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Travel: Warsaw, Krakow, Berlin, Oh My!

By Laura Zera 8 Comments

If you go to Europe, you need to see all the attractions that a place is famous for. I don’t disagree with doing “the tourist thing.” But then there are the other things. The daily minutiae that makes a place real. In August, I tried to document some of that in Warsaw, Krakow and Berlin. I took a few pics of their famous, pretty things, too. (Note: the photo layout in this WordPress theme sucks rocks. Sorry.) A special thanks goes to writer Chris James and his better half, Bożena: they made our time in Warsaw extra special. Also, Francis and I did visit Auschwitz and Birkenau when we were in Poland. I’m still processing. It’s not something I can easily put into words or photos, but I hope to try, if only because we must never forget.

There’s nothing else to do but drink in the case of Brexit.
Snail pals on posts in Warsaw
Pretty in pink: The backside of the Barbican, Warsaw
Now that’s what I’m talking about.

 

Warsaw Old Town
Does he know he matches his plastic bag?
We stayed with our friends Chris and Bozena but we didn’t take any photos of them. This is their hamster.
Krakow is pretty.
Inside St. Mary’s Cathedral, Krakow

 

Okay, Rectobar? But hummus and happiness? Yes.
Hello, medieval gate. And McDonald’s.

 

Stuff like this is a punch to the gut. Never forget.
Literally our view at dinner. No photo retouching. Krakow is pretty.

 

A Trabant in action!

 

Karl, Friedrich and I in Berlin, 1989

 

 

 

 

 

Karl, Friedrich and I in Berlin, 2017

 

Das Berliner Dom, y’all

 

Potsdam. This is how you do an entrance to a subway.

 

Alexanderplatz, Berlin. The light was perfect.

 

The apartment lobby, when you have six flights of stairs and no elevator.

 

Our Berlin AirBnb host’s mother, who was a wonderful and spontaneous tour guide and became a friend.

 

My kind of graffiti.

 

But we’ve barely figured out who killed JR!

 

Don’t think I’ll be buying any pet food here.

 

Christburger on a stick.

Travel Photo: Lost in Time in Turkey

By Laura Zera 18 Comments

 

We’re pulling from the travel photo time capsule this week, and visiting Turkey. But remind me which century we’re in?

Photo date: October, 2011

Looks like: 1926

Location: Bosphorus Ferry, Istanbul

Nationality of subject: If he’s not British, I’ll do 50 somersaults in a row

He used to have a thing for: Margaret Thatcher

This fellow likes: potatoes au gratin. And whisky, served neat.

His wife’s name is: Edna

He gets annoyed with her if: she forgets to put fresh towels out in the bathroom,

and: does the crossword puzzle in pen

When no one is looking, he: lets his spaniel lick him on the face

His name is: _____________ (this one is for you to fill in below in the comments)

Fellow on Bosphorus ferryPhoto taken by: Francis Zera

Travel: ChickyBus’ Lisa Egle Explains Her Adventure Style

By Laura Zera 8 Comments

Lisa Egle of ChickyBusAre female solo travelers crazy? No!* In this interview with travel expert Lisa Egle, she soundly puts all lingering speculation on that to rest, and might very well light the solo-travel fire in you! Lisa is the author of Magic Carpet Seduction, a memoir of off-the-beaten path travel that takes ‘riders’/readers on unique journeys to China, Latin America, Turkey and the Middle East. She’s also the editor/publisher of ChickyBus, a travel blog that focuses on story-telling, photography, random travel moments and humor. When she’s not on the road, she’s home in New Jersey, working as an ESL professor. Her writing has been published on BlogHer and Matador Network, and one of her stories was featured in an article on the Oprah.com blog.

*(I may be crazy, but for other reasons.)

1. The more I get to know you, Lisa, the more I realize that we’re cut from the same Cordura when it comes to our travel philosophy: people-focused, often solo, and off the beaten path. Let me start by asking you what led you to doing your first solo trip, and where did you go?

A British friend, someone I’d known when I lived in Ecuador in the mid-90s, invited me to visit her in Madrid. I’d always been curious about Spanish culture and I spoke Spanish somewhat fluently, so I accepted, figuring I’d plan for a month-long trip so I could travel solo after spending time with her.

