RIP

My mother-in-law has slipped the earthly bounds, and is free. Ulla may you finally find peace, happiness and harmony.

The Weekend

The difference between journalism and literature is that journalism is unreadable and literature is not read.

Oscar Wilde

Got a chance to read the premier issue of weekend magazine today, it was pretty good. They ran a piece called ipod nation that was about accessories for your ipod. I want all of them! Another article was all about islands you can visit in the US. A run down on San Juan Islands, Nantucket, Mount Dessert Island, Catalina and Mackinac Island. While on your chosen island use their recipe for Paella, broken down so you can prepare it on the beach. I like this mag!

Little Cottage in Newport RI 

Clam Up

Writing is just having a sheet of paper, a pen and not a shadow of an idea you are going to say.

Francoise Sagan


Gleamed some interesting mind filler over breakfast at the Harborside Inn Newport RI this morning. The Atlantic Surf Clams account for over 70% of all clams harvested. Most goes into canned clams and chowder. The clam holds it shell tightly with 2 large muscles called adductors. These muscles are strong enough to prevent most predators from opening the shell. Sky rats or seagulls however often drop them from the air onto hard surfaces to crack them. Down the Hatch! Thanks to Newport this week for that tidbit.

Newport RI  

Cajun Dance 

Googles Got It, Print

If you steal from one author it's plagiarism; if you steal from many it’s research.

Wilson Mizners

Google keeps on giving! They now have Google Print so besides searching online you can now search books. Think of the boost that will give researching. They have partnered with several publishers and several libraries and digitized their collections. You will also be able to learn about the publishers, find similar books as well a buy the book. Nearby libraries that have the book will also show.

If you are an author you can also arrange to have your book included in the search results, a great way to promote your book. It will not affect the copyright status. You can also add contextual ads. These guys are unstoppable!

Summer in High Falls 

Here Kitty, Kitty

Nobody gives a damn about a writer or his problems except another writer.

Harold Ross

When I first pursued the elusive travel-writing path, there were a lot of trips to the library and bookstores. Today a lot of useful sites can help you get jump-started and avoid some pit falls. I have some that I regularly check up on. Logging onto Travelwriters.com’s BBS board can get you all kinds of insider info. The good, bad and ugly. There are disagreements, cynicism, and even encouragement. I have also picked up several great press trips from their lists.

Once you have a few clips under your belt, Media Kitty is a great place to get info and industry news. To join you have to submit links to some published pieces for review. The site is geared not just for writers but also pr people, editors and tourism folks. Almost like a dating site for singles. See if you can find a match, everyone needs a little help sometimes.

Travel to Jordan

Breslin’s Rule: Don’t trust a brilliant idea unless it survives a hangover.

Jimmy Breslin


Just got an email from the Jordanian Tourism Board. Jordan was one of my all time favorite destinations. Ancient ruins, friendly people and the Dead Sea are a powerful combination. Tourist visas are now good for a month instead of two weeks. Jordan’s biggest attraction is undoubtedly the ancient city of Petra. This place is just unbelievable. It is large and you can easily spend several days wondering through the stone-carved Nabataean site. Visitors to the city have increased by 25% over last year. That is quite a jump! The jump is attributed to the active promotion and press visits. They sure sold me.

Tricky Dick in Louisiana 

Traveling Blog

I have nothing in common with two of the biggest bloggers online and that’s good. Nadine Haobsh from Ladies Home Journal and Faran Krentcil from New York Magazine have been outed. Their bosses are less than pleased, unemployment looms in their future. According to the New York Post blogs are a whole new situation for companies and there are an estimated 8 million bloggers in America.

My biggest difference with the two top fashion bloggers is my company encourages my blog, uncensored. They have a link to my blog. In fact I wouldn’t even have a blog if Max and GoNOMAD didn’t help me set one up. Max and I go back a long ways, from Transitions Abroad. He will assure you that I am under no restraints at all. My blog may not be big time but it is surly satisfying. Take that to the bank!

Fear Factor Travel

While recouping on the couch I’ve become a Fear Factor fan. During commercial breaks it occured to me that the fear factor is creeping into what is the world’s most unifying force, travel. The repeat bombings in London today was another attempt to polarize the human race. Places booming with tourism really have little need to sponsor press trips. Fear changes that; a lot of my best trips have been to places that people are afraid of--there are several that come to mind:

Israel- No one understood why I wanted to go when busses were getting bombed. It was such a great trip and I would return anytime.
Jordan- Again with things in Iraq going on, no one understood. The people and places were amazing!
Rio- The equivalent of the urban myth of travel. The lawlessness is nowhere as bad as its reputation, beautiful city worth exploring.
Indonesia- Bombs in Bali, so go to one of the 3,200 other islands.
Guatemala Jungles- Personal fear to overcome--snakes freak me out.

Perhaps there should be a travel fear factor TV show? There certainly wouldn’t be a shortage of contestants.

