathmandu Syndrome: Every place used to be better, at least in the eyes of those who were there then. Now all these places are blighted, charmless, overcrowded and hopelessly touristy." Some of it might be due to the highly competitive nature of some travelers who want to assure you that you've missed out and will never have the authentic experiences they have had. I say, don't worry about the past adventures of other travelers, just enjoy the ones you are having.

He also mentions the tendency we have to remember the good experiences of travel and let the negative ones fade to minor issues (kind of like childbirth). "When viewed through that selective prism, it's all but impossible for any current-day place to live up to our idealized memory of it." So, even if the traveler isn't competitive, their memory of past experiences might not be as accurate as they think. Again, don't worry about their memories, make your own.

In any case, it is very difficult to re-live past experiences; places change and people change. General decline in the destination or skewed memories or both, this might be a good reason to never go back as Our Man in Granada wonders. If you do go back, try not to look for the same experience you had the first time around.

Have you had any experience of trying to re-capture a favorite travel experience? Please share your experience in the comments section.

*the picture above was taken at Black Head, in County Clare, Ireland

**update: Our Man did return to one of his favorite places, and it looks like it was the right decision for him this time!

From other Travel Blogs...

Photo by Lisa Pertile

Some of the interesting articles I read this week:

Going to Rome? Viator shares some great day trips you might want to consider. Or, if you aren't going to Rome, but you'll be in New York City, check out their article on hiring a private tour guide/personal photographer to help you get oriented to the city. I love this idea. Most of my travel pictures are of other people, and if someone offers to take a picture of me with the others, the results are usually less than satisfactory (blurry, odd composition, etc.) and I think it would be great to get some fun shots that look good.

Neil Woodburn from Gadling is writing a 17 part series on visiting Alaska without the cruise ship. I'm saving his articles in my Alaska planning file.

I've mentioned that Machu Picchu is at the top of my list of travel dreams, so I was intrigued by an article in the New York Times about The Other Machu Picchu, Choquequirao.

National Parks Traveler has another Off The Well-Worn Path report, this time on Great Basin National Park.

And last, but never least, Our Man in Granada made me laugh with The top 10 yings and yangs of living overseas.

For even more articles, check out the section marked From Other Blogs in my sidebar.

From other Travel Blogs...

National Parks Traveler has some good articles this week, including The Essential Yellowstone and Off the Well-Worn Path: Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Have you been wanting to learn a new language, or brush up on your Spanish? Check out The Ecua Traveler's post on free Spanish Lesson podcasts.

Angie at Alaskan Explorer shares her favorite Alaskan travel resources.

Going to Italy? Viator shares the Top Five Florence Tours that are popular with their readers.

Nathan at Ubertramp has put together a backpacker's wish list with Shiny Stuff for Backpackers.

For more travel articles, check out the section marked From other blogs in my sidebar.

*the picture above is from Montmorency Falls, Quebec

From other Travel Blogs...

Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City

The Frugal Traveler starts an American Road Trip with Finally, Exit From New York.

Roger Johnson and Haley Chamberlain have started their 50 States in 50 Days road trip. They aren't writing in a blog format, and there isn't an RSS feed, but it's still fun to see where they are and what they are doing.

Dave writes about Budgeting for a Trip Around the World on GoBackpacking. Be sure to follow the link to David's 'Round the World Plan for a detailed budget spreadsheet.

Steve from Our Man in Granada is writing his guest posts on Budget Travel Online this week. Read about Our man in Granada, Meeting the Chavalos, and How I wound up living overseas, and watch for more articles today and tomorrow.

DC365 recommends taking a Spy Tour of the nation's capital with Spies of Washington Tour.

Conor at Conor's Mildly Thrilling Tales writes about Searching for families in Nuwakot. Part of his mission in Nepal is to reunite the orphans with their families. This last trip was successful, they found 17 of the 18 families they were looking for.

Rick Steves interviewed Rolf Potts for NPR. Rolf writes about the interview on Vagabonding. Listen to more Rick Steves travel podcasts.

Gretchen at Girls Can't What? writes about Samantha Larson, the youngest person to top Mount Everest. You can read about Samantha's experience on her blog.

For more travel articles, check out the section marked From other Blogs in my sidebar.

From other Travel Blogs...

First off, congratulations go out to Our Man in Granada for winning the Budget Travel Online writing contest. His article on Vietnam is a great read, and his win is well deserved. Congratulations, Steve!

Jas from Through the Lens did a post for Brave New Traveler this week, sharing 6 Quick Tips for Shooting Better Action Photos.

At Around the World in 80 Days, Mark writes an interesting post about biking through Normandy and Brittany.