Because I wanted a true cultural experience, I joined Servas, an organization (pre-Couch Surfing) that allows travelers to connect and stay with members around the world. After I spent a week with my friend in Madrid and on the southern coast, I set off on my own and stayed in low-budget rooms and in locals’ homes.

I spent several days with a family in Sevilla and went looking for UFOs with an artist in Granada. After Andalucia, I made my way up through Portugal and re-entered Spain in the northwest. I spent a week in Galicia, birthplace of the dictator Franco, which was amazing because it was so different from the rest of the country. There, I stayed with a family in a tiny village and also visited Santiago de Compostela, the capital, before returning to Madrid.

It was an incredible trip because of the wide range of experiences I had—and because of how much I enjoyed traveling solo. I loved that feeling of it being just me, my backpack and a desire to explore and be spontaneous. It was definitely this trip that led me to fall in love with solo travel.

2. People often ask me why I choose the places I do, to which I usually reply, “Why not?” What is your modus operandi for deciding where to go next, and how far off the grid to go? And does your method include magic mushrooms?

Lisa Egle in IndonesiaSometimes, I see a photo or video of a country or its people and I get a feeling—usually giddiness—and I know I must go there. That was the case with Indonesia. When I saw the monkey chant in Baraka, the non-narrative film by Ron Fricke, I got goose bumps. The more I learned about the country, the more fascinated I became and the more I wanted to go. A few years later, after a random tweet led me to connect with someone in Sumatra, things fell into place and I went.

In other cases, I choose to visit a country because of my ESL students. This is how/why I went to Turkey. Hearing about their hometowns and cultures made me curious. I started reading about the country, eating Turkish food locally and after a while, decided I had to have the complete experience by traveling there. And I’m glad I did. Turkey is now one of my favorite countries in the world.

Are magic mushrooms part of the decision-making process? No! But for some reason, I often see them when I’m traveling. They tend to be quite abundant in the countries I typically visit.

3. Where are you going next, and why?

I’m not 100% sure—it could be anywhere—but my next stop might be Colombia. It’s always been on my list and somehow, it has eluded me.

I have quite a few students from there, but that’s not the only reason I want to go. I’ve enjoyed salsa dancing for about 15 years now and really want to do it in Cali. The reason: the first people who taught me to dance are from there, so that’s the style I know best. I have no doubt whatsoever that I’ll love it if I go.

4. Do you get the feeling sometimes that people from your home country think you’re crazy for traveling the way you do? What would you say to that?

Lisa Egle and Carlos, Lebanese stranger
Stranger, but not strange

Absolutely! Some worry about my safety. Last time I went to Mexico, quite a few people warned me about how dangerous it would be. I had to explain that certain provinces are quite safe—and that Baja Sur, where I was going, is one of them—and eventually they understood.

Others can’t believe how much I like to stay with locals who are complete strangers. “But don’t you feel uncomfortable in those situations?” they ask. I explain how welcoming most people are in other countries and how much it enriches travel for me. After a while, it starts to make sense to them.

Overall, most people find my style of travel unique and are intrigued by it. Some have told me that they secretly wish they could do it, too.

5. Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve thought, “Oh crap, I may not make it through this alive?”

Yes—in Mexico about seven or eight years ago. I was traveling from Puerto Escondido, on the Pacific Coast, to Oaxaca, in the mountains, on a poorly maintained bus. It wasn’t the typical large bus; nor was it a mini bus. It was an irregular size, somewhere in between the two.

To my surprise, the driver took the route that the minivans follow (not the longer route that’s safer for big vehicles)—treacherous mountain roads. The way the bus shook and rattled the entire time, I thought it was going to fall apart. Worse yet, the driver drove too close to the edge of the road. Every time he took a curve, I thought we were going to plunge to our deaths. I was terrified the entire night and relieved when we finally arrived.

6. Stray cats and dogs: pet them, or avoid them?

Avoid them. Unfortunately, in many countries, animals are abused, so you don’t know how they’ll react to you. Also, I don’t want rabies. So I stay away from all strays.

7. What’s the most valuable thing you’ve ever had stolen (or lost) on a trip?

Money.

Believe it or not, with all the countries I’ve been to (including those with dangerous reputations), the one and only one where I was pickpocketed (twice) was Spain! The first time was in Barcelona, where I was living at the time. I didn’t even see it. I was in a supermarket and I think the man reached into my gym bag. He got some cash and my ATM card and unfortunately, managed to withdraw $300 from my account.

