Category: world
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made in China
My favorite travel bag is the one that I’m carrying in my right hand in this photo. I bought it in China the morning before I returned to the States. It was $6. I didn’t haggle. It says “ESPBIT” on the logo, which looks just like ESPRIT unless you take a moment to really think about it. It was hard to choose between a red one and the green one–I’m glad I settled on the red.I needed an extra bag to bring home some trinkets: a wooden dragon for GameBoy, turquoise silk pajamas for Catgirl, a black cheongsam for me, as well as several pouches of jasmine tea. For John I brought a delicately carved “chop” engraved with his name in Chinese.
Now I carry my ESPBIT bag to my outrigger races, to conferences, and just about anywhere else I travel. It’s outlasted nearly every other suitcase that I’ve purchased.
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ghostly
A few days ago I saw someone on Twitter poking fun at the Hipstamatic filter for iPhone that’s so popular right now. They were saying how ridiculous it is for ‘hipsters’ to use an app for creating poor-quality photos.
I agree that the Hipstamatic is a wee bit over-trendy right now, but I completely understand the addiction. The pic above is one example of a random picture that I took that turned out to be surprisingly interesting. It’s of clothes hanging on a laundry line in a local history museum in the Lake District. I love how ethereal it looks because of its blurriness.
Of course, you might disagree.
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The Capitol (i.e. we rock DC)
Heading to the DC-area once again, this time sans family and sans winter coats, hats, mittens, etc…I’ve heard it’s been pretty hot in those there parts of the country lately. :)
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ruins
Furness Abbey was one of my favorite spots that we visited on our trip. It’s much like the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey and Peel Castle that we’ve visited on past trips to the UK. I don’t know why I enjoy wandering around castle ruins so much more than real-life working castles, but I do. A ruined castle has so many more stories to tell, perhaps. Wordsworth seems to agree with me on this point, too (note: a railway runs along one side of the abbey):
AT FURNESS ABBEY WELL have yon Railway Labourers to THIS ground
Withdrawn for noontide rest. They sit, they walk
Among the Ruins, but no idle talk
Is heard; to grave demeanour all are bound;
And from one voice a Hymn with tuneful sound
Hallows once more the long-deserted Quire
And thrills the old sepulchral earth, around.
Others look up, and with fixed eyes admire
That wide-spanned arch, wondering how it was raised,
To keep, so high in air, its strength and grace:
All seem to feel the spirit of the place,
And by the general reverence God is praised:
Profane Despoilers, stand ye not reproved,
While thus these simple-hearted men are moved?~WIlliam Wordsworth
June 21, 1845. -
England
We’re still enjoying our England tour, moving madly from one site/event to the next after having a few leisurely days in the Lake District.
I especially enjoyed our long train(!) tour up the Cumbrian coast to Carlisle and then back through the center of England. So many rolling hills, small plots of lands dotted with rock walls, sheep, and so so so much green. And trains. Did I mention trains?
As always, the kids are excellent travelers. They’ve survived some bad food, some awkward sleeping situations, and several long marches wearing heavy backpacks. But they aren’t complaining one whit! Their enthusiasm for this adventure is keeping me going–even when I’m exhausted and a wee bit grumpy (especially those times when I think I can hardly stand one more moment without a wireless connection)…
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adventure
30 hours without a night’s sleep is a long time! But, hey, we are super-travelers. :)Some highlights from today include a walk-that-took-forever from the train station to our B&B, a ramble down a random footpath that led precisely to the place that we wanted to be, meeting an emo cow who insisted on sitting in the shade to write poetry, and wandering a ruined Abbey that inspired Wordsworth. Gameboy tried vinegar on his chips (did not like), Catgirl is eating salad everywhere because of so few vegetarian options, and we opted out of scones & cream this afternoon because we were too tired to really appreciate it. Oh, and did I mention trains? A gorgeous train ride through central England and into the southern Lake District.
We are on the top floor of a charming inn, and our view looks across a row of backyards. A clothesline with sheets flapping in the wind is so utterly charming. It’s just like Catgirl said when she ordered some tap water with her lunch…she took a sip and then smiled ear to ear. I asked her if the water was particularly good an she replied, “It doesn’t matter how it tastes…it’s England water!”
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pre-trip panic
I’m sure you know what I’m talking about–those moments where you’re gathering all the loose ends and wondering if you’re really going to be able to pull it off…I typically hit this place just before a trip where the small frustrations of packing and itinerary-making cause me to wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to just stay home?There are so many unknowns with travel, so many connections to make (or not make). And I’m afraid. So much could go wrong!
Here are the three of us in Rheims, France. We’re behind the Basilica de St Remy, just after the Jean d’Arc parade in 2004. Isn’t the lavender gorgeous?
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Seattle-bound
My plans for this trip had to change at the last minute, due to my confusion over the ferry schedule back to Seattle. So instead of an extra day to explore Vancouver Island, I gained a day to explore Seattle (how odd that it is, really, considering that in just a few days, John will be settling into making this city his new temporary home…). One of the joys of such a spontaneous change is that I was able to quickly make contact with a Seattle blogger that I’ve followed for several years. She and I shared a friend in Sara, but have never met. We also share a love for gardening and the Japanese culture, as well as experience with cancer.
The change in travel plans has meant less time as a tourist—I never did even make it to a tea shop in Victoria—but more time talking with fellow travelers at my conference. Last night I ended up sharing dinner with a woman that I’d just met, after we learned that we had children of similar ages and temperaments (and we’d bought similar take-home gifts in the UVic bookstore). As we walked on we realized that both of our spouses build/manage databases and we also share a passion for 19th-century women’s history. Sharing a cab to the ferry this morning I had similarly provocative conversations with scholars from California,New York, and Illinois.
