the turtle speaks

Jan 30

“Beware the patriot who doesn’t have a passport.” Kim Fabricius

Jul 18

“The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.”

G.K. Chesterton

I cite this as great travel advice, despite my admission of having an agenda while visiting Ireland. And, as always, if you need travel assistance, contact the lovely helpful Katie @ http://kalikosmos.com

Jul 14

A jellyfish doing his thing

Jun 29

San Francisco street (I’m working on technique to minimize post-processing time)

Feb 26

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” - Mark Twain

Interesting chart of passport ownership by state, especially for one who likes to travel and is married to an über travel agent. The idea of travel is so ingrained in me that I forget what a relative luxury it is. But I know many people in middle age who haven’t traveled on a plane for non-business purposes in decades (or ever). On the flip-side, ours is a country large enough to do plenty of diverse stateside travel. It’s not like you have to have a passport to go to an adjacent state (Europe, Central America, etc).

Unfortunately, this map solidifies some of the stereotypes of certain states in our nation. But a few of the colors are surprising: Oregon, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont, Colorado.

Original blog post material below, noting that that 30% of Americans have a passport.

ilyagerner:

Planning my vacation made me curious as to how many Americans have valid passports. It’s an interesting question, both for comparative purposes – 75% of UK residents and 60% of Canadians have passports – and because post 9/11, governments have demanded more documentation for international travel. I think of freedom to travel as a basic right, but with regulations tightening, what percentage of Americans are able to leave the country, if only for a brief vacation?

Good data was surprisingly hard to find. A 2008 GAO report puts the number at 28%, but recent media reports have projected an increase to 30% or so.

As with every social statistic applicable to the US there are geographic disparities. I couldn’t find exact figures for states, so I extrapolated zip code-based passport issuance data from the State Department to create a choropleth map of globetrotting & stay-at-home America.

These are very rough calculations, better for comparison than exact figures. There aren’t many surprises. Alaska & Hawaii (not featured on the map because…it’s a long story) weighed in at 44% and 33% respectively, New Jersey was the only state approaching 50%, and West Virginia and Mississippi tied for last place at 13%. Full breakdown here.

To be clear: I don’t think this is evidence of American insularity, ignorance or anything of the kind. Foreign vacations are expensive. Americans don’t have the luxury of a buying a rail ticket bound for any station from Lisbon to Vladivostok, so unless we live in driving distance to Canada (“Like America…but cleaner”) or Mexico, there’s the added flight expense. Nor do we have the kind of vacation time available to most Europeans. Plus, it’s a big and beautiful country; you can spend a lifetime on domestic travel.

Still, for those with the financial means and flexible work schedules there are no good reasons to avoid seeing new things and find new ways of seeing.

Sep 17

Lost and Found in Europe

Young folk return from a European studies program or backpacking trip and say with satisfaction, “I had a great time. I really found myself in Europe.” (or similar). If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it 18 or 19 times.

This brings to mind several questions:

Why are people getting lost in Europe? Perhaps they need better maps? (though, it’s been around for a few thousand years)
Is Europe holding people hostage? Perhaps that’s where people’s real selves are, and they then find themselves while abroad.
Is it possible to have a great time while you’re lost?

Aug 21

Scott Adams, travel agent. Travel agent, Scott Adams.

Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) recently blogged on The Less Feature. After a frustrating online experience, he wishes he could pay more for fewer options in several areas of life, noting his fondness of a simple iPad as his example. I agree with his point (my Apple zealotry confirming this) except for his main complaint: travel. He notes that after fighting several travel-booking sites:

…The flight I picked had all sorts of seating options and levels of travel that I needed to research. Then I needed to arrange the rental car, the hotel, and the airport pickup. Then I took all of the information and reformatted it in a way I could read. At some point in the process I crossed a line: The time to plan and book the trip took longer than it will take to fly across the entire country… Worse yet, I don’t have the slightest confidence that I got the best deal or the most convenient flight.

These travel-booking sites that Adams mentions were invented to make an inherently complicated process easier. For a short vacation to downtown NYC or booking a flight and rental car to see family, this can work great. But what if you need something more complicated? Multiple-cities? Multiple airlines? Rail or complex car rental? Out-of-the-way hotels, bed and breakfasts, or attraction tickets? The multitude of destinations, options, customizations, and personalizations cannot be simplified. A travel agent helps navigate the complexities, either for an included commission or a reasonable fee.

Not that a person can’t do all this work themselves. Some, in fact, enjoy it. What travel agents offer is convenience, saving time and, often, money for the busy. Not everyone thinks this is worth their dollars, and that’s ok. For those that do, travel agents offer a great service. And the travel sites exist for those who want to hunt or who don’t need many options.

