Tag Archives: rtw

The Kanazawa Files

Kanazawa is a small city on the west coast of Japan. It was spared from bombing in WWII and its architecture remains intact. Small, captivating canals meander through the walkable city. After navigating Tokyo and Kyoto, it was nice to be in a small, manageable city.

image

Sleep

The highlight of our trip was our stay at Pongyi Guesthouse. Read about it here and you’ll see why: https://greenleycoffeebreak.com/2013/10/02/can-a-44-year-old-stay-in-a-youth-hostel/

Sights

Our Favorite Activities in Kanazawa:

  • Oyama Shrine: While not spectacular, we loved the humbleness of this shrine. It is set in a slightly overgrown garden and so approachable. We had found that some well manicured gardens in Japan are to admire from afar, e.g. an inviting bridge that you are not allowed to cross. But the Oyama Shrine garden allowed for a game of frisbee and uno as we sat and watched the koi swim by. The shrine is known for its stained glass, rare in Japanese shines.
  • Kanazawa Castle: The Castle is a woodworkers dream. Recently rebuilt and completely empty except for…wood! Multiple displays regarding the joinery and building method. Needless to say, Kyle was in heaven.
  • Children’s Library: Yes, really! This was a lovely space to knock out homeschooling….bright and light with many corners to dig into math and writing.
  • Kenrouken Garden: Called one of the three best gardens in Japan, Kenrouken was sprawling and beautiful. We saw it following the shrine and castle so the garden didn’t get the full meandering attention from us that it required. A gorgeous must see.
  • Ninjadera: This is a shogun house that has many “ninja” features including trap doors and false walls. We all enjoyed it very much…feels much more historical than Hollywood. The tour must be reserved in advance and is in Japanese. There is a comprehensive English guide to use during the tour. Young or restless kids are not allowed…we sedated ours before entering (kidding…we just got lucky, they were well behaved that day!).
  • 21st Century Art Museum: HIGHLIGHT. I was blown away by this museum. It’s known for a swimming pool exhibit in which people standing under the pool appear to be in the pool water. But there was so much more! I was entranced by the In-Habit Project exhibit by Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan. Thousands of reused cardboard boxes built into a sprawling community meant to represent a floating village off the coast of Borneo.
  • Nagamachi: Beautiful traditional home in the Samurai district with the sweetest garden. We encountered a group of touring Japanese men who clearly had a bit too much to drink. One asked Sean to sit and participate in a team ceremony. I watched like a hawk while Sean sat cross legged, sipping his tea and conversing quite comfortably.
  • Confectionary: On our last day in Kanazawa, we sat with a friend from our guesthouse and dozens of middle aged Japanese ladies learning how to make rice based confections from a master chef. It’s such an art form, its hard to imagine even eating these beauties. Our resulting product however…
  • Omicho Market: I loved this market…it was 99% authentic…vegetables and seafood. The largest snow crabs I’ve ever seen, so many fresh vegetables (I ate more salads in Kanazawa than anywhere else). The kids and I had our first taste of a nashi there, a yummy fruit reminiscent of a pear-apple, or as Sean named it, a papple.
  • Woodworking: Kyle spent time in Kanazawa in local woodworking shops, seeing the local methods, perusing the tools and making future contacts. He had a few serendipitous moments that will certainly influence his work back home.

image

Eat

Sushi, Sashimi, Sake…oh my! The freshest seafood and an increasing understanding of sake led to some yummy meals in Kanzawa and some failures…pointing to a picture of a fish netted me a fish head. We also tried out first conveyor belt sushi restaurant, which was tastier and more economical than U.S. versions.

But our best meal with the one we made and ate side by side with our hosts at Pongyi Guesthouse…sagayaki and the best of company.

image

The Kyoto Files

We leave Japan for Cambodia in three days. Our five plus weeks here have flown and we’ve found our family travel rhythm.

Before a philosophical post on what Japan has meant to us, we owe you a trip report for Kyoto, Kanazawa, Takayama and Tsumago. So I am in catch up mode…first, Kyoto. Again, this is simply a quick list of what we did, where we stayed, yadda, yadda, yadda…vs well worded writing.

