thefutureisred

In Answer To Your Question: A Girl's Guide To Traveling Solo

Last year, I asked for your travel questions. The first request was for advice about solo travel for women. One problem with that. I rarely travel solo, so I wouldn't be able to provide definitive insight based on experience. Until now!

Craig and Linda Martin's Indietravel Podcast has just published their The Art of Solo Travel: A Girl's Guide by Stephanie Lee, and Craig and Linda -- whom I had the pleasure of meeting last month -- were kind enough to provide me with a review copy along with an interview with the author.

Who is this book for?

This is a book specifically for women who don't have extensive travel experience, particularly solo travel.

"Siblings for their sisters. Parents for their daughters. Anybody who might be up for an adventure."

-Stephanie Lee

While the Girl's Guide is geared more for women, it contains plenty of solid -- some surprising -- information for all people planning on striking out on their own.

What type of travel?

Budget.  Stephanie's entire year of travel cost 15 thousand Australian dollars. Even so, she leaves enough room to treat yourself to a good dinner or spa treatment.

One of my favorite parts of the book is Stephanie's break down of what she spent and where plus another full section on how to save money prior to your trip and while on the road. 

What was most useful?

Her packing checklist. You'd think after four years of travel, I'd be a well tempered packing artist. Alas, no. So Stephanie's well-tried list of everything you'll need plus warnings of what you won't need -- no matter how much you think you will -- sang out to me.

My packing downfall? I am a total and utter product whore. I always think I'm going to need far more than I do. The bare bones toiletries list in the Girl Guide is extensive enough to assuage any fears I have that I might find myself out somewhere in a dry wind without enough lotion or lip balm, yet short enough to actually fit into one bag weighing 15kg or less.

I love that she includes one travel luxury item. Meaning, something we all know we don't really need and shouldn't bother bringing along, but we want to anyway. Hers is a hair dryer. Mine would be nail polish. What would your luxury item be?

What information surprised me?

I didn't expect to see a gadget overview paired with advice as to whether it's worth taking said gadget along. Here, she discusses laptops, e-book readers, smart phones, music players, mobile phones and digital cameras.

Another section I didn't expect? How and why you should use Google tools on your trip. I use Google every day for work but hadn't thought of how useful an iGoogle home could be for travel when set up properly with currency converter and translator among other tools.

I was also surprised to find a discussion of the types of bags you can possibly take.  Usually, it's assumed you'll be carrying a backpack. Discussion follows of what pack to take. Done. The Girl's Guide discusses other possible options.

What about Couchsurfing?

I often see people recommend Couchsurfing as a way to ease the burden on your travel wallet. And yes, this is very much one of the benefits of being on the website, but too often, people forget that Couchsurfing is a community. Stephanie gets that. "I had many experiences I would never trade for the best hotel in the world even if I could afford it," she says.

Because Stephanie is an experienced couchsurfer, you can trust her tips for finding hosts and being a valued part of the community

How does this e-book appeal specifically to women?

Stephanie discusses safety in a practical way designed to support your travel without being overly cautious or frightening. She mentions each of the countries visited on her trip and provides straightforward evaluations of comfort levels, ability to go out at night as well as what to do if you're feeling threatened.

She also includes an entire section dealing with loneliness, eating on your own and how to find community and center yourself when homesickness hits. For me, someone who is well traveled but rarely travels alone, those tips provide a brief glimpse at how wonderful the challenges of solo travel can be.

Any questions? Leave yours in comments below?

Or if you want the book for yourself, head over to the Indietravel Podcast Girl's Guide page and Buy It Now!

Tread Softly On My Dreams: The Education Crisis Revolution

I'm currently reading a book by Maya Frost titled The New Global Student: Skip the SAT, Save Thousands on Tuition and Get a Truly International Education. In it, she describes the nature of the adolescent mind, how in our teen years our brains open to growth potential that is left largely ignored by the current education system in the United States.

