Category Archives: Notes on Travel

Acceptance.

Posted on by under Notes on Travel

I was wrong. And I couldn’t be more thrilled.

For the past two years I’ve had this insatiable need to travel, and sitting still? Not an option. I thought, because I’ve heard so often from well-meaning people “travel now, while your young, once you have a family, blah blah blah.”  So, I panicked. I envisioned the American Dream-the house, kids, 9-5 as the ultimate prison. A slow wait to death-dramatic, I know. And hardly accurate, a projection of fear more than a reality. It’s just not for me. And certainly at only 24 settling down is far from my mind. So? So I could choose to travel the world, be a professional nomad. But in reality, I would be giving up too much. I do, actually, want kids eventually. And I thought, I had to choose. So back to panic.

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Meanwhile, Back in LA.

Posted on by under Ghana, Notes on Travel

Nearly 30 hours after we began, we arrive home. No delays, no lost baggage, and only minimal customs fan fair. Arduous, certainly, but thankfully uneventful.
This time of return is always a hazy-euphoric event. The spell of travel has not yet lifted, as we observe what was once familiar with new eyes. Routes etched deeply feel fresh, the grind of the day to day is pleasantly far from our minds. Everything is again, beautiful and interesting as if you were seeing it for the first time, with the benefit of the knowledge that this is home. These simple pleasures, of hot showers and favorite foods, the comfort of our own bed and thorough command of our surroundings make this ephemeral time almost as blissful as travel itself. The spell of course, will be broken as daily tasks must be completed, bills paid, errands run, but for now we’ll bask in the surreal haze, recount our stories and think to the future and our next adventure. And of course, eat Mexican food.

The Geopolitics of Food

Posted on by under Food, Notes on Travel

I am not a fatalist. Perhaps, I’m naive. I keep up with foreign and domestic politics, generally, but perhaps not enough. From war to natural disaster, we all know that person who insists, the world is at a breaking point. I have faith, that as humans we will continue to innovate new solutions. While humanity has seen the depths of cruelty and disregard we are capable of, I honestly believe in the limitless kindness and ingenuity of human nature. While I think awareness is essential, obsessive focus on negative is of little use, and only results in extreme frustration. I generally stay away from topics such as this, in part because I’m tired of hearing these doom-day cries from people who continue to offer no solutions, as well as arguments for the sake of arguing and hearing oneself speak. And although I can’t pretend I have any real answers, the global politics of food and hunger are of immense interest to me.

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Wanderlust

Posted on by under Ghana, Notes on Travel

Zanzibar

“…leaving home means a loss of innocence, encountering uncertainty: the wider world has typically been regarded as haunted, a place of darkness.”

I love this, an excerpt written for a NYTimes piece by Paul Theroux. A great article. I’ve read some of his works, and immensely enjoyed “Dark Star Safari” after my first trip to Africa. Aside from an underlying arrogance in his writing, that sort of makes me want to punch him, I do actually quite like his writing and count him as one of my favorite travel authors.

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