Sleep

This was one of two decadent stays in Japan…we booked a traditional Machiya home for two weeks. We felt lucky to live in this historic alleyway, hearing the coming and goings of neighbors (we sure know they heard us!). A real treasure and one of our favorite accommodations in Japan.

http://www.maeniiya.com/

image

Sights

Kyoto was much larger than we anticipated and while we were there for a full two weeks, there’s far too much to see if we were to stick to our homeschool schedule. So here’s what we made time for, highs and lows:

All Time Favorite Day: Arashiyama

I did an earlier post on this so I won’t go into detail here however we so loved this small town bordering Kyoto…quiet unique temples, bamboo forests and an entertaining monkey park…what else do you need?

Temples

There are over 2,000 temples and shrines in Kyoto (Temples are Buddhist, Shrines are Shinto). Here were our favorites:

  • Kiyomizudura Temple: This decadent temple comes with a pagoda, walking paths, and a fancy-pants water purification fountain. While extremely busy with tourists, it was stunning and the neighborhood it sits in also beautiful.
  • Fushimi Inari Shrine: Over 1,000 orange Torii gates follow a meandering walking path up into the mountains. Stunning. Calming. Sacred.
  • Sanjusangendo Temple: The hall of this temple houses 1,000 life-sized armed Kannon statues. It is an amazing sight to behold. The detail in each Kannon is unique. You are not allowed to take pictures inside the hall so the photo below is swiped from google images.
  • Heian Shrine: We really appreciated the large garden attached to this shrine. We meandered for over a hour, taking time to feed the koi and snapping turtles in the most picturesque place.
  • Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple: Our 2nd most favorite temple…it had hundreds of stone statues amid bamboo trees and was heavenly quiet and sweet.
  • Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple: Our favorite!  Thousands of Buddhist disciple statues carved in stone hugging a hillside. Serious, humorous, loving…every face imaginable. Think of complete solitude and hours to explore every face before you.  Such joy.

image

Cultural Experiences

  • International Manga Museum: While most exhibits are in Japanese, there is a collection of English Manga and a great space to read, which gave the kids hours of entertainment.
  • Nijo Castle: Beautiful grounds, intricate details and a moat…what else does one need? The photos below are of Nijo…loved this place!
  • Sake Museum: Kyle spent an afternoon learning the nuances of Japan’s adult beverage.  The tour came with samples…of course.
  • Harvest Moon Festival: We were lucky to be in Kyoto during the harvest moon (mid-September).  A handful of temples held evening celebrations with traditional music, dance and food. We partook in all of the above!
  • Handicraft Center: I highly recommend this place if you have kids or enjoy learning local art. They offer approx. eight handicrafts for a nominal fee.  Kyle and I tried our hand at wood block art, Sean made a paper toy top and Julia made a glass necklace…very fun afternoon!
  • Kimono Fashion Show: Ok, my family thought this was cheesy but I loved the Textile Center’s kimono fashion show.  It runs multiple times a day.  I had a smile in my face the whole time but admittedly I am fabric obsessed.

image

Eat 

We struggled a bit with food in Kyoto. With a kitchen, we thought we’d be cooking more but our trips to the grocery store were comical and fruitless. We’d find online a restaurant we’d want to try, take multiple buses to get there and be turned away at the door (we are so uncool). Nevertheless, we had two standout food experiences in Kyoto:

  • Ipuddo Ramen: In the Nishiki market..let me just say this…any restaurant who provides patrons with their own garlic press is A-OK in my book.
  • Tsukihi: This central Kyoto restaurant was in our neighborhood and we stumbled in on a date night. No one spoke English but they were very welcoming. I managed to communicate that our server should chose on our behalf.  Right choice!  In hindsight, we figured out that the restaurant specialized in farm fresh food.  We were sorely lacking vegetables in our Japanese diet thus far and we spent the evening moaning in delight at the taste of fresh vegetables and fish.  Highly recommended!
Ippudo's Ramen

Ippudo’s Ramen

Tsukihi Perfection

Tsukihi Perfection

What I was Supposed to Love that I Didn’t

  • Gion: Oh, Gion, what have we done to you? You were supposed to be a picturesque, quaint vision of old Kyoto with the stolen sight of a geisha here and there. But I could hardly see you through the hordes of  tourists — we’re sorry to have contributed to your chaos.
  • Nishiki Market: When a shopkeeper has to post signs in English asking one to NOT take photos of unique vegetables or fish, the magic is gone. Another sweet spot overrun by tourists (and yes, I’m aware of the irony here).

