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What’s Up, Doc?

March 8th, 2011

At what point do you decide it’s time to go to the doctor while you’re traveling? At home, I avoided doctors most of the time despite having medical insurance and familiarity with the way things work. While I’m overseas, it would take a lot to get me to seek out medical care.

For the last week, I’ve been extremely unproductive, in part due to a bit of a cold I’ve been battling. It’s never gotten me terribly ill, but it’s taken just enough out of me to prevent me from doing anything that requires more than minimal amount of effort. That includes thinking, which precludes doing much writing. There’s just a bit too much fuzz in my head to do more than watch Khloe and Kim Take New York on the hostel TV.

Ordinarily a cold wouldn’t keep me from trekking off through the countryside. Long walks into new terrain provide just the right balance of exertion to push the immune system and lack of intricate thought.

This time, however, I’ve also got a beet-red infected toe which has made walking more than a few blocks pretty painful.

For a couple of days, it was pretty bad and I’ve been sorely (*snicker*) tempted to visit a local clinic. Instead, I bought over the counter ointment and it’s been doing the trick, albeit sloooowly.

A visit to the doctor would give me a bit of antibiotic that would ensure it gets better and gets better faster. While the cost of the visit and the prescription would be a few dollars, it’s certainly better than remaining immobile in one of the countries that most requires you to be an active traveler. Spending some money to heal properly is far preferable to wasting time in a beautiful country.

As ridiculous as it is, I’ve always believed myself to have superhuman immunity and healing powers, not unlike Wolverine. Pushing past the pain is a common refrain when I’m on the go. That’s the brilliant strategy that left me with two toes that were partially numb for about 3 weeks after my time in Paris.

Tomorrow’s my last day in Auckland, so we’ll see how things look in the morning before I head out of town and away from the city. If it’s not significantly improved, I’ll bite the bullet and stop by a medical center before I go.

Stupid toe.

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The RTW Adventure Progress Report: Part 2 (of 3)

September 14th, 2010

Two months into a journey around the world and I figured it was time to do a status update (some habits are hard to break).

Part 1 detailed my favorite destinations so far, along with a couple I didn’t enjoy quite as much.

For Part 2, here are some updates on the logistics and financials of the trip.

With all of the nuts and bolts of the trip, the critical thing is to find a balance that makes you comfortable. Here’s how things are playing out for me, so far.

Accommodations

After a stay with friends in England, I experienced my first hostel stay in Lille, France. P1010531It was not a pleasant way to start off a long journey – the hostel I booked had no real community rooms, dark & dingy bathrooms and no lockers to store belongings.

Fortunately, the hostels I’ve stayed at since then have all been significant improvements over that first one – with kitchens, bars, lounges and even low cost laundry facilities.

Along the way, I’ve been in many small towns that don’t have hostels, but the cost of the B&Bs have been even lower than some of the hostels I’ve stayed at. Throughout Bretagne, there are wonderful cozy, country hideaways for less than the cost of a nice dinner. Some of them ARE in the middle of nowhere, so having a bike helped tremendously.

I’ve balanced the hostel stays with hotels once in a while. If you search well, you can often find hotel rooms for the same cost as a hostel and even if it’s a couple of dollars more, having a private room to stretch out is worth it once in a while.

My favorite is the homestay. Through AirBnB.com, I found a wonderful flat in Paris and was able to live like a local for a couple of weeks. Far less than a hotel, and a bit more than a hostel but having a full apartment including laundry, internet and kitchen saved me a lot of money on the living expenses so it evened out.

Money

Overall, my expenses are tracking close to what I had planned. It’s a bit higher than it will be over the bulk of the trip, but I had prepared for that. Europe isn’t cheap – especially London and Paris. A few months in Asia and staying with friends for a while will more than balance it out.

My accommodations have been a bit below my budget, fortunately, because I’m running very high on food and beverage.

One of the adjustments I’ve had to make is to make more of my own meals along the way, because every time you step into a restaurant in Europe, it’s nearly $20 to get out. Even fast food runs about $10 a pop. The only exception to this rule is breakfast. A coffee and pastry in the morning costs less than a cup of Starbucks in the U.S. (unless, of course, your coffee and pastry are AT Starbucks). The early morning café stops have been one of the great pleasures so far.

