Wandering

I’m lost.

Well those two words sound awfully familiar – emphasis on the awful. I’ve said that phrase more than any one person (who’s only 21) should ever have to. Any of my friends or family can attest to this fact, especially the ones I call for guidance through the unfamiliar streets of the Bronx, passing Albany on I-90 or the whilst in shallow wooded area behind my house… really. Getting lost is something I’ve accepted as a personal flaw, an inevitable part of daily life. And while I’m not one to recognize a flaw and then just let it be, the harder I try to stay on route, the farther I accidentally stray.

I already know what you’re thinking and let me stop you there because my mom has said it a zillion times, seriously. I have tried the GPS thing, three of them to be exact, they strand me in the middle of no where and then have a meltdown and stop working – I don’t trust those evil things. Mapquest? If you don’t know this is the worst tool ever you must also not know what a computer is. And traditional maps and things of that nature are nearly impossible to handle while driving. There’s just no helping me.

Through all these excuses, I’ve found that I might just be rooting for all of this stuff not to work. I want to be able to say ‘I got from A to B without any help.’ But it seems that day will never come, unless of course ‘A’ is my house and ‘B’ is the grocery store up the street.

But that won’t discourage me from taking trips as I always do, with complete and utter reckless abandon. I can’t help but think meticulous planning and preparation would only hinder the uncharted and unrehearsed nature of the journey that makes it so exciting. I love the freedom and independence I get from driving a couple hundred miles by myself.

Even if that means the no-longer-dreaded phrase comes up somewhere along the way.

I’m lost.

The Morning Commute: The Deciding Factor In Santa’s Naughty Or Nice List

 

I work in NYC and don’t yet have the pleasure of living there, so hour and a half commutes have given me some time to reflect. I usually start to think about my day or work or how I wish I’d woken up earlier and not chosen this dress, until something grabs my attention. And for those of you who don’t ride the subway often, there is always someone doing, saying or wearing something totally messed up.

Messed up like this.

The morning commute never fails to show me the absolute best and worst of human nature.

Just this morning, getting on the bus I discovered my monthly metro card expired… yesterday. Awesome, but no big deal, I grab my wallet and pull out two dollar bills.

“Sorry hun, change only.” The bus driver points to the coin slot. Fan-freakin-tastic. And wouldn’t you know it, I had one quarter two dimes and about thirty pennies. No good.

Just then the nicest stranger I’ve met in awhile turns and says, “I’ve got you.” Swiping her card an extra time for me. We chatted for a bit and she let me pay her back but man did she really help me out. I was so surprised at her generosity and kindness, again, if you take the subway often you know why.

For those of you who don’t frequent the silver tube of human weirdness, here’s my second story from this morning.

photo from mta.info

I catch the subway at the first station, so I always get a seat. The swaths people at the following stations aren’t always so lucky. This morning the unlucky people in front of me happened to be a couple. Not young but not really old either, I guessed they were married and I think this story confirms I’m right – and that they’ll soon be getting a divorce.

The only bright spot in standing on the subway is that soon someone around you will get off and then it’s open season hunting for their seat. So this man and his (then) wife were basically the only two that could have gotten to my bench of seats, should one open up. When a guy two seats over (and closer to the woman) got up, I figured that the woman would calmly take the seat and he would wait for the next one. I was wrong, and not just wrong but shocked.

Important note: I’m like 90% sure that they were together, but if they’re not than this is even funnier more awful.

The seat opened up and her husband made a running dive into the seat while simultaneously blocking his wife with his right arm. Once comfortable, he patted his lap for his wife to sit. She and I had identical expressions, shock and disgust, and she walked away from him.

No one else on the train even blinked.

He stayed in his seat and boy do I hope he enjoyed it, cause that couch he’ll be sleeping for the next few nights won’t be nearly as comfortable as his bed.

How To Tip Without Tipping The Scales

Like most customs and traditions, dining out and leaving the tip is not always the same when you’re away from home.

5 sites worth traveling to

It’s become impossible to deny that everything involves technology now. Even travel designed to bring you far away from modern amenities requires booking through a computer. Making arrangements and meeting up with others makes a phone essential. Oh, and don’t forget that you are reading a travel blog.

Seeing all of this, it isn’t hard to be frustrated by the steep slide of the times. But It is also important to keep in mind that these tools often produce some pretty neat results. I did a bit of digging and came up with a few sites the modern traveler could certainly take advantage of.

Trip-it

Trip-it is an online itinerary builder, it allows you to create an account and save your trip schedule along with a few other things like travel statistics for your journey.

SeatGuru

This site is great when looking to book a seat on a flight. By simply plugging in the flight number or the plane model it will give you a map with the good, bad and the ugly seats and it even explains why! Very convenient, very cool.

