I awoke yesterday morning, just like every other. I headed down to start the coffee. I took a sip and began writing away the morning. By noon, I figure I should join the human race and shower. I had bought a shampoo I also brought to Italy last summer. Lathering up, I was suddenly transported to that turquoise and yellow bathroom in Florence. It is amazing how a simple smell of recognition can bring you back to a time, to a place and most importantly to a state of mind. The smells of travel are what remind me to get out of my routine. I might put on a certain perfume or lotion I brought to Continue Reading
Suzy Stumbles Over Travel: Week of July 11, 2011
Another year older, I bring you this week’s Suzy Stumbles Over Travel. In case you are new to this site, each week I ask writers and readers to submit their favorite travel posts of the week. I read each submission, comment, tweet the article on Twitter, stumble the piece using Stumbleupon and place a link to the post on my Facebook page. The following Monday, I feature my five favorite submissions submitted last week and the stumbling continues into the next week. Just a few things to keep in mind, the post must be travel related. You have until the end of the day on Friday to submit. Continue Reading
My Seven Links: Travel Stories, Lessons and Tips You Might Have Forgotten
Thanks to Inspiring Travellers, I have been nominated to participate in TripBase’s “My 7 Links Project”. The goal of this endeavor is to bring to light travel bloggers’ lessons and travel stories that might have been long forgotten in blog archives. I found myself re-reading old posts I too had long since forgotten. In case you haven’t been following this site as long as I have, I hope you can give my seven links a read or re-read if you are a devoted fan (I’m talking to you, Mom). My Most Beautiful Post Locorotondo, Italy Wishes You Were Here I love to find little towns of understated Continue Reading
When Humanity Takes Flight
He looks out the window in awe, even before take off, fascinated by the loading of baggage onto the plane. He turns to his mother with a beaming smile. In flight, he keeps his eyes glued on that window, occasionally pointing out cars he sees, landscapes he wonders about. When it is all over, the pilot thanks the passengers for flying with the airline today. The 6-year-old shouts, just loud enough for a few rows back to hear, “You’re welcome. It was fun!”. A few travelers quietly laugh as he thanks his dad profusely for taking him on his first flight. It is another routine flight for me, one Continue Reading
Ely, Nevada Wishes You Were Here
Driving America’s Loneliest Road, Ely is bittersweet coming from west to east. It is the end of this road, the end of the loneliness and the start of something different. Coming into Ely on the eastern end of U.S. Highway 50, you wouldn’t expect to see a working museum in its streets. Ely wants to keep its history close and accessible to those who just pass on through the town. It does so through a series of giant murals. Along the sides of buildings and around unsuspecting corners, you will find giant works of art depicting Ely throughout the ages. A town that grew up quickly with the Continue Reading
My Budget Beauty and Fashion Travel Musts
Forgive me if I don’t enjoy looking like a disaster when I travel. I know I am supposed to not care about my appearance and throw on the same T-shirt over and over again. I am supposed to uphold the bare bones traveler look, one who is not focused on their mascara layers but rather the layers of their adventure. This comes across as shallow to many who pack only one pair of underwear, but I don’t want to be a complete mess when I travel. I think places have a lot to do with the traveler. I enjoy looking my best when I travel for I feel better and I hope, just maybe, those American Continue Reading
Lonely Travel Is Good For You
Looking up lonely in the dictionary presents several less than flattering definitions. Some will be blunt and define the term as “sad because one has no friends or company”. Others will be gentler and define lonely as merely “unfrequented, remote or solitary”. The adjective is not one we couple with travel often. Travel is filled with company, new friends, new places and new ideas on the world. Generally looked at negatively, I don’t think I am alone, ironically, in saying lonely travel is not what we strive for on our travels. I want to feel apart of a place and people, not outside of it. Continue Reading