By Derk Richardson  July 23rd, 2010 7:42 am  |  Comments (1)

Photo by Thomas Swick

Thomas Swick, who writes regularly for World Hum, has a knack for getting beneath the surface of place. When Afar came up with a random destination and sent Swick at the last minute on a Spin the Globe trip to Venice, Italy, he made the most of his spontaneous journey by swiftly and intimately connecting with a network of colorful locals.

His account, “Venice in Three Acts,” which you can read in the September/October issue of Afar, is full of magical moments and mysterious disappearances. But it stays grounded thanks to his engagement with members of an organization called 40xVenezia, dedicated to resuscitating authentic local culture and fending off the worst consequences of tourism.

In the video below, Skype Nomad Rebecca Campbell interviews a 40xVenezia activist who explains the group’s goals, as well as how to pronounce the name.

By Jeremy Saum  June 21st, 2010 8:00 am  |  Comments (5)

Taiyaki stand near Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo

I just got back from a trip to Japan with my wife and three-year-old son. I wasn’t sure if the whole experiential travel thing would work with a kid. But I’m now convinced it can. Traveling with our son opened doors to the Japanese culture I never would have opened otherwise. In fact, it was so cool that I think destinations should offer rental toddlers to visitors, just so everyone can see what it’s like. I’ll write a few posts about our experiences, but I’ll start with the most tangible impact of traveling with a cute kid: People give the kid stuff. I kept track. Here’s what our son scored.

A ballon in the shape of the strange froglike creature we saw all over Tokyo’s Asukasa neighborhood. Given by the clerk at a laquerware shop.

A sticker from a stand selling fish-shaped sandwiches (taiyaki) near Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing.

An origami ball from a souvenir saleswoman near Kyoto’s silver temple.

An origami thing that looked like a kissing mouth, made by the concierge at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo.

Glittery bug stickers , given to us by a flight attendant as we disembarked from our flight. By the time we reached immigration, our son had bedazzled himself with them.

An extra slice of mango from the dried-fruit vendor at the market at Tenmangu temple in Kyoto.

A toothpick American flag from a sushi chef at Sushi-Go-Round in Tokyo.

A tiny toy Jeep from the Sushi-Go-Round’s waitress. (This bit of generosity made us feel better about having inadvertently violated protocol by taking a juice box from what we thought was a self-serve refrigerator. Oops! Sorry! Don’t be mad at us! Look how cute our kid is!)

Needless to say, we would’ve received none of these things had we been traveling on our own. It made us view Japan as a generous place, the kind of place where people keep little gifts around just to give to kids. And souvenirs that are given always have more of a story than ones that are bought.

By Greg Sullivan  April 2nd, 2010 4:40 pm  |  Comments (4)

This past November I visited China for the first time. I was fortunate to go there with few expectations, which meant that every turn revealed something new, every conversation was a chance to learn. I saw China’s explosive growth everywhere I looked; I also noticed its environmental consequences. I realized that the authoritarian government is part of the reason the country has accomplished so much so quickly; I experienced what it was like not to be able to access favorite Web sites. I talked with businesspeople about the opportunities of China’s fast-growing economy; I saw the health and education problems of migrant workers who are moving by the millions into urban areas. I admired the modernization of the cities and the growing prosperity of the people; I listened to locals concerned about losing their culture. Because I was so open to the experience, the trip was filled with the unexpected.

I believe our challenge as travelers is to bring the enthusiasm and openness we have for new places (like China, for me) to destinations that we know.

How do we do this?

When we travel to a familiar place, we can seek out the unfamiliar—the unexplored neighborhood, the untried activity, the unmet subculture. We can dig deeper to discover new and different shades of the life that we already know there. Or—and this is perhaps the most difficult—we can set our preconceptions aside and look at what is familiar with fresh eyes. Maybe we will find that things are not quite as we thought.

We hope Afar inspires you not just to take a trip, but to explore the world with a fresh perspective and a desire to find the distinctive in every place you visit.

Let us know where travel takes you.

By Julia Cosgrove  January 28th, 2010 4:51 pm  |  Comments (2)

Irish cheese at the Temple Bar farmer's market in Dublin's Meeting House Square.

