13 Travel Tips from the Desk of Travel Vicarious

Look at places as though you were moving there, remember people as though you were coming back and shop like you’ll never be there again.

    Try to take in as much detail as possible. If you look at a place like it may be home you’ll start to notice more than the traditional sights and integrate more into the culture. Check out supermarkets and cafes go to hardware stores. The less touristy places are often very interesting and its amazing the neat things you can find.

    When you talk to people make and effort to remember their names and their details, you never know when you may run into somebody again. But when you shop, seize the moment. I can think of several things that I wish I had bought( A red velvet coat in London, a splendid painting in Chiang Mai). Though it seems like a pain to carry or a little more than you want to spend, chances are you will wish you had picked it up.

Take pictures even when you feel awkward

    You may feel awkward but really, it will only last a second. Especially if you are taking a picture of a thing, the awkwardness you feel is all you. Of course there are times when this rule doesn’t apply and if you ever feel like you are stepping out of line you can always ask politely if a subject minds.

Dress Comfortably: Whether its in jeans, freaky clothes or local garb don't be afraid to be comfy. Don't put on airs because you are traveling. Observe local standards and you shouldn't cause a fuss but don't try to fit in because no matter what you will look like a tourist.

Go back to the same place more than once (if its good): Showing up to the same café or restaurant can be really nice. It allows you to make a connection in anew place and the owners will probably be delighted to see a returned customer when mostly the see revolving faces.

Take public transportation and ride trains third class: Air-conditioned trains are basically the same all over the world. The reason you travel is to experience something different right? Public transport is exciting and allows you to interact with more people. One word of caution, there are certain bus routes known for killing people, be adventurous but don’t be stupid. If you feel like it’s a bad idea, listen to your gut and don’t push your luck.

Eat the street food and be wary of water: Many people miss out on the joy of street food for fear of getting sick. Here’s the thing, in a restaurant no matter how clean it looks in the dining room you can’t see the kitchen. On the street you can see where the food is prepared and how its prepared.  It’s “ clean you can see” and boiling oil kills most things. Go to popular spots where the food is hot and the lines are long.

    Never automatically trust bottled water. Especially in India its common practice to recycle the bottles fill them with tap and then superglue them back on. Inspect your bottle’s cap and smell the water before you drink it. If you have any suspicions don’t put it in your mouth. Carry a backup water purifier like chlorine tablets or if you live large one of those cool hand held UV water purifiers.

Pay more than the locals and don’t gripe about it (unless you are in Europe then go ahead): You dear traveler have money. I know you are broke and you don’t have any room in your budget and its not fair the locals only have to pay $1 and you have to pay $3 but you know what? Deal.

You by virtue of coming from a well-developed country have more money than 90% of the people you meet. Your daily budget is probably what some people make in a week, or a month. So if you have to shell out a bit more do it good naturedly. Remember to be grateful that you have had the chance to travel and that back home you would never get such a good deal.

Support local artists: I love art, so maybe I’m bias but buying a locals produced work of art is so much cooler than any other souvenir. Whether it’s a painting, a photo or a textile local art is one of the few things you really won’t find anywhere else.

Always have a meeting point in case of emergency: Just like when you were doing fire drills in elementary school. If you are traveling with other people there is always the chance you can get separated and if you don’t have cell phones that can be really scary. Designate a place, the hostel or a museum or a restaurant someplace well light, open late and welcoming where you can meet up in case you get separated. Make sure everyone knows what it is.

Learn a few words in the local language: You are probably to going to master Cantonese or Bengali or Thai in the short time you are there but knowing a few words, like “ hello” “thank you” and other niceties is always a plus. It’s polite and it shows that you aren’t just some drunken foreigner looking to cause a ruckus.  If you can pick up “ How much” and “ no” as well those are always handy when negotiating.

Keep a journal: You will forget little details Even if you think you won’t, even if you take pictures, even if you swear you will write it down later you will forget. Make a point to write things down, from observations to quotes people say. Collect business cards and brochures and write what they are. It will make your scrapbook heavier and your memories clearer if you do. No sense in traveling if you can’t tell your grandkids about it.

Get out of the cities and go to a national park, wildlife reserve or forest: Hike a mountain, go bike riding, walk through a field, go to a beach Nature is wonderful and diverting and you will be surprised by how different the earth can be in different places.

