So I've been busy dealing with eye issues this week. No one can figure out why, but somehow my cornea is damaged so I need a series of drops and then figure out if I can wear a more "breathable" contact. I wonder how this will effect my travel. Glasses are fine, but wearing on the beach or skiing isn't really my idea of comfort.
But in other news, I recently learned about LitLiberation. I've really never heard of anything like it. Their site says that they are the "largest online literacy experiment in history, redesigning fundraising as a competition with world-class prizes." So they're bribing you to be charitable. I'm intrigued.
LitLiberation poses the question: "Can we raise $1,000,000 from normal people in just four weeks? Many of the world’s top CEOs and bloggers think so." From there you can decide to support education in US schools, developing countries, or both. You then donate to specific projects, some with a requirement of less than $50. Or, givers can decide to create a personal donation challenge page to show others and get them to donate. It says they have sample pages you can copy and paste code from. And then apparently you spread the word and have the chance to win prizes like roundtrip airfare to anywhere in the world, lunch with the co-founder of Yahoo, a thank you in the next printing of a #1 NY Times bestseller, artwork, VIP passes to parties, etc.
I like that you can win free travel through raising money for a charitable cause. But it also seems like a lot of hype and press for the celebrities involve. I noticed Gina Trapani from Lifehacker is on the list of givers, as well as Tim Ferriss from the 4-Hour work week. So you're essentially competing against millionaires who have the resources to invest. Regardless, I'm happy someone is using their celebrity for a good cause and actually stimulating the world to read at the same time.
Anyone tried this?
Here is Tim Ferriss' video entry about LitLiberation. His speech is pretty compelling, it's hard not to want to go look at their site.
LitLiberation
Princeton University Wants You to Take a Year Off
Today I read an article that Ivy League Princeton University will start a new program to entice up to 10% of their incoming freshmen to take a year off in between high school and college. But instead of partying it up from coast to coast or bumming around Europe, the university wants them to perform social service work around the world.
"We think this kind of service experience abroad will give them a very different perspective on their Princeton education," said Princeton Provost Christopher Eisgruber.
I wish this program had been around when I was in college. Though I wasn't really ready for college in the first place and was shy, didn't make many friends, and ended up transferring to a school closer to home. True, it had a better major for me, but I was still wanting to get out of the big Southern football college I had initially chosen. I think for many, the freshmen year in college is a chance to transition with some independence while retaining structure. I'm not sure how many freshmen will really benefit from going abroad. I would have loved to do something like this in between my senior year of college and first year in the work force. It would given me fresh, much needed perspective.
Looks like officials are looking to the 2009-10 school year, and would eventually recruit as many as 100 students, or about 10% of each incoming class. Surprisingly, students going abroad wouldn't pay tuition, and might even get financial aid to help pay for fees, living expenses and travel, but not academic credit. This is interesting. 1) I figure they' nickel and dime their students to death and use this as an opportunity to even raise tuition for the special program. It's almost as if they'd be giving the university at 10% pay cut. 2) No academic credit? Are these students, chomping at the bit to go to an Ivy League school, going to want to forgo the chance to receive credit and postpone their college career?
"When you're reading a text of poetry, it helps when you understand the cultural assumptions there," Bermann said.
I guess so. But I don't think I'd go abroad to interpret poetry better. I do agree with the expanding of cultural horizons, though. My husband maintains that everyone should live in New York City once in their lives, but I think we're overcrowded here as it is. I do think everyone should go abroad to a city unlike their own where the people don't speak the same language you do.
Watch a video on Budapest here....
The Faltering Economy and Travel
Every time I log onto CNN, MSN, or Salon, I'm faced with endless articles and nightmarish themes featuring the following:
- The housing crisis - every last person in America is defaulting on their loans and walking away from their homes. Every city will soon look like Detroit with boarded-up skyscrapers and crime rates will soar.
- Home owners are burning their houses to the ground, a ritual sacrifice to the mortgage Gods that could rival the final scene in The Wicker Man. (the original, not the Nicholas Cage version)
Nothing to see here, Officer, just a defaulted home burning to the ground- Even if you're living comfortably and paying your mortgage, all your neighbors are jumping ship and your home's value is currently worth $2 and a button.
- Lenders are so freaked about about the mortgage crisis, aspiring homeowners will never get a loan again, even if you have sparkling credit.