Tips

Activity Bookings: Kyoto is a popular tourism city. We found we should have booked activities well in advance. For example, we wanted to take a cooking class and they were all reserved. Also, many sites require a phone call reservation, which can be difficult if you don’t speak Japanese…planning that well in advance assures both room and support.

Volunteer Tours: There are a handful of organizations that provide complimentary tours in Kyoto. We used Samaritan Students, which are local university students, and it was a highlight of our trip. This is a must. It’s so easy as a traveler to superficially interact with the locals. Tours like this allow for deeper conversation which was very rewarding. It is normal to pay for transportation, temple fees and lunch for the guide.

Run to the Border: Kyoto was surprisingly big and the center was very commercialized. The Kyoto you hear about…quaint, green, calm is found at the edges of the town…Arashiyama in the northwest, Kibune in the north, Fushimi in the south, and so on.

Stay tuned for trip reports on Kanazawa, Tsumago and our absolute favorite place in Japan thus far, Takayama (it’s even fun to say)!

An Eleven Year Old’s Guilt

What do you say to your child when you ask her what her primary feeling was after a visit to Hiroshima and she looks at you with tears in her eyes and says, “Guilt.”

Born 57 years after atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and an eleven year old carries the guilt of an act that killed approximately 140,000 people.

This tricycle was initially buried with the three year old child riding it when the bomb dropped.

This tricycle was initially buried with the three year old child riding it when the bomb dropped.

War strategy is chilling.  I won’t stand on a pulpit and declare it unnecessary.  But we all know the cost of black and white conversation is invariably not military assets, but civilians.

Hiroshima Before

Hiroshima Before

And after...

And after…

The Memorial Peace Museum was remarkably balanced in its representation of Japan’s war history, the events that led up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent response of the United States.  Reading Stephen Walker’s “Shockwave” prior to our visit enlightened us to the complexity and, frankly, deceit, between allies with the bomb not only being a method to stop the war but a message to an ever strengthening Stalin about American power.

Churchill, Truman, Stalin

Churchill, Truman, Stalin

Certainly the vividly graphic review of the day the bomb was dropped and the subsequent impact was terrifying.  But this was expected.  Honestly, I was most struck by the hundreds of letters of protest since written by Hiroshima’s and Nagasaki’s mayors to the heads of state of the United States, Russia, China, UK and France whenever those countries have performed a nuclear test.  You’d think as someone who grew up with atom bomb drills in school (who were they kidding?) and attended no nukes protests, I would be a bit more in tune with the state of nuclear weaponry today.  I hadn’t expected to see letters from this calendar year to President Barack Obama…there were four.

Atom Bomb Dome

Atom Bomb Dome

I led the kids to the museum shop, purchased origami paper and we sat side by side as I showed them how to fold a peace crane.  I explained that war is complex, that there are actually rules about how countries can fight a war, but that in the heat of fear and emotion and death, rules are oft forgotten (and perhaps absurd).

We discussed the concept of nuclear deterrence, the controversy of U.S.-led drone strikes, Syria’s chemical weapons…and whether there can be fair and just wars.  We did not come to a conclusion but we agreed that what happened in Hiroshima and Nagosaki should never happen again.

image

The Japanese Blues

A different kind of shrine

A different kind of shrine

Our last night in Kyoto, Kyle and I perused our neighborhood for a date night local. I’d had my eye on a tiny Tapas bar but we were turned away at the door. This has happened a few times in our three weeks here…a claim that there’s no room for us when clearly there is. We weren’t offended by it — while disappointing, we understood a proprietors desire to hold some places in Kyoto gaijin-free.

Trying again, we were enthusiastically welcomed into a small sashimi restaurant where my mouth wrestled with a hunk of octopus far too big and chewy to conquer. And Kyle’s Iowa blood craved steak and potatoes in a way that raw fish would never satisfy so we simply accepted that our last Kyoto meal would lack substance but was good company.

Leaving, we noticed a discreet alleyway across from us, with a carved ice block of Jack Daniels (steadily melting) and peered in. And this is how we stumbled across a Japanese blues bar.

Gear Bar...wish I had taken the photo at night!

Gear Bar…wish I had taken the photo at night!