The second time was in Madrid. Two guys ran by and grabbed by backpack-style purse. I had a cellphone inside (with all my friends’ phone numbers, which were not written down elsewhere) and some cash. Fortunately, my passport was in my friend’s apartment.

7. How do you protect yourself from theft (or your own stupidity)?

Lisa Egle in La Paz, MexicoI use a slash-proof waist pack. It’s got special mesh in it, which can’t be cut, plus a trick lock. When I first got it, I even struggled to undo it. I keep my money, credit cards and camera in it. I love it because I never worry when I’m in a crowded city or on a bus or in a bad neighborhood.

I also try not to arrive anywhere, especially a large city, late at night. I also take advice from the locals about which areas to avoid. And although I love to talk to strangers, if I get a weird vibe from someone, I listen to my gut and find a way to break away.

###

Thank you to Lisa for her willingness to come play on this blog and for being a great global citizen, and to you guys for reading and jumping on for the ride, too! You can keep up with Lisa’s travels by following her on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.

Questions for Lisa? Ask away! And I’d love for you to share some of your own answers to these questions. 

 

Travel Survey: The Results (and Winners) Are In!

By Laura Zera 15 Comments

First off, thank you to all who completed my travel survey. There were 61 respondents, and, quite frankly, some answers and trends that I did not expect. I guess that’s the whole point of doing surveys, though, hey?

Bamako, Mali - Guy Sleeping on CartThe reason I asked this particular set of questions is that I’ve been playing around with the idea of designing unique tours to Africa—Ghana, Mali, maybe Malawi and Mozambique. There are plenty of safari companies and volunteer exchanges out there, and I didn’t intend to repeat that. My vision is what I call “progressively independent itineraries.” We’d start out as a group who does everything together, then branch off into increasingly individual excursions until everyone is able to experience solo travel like never before. Of course, the “like never before” part has a lot of details behind it, crafted by my own travel experiences.

And guess what I found out from your answers? A trip to Africa, where a plane ticket costs about $1000 USD from London and more than $2000 from Sydney, followed by pretty rough accommodation in an area fraught with disease, likely would *not* be a big draw for people. I’m not kidding.

See, I love Africa in all of its gritty glory. While I want to share it with everyone (and their dogs), the data shows that it’s not a top pick for people, especially when you have limited time and travel dollars, like many of us do. Here’s what your answers told me.

Basic data

  • Q1: Of 61 respondents, 64% were women and 36% men.
  • Q2: Generation X (born 1965-1981, like myself) made up 57% of the respondents, followed by 28% for baby boomers (born 1946-1964). The other age categories had single-digit percentages.
  • Q3: A full 57% categorized themselves as having traveled a lot, followed by 33% who traveled a little, and 8%, a shit ton. Only 1% was in the ‘untraveled’ category. As to why I didn’t assign “trips per year” or some such metric to the categories, I have no reason other than it was more fun to say things like “shit ton.”

More specific data

  • Q4: In response to “what’s the one place you most want to visit,” this requires a table view! Apparently, we’ve all got a different corner of the globe (or beyond) in mind, which is actually pretty cool.

 

Place Picked by Place Picked by
Australia 5 Africa 1
New Zealand 1 Egypt 2
South Pacific Islands 2 South Africa 1
Hawaii, Fiji/Hawaii 2 Seychelles 1
Pitcairn Islands 1 Madagascar 1
Bora Bora 1 Caribbean 1
Europe 1 Trinidad 1
France 3 Accompong, Jamaica 1
Ireland/Scotland, or Scotland, or British Isles, or London, or Edinburgh, or England/Ireland 8 Key West 1
Barcelona 1 Alaska 1
Italy, or Italy’s Cinque Terra/Amalfi Coast, or Rome, or Italy/Greece/French Riviera 4 China 1
Trans-Siberian Railway 1 Vietnam 1
Norway 1 Himalayas or Cuba 1
Iceland 1 India 3
Israel 1 Mars, space or the moon 3
South America, or Central/South America 4
Peru, or Machu Picchu 2
Argentina 2

 

