Taken by the Wind

Funny Photos from Jamaica

Reannon Muth — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:17:47 +0000

I just got back from Jamaica and was surprised to learn, among other things, that Jamaicans really DO say things like ‘Yeh, Mon’ and ‘No problem, Mon’and ALL THE TIME (it’s not just a stereotype). I got a huge kick out of it and thought the Jamaican accent sounded really pretty (musical even). It definitely ought to be added to the list of World’s Sexiest Accents .

I’ll be posting a more detailed account of my trip later, but thought I’d upload a few funny photos first. I took a jerk-chicken TON of photos (mostly of sunsets, waterfalls and the beach) which you’ll be relieved to know I WON’T be posting (especially after reading this article on how to take better travel photos)

I couldn't help it, okay?

Travelloged: This Week’s Top Pics and Posts for Travel Addicts

Reannon Muth — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:32:41 +0000

Photo courtesy of Jsmoral

Okay, so doesn’t that photo make you wanna get married just so you can honeymoon at the St. Regis hotel in Bora Bora? I first saw the hotel in that awful Vince Vaughn film “Couples Retreat” and have been obsessed with going there ever since.

* Ryan air is going to offer child-free flights! What do you think? My thoughts on the subject can be summed up in the quote below.

From the article: “When it comes to children we all love our own but would clearly prefer to avoid other people’s little monsters when travelling,” Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara said.

* Travel to Create Your Self - This article in Psychology Today answers the question: Why do we travel? Here’s an excerpt:

“Fear is part of what makes travel so enlivening and revelatory. You’re perpetually off-balance and on guard. After a while one yearns for the mindlessness of familiar routines. And when you do return home, old pleasures are much the sweeter for having been suspended.”

* I’ve always wanted to stay in an airplane hostel. Check out this HuffPo article about upcycled airplanes.

* How to Tap into the Right Side of Your Brain - A good read for anyone suffering from writers’ block or for anyone in need of a creativity boost. On a related note, this poster about the 12 1/2 writing rules is cute and would look awesome in my office. Anyone wanna buy it for me?

* Which way is the ballerina turning for you? I only see it turning clockwise, which means I’m more right-brained then left (no surprise there!).

* The Ted Talk “Three Things I learned Wh ile My Plane Crashed” is both funny and thought-provoking.

* Some dude has been collecting airplane barf bags since 1988 and now they’re on display in a museum. Interesting! I could totally see framing some of the more colorful ones.

* Tourist Stereotypes (according to the British). Huh. Canadians are boring? Really!? All the Canadians I know seem to be quite the opposite, actually. Are they confusing ‘boring’ with ‘nice’?

Is there such thing as being TOO OLD for a “youth” hostel?

Reannon Muth — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:57:52 +0000

Photo Courtesy of Barnacles Hostel

On my way to Jamaica last week, I had an overnight layover in Miami. Not wanting to spend a lot of money on lodging, I booked a hostel near the airport. After getting off the bus and wandering around lost for an hour (in heels and in the heat), I arrived at the hostel hot and tired and looking forward to ditching my roller-bag and taking a nap.

As soon as I walked into the dorm room, however, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. First, though it was only two in the afternoon, there was already a party underway in the dorm’s common room. Beer bottles lined the coffee table, techno blasted from the stereo system and several people were smoking in the kitchen; using the sink as an ashtray.

After saying hello and dumping my stuff on the bunk bed, I decided that since I wasn’t going to be sleeping any time soon, I might as well take a shower. But as soon as I opened the bathroom door, I realized that wasn’t going to happen either, thanks to the naked girl passed out on the toilet in the dorm’s only bathroom.

“Oh! Sorry!” I said, backing away from the open doorway as soon as I saw her. I expected her to hastily stand up and slam the door shut, but she didn’t even seem to register my presence.

“Are you okay?” She didn’t move. Crap, is she dead? I thought. I headed down to the reception desk to find the hostel’s manager (a shirtless, barefoot 30-something), in a fight with the housekeeper.

“Can I help you?” he asked as soon as he noticed me.

“Um, yeah. I’m checking out…” I placed the dorm key on the desk in front of him.

“Why? Is it because of the girl? Cause you can change rooms if you want…”

“Um…you mean the girl passed out in the bathroom?” He knew about her?

“There’s a girl passed out in the bathroom!?” He looked at the housekeeper accusingly, as if he had had something to do with it.

“Yeah. Look. I’m gonna go…” I said, wondering what girl he’d been referring to, but too weirded out by the situation to want to stick around to find out.

Later, after gathering my stuff and wandering down the highway a ways, I found a motel. Though it cost 70 dollars (about 50 dollars more than the hostel had) I was happy to pay it.

Five years ago, I wouldn’t have thought twice about staying in that hostel. I would have no doubt joined the party; heck, I probably would have been the one to start it. But now, at 29, getting wasted with strangers on a Monday afternoon was the last thing I wanted to do. What I wanted to do was take a hot shower (alone!) and crawl into a comfortable king-size motel bed and sleep.