Health

Illness & Injury:

Overall, things have been great. I had a cold for a couple of days in Paris, but got over it quickly. I think the moldy cheese killed it.

I have had some trouble with numb toes after days of walking. To some extent, I needed to break in my shoes a bit more than I did but I also over-do it with walking. These towns have rail systems for a reason, but I was regularly walking up to 10 miles a day. I hate to miss the “in-betweens” along the way.

Fitness:

Between cycling and walking, I’ve lost a great deal of weight and my legs are dead sexy (especially once I learned to stop gashing them open with the sharp hybrid pedals on my bike). Unfortunately, I do need to start some sort of upper body work before my chest rivals the Grand Canyon in concavity.

Vitiligo:

Most of you probably don’t know about this, but I’m melanin-challenged. It’s not a big deal most of the time but some parts of my skin tan, some stay lily-white (or burn in about 3 minutes). Being in the sun hours and hours a day – either riding or walking – enhanced my blotchiness by tanning my “good” parts, even with 60 SPF on. It’s more cosmetic than a health issue, but still annoys the fuck out of me. I’ve had to vainly start applying self-tanner to even things out a bit and eliminate the “Guernsey effect.”

I promise I’m not orange.

Telecommunications

After months of waiting, I was finally able to jailbreak my iPhone and pop in a local SIM card to use  without paying AT&T roaming charges. It was a beautiful thing while it lasted. Sadly, it went missing while I was in Madrid – and I’m still not sure if I left it somewhere or if it was nicked while I wasn’t paying attention.

I now have an unlocked cell phone that I use for local calls (replacing the SIM in countries I’m staying around for a while) and I picked up an iPod Touch for all the other iPhone functions I would rather not live without. Skype, Accio Language dictionaries, Evernote, OffMaps, HootSuite and Kindle top the list of my most used apps.

Cycling

As I mentioned in part 1, riding has been one of the best parts of the trip. The bike comes with a couple downsides, though. P1010634

With a load on it, the bike limits you to around 80 miles a day, preferably not more than 60, fewer if there are hills along the way. That means it takes a while to get to a destination that’s 300 miles away. Physically, that kind of riding doesn’t phase me, but it does cause some other issues.

You’re constantly on the move. If you want to get from Paris to Bordeaux, you’re going to be on the road every day or it’s going to take you weeks to make the trek.

With daily packing & unpacking and 6 or 7 hours of ride time, it’s challenging to get to know people and places along the way. There are a lot of days when you do little more than eat breakfast, ride, shower, have dinner and sleep. For me, that’s actually a wonderful day – but at the same time, I felt like I wasn’t really getting to know the towns I sped past.

Spain, in particular, has not been a bike-friendly country when you get past the cities of Barcelona and Valencia. Bikes aren’t allowed on the high-speed rail (which is the case in several countries) and drivers in much of Spain aren’t using to seeing bikes on their roads.

So, what’s next on that front?

I’ve temporarily left the bike behind in Madrid, so I can hit up some destinations that would have been a serious logistical hassle. While I’m in England for the next few weeks, I’ll be looking at picking up a folding bike so that I can more easily transport it and still have wheels with me for rides around the area. I won’t be using it for point to point transportation, but since I’m planning extended stays in the cities I visit going forward, that becomes less of a focus anyway.

Cycling is an important facet for me, but I’m not one of those travelers who wants to be on the bike and riding to a new location every day.

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Whew. Long post. There’s more, but those are the big things. Next week – Part 3: Next destinations and goal updates.

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The RTW Adventure Progress Report: Part 1 (of 3)

September 7th, 2010

I’m now two months into a journey that has no set end date. You have no idea how much that nags at me – not the fact that there IS no end date, just my inability to attach a % completion to where I am so far. Some habits are hard to break.

A lot has happened over the past couple of months, so I’m splitting this up into 3 parts, to give each aspect its due. And milk this for a few more posts.

