Umami of Travel

Umami is a food term for delicious - that combination of savory, sweet, sour, bitter and salty that excites our palates and so it is with travel.  Everything that makes each trip so memorable touches our spirit and becomes a part of us forever. 

For those of us who love the journey it is a divine delight of the senses.  Just like sitting down to a large buffet - every sight, sound, taste, touch and aroma fills us with wonder and excitement.

Short and Sweet

Sometimes the best getaways are those that are short and sweet.  So many people are so busy that they live for that precious once a year vacation.  Usually it's during the summer when the kids are out of school or over the holidays when everyone in the world is traveling and you come home more exhausted than when you left.  My solution is a decadent little weekend trip that makes me feel refreshed and rejuvenated.

I'm a big fan of being a tourist in your own city.  It's great fun to plan an activity or meet friends for a night out but stay in a hotel instead of at home.  Even one night makes me feel like I've had a nice break and doesn't take much time or planning at all. 

Most hotels offer weekend or package specials so it is an easy and affordable getaway right in your own home town.
   

Cape Hatteras

I was working in a small office in Denver and noticed a photo on a pamphlet laying on my desk.  The picture was of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse in North Carolina.  I'm not sure exactly what it was that intrigued me so but I couldn't get it out of my mind.  So much so that I took it home and kept it on my nightstand for several weeks. 

Even though geographically it was not that far away, from my small and simple life it seemed like a distant and foreign land.  All I could do was dream that one day I might be able to go there and just see this magnificent site.

That was over 30 years ago and just yesterday I saw another photo of that beautiful lighthouse and immediately it took me back to sitting at my desk in that tiny office, daydreaming of places I wanted to go and things I wanted to see.  I never did go to see the lighthouse but now it's time.  Somehow it stands as a beacon of hope and light from my dreams so long ago.  Next stop the Outer Banks.

Shy Girl on the Road

I have always been an extremely shy girl.  As a child we moved around a lot so I was always the "new girl" and it made it very difficult to develop or maintain relationships.  Just as soon as I would begin to form an attachment to someone we would leave and go on to the next place.  It made me feel very lonely and isolated but the one constant for me was reading.  No matter where we were I could always go to the library and escape into that realm of people and places that I only dreamt of. 

Now as an adult, I intentionally go places where I don’t know anyone and feel very comfortable engaging in conversations and easily make friends everywhere I go.  What is interesting to me is that I don’t do as much of that when I am at home, I tend to revert back to that nervous little girl who feels just a bit out of place.   Perhaps being on the road takes me back to those stories I read when I was young and I don’t have to be the shy girl anymore.

Liebster Blog Award Nomination

I have just been nominated for the Liebster Blog Award by Jon Parker - Places and Races. The Liebster Award (from the German, meaning ‘dearest’) is for up and coming blogs. Thanks so much to Jon and everyone who has been reading my blogs!  The Liebster Award is great in that it links nominators with nominees by giving guidelines that include setting your nominees questions.

 Here are the Liebster Nominee Rules:

• Thank the person who nominated you and link back up to his/her blog
• Answer the 10 (or 11!) questions which are given to you by the nominator
• Nominate other bloggers for the award who have less than 200 followers
• Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer
• Let the nominees know that they have been nominated by going to their blog and notifying them

My answers to the award questions:

• What is the longest you have stayed in a place that is not your own country? 
• 6 months in Ireland – it was a fantastic experience
• What is your scariest travel experience to date?
• Someone trying to break-in to my hotel room
• What travel experience made you the happiest?
• Meeting the wonderful people of Shannon, Ireland
• What items do you travel with now that you didn’t to begin with?
• Kindle
• What advice would you give to someone who wants to travel but is scared it might not be for them?
• Try short, close to home little trips and go from there
• Which is your favorite continent you have visited?
• Europe
• What makes travelers awesome people?
• Their curiosity and willing spirit
• What’s your funniest travel story?
• Flying with 2 large cats and 6 month old grandson – hysterical!
• If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of travel advice, what would it be?
• Start sooner!!!!!
• What’s the best way to chat up a travel blogger?
• Ask them where they’ve been

I’m nominating:

@MrsBerich, @MichaelGraciela, @Stepsoftravel, @itsinmysuitcase, @MrMrsbkpkr

My questions for the nominees:

·       What was your favorite trip or location?

·       Have you ever quit a job or left a relationship to travel?

·       How has travel changed you? 

·       Do you prefer solo, couple or group travel?

·       How do you decide where to go next?

·       How long have you stayed away from home at one time?

·       What influenced you to begin travelling?

·       How do you manage personal relationships while on the road?

·       Where would you like to go that you have never been?

·       What has been your most emotional journey?

Thanks so much for reading! I look forward to hearing my nominee’s answers – happy travels!

Life is very Good

What a perfect day in Paris, it's warm with a light breeze blowing as I sit outside at a lovely Brasserie on Rue Cler and watch the world go by. Eating fantastic fresh oysters and sipping a gorgeous glass of wine I'm not sure that it gets any better than this.

La vie est bonne!

Change Your Routine and Stay Safe

Sometimes when we travel we can become complacent – especially if we are travelling for work or spend a lot of time in the same place.  As creatures of habit, it is totally normal to get into a daily routine when we are away from home.  For me, it is usually getting up at the same time, having my morning coffee before going downstairs for breakfast and then out for the day. 

The problem occurs when we get distracted or lose sight of our surroundings.  I was talking with a friend, who also travels a lot, about a scary experience she had at her hotel.  After coming back from work, she was checking her phone and didn’t pay much attention to the man on the elevator until he got off on her floor instead of his own and followed her down the hall.  Feeling panicked she rushed into her room and closed the door.   In hindsight, she knew that was not a good idea and wished she had reacted differently, but the reality is most of us are so surprised by those situations that we instinctually go to our home even if it is a hotel room.  It’s like closing the front door on your house – you just feel safer being in your own place. 

I have had the same experience and reacted the same way more times than I care to admit but what I've learned is to change my behavior, especially when I am away from home.  I have developed a new routine so when something makes me feel uncomfortable I don’t have to think about it, I can react in a way that keeps me safe and does not make me more vulnerable. 

I pay a lot of attention to what is going on around me, especially on elevators and in parking structures.  I like to make brief eye contact and perhaps a polite comment about the weather.  It’s nice to chat with people but it also ensures that you could identify them if you had to.  At any moment that I feel the slightest discomfort, I stop and pretend I’ve lost something and need to go back to reception or some other public area, I do not go to my room.  Even at home I drive down the street instead of going into my garage if anything seems strange.  I do this so often now that it is second nature to me and I don’t have to try to figure it out when something does happen.   

In “The Gift of Fear” Gavin DeBecker talks about listening to our intuition instead of ignoring it and how to spot the signals of potential danger.  I think this is a must read for all women, especially those who travel alone. 

Safe and Happy Travels!