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Up and Over

Posted August 11, 2013

PART 15 (DAYS 33-35): “How’s everything here?” I asked Chris, the manager at Southern Laughter Lodge, when I arrived back in Queenstown for a day in order to catch a homeward bound flight early the following morning.

“Oh, it’s quiet. It’s finally slowing down,” he answered.

“Oh, is the ski season over?”

“No, the season can go all the way until October,” he told me. “But all the Aussie kids have gone back to university.”

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The Fake Honeymooners

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Two in the Boot and Beyond"
Posted July 07, 2007

PART 3: “Do you realize we’re going on what is most people’s honeymoons?” Steph said to me in Venice. “A [romantic] romp through Europe.”

True, our mere summer romantic getaway was very honeymoon-esque, particularly at our next destination, the Isle of Capri, Italy’s resorty island off the coast of Naples, a place that my friend Alan (a.k.a. LovePenny) called the highlight of his honeymoon. “I think Venice was his second highlight,” I told Steph. “And we just came from there.”

Capri wasn’t originally on our itinerary until Steph’s mom told Steph that she loved Capri so much, she’d pay for our hotel if we decided to go there.

“I think we should go to Capri then,” I said, prompting our travels to southern Italy.

Practice For The Amazing Race

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Two in the Boot and Beyond"
Posted July 05, 2007

PART 2: “Have you seen The Amazing Race?” I asked Steph as we jogged with our packs on our backs to the ACTV water bus stop at Venice’s Rialto Bridge. She wasn’t too familiar with it and I explained how it was the Emmy award-winning CBS reality show — called by some critics as the only reality show worth watching — in which eleven teams of two race around the world, following clues to markers and pitstops in faraway destinations. Each pair has a different relationship dynamic (i.e. father/daughter, married gay guys, boyfriend/girlfriend, etc.) that the drama of travel can make or break. In The Amazing Race, traveling in haste can really cause people to crack under pressure.

When Harry Met Erik…

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Two in the Boot and Beyond"
Posted July 04, 2007

PART 1: Ah, Venice. Arguably the most romantic city in the world with its winding alleys, endless canals and wandering gondolas, it couldn’t have been a better locale to start a romantic getaway for a couple of “jetsetters.” Steph and I had decided to use Venice as our rendezvous point as it’s common ground; we’d both been there before already and it was a small enough city to get around on foot — when you’re not lost of course, or trying to find each other. Steph had arrived about an hour before me from Tuscany, only to wait for me at the jetty that I didn’t arrive at from the airport. Meanwhile, I had arrived at a different jetty and had gone to our room in the eastern-influenced-but-classicaly-Venetian three-star Hotel Noemi, only to find it empty. Our first hour in Venice was simply a game of text message phone tag:

Meet me here

Im walking there

Im here

Im walking over

Where are we meeting?

etc.

Surprises

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Two in the Boot and Beyond"
Posted June 14, 2007

In the Nov/Dec 2006 edition of National Geographic Traveler‘s “Real Travel” column entitled, “Surprise Gifts,” contributing editor Daisann McLane writes about a realization that many seasoned travelers have come to know: that some of the best travel experiences happen when something doesn’t go according to plan, ultimately leading you to sometimes happy, but definitely memorable situations. She writes:

“Travel happiness is that instant in time when everything you didn’t plan seems to fall together in a perfect moment: people, atmosphere, history, scenery — and strong coffee… Because a stopover is usually a last-minute decision, something done on a whim, or perhaps even forced on you by delays or carrier schedules, the odds are strong that it will end up being on of these unexpected traveler’s highs.”

For example, in my own travels, I hadn’t planned on getting mugged at knifepoint in Cape Town (boy, I didn’t see that coming!), but that unexpected moment led me to missed flights, which led me to an unexpected overland detour through Zambia, where I made ex-pat friends who led me to more friends in Tanzania — one of which took me to dinner and recognized me as her neighbor from our old hood in Jersey City, NJ. On a post-college trip backpacking trip around Europe, an unexpected stop through Basel, Switzerland led me to a great time at world class zoo and a cute little market with delicious sausages. In Mali, on an extended layover in Mopti en route to Timbuktu, I bumped into a British woman who eventually rang my doorbell in New York the week I returned — only to invite me to a fancy house party at the British deputy consul general’s flat in NYC. Surprise gifts, as McLane puts it.

The Calm After The Storm

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Twisted"
Posted June 05, 2007

DAY 8: Peter, the older but youthful Englishman, was the last one to casually stroll over to the meeting place in front of the office of the Irish Inn in Shamrock, TX that final morning. He was wearing yellow shorts, a souvenir Colorado t-shirt, and baseball cap, with a duffel bag strapped over his shoulder and a plastic bag in hand.

