Of Brevity and Travel

I picked up this book and I couldn't put it down. I had to buy it.

It's called Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure.

The pages are filled with six-word quotes that tell a life story. For example:

"Never should have bought that ring." by Paul Bellows

OR

"I recognize red flags faster now." by Barbara Burri

OR

"Followed rules not dreams. Never again." by Margaret Hellerstein

I'm drawn to the brevity - yet vastness - of these six-word memoirs and it didn't take long before my mind was connecting this six-word thing to the concept of travel.

Many travelers share this: You go out into the world, experience epiphanies and then come home and try to squeeze yourself back into the mold you filled before you left.

It rarely works and it's always frustrating as nobody really wants to hear a detailed account of your travel-induced realizations.

When friends/family/co-workers ask, "How was your trip?" they aren't hoping for a two-hour retelling involving slides. They want a simple answer. Something brief. Like:

I had a really fun time.

OR

So nice. I got to relax.

Notice, please, the six-word structure of both these replies.

Is a six-word response about all anyone wants to hear of somebody else's travel experience?

If so, could I come up with six-word strings to adequately sum-up some of my biggest trips?

Here's what I've come up with. At times the travel spot is obvious, and other times, not so much. Here we go:

Semester in Spain. Never the same.

Left my heart in Buenos Aires.

Traveling sola. Sometimes lonely. Often not.

Guatemala. Stool Sample. Giardia. Oh shit.

When I travel, I find God.

From Mexico to Myanmar to married.


Photo: Cover art Not Quite What I Was Planning

Up To My Eyeballs in Local Authors

I had no idea my little neck of the woods was such a hot bed of children's authors. In the past five days I've had three encounters with visionary, passionate and creative people all penning great books for kids.

There is Lynne Jonell, author of Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat. She is blogging - in rat voice - with local kids. It's a cool way to get kids into a computer lab and interacting with others online in a controlled, educational environment.

And then there is JoAnn Pastel and Kakie Fitzsimmons, two moms who were so frustrated with the lack of racially diverse images in their sons' picture books that they conceived an entire line of children's books and products featuring a rainbow of characters.

The product line, called Bur Bur and Friends showcases people with a variety of skin tones all interacting together.

And I also met with Timothy Culbert and Rebecca Kajander, a doctor-nurse team with years of pediatric experience under their belts.

They've spent their careers specializing in alternative techniques to help kids with behavioral and emotions issues.

Now, they've pulled together their best practices to publish a series of books called Be the Boss of Your Body.

The books teach kids that they are capable of emitting control over their own bodies, and thus capable of controlling their own health.

Photo cover art for ...

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat
Bur Bur's Boating ABC's
Be the Boss of Your Stress

Suspenseful Reading

I recently finished reading Elephant Run by Roland Smith. It's a young adult novel about Burma, Japan, elephants and WWII.

Burma is about the last place I would ever expect a young adult novel to be set, and in truth, this is one of the reasons I picked up the title. The uniqueness appealed to me.

Yet once I got started, I kept reading because I was thoroughly engaged in the plot. The main character, Nick, is a British boy whose parents are divorced and living on different continents -- his mother in England and his father in Burma.

When the Germans begin their steady bombing of London during WWII, it is decided that Nick should part ways with his mother and go live with his father in Burma, which is (supposedly) beyond the reach of the war.

But soon after Nick gets settled in with his dad, the Japanese march into the country, conquer Rangoon and begin sending captives to the Thai-Burma border to construct a railway bridge, which would become the real-life Bridge Over the River Kwai.

While Nick manages to avoid capture by the Japanese, his father doesn't. What will Nick do all alone in a foreign and war-torn land?

Favorite Frangipani

I took this serene picture of a frangipani flower just starting to unfurl at the Killing Fields in Cambodia.

I remember stopping to take the shot. After confronting the evil of the Killing Fields, it felt good to focus my energy on something delicate, beautiful and alive.