Mexico City's Best

Often on a press trip you are kept on the move, from morning till after dinner libations. If possible I always try to arrange my return ticket after a few days on my own. Failing that I check to see if Interlink Books has a title for the city I am visiting. Their Cities of the Imagination series is fantastic. The series offers, “in depth cultural and historical guides to the great cities of the world.” Currently the series covers Athens, Buenos Aries, Brussels, Calcutta, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Havana, Helsinki, Kingston, Lisbon, Madrid, Mexico City, New York, Oxford, Prague, Rome, San Francisco and Venice.

One of my favorite chapters in Mexico City by Nick Caistor covers wrestling and El Santo. Let Hulk Hogan have his reality show, in Mexico wrestling is all about unreality. The crowds get hysterical over their grasping heroes. None was more popular than El Santo. Once the saint became a star he was never aging seen without his mask. He was a frequent visitor to the poorer quarters doing charity work. The loser in the ring must strip off his mask, El Santo never did. He went on to star in D movies, TV and comic books. In 1984 he unmasked on TV, no one believed that the battered beaten face was really El Santo. A few days after he dies of a heart attack while on a variety show, that is the reality. Viva Luncha Libre- free fighting!

Bigger than Madonna

Ah the South of France, long way from the couch in Cottekill. Fortunately it is possible to turn pages with broken ribs. Everybody was so Young by Amanda Vail is a peek into one of my favorite time periods in a place that I love. It is about Sara & Gerald Murphy, the prince and princess of the expiate scene in the France of the 1920’s. Their friends were a huge list of artists and writers like Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Picasso, Dos Passos and Stravinsky. You get the picture, a party at P Diddy’s in the Hamptons. They truly had the most influence during the Movable Feast period than any other couple.

What I will always remember them for is making the Southern Coast of France a summer gathering zone. Before they bought a villa near Cap d’Antibes it was strictly a winter hideaway. Gerald was also a good artist as well as scion of Mark Cross Inc.

Lonely Planet's Sexy Travel Book

Relationships can cool after awhile. I have had a life long affair with traveling. Though we’ve never broken up, we have gone through some rough spots. There are countless books about healing and dealing with relationships, only one for “the travel love affair”. Lonely Planets Guide to Experimental Travel is that book. Rachael Antony and Joel Henry have written the Kama Sutra of travel books. If anyone can sex up travel again it is these two.

There are forty chapters dealing with such ideas as Mascot Travel, Lyrical Travel, Trip Poker and the sexually charged Experimental Honeymoon. Each chapter will take you far from the standard travel path. All are designed to open doors to unusual discoveries, both in destinations and inner self. Take the experimental test and step over the line. I wish some CVB and tourism boards would open a copy. I can hear it now, “ here is your complimentary Viagra Pen, and no tours to the Eiffel Tour will be offered on this Fam.”

Travel Medicine

The last time I broke my ribs was many years ago on Crete. I was wild with a 250 Honda dirt bike beneath me. This last time was due to flip-flops and a slippery deck. The pain remains the same, throbbing and painful. Breathing is a chore and every third step brings a knife like pain. Years ago all I needed was a few glasses of restina wine and all was fine, till lifting out of bed in the AM. Now I dread both the going to and getting up from bed. It hurts but it has kept me updated on how old my travel health kit is. I have discovered that my standard pain reliever Hydrocodone is passé. Over the counter Aleve is proving better with far less side effects. Valium that I used for insomnia is now replaced with Lunesta. Again more effective and less side effects. Unfortunately these discoveries come with a price. I remain forever, the clumsy traveler unable, “to leap tall buildings in a single bound”. I can however with modern medicine still get around.

Maine Coast Explained

While up in Maine I started a fascinating book called The Lobster Coast, Rebels, Rusticators and the Struggle for a Forgotten Coast by Colin Woodard. Woodward starts with the Wabanaki Indians and traces the arrival of French, English, Scottish and Portuguese fishermen that plied these bountiful waters. He also covers some little know facts such as what is now the State of Maine was owned by New York at one time. 1816 was know as,” eighteen-hundred-and-froze-to-death”. The glaciers that swept the coast of soil, deposited that soil on the seafloor, making it one of the great fishing spots.

The book then goes into today’s fishing and lobstering industry and the hardships endured. Best of all are the descriptions that really define today’s Mainer. The people of Maine really do have their own identity. No one defines it better then Woodard.

Hospice

For the second time in my life Hospice has come to the aid. This organization gets involved when death looms close to a loved one. Not only do they comfort the ill one, they help those who are facing the loss. The wonderful volunteers amaze me with their compassion and understanding. I am truly grateful for hospice and thank them with all my heart.