“You can almost pass an American tourist,” I told him.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Checkmate.

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Twisted"
Posted June 04, 2007

DAY 7: “I’m the president, Martin Lisius, of Tempest Tours,” the bearded man introduced himself at the morning briefing. “And today’s your final chase day.” The founder of the tour company, a man we’d only heard of or read about, was finally in our midsts. Martin had led storm chasing tours in the early years of the company, but had since settled with his family, passing the baton to his more-than-competent staff. However, whenever the tour ended up around his home area in the Texas panhandle, he was happy to join up.

Martin started the briefing that morning using a paper map of Texas held up and provided by Rob, a.k.a. Many Cameras (and perhaps “Many Maps”). Like an old wise man, Martin did a forecast without the internet — the PC couldn’t get on-line yet.

“If the morning convection clears up, you’ll have a good day,” he concluded. We hoped for the best — on our final day of chasing — where the risk of tornadoes was “moderate” again.

“You know the great thing about this trip?” Leisa said. “It’s built up.”

“I know, we have to see one today!” I concurred. It would be poetic to see a tornado on this last day, I thought, after all the build up in our story (and this blog). There has to be some sort of climax or catharsis.

A Game Of Chess

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Twisted"
Posted June 03, 2007

DAY 6: “The juice is flowing. We have good sheer,” tour leader Bill said in our morning briefing, standing in front of the projected weather map. “[I see some rotation.]” For the first time on our trip, the SPC declared a “moderate risk” of tornadoes — all this time it had only been “slight.”

“I’d say our chances of a tornado, F2 or stronger, are I guess fifty-fifty.” There was a wave of gasps in the room. Groggy, sleepy eyes suddenly lit up.

“It’s probably going to be a big day,” Bill concluded.

Into The Southwest

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Twisted"
Posted May 31, 2007

DAY 5: Little did I know when I woke up that morning at the less-than-stellar La Junta Inn and Suites in La Junta, CO, that I’d be typing commands into a DOS prompt:

C:> ipconfig /release

C:> ipconfig /renew

I was only doing so because I had suggested “releasing the DNS” in our morning briefing, when tour leader Bill’s laptop couldn’t get online to get the latest weather data.

The Perfect Storm

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Twisted"
Posted May 30, 2007

DAY 4: “I don’t quite care for talk of politics,” 18-year-old James from Manchester, UK said to me as I prepared a breakfast of coffee and corn flakes with bananas at the Days Inn in North Platte, NE. “It bores me.”

In the dining area, his aunt Mel was having a discussion with Leisa, and Londoners Chris and Katie about health care, politics, and other adult sort of things. James moseyed on out of the area, knowing well aware he was in the States for the first time not to discuss politics, but to chase tornadoes.

The Vacation From Our Vacation

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Twisted"
Posted May 29, 2007

DAY 3: “This place is great,” I told Luciana, the Dutch woman across the breakfast table.

“Yeah, it’s really American,” she said. We were in the local restaurant next to the Best Western, a place decorated with old 45’s, vintage lunch boxes, and other Route 66-esque paraphernalia — even the booths’ upholstery had Route 66 signs on them.

“This is what other places [back home] try to be, but it’s all faux,” I told Stacy, sitting at my side.

“Yeah, it’s not faux; it’s fo’ real!” she said.

The Thrill Of The Chase

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Twisted"
Posted May 28, 2007

DAY 2: “I forgot it’s Memorial Day Weekend,” I realized outloud to Leisa and Rob at the breakfast table — Super 8’s complimentary fare included cold cereal and Eggo waffles. The Weather Channel was on the corner TV, reporting the beach forecast for the American east coast for the long weekend — Jones Beach, NY, 81 degrees and sunny — but in Nebraska, we were hoping for a completely opposite kind of forecast: thunderstorms. So far, the predictions were looking good for us.

Weather Nerds

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Twisted"
Posted May 27, 2007

DAY 1: “Welcome to Tornado Alley. I’m Bill Reid, tour director for Tempest Tours,” said the man leading the orientation of Tempest Tours’ third tour of the season in Meeting Room A of the Wingate Inn in Oklahoma City. I had arrived there after seven hours in transit from New York City — and I was the last one to arrive since mostly everyone else in the tornado chasing tour group had spent the night in OKC. Orientation was a lot like one on the first day of class: new faces (some already taking notes), a lecture, and room brimming with enthusiastic curiosity for the times ahead.

