Taken by the Wind » Travel Addiction

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”.

Why Long-Term Travel Ain’t All That and a Bag of Chips

Reannon Muth — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:31:05 +0000

"To the Clouds" by Claudio Vaccaro

Blogger Tina Su longed to escape the dull routine of daily life and thus, like so many of others who read about ‘mini-retirements’ in The 4-Hour Workweek, she put her job on hold and went on an extended tour through India. A few weeks into her trip however, she realized that the image she’d had of a mini-retirement being a glorious escape filled with ‘spiritual growth’ and ‘creative stimulation’ was an idealistic and romanticized one. Though she’d eliminated one routine (her job) she’d replaced it with another (sight-seeing) and soon grew bored and wanted to go home.

“After six weeks of traveling,” she wrote in the blog post ‘The Mini-Retirement Misconception‘, “I was starting to get bored. Sightseeing got old really fast, and I didn’t want to visit another fort or palace again. After eight weeks of floating around without real responsibilities, I was anxious to come home and be productive again.”

I could definitely relate. I spent four months in India and four months in Central America and discovered that four months was about a month too long. I learned that while I love living in a foreign country, wandering aimlessly through one? Not so much. I need the structure of a job or else I grow antsy and anxious.

A lot of travel writers and bloggers try to sell the idea of the vagabond lifestyle as this exciting, Huck-Finn-type adventure (and it can be) but what they often leave out is that it’s exhausting, lonely and even boring, as well.

Or as Tina put it:

“While traveling can enrich your life experience and enhance your understandings of other cultures, it will not make you happier and cannot be the solution to your discontentment at home. I’ve learned that, at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter what I’m doing, as long as I am being productive and contributing towards a greater cause other than myself. Regardless of what I’m doing, true happiness can only be found right now.”

Decorating Idea for Travel Addicts: DIY Passport Stamp Art

Reannon Muth — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:41:51 +0000

Passport Stamps by Mondayne

I love this idea of turning old passport stamps into framed pieces of art. The blog, A Brooklyn Limestone in Progress, posted a ‘how-to’ guide which makes the whole project seem both easy for amateur artists like myself and cheap (supplies totaled just five bucks).

Here are the steps:

1. Scan a few of your favorite passport stamps into your computer

2. Enlarge them

3. Print onto card stock

4. Frame

The blogger also suggests gluing them onto blocks of wood, but I like the idea of simply keeping the enlarged passport stamp as is and framing it. I also want to do the same thing with my collection of plane ticket stubs (or I might just create a collage).

Here’s an example of a similar idea (a framed postcard):

I bought this at Marshal's for 10 bucks.

Decorating Ideas for Travel Addicts: Vintage Travel Posters

Reannon Muth — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:52:18 +0000

These photos come from the Boston Public Library’s collection of vintage travel posters. All of them date back to the “The Golden Age of Travel” (1920s through the 1940s). Here’s an exert taken from the description on their Flicker page.

“Travel agents and ticket offices during this period were festooned with vivid, eye-catching posters, all designed to capture the beauty, excitement and adventure of travel and to promote a world of enticing destinations and new modes of transportation.”

My plan is to buy four or five (you can purchase them for 15 bucks online), frame them and hang them up in my bedroom. What do you think?

Photo by Boston Public Library

Photo courtesy of the Boston Public Library

Photo courtesy Boston Public Library

Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library

Photo Courtesy of Boston Public LibraryPhoto courtesy of Boston Public Library

Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library

For ideas on how to decorate using vintage travel posters, the blog Apartment Therapy has some suggestions.