The following paragraph resonated particularly strongly with me on many levels.

Our kid's brains are ravenous for content that will lend itself to analysis, and yet we're sticking them into a world that is so limited they are reduced to examining hairstyles and hook-ups instead of more challenging fare. Instead of analyzing culture, politics or world affairs on a daily basis, they're prognosticating about prom dates. They zero in on the fit of their jeans rather than on the fit of a cultural identity within a larger population,and they devote hours to enhancing the clarity of their skin instead of the clarity of their thinking. They are digging into a plate of pettiness because that is precisely what we've served them. They deserve -- and are ready for -- so much more.

It struck me when I read this that the image of the typical obnoxious teen who lives only to text her friends and meet at the mall is something we take for granted. We assume it is the case, because that is what we see around us. In fact, it is entirely possible we amplify that image because we expect it.

But it is not a given.

Following on that little piece of food for thought, I want to share with you a recent TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson about education. In it he calls for the complete revolution of our international education system, now based on a "fast food module." By that, he refers to the standardization and structuring of most systems of education that overlook the needs of the individual.

It starts with the pressure we feel as parents to make sure our children place well into pre-school and goes from there.

That pressure is one of the reasons I wanted to leave New York City. I couldn't see putting LIla through interviews, essays and evaluation play dates, all for the pleasure of paying $20K for a 2-year-old to go to school. It is too painful.

We take for granted that our model is one we must adhere to because it is what we know, and while that model has served us well in many aspects, we must still continue to evaluate and re-evaluate. It's on us as parents, educators and students to identify that which is no longer working and prune the excess.

The pain we experience while pushing our toddlers into pre-school and again when encouraging them to take AP courses and to ace the SAT is a sign something isn't quite right. Embracing a new system is never easy, though. It is another form of letting go.

Photo by HVX Silverstar

Mr. Mackie's Classroom: Why South Park Characters Shouldn't Teach In NYC

A recent article detailing how a California school banned the dictionary because a student looked up the term oral sex, reminds me of a similarly anti-educational incident from my teaching days.

I was running poetry workshops at Booker T Washington middle school through CCNY’s Poetry Outreach Center which paired graduate students with a classes in the New York City public school system. I worked with Ms Wertheimer’s 8^th grade class for four years.

Once a month, I came in with poetry and literature, everything ranging from Shakespeare and Kafka to Outkast’s Ms Jackson -- oooh, I am for real -- and we read, discussed and wrote our own poetry.

The students in these classes were in what was called The Olympia program. Which meant, not quite special education behavioral problems, but not quite expected to truly succeed either. Among quotes I heard directly from teachers and administrators mouths.

“Don’t teach these kids Shakespeare. They won’t understand.” I did anyway.

"Some of these kids have real potential, it’s a shame most of them will end up working at McDonalds.”

And my personal favorite,

"Why do you want to work extra hours with him? He doesn’t know how to read.”

Few things, though, left me more in slack-jawed-awe than one dictionary related incident and a school program director who, I swear, was the  drop dead doppelganger of South Park's guidance counselor, Mr. Mackie. You know, the one with the too tight bow-tie?

I prepared a magnetic poetry-like exercise for the class by printing hundreds of sentences from all different novels and poems onto paper, cut them out into individual words then asked each student to choose ten words to be used in a poem or set of poems.

The only rule: Use every word.

Some were easy words and connection words. Cat. And. The. Hat.

Others I didn’t expect students to know. Ambidextrous. Chthonic. Ineluctable modality of being.

We didn’t have enough dictionaries in the classroom. Those we had were tattered, pages missing and were for far younger students than populated the class. We weren’t able to find the more difficult words I chose.

When I asked the program director for more, particularly more advanced ones, ones better suited to the age group in the classroom, he said the following to me with no irony in all seriousness.

“I would,” he replied. “But my concern is this exercise isn’t appropriate for these students, because many don’t know how to use a dictionary.”

