Friday Freebie: Tote Bag

The Russians have a term — avoska — for a small tote bag carried “just in case.” Theirs were used for the random times where lines spontaneously formed for things like bananas. When lines appeared, people would join even if they weren’t certain what was on offer (on the grounds that, if people were lining up, something good must be for sale)!

In the same “Be Prepared” spirit, such a reusable tote bag is one of the smartest things a no-budget traveler can stash in the outer pockets of their luggage or in their handbag.

• I have saved significant money by transferring additional kilos/lbs of luggage out of overweight checked suitcases and into my tote to carry on instead.
• I always have one along for grocery purchases in (environmentally responsible) countries where a paper/plastic bag is not free.
• I often use mine as a daytrip bag, allowing me to easily carry a lunch, snacks, thermos, water bottle, scarf, sweater and guidebook (as well as any purchases).

The nice folks at Wellcare want you to have this tote for free. It appears to have nice long straps for shoulder carrying. If you don’t like the design, I recommend you simply turn it inside out!

• Related posts (including more Friday Freebies) on luggage
• My top tips for a hassle-free walk through airport security
• More packing advice to really pack it in!

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Thursday Photo Friday #13

It was six men of Hindustan to learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant (though all of them were blind),
That each by observation might satisfy the mind.

The first approached the Elephant and happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side at once began to bawl:
“Bless me, it seems the Elephant is very like a wall.”

The second, feeling of his tusk, cried, “Ho! What have we here?
So very round and smooth and sharp? To me ’tis mighty clear:
This wonder of an Elephant is very like a spear.”

The third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Then boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake.”

The fourth reached out an eager hand
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“‘Tis clear enough the Elephant is very like a tree!”

The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”

The sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant is very like a rope!”

And so these men of Hindustan disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right and all were in the wrong.

So oft in theologic wars, the disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant not one of them has seen!

— John Godfrey Saxe, “The Blindmen and the Elephant”

Photographs taken in the Garden for the Blind, Freizeitpark Rheinaue, Bonn, Germany (June 2008 )

• Like travel photography? Join the Photo Friday crew here.
• More of a poetry fiend? Follow along with Poetry Friday here.

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Carnival of Cities for 26 November 2008

Greetings fellow travelers and welcome to this week’s Carnival of Cities. I’m happy to be your host as we jet around the world following tales of tapioca, tumbling and taxidermy. Intrigued? Read on . . .

New York City, NY, USA: Sascha Zuger from Travel Savvy Mom scoops a great hotel package, describes her run-in with Sesame Street’s Gordon and highlights the Kids’ Night on Broadway offer in her post Broadway, Baby!

Rome, Italy: speaking of perfect hotels, Mara at Mother of All Trips has identified a real winner for young families near the Coliseum in her post Mondays Are for Dreaming: Hotel Lancelot.

Naples, Italy: Karen Landes is blogging at WhyGo Italy on the shades of life on display when slicing Naples in two in the post Spaccanapoli: Naples’ Historic Main Street.

Washington, DC, USA: Jon at The DC Traveler gives us a peek at the folks folding themselves in half and risking their lives nightly for our enjoyment when he goes Backstage at Cirque du Soleil KOOZA.

San Francisco, CA, USA: DFernandez takes us along on a twisty insider tour of his favorite tourist spots in The (Crooked) Road Not Taken at You’re So City.

London, UK: Caitlin at Roaming Tales is serving up top tips for London’s East End — not the least of which is where you may spot folk-dancing squirrels selling high-end clothes . . . Check out her post A Stroll through London’s Quirky East End for directions, or simply let your badger on a leash lead the way!

Prescott, AZ, USA: Granny J takes in an impressive number of public scupltures in Prescott’s Heroic Bronzes at Walking Prescott.

Dublin, Ireland: A detail on the airport wall caught the eye of Fin Keegan in the post Bitter in the End.

Dresden, Germany: You’d have to be blind to miss the detail on the tiled wall called the Procession of Princes in my post Saturday Photo Friday #4 here at Less Than a Shoestring.

Bangkok, Thailand: The news about hundreds of air passengers stranded as rebels seize the airport putting your Thai travel plans on hold? Conan Stevens serves up a perspective on the impact of the foreign spender in Is Thailand Safe to Travel in Now?

Shanghai, China: Our benevolent leader Sheila Scarborough gives us the scoop on a bubble tea chain discovered in China which has a branch in — no joke — Albuquerque in the post Stop into China’s rbt for Tea and Juice Drinks at the Family Travellogue.

Mexico City, Mexico: Gilocafe has a video to share from their visit to Teotihuacan Pyramids: Mexico City, Mexico.

Kanyakumari, India: Maneesh of Admirable India shares his photos from two museum visits in the post Trip to Kanyakumari: Chapter 2: Wandering Monk Exhibition, Kanyakumari and Government Museum, Kanyakumari: Part 1.