Maine Lobsters

The North American Lobster has to be the ugliest food served. I often wonder who was the first brave soul that tried eating one. Had to be totally starving! It is however to me one of life’s greatest eating pleasure, especially up here in Maine. I read some comical lobster tales written by Keith Edwards for the Morning Sentinel. One of his interviewed subjects was Jeff Benedict, owner of Augusta Seafood. It seems many people are surprised when they come in to buy live lobsters. Surprised that they aren’t red like those served in restaurants. “We’ve had people we’ve shipped lobsters throw them away because they thought they were spoiled.” His brother Bob has some advice for those who feel bad about dropping the lobsters into boiling water, “I tell people to take the rubber bands off their claws and let them clop onto your hand hard.” “ Then you won’t feel bad for them.” I for one will gladly do the dirty work, let someone else melt the butter.

Fresh Fish 

Screw Me

Screw/kappa/napa is a good thing. For years I’ve heard about the wine industry bagging the cork and using the screw top. Way up in the little burg of Skowhegan Maine I bought my first bottle of mid –range red wine with a screw top. Its name was screw/kappa/napa and was very good. It actually had a coffee, ripe raspberry and vanilla nose, just like the back label stated. Of course in the cold rainy weather happening a bottle of Jagger would also work. I wonder what my wine friends like Mike Dillon and Wayne Presby of the Mt Washington would think?

3 Loose Screws, a division of Don Sebastiani, do the wine and bottling. If I could keep a bottle around for the five years you recommend, I just might go for the screwing!

I Will Miss You

When entering a Barnes& Nobles or Borders bookstore I head straight to the travel section. While I am seldom disappointed, there is nothing like a whole bookstore dedicated to travel. There is such a place in Portsmouth N.H. that is a treasure, Gulliver’s. Since I was headed up to Maine to await my mother–in–law’s inevitable departure to the beyond, I stopped to gather up books that I love reading most. For the first time in days I actually felt happiness soaking up travel titles. I wanted to grab a boxful and disappear. I wanted to traverse Thailand and boogie in Bulgaria. I wanted to read about women that travel wildly and a guy that carried a fridge around Ireland. I guess I just didn’t want to think about a loved one’s final departure, especially to a place that I couldn’t get a guidebook to. If there were such a book I am sure Gulliver’s would have it.

As it is I have some loving sisters-in-laws and brothers-in laws to fill me in one lady’s long journey through life, one that included a stay in a POW camp in Germany at a very young age. It is most likely a story that would have fit in better than anything that Gulliver’s had. One of my sisters-in-law traveled to Finland to visit relatives to learn more. I for one wish all of my wife’s family peace, tranquility and prosperity. If I could I would wish my mother-in-law a first class seat to wherever humans go. It is one ticket that cannot be planned in advance.

Gulliver’s on 7 Commercial Ave. in Portsmouth N.H. www.gulliversbooks.com Thanks for the relief!

Transportation 

Humming Along

The Hum is back and bigger and better than ever, World Hum that is. God I love this site and frequently when on the road or at home I end up spending mucho time reading it. The site was started by Jim Benning and Mike Yessis. Both have great resumes of their own but opened a portal to many other talented travel writers. Their credo is “World Hum is dedicated to exploring travel in all its facets: how it changes the way we see the world, and finally, how travel itself is changing the world”.

They have improved on greatness! World Hum has added more than just a new layout. They have added some new and notable additions starting with Ask Rolf. Rolf Potts is the original vagabond and any advice he gives is useful. Frank Bures whose story was featured in “The Best American Travel Writing 2004 will cover the books section. The new Speaker’s Corner will give writers a chance to, “rant and rave about topics”. Having a writer and traveler like Jeff Greenwald do the first installment speaks volumes! With Terry Ward doing the “How To”, This site is now a #1 place to go, even if your going nowhere.

Fuel for Travel

Read in the Globe and Mail paper in Canada this morning about the state of travel in Canada. It seems that the rapid rise of fuel prices still isn’t squashing travel. Air Canada’s load factor for May rose from 78.5% last year to 79.9% this year. Industry officials expect a rise of travel to Asia from Canada to go up to between 20% to 30% this year. The downside is visitors from the US have declined by 13.9%. The concern is that 85% of Americans travel by car to Canada. With gas prices rising the border hop has dropped. I wonder about the opposite hop to the US. The best part of the article however a quote by the writer Laszlo Buhasz, “If consumers really want to travel, they’ll adjust one or two pieces of the equation to get a total price they can afford.” Keep hopping!

Say What You Mean Quebec

Say What you Mean Quebed & Mc Gill 

The Clean Up 

Canada Day

Before heading home to celebrate my country’s birthday on July 4th, I have another party to attend. Today is Canada Day. It is Canada’s 138th birthday this July 1st. Until 1982 it was called Dominion Day. It is celebrated every year since 1958. Last night in Quebec City there were bands and banter. It was a beautiful night here in the only walled city in N. America. Tonight we will be in the city of Montreal. Fireworks over the St. Lawrence River are on the agenda. Happy B-day Canada!