The Calm Before The Storm

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Twisted"
Posted May 19, 2007

So it’s been a whole eight months since my last adventure, not including quick mini trips to go snowboarding and snowmobiling in Colorado, or to drive to Miami for a quick jaunt before helping escort my friend Jack‘s iguana to his new apartment in New Jersey, or to visit King Tut at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia’s super fun science museum. During the past eight months I’ve more or less stayed put in New York City, still working at a youthful interactive advertising agency where we drink beer and forward YouTube links to each other all day. But while living in New York is grand — especially on the days you run into Mr. T or Gary Coleman — it’s still nice to get away from it all and see the world.

Many fans and friends have bugged me over the past eight months, asking the same burning question: “So, where’s your next trip?” (I believe I’ve heard it about a million times.) Well, as it is, I’m gearing up for the next trip, leaving this week on May 26th in fact, to a destination that only a few privileged people know about. If you were take three guesses, you probably wouldn’t guess where since it’s a complete departure from my usual sort of places — in fact, it’s (gasp) domestic. But if in your three guesses you were to say, “Oklahoma!” you’d be correct — after of which you’d ask the next burning question, “Why the hell are you going there?”

The answer is best summed up in one word: tornadoes.

Welcome to TheGlobalTrip.com version 3.0!

Posted March 26, 2007

In March 2006, exactly one year after my big trip around the world, I announced I was to skip the country again and race off to Timbuktu. This year, in March 2007, roughly two years after my return to New York, I announce what you see before you: TheGlobalTrip.com version 3.0!

Buzzkill

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted September 24, 2006

DAY 24: To leave Oktoberfest is quite possibly the ultimate buzzkill, although it was probably best to leave after only two days to leave on a high note. Like my experience at my brother’s bachelor party in Las Vegas, anything longer than three days and you cross the threshold; a fourth day is not nearly as fun as the first day, just like the fourth breadstick is never as good as the first in the unlimited breadstick deal at the Olive Garden.

What I didn’t realize when I woke up that last day of my trip — the 24th day of “Tomatoes, Grease & Beer” — was that the act of leaving Oktoberfest wasn’t the only buzzkill.

Team Crossbow

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted September 21, 2006

DAY 23: “Happy Birthday, man,” I greeted Terence.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” Jack said. “Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks.”

If there’s anyway to really celebrate a guy’s 32nd birthday, it’s at Oktoberfest, although it was actually debatable for months if Terence the Birthday Boy would even come; he was wishy-washy about spending the cash to travel all the way to Germany for only three days, but ultimately figured what the hell, it was more than just regular weekend trip and more than just a birthday. With me already planning on being at Oktoberfest and Jack wanting one last big hurrah in Europe before relocating back to the USA, it just made sense to go this year — and so he maxed out his credit card and got on plane. In the end, I think he had no regrets and came to believe in one law that I do:

Every man must make the pilgrimage to Oktoberfest at least once in his lifetime, the way a Muslim must make the pilgrimage to Mecca.

The (Drunken) Man Show

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted September 20, 2006

DAY 22: On October 12, 1810, Bavarian Prince-turned-King Ludwig the First got hitched to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in a huge fairy tale wedding that would make any Bridezilla green with envy. The reception was such a blast that the king decreed it be celebrated again the following year — it’s good to be the king — with another huge festival of dancing, singing, horse races, good food, and above all, good beer — a beverage Bavaria prided itself on. Over the centuries, this October festival, this Oktoberfest was celebrated annually, minus a couple of times lost to war.

Nowadays, Oktoberfest actually takes place the three weeks before the first Sunday of October, meaning it always starts in mid-September — for no real significant reason other than that the weather is better — and therefore it is, for the most part, a Septemberfest. But seriously, with a festival dedicated to celebrate the Bavarian cultures of dancing, music, cuisine, beer consumption, and hot German chicks prancing around in corsets that accentuate their cleavage, why wait for October?

Beer Team, Assemble!

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted September 18, 2006

DAY 21: On my first night in Athens, I had learned that I wasn’t the only one with the same idea: to throw tomatoes at the Tomatina festival in Valencia, Spain, then travel somewhere for two weeks — in my case, the Greek Islands — and then head over to Munich, Germany for the ultimate beer festival, Oktoberfest. Not surprisingly, most of these like-minded planners were fun lovin’ Australians — so many that I came to believe that I’d seen nothing but Aussies in Munich. A young backpacking German couple from Hamburg that I’d met that first night in Athens concurred, telling me that Oktoberfest was a big annual festival for tourists and no Germans actually ever go there — sort of like how hardly any New Yorkers go to Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

I figured that people would travel from afar to celebrate in Oktoberfest — I mean, who wouldn’t? — and like Tomatina, they’d come in groups of non-competitive teams with matching outfits. My suspicions were confirmed when I landed in Munich’s Strauss airport and immediately saw another Team Canada at the baggage claim: a group of guys in matching red hockey jerseys, with a logo on each — half maple leaf, half beer stein. Inspired, I picked up my bag and ventured off to gather some guys for my own team.