When I read about travelers like 29-year-old blogger Matt (who’s been bouncing around from hostel to hostel nearly non-stop for the past five years) or about 34-year-old blogger Christine (who not only stays in hostels with her husband but her one-year-old baby), I wonder how they do it. I also wonder whether or not they should.

As Christine explained:

“No one wants to party their way around the world and then find a baby is in the room… especially if they’re from the States. I noticed this taboo pretty quickly as we stayed in a hostel in Bogotá…the American kids were definitely not into the cherubic angel cooing at them from across the room (sort of a buzz kill, me thinks).”

A few months ago, while staying in a hostel in Portland, Oregon, I encountered something similiar. I awoke at six in the morning to get a drink of water and as I sleepily stumbled out of the dorm room barefoot and in my snowman pajamas, I was embarassed to find a 40-something Asian man sitting in a chair in the hallway. Though it was barely dawn, he was dressed in a suit and watching Modern Family on his laptop. It looked as though he’d been up for hours.

We nodded at one another and I patted down my messy hair, feeling both self-conscious and resentful that he’d caught me looking so disheveled. It was Saturday, for crying out loud! He should have been sleeping off a hangover like a normal person.

But he wasn’t the only one up early. There were quite a few other older people chatting in the kitchen over coffee. One guy looked to be in his late 60′s.

“I’m so hung-over,” I overheard him tell a girl. He was clearly trying to relate to us; to let us all know that even though he’d probably been given a senior citizen discount when he’d reserved his hostel room, he was still cool. It was painful to watch and I felt embarrassed for him.

Anyway, what do you think? Does the old adage “age ain’t nothin’ but a number” apply here or do ‘old people’ cramp a hostel’s style?

Travel, Soul Mates and a Book about Mormons

Reannon Muth — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:38:03 +0000

"Where my Heart is" by fwooper

I just finished reading Elna Baker‘s memoir, The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance. In it, she recounts the struggles she faced as a 26-year-old Mormon virgin looking for true love in New York city. She’s a funny writer and her insight into the Mormon faith was interesting and informative. Now 30, Elna is no longer a virgin or a Mormon but a successful writer. She made the very personal announcement in an essay she wrote for Glamour, “Guess What? I’m not a Virgin Anymore!”

Though I wasn’t raised Mormon or even religious, I loved Elna’s voice (the chapter about her trip to Tanzania is hilarious) and could relate to her as a traveler. Elna split her childhood between Washington, London and Spain (her family moved around a lot because of her father’s job). Here’s an excerpt from a conversation she had with her co-worker about soul mates that I found particular relevant to life as a travelholic.

“Vinny,” I began. ”Do you believe in soul mates?”

He thought about my question. ”Nah,” he shook his head. ”Take my wife – she grew up five blocks from me, only we didn’t meeet till we were thirty-five. I’d been in the army, I’d traveled the world, and still I married a girl from Astoria, Queens. What are the odds that my soul mate grew up five blocks away? Is it fate? No. In the end, people just marry other people who are like them.”

I was disappointed by his answer, but nodded my head.

“You know what your problem is?” he continued.

“What?”

“You believe a buncha different things, you’ve lived in a buncha different places, and now, nobody’s like you.”

“Thanks, Vinny. No one tells you what being unique actually means: that you’ll die alone.”

That quote reminded me about something I’d read about ‘Third Culture Kids’. ’Third Culture’ is a term used to describe children (usually American military brats or the offspring of missionaries) that were born in one culture but raised in another. It’s sad because usually these children have an incredibly difficult time adjusting to life in their home culture when they return. Though they were never fully able to assimilate into their host country’s culture, they find that when go back ‘home’, they aren’t fully able to assimilate there either. They’re stuck forever straddling two worlds; never fully feeling like they belong anywhere and having difficulty relating to anyone except for other ‘Third Culture Kids’.

Though no one can fully identify with someone else (as everyone’s life experience is unique), for those who’ve lived abroad, it seems particularly difficult. It seems ironic that some of the experiences we’ve had as travelers that make us most interesting, are also what make us wholly unrelatable; an alien race of no-culture nomads.

6 MORE of the Best Travel-Themed Tattoos

Reannon Muth — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:24:22 +0000

If you’re like most first-time visitors to this blog, you stumbled onto it by google-searching one of the following search terms:

3. ”Western women are spoiled”

2. ”Virgin-Atlantic Uniform”

1. “Travel Tattoos”

Yep, those are my blog’s three most popular search terms (Pretty eclectic readership I’ve got going, huh?)

Well, dear readers, I figured it was about time I gave you all a little bit more of what you came here for and post six more of my favorite travel tattoos (Sorry, but I’m all out of spoiled American women).

The Ship Anchor

Photo by Immaterial Labour

The Bird

Photo by SoundlessFall

The Dandelion

Photo by ValentinaM

The Travel Quote

Photo by Deanna Wardin

The Skyline

Train Tracks

"Tracks" by Uncle Arlo's A Plus Tattoos

If you’re ever in San Francisco, tattoo artist Deanna Wardin does some excellent work. Or for some more travel-tat goodness, check out my previous post on the subject, “The 6-Best Travel-Themed Tattoos”.