What's better than good reading material on our favorite topic: Travel!
Mental Mileage
New contributor of Vagablogging, Colleen Wilde, brought a beautiful quote to the surface this week with her post of the same title:
Measure Travel Inwards
-Henry David Thoreau
I thought this was lovely, and it got me thinking about my diverse reactions to culture shock and the implications of them in terms of what I've learn and grown to believe in.
Dream Jumps
Ain't nothing finer than a dreaming in your recliner. Check out Cole's photo work, which remind me of the way I like to feel when romping around in fields.
Yeah, I Know That Place
Though this post has been up a few weeks, I thought it was an interesting examination by a long term traveler. When can you say you know a place? Matt has his stance figured out on the topic:
No matter how long we linger, little markets we explore, or non-touristy things we do, as travelers, we’ll never fully know a place- only someone who has lived there can claim that.
If you're fairly young and have a good number of destinations under your belt, chances are you haven't spend much extended time in these locations. When people ask for advice on Melbourne or China because you've graced those coordinates, can you really say you know that place well enough to comment on the lives and mindsets of the resident public? Do you know how things really function in that place?
It’s not until we begin to live like a local that we can truly get an appreciation for the rhythm of life there. That is why Couchsurfing is such a great thing. You can stay with locals, see where they go, go out with them, and put your self into the local rhythm.
The Beauty of the Far South
Vagabondish's Photo of the Moment of Patagonia is pure eye candy, is it not? And November is the start of the springtime and clear skies for this lovely wilderness. Anyone planning on hitting up these parts soon? I'm tagging along.
Is Anyone Copying You Online?
This one's more for the bloggers out there. We slave pretty hard for our readers, but what if someone lame-o is out there copying all your original material for their own uses? Problogger was all over this issue last week with his post Stop Scrappers and Spammers Fast. I checked and am free and clear of cling-ons. And you?
The Enjoyment of Unemployment II
Bob Fawcett brings a solo road trip across the States to life in his trailer for The Enjoyment of Unemployment, II. You may remember Bob from the STA WTI applicant pool, showing off his city of Chicago. Well, he's now living his dream out in L.A., plowing his way into the film and TV industry. Go get 'em, Bob.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EBESjKIe3A
Other Discoveries
Nerdy Nomad is off to do Hands On volunteer work in Indonesia. Sounds like a great idea.
The corporate world goes local (kinda goes against the point). It's something called "Localwashing."
Bourdain responds to his fans going nuts about the new animated web-series, Alternate Universe.
Update on Nomadderwhere
A week from now, I will be in Chicago in order to:
-meet up with old friends and turn on my giggle box
-capture footage for the new STA application video
-take in the art, food and streetscapes with my parents
-hopefully make some connections, create some content and make some garsh-darn money
Specific plans include: going to Nookies for omelets, Kingston Mines for some blues, ordering a chocolate shake at the Weiner Circle (gulp...), possibly catching a showing of Jersey Boys or Million Dollar Quartet, taking tips from Jessie Barber's "Free Chicago" post on the STA blog,who really knows...
Are you familiar with the Chicago area and holding onto a great entertainment/food/cultural recommendation? By all means, toss them my way. Tweet me or comment below. I'm all ears.
Also, I'm starting my book challenge today to write 20,000 words by November 30th. Hopefully the act of updating you all via these posts will encourage the writing and maybe inspire you to push yourself harder at whatever you're doing!