Act environmentally responsible: Often when traveling we come against a clash of cultures, depending on where you are trash may be discarded out fo car windows or left on the street. Recycling may be unheard of. Do your best to set a high standard.  Even if others are throwing their trash by the wayside hold onto your until you find a trash can. Recycle if you can and don’t be wasteful just because you can afford to be.

Always remember that setbacks and mishaps are part f travel, they open up new chances to adventure. Stay open, stay positive and enjoy!

Update Special! Swamps and Tattoos

From the Swamps

Sitting in New Orleans the only place where you can find 1/2 dozen oysters on a half shell for $10 at the airport. Great for all you sea-foodies, less great for land lubbers like me-self.

Been sent to the Big Easy on assignment. Well, not the big easy, Morgan city from whence I shall commence fishing and alligator wrestling and swamp shenanigans. Or something.

As I am on assignment for GoNomad.com I will refer you to my blog there for further updates.

Thai Tattoos.

Thailand is known for many cool and badass things spicy curry, may thai, temples, the red-light district and cock-fighting. However at its heart is a deep reverence for Buddhism.

One of the interesting artistic expressions of this is complex and intricate tattoos which work as amulets and ward off evil or bring good luck to the wearer. Many tourists to Thailand get a tattoo as a souvenir imprinting on themselves this unique style of ink.

Thai tattooing goes back a ways and it is traditionally done in a very ritualistic manner. many modern parlors keep up with the spiritual heart of the art even as others do whatever to get farang( that's you white folk) cash.

This article on NPR is not only interesting but check out the photos! I know Fiz has been contemplating adding some ink to his skin next time we are there. Its important to remember that just because you are a tourist does not mean you are entitled to a scared art and equally important to remember that just because you are a tourist you are excluded from a sacred art. Intention Intention Intention.

Bylines and Passports

There is always some glitch in travel plans, sooner or later it happens that something gets sticky.
In general I hope it happens sooner and is gentle and gets itself over with before a trip begins in Ernest.

This time its my passport. After we got married we changed out names so, naturally, we needed new passports. We sent them out in March. I still haven't gotten mine back yet. :(

Fiz, thankfully has received his. But I'm concerned my passport has fallen through some sort of bureaucratic crack and is stuck, lost and alone waiting for rescue.

This obviously puts our plans, not only on hold but in jeopardy. Can't go to Thailand with only one passport. Still, I am planning on. I believe everything will come through in the end. Its painful watching plane tickets soar in price, especially in the last few weeks.

Planning for long term, long distance travel is complicated. You need to budget, to plan where you will stay, for how long, how will you get there, ect. Planning to move is even stranger.

I am a person who likes to have a plan, but traveling has shown me that teh best laid plans often go awry or get changed. So we are keeping it loose, which to the outsider ( an myself) can see foolhardy.

For those who are curious we hope to leave late August. We need to be there for the 29th and I would like some time to acclimate before I need to be functional in a course.

The course itself starts in Cambodia, we will spend two weeks there and then we will travel to Pattaya in Thailand. Once the course is finished we will either take a few days and go south to hit a beach or two, or we will go directly to Bangkok to start job/apartment hunting.

Job prospects look good. Seems from internet chatter and word of mouth that there are more jobs teaching English than English teachers. As I have a degree and will be certified I don't anticipate having trouble locating suitable employment. Apartments about in Bangkok and they are cheap compared to Amherst ( unbelievable as it may seem) so again, not stressing too much.

Fiz however posses a different sort of challenge. He will be TESOL certified but have no degree. We will have to see how that plays out. I hear mixed things, some say it will be fine others think its disastrous.

So what's our fall back plan? Vietnam. Cambodia, India, Turkey, Budapest. All of the above.

As to by-lines; mine is officially now Kathleen Broadhurst. I debated for a long time whether or not to use my maiden name vs. married name but considering I have already had things published in my maiden name and my married one is super long I was convinced to go with the Broadhurst straight up. Not without regret or mixed feelings but it looks to be a better career move. We shall see.

Post Rapture Reflections

"I thought our attendance was really great Sunday considering the rapture occurred on Saturday, didn't you?"