The bar, Gear, was so small that as patrons arrived for the show, additional stools were brought out, and people shifted mere centimeters to make room. With twenty people jammed into the slowly smoke filling space, we waited for the show. My money was on the bartender picking up a guitar — with his fedora, wild black hair and craggy face, he looked to be a Japanese Keith Richards. We spoke with the perplexingly mixed clientele squeezed in around us, learning small facts despite the language barrier.

image

Two young women took the stage wearing shift dresses, pearls and pumps. We were confused. Opening act or bank tellers? Then they opened their mouths. Deep throaty classic blues…Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters…coming to us in part English, part Japanese. Head bobbing gold.

The Blues Sisters played two sets and three ovations and we squinted through the smoke, smiled at our seat mates, moved to the music and were grateful for serendipity.

The Blues Sisters

The Blues Sisters

At the end of the show, our neighbors shook hands with us and the Blues Sisters graciously thanked us with multiple “arigatou gazaimasu” and head bows as we purchased their CD. We spilled from the tiny space into the night on a high.

This was our first time in Japan that we felt entry underneath the cloak of a private culture…a cloak we’d sewed from our own stereotypes, for sure, but difficult to truly see beneath without individual interactions. Here’s to more serendipitous moments for all!

“I’d love to hear that sweet Memphis song
and that good old funky rock n roll
oh when I need some healing
the only thing I turn to
all that makes me happy is the BLUES”

Buddy Guy – All That Makes Me Happy Is The Blues

Natural Disasters & The Oblivious Tourist

Our 1st week in Japan, we sat sipping coffee when the cafe began to sway. Kyle and I looked at each other. We have quite an earthquake history between us — Seattle, Northridge, Mexico City. He said, “It’s an earthquake.” I said, “Nah, the metro tracks are right there, it’s a train.”

He was right.

There was no panic in the cafe. Japan, sitting on the pacific ring of fire, sees over 1,500 earthquakes a year and judging by the calm with coffee, the country’s citizens are used to them.

We felt one more earthquake before leaving Tokyo. A day at the Museum of Emerging Science confirmed both. We packed up, headed to Kyoto and…walked into a typhoon.

Kyoto Typhoon (photo by Nobora Tomura)

Kyoto Typhoon (photo by Nobora Tomura)

As tourists, reality is often suspended. There’s the vacation protection bubble myth, that bodily harm couldn’t possibly happen in paradise. So the zipline company doesn’t provide helmets, so what? So the taxi has no seat belts, big deal!

Despite a sleepless night listening to house shuddering wind and rain. Despite my cellphone, now on Japanese wifi, shrieking hourly with emergency warnings (ok, in my defense, the alerts were in kanji, Japanese characters), I wasn’t concerned. When Kyle told me the next morning that he attributed the cellphone noise to neighbors ringing our doorbell trying to alert us, I at least wasn’t alone in my moronic choice of sleep over emergency response.

At some point, we actually read the news and were mortified to learn that over 250,000 people were evacuated not 15 minutes from us. But it was really this morning, when we made our way to Arashiyama, on the NE outskirts of Kyoto, that we realized we’d missed reality.

Our Photos 36 hours Post Typhoon

Our Photos 36 hours Post Typhoon

The Katsura River flooded, nearly submerging the historic Togetsukyo Bridge, and damaging the shops, restaurants and inns along the river. It’s slightly embarrassing now to admit that we had come to Arashiyama as giddy tourists to see the monkey park. Instead we saw a raging river, piles of debris, and flooded businesses with groups of people working hard to clean and recover.

Now a profound ending would be to say that we too jumped in, rolled up our sleeves and helped. We didn’t. We talked about it, assessed the situation (the press and military were on site) and determined we’d be a distraction vs a help.

Instead, we climbed small roads high above the river and visited a Buddhist temple, Otagi Nenbutsuji. There we were surrounded with 1200 rakan, stone statues representing Buddhist disciples. While built in the 8th century, the temple was hit with a…yes…typhoon in 1950 and had to be rebuilt. The rakans were thus carved in 1980s and 1990s by amateur artists. The temple brochure reads that “…the carvings have amusing or contented expressions that warm the hearts of visitors.” And that’s exactly what they did.

image

Here in our suspended reality, we’d come face to face with a surreal location that had been destroyed by natural disaster and rebuilt with calm and steady resolve. As we peered into the faces of each rakan, smiling at some, laughing aloud at others, it was clear to me what an exceptional culture we were experiencing.

