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Oct 7, 2017
Nomadic Matt has good travel tips.......
Hey ,
When I left for the open road in 2006, I knew nothing.
I had read some guidebooks and looked over some Internet forums, but back then, there were no travel blogs, Twitter tweets, Facebook fan pages, or the vast amounts of travel information on the Internet you see now. To compensate for this lack of wisdom, I followed my guidebook religiously and got my feet wet with small group tours. I was young, I was inexperienced, and I made a lot of rookie travel mistakes.
Now, if I could sit myself down on the day I left for my world trip, I would give myself — and YOU — these 11 tips:
1. Don't be scared. Fear is a powerful deterrent. Taking the leap into the unknown is scary, but you aren’t the first person to travel the world. You aren’t discovering new continents or exploring uncharted territories. I’d say this to relax you: There is a well-worn travel trail out there and people to help guide you along the way. If millions of people can make their way around the world each year, so can you. You may feel scared and nervous, but you’re just as capable as anyone else.
Read this for more: How to Overcome Your Fears
(Me taking in the scenery on a hike through Patagonia)
2. Don't wait too long. Tomorrow never comes. Too often we try to wait for the perfect time to travel, that time when all the stars align, but that time never comes. You will never have enough money, and there will always be someone's wedding, birthday, etc. etc. Don't wait. When you want to go, just go. The Dutch have a proverb: "He who is outside his door has the hardest part of his journey behind him." Those are words to live by.
Read this for more: There's No "Tomorrow"s in Travel
3. Avoid packing too much. Buy a small bag so you aren’t tempted to pack everything under the sun. You’ll have less to carry. If you truly need something, you can pick it up as you go. Trust me, you won’t need as much gear as you think!
4. Stay connected to your new friends. You meet a lot of people on the road who are all going different ways, and you may find that your paths will cross again. However, it's hard to plan events by email. Did they get it? Will they be there? I don't know! Invest in a cheap phone so you can stay in touch with people better. Plus it comes in handy in an emergency.
5. Go with the flow. Want to stay longer? Leave sooner? Change hotels? If you pre-planned your trip, that's something you can't easily do. When every day is planned out and there are timetables to follow, you get stressed. Very stressed. You rush. And when you plan too much, there’s no room to experience the happy accidents of travel. Plan one or two activities and let the rest of the day happen. It’ll be a more enjoyable and less stressful experience.
6. Take it easy and slow down. It can be tempting to try to see it all. With limited vacation time, we are always trying to squeeze everything in — rushing through 20 cities in 20 days, or 100 countries on our round-the-world trip. In the end, all we have to show for it are photos, stress, and a whirlwind of experiences, but no real knowledge of the places we went. After you try to rush through Australia, you’ll be burnt out and realize you saw everything — but nothing at all. You’ll wish you did it slower. Don’t rush your trip.
(Me wandering through rice patties in Vietnam)
7. Avoid giving banks your hard-earned money. ATM and credit card fees can really add up. For years, I just assumed that it was a cost of traveling. Then I got smart and started looking deeper into it. I haven't paid an ATM or card fee in over five years — and neither should you. You can avoid paying ATM fees by either joining a bank in the global ATM alliance or, if you are American, Charles Schwab (no ATM fees). Don't forget to check a local bank too.
Read this for more: How to Avoid Bank Fees While Traveling
8. Know you can rest your head anywhere. When you start traveling, you often think that you either have to stay in a hotel or a hostel. But there's a lot more out there: you can Couchsurf; rent apartments via Airbnb, Homeaway, or similar sites; stay in monasteries; work and stay on farms; or find small, non-chain budget hotels. In short, there are a lot of options beyond a hostel or a giant chain hotel.
9. Learn to maximize your miles and fly free. When you travel a lot, you fly a lot. I didn't get into the mileage game for a long time, and by not signing up for loyalty programs (airlines, hotels), I missed out getting thousands of free points that I could have used for future free travel. Always sign up for a rewards program. Even if you don't think you will use it, you might in the future, and there's no cost to sign up.