An oversize new cookbook landed on my desk right before the holidays: The Country Cooking of Ireland, by Colman Andrews. For many years, Irish cooking has been the subject of ridicule, and this book aims to change that. Andrews—the co-founder of Saveur magazine, winner of numerous James Beard Awards, and an upcoming Afar contributor—is the author to do it.

Flipping through the book’s recipes of brown bread and smoked salmon, shepherd’s pie, and Irish stew, I was momentarily transported to the year I lived in Dublin. During the week, I was there to study Irish literature. During the weekends, I felt it was my duty to eat and drink my way through the city. First stop: Bewley’s, for an overflowing Irish breakfast and some strong tea. Then on to the Temple Bar farmer’s market, where I stocked up on freshly baked soda bread, flaky smoked salmon, and artisanal farmhouse cheeses like Gubbeen and Durrus. By the afternoon, I hit a cafe or pub for some reading, accompanied by a pint of Bulmer’s cider. Dinners often entailed “takeaway” from the local chip shop.

When I think back to that year, it’s not the names of books that I remember (apologies to all my outstanding professors). Rather, memories of food and drink come flooding back.

I know that some of you are as obsessed with food as I am. What are your best food-related travel stories?

Photo by William Murphy.

By Derk Richardson  January 7th, 2010 6:47 pm  |  Comments (16)

We all know that travel changes us.

But did you know it makes you more creative? A better problem solver?

That’s what Jonah Lehrer asserts in his “Your Brain” column in The Panorama Magazine, part of the one-time-only McSweeney’s newspaper project, The San Francisco Panorama.

Lehrer, contributing editor at Wired magazine and the author of How We Decide and Proust Was a Neuroscientist, titled his essay “Definitive, Incontrovertible Proof: Why Travel Makes You Smarter.” Citing research conducted at Indiana University, the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, and the INSEAD business school in France, he comes up with several conclusions that should resonant with worldly travelers, especially those of an “Afar-ish” bent:

“When we escape from the place we spend most of our time, … we start thinking about obscure possibilities … that never would have occurred to us if we’d stayed back on the farm.”

“Experiencing another culture endows us with a valuable open-mindedness.”

And finally, when we travel, “We’re reminded of all that we don’t know, which is nearly everything; we’re surprised by the constant stream of surprises. … We travel because we need to, because distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything.”

The San Francisco Panorama hit newsstands and bookstores in early December and sold out immediately. It can be ordered from the McSweeney’s online store.

Lehrer posted his essay on his blog. You can read it here.

Tell us how his thoughts jibe with your experience.

By Jeremy Saum  November 25th, 2009 8:15 am  |  Comments (7)

Two of my favorite things: boots and duct tape

In honor of Thanksgiving (tomorrow in the USA), here’s a list of things for which, as a traveler, I’m thankful. Please add to the list.

Ziploc bags

Reclining bus seats

Wide-brimmed hats

Hostel kittens

Duct tape

Long e-mails from friends back home

Fellow passengers who tell you when you’ve reached your stop

Foreign grocery stores

Birds

The ubiquity of chocolate

Sturdy hiking boots

Mosquito nets

Public restrooms

My wife’s mastery of logistics

Dulce de leche

Photo by Daniel Case.

By Jeremy Saum  September 30th, 2009 9:46 am  |  Comments (12)

Did Woody Guthrie write America's song?

When I’ve traveled internationally and found myself in the company of travelers who are also away from home, it seems that singing often ensues. Whether we’re sitting around a campfire in the Australian outback or in a rowboat on a tributary of the Yangtze river, there comes a time when everyone sings the song from their country. It’s the one that everyone knows, but it’s not the national anthem. It’s often a children’s song or a soccer fans’ chant. It’s usually simple, happy, pretty, and is often punctuated by an exclamation of some sort.

And then it’s my turn.

My mind races through my personal jukebox: nope, that’s a Beatles song; nope, too hard to sing; nope, that one’s actually a French song that we Americanized.