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Jason Sarracini of Trip Quips gives a quick resort tip for a stay on the island.

That concludes this week’s Carnival — the next Carnival of Cities will be hosted by the friendly folks at UpTake. Submit your (one, non-spammy) blog post about any aspect of ONE city to the next edition before next Tuesday using the carnival submission form. If you like these posts, try browsing the extensive Carnival of Cities archives.

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Friday Freebie: Target Free Museum Days

Target (or, if you’re classy like me, Tarzhay) sponsors a weekly or monthly free admission day at museums around the country. Readers in or visitors to Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City take note: multiple museums in these cities offer free entry, thanks to this corporate sponsorship!

Check for a free museum close to you here. If there is a Target in your city but no local museum partnership, I’m researching how to get your museum a grant to fund free admission. Keep watching this space for more details.

• Like culture? Read previous Friday Freebie museum offers here.

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Thursday Photo Friday #12

Traveling in Europe for nearly a decade, I’ve reached a saturation point with churches. Some study-abroad students come down with an unshakable case of ABC Syndrome (short for “Another Boring Church”) in just 10 weeks! Don’t get me wrong: I studied church art intensively and am still moved by the beauty and majesty of many religious temples — but these days it takes a soaring recommendation from the guidebook to get me in the door, which happens only once or maybe twice per trip.

Sometimes I am surprised, however, by a jewel of a church that I just have to recommend. The Pisa Cathedral (Italy) is one I’ve already mentioned; the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig (Germany) is another.

The pastel color scheme and the natural light give the church a truly uplifting feel while the unique palm-frond column tops reminded me of the tree-like columns designed by Gaudi in Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia. Your eyes are naturally drawn heavenward by the architecture.

I wanted to visit the Nikolaikirche because of the significant role it played in the peace movement leading to the end of the German Democratic Republic in 1989. I was not prepared for it to be so beautiful!

Johann Sebastian Bach was the choirmaster and organist here for over a quarter-century. Regular concerts of Bach’s compositions are held at the church; tickets are 10-15 euros and can be ordered online.

Open daily for visitors (even during weddings and services, it is possible to enter the rear for viewing and gift-shop purchases), even cheapskates can appreciate as admission is free.

Photo Friday aficionados — follow my fellows forthwith!

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Just Floating It out There . . .

Let’s say a certain no-budget traveler was considering some field research in NYC around New Year’s . . .

Would you be around to meet up? Have a guest bed to offer? Or will you all be off somewhere else?

No promises at this point, just threats. Leave your offers in the comments or send a message via the contact tab.

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Friday Freebie: Emergency Tee-Shirt

For the times when the airline loses your bag . . .

. . . or your clothes get so grotty you can’t stand to put them on one more time.

. . . or you forget and throw all your laundry in the machine, leaving you with nothing dry to wear.

. . . or you think, a few sheets to the wind, you *will* just join that wet tee-shirt contest.

Back-up wear is never a bad idea. Here’s the perfect solution: a FREE compressed tee-shirt! Stick it somewhere in the bottom of your carry-on, then forget about it till emergency strikes.

More Friday Freebies here.

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Thursday Photo Friday #11

Just because I live overseas doesn’t mean the world is at my fingertips.  While you’re sitting in your office living vicariously through my adventures, fantasizing about that once-in-a-lifetime trip to Paris, to Istanbul, to Kenya or to Sydney, I too have my own list of “if only I had the money” destinations.  For me, most of these lie on/in the Pacific — and near the top is Indonesia.

Fourth-largest country in the world, largest Muslim country in the world, childhood home to one Barack Obama — nevertheless a place most of us know so little about that we would have difficulty placing it on the map.

I don’t claim to be a whole lot more knowledgable about the country than that, as my experience has come secondhand, through the rhythms of Java and, more recently, Bali.

One of the benefits of a liberal arts education is the opportunity to try on a number of hats and see if they fit — to dabble in painting, in religious studies, in economics or biology — before deciding on any particular fashion statement for life.  And though you may leave this or that behind (and you will most likely drop the hat you selected at some point), you wear that which you’ve chosen better for modeling all the others.

It may be surprising that I picked up Javanese music (Gamelan) while studying in the middle of Iowa.  To me, it’s more surprising that I am still playing in a Gamelan, now in Berlin, Germany.  Music transcends.  Even specialized knowledge is sometimes rewarded.

Here I have the opportunity to play with both foreigners and natives and to play both Balinese and Javanese instruments (and lovely sets they are too!).  The Embassy offers free Bahasa Indonesia courses.  Every time we practice, someone makes a delicious native dish.  Over time, I learn more about the people and the culture of a country I can only imagine in the vaguest of terms.  If their scholarship program were more generous (I know 1,000,000 rupiah sounds like a lot, but it is the equivalent of $90), I would gladly take Indonesia up on the offer . . .  In the meanwhile, I will continue fantasizing about my future Gamelan set — you know, the one I’m having made when I actually make it to Java someday (I know a couple readers/former ensemble members hear me on this)!