10. Budget well. People get blindsided by stuff they should have anticipated. "I didn't expect to drink so much!" "This place is more expensive than I thought." You hear these comments on the road a lot, and my response is usually "Why? What did you expect to do on the road?" If you do your research well, you will know exactly how much things cost and you can plan your budget accordingly. I know I will eat and drink a lot so I budget accordingly. (Do I go over budget? Sometimes. I make it up on other days.) Do research before you go, keep track of expenses as you go, and watch your money last until the end.
Read this for more: How to Make Your Money Last
11. Don't skip insurance. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is a huge mistake too many travelers make. They think "I'm young — I won't get sick." Or "I won't be doing dangerous activities." But you never know what can happen on the road, and travel insurance is more than just health insurance. It covers your gear, trip cancellation, delays, and emergencies. It covered my camera when I fell into the sea in Italy, it covered my lost bag from Africa, and it covered my punctured eardrum from diving in Thailand.
*****
So, remember these 11 lessons and you will always travel better, cheaper, safer, and happier.
Until next time, travel often and travel wide.
Nomadic Matt
P.S. If you've found the blog and newsletter helpful, please consider booking your next trip through the links on theresources page. This keeps the content free, community supported, and (most importantly) advertising elsewhere.
P.P.S. If you're looking for more in-depth resources and books,check out one of the books and destination guides I've written on travel.
copied from the newsletter via e-mail.
Sep 29, 2017
Sep 27, 2017
Palestine on the ground || WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING!
Well Done.
I am convinced The West does not really understand the Palestinian issue. On the news it is just portrayed as a war zone. We went on a tour: Bike Palestine--the resorts were lovely, the food was delicious and the people were very hospitable. It was a grand trip for an education, history and politics. I would recommend it to everyone.
It would be nice if the whole picture of Palestine could be more acuratly painted in the media.
Does Walking Equal Meditating: "Little Insights" from Art Garfunkel
Art Garfunkel on life's "little insights" and his "intense" relationship with Paul Simon
Art Garfunkel's voice helped shape some of the most famous songs in American music. As half of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, his pipes dominated the pop charts with hits like "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "Cecilia" and "Homeward Bound" and multiple No. 1 records.
Later he moved onto a successful solo career. The acclaimed singer told "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday that he never planned to write a book, but after years of jotting down insights in a small notebook he keeps tucked in his back pocket, he decided to put together a memoir.
"What Is It All but Luminous: Notes from an Underground Man," chronicles his life, career-defining moments and tumultuous relationship with Paul Simon.
"I've walked the United States and I've walked across Europe. As I walk, little insights occur to me, some of them are big and I get a notion of a first line and I go, that line has rhythm and it means something to me. It touches the theme I've thought about all my life," Garfunkel said.
Garfunkel's voice helped Simon & Garfunkel earn induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Early on, Garfunkel knew he had a gift and often sang at his temple as a young boy – a place that influenced his style.
"It gave me a spirituality connected to singing right from the earliest age. So you share it with others," Garfunkel said. "The temple had a big high ceiling with lovely wood walls so the reverb was wonderful and that became a big thing for me. The echo which puts tails on your notes and extends them, I was entranced with that sound."
After Simon & Garfunkel split in 1970, it was his voice that gave him confidence.
"I didn't know if the world would accept me, but I knew I could sing without Paul," he said.
He described the duo's relationship as "intense" and "like a marriage."
"It has summers and winters. It waxes and wanes, it is best not talked about. You leave it alone. Sometimes you get a call from Paul or I from him, and out of nowhere something funny goes on and you laugh and you go, I miss him, and then you hang out, you have a dinner," Garfunkel said. "It's standard to be asked, 'Do you think you'll work together?' And I've always said, 'Who knows, life is a surprise.' We don't know what comes next. Nowadays, I say, 'No, we won't.'"
