That's What Friends Are For

It’s really rare to meet a fellow travel writer whom you’d actually want to travel with again (let alone one who’s sane, sometimes), but I consider myself to be extremely lucky—I’ve met so many truly funny, kind and generous fellow writers on my past trips.

As with other writers, however, travel writers are their own special breed with their own types, too. Some of the less-likeable ones I’ve encountered in the past include the creepy old guy, the diva, the kooky one and the elitist (and always loquacious) snob, just to name a few. I think most other writers would agree with me that we’re all a little strange and peculiar in our own ways—that’s why we’re writers, after all, right? I’m sure I fall into a category, too—whichever one it is, I just hope it’s not that bad.

But it’s even rarer to meet someone whom you can think of as one of your dearest friends and travel buddies.

Cindy is just that person. She and I first met on a press trip to Hong Kong and we immediately bonded over a noisy, multicourse dinner of gigantic Cantonese-style prawns and steaming-hot “ice” water. Since then, we’ve survived a sandstorm together in Jordan; we’ve gorged on croquettes in Amsterdam; and we’ve won a car rally knock-off of “The Amazing Race” in Israel. Throughout each of our trips—through good times and not so good times—I could always count on Cindy to make me laugh or have my back, no matter what.

So, today, on her birthday, I just want to say thank you, and that I hope we get to travel together again sometime soon! (Photo © TheSmallObject.com)

Eat, Stay, Sleep...Read

Thanks to a nearly 10-hour wait at the Honolulu Airport last month (thanks a lot, Delta), I was forced to do something I had long been avoiding: I started reading Eat, Pray, Love. (Photo (c) Barnes & Noble)

Now, mind you, I have nothing against Elizabeth Gilbert and, having read her book, I thought it was fairly enjoyable—a little self-indulgent (you were totally right, Justina) but not all that bad. This is especially true when you’re stuck at the airport’s Kona Brewing Co. and your only friend is your waiter, Mark, a man who’s kind enough to even watch your stuff during bathroom breaks. (BTW, the Fire Rock Pale Ale is pretty awesome.

It’s just that, well, I’m a bit of a book snob. If Oprah and her book club are reading it, I probably won’t be. It’s for this same reason that I still haven’t read any of the Twilight books (I’ll save that for my next marathon airport wait, I suppose).

Reading Eat, Pray, Love, however, got me to thinking about how some of my favorite books have inspired me to want to travel. The Italy section (Eat) made me long to return to Rome—just for the gelato—and the Indonesia section (Love) only made me want to go there even more. I also realized that most of the books I’ve read this past year all have ties to places that I’ve either (1) gone to or (2) really, really want to go to. And, they all made excellent airplane reads (that’s the only time I ever get any of my reading done). So, here they are…be sure to check them out if you get a chance, or if your next flight gets cancelled.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
One of my favorite books, it chronicles the life of a self-described “love-sick ghetto nerd,” weaving in pieces of Dominican history and folklore throughout. It might be a little difficult to jump into at first but, once you do, it’s hard to put the book down.

Last year, I traveled to the Dominican Republic on a press trip and stayed in Punta Cana. While Punta Cana was altogether lovely, beachy and sunny, it wasn’t the D.R. that I read about in this book, which focused mainly on Santo Domingo (the capital, located way on the other side of the island). One of these days, I’d love to go back and see that side. (Photo (c) Barnes & Noble) 

My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’Homme
My friend Justina let me borrow her borrowed copy of this memoir, made even more famous now thanks to the film, “Julie & Julia.” Reading it made me truly regret not having taken that solo trip to Paris after my fall classes at Oxford wrapped up—think of all the bread, butter, cheese, wine and sole meuniere I missed out on! Oh well, all the more reason to make it a point to travel to France sometime soon. (Photo (c) Random House) 

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer 8 Lee
The Chinese-food lover in me was fascinated by this book. I mean, who knew that the dude who invented General Tso’s Chicken couldn’t even recognize the Americanized version of his famous dish? Or that the Japanese actually invented fortune cookies?

Reading this book also confirmed my sentiments about Chinese food here in the rest of the world versus Chinese food in China—it’s just not the same—really. But, no matter where you eat it (or what you’re eating)—it’ll be delicious nonetheless. (Photo (c) Barnes & Noble)

The Sartorialist by Scott Schuman
Okay, so “reading” this book would be an overly broad statement (it’s practically all photos and even the paperback edition weighs a ton) but hey, sometimes you just want to look at pretty pictures. If that’s what you’re in the mood for, this book is perfect. While it also captures one-of-a-kind styles from folks around the world, it also gives you a glimpse into those places, too, including Beijing, Milan, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and more. (Photo (c) Amazon.com) 

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Before my cousin Christina left on her whirlwind trips around the world, filming instructional English language videos for students around the world, she gave me this book and told me, “Read it. It’s good.” She was completely right; it's now one of my all-time favorites.

I won’t go too much into the plot details but, suffice it to say, this book is not set out on making you want to go to India and live like a maharajah. Quite the contrary—this bildungsroman reveals a side of India that is very well heart breaking and even disturbing—and not at all sugar coated in a Slumdog Millionaire kind of way. Still, it made me want to go to India and see the country for myself. (Photo (c) Penguin Australia) 

Next on my shelf? Lost Over Laos. Let me know if you have any good recommendations, too. I’d love to hear about them. (Photo (c) Barnes & Noble)

Taking Off

First things first: I am a travel writer and editor. I get paid to travel the world and write about it. Not a bad gig—I know—and I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve been able to have because of it.

My biggest confession? Usually, when I go on these trips, I’m not really incognito. I don’t own a corporate credit card under a fake name or run into bathrooms to furiously jot down my notes between courses. Sometimes, I’ll admit, this does make me feel guilty—as though I were abandoning my allegiance to the journalistic creed of ethics, as though I were a travel-writer version of Jayson Blair or Stephen Glass (though I never, ever fabricate any thing in my stories—trust me! I’m a stickler for fact checking!). Nevertheless, it’s a cold hard truth that the majority of travel writers—unless bankrolled by fatty publishing companies (if those exist anymore) or completely loaded on their own—are just like me. We travel for free (mostly) and we write about the places that host us.

Now, I know what you’re thinking…how can you possibly trust anything that we write about? Well, I’ll tell you this: At work, I’ll only write about the places and things that have proven to be positive experiences and I’m not afraid to point out some much needed criticisms when necessary. If something is really, really awful, I just won’t write about it at all.

In this blog, though, I’m going to open up. I’m not saying I’ll go on rambling rants and raves but, what I will do is share my travel experiences in a more personal way than I normally do for work.

What I love most about traveling is the experience of it—all of the interactions that you have with people from different cultures and backgrounds, all of the amazing (and sometimes questionable) foods, and even all of the unexpected roadblocks along the way. I’m sure you feel the same way, too.

So, let’s get started…I’ll try my best to keep you posted and I hope you’ll do the same.