If there is a lesson to be taken from this, it is that an Embassy can be a wealth of resources and opportunities to learn about people and places you’re interested in, giving you numerous opportunities to develop a deeper relationship with a country before or after your visit.  If you live in a world city which is home to a variety of Embassies, it pays to get on their mailing lists to find out what is being offered.  Many of these opportunities will be colorful, family-oriented and free.

For those of you who have no idea what a Gamelan even sounds like, I am so happy to have found two clips of performances I was in online, for your listening pleasure — I’m sure if you listen closely you can pick me out. 🙂

Follow others on the Photo Friday trail, starting here.

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5 Ways You Can Still Help Barack Obama — Even from Overseas

We are 24 hours away from this election being over — but we still have not won this thing yet! 

If you are an overseas American who cast your vote weeks ago, you may feel somewhat disconnected from what is going on tomorrow in the U.S.  There are nevertheless a number of ways we can still be involved. 

Here’s a list of 5 easy ideas for readers anywhere on the globe:

If you live in the U.S. or overseas:

1) Have your overseas American friends sent in their ballots?

• Call up, email or otherwise check up with 5 American friends living overseas and make sure they have received and returned their absentee ballots. If they have not, use the information below to help them cast a vote if there’s still time!

2) Will your American friends and relatives be headed to the polls today?

• Call up, email or otherwise check in with 5 American friends or family members living in the U.S. and encourage them to head to the polls today. Take a couple minutes to tell them why you support Barack Obama and why we’re counting on their vote.

3) Will other Americans — those in key swing states — be headed to the polls today?

• The campaign has set up an online tool called Neighbor to Neighbor, which allows you to make calls to registered voters in crucial areas, providing them with information about their polling locations and encouraging them to vote for Barack Obama. You can pick the state you’d like to call here. You can find answers to commonly-asked questions here. (Don’t forget to calculate the time difference.)

• If you do not have a way to make cheap or free phone calls from your land line to the U.S., try using your computer to make calls. You can get 5 free hours of calling from Internet Calls; another inexpensive option is to create and use a Skype account — calls to the U.S. are just 2 cents/minute.

• If you do have a telephone flatrate, consider inviting friends over today or tonight to make these calls from your home. Polls do not begin closing in the U.S. until midnight CET, so there is plenty of time to make calls after work!

For overseas voters:

4) Have you sent in your ballot?

• If you have not, you may still FAX in your ballot before polls close on Nov 4th to the following states: AK, AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, HI, ID (emergency only), IN, KS, LA, ME (emergency only), MO (Federal employees and military only), MT (by county!), NV, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OK (emergency only), RI, SC, TX (military only), UT, VT, VI, and WV.

• You may FAX your ballot by Nov 3rd to MS.

• You may EMAIL back your ballot to IN, NJ, NM, ND, SC, and WV (by county!).

• You may POSTMARK your ballot by the 3rd to: AL (received by 4 Nov), IL (rec’d 18 Nov), IA (rec’d 10 Nov), NY (rec’d 11 Nov), ND, PA (rec’d 11 Nov), and UT (rec’d 18 Nov).

• You may POSTMARK your ballot by the 4th to: AK (received by 19 Nov), AR (rec’d 14 Nov) DC (rec’d 14 Nov), GA (rec’d 7 Nov), IN (rec’d 14 Nov), MD (rec’d 14 Nov), MA (rec’d 14 Nov), OH (rec’d 14 Nov), TX (rec’d 10 Nov), VI (rec’d 14 Nov), WA (rec’d 25 Nov), and WV (rec’d 10 Nov).

• If you live in one of the above states, never received your ballot and have not yet done so, please send in a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot. You can download the forms and instructions for your state at FVAP.

• If you have sent in your ballot, give your county elections office a call to make sure it’s arrived. You can look up the phone number of your county’s office here. If there are any issues, you may still have time to fax, email or post a replacement.

5) Are there other ways to assist Democrats and Obama supporters in your area?

• If you live near a major city, it is likely that a Democrats Abroad chapter or Americans Abroad for Obama group will be sponsoring an Election Watch party. You can find a big list of events here. You can also track down events using myBO; search for your area on this page. Volunteers may still be needed for these events! Contact the event’s organizer and let them know you’re willing to help. (If you are turned away because they have plenty of volunteers, then they will have plenty of volunteers to feed! Show your support and bake or take snacks and other goodies for those staffing the event.)

Each and every one of us can still have an impact on this election — please take a couple hours over the next day to ensure that a brighter day in American politics dawns on Nov. 5th!

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