So imagine our surprise when we saw among the many faces, the one person in our extended family who epitomizes calm, steady philosophical resolve, who is hard working and driven by “we” vs “me.”  And who certainly would have recognized a natural disaster just a wee bit quicker than we did.

Papa Greenley

Papa Greenley

 

 

The Tokyo Files

Just a quick list of what we did, where we stayed, yadda, yadda, yadda. Admittedly, I’m not nuts about itinerary recaps or maybe I’m just Trip Advisored out, but its helpful to others and boy do we owe paying it forward.

Sleep
We booked a small apartment on flipkey: http://www.flipkey.com/tokyo-condo-rentals/p226889/ This was not fancy by any stretch but adequate and good set up for a small family with 2 bedrooms & a small pullout couch. Plus a portable wifi, which is a saving grace when you think you know how to get where you’re going but really don’t! The apartment was 3 metro stops to Shibuya and we liked being in a quiet neighborhood vs the craziness of the tourist destinations.

Sights
Day 1: Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, Arcade Fun

Meiji Shrine Prayer Tablets

Meiji Shrine Prayer Tablets

Day 2: Museum of Emerging Technology & Science — wow, this is an impressive museum…great interactive learning for tweens and teens

Asimo Robot Demonstration

Asimo Robot Demonstration

Museum of Emerging Science

Museum of Emerging Science

Day 3: Chill day…went to see the lights of Shibuya at night

Shibuya

Shibuya

Day 4: Kamakura (see previous post)

Day 5: We took a tour with Backstreet Guides, http://www.thebackstreetguides.com, to be able to see more then we could manage on our own. It was a splurge but worth it. Our guide, Rei, was wonderful. We visited the Tsukiji fish market, Sensoji temple, Nakamise dori shopping street, the Sky Tree, Akihabara (electronics district and home of the bizarro maid cafes), and the old district of Yanaka. Along the way we sampled sushi (highlight!), went on a rickshaw ride and had a traditional soba noodle lunch.

Fish Market Sushi

Fish Market Sushi

Electronics District

Electronics District

Day 6: The boys caught up with football (go Seahawks!) while the girls checked out Shibuya 109,  9-stories of stores dedicated to the fashionable young lady (I stood out…and not in a good way…in my frumpy ex-officio outfit).

Shibuya 109 Purchase

Shibuya 109 Purchase

Day 7: Bullet train to Kyoto

Tips
Wifi / SIM Card: It’s best to arrange this at the airport when you arrive. I didn’t realize that and so we didn’t! Fortunately, I found http://www.Japan-wireless.com online — they deliver SIM cards and wireless routers for rental directly to your hotel. At the end of your trip, you pop the router into a prepaid envelope. Voila! So far its working great.

Tokyo was a great transition week. There were highs and lows as we adjusted but on the whole the city felt easy to navigate. We have many positive first impressions of the culture and the people — there’s a level of service, graciousness and respect that is rare in the U.S. That said, there is also an undercurrent of something else hard to put a finger on…perhaps a steadiness that lacks joy. It’s too soon for us to really comment and even when when we do, it will be from a meager five week perspective. We are simply grateful to be here.

Now it’s onward to Kyoto where homeschooling begins…a whole new adventure!

The Pack List

Quandary: Eight months + ten countries + three seasons + one backpack = What to wear?

No rtw blog would be complete without the infamous packing list.  It serves as a resource for those other brave souls who climb on the rtw bus after us.  It is meticulously curated to ensure pragmatic efficiency.  Fashion, sadly, takes a subservient role.

I’ve combed rtw blogs for months hungry for packing lists.  The most useful of all was at http://www.answeringoliver.com/2012/02/my-rtw-packing-list.html and you’ll see that my list closely resembles Devon’s.