This was the joke at a lot of church staff meetings today-  a reference to the now infamous prediction of Harold Camping, the Christian broadcaster who told his followers to expect the rapture last Saturday night at 6:00 P.M.

What are we to make of these kinds of sideshows in the sometimes three ring circus of American Christian culture?   We should keep in mind that fascination with the day and hour of Christ's return has been a part of Christianity since the early church.  So when we occasionally read stories like this we should remember that clear biblical teaching is that we are to be engaged with Christ's mission and work as if He were coming any day on the one hand (2 Peter 3), but on the other we are taught to be about that work with joy and steadfastness without our eyes fixated on the clouds as if we have nothing better to do(Acts 1:11).

Al Mohler recently published a response to Camping, which I think has some good points: 

First, Christ specifically admonished his disciples not to claim such knowledge. In Acts 1:7, Jesus said, 

“It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” In Matthew 24:36, Christ taught similarly: “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

To state the case plainly, these two verses explicitly forbid Christians to claim the knowledge of such dates and times. Jesus clearly taught that the Father has not revealed such dates and timing, but has reserved that knowledge for himself. It is an act of incredible presumptuousness to claim that a human knows such a date, or has determined God’s timing by any means.

Second, the Bible does not contain hidden codes that we are to find and decipher. The Bible has been given to us in order that we might know the truth, and the truth is clearly revealed in its pages. We are not to look for hidden patterns of words, numbers, dates, or anything else. The Bible’s message is plain and requires no mathematical computation for its understanding. The claim that one has found a hidden code or system in the Bible is an insult to the Bible as the Word of God.

Third, Christians are indeed to be looking for Christ to return and seeking to be found faithful when Christ comes. We are not to draw a line in history and set a date, but we are to be about the Father’s business, sharing the Gospel and living faithful Christian lives. We are not to sit on rooftops like the Millerites, waiting for Christ’s return. We are to be busy doing what Christ has commanded us to do.

In Hebrews 9:28, we are taught that Christ will come a second time “to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” 

That is the faithful Christian response to the New Testament teachings about Christ’s coming. The church is not to be arrogantly setting dates, but instead to be eagerly waiting for him. Of that we can be truly certain.

Seeing Recent Events Through The Lens Of The Gospel

What a few weeks we've had.

A royal wedding was followed by one of the most dramatic military operations in U.S. history.  Someone famously tweeted,

"The girl married her prince.  The bad guy was killed. It's been a real disney weekend here on planet earth."

In addition to those dramatic events, we've had tsunamis,  earthquakes, nuclear meltdowns, floods, wildfires and what will go down in history as the "Arab Spring" because of the popular uprisings that have toppled governments in the Middle East.

What is the Christian perspective on these things?  Aside from the inevitable prediction that this is surely the end of the world (Jesus made it clear that when you think it's obvious- it's not), I've been thinking lately about how we as Christians should distill down the dramatic events we see around us.

There are many obvious points to make, but I want to focus not so much on what we see, but on what we should see through.

As Christians we are to see all of life through the lens of the gospel- that we are all dreadfully sinful and yet incredibly loved.  The gospel gives us our context for reality and is the central truth of our life.   Paul said, "I resolved to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2).  The truth we learn in the gospel is the lens through which we understand everything else in life.

The gospel keeps us grounded and balanced in our understanding of everything that happens in life. It is through that lens that we as Christians are to see all of the world events.  This context brings balance to all that we experience- no matter how dramatic those events may seem.

So when we hear about a world terrorist coming to justice in a violent death our response should be measured somewhat by the overwhelming reality of the gospel.  On the one hand we delight in justice accomplished, but on the other we can see that it is only by His grace and mercy that we ourselves have been rescued from the consequences of our own sin.

The gospel does not allow us to categorize sin.  The Christian understands the incredible potential for evil that resides in every human heart and is able to say of the evil we see around us, "There except by the grace of God go I!"    In this sense it is important that when events like this take place that we not measure ourselves against the sins of others and rank human evil in a kind of hierarchy of severity (2 Corinthians 10:12).

The gospel teaches me that my sin was bad enough to put God on the cross.  It doesn't get worse than that.

