Monthly Archives: January 2012

Memories

29 Sunday Jan 2012

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I often envision myself as an old woman. Not in a morbid or sad way but in a way that mostly helps me realize how important it is to live life to its fullest. I often think how when I am old it will be the trips I’ve taken that will be the topic of my conversations; the thoughts and memories of those trips that will bring a smile to my face. I know this because those thoughts and memories are things that make me smile now.

One of my travel role models and a role model in general for me is my grandmother, Eva Lof. My mom’s mom. She wasn’t officially educated (never went beyond 6th grade, if even). Born in Iowa, she ventured only as far as Minnesota to live. And she died within a 10-mile radius of where she birthed and reared her children and where she lived with her husband while he started a lumber business. Yet grandma lived her life to her fullest. She and grandpa traveled to Cuba back in the day, traveled to the hot spots in the American Southwest and Northwest and stayed at their place in Florida each winter. She logged each day in great detail in her journals from the price of coffee and gas to what each of them ate for lunch and dinner to when grandpa took his naps. Possibly mundane information to most, it’s information I find sweet and even intriguing. Grandma lived to be 103 and the whole while she was mostly with-it mentally. She remembered all sorts of things from her past and would share those things when I asked. It was fun to hear her stories and to realize that she, like me, had a vital life. My relationship with her gave me the perspective that we remain exactly who we are no matter how old we get. Our memories are the treasures we carry with us for as long as we live.

And now let the dreams begin…

27 Friday Jan 2012

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During the course of trip-planning I start dreaming of the place I’ll visit. Actually not so much the place but more about how I’m going to get there. Always it involves me either being late to the airport or forgetting my passport. Or both. Always. Last night, for example, I lollygagged to the gate and showed my ticket only to be astonished! that I could not get on the flight without a passport! So I called my dad but got his voicemail. In the process of calling someone else I told the attendant that I only had 45 minutes to get the thing and board the plane and that it just seemed impossible. She tried to reassure me by telling me that they now have a helicopter service for just this kind of thing! I could get the helicopter to fly to my house, run in and get the passport and then have it back to me lickety-split! Dubious, I frantically reminded her that I only had 45 minutes left!! And then I woke up. I have now added “passport” under “flip-flops” on that packing list.

Let the trip begin!

25 Wednesday Jan 2012

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It’s not the first time I’ve realized this: the trip begins now, at home. There’s a moment at which I know it’s begun and that’s not necessarily just when it’s been decided that I’m really going. And making the airline reservations doesn’t officially signify the trip’s beginning. Nor do the moments when I download travel guides to my iPad or start the blog. The beginning of the trip for me is when I start the packing list and when I actually envision myself in the location. It happened today. I wrote down “flip-flops” on a blank sheet of “paper” (actually on the iPad using the app ‘Penultimate’) with the heading Packing List: Morocco and Turkey. And another clue: I found myself thinking of the trip all day long whilst driving across South Dakota, envisioning myself in the markets, on a camel, in the desert, at a Turkish bath, buying rugs, drinking strong coffee, etcetera. I imagined the smell of the spice markets, the sound of the traffic, the sting of sand on my face, the voices in the markets… Today it’s official: I’m taking a trip to Africa and the Middle East!

Traveling v Vacationing

24 Tuesday Jan 2012

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I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately: traveling vs taking a vacation. In December I took a vacation to Florida for a few days to get my mind in order for the new year both for business and personal reasons. I focused on goals, thoughts, plans, and ideas for the new year and reflected on my life so far. In hindsight it was an invaluable experience but as I was experiencing that vacation, I often felt lonely or forlorn or something…I can’t quite explain. But I knew the experience was valuable and very much-needed and it all ended well. But I realized this: I’m alone a lot due to my job on the road as a sales rep. I spend a lot of alone time in a hotel. Or in a restaurant, a bar, and a car. To be on vacation alone often seemed a bit much. Yet I travel alone to faraway places all of the time! I plan the activities, the meals, the transportation, etc. and all without nary a pang of loneliness for anyone at home! But that’s different, I think. When I travel I explore. Discover. Learn. Experience. Being alone is no problem for me! Not even in the beginning. But when I vacationed in December it took me a few days to acclimate to being alone and disengaging from real life. Once I did it was good. A valuable and eventually relaxing experience. And already I can’t wait to do it again next year! And I’m looking forward to traveling in the meantime, too!

Marrakech and Istanbul. Morocco and Turkey. Cooking and camels.

19 Thursday Jan 2012

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In the planning stages of a new trip! Actually I’m leaving most of the planning to Barbara, my travel agent and travel partner on this trip! Barbara has been my travel agent, trip planner, and friend since my first international trip in 1992. I met her on the internet in a travel chat room when I was looking to go to Asia for the first time. She’s helped me plan and arrange all of my trips since then. Yet we have never met! We’ve spoken on the phone and corresponded through email and are now Facebook friends…but we have never met. Two years ago she put me in touch with one of her other clients, Sara, who had also traveled to Antarctica. Sara is in her 80’s and helped me with the planning of the Antarctica trip. We became long-distance friends and met in person last summer in La Jolla, where we stayed together for a few days getting to know one another in person. It was wonderful! So this much I know: Barbara is a good matchmaker for friends and trips. So I can only imagine how much fun we’ll have actually traveling together!

Barbara and her husband Richard will go on this trip along with me and two other women – – a total of 5 of us! We are all clients of Barbara’s and all have similar travel interests. I’ve never done an actual tour before with people I don’t know! The closest I came to doing something like this is when I went to Tibet with my cousins, Terry and Eileen, and their friends (and now mine) Hoe and Son. I expect it to be a remarkable trip.

The plan now is to depart 15 March, 2012 on a week-long cooking class in Marrakech and then to travel in to the Sahara desert (camels will be involved!) and Atlas Mountains for a few days. We will then take a train on the Moroccan coast through Casablanca up to Tangier where we will cross the Gibraltar Strait on a ferry to Spain. I will spend a few days on the coast of Spain and then fly to Istanbul, Turkey for a few days before returning home 1 April, 2012. It will be a packed-full trip in a relatively short period of time and I can’t wait!