How do I decide where I’m going? | ItinerantWitness.com
ItinerantWitness asks a favourite question of mine, how do you decide where to travel — when it comes to the internet where do you go and what do you do to get inspiration…???
But most importantly what is missing, what would you like to see to help inspire you?
What can I add to WhereWhenWhy that would help you decide on your next journey…???
Perhaps at last we are getting back to some kind of normality for travellers from UK airports?
“This is a sensible step forward that takes full account of the security threat level while making life easier for our customers.” ~ BA spokesperson
From Friday 22nd September 2006, passengers will be able to take one piece of luggage, upto the size of small carry-on with dimensions upto 56cm x 45cm x 25cm. Musicians instruments will also be allowed on-board.
Liquids are still not allowed through security checks.
One thing that I have realised over years of travelling and reading is that much can be learnt of a place, its people, their culture, its sounds, smells and sights through works of fiction. A good novel is able to give an insight into what a place is really like, what its ‘rhythm’ is, who lives there and what makes them tick.
Don’t get me wrong, I hate to go anywhere new without a Rough Guide clasped in my sweaty hand. But, there is great value in Hemingway in understanding the Spanish (
) (from an Anglo perspective), as in the following snippets from for Whom the Bell Tolls…
‘They were all eating out of the platter, not speaking, as in the Spanish custom.’
‘In this country where no poor man can ever hope to make money unless he is a criminal…or a bull fighter, or a tenor in the opera?’
‘A Spaniard was only really loyal to his village… First Spain of course, then his own tribe, then his province, then his village, his family and finally his trade. If you knew Spanish he was prejudiced in your favor, if you knew his province it was that much better, but if you knew his village and his trade you were in as far as any foreigner ever could be.’
…obviously we need to place this in context, in this case the era of the Spanish civil war (1936 to 1939)…
Hunter S. Thomson in The Rum Diary gives us his view of Puerto Rico
(
)…
‘…quaint old Spanish Puerto Rico, where everybody spent American dollars and drove American cars and sat around roulette tables… One part of the city looked like Tampa and the other part looked like a medieval asylum.’
Or a more contemporary view of small-town Texas (
)from DBC Pierre in Vernon Little God…
‘A shimmer rises off the hood of Pam’s ole Mercury. Martirio’s tight-assed buildings quiver through it, oil pumpjacks melt and sparkle… This was once the second toughest town in Texas… These days our toughest thing is congestion at the drive-thru on a Saturday night.’
Given the recent glut of books telling me of the 100 or 1000 places I need to go to, journeys I need to make, experiences I need to have etc. etc. etc. before I die, I decided to take a step back, escape from the sense of impending doom they invariably give me and take stock. These lists always leave me with a sense of unease, who decides on the list? what if they are somehow wrong? what about all those other places / journeys / experiences?
So I searched around for a source of such information that I felt I could rely on. This led me to UNESCO.
UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) lists 812 site of cultural and natural heritage importance, ‘which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.’
This includes such diverse sites as the Pyramid Fields of Eygpt (
), the Everglades National Park in the USA() and Robben Island in South Africa (
).
I’ve added this data to WhereWhenWhy please take a look and fish around the world clicking on those Heritage links…
So I’ve managed to find a thoroughly researched, free list, available on the web, now I just need to make a start on those 812…?
As cheap airlines and battling travel operators shrink the world through market forces, we need to question some of our old clichés and start to create some new ones.
So, let’s not settle for Paris in the spring time, let’s look for some new destinations…
Madrid () in March. On those clear crisp late winter days as the sun begins to warm the earth, a fine place to while away an afternoon is the Parque del Retiro. Promenade around the lake like a madrileño, then perhaps a cold beer and a little art (the Museo del Prado is not far away and the Reina Sofía a short trip on the excellent metro) before a siesta and a (very) late dinner (dinner-time is typically 10pm onwards). Couple that with the Plaza Mayor, one of europe’s finest squares, the Bernabéu (home of Real Madrid FC), one of Europe’s finest sporting arena’s & Tapa’s and you’ll be asking why you never came before!
If the thing about Paris is the gallic ‘charm’ and flair, but you crave some sun, then how about some French Caribbean sun? Whilst, many of the French influenced islands require long flights with a stop-over in Paris,
, is just over 8 hours from London by direct flight. The weather is great in the early months of the year on this beautiful (surprisingly green) Caribbean emerald of an island..,
Tempted?? Let’s go…