- Private school loans are at an all time high. No one can go to school without spending about $4 million bucks and paying 80% interest afterwards, thus passing down loans to your children and grandchildren.
- Average Americans now must buy generic, near-spoiled milk and sugarless, cartoonless cereal and walk to work because gas is just too expensive.
- Starbucks will go bankrupt because no one is buying frivolous $5 lattes with vanilla flavoring, extra foam, and half-caffeinated. The culprit? The economy.
- The dollar is at such an all-time low that Europeans viciously mock us, buying up our real estate, retail, businesses, and restaurants with the allowance of a school child.
- Global warming will kill us before dawn. This somehow relates to the economy, too.
March 15th: Mortgage Due - March 16th: Burn down home to avoid paying mortgageHowever, travel continues to increase, albeit slowly. My theory is that people are so overworked trying to pay for their near-defaulted mortgages (or that the news has them so fearful of the faltering economy) that they need a vacation to escape it all. Not to mention most families have two working parents who are trying to balance kids with work with domestic bliss, so when else does good old fashioned family fun take place?
I think it's irresponsible for the media to continually stalk us with doomsday information. I'm all for getting the facts, but countless stories about how we're all in hell is not good for our collective psyche. It'd be nice to balance some of these horror stories with success stories of people making it work and projected economical outcomes for the next 6, 12, and 18 months.
So should we spend any money at all on travel? It's an easy answer. No, if we don't have enough. Yes, if we can afford it and travel financially responsibly. My thought is that we can't stop living life and taking simple measures like going camping and having a bottle of wine for a total cost of $25 once in awhile. I've noticed people seem apologetic and make excuses when they spend money on travel. If they're compromising their mortgages to travel, they should feel guilty. But where's the shame in saving for a much needed break from our "current climate"?
This whole messy situation does concern me, though. With Europe's pound currently hovering over double to our dollar, I'm not sure how we'll manage our friend's Scotland wedding this fall. My plan is to use frequent flyer miles and get a press rate on a hotel room, then eat out sparingly. Every city has free attractions, so I' m not overly concerned with entertainment. I know we can swing it, but it could mean not being able to indulge on any other travel this year, and that's a problem for me.
Lately we've been considering a cheaper alternative to international travel: South America. It's one of the few areas where our dollar can stretch past a pack of gum. I'll be interested to see if their travel industry starts soaring because of our own faltering economy.
Travel Alert - Gone to the Birds
Fundación ProAves, American Bird Conservancy, and Conservation International have inaugurated the El Dorado Bird Reserve in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range of northern Colombia. The area boasts the highest concentration of continental range-restricted bird species in the world, with 21 endemics such as the Santa Marta Parakeet and Santa Marta Antpitta found nowhere else, as well as migratory songbirds from the United States.
"The region is internationally recognized by the Alliance for Zero Extinction
The reserve features ecotourism facilities designed to help make it self-sustaining, including the spacious Jeniam Ecolodge and the Blue Moon Restaurant. El Dorado is located between 2,900 and 8,500 feet above sea level amidst a stunning landscape of dense forests, with views to the 19,000-foot high peaks and glaciers of the Sierra Nevada, and the Caribbean beaches and mangroves of Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta.
"The birdwatching at the El Dorado Reserve is amazing because there are so many species that can only be seen there, and the views of the high peaks above and the beaches down below are absolutely spectacular," said Fenwick, who recently travelled to the Reserve for its opening ceremony. "This easily accessible paradise on the Caribbean coast is the best place to go in all of Colombia."
One hundred years of exploration in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta has revealed an extraordinary catalogue of rare species restricted to the forests in and around the reserve. In 2007, a new species, the Santa Marta Screech Owl, was discovered and several of the more than 50 endemic subspecies of birds have been shown to warrant separate species status. Amphibians, butterflies, plants, and other groups also show exceptional levels of endemism.
"Because these forests were at high risk of deforestation, development for vacation homes, and an invasion of non-native pines into native broadleaf forests, Fundación ProAves launched a campaign to protect the area," said Fenwick. "With support from American Bird Conservancy, Conservation International, and others, ProAves has acquired nearly 1,700 acres of this living jewel, which is named after the legendary city of gold, El Dorado, for its phenomenal biological value."
With the support of CorpoMag, ProAves is now replacing the aggressive pines with native trees, which will also help ensure the forest can continue to provide clean drinking water for cities on the coast.