The tax code should be more comprehensible, but until it is I’m going to enlist the help of someone to assist me with my return. I can do it myself, but I don’t want to. Some don’t want to spend time cleaning or mowing their lawn or changing their oil and will pay extra for such services.

It’s the diversity and options that make travel great. Whether you want to save time or need more than simplicity (and I’m not sure which category Adams falls into), there’s an agent for that.

Disclaimer: My wife is a travel agent and manages other travel agents. Some are willing to pay for her services and others aren’t. It’s interesting to me to see how people choose to travel and what they’re looking for. It’s also sad when a problem comes up, and someone tries to call customer service on a website because a flight was cancelled or a booking was wrong.

Jun 9

A few pics of the Golden Gate Bridge and environs. I left my tripod in OK and it was a little cloudier than I’d hoped, but the evening was throughly enjoyable.

Jun 7

No illegal drugs, boat captains. Please feel free, however, to be under the influence of all the legal drugs you want.

A Wilson, ready just in case of forced island-life, from the boat of the dolphin-watching cruse our family took at South Padre Island last week.

Note also the coconut monkey.

Mar 17

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Benefit of going to Ireland? Kissing the Blarney Stone, of course. If you’ve noticed that I’ve been more eloquent since last Summer, that’s why. If you haven’t noticed, you haven’t been paying attention :-)

Not only does the stone and castle promote elocution, but it clearly makes people very happy.

Penguin Books demos iPad prototypes

When I see examples like this, I get more excited about the iPad and potential for changing how media is consumed. I’m especially interested in the kids books they show and the travel books. I’m not sure how practical taking an iPad around a new city might be, but the information in that format would be very nice to have on any trip. Looking forward to see what other companies can put together.

Feb 15

Toughts about Ireland from tirty-tree tousand feet (or reflections on our Irish vacation)

(I ended up finishing this quite a bit later than when I started it on the plane on our way back from Ireland pics)

On the Irish mystique

Ireland is a tourist-driven economy, or at least certain areas of it are. People (of which we were two of over 5 million a year. Ireland receives nearly two visitors/year for each resident) go to Ireland not to see a growing, western European nation enjoying the prosperity of the EU, but rather to see the romantic Ireland. The Ireland of sheep, cattle, rolling hills, rocky pastures, Irish music, magical Blarney stones, and the like. We come to visit something magical, ancient, and rural.

For better or worse, the Irish populace caters to this. There is no shortage of touristy locations, events, and services. We ate at a pub one evening in Kenmare, where the setup was old Irish, the menu described how the fare and adult beverages were Irish, and a local musician played ‘traditional’ Irish songs on his guitar while encouraging the foreign crowd to sing along.

Perhaps the main downside of globalization, homogeny, and a shrinking world is the loss of distinctiveness. It’s a little saddening to see American chain restaurants and stores in large cities. Fortunately Ireland hasn’t fully capitulated yet, but the steps so far are a little sad. I realize this is a selfish touristy concern, but it’s one I have nonetheless. I suppose in a way the similarities then serve to highlight the distinctive elements that remain. Dan Barry, of the New York Times asks “Does Real Ireland still exist?”, concluding that it does not — at least not in its idealized state — but that there is charm and mystique just the same. Seems a fair assessment.

On Irish scenery

The Irish countryside was all we expected and more. The diversity of the country is amazing; from bogs to mountains, rocky cliffs to beautiful sandy beaches, rolling green fields to the strangeness of the burren.

More delightful than the greenery and diversity is the presence of ruins, castles, churches, and forts, hundreds (some thousands). The deep history and permanence of the society stands in sharp contrast to Oklahoma. The Irish have deep roots in the land and heritage. Oklahomans know we belong to the land, but it’s not ours as the sins against Native Americans and the transient nature of our culture. The music seems to rise from the rivers, the sadness of centuries of hardship echos from the hills, and the language of a literary people is found, in early forms, etched in rocks that predate Beowulf.

Ireland feels permanent.

On Irish roads

They’re narrow, and sheepish. Well-paved and shoulderless. Our rental car didn’t have AC (expected), was standard (not expected), and had the steering wheel on the wrong side (not unexpected but definitely different).

It certainly keeps a foreign driver awake.

On Irish people

Friendly as advertised. This could be because they know they need the tourists. Or because I found them nicer because of their accents. Or because they’re a pleasant people whose attitude is shaped by hardship and struggle.

On things we didn’t know that we know now

Coffee is not abundantly available. This is our problem, not theirs :-).
Vehicle rental was cheap. Gas was not.
Our Visa was accepted nearly everywhere (apparently Ireland is a place we want to be).
The long daylight hours (due to northern longitudes) make for pleasing light and pleasant days.
Even taking the exchange rate into account, food seemed pricy.
Even though Ireland is the size of Indiana, we only covered parts of the southern half in our 9 days. Much more to see.