There were some posts about Cambodia, with The Lost Girls reporting on their visit to Phnom Penh and the Guardian Unlimited also writing an article about traveling to Cambodia.

The Guardian Unlimited also has an interesting article about Romania, Lost in Transylvania.

For even more articles, check out the section marked From Other Blogs in my sidebar.

Thank you to luciano 46 at Flickr who is sharing this photograph under a creative commons license. I chose his picture of Quebec City because that is my next travel destination.

For more travel articles, check out the section marked From other Blogs in my sidebar.

From ProBlogger's Group Writing Project...

Cats in Dubrovnik, Croatia

Darren Rowse at ProBlogger had a group writing project last week, and several travel articles were submitted. Here are some of my favorites:

Five gems, what makes a good pub? by Pints of Ale
Five Travel Blogs You Gotta Read by Sheila at Perceptive Travel Blog
Top 5 Reasons Why We Travel by Timen at in my All Stars
Top 5 Reasons to Make Nova Scotia Your Next Travel Destination by Blogging Nova Scotia
My Top 5 Future Photowalking Locations by Photowalking.org
5 best places to go while visiting Acadia National Park by Acadia
My Five Most Awestruck Travel Experiences by Exit Row Seat
Top Five Strategies for Traveling Light by Graham Barker: The Blog
Top 5 DC Things To Do This Summer by DC365
Top 5 Italian Words You Really Don't Want To Mispronounce at Bleeding Espresso
Top 5 Things To Do In Istanbul by Let's Meet Where the Continents Meet

Check out ProPlogger's full submission list for articles on several other subjects, including personal finance, photography, and of course, blogging.

From other Travel Blogs...

Kiahuna Beach in Kauai, Hawaii
Photo by Scott Carpenter

Thinking of taking a RTW trip? The Lost Girls have a 3 part series detailing the expenses for their round the world adventure, including total costs, breakdown of flight, gear, accommodations, and breakdown of food, travel, entertainment.

Timen at in my All Stars shares Top 5 Reasons Why We Travel. He does a great job of explaining our need to get out and see the world.

National Parks Traveler has another guide to the parks, this time it's The Essential Glacier with tips for visiting Glacier National Park.

Conor is having a party! The place to be: New York City on June 21st. Conor's Mildly Thrilling Tales and Next Generation Nepal don't have any more details on their sites, but we'll keep you posted when we find out more. It's sure to be a great time, though, and a chance to help raise money for Conor's orphanage.

Backpackers.com has a post about Geobeats, a website featuring video travel guides. I ended up spending far too much time at Geobeats, exploring all the videos. The videos teaching the top local phrases are a great idea.

Another trail is being added to my summer of walking in England. Smarter Travel has an article about walking the Pennine Way that I found interesting.

Darren Rowse at ProBlogger has a group writing project going on. Stay tuned, I'll be writing about some of the travel articles that were submitted.

For more travel articles, check out the section marked From other Blogs in my sidebar.

Traveling Alone

A quote about traveling alone was recently posted on Vagablogging :

"It seemed an advantage to be traveling alone. Our responses to the world are crucially molded by the company we keep, for we temper our curiosity to fit in with the expectations of others. They may have particular visions of who we are and hence may subtly prevent certain sides of us from emerging… Being closely observed by a companion can also inhibit our observation of others; then, too, we may become caught up in adjusting ourselves to the companions questions and remarks, or feel the need to make ourselves seem more normal than is good for our curiosity."
--Alain de Botton, The Art of Travel, (2002)

Several other sites also mention the benefits of solo travel, including Ubertramp, who has written about the pros and cons of traveling alone. It sounds like an incredible experience with amazing benefits, but I keep coming back to the idea that I want to share my experiences with someone else. I don't doubt that I would learn even more about myself if I was on my own, responsible for all the decisions, but I would miss the chance to turn to my husband or friend and have them share the moment with me.

I don't worry about my curiosity being tempered or having my observations inhibited, either. I hope both will be enriched by having someone else to bounce ideas off of. Having a travel partner with different strengths might cause me to slack in those areas, but it might also encourage me to try something new.

One thing that does worry me is being considered less approachable than a solo traveler. I can also see how it would be too easy to interact only with each other and not meet other people. Since meeting other people, travelers or locals, is such a great part of traveling, I don't want to miss out on those opportunities. Hopefully just being friendly to the people we see will help counteract this downside, because for me, the advantages of traveling with a partner outweigh the disadvantages.

Although I won't be planning any solo trips myself, I do enjoy reading about them (Tales of a Female Nomad, Vroom with a View, and McCarthy's Bar), so I'll continue to search out books and blogs with interesting stories of people traveling alone.