French Milk
I’ve heard other writers complain when people openly admit to reading their book in a day or two, because it certainly didn’t take the author one day to write it. But, I read Lucy Knisley’s travel journal/comic/coming-of-age story in about that long. And I don’t think that’s an insult.
I found her book to be such a refreshing way to tell a particular chapter of life – that period in your early twenties, where you’re about to be on your own and excited about the possibility, but scared shitless and insecure all at the same time. In the end, Lucy’s story wraps around you all sweet and comforting, much like the milk in Paris.
I’m so thrilled with this week’s travel piece, a Q&A with Lucy Knisley, the coolest chick with a pen, and the author and illustrator of French Milk.
Postcards from Ireland
Dublin is one of my favorite cities. And just because it’s fun to live vicariously through others, this week’s travel piece is a postcard of sorts. My dear friend is celebrating a birthday, so as an early gift, she and her husband enjoyed the sights and sounds of Dublin, Ireland.
Oh, and did I mention they attended one of the three U2 shows in Croke Park Stadium? A fantastic birthday present, indeed.
Since in today’s tech age the physical postcard has now been altered to text messaging, here’s the abbreviated summary with photos…
Bain sult as! (English translation from Gaelic-enjoy!)
SoWal, You’re A Star
Blue Mountain Beach
Okay. I admit it, I was wrong. Dead wrong. The beaches of South Walton, Florida (SoWal) are gorgeous and shouldn’t be described as anything but. Here’s the but–those beaches are sometimes called the Redneck Riviera, and that description alone was enough to deter me from ever making the jaunt, despite the mere 5.5 hour drive from Atlanta. As a girl who spent her formative years in landlocked Kansas, the fact that I can leave my home in the morning and be sitting on a beach by afternoon is reason enough to go, but I couldn’t get past that nickname.
Santa Rosa Beach
Twenty-six miles of beach situated on the panhandle of Florida from Panama City west to Fort Walton, are considered the Beaches of South Walton. And for the record, I was wrong to think the famed Redneck Riviera was anything except picturesque with emerald green waters mimicking those in the Caribbean and sand as fine as sugar. Since we were there for a wedding, I didn’t get to do quite as thorough of a job as usual scouting out places to eat and things to do in a locale, so this is an abbreviated take on good places to hit while you’re there. Because, I hope it now goes without saying that SoWal is a star.
The Underbelly of Cruising
Carnival cruise ship docked just off of Grand Cayman Island.
I’ve been on a cruise ship once, for five days for my job and I didn’t love it. Actually I didn’t even really like it. I love the open water – sailing, boating – but my cruise experience felt like I was trapped in some garish movie theater lobby with the same awful lighting found in most casinos and patterned carpets that only Pucci could find calming. The ports we stopped at weren’t much better, littered as they were with Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, Señor Frogs, McDonald’s, and Hooters restaurants, no thanks.
Often, I stayed onboard working (in my former life as a publicist), but when I wasn’t on the job, I was observing and intrigued. Noticing the life of the Carnival employee and wondering if this was the way out they’d dreamed of.
It’s no secret that the treatment of entry-level cruise ship employees from developing countries are over-worked and underpaid. The slang term in the industry is sweatships. In my research for this piece, I read numerous articles citing that the average cruise ship employee logs 72 hours in just one week – with just one day scheduled off (which usually doesn’t happen). What I saw while afloat reminded me of the film footage of factory workers from the 1920s – below decks hundreds of workers – mostly from Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America – live in cramped dormitory-style rooms.
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Vancouver, How I Love Thee
In less than eight months, the world will know what I know – Vancouver is simply, spectacular. After visiting, I’m not all that surprised that it won the bid to host the 2010 winter Olympics. But, I am however, happy that I discovered it before the rest of the world is introduced, courtesy of NBC.
There’s a lot to adore about VC, BC. First off, it’s clean. Like tap water pouring straight in the glass clean and recycling bins sitting next to almost every trash can in the city clean. And just overall clean living – people running, hiking, kayaking, biking all around town, a nice welcome change from the hours of television and video gaming Americans rationalize as hobbies.
Second, you couldn’t meet nicer folks (bar the staff at Honey, more later). Vancouver’s hospitality held it’s own next to my personal barometer – the hospitality I experienced in Ireland – a country long known for its friendly faces and stories easily and readily shared over pints.
