Armchair Wanderlust

You know that big hook they used in vaudeville to pull people off the stage? I need someone to come right away with one and pull me away from this computer.

Okay, it's true I'm not cloistered in a stuffy room with only a flickering fluorescent bulb and the monitor to suggest the memory of daylight. My computer desk is the giant table on the veranda where I'm surrounded by one of the world's best views and caressed by the gentlest of sea breezes which keeps the ceiling fan and palm trees in soft motion.

But I'm obsessed. I've lost all perspective, all sense of time or motivation to get up and move. 

I'm doing research.

I can't stop.

Go ahead, ask me something about Italy. If I don't already know, I'll Google it.

I'm having so much fun, being (for now) an armchair traveler and world wide web explorer. My trip is beginning to take shape. A reservation here, a reservation there. Ideas for daytrips. Checking out places recommended by friends. Leaving a few nice big holes for serendipity and following my nose. And mostly, wandering the infinite brain map that is the internet.

If only you could see my Safari history on this machine. One link leads to another, from an intriguing ruined temple to a history lesson, from an ancient walled city on a hilltop to a nearby farmhouse that serves guests cappucino with fresh baked bread for breakfast and a homecooked dinner of homegrown produce, meat, olive oil and wine. How does one stop?

The internet is an avid traveler's dream come true. Guidance abounds. Photos elucidate. Small lodgings and hamlets often have informative websites in several languages, and a single email begins a warm correspondence with an inn owner or a language teacher.

I've come across some wonderful websites on my quest to pack lightly so as to be more fleet of foot. I'm pretty sure I spent an entire day on Journeywoman.com, where I read all 500 Best Travel Tips even though many of them were about places like Africa and Shanghai. I couldn't resist. You never know what advice the next tip will offer. Why wear a money belt, for example, when you can remove the pads from inside the cups of a bra and pad it with your cash? I'm not sure I have enough space in my bra size to do that, but still.

I'm not sure about a few others, either. Am I going to wear heavy black rubber-soled shoes with black wool socks, as recommended by one very serious woman traveler? Not this shoe fetishist. I'm going to have a hard enough time keeping my favorite high heels from jumping into the suitcase when I'm not looking. And, speaking of footwear, how about this idea which is supposed to prevent jet lag: "Wear damp socks on the plane." Ooh, I don't think so, that just sounds icky.

Some of the tips I like a lot. Taking a sarong along, or a pareo as we call them here.  It can do lots of things from a being a lightweight blanket or picnic cloth to covering a swimsuit to draping around your shoulders for extra cathedral coverage. Best thing about that idea is that I can just pull one off my couch and throw it in the suitcase.

How about this one? Scan all your important documents into your computer so you can access and print passport copies and luggage receipts in case of emergency. That's a good, responsible idea. Now that I've installed the new Mac operating system on my laptop (don't even ask), I'm going to be able to access everything on my distant laptop from my handy lightweight iPad, or so they tell me. Through The Cloud, whatever that is. I had to research this stuff too, you can bet. I'm still in an "I'll believe it when I see it" frame of mind, but I'll bite. Mostly I'm hoping I don't lose my passport or my luggage.

I'd like to pack a compass, as another woman suggests, or maybe I can find a nice old-fashioned-looking compass app for my iPad. I like getting lost when I travel. Way back in my twenties, I made a habit of driving or walking wherever I wanted and not worrying about where I ended up. I had a map: I could trace backwards to my place of origin when I was finished exploring.

I still like to do that. Now everyone says get a GPS. I'm considering it, but it seems like cheating. I'd rather have a map and a compass. It's more...adventurous. More Around-the-World-in-Eighty-Days-ish. Anyway, getting lost is half the fun.

Now that I think about it, that's what I've been doing on the internet, too. Floating around, getting happily lost.

Maybe you'd just better hang on to that hook for a while. I'll find my way back eventually.

Comments

[Candice]

Wow, Tom, that's some valuable info. I'm just beginning to climb this learning slope and appreciate your trail blazing. Thanks! C

[Tom Plattenberger]

Fun process. I am interested in GPS also, but not for the purpose of getting somewhere. I would set it up to keep track of my steps and later, look at the trail I had made.

And speaking of where you have been... you might want to turn on location services for photos you take with your iPad. Some cameras have this feature and you will probably take most of your photos with a better camera. But for ones you take with the iPad, you can look at them later and see on a map, exactly where they were taken. Also, you can look at a map and see pins dropped all over the place where you took photos, touch on a location, and see all your photos at that point, even if taken at different times... ah h h, its a wonderful world.

And your scans of your documents... send them to yourself in email, open the email and save the attachments in your photo library. I often do that sort of thing with maps... even as close by as Puerto Vallarta. If I go in and want to find an out of the way shop, I first locate it on Google Maps, take a screen shot, then email it to myself, save it into photos, and in that way, I can look at it later, without having to be on line using data.

Happy Trails
Tom

[Char]

A big part of a trip is the planning...so keep on enjoying the ride!

[Sheri]

You 're going to have an amazing trip. Today Drew got back from hockey playoffs and he used his miles to get me a flight to Paris. YIPPIE!!!. Too bad we won't be going at the same time. It would be fun to meet you someplace wonderful. I can't bear the thought of not seeing you till Fall!