Of Talismans and Travel

Before I left on my last big trip, a journey that took my husband and me through eight different countries in six months' time, one of my dearest friends gave me this bracelet.

On a small card, which I still have, she scrawled:

Wear in good health and may you be safe -- XO Michelle

Michelle and I had traveled together before (in Peru and Guatemala) so I knew from past experience that these particular beads, these evil eyes, held meaning for her. On each of our previous expeditions she'd worn similar charms around her neck to protect herself from the preying ways of potential thugs, thieves or the like.

I put her bracelet on the day I received it and in the past two and a half years, it's rarely left my wrist. Just the other day, it broke. The silver casing holding one of the beads simply snapped and the whole thing fell to the kitchen floor as I was cleaning the coffee machine.

I heard it hit the ground and looked down at my feet wondering what had made the noise. When I saw my bracelet limp across the floor, an audible gasp escaped my lips. Those beads had seen me through so many strange lands, so many foreign situations, that I too had come to believe in the protective power of the evil eye.

The loss of this lucky charm has caused me to think about what other small trinkets I've carried about the world as I travel far from home, about what I consider my travel talismans.

There are, of course, my snippets of Sadie hair that have seen me through numerous trips and flights. And I do have a certain day pack I've found to be particularly useful on the road. It has gone on so many journeys with me that it as become, in my mind, a travel necessity.

And then there is this rock, this vaguely heart-shaped dusty gray rock, that has made the rounds with me as well. Like the evil eye bracelet, this rock was given to me as I prepared to take off on my last big trip, the Global Roam.

A group of women I know gathered for a happy hour send off at an area bar overlooking a nearby lake. One of the women came in late, the last to arrive. She'd been out watching the waves break on the shoreline, she said, and produced the rock.

She sent the rock circling the table, instructing each woman there to concentrate her well wishes for my safe travel and healthy return into its form before passing it on, all the way around to me, with whom it would remain. I was to pack the rock in my travel gear and in that way, their prayers -- and a little piece of my home state -- would accompany me, she said.

I was touched by the gesture and the pause I saw each woman give the rock as it circled the group. I brought it home, shared its significance with my hub and promptly added it to the growing stack of things to pack.

The rock almost didn't make the packing cut. It's hard to pack for six months on the road. Lots of items get chucked for their bulkiness or weight. The rock, at one point, was set aside as "heavy."

But my husband, dear man, secretly slipped the rock into my bag. I didn't discover it there until we were already on the road three weeks. When I held it up, curious but happy to see it there, Quang smiled and shrugged.

"We'll take all the prayers we can get," he said.

Salty Sweet

I will admit I've slacked on the blogger scene lately.

My brain has been preoccupied with another writing project and when I finally wrap up at the end of the day, my eyeballs are dry and tired from excessive screen time.

I've chosen reading over blogging to give my eyes a rest. And besides, the book I was reading offered me total escape. Authored by Mark Haskell Smith, it was called Salty.

Salty, hot and sweaty it was. It took place in Thailand, alternating settings between a tourist beach on Phuket, a mangrove swamp not too far away, and the raunchy streets of Bangkok. It was a tale of kidnappings, ransoms, rock stars and supermodels.

It would have been a great beach read, but it was also perfect as my mid-winter-blahs release.

It reminded me of three other books I've read -- the Bangkok 8 series by John Burdett.

Bangkok 8, Bangkok Tattoo and Bangkok Haunts are books I can only describe as racy, sexy, thrilling and definitely NOT for the faint-of-heart reader.

In them, Sonchai Jitpleecheep (the only non-corrupt detective in all of Bangkok's police force) solves the graphic murders of foreigners that inevitably involve the seedy underbelly of Thailand -- drugs, prostitution, terrorism, etc.

I'm not a die-hard mystery reader, nor am I big on series, so I'm surprised I rush for Burdett's titles when I see a new one has been released. Given the most recent is still out in hardcover, I guess I'll have a while before the fourth one hits my nightstand.

Bon Tet

Happy Chinese New Year!