1) The destination highlights

2) Logistics & financials

3) The goals and what’s next

I’ve been to 5 countries in the past two months – England, France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Spain. Exploring each of them has been wonderful, but here are the parts that stand above the rest.

My favorite destinations

IMGP0853-1

Seriously, if you're going to spend an afternoon reading in the park, isn't this a good one?

Paris. It’s still the peak of my travel love. This time I was able to spend time enjoying the culture and environment like a local, albeit for a couple of weeks. In addition to leisurely visiting parks and relaxing in many of the beautiful plazas of the city, I indulged in summer activities like watching films under the stars at the Parc du Villettes. Staying in a lovely flat away from the city center enriched the experience tremendously, and is something I hope to repeat at other destinations.

Belgium. I didn’t spend nearly enough time in Bruges and Antwerp – both of them were beautiful cities I knew little about before I rode in. Missing out on Brussels along the way gives me ample reason to return to the land of Tin Tin.

Bretagne and the Celtic Festival. There are a lot of established cycling routes in France, but a solo ride down the coast of Bretagne introduced me to an entirely new region of the country – coastal towns, ancient family farms and a huge Celtic festival in Lorient were the pinnacle of my attempt to see parts of the nation that were off the beaten path for most (foreign) travelers. I loved every minute of it.

Valencia, Spain. Aside from Paris, this was my favorite city along the way. A fascinating history, outstanding architecture (old and new) and a surprisingly strong flow of other travelers, even before La Tomatina kicked off.

The Parts I Haven’t Been Quite As Enamored With

Madrid, Spain. As cities go, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. It had kind of a harsh, gloomy quality to it. There were certainly aspects I enjoyed, but the city center was filled with Cash for Gold hawkers (dozens of them), grabby hookers (I’m not kidding, several of them tried to grab my arm and pull me along with them – god knows where) and gambling halls. Madrid’s Museo del Prado boasts one of the largest collections of artwork in the world, but much of it was room after room of portraits that meant little to me. Seeing Hieronymous Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights” was the only real highlight. That guy did some seriously messed up work, hundreds of years before Salvador Dali.

Amsterdam. I found the city and the people lovely throughout the Netherlands, but the tone of the place at night was just a bit much for me. I honestly love the openness about sex and weed, and it’s wonderful that there’s an understanding that people can responsibly partake in whatever activities they’d like. Those particular pursuits just weren’t my cup of tea, though, so after the first couple of nights of exploring and people watching, I generally ended up calling it a night early.

What I’m enjoying

Staying put for a while. That’s a bit of a travel oxymoron, but I’m really enjoying getting to know a town by spending a minimum of a week in the same place. The first couple of days are spent walking around, visiting the “required” sites and getting a feel for the place. Then I settle in, head to local cafes, sit in parks, read, write and just relax.

It’s a delicate balance because I also want to see a lot of towns and destinations that are off the beaten path. For example, I could have spent two weeks in Paris, followed by a train to Bordeaux and spent two weeks there, but I would have missed out on visits to Brest, Lorient, Quimper, Vannes and Nantes. The trip wouldn’t have been the same without them.

P1010842

Not a view you get on a train.

Cycling through small towns. It gets my adrenaline going as well as sparking up the exploration nodes of my brain. Even on rainy mornings, the quiet pedaling through the empty hills and valleys of France, Belgium and the Netherlands have been an irreplaceable facet of the journey.

A wealth of cultural events I didn’t even know about. I certainly knew about the Tour de France and planned some of my trip around it, but watching the World Cup Finals with thousands of people in the town plaza of Lille, France had an indescribable energy to it (especially since Lille is pretty much equidistant between The Netherlands and Spain, the two competitors). Seeing the finale of the Tall Boat Races in Antwerp was an unexpected pleasure but little flea markets, regional celebrations and sporting events pop up everywhere if you look around a bit.

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Next up: How are the logistics and finances shaping up?