This week’s travel, the pop on Vancouver, British Columbia – my, how I love you! And my, how I could move to you!
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One Day Wander | Seattle
The one-day wander. That quick stopover, scheduled or unscheduled, en route to another destination – a small, often highly rewarding detour from the longer journey ahead. This week’s wander is through the Northwest’s nicknamed Emerald City.
I recently found myself headed to Vancouver by way of Seattle with less than 24 hours to spend in the emo-capitol of the world. My thoughts on Seattle prior to arriving were this – Kurt Cobain, Bill Gates, Starbucks, and the famed space needle. Not stereotypical at all.
Everything about Seattle, I found, is intelligently done (including the aforementioned musician, computer genius, coffee corporation, and that futuristic structure punctuating the sky). From architecture to food, Seattleites sure seem to be doing their part to make the world a bit better. So, it comes as no huge surprise that data matches the observation with The United States Census Bureau noting that Seattle (in 2008) was the most educated city in the U.S.
This week’s travel, the one-day pop on Seattle with my favorite smarty-pants traveling partners in crime – my twin sister, her boyfriend, and my husband.
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Vacation All I Ever Wanted
It’s summertime and for most American families that heralds a vacation together as a collective unit. Growing up, we weren’t exactly a vacation kind of family. I can remember only two honest-to-goodness true vacations with all six of us Hazels. One was in 1987 to attend the Pan American Games in Indianapolis, Indiana (and if memory serves, we only really went because my father knew the wrestling coach for the American team).
Even so, I loved the poster I picked up from the games – it hung on my bedroom wall throughout my adolescence…I loved the colors and simple design of the X’s.
The other was between my Junior and Senior year of high school. In retrospect, I’m fairly certain this vacation was my mother’s brainchild because her own children were just about to fly the nest. We went white-water rafting on the White River somewhere in Missouri. It was really more like molasses than white water with its gentle flow, but fun, nonetheless.
So, how ironic that I should marry into a family who could give the Griswold’s a run for their money in the vacation department? My husband’s family, now they vacation. Like clockwork, my father-in-law would load the entire family (some years this included three kids and a Labrador Retriever) into the wood-paneled station wagon and set out from Cincinnati bound for Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where they’d proceed to car camp for two weeks. Oh and did I mention they had a pop up camper? Now, these are folks that vacation.
The World at Large
Ernest Hemmingway – peripatetic traveler and a man who had a brilliant way with words once said – “Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.”
I just love that line. And like Hemmingway, I do believe who you choose to spend a journey with is just as critical to your travel experience as where you go.
But no matter if it’s with someone you love or even just sorta like, right now I think that people are afraid to travel – not enough in the budget, Swine Flu, pirate attacks – it can be anxiety producing and it has left many perfectly content to let Dhani Jones tackle the globe or Bridget Marquardt saunter around the best beaches.
Life is too short to spend it at a desk dreaming of trips you want to take when the timing fits in a little better with life. I have never regretted taking trips; saving for them, knowing it’s a memorable investment. And with the summer travel season quickly approaching, I can’t help you pick your partner in travel crime, but I can give you some creative ideas for choosing a destination worth emerging from your cubicle for.
Postcards from Italy
We here at dp hq take our journalism and reporting duties quite seriously. Because of this, I have reporters dispatched in various bureaus throughout the world. Ahem… truth be told, my best friend is in Lecce, Italy, at The Awaiting Table Cookery School, so this week’s travel posting contains snippets of what she’s soaking in.
And in today’s tech age the physical postcard has now been altered to text messaging, here’s the abbreviated text with photos…
Gustate! (English translation – everyone, enjoy!)
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Traveling with Jane Jetsetter
One of my good friends is a flight attendant for a low budget carrier. I feel in another life that’d be the job I’d want to have. I’m positive I have a ridiculously glamorized vision of the profession because I picture jetting off somewhere fabulous and having the most interesting conversations with passengers. In one Q&A session, she dispelled that myth and provided me with a laundry list of flying tips.
So, listen up all you flying drunks…here’s her wisdom on how to land in the good graces with flight attendants – a free bit of advice, maybe don’t ask for that pillow they’ve got stashed in the overhead bin (it’s gross).