TravBuddy

A social media site exclusively for travel. I’ve found a few of these in my search, it comes down to preference, but with over a million users this has a good user base as backing. Use it to share stories and updates, advice, and well, meeting people.

Weather2Travel

This site goes beyond just forecasting the most recent weather conditions, it applies weather history to give you an idea of the area’s times to travel for the best shot at sunny days.

The Cool Hunter

This site is more aesthetically pleasing than anything else, in fact I’m pretty sure it’s a compilation of beautiful photos from around the web. But with the names of places it is a good way to start thinking about where you might want to visit, and… Pretty pictures!

These are a very small preview of what tools the web has to offer in terms of traveling. I may do another series of nifty travel sites but until then I encourage you to look these up as well as a few others.

Backpacks and bus drivers

In recent posts I’ve written about safety while traveling. I outlined tips and advice for keeping yourself safe, but an important part of being safe are the surroundings themselves and the people around you.

Before I switched my backpack over (that's the bus on the right)

You can never predict who you’ll meet while traveling. But who you meet can make all the difference.

Stepping off the bus and onto the busy streets of Quito’s famous tourist area, I was confused. After all of the traveling we’d done and the elevation, it was hard to keep awake and focused, as we should have been.

The area was a well-known tourist trap called Gringolandia, which is Spanish slang for white land. We were told to look out for pickpockets.

Only seconds after getting off the bus we were taking pictures (I know, smart). The colorful buildings, the sun breaking off the rooftops and the tropical flowers were the perfect distractions. That is, until the bus that we had just left pulled off to the side and the door slid open.

“Hey you,” the driver called out. “Take your backpack off!”

He was clearly talking to me but I thought he was joking.

“Wear it on your front or somebody’s going to take it,” he clarified.

I quickly thanked him and switched the straps around so that the bag was on my stomach. I wore it like that for the rest of the day and luckily nothing was stolen.

It’s nice to know there are a few people who still just want to help out.

“Do I absolutely need this?”

There are thousands of fun activities associated with traveling. Exploring a new place, trying new things, eating exotic food, I could go on.

These incentives are necessary to overcome the hassle of actually getting there. And lets not forget the worst part of every trip, the act that symbolizes beginning and end: the dreaded duty of packing and unpacking.

thank goodness for the "expand" zipper - *note the scarves

I addressed the problem of packing a few weeks ago, but looking back realized I never gave a solution. I did say, however, that I was an awful packer despite my constant state of travel. So, to help you (and myself) out I did some research and came up with a few suggestions to pack more efficiently.

No matter how many times I try to remind myself I cant seem to bring the chargers for each of my electronics, and the ones I do bring are a huge hassle of tangled wires. A universal charger is a great solution. Initially a bit costly (It could run from about $30) with each adapter piece (these are much cheaper, usually under $10), but it might be a good investment. Another solution, buy devices that work on the same plug adapters.

Due to limited space and the need to carry everything on our backs, a big debate on my trip to Ecuador was the classic roll or fold conundrum. That is, to save space, should we be folding our clothes or rolling them? I can’t say we ever decided on one over the other as a group, but most of the sites I found favor the rolling technique.

If you are visiting someplace chilly, winter coats and other gear to keep you warm can be bulky when trying to pack. Leave the clunky, awkward gear home and opt for a thermal and leggings or long underwear. They each do a lot more than you might think and take up a fraction of the room a coat would.

If you need that coat, though, wear it on the plane or in the car so you don’t have to pack it. The same goes for shoes. Always wear the largest pair of shoes while you travel to avoid packing them. In my pack in Ecuador, my hiking boots were always the biggest waste of space. It was hard to fit anything around them

The bag I packed, bursting at the seams

either.

Another thing to consider in the shoe department is that you should only bring two or three pairs, tops; and they should match many outfits. A very popular methodology in packing is to stick with neutral color schemes. That way bottom matches every top and you can get the most outfits out of minimal items. A great tip is to dress these neutrals up with accessories, like a scarf, which takes up very little room.

The last tip would be to think minimally. “Do I absolutely need this?” check yourself while packing, and then once packed, check again.

I know I could use all the help I can get when it comes to packing, and maybe you could too. Hopefully these tips will be a good start, time will tell.

Thwarting thieves

Every time I leave for a trip I get the lecture. The broken record on repeat. The age-old advice. “You need to be aware and alert to avoid being a victim.”

While that is true, it’s not really helpful. Of course you need to be those things, but in order to be wise and well protected you need to know what to be looking out for and how to prevent these situations.

So, the good news is that nearly all crimes against tourists are non-violent, strictly financially motivated and preventable. The bad news is the one line above will not help you prevent these crimes. But I have compiled a few tips for the modern traveler that will.