Or, as the holiday is called in Vietnam: Tet.

I'm a rat.

My hubby's a rat.

And now it's the year of the rat.

I'm hoping this spells a year of happy coincidences; however, according to Quang, who says according to Vietnamese lore, when the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac cycle back around to you, it's supposed to be a bad year.

No way, I say. Your year should be your time to shine. I expect great things. Bring on the rat!

Photos: Paper lanterns decorate the entrance to an ancient temple outside Ninh Binh, Vietnam

Send Me to Martinique!

Wish you were here?



So do I!

I'm not sure how I qualified for this contest, but last week I got an email inviting me to enter a funny travel blog post for a chance to win a trip for two to Martinique. Free trip to a Caribbean island? Sign me up!

I selected a past blog entry from a trip to Thailand and sent it in. Wa-la! It's in the contest. If you were a loyal reader during my Global Roam blogging days, you'll recognize the story. It's called Tricky Tricky Tuk Tuk and it's about how Quang and I got taken for a ride!

If you go to the Martinique Tourism Board Web site and vote for my story, you too have a chance to win a free trip for two to the island paradise.

So come on! VOTE FOR ME! And do it by February 28! Maybe we'll be hanging out on the beach together!



Photos courtesy of Martinique Tourism Web site

Supporting the Sorta Hometown Girl

Ever since the movie Juno was released in December, screenplay writer Diablo Cody has been getting a lot of media attention -- especially here in the Twin Cities.

Minnesota loves to promote its own and even though Cody only lived in the Twin Cities for a short time, and doesn't live here anymore, seemingly every local publication has pumped out glowing articles about her and her ascent into the national spotlight, which started right here in little ol' Minneapolis.

Of course hubby and I went to see Juno soon after it opened. To not have would have felt like we were breaking some sort of law, such was the glitter and fanfare it received. And it was fun to hear the characters reference such backyard landmarks like "Ridgedale Mall" in the film.

When Juno received four Academy Award nominations (best actress, best screenplay, best director and best film), we nodded our heads and concurred that yes, it had been a good show.

So when I came across a stack of hardcover copies of Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper for 4 bucks at Barnes and Noble the other day, I had to get one. Before she wrote Juno, Cody wrote Candy Girl and it's filled with Minneapolis references.

I read it over the weekend. It was a VERY fast read. And I was actually kinda surprised by the fact that all the place names weren't disguised. One could actually use Candy Girl as a sort of guidebook to Minneapolis Strip Clubs (if one were looking for that sort of thing).

But, after closing the back cover, I still had one question. Why is the book called Candy Girl?

I kept thinking that "Candy" was going to have been her stripper stage name, but it wasn't.

I feel like I'm overlooking something totally obvious. Anyone out there know the reason behind the title?

Updating the Resume

It's always a thrill to see the final layout and printing of a story I've written. As a freelancer writer, it's my job to simply turn in the text. I don't get to participate in the design process. All that work takes place in house at the newspaper or magazine.

For magazines, my lead-time is usually pretty big. For example, I wrote my story about how to plan a wedding in a Minnesota winery back in July 2007, but it didn't appear on the stands until January 2008. By that point, I've kinda forgotten what I wrote about way back yonder.

It's strange to sit down with something I wrote so long ago and revisit it. It's a practice in delayed gratification. It's entirely different from keeping a blog. A blog is so instant. Write it. Post it. Done.

This past month landed three magazines in my mailbox that featured stories I'd written. None of them appear online, except for the portions I've now excerpted on my site to keep my online resume up-to-date.

From Minnesota Bride:
Toasting to Love: Minnesota wineries offer charming event spaces for pre-wedding festivities and the big "I do"

From Lake Minnetonka Living:
Family + Football: For only area clan, football is a family affair

From Plymouth Magazine:
The Long Way Home: 12 men run 208 miles across 2 states

Photos: cover art from Minnesota Bride, Lake Minnetonka Living and Plymouth Magazine