Asked what the "luminous" referenced in his memoir's title means, he said, "It's as if you're walking and you are so entranced by the beauty of everything you tear up and in the blurry vision of tearing up, what is it all but luminous? It's a poet's notion."
In the book, a travelogue of sorts, he described the songs that changed his life, including songs from The Beatles and one of his own.
"'Scarborough Fair' felt to me like the best, most flowing, most organic thing we ever recorded."
copied from cbsnews.com
Walking, Walking Walking........
Every evening, same time, same place, same bushes, same lines in the sidewalk in even 9 patch squares, same pace, same gait, same pauses--yet an amazing epiphany of thoughts.
How can this unsuspecting enlightenment occur while walking the dog.
Does walking equal meditation?
Your thoughts..................
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| Ronnie and the Age of Enlightenment |
Sep 26, 2017
Elusive Butterfly--Chuck Damron: Do you know him?
Looking for this guy for a long time...........
Have you seen him?
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| Add caption |
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| Charley Damron, Sasebo, Japan--May 1951 |
In San Diego:
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| Charlie Damron in San Diego, Balboa Park |
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| Chuck Damron in Balboa Park, San Diego |
In Sasebo, Japan:
In Virginia:
Some have said his family was from Virginia.
Some have said he was involved with Operation Deep Freeze or Little America.
Tags:
Finding Korean War Veterans, Radio Man, Radio Men in the Korean Conflict, Sailors in Sasebo Japan in 1951,
Some have said his family was from Virginia.
Some have said he was involved with Operation Deep Freeze or Little America.
Tags:
Finding Korean War Veterans, Radio Man, Radio Men in the Korean Conflict, Sailors in Sasebo Japan in 1951,
Dr. Felipe Ortego y Gasca: Teaching at 91 and Still Fighting for Equality in Texas Schools featuring texasedequity.blogspot.com on @TheRonnieRe
Monday, September 25, 2017
Chicano Renaissance Leader Turns 90, Continues To Teach, Write
Actually, Dr. Phillip D. Ortego y Gasca is 91 already since I'm a little over a year in posting this. All of us in Mexican American Studies owe so much to this scholar who is a beloved, national treasure.
Where would we be without scholars like him that are the reason and continuing inspiration for "The Chicano Renaissance?" To Dr. Ortego's credit, Backgrounds of Mexican American Literature, authored by him in 1971 by the University of New Mexico Press, is foundational for what is known today as "Chicano literary history."
I do publish his writings occasionally on this blog. The most popular post is this one:
In today's post, he remarks, "with longevity, comes opportunity." And on top of this, is a gracious, beautiful human being that so many of us know and love. We are not only fortunate, but indebted to pioneers and warriors like him that have fought, and continue to fight, the good fight.
We love you, Felipe! And a very belated, but nevertheless heartfelt Feliz cumpleaños!
Thank you for being who you are and may God grant you many more years of a life of mind, body, and spirit!
Angela Valenzuela
c/s
Chicano Renaissance Leader Turns 90, Continues To Teach, Write
© Western New Mexico University
Every calendar holiday, Dr. Felipe Ortego y Gasca sends an email to his colleagues at Western New Mexico University. The email is simple and includes an attachment with a short write up. Ortego, a professor of English and the university’s Scholar-in-Residence, is sharing thoughts on history and social issues he feels are important to his readers.
Now he’s turning 90, and he finds himself the same way he has for several years, behind a computer screen and a keyboard, contributing his ideas on current issues important to culture and society.
“Felipe is a rare combination of academic, activist and a person with sustained creativity,” said Dr. Jack Crocker, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at WNMU. “His intellect and experience are an important legacy to our university.”
Considered the principal scholar of the Chicano Renaissance, Ortego is the founder of Chicano literary history having written the first study in the field, Backgrounds of Mexican American Literature, in 1971.
“The piece opened the way for other scholars to consider the scope of Chicano literary history,” said Ortego. “This provided the template for scholars who followed.”