As our 10-day countdown begins, here’s what we are packing:

Clothing (Rachel’s list – kids & DH are similar)

  • Hats (one baseball & one newsboy)
  • Ex-Officio BugsAway Pant (to keep Dengue fever, malaria & Japanese encephalitis at bay!)
  • Ex-Officio BugsAway Hoody
  • Ex-Officio BugsAway Tee
  • Shorts (1)
  • Capris Pants (2)
  • Belt
  • Quick Drying Dress (1)
  • T-Shirts (3)
  • Tank Tops (2)
  • Sports Bras & Regular Bra
  • Quick Drying Undies
  • Quick Drying Socks
  • Bathing Suit (1)
  • Keen Trail Shoes
  • Teva Sandals
  • Patagonia Fleece Pullover
  • Patagonia Rain Shell
  • Buffs (2)
  • Scarf & necklace (my limited bling)
Eight months of clothes?

Eight months of clothes?

Compression Bag = Magic!

Compression Bag = Magic!

No heels in sight.

No heels in sight.

When a duff becomes the bling.

When a buff becomes the bling.

Electronics

  • iPhone (unlocked)
  • iPad
  • Kindle
  • Assorted Chargers (not shown)
  • Anker External Battery
  • Headphones& Splitter
  • Digital Camera (not shown because I used it to take this pic!)
  • Outlet Converter
  • Headlamp

IMG_0477

Other

  • Doorstop (helps secure doors from the inside if we end up at a sketchy guesthouse)
  • Silk Sleep Sack
  • Point It Dictionary
  • Cheap Sunglasses (I expect to lose them so nice glasses will stay at home!)
  • Carabineers
  • Sewing Kit
  • Clothesline
  • Portable Laundry Soap
  • Portable Fan
  • Ear Plugs & Sleep Masks
  • Duct Tape
  • Barf Bags (I know my family well)
  • Security Belt
  • Baggallini Triple Zip Bag (small bag that attaches to my belt — telling myself its NOT a fanny pack)
  • Instant Cold Towel (Loews)
Travel necessity: mustache duct tape

Travel necessity: mustache duct tape

Medical

  • Malaria Pills
  • Ciprofloxacin (traveler’s diarrhea – fun!)
  • Azithromycin (same as above – hope we don’t need both!)
  • Imodium & Pepto Pills
  • Acetazolamide (altitude sickness)
  • Advil
  • Allegra Allergy Pills
  • Benedryl
  • Epipen
  • Bug Spray w/Deet
  • Neosprin
  • Band-aids
  • Moleskin
  • Antibiotic Wipes & Gel
  • Kleenex
  • First Aid Kit

IMG_0419

Toiletries

  • Mini shampoo / conditioner (purchase upon arrival)
  • Body Wash
  • Face Lotion w/Sunscreen
  • Sunscreen (purchase upon arrival)
  • Hairbrush
  • Headbands
  • Wet Wipes
  • Body Lotion (purchase upon arrival)
  • Toothbrush
  • Toothpaste
  • Floss
  • Blistex
  • Nail Clippers
  • Tweezers
  • Deodorant
  • Razor

Homeschool

  • Singapore Math 7th & 8th Grade Curriculum
  • Two Graph Paper Notebooks
  • Writing Workshop Lesson Plan Loaded on Ipad
  • Two Writing Notebooks
  • Pencils
  • Sharpener
  • Calculator
  • Kindle App Loaded with Fiction & Non-Fiction Books
  • Kids Ipads Fitted with Keyboards & Loaded with QuickOffice
Traveling classroom

Traveling classroom

Documents

  • Passports
  • Immunization Records
  • 2 Sets of Photocopies of the above plus copies of birth certificates, drivers licenses, marriage certificate, health insurance coverage
  • Health Cards
  • Credit and Bank Cards (Capital One Venture Card has no foreign transaction fees)
  • Itinerary & Travel Notes
  • Notebooks of Different Sizes (for journaling & jotting down travel notes)
  • Much of the Above Scanned on iPad

What I Am not Bringing that I will Miss

  • Flat Iron (high maintenance, I know, but I’m just being honest!)
  • Jeans (I live in my jeans but they are too bulky for the trip)
  • FitFlops (DH will be so glad not to see these for 8 months)
  • MacBook Pro (despite much advice from seasoned travelers, I’m only taking my iPad – lugging my 13” MacBook across continents flies in the face of simplification, so I am leaving it in Seattle & hope not to regret it)

I should note that we’ve packed a box of winter clothes to be sent to meet us in Germany.  Now if only it all goes as planned…as I appreciate we won’t really know what we needed and what we could have left behind until we’re actually on the road!