#30#
American Bird Conservancy
Fundacion ProAves
Conservation International (CI) applies innovations in science, economics, policy and community participation to protect the Earth's richest regions of plant and animal diversity in the biodiversity hotspots, high-biodiversity wilderness areas and key marine ecosystems. With headquarters in Washington, D.C., CI works in more than 40 countries on four continents. For more information about CI, visit www.conservation.org
Airport Wait Times
I read the TSA is just as peeved by long wait times as the rest of us and is testing 'Diamond Lanes' at some airports. Now whether you arrive at the gate with your shoes off, laptops out, and ready to be frisked; or come wondering if your shampoo is 8 ounces or 4, there's a line for everyone: Expert traveler, casual traveler, or families and special assistance.
Diamond (Lanes) are a girl's best friend...Sounds interesting, but the whole thing is based on the honor system. Reminds me of when Ned Flanders took over Springfield Elementary and put all the students on the honor system and banished detention, etc. It all makes me wonder why the TSA is even going to bother with their fancy Diamond Lanes if no one is going to actually enforce it. Travelers need rules. Left to our own devices at the airport, it turns into a scene from 28 Days Later. I just somehow doubt anyone, including parents with 16 toddlers, would wait patiently in a line deemed for slow travelers. The second there's long airport delays, everyone's going to make a mad rush for the shortest lines. No one's going to be yelling "Wait, I'm an expert traveler, and you are clearly just a casual traveler! Even though there are only 2 people in this line, you really need to go to that line with 260 people in it over there, for casuals."
The TSA is just setting the stage for classism and travel discrimination! I always knew they were jerks.
"I guess everyone else is stuck in security in the slowdiamond lane. I have the whole place to myself!"
- Pack light and organized. It's easier for screening purposes
- Don't check bags
- Bring an extra quart sized bag
- Take off shoes before you get to the security check-point
- Laptop out
- Take belongings outside of security before you put everything back together, letting everyone else have room while still dealing with security
But to know before you go, check the wait time at every security check point in every domestic airport at waittime.tsa.dhs.gov.
In Search of the Sabbatical and Anonymity
Why do I like to blog anonymously? Am I writing such hard, cutting-edge, in-depth travel vacation and news? Not really. But I just like the anonymity of a blog. I like being able to write about whatever and not over-edit or censor myself, nor care if I make some typos now and again. And while I doubt any of my freelance contacts would give a crap if I blog about them or my travel endeavours, I think it can potentially cause problems.
For one thing, I pitch big publications and all they have to do is google my name to find information about me. For the most part, this is cool with me. The primary information they would uncover are my writing clips from other freelance publications. But if I have my name all over my blog and I talk about how much working with a certain magazine sucks ass, then I'm asking for trouble if I try to pitch them.
Plus, what if I wrote a really lame post about hot travel trends in Ypsilanti and big shot editor thinks it's by far the worst thing she's ever read in her entire life? And all her past lives? And that she'd rather eat her own hand than publish such drivel?
Paranoid? Yes. But not entirely for these reasons. I'm also paranoid crocodiles and/or alligators will emerge from the sewers of Queens and slowly gnaw off my leg while I'm waiting for the G train to come on a Saturday afternoon.
Here's the deal. My husband works for a production company and went through a slew of interviewing last year for a new producer. On a whim, one of the administrative assistants googled someone they were interested in hiring. Google took them right to this person's blog who had actually made several entries about her interviews with the company. She wondered if the hot boss at my husband's work was gay (she sincerely hoped not!) and completely bashed some of the girls at the office who in turn did not take kindly to it. At all.
They didn't hire her.
And since I seem to be the only professional writer with my first and last name who comes up in google, I don't think it's so out of the question I could be eyeballed, mocked, and judged. Don't get me wrong, how hard it is to just poke around online and figure out what my name really is? If less than savory people are drudging up our social security numbers from thin air, then how hard can finding out my name be? Not that hard, I suspect. And I truly respect my reader's web saviness and nosiness. I'm just saying I doubt people, especially said big shot editor, would waste their time doing more than typing my name into google.
Speaking of sewer rats and mutated pigeons, the clever and witty blogger over at Escape From Brooklyn was so sweet to include me in her post today. We're kindred spirits looking to blow this ramshackle town. Perhaps my husband and I will adopt her (and I suppose her husband and cats) and force them on their own sabbatical.
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