Flexible Planet Blog

BootsnAll's 30 Days of Indie Travel-Day #2

Here’s Day #2 of “30 Days of Indie Travel” Project:

Day #2: Change can be exciting and bring new joys into our lives. But it can present challenges that frustrate or annoy us. How has travel changed you in the last year? Did you welcome these changes or resist them at the time, and how do you feel about them now?

I don’t think travel has changed me as much in the past year. I’m sure it’s had some effect on me, but I experienced the most significant changes when I was first traveling. That’s when my world opened up the most. That’s when I discovered all the good things about travel. Meeting people, learning languages, seeing all the things that other people see and tell you about just to make you jealous. My last trip was to a place I’d already been, and I was there more to work than to have fun. But I still had a great time and met new people, and I appreciated the experience. I’m grateful for everything I’ve learned when I first began to travel, and I’m as open to change now as I was back then. I just need to take a trip that goes further outside my comfort level. (My last trip was my 4th time to Istanbul, and it wasn’t as challenging as the first time. So perhaps Burma might be a good choice for my next trip?

After all, change is good…

BootsnAll's 30 Days of Indie Travel (or, A Lazy Writer Returns)

So as most of you might know, my blogging skills suck. And some of you have learned that my future plans include less travel and more studying linguistics (specifically, language documentation—hey, chicks dig that!) and staying in one place. But old habits die hard, and I’ve been missing the life of the horribly-disciplined travel writer. So much, in fact, that I’ve been toying with the idea of getting back into a writing routine for a few weeks. On top of that, I promised myself I’d be more productive after Halloween. (For me, “productive” usually means “find more distractions.” Heck, I began thinking about getting back into guitar, jazz drumming (???) and even writing a novel in November!) But rational thinking prevailed. Somewhat. But I was still missing the travel writing thing.

So when BootsnAll sent me an email about their “30 Days of Indie Travel” Project, I figured that was a good place to start. They’d post a new prompt each day in November, I could have a topic and a low-pressure deadline, and if I fail miserably at it, so what else is new? And if I succeed, then perhaps I can focus on a slightly more challenging task.

So without further ado (which includes too much proofreading, over-editing, letting my work sit and marinate, and trying to write the perfect piece from scratch and not letting anything else see the light of day), here’s Day #1 of BootsnAll’s 30 Days of Indie Travel:

Day #1: What were your travel goals last year? Did you accomplish them? What travel goals do you hope to accomplish this year?

Last year (that is, the last 12 months), my goals were (and always are) to travel as much as possible. Specific plans included going to Turkey to help my dear friend Katrina with filming Istanbul for her company Travel Delight Media. I went. I helped. I ate doner. Mission accomplished. I even made an impromptu trip to Amsterdam (first time back in 13 years) and zipped down to The Hague without warning to see my friends Kristin, Arie Jan and Ezra.

This year (that is, in the next 12 months) I’m planning to visit friends and family in Chicago for Christmas, go back to Budapest (also a place I haven’t been in 13 years), maybe get up to Vancouver to visit an ersatz cousin (and perhaps explore the undocumented languages of the Pacific Northwest), possibly hitting Thailand and Burma/Myanmar, and finally finally finally keeping my promise to visit my favorite Australians in…[drumroll, please]….Australia! And if possible, go elsewhere. Anywhere elsewhere. On the downside, traveling has never been more expensive. But on the other hand, I’m studying 34 languages, and I need to start using them!

Whew! I’m exhausted. I need a nap...