Really? I mean. Really?

Usually, I kept a professional distance and attitude from the administrators I met in the New York City school system. This time, I admit, I was not so polite in response.

What's the problem here?

My students at Booker T Washington showed a level of creativity I didn't see in the students I taught at a nearby private university, a place where students had far more privilege and freedom than those at Booker T. I suspect living beyond any expectation also frees you of the constraints to produce what society expects.

Standing on the other side of the row of desks has its on frustrations. The nature of dealing with administration stifles any creativity on the part of the teachers. You teach to the No Child Left Behind tests. You struggle with principals who care more about walls decorated with pretty things to impress bosses than whether or not 8th grade students can read.

I also quickly realized after teaching in other middle and high schools in NYC that Booker T Washington isn't the worst. They have more resources, dedicated teachers. They are in an area of town that is relatively safe. In four years, I never once lost a student to a beating or to child welfare. Yes, I saw students carrying sandwich bags with crack vials. Yes, I had students with family in prison. One thirteen year old disappeared from class after a couple days when his girlfriend had a baby. Another tore the classroom apart whenever his mother had a new boyfriend.

It is not the worst.

How does one learn in that environment? What does one learn?

Photos by jasonwhite and dcJohn

Then Last Night They Reminded Me Why I Love to Read

Last night, I began reading a new chapter book to Lila called The Pushcart War. I remember having this book read to me when I was her age. To be honest, I don’t remember the details at all, I just remember loving it.

I happened on a copy of this book while in college, found it sitting on the crowded table of  NYC bookseller on the Upper West Side. His name was Mr. Levin, a large man whose bulbous nose sported enormous pores and sat above a mustache worthy of the Mustache Hunt. He unloaded his books every day from a white van, and I would sit and listen to him talk with his big booming voice.

The Pushcart War he placed on his table had worn, ratty edges and pages of a cliché yellow all old books must have, but it was in decent enough shape for a dollar. I didn't want children at that point in my life, but I bought it to read to the children I might one day have if maybe I changed my mind.

I'm glad I did.

This book brings me to the beginning of reading.

To the days I learned that you can disappear into a book, and how one book can change your life forever.

Fast forward to fifth grade when the librarian of Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas introduced me to Madeline L’Engle and A Wrinkle In Time.  I remember certain details but if you asked me to outline the entire plot, you’d have me at a complete loss. I do clearly remember three witchy women who could bend time, wrinkle it, so you could move between places and dimensions in seconds. Close your eyes and you’re in a new world, a fantasy, where magic exists and anything is possible in spite of the danger inherent to your adventure.

Would you trade a safe spot for the thrill and excitement? I wouldn’t.

I read all Madeline L’Engle’s books and even had the chance to hear her speak live. She talked about the nature of writing children’s books. You don’t, she said, write as if you’re writing for a child. A storyteller writes for an adult, for any audience and if you do it well, a child will adore it as much as her parents.

I think about every author I’ve read who has opened new worlds and adventures. Shakespeare and Chaucer showed the adventure of language. How just because a word is foreign, doesn’t mean it can’t be funny, raunchy and fascinating. I devoured Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age and Virginia Woolf's A Room Of Her Own and Gabriel Garcia Marquez' Love In the Time Of Cholera.

These days, I tend not to read books anymore.

They’re too heavy to carry around in a suitcase, and between having a child, a job, editing Matador Life and figuring out how to lead this new expat life in Argentina, I’m wiped out by the end of the day. That I spend my day writing articles and reading other’s work leaves me jaded to the written word.

But as I introduce Lila to the first book I remember reading, her excitement opens me up to the possibilities of reading once more.

And as I finish writing this blog entry, I realize how all of who I am today, all I’ve done and accomplished, the choices I make, the people I love and places that call my name, all became inevitable when I held that first book in my hand.