The End of the Myth

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted September 14, 2006

DAY 20: “Good morning! Are you leaving today?” Mamma of the Dolphins restaurant in Naxos Town greeted me. She saw that I had my big bag with me.

“Yes.” For brunch she served me my last fill of grilled octopus, prepared from one of the tentacles hanging on the banister outside. Her son Giorgo served me a free coffee and old man Gregory gave me some free wine. It was sad; I was about to leave the family I had come to learn about through daily observation.

“Where are you going? Santorini?” Gregory asked.

“No, Athens. I’m going home.”

Before sending me off to the ferry port, the grandfather-type wished me luck, kissing me goodbye on both cheeks in a respectful family way, like the tough guys do on The Sopranos. “[Good journey,]” he said. “Take a card, so you can remember Gregory!”

“I’ll see you soon.”

Bag of Winds

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted September 14, 2006

DAY 19: To paraphrase the copy of Cliffs Notes for The Odyssey I packed along in my carry-on (deemed safe by Homeland Security, but not by your sixth grade English teacher), Odysseus was right on course to go home to Ithaca with the help of the Aeolus. Aeolus, King of the Winds (a.k.a. Joe Blow) had used his powers to take all the adverse winds and stick them in a Ziploc® freezer bag. The bag was then sealed shut (“Yellow and blue make green!”) so that none of the bad winds would escape and send Odysseus off course. However, when Odysseus & Co. were right within sights of home, a couple of crewmembers with the munchies thought that there was some sort of hidden treasure in the bag — or maybe just some leftovers — and opened it. Their boat was sent way off course, leaving Odysseus to think that maybe he should have labeled his bags accordingly:

“ADVERSE WINDS” | “MEATLOAF”

The Legend of Vasillis

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted September 13, 2006

DAY 18: This tale should be prefaced with the following instant messenger chat between me and Tracy, my former Creative Director during my dot com bubble days (and fellow globaltripper):

ME (place annoying AIM “message sent” chime sound here): yo
ME: where should I go in greece?
TRACY (place annoying AIM “message received” chime sound here): i can recommend NAXOS
TRACY: north east tip, tiny hamlet named [Town X]
TRACY: find the hotel kouros and the owner, vasillis — tell him you are a friend of Mississippi’s.
TRACY: Vassilis calls me Mississippi
ME: ok
TRACY: its a great, small village. right on the water. he cooks for you at night and drink home made wine
ME: nice

Tracy was skeptical on letting me in on his special Shangri-la in Naxos — so special that he doesn’t want it to be overridden with too many people, like in the book/movie, The Beach. Instead of using its real name, it is to be known for all intents and purposes as “Town X,” although anyone who’s been to Naxos can pretty much figure it out.

And so, like a character in a video game quest like The Legend of Zelda, I went off to venture on a quest to find the old man Vassilis in Town X, that tiny hamlet of Naxos, and to see what sort of treasure I could find there.

X marks the spot.

When You’re Here, You’re Family

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted September 13, 2006

DAY 17: I noticed a big impressive schooner named Galileo docked in the port that morning when one of the ferries was coming in. I went to check it out and shoot a picture when I ran into Oula, the woman who had touted me two evenings prior when I had landed in Naxos, and gave me the room I was staying at in her house in Naxos Town.

“[I am late for the ferry arrival,]” she told me, knowing that family came before her job touting people off the ships for a place to stay. “[I had to bring my daughter to school. In Greece, today is the first day of school.]” While back in America the 11th of September would be remembered for something else, in Greece kids went back to their classrooms.

Wanted: Poseidon Adventure

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted September 11, 2006

DAY 16:Poseidon, King of the Seas in Greek mythology, is a deity so powerful that he can take Hollywood remakes baring his name and turn them into box office duds. (Seriously, that was in theaters for only about two weeks.) As King of the Seas, he is responsible for many seafaring adventures, and the one I was looking for was to be a bit tamer than The Perfect Storm.

The Lotus-Eaters

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Tomatoes, Grease & Beer"
Posted September 10, 2006

DAY 15: In Homer’s epic The Odyssey, hero Odysseus travels from island to island, getting into several MacGyver-like episodes, on his way home to Ithaca. In one episode, he arrives at the Land of the Lotus-Eaters, a tribe of people addicted to the lotus plant, a food which has the power to disempower someone; once addicted to the lotus, one loses all ambitions and motivations to go anywhere or do anything (but eat more lotus). Odysseus had a hard time pulling his newly-addicted crew away from the Lotus-Eaters, so that he might get on and continue his odyssey — before the word and poem “Odyssey” might be named after someone else. (MacGyver perhaps.)

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