What do travelers have in common?

Whenever I meet people in hostels or out on the road somewhere, within a few minutes of striking up a conversation, I feel like I get them as a person better than, say, my flatmate, who I'm still trying to figure out. As I write this I'm picturing Johnny Depp as Captain Jack in my head - among travelers (and I really mean the 20- and 30-somethings hostel crowd) there is an unspoken code. You don't steal someone's stuff out of their pack that's just sitting under the bunk bed; you are as quiet as possible if you enter a dark occupied room; you take the fastest shower humanly possible so that others might get a chance at the hot water, and you don't ask what other travelers do, you ask where they're from.

This code also seems to apply to political beliefs as well. Check out the Sydney Morning Herald's travel blog if you don't believe me. We're all a bunch of lefty nutters who believe that capitalism is destroying the world. It makes it much easier to meet people on the road when there's already an established set of beliefs that you must maintain, on pain of death. Seriously, admit to being a conservative and you might find yourself locked in the dirtiest bathroom in the hostel, with only your rented towel for comfort.

Hello and welcome to my New Mission in Life

Ok, I apologize** for not having posted anything in a gagillion years, but I am in Australia, people, come on! Its a very hard life here, in this place they call Oz. :) While I have not exactly been prolific in my writing, I have been experiencing a lot over here that is very blog-worthy, so I will soon (or at least I keep telling myself this) put fingers to keyboard and wax poetic on my time here so far in Australia.

But for now, I have found my New Mission In Life. Firstly, I have to preface by saying that if there's one thing to know about me, its that I love reading and I love books. I have shelves upon shelves of books that I have bought with the intention to read, and I will get to them someday, but for now they sit there, reassuring me with their pageyness. And their pretty covers. While I do read them, most definitely I do, I buy them faster than I can handle. When I need a bit of retail therapy or just to go to a happy place, it is undoubtably my local bookstore, preferably the kind with a coffee shop inside, where I can escape the real world and just sit there, caffeinated and happy, with another pet book to give a good home to. Its an addiction, really. Is there a 12-step program for this? Photo: Seester and I found a bookstore in Split, Croatia and took photos of books we wanted so we could buy them once we got home.

When we travel, my Seester and I always bring more books than we know we'll need (with one notable and almost disastrous exception!) so that we have our choice of tomes once we finish our current booky goodness. The Barnes & Noble in Harvard Square has taken a fair bit of money off our hands in the past, since it seems to be a place of pilgrimage when in the Boston area. And I do believe there is a used bookshop in Oxford England that Seester found and subsequently got lost in. Her mates got worried when she didn't resurface for a few days. So, suffice it to say that as we are slowly making our way around the world, Seester and I are doing our bit to stimulate the economy and the publishing industry by scouting out any bookstore we can find, anywhere.

It is in this frame of mind that I hereby present my New Life Mission: seek out the best bookstores in the world. Now, some enterprising soul has already begun such a list, but said aspiring book worm has clearly not canvassed the entire world and therefore needs assistance in their search. Enter Choey and Seester: travelers, readers, and book lovers extraordinaire! We shall aid you, never fear! So, for all you book-lovers, book-likers, and even you book-let's-just-be-frienders, stay tuned for The Best Bookstores in the World!!

Ok, well maybe just The Best Bookstores in Melbourne!! for now. But I'll post as I find!

Sunshine and rainbows,
choey

**apologize - now that I'm in Australia, should I spell that with a Z or an S?? Crazy Aussies and their crazy spellings.... While normally I'd embrace all things of my current locale, I think I'll stay American in this case!

A Different View on Travel Photos

Alrighty, I know I've already thrown out some ideas for different ways to use your digital camera when traveling. I wanted to take that a bit further and suggest some ideas for travel photos other than the ones you take of every pretty building/statue/fountain you see or visit. Not that those aren't important, but I have found a few things to photograph that help you tell your story later to those who were not lucky enough to be with you exploring exotic lands.

First, there are what I like to call "fashion-gone-wrong sightings". Now, I know as citizens of the world we are supposed to be accepting of diversity and other people's cultures, but there are some things you just want to show your best friend back home. My sister and I personally track "man-pri" (capris for men) sightings, because we feel like they should be banned worldwide. Its not that we don't want to see men's legs, we just don't want to see them dressed like women's legs. We've seen plenty of them over in Europe, and frankly, it makes traveling more interesting when you notice cultural differences. A guy and his girlfriend were dressed in identical capris...who really wears the pants here?!

Next, I like to photograph local flowers. I went nuts with the macro setting on my camera one afternoon and took pictures of every flower of our B&B's garden. I'm pretty sure the owner thought I was a little touched. Besides making gorgeous photos, you can do a few things with them: digitally collage them together in Powerpoint to a make a pretty background for your computer desktop, turn them into black and whites using Photoshop Express, or print them out and make a photo collage as a gift or something to hang on your wall to remind you of your trip without being a photo of you standing in front of something. I don't know what these flowers are called, but they were funny-looking and just begged to be photographed!

If you travel in any developed (i.e. Western) country, you are bound to notice their advertisements plastered all over public spaces. Its a bit more difficult to find really photo-worthy ads if they are in a different language, but sometimes just the picture is enough to elicit reaction. Or you may find something familiar to you used in a completely different context over there. Some ads are not translated well into English and give us Anglos a chuckle. Ads also say something about the temperament of the local people - I once saw public service ad to get people to use condoms in Switzerland that had pictures of stick figure people in different positions, all clearly protected. How can that not make for a good story later? Above: We found this add in Ireland, not sure what its for, but it has "hokie" in it, and being a proud VT Hokie, I had to commemorate the Irish people's good taste in advertising. Left: A sign on a tourist bus in Rome - "ask to the hostess!!"

Similar to ads, you could take pictures of safety and road signs. We should have taken this sign's advice, because after we passed it we had to bike 6km. Straight uphill. In the rain. Without shoes.

Another photo-worthy item in the signage family is maps. They make good placeholders in your digital camera and on your computer to tell you where you are in certain photos. You could also do the "I am/was here" photo, just stand in front and point. And if you are like me and have a strange fascination with maps and an ability to stand in front of one and stare continuously, then they are another lovely time-waster for later. :)

This last idea is a little risky, but in my opinion it is very worth it: local artwork. I save all my money to travel, not to buy artwork while I travel, so if I see something I like in a gallery or shop, I (covertly!) sneak a photo of it. Loved these paintings in Dubrovnik, Croatia, but at $2500 a pop I was not about to be taking one of them home soon. A photo works just as well for me!

Not only does taking photos of these things give you something to tell the 'rents after you return, but I think it helps you notice more about the culture you are immersed in, instead of just cruising through like so many other sightseers. Plus, they give you great pictures to add to your scrapbook of your trip later!

My Travel Map!

create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

I know its been a bit since I've posted - I've been a tad busy getting ready for the big move to Australia. But I will keep posting as new things pop into my head, which happens just about on the hour.

I came across this fun way to show where you've been on your own personal blog or website. Check it out, and let me know if you've found any fun ones during your websurfing times.