  • Big Ben & London EyeQ5: One person chose “tour group” as the ideal way they’d like to travel, 82% said they’d go with a friend or partner, and 17% said they’d go alone.
  • Q6: Suitcase or backpack ran at a near-even split, with 48% choosing the former and 52% the latter.
  • Q7: For accommodation type, the majority – 43% — chose two- or three-star minimum. Four- or five-star got 18% of the votes, one-star received 29%, and 10% chose dirt-bag cheap.
  • Q8: The thousand-dollar mark seemed to be the sensitive price point which most folks don’t want to exceed, as that’s what 39% said. The other price points — $500, $1500 and $2000 – garnered between 15% and 18% of the answers, while we had seven people who confessed to being travel hackers (a goal I’m working my way toward).
  • Q9: I thought it was interesting that the numbers were split when it came to planning – having everything booked vs. winging it. About 56% said they liked their trip to be planned and booked, while 44% preferred less structure.
  • Q10: My apologies for constructing a wonky question/answer format here. I was trying work within my 10-question limit for the free version of Survey Monkey, but the format confused enough people that I didn’t get a full 61 true/false responses. From what I heard, 25 people are scared by tropical diseases, and 21, not so much!

Yaqeta Island, Fiji photo courtesy Francis ZeraNow for the prize draw. There were 47 people who included their contact information, ranging from full addresses to “your friend in ____.” Using the nifty sequence generator on Random.org, the winners are as follows:

  • African mask – Larissa McCormack
  • Fijian brain fork – Miriam Drori
  • Boeing 787 Dreamliner* – Jo-Anne Teal

*not full size

Congratulations, you three! I’ll be sending you all emails soon. The person whose name landed dead last in the sequence, hence the farthest from winning a prize, was Arnesh Ramnarace. Sorry, Arnesh, hope your luck runs better for other things (and look both ways before you cross the street, okay?).

What do you think of the responses? Did anything surprise you? 

 

Travel: The Resident at Hagia Sophia

By Laura Zera 16 Comments

Hagia Sophia - exteriorThroughout its life as a church, then mosque and now museum, Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia has remained a grand and dignified beacon. Each year, thousands of people arrive to view its Byzantine beauty and take in the domes and pillars, mosaics and minarets, just as Francis and I did in 2011. And quite unexpectedly, (but just like the occasion at Monsoon Palace in Udaipur, India), I met a cat. There, among the sumptuous decor, sat the most nonchalant of cross-eyed feline squatters, tolerating the human traffic and waiting for the sun to shift so that there’d be a warm place to lie. Not a bad place to while away your time, really.

Hagia Sophia - interior 1aHagia Sophia - interiorHagia Sophia - cat

Have you ever encountered any unexpected residents — feline or other? 

 

Greeps is the Best Hookah Pipe Flavor in Istanbul

By Laura Zera 20 Comments

I first visited Istanbul in 1989. I went back in October, 2011 with my husband and our friend Eric. In the interim, I grew up a little bit, and the city grew up a lot. It’s clean, cosmopolitan and still has the most killer skyline I’ve ever seen.

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul

Continue Reading

You Can Get Chamomile-Flavored Toilet Paper in Romania. Really.

By Laura Zera 6 Comments

A few snaps from our October 2011 trip to Romania. It was beautiful and then some. I heartily recommend it as a pick for European destinations!

Vespa scooters, outdoor cafes, beautiful architecture and leggy women — Bucharest has it all!

I was fascinated by this mobile Red Bull Art Gallery in Bucharest. Fascinated.

I would be smarter if I had attended this university.

I actually think that this was really what it looks like it might be.Continue Reading

My Large, Bald, Bulgarian Taxi Driver Friend

By Laura Zera 12 Comments

“I like to use local transport, travel the back roads,” I had said to my husband’s friend Eric, whom we accompanied on a trip to Eastern Europe earlier this month. “I’ve met some of the nicest people on public transport. It’s the best way to meet locals.”

My hearty endorsement of anything that wasn’t a plane was the main reason that we didn’t book flights to get us from Romania to Turkey. Instead, we set out one morning by rail from Brasov, about 100 miles north of Bucharest, and used two connecting trains to get us to Varna, a Black Sea resort town in Bulgaria. We decided to stay two nights in Varna before continuing on to Istanbul by bus. The idea looked good on paper, at least.Continue Reading

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