Photos courtesy of h.koppdelaney and austinevan

5 Reasons Why To Buy This Book Right Now

This English version of The Book of Shapur has been many years in the making. It started as a personal lament that I couldn't read one of my best friend's writing because most of what he writes is in Farsi. Then we translated it together. 

 

There are many reasons to purchase and read The Book of Shapur. I give you five.

1. Read A Unique and Wonderful Piece of Writing

Alimorad is a well respected Persian writer. He has published many novels, short stories and longer pieces of writing over the past forty years. Very little has been translated into English. Now the English speaking world has the unique opportunity to read what Ali calls a favorite in his massive body of work.

I won’t say it is easy writing, though. Ali can be confusing at times and you have to work a bit to understand. But Ali is absolutely beautiful and perfect in his ability to describe the truth of what it means to be human. It’s worth the extra effort.

I need a flower so I can sit in its shade says The Book of Shapur. Otherwise, any wall will do, but the shade from a flower, something natural and normal, will bring peace.

It sticks with me, and lines from the novella flash in my head as I go through my day. Somehow, Ali manages to make the life of an exile apply to my own daily non-exile life.

It is as if you go a long way to go to the sea and when you get there, they tell you the sea is too rough and you have to swim in a pool.

It’s a simple thought, but we all know the disappointment of real life turned antiseptic.

2. Learn About Iran's Culture, History and Literature.

Who is Mirza Kuchak? How do you make mirza ghasme? Have you ever read any Sa’adi or Hafez?

You don’t have to know these things in order to read and understand the story, but The Book of Shapur gives you the opportunity to learn more.

3. See the World In A New Way

The Book of Shapur is heartbreaking. It will bring you closer to understanding the world of being in exile. You will know just a bit what it is like to be forced to leave your country without hope of returning, experience the pain and loss of watching helplessly as the life you left behind is destroyed piece by piece.

 This is the closest you will come to knowing without actually experiencing it for yourself.

4. Be Part of a Movement

This download page is part of a three website collaboration.

Read an excerpt of The Book of Shapur on Guernica Magazine, award winning and highly acclaimed magazine of literature and politics.

Then check out Dancing With Chains: Notes on Iranian Translation on Matador Network’s The Traveler’s Notebook where I describe the process of working with Ali to translate this piece as well as what makes this piece different from most of what you’ll read about Iran.

Finally, download the entire novella for a 10USD suggested donation. You also have the option to pay what you wish by editing the purchase price. Click on the Add to Cart button and edit the purchase price to whatever amount you want to donate.

5. Do Something To Help Others

Half of your purchase goes to support international development through the International Rescue Committee. If you choose to donate more than the suggested 10USD, the additional amount will go directly to the IRC.

Originally, we were leaning toward an Iranian charity, but it is very difficult to make sure what happens at those charities is 100% legitimate. It is truly unfortunate, but no one wants to see a donation go anywhere other than help people, so we changed our minds.

The International Rescue Committee is a well known, 501-c3 established group. The work it does is also well known and documented. Ultimately, though, we chose the IRC because we have contacts in the organization.

When their name first came up, I immediately contacted my friend Christine – an amazing traveler I met years ago when taking an herbal medicine and homeopathy course through NYC’s Open Center. 

Christine traveled and worked for the IRC in the Middle East.  I have personally heard first-hand the kind of support they provide bringing food and clean water, bolstering personal freedoms and providing medical care and education worldwide, including in Haiti where your support is now desperately needed after the recent 7.0 earthquake caused untold damage.

So if you want to read the whole thing? Just let me know.

All photos courtesy of Hamed Saber

Now If You'll Excuse Me While I Freak Out

We arrived in Buenos Aires this morning, and I don't even know where I am.

A night of no sleep. We made our way to our new apartment (for the month). It's a small one bedroom in Recoleta, which is an incredible neighborhood. We're renting with some old friends from NYC. As our flight landed at 5am today, I made a point of looking out the window for a first glimpse of our new city. Usually, this moment excites me. This morning, my exact thought, "Oh shit! Now what?"