My daughter asked me the day after Bin Laden was killed, "Dad, what do you think of all the celebrating going on for the death of this man?"  I said to her, "I understand it, but to see Americans celebrating a man's death feels a little weird to me."  She said, "Me too."

We talked about how to understand what we were seeing and what we were feeling about it.  I made the observation that the celebrations we see should remind us that although there is rejoicing today about the end of a type of evil, that one day there will be great and lasting joy about the end of ultimate evil (Revelation 20:2).   To put the celebrations in context in this way is helpful.

People long for the death of ultimate evil because it rings true.  That is what our future is moving toward.  We can rejoice in that.

Am I pleased that this man will no longer have the capability of terrorizing the lives of millions of people?  Absolutely.  Am I impressed with the faithfulness and sacrifice our military men and women who put their lives on the line every day for us?  You bet I am!

But do I rejoice in his death?  Of course not.   I do not rejoice in the death of a single human being who goes into eternity without Christ.   Ezekiel 18:23-32 teaches us that God does not rejoice in the death of the wicked.  The Spirit of Christ in me does not reconcile an emotion that runs contrary to the heart of God.

To see events through the lens of the gospel is also to understand how nuanced our own limited perspectives can seem.  The gospel is universal in scope and therefore as a believer I am to think locally and globally at the same time.

As Christians we are to understand our calling to proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:19-20).  It is helpful therefore at a time like this to remember that there are believers in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan and Iraq and Jordan who are holding up the gospel to Muslims and praying for their salvation.

An Egyptian Christian woman whose posts have been extremely popular during the Egyptian uprising tweeted the day after Bin Laden was killed,

"Americans you are really freaking me out right now..."

Because the world is now a vast social network via the internet, American Christians now more than ever have to be aware of their global witness.  As Christians in America we have lived with the grief and sorrow of the events of 9-11 and have been immersed in the shadow of Islamic terrorism ever since.  So it is understandable that we all felt a sense of relief at the news of Bin Laden's death.  But at the same time we should make sure that our response to this kind of news is pleasing to Christ.

I am convinced we are individually accountable for how we bear His name to a lost world- even to parts of the world that insult our patriotic sensibilities- where unruly crowds shout "death to America" and burn American flags.  These are places of darkness where the gospel has not penetrated and those are people who Christ gave His life to save. Indeed, these are the "outermost parts of the earth" Jesus was talking about.  

So through the lens of the gospel I see things differently than my own limited perspective.

It is through that lens that I can see a true perspective on the meaning of the death of ultimate evil.

And this perspective helps me put all the other dramatic events of the past few weeks into proper context as well.  Through the lens of the gospel I understand the fascination with the beauty of a royal wedding broadcast to billions around the world because I know that there there will be a day when the true and better Groom will receive His bride and all creation will rejoice (Revelation 19).

Through the lens of the gospel I understand that all creation is convulsing in labor pains until His redeeming work is consummated at the end of the age (Romans 8).    I can see that these things that captivate us, as fascinating as they are, are not ultimate things.  They are only shadows of things to come.

The gospel therefore as my ultimate reality teaches me to see through them to what is most important.

To see that He by His redemptive work on the cross has defeated ultimate evil and suffering and will one day completely bring it to an end and that on that day the true Prince of Peace will invite us to His wedding feast.

That will be a day that even Disney couldn't imagine.

GoNomad!

More not exactly travel related news.

I just started working at GoNomad.com a travel website with trip ideas, articles and inspiration for alternative travelers. I will be blogging over there under the Travel Reader blog so if you feel so inclined, jump over there and give it a look.

In more personal travel news:

Plans are getting more serious, we have reached the three month countdown and though I personally am still trying to wrap my head around the idea that we are going, it doesn't feel real just yet.

Our paperwork is almost in order and then all is left is buying plane tickets and packing. I've started a mental list of all the shiz-nit we will need with us, but its a strange sort of list to make.

I'll post details as they come up, and maybe share more of my list making dilemmas when I've got a minute.

Shameless Plug

Pretty excited to announce that my article was just published in on Matador.com, " the world's largest travel website". Its about herbs and taking alternative health on the road.

Click on the title of this entry to go there.

I'm really excited to have it published and to have it be as popular as it has been.
I will let you all know about any upcoming articles( hoping there will be some!).