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How Parisian Supermarkets Work

August 12th, 2010
For All Your Grocery and Hardware Needs: Maiso...
Image by postaletrice via Flickr

Anyone spending a significant amount of time in Paris is going to have to brave a supermarket. You can only eat so many ham & cheese crepes in ten days. In case you’re curious, that number is 7.

Supermarkets in France, and especially Paris, are not the same as those you may be used to, so I figured I’d give you a little background.

History

Most shopping in France is done at the corner market, so large supermarkets are few and far between. That is changing as chains like Carrefour attempt the domination of France in a manner similar to Wal-Mart in the United States. Fortunately for the corner market owners, though, French people aren’t driven by price at the expense of their souls.

But large grocery stores DO exist. Mostly for use by tourists, of course, because the average French person knows better than to try to make their way through a supermarket in Paris.

The Stuff You’ll Find

Your selection will be limited to bread, cookies, fruits & vegetables, lawn chairs, chocolate, yogurt, chocolate yogurt, cheese, wine and milk. Oh yes, the milk. Let me jump right into an explanation of milk in France for you.

You can find milk in the “milk aisle” because there are 430 varieties of milk, and they’re all unrefrigerated. Oh, they’ll try to fool you by also having cold milk in the “yogurt” aisle, but don’t fall for it. You are going to get used to buying warm milk because if you buy cold milk, the clock’s a-tickin. In precisely 38 hours, it will be  pouring out of the jug like cottage cheese. Give in, suck it up and drink the warm stuff.

Operating Hours

Most Parisian grocery stores are open from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM, so that you cannot do any shopping after work. This is ideal, as it completely eliminates any possibility of a husband being asked to “stop and pick up some bread on your way home from the office.” Yet another example of Parisian genius. Stores are also generally closed from noon to 2 so that the entire staff can go off and have a smoke break. So, grocery shopping is left to those without jobs – like housewives, students and blog writers.

If you really must find a store with longer operating hours, check out Huit a 8, which is open from about 9 to 7.

And if you’re interested in eating on a Sunday, practice your dumpster diving skills, as no stores are open on Sundays. Oh, they might have hours posted that SAY that they’re open, but what that sign doesn’t include are the disclaimers – *except during times when some of staff is sick, on vacation or on holidays, throughout summer and any days there are strikes going on.

How the Check-out Works

Once you’ve selected your food, you are ready to brave the “caisse” or cash register. This is by far the most complex aspect of shopping in a Parisian supermarket.

Regardless of the time of day, there will be a line. It will be long. Anyone who thinks that Parisians aren’t friendly has never stood in a long check-out line, because at the register, the cashier is a best friend to EVERY person in line. They talk about the weather, their cats, the test score their son got in 2006, whatever comes to mind.

Here’s what you do:

Wait.

For the love of God, don’t whisper to yourself that you wish someone would open another line. That is such a rookie mistake!

Geez, now look what you’ve done.

When people talk about France being Socialist, I think they’re actually talking about their proclivity to socialize at whatever time is most inconvenient to those around them, like when they’re standing in front of the Metro exit turnstile.

Here’s where you went wrong: Once a new cashier approaches the registers, the greetings begin. It’s nearly identical to a wedding reception line. Each cashier must greet, kiss and chat up the new cashier, welcoming and congratulating her on joining them before she takes her place at the counter.

Buying the Groceries

As the line winds down and you near the conveyor, you must wait until there is a bar separator between the groceries in front of you and your own. It does not matter if you have 4 feet of open space, Parisians take tremendous offense if you set down groceries prior to the separator being in place. This is because they can see that you’ve mysteriously purchased cold milk and they don’t want to risk taking that home with them.

One other interesting aspect of shopping in Paris is that customers bag their own groceries, traditionally in a sack that says “Property of IKEA.” This isn’t unusual, in and of itself, however the trick here is that you are not to pay or make any attempt to prepare to pay until you have completely bagged your groceries. After all, until they’re bagged, you don’t own them so making a move to give the cashier money PRIOR to that is idiocy.

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Et voila! Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of Prince Cookies, a nectarine and a 4 foot long loaf of bread.

Hmmm… I wonder if I can eat an eighth ham and cheese crepe?