Lila has been a bit of a tragedy and a disaster all day. I have never seen her so obnoxious. And just recently, she learned to snap, so she punctuates all her rude little comments and evil looks with a little snap.

I know, I know, lots of moving around. We're all out of it and cranky. We're all completely off schedule. I'm trying to have patience now that it's after 11pm and she's popped out of bed complaining it's hot, or it's cold, or she's hungry, or not tired. We take her back to bed.

We went for a walk earlier and she literally fell asleep on Noah's shoulders. But now, she's not tired. "But Mommy, I'm not sleepy." Which I'd like to add is a direct quote from one of her books. Why do people write books that give kids tips on ways to procrastinate going to bed.

Then the corrollary question, why do we parents read these books to our kids?

For now, no answers. I'm just going to assume that a night of sleep will even things out for all of us. Then we begin the business of settling in, because I'll tell you, I am done with traveling. As far as I'm concerned, this morning, we arrived home.

I'm Rockin' the Suburbs

I'm having some trouble typing as my hands are still thawing. I just went running and it's damn cold outside. I hate the cold. My throat aches. My lungs burn, and every part of me cringes with unhappiness.

As I ran along Lavista tonight, I once again realized how much i hate anything below 60 degrees. I also realized that, much as I try to deny it, I hate running. Give me 80 degree weather and a 3 hour intense yoga class with a heater on any day. Not this hell.

It's boring, repetitive, painful to the joints and the only way I get through it is to distract myself with music.

Tonight, though, I could not be distracted. Curse I-pod shuffle. There is no way in hell it's truly random. Otherwise, how did it randomly present endless Johnny Cash, Wu-Tang Clan, Beck and Led Zepellin. I broke my shuffle running rule again today and moved ahead, moved ahead, next, not you, no.

Why do I do this?

I dunno. It gives me time to think? Although, I didn't do too much thinking tonight. The only topic to rise above my own whinging was the thought of a book called My Jesus Year recently published by the youngest son of my high school rabbi, Benyamin Cohen. This is not the son I dated in 8th grade. That was Ezra. Our dating consisted of peering longingly down the hall at each other and talking on the phone at night. In memory,we lasted a few months. In reality, I think it was a few weeks. Ezra ended it because his friends thought he should. I was devastated.

This, all while running painfully past Beth Jacob, the synagogue where I davened in high school. And by davening I mean I sat with my friends and talked about other people.

Benyamin's book, which I plan to read as soon as possible, interests me on many levels. First, how brave to so openly discuss his doubts and dislikes of Judaism. It's hard enough for most of us who grew up Orthodox. Is it that much more difficult when your father is a rabbi?

Myself, I've never considered for a moment turning to Christianity. Sure, I love visiting churches, adore the iconography, and enjoy the signs and symbols in literature and life. But I've got enough confusion in relation to my own religion. Why in God's name would I make my life more complicated by turning to a religion that separates me from my family?

Perhaps if I felt strongly about religion, any religion, but I don't. I have yet to figure out how and where it fits into my life. And I have no idea what it will look like when it does.

This, by the way, took approximately two minutes to flit through my head and then I was back to my running, forward, forward. Method Man again. Didn't that song come on already? More Johnny Cash. I tried to listen but the beat was too slow. I'm a creep? No thanks, not now.

Finally, I came across one song -- five minutes long -- that made me laugh and supplied just enough energy to keep me going. As I ran along that cold, car-riddled street, past Outback Steakhouse and Blockbuster, turning along the bend by Calibre Woods beyond Kroger, Pike's nursery and onto where just houses and darker streets grace the hard concrete sidewalk that breaks a runner's knees and back, I had to smile. I listened to it twice.

Ain't nothing like the suburbs, baby, to bring it all home.