As I write this, I’m looking out over the rolling waters of the Juan de Fuca strait and dreaming about paddling those waters someday. My very small taste of the Pacific Northwest & Vancouver Island has me convinced that this is a place to return to again soon. A place that I could even call home someday. But even more than the connection that I’m finding to the cities and structures of the area, I’m feeling full of the conversations and connections that’ve emerged in the past few days. I’m coming home full of ideas and possibilities, ready for even more such experiences at the conferences coming up in July, and for my research projects.
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sailing away…
Yesterday I sailed away from the United States and entered Canada. This is my first trip to Canada that was more than a day-long jaunt or a layover. I love the variety accents. There were French-speaking teens surrounding me on my ferry ride. The restaurants give me “evidence” rather than a credit card receipt. It is not cold here, but it did rain yesterday.
Perhaps the best part of my travels is meeting several online friends in real life–I especially appreciate the ‘taxi’ service from @leisurelyviking and @jcmeloni. Traveling tends to reaffirm the faith I have in the connectedness of our world, as well as the deep-down beauty of stranger-friends.
I am here for an intensive summer workshop. I’d kind of forgotten what it feels like to be a student and take lecture notes. But it’s all coming back very quickly…And I love that my instructor’s recent research focuses on literary journeys through the Lake District of northern England. I am now scheming a jaunt to that region either before or after my conference in London next month. Such scenery. Such history. Such adventure! :)
PS: This journey marks my first out-of-the-country trip on my own. Also, my first by-myself ferry ride.
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living a life different enough to be worth writing about
I’ve been attempting to articulate a particular feeling for several days now, and here Jeffrey Tayler has done it so well.
If you had 99 lives, what would you do with them? With the one life you have, what will you do that will be different and exciting, worthy of recounting in print? If you’re short on ideas, as I was, let the protagonists of novels and short stories show you how to live; let the great writers, with their imagined plots and characters, introduce you to new paths in real life. I don’t necessarily mean milquetoast paths, easy ways out. So, if you’ve read “A Bend in the River,” let Salim the Indian trader, who came up from the coast to open a shop on the Congo River, show you what you can do when you have nowhere else to go. Let Georges Duroy, the pitiless hero of Maupassant’s “Bel-Ami,” show you what you can do if you arrive penniless in Paris. “The Sheltering Sky” might serve as your guide to Morocco, Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” to the U.S. The point is that great writers and their works can provide blueprints for changes in our lives. They can teach us about how many possible ways ahead there are, both good and bad. And bad is not as bad as all that. Remember, for a writer, adversity makes good subject material.
The protagonist of “The Death of Ivan Il’ich” died moaning, in agony, overcome with the realization that he had wasted his days on earth following social conventions. He lacked l’esprit frondeur, and he paid for it. Conventions now are hardly less pervasive than they were in Tolstoy’s day; we’re pressured to start a career, build our résumé, earn a certain amount of money, and so forth. But remember: None of us gets out of here alive. So don’t fear risks. Rebel. Be bold, try hard, and embrace adversity; let both success and failure provide you with unique material for your writing, let them give you a life different enough to be worth writing about.
Picture from my trip to China a few years ago–a charming round “hobbit door” that I discovered in a garden. What a wonderful adventure that was!
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It’s time for a new carrot
The past few days have been the most extreme tides of the year–the water so high that it’s barely possible to paddle under some bridges, then the water so low that the Back Bay is mostly mudflats. This has also resulted in HUGE amounts of debris being pulled into the water–some chunks of it are large tangled island masses of branches and trash that are 4 or 5 times the size of my boat. Much of it is just random floating crap–so paddling through the channel is a bit like a slalom race. Yesterday I veered around something that looked like a tree branch, only to learn seconds later that it was a huge log (most of it submersed under water) and it made a loud thwack it collided with my outrigger. I was afraid that I’d cracked something and might even be taking on water. But the next few minutes went smoothly and I forgot about it until I brought my boat up to the deck for cleaning. I found an ugly gash on the ama (the outrigger float), exposing the carbon fiber shell under the gelcoat finish. Fortunately, it seems that the damage is purely superficial. It was still discouraging, though.The scratch on the ama was on my mind when I went out again this morning. I work pretty hard to keep my boat in good condition–taking good care of her so she’ll do her best for me. I hate to see her get dings and scratches. And then I had this ‘aha’ moment: the best way to keep my boat in ‘pristine’ condtion would be to keep her stored away safely. She can’t help but show some wear if I keep taking her out on the water. And it was right then that I decided to wear out my boat–by paddling regularly and hard. Of course, I’ll still be on the watch for floating tree trunks…but I won’t stop getting out on the water just because I’d like to keep the pretty paintjob.
The other thing that was foremost in my thoughts as I paddled this weekend, was the news that I got on Friday: our division was canceled at the World Champs because too few teams could afford the trip to New Caledonia. I knew this might be a possibility because several teams had already pulled out. But the final news was pretty disheartening. I’ve used that upcoming race as a “carrot” to keep up my practicing and cross-training all winter long. And I was so looking forward to paddling the waters in the South Pacific in May. But of course I still aim to do so…someday.
So now I need a new carrot, a new goal to work towards. It might be a special race or reward for reducing my per-mile speed by a specific amount. I’m not sure yet. But if you have any good ideas, I’m all ears. (oh, and I’m also looking for a new way to ring in my biggest birthday yet now that I’m no longer planning to win me a shiny medal that week).
And just like the inevitable scratches on my boat, I’m sure I’ll continue to encounter a variety of bumps as I continue paddling–canceled races, bad weather, damaged boats, etc. But if I was gonna let the challenges stop me, I’d never have gotten back in the canoe on that memorable first race…
Perhaps it will be all of the above!