With apologies to Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant at Stuff You Should Know (Twitter: @SYSKpodcast). If you don’t listen to their podcasts, I highly suggest you do. Informative AND entertaining.

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Three Great iPhone Travel Apps!

July 27th, 2010

A lot of folks have shared information on great ways to use mobile apps on the road (including some great posts at TravelsofAdam.com). I just wanted to share a couple recent discoveries. Helpful to anyone with an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad (which is getting close to being everyone with one of the three).

Mobile Check Deposits with Chase!

Well, I’m not making any money while I’m traveling (not yet, anyway) but I still have a few checks coming in from closing out some past accounts.

My checks all went to a good friend, who’s acting as my mail drop while I’m traveling. The challenge became “how do I deposit those checks from halfway around the world?”

I certainly could have had him make a trip to the bank for me (and forge my signature, etc), but I didn’t want to inconvenience him every time I got a $12 refund check from a canceled magazine subscription. And without a permanent address overseas, I didn’t want him to mail the check to me (not to mention the challenge of exactly where I would be able to deposit it).

Enter Chase’s new mobile app. Sorry, at the moment you need to have an account with Chase AND an iPhone for this.

And no, I’m not being paid for this post!! But my hand is open, Chase…

This fantastic little bit of software allows you to take a photo of a check with your iPhone, upload it to the Chase website and it deposits into your account on the spot – wherever you are in the world.

For this, I didn’t want my friend to have to mail the check to me, so here are the two simple steps:

  1. He scanned the check in hi-res and e-mailed the image to me.
  2. Using the Chase application, I was able to take a photo directly off my computer screen into the app and voila! Check was deposited.

I don’t know how often I’ll need to use it, but it was incredibly handy. (Free app)

OffMaps ($1.99)

I was searching for an application that loaded up city maps so I didn’t have to carry the paper versions with me (or FIND a paper version in every single city I visited).

Enter OffMaps. You can download one of the free city maps they offer or just buy the application. Download the city you’re visiting and you’ll have full time access to a street map, that also integrates with the iPhone GPS. The full version allows downloads of pretty much anywhere, from the looks of it, but I’ll be testing it more as I head through France.

In addition to street maps, it includes sites, restaurants, hotels and has optional city guide downloads for more information.

Caveat: as you would expect, the maps are HUGE, so prepare for long download times. Best to do when you have a full-time internet connection – NOT while downing a McFlurry.

Accio Language Guides ($1.99)

I’m loving the Accio language guides so far. Type in a word you want to translate and it takes you right to it. Hit a button and it instantly switches from French-English to English-French. Or whatever language you’re using.

Sitting on the train, every time I see a sign I don’t understand, I pull up the words in an instant. It’s teaching me the language far more quickly than if I had to pull out a dictionary each time.

At $1.99 each, they’re a great value and space saver.

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And finally, another shout out to Evernote. I know I’ve extolled its virtues before (here), but I use it CONSTANTLY to record my random thoughts and memories so I can store my impressions the way a photographer stores images.

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Changes: I Fought The Blog and the Blog Won

July 16th, 2010
Have desk, will write
Image by Bright Meadow via Flickr

Here’s the final part of the changes I’m making to make for a better journey as I near the mid-point of month 1.

Blogging & writing – for the first week or so, I didn’t.

Lesson #1: Make time.

Reasons, excuses, whatever. For the first week, most of my writing was signing my name to dinner checks. Now that the trip is underway, I’ll be writing more.

Lesson #2: Not every post has to be epic.

Part of what scares me away from writing is that I always feel like each post should be a grand observation on the universe, humanity and my place within it. Just to clarify, that’s a crock of shit. Expect to see many more posts of me and my random thoughts, which is how my brain works best.

Lesson #3: This is a personal blog, not a travel blog.

I certainly have travel stories and advice I can and will share occasionally, but this isn’t going to be the place where people pop in to find out the 10 best restaurants in Lille. Because really, when you’re eating pain du chocolat two meals a day, where you’re eating it isn’t all that important.

Lesson #4: Now that the adrenaline has subsided a bit, it’s time to get working.