During travel…

–       Nice suitcases, like nice belongings, attract attention. Thieves will grab an expensive looking suitcase over a cheap one every time.

–       When planning to sleep fasten your luggage to your body. Even a simple buckle will deter most thieves.

–       Always maintain physical contact with your things.

–       If traveling by car, be aware of parking and leaving it overnight. Remove all valuables from the car and leave compartments open so a potential thief can see there is nothing to take.

On your trip…

–      Make two photocopies of all important documents (especially your passport), take one set on the trip and leave one home. It is much easier to replace stolen items when you have proof of what you lost.

–       Locate addresses and numbers of the local American Embassy – for emergency only.

–       Whenever possible wear a money belt.

–       When you cannot, men should put a rubber band around their wallet and keep it in the front pocket. Women should wear their bag with the strap around their neck and the clasp against their body.

–       Always separate money. Some in the socks, bra, all pockets, wallet, money belt and some wherever you’re staying.

And finally, an important piece of advice if you do get ripped off: recover. Don’t let it ruin your whole trip.

Right where you are

There are many reasons to travel.

Some seek significant sights. Some seek foreign friendship. Some seek curious culture.

And some simply seek sand, sun, and serenity.

I have never valued the simple act of lying in the sun. At least not as much as I did this past week. Oswego had a weird weather spell, except for once it wasn’t the terribly cold and damp variation, it was beautiful golden and uninterrupted. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday each day in the 70s. Each day filled with the strong sun. Each sky untouched by even a single cloud.

Though I didn’t travel anywhere beyond my backyard I felt like I was a million miles from school.

There are many reasons to travel, and there are many reasons to stay right where you are.

The trickiest obstacle: the language barrier

Sitting cross-legged on the biggest bed in the cabin I flipped through the brochure. This was an attempt at English, right? It said English version on the cover but most of it was in Spanish. Two sets of eyes peered over my shoulders; I knew they were just as confused as I was. Among the three of us I spoke the most Spanish, so we were in trouble, but we managed to choose a sample of everything the spa had to offer. Massage, facial and pedicure, which would total at least $200 in the States. Here it was $55.

Banos from our front steps

The volcano, Tungurahua, seen traveling into Banos

Banos is a famous tourist spot in Ecuador; it translates to “baths” in English, named after the hot springs in the area. The tiny city sits at the base of an active volcano named Tungurahua. We planned to end our trip by relaxing in Banos and the plan went well. No volcanic erruptions, no landslides, just a trip to the spa.

Before this trip I had been to a few spas and based on price alone I wasn’t expecting the same treatments. But I was pleasantly surprised, despite the significantly lower price it was well done. After the treatments were over I met up with the other two girls and we went to tip the masseuses. Danielle found them outside and decided to take the role of speaker.

“Tipo… tipo,” Danielle said turning to us. “guys how do you say tip?”

Before we could reply, she began again.

“Tipa, yes, tipa,” she said confidently to the woman.

The woman accepted the money with a hurt look on her face. Like she’d just been slapped. The other two women exchanged a stunned look but also accepted the money.

Later at dinner we asked our local tour guide why the women reacted that way and told him the story. At the “Tipo” part he chuckled and told us that was regional slang for Dude. As we finished the story he listened intently and when we were done he asked if we were sure that was what Danielle said.

We said yes and he covered his face with his hand and laughed deeply. After a few minutes he said:

“Tipa is… how you say, prositiute or loose woman. Out at a club with the guys, you say ‘Que es una tipa’… that is a loose woman.”

Local paradise

When asked about travel, most people think of far away places and sandy beaches. For anyone currently in Oswego, both of those things would be quite costly and time consuming. In other words, not an option.

But in this setting, in the midst of a busy schedule, a plethora of things to worry about and below freezing temperatures, I need to get away just to maintain sanity.

Something many people don’t know about Oswego is that there are troves of hidden treasure if you’re willing to look for them. Set on a big beautiful lake, the view from most places is pleasant and if you can get off campus, there are parks you can wander in.

the Bluffs last spring

Farther off campus are the bluffs, slowly disintegrating cliffs pointing out on the lake. It’s a 20-minute drive but well worth it. A great place to escape to, especially on the warmer days, my friends and often visit there to relax.

Even farther, in Pulaski is Salmon River Falls. An hour-long drive from campus, that is where I spent my Saturday. A small trail leads to a few outlook points and there are stairs that lead down to the shore of the falls, at the top. You can literally get to the edge and in the summer you can let your feet dangle off the top of the falls. Frozen and beautiful in the winter I’ve been told its even more beautiful in the summer.

Salmon River Falls Saturday

There is no excuse for not finding your own vacation spot right here in Central New York. Here are just a few examples, find your own paradise.