Taking Travel for Granted

Equals Access

U.S. Passport = Access

There are obvious hurdles in planning a RTW trip — time and money top the list.  But what if you had the resources and simply weren’t legally welcome to visit other countries?

Citizens of the U.S., Canada, Australia and the European Union generally can travel anywhere.   For our trip, no visas are needed for half of the countries we’re visiting, and a turnkey tourist visa will suffice for the other half.  That’s not the case for the majority of the world’s population.  If you remove the socio-economic barriers of travel, the simple FREEDOM to travel is not a given for many.

Take Barbara Adam’s family for example.  Barbara is an Aussie married to a Vietnamese man.  Their family resides in Saigon, where they run a popular street food tour business, http://www.saigonstreeteats.com.   Barbara is well traveled and planned a vacation to France for her family.  But try as they might, France would not grant her husband a visa, believing that he presented a risk of staying in Europe to gain a “better” life.  Read her story here: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/1451562

Or meet Mina Mahrous, a 20-something Egyptian male studying to become a pharmacist.  Mina is highly interested in seeing the world…and has been consistently turned down for visas and held to higher standards to secure visas.  He wrote an excellent blog on access to travel: http://www.somedayillbethere.com/2012/04/no-not-everyone-can-travel-a-bubble-burster/

I understand that countries need safe guards – this is not a post on the politics of immigration.  Simply, it’s recognition for yet another liberty that I have that others do not and consciousness raising for my small family that global access is currently not a freedom that everyone shares.

What We’re Leaving

image

Seattle on a sunny day is a beautiful thing. Sparkling blue seas dotted with steadily gliding ferry boats. Immense craggy mountain ranges topped with snow on nearly every horizon. An expanse of the expected evergreen trees and an unexpected vast variation of green plants, bushes, grass create balance bordering the blue skies and seas.

We live in an admittedly liberal oasis, sometimes forgetting that there’s a significant part of our country that bleeds red. Our beach community is involved and idyllic with sweet surprises, like yarn “bombed” trees, and children and adults alike who stop to pet our dog. A neighborhood blog keeps tabs on all news, big and small, and makes us feel more united. The local elementary school our children attend has high parental involvement and the afternoon pick-up feels like social hour…I half expect to see a parent sipping out of a martini glass as they chat.

A year ago, we purchased and moved into my grandparents home, after painstakingly remodeling it, and its bones provide the deepest serenity…its history a foundation for our family to grow from.

So why leave? Today it’s 77 degrees in Seattle, I paddle boarded in Elliott Bay, meditating on each wave as it undulated toward me. It’s tempting to say, “Heck, let’s stay here…I could do this self-care thing for an entire year.” How decadent.

And that’s exactly it…it’s time for less decadence and more simplicity. When your child asks you to purchase Italian Soda for yet another school celebration and then complains that you purchased the wrong brand…your household is in need of a global reality check.

We cash that check on September 1st.

My New Favorite Book

image

If life demanded little of me, I’d spend it reading. On the couch, pile of books at my side, pillows properly fluffed and propped, my body wrapped in a pink snuggie. Ok, maybe lose the snuggie.

A colleague and friend gifted Book Lust To Go to me in light of the impending rtw trip.  It’s written by Nancy Pearl, a beloved Seattle librarian, and the book details recommended reading for global destinations A-Z. Its like candy.

I quickly started in the A section and ordered Adrift from the library – a true story of a man lost at sea for 76 days. I learned all about sea turtle blood enemas — serious knowledge that I’m sure will help me in my next ship wreck. (Facts we generally don’t need to know…sea turtle blood would help quench your unrelenting thirst but it’s poisonous so you need to intake it in a non-traditional manner. I’m considering adding an enema kit to our rtw trip pack list.)

The 2nd book read was A Voyage for Madmen, which chronicles nine sailors who set off individually in a race around the world — only one crosses the finish line.

A theme seems to be developing.

I caught up with a good friend yesterday who is taking two years out of the rat race to live on a boat sailing with her family in the Caribbean and of course I couldn’t keep my mouth shut about these books. I was exactly like that co-worker who tells you their birthing horror stories when you’re 8 months pregnant. Open mouth, insert…snuggie.

Thankfully, my friends are forgiving. Book Lust To Go is such a great gift and I’m looking forward to making my way through the recommended reading from my couch as well as all those couches we encounter on our trip around the world.