Before turning heads with his alternative perspectives on Chicano literature, Ortego began his colorful life as the child of a field worker in Chicago. He served during World War II as a Marine and his worldview was formed from his travels through Europe. Post-war, Ortego served a ten-year tenure as an Air Force officer during the Korean Conflict and the early Vietnam Era.
He found his passion in the high school classroom, first teaching French, and then finding his identity as a professor of English. Several decades of teaching and serving in administrative academic roles, Ortego continues to influence students, activists and opinion leaders with the written word.
“Writing has been both a creative and therapeutic instrument,” said Ortego. “For me, the writer is always part of the story because we see stories that we tell through our own eyes.”
His latest birthday is only the most recent in a long list of milestones. He has appeared in a major motion picture, written plays and was the fifth Mexican American in the United States to hold a Ph.D. in English. And it has all been sprinkled with controversies along the way.
“My outlook as a professor of English can be characterized as a vision of inclusivity opening the aperture of the English curriculum so that it reflects the mosaic of the American people,” said Ortego. “Not just the privileged texts of British literature.”
Ortego is well known in New Mexico and Texas as an activist, speaking for those he feels are marginalized and championing for Mexican American representation in literature. He organized the Chicano Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in 1968 at a time when there were very few Chicanos in English.
Ortego turns 90 years old on August 23 and it is appropriate that he has sent out one of his famous emails marking the occasion, this time reminding his colleagues that with longevity, comes opportunity, and Ortego is taking advantage of opportunities he sees on the horizon to continue to write and influence. He’s not done yet.
Now he’s turning 90, and he finds himself the same way he has for several years, behind a computer screen and a keyboard, contributing his ideas on current issues important to culture and society.
“Felipe is a rare combination of academic, activist and a person with sustained creativity,” said Dr. Jack Crocker, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at WNMU. “His intellect and experience are an important legacy to our university.”
Considered the principal scholar of the Chicano Renaissance, Ortego is the founder of Chicano literary history having written the first study in the field, Backgrounds of Mexican American Literature, in 1971.
“The piece opened the way for other scholars to consider the scope of Chicano literary history,” said Ortego. “This provided the template for scholars who followed.”
Before turning heads with his alternative perspectives on Chicano literature, Ortego began his colorful life as the child of a field worker in Chicago. He served during World War II as a Marine and his worldview was formed from his travels through Europe. Post-war, Ortego served a ten-year tenure as an Air Force officer during the Korean Conflict and the early Vietnam Era.
He found his passion in the high school classroom, first teaching French, and then finding his identity as a professor of English. Several decades of teaching and serving in administrative academic roles, Ortego continues to influence students, activists and opinion leaders with the written word.
“Writing has been both a creative and therapeutic instrument,” said Ortego. “For me, the writer is always part of the story because we see stories that we tell through our own eyes.”
His latest birthday is only the most recent in a long list of milestones. He has appeared in a major motion picture, written plays and was the fifth Mexican American in the United States to hold a Ph.D. in English. And it has all been sprinkled with controversies along the way.
“My outlook as a professor of English can be characterized as a vision of inclusivity opening the aperture of the English curriculum so that it reflects the mosaic of the American people,” said Ortego. “Not just the privileged texts of British literature.”
Ortego is well known in New Mexico and Texas as an activist, speaking for those he feels are marginalized and championing for Mexican American representation in literature. He organized the Chicano Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in 1968 at a time when there were very few Chicanos in English.
Ortego turns 90 years old on August 23 and it is appropriate that he has sent out one of his famous emails marking the occasion, this time reminding his colleagues that with longevity, comes opportunity, and Ortego is taking advantage of opportunities he sees on the horizon to continue to write and influence. He’s not done yet.
copied from:
Educational Equity, Policy and Politic in Texas
tags:
texasedequity.blogspot.com, Educational Equity Policy and Politics in Texas, Angelea Valenzuela, Abe Villarreal, Dr. Felipe Ortego y Gasca,
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