I’ve ended up with “You Are My Sunshine,” a couple times, which at least meets the happy, simple criteria. Upon reflection, I’ve thought that the best choice might have been “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” It’s got the “one, two, three strikes you’re out!” exclamation going for it. Or maybe “This Land Is Your Land”?

My question for you, American travelers, is this: In these situations, what do you sing? And can we decide on one song that will be published in all the guidebooks so that none of us will have to face this awkward choice again? The nominations for America’s Song are now open.

Photo from the Library of Congress. Taken by Al Aumuller for World Telegram.

By April Kilcrease  September 10th, 2009 1:46 pm  |  Comments (0)

Swedish musician Victoria Bergsman (female vocalist on Peter Bjorn and John’s whistle-tastic hit “Young Folks”) traveled to Pakistan to record her new Taken by Trees album, East of Eden. A fan of Pakistani rhythms and native Sufi singers Abida Parveen and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Bergsman packed her microphone and headed to the source.

She hoped to record with female musicians there, but was told that was out of the question. “I did find it very emotionally difficult, especially seeing how it was for women,” she says in a mini-documentary from National Geographic. Despite widespread sexism and the male musicians initial skepticism, eventually she gained her collaborators respect.

“Every third hour the electricity went off. So we had to hang around with them and improvise and play music and then in 2 or 3 hours the electricity came back… After some time…in the same environment…, they understood I was a professional, and so were they. So we were kind of the same and wanted to express something beautiful, something artistic.”

Reflecting on the experience, Bergsman says, “I don’t know if I’m brave. I think I’m just very curious and very restless.” Sounds like an Afar traveler to me.

By Jeremy Saum  August 19th, 2009 8:30 am  |  Comments (3)

Cuzco Airport

For me, the smell of travel is the one I first breathed when I stepped out onto a Cuzco tarmac. It had enough layers to appear on a wine list: wood fire smoke, bus exhaust, a hint of livestock, all floating in a cold, thin air that carried what I imagined to be the scent of Andean snow.

My more recent travels have been to less exotic places, but even those trips have reminded me to stop and smell the—well, to smell wherever I am. Last week, riding my bike past a golf course in Vail, Colorado, the aroma of freshly cut grass, sprinkler water, and privilege transported me to West Bloomfield, Michigan, where I worked my first job, as a caddy at Tam O’Shanter Country Club. Sometimes it takes traveling to remind me that I have five senses, and I should use them all.

What does travel smell like to you? Let us know in the comments below.

Photo by Miguel Vera. CC 2.0.

By Jeremy Saum  August 7th, 2009 8:28 am  |  Comments (36)

A large green latex item (a Halloween mask) leads to hijinks at a Fiji post office.

The following are excerpts from travel stories sent to Afar by our friends. We all love a nice, long travel story. But sometimes a sentence or two takes you just as far. See where these take you.

In the process of sealing the package, a postal worker asked what the large green latex item was.—Charles Edwards, from Fiji

As the sun broke the horizon, we floated back to the hotel and our untouched bed wondering how we were ever going to catch our plane.—Crista Cloutier, from France

“How much?” Rafael replied. “Fifty bucks and a box of bullets.”—Van Patterson, from Mexico

Eventually the postman rode by, and he took us to Yoko’s house.—Laura Kingston, from Japan

I ate like four hundred thousand of them (passion fruit, not turtles).—Adam Grossman, from the Galapagos Islands

This was apparently very out of the ordinary for Russians, who mostly travel in silence.—Ina Saltz, from Russia

Few historic buildings remain downtown, unless one considers the original downtown office for Nintendo as historic.—Jack MacDonough, from Japan

She and her assistant spent about 30 minutes washing Paris’s face with hot, wet, leaves that smelled like eucalyptus.—Amy Graff, from Bali

That was before we’d even seen the acrobatics team flipping and tumbling on the concrete floor.—Pallavi Dixit, from Tanzania

Not smelling the whiff of espresso anywhere, I kindly asked a gentleman in the office to point the way.—Andy Strait, from Jordan

The low grunting and the breaking of branches clear signs we were approaching our destination.—Melinda Ruane, from Uganda

What would be your one-sentence travel story? Share it in the comments below.