I think I was entitled to treat the first 10 days more like a vacation than travel with intent. Now that I’ve settled in to my lifestyle a bit, it’s time to get cracking on some of the goals I laid out.

That’s about it for now – more regular posts are on their way!

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Changes: Travel Communication and Transportation

July 14th, 2010
A Eurostar.
Image via Wikipedia

A few more alterations and updates to my plan based on how things have gone so far:

Communication:

Lesson #1: AT&T Sucks
» Read more: Changes: Travel Communication and Transportation

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Test & Adjust: Part One!

July 8th, 2010
Lille
Image via Wikipedia

In the theme park business, we have what’s known as a “soft opening” period in which rides and facilities are operated for the public for the first time. As you see how things run and what might not be working the way it was expected, you make adjustments to make the experience better. For me, month 1 is my soft opening.

I’m now one week into my journee and I now have a pretty good feel for what’s going well and where I need to tweak things. It’s been an amazing time but as I expected, I’ve learned a lot very quickly.

Here are some toplines (part 1 of 3).

Key learnings:

  1. Stick with the plan! The notes below are adjustments but not wholesale changes.
  2. Remember your strengths! The first couple of days got a bit frustrating as things didn’t go exactly the way I had pictured them – even though I KNEW they wouldn’t. Planning, logistics and adapting to new information are some of the things I’m best at, so I need to take better advantage of those skills.

Accommodations

Lesson #1: Hostels take some getting used to.

When I first walked in, my brain spiraled into “what the fuck am I doing here?” mode. I’m fairly relaxed about travel, but I have to admit that I’m used to staying in nice places on an expense account so I’ve certainly been spoiled for a long time.

By day three I had adjusted to the lifestyle and I slept well. The cleanliness in the place I stayed was the real challenge for me (hint: time your restroom visits to just after the daily cleaning).

Lesson #2: A hotel once in a while is a good way to settle my mind, let me get organized and re-group.

With my clothing and gear loaded in 5 separate bike bags, it’s been an adjustment to pack & unpack everything all the time. I still haven’t quite got the knack for what to put where, but I’m getting there.

A hotel is an opportunity to fully unpack, spread stuff out and spend some time adjusting plans without the distractions of a hostel or even a homestay.

Lesson #3: Renting a room for a month could be more challenging than I expected

Of course all the ads for rooms are in French. Duh. My limited grasp of the language has made it a challenge to even find a good resource for a room rental. I hadn’t planned on getting a room in Lille, so it’s fine for now, but I will need to improve on this as I move elsewhere.

As a foreigner, room rentals aren’t easy to come by unless you’re a student or have a work visa. Tenant rights in France are pretty strict, so once you’re in, you pretty much can’t be kicked out – which makes landlords very cautious about who they’ll rent to.

I have to back up and take a fresh look at Couchsurfing, Warmshowers and a few other sites that offer B&B style homestays at a lower cost than official B&Bs.

I just found some great places to stay in Amsterdam at Airbnb.com so I’ll be giving that a look for next week. They include week and month long rates for some places, which is right up my alley.

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More to come, as I update on transportation challenges, blogging & writing and oh yeah, how about some travel reports? The Tour de France, World Cup parties and a London gay pride parade (let the jokes flow…) are all part of week one. More to come…

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How Do You Solve a Problem Like Immigration?

July 1st, 2010
Weakest Link
Image by rickh710 via Flickr

Day one – off to a great start. A close encounter, a dent in my wallet on the first day, greasy hands and a bunch of questions I fumbled through.

The Flight:

Things kicked off with a rather uneventful flight. Quick trip to JFK and a 90 minute layover before heading off to Heathrow. » Read more: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Immigration?

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Surviving the Third Trimester

June 25th, 2010
Sagittal human brain with cortical regions del...
Image via Wikipedia

I now have a full appreciation for the phrase “wearing a hole in the carpeting.”

While I’m not quite sure how a prospective father feels, I can identify with being on the verge of bringing a new life into the world. It just happens to be my own. » Read more: Surviving the Third Trimester

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