My first trip to China was three weeks long. During that trip I took enough pictures to fill three large photo albums and I collected enough ticket stubs, brochures and paraphernalia to fill an entire expanding file folder. Looking back now that seems hilarious to me. When I went to Thailand for three weeks in 2001 I took enough pictures to fill one photo album. When I sailed with Semester at Sea – visiting nine countries - I never put a photo album together but took a couple hundred pictures and shared maybe 100 of them on a picture slideshow. I’ve now been gone for 4 months and have visited 8 countries so far this semester and have taken maybe 10 pictures in each port.
I mentioned in my last blog entry that over the years I have moved away from trying to document everything about my travel (and living behind the lens of a camera) and instead focus on soaking in the experience in the moment. I consciously made a decision to not worry about snapping pictures at every turn when I sailed with Semester at Sea. This decision was freeing in many ways. It was very freeing to give up worrying about getting the “best shot”. It helped me to shift from looking for things that would “impress” others or look cool to seeking out things and experiences that were significant and meaningful to me. It’s easier to truly engage in an experience when you are not constantly snapping pictures.
It was also freeing because when I travel abroad I still worry about the ethics and etiquette around taking other people’s pictures. Is it appropriate? Will I offend? Will they want money? Do I look like a total obnoxious, rude tourist? Also – I sometimes feel self centered to ask someone to take my picture in front of this place and that site. Plus who wants to see picture after picture of me standing here and posing there? BORING!
In place of pictures I began writing my emails and now my blog. Writing has challenged me to reflect more about what I am learning and how I am growing through these experiences – pushing me past just spitting out a laundry list of the things I saw and what I did. All good things…..
BUT…as folks came back from their trips to Beijing and started sharing pictures I was able to recognize and talk about the places they had been because I remembered them from my own pictures from that first trip to China. Having pictures is another way to remember your experience, solidify your memories, and jog your memory. It got me wondering if maybe I had gone too far in the other direction – not taking enough pictures. Will I later regret not having more pictures of the friends I’ve made and the places I’ve been? My emails and blogs are great ways to remember and jog my memory (I’ve found myself reading my emails from my SAS voyage more than once during the course of this current journey) but nothing can replace having a snapshot of a place, a sunset, a friend.
This makes me realize that trying to “capture a moment” is trickier than it first seems. I don’t think I’m failing at it but I do think I need to strike a better balance. As I get ready to head into the second half of this journey around the world I think I want to commit to myself to make a more concerted effort to take a few more pictures. I want to be able to share with all of you some of the people and the places that are shaping my life at this moment. Oh and I want to be able to show you that cool shot of me standing on a street in Turkey, riding in a rickshaw in India or climbing Table Mountain in South Africa.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
China Then and Now
It’s been 12 years since my first trip to China. In fact that trip in January 1996 was my first trip out of the US (other than Canada). In those 12 years I have visited over 20 countries for leisure, work, service and adventure. That averages out to almost two countries every year!
It was interesting to spend a week in the first place that I traveled abroad 12 years after that experience. Throughout the week I found myself seeing sites and flashing back to that first trip. I also spent a lot of time reflecting on just how much I have changed since that first experience abroad. Here are a couple of my thoughts…
Things shock me less – The different and unfamiliar seem more familiar and expected. Streets filled with rickshaws and motor bikes…rural villages with no running water…cities with insane pollution…being stumped about how to communicate…chickens being killed and defeathered in a back alleys of restaurants…whole pigs being cooked on spits… unique foods and tastes…unfamiliar customs… shacks… dirt roads…grand palaces…magnificent waterfalls and wildlife…humbling historical sites and ruins…mysterious and grand religious sites…hawkers… beggars…new sights…new sounds…new smells – these kinds of things don’t surprise me much anymore, in fact, I expect to experience them when I travel (and I can be disappointed when I don’t find them).
Now don’t get me wrong – this doesn’t mean that I am not still in awe of the places that I visit and that traveling has become banal or ordinary to me – quite the contrary. Even though I may have less “head spinning” moments I think I’m actually able to absorb the experience in a deeper way because my head IS spinning less.
Being catapulted into a place that is completely different from any place I’ve ever been is one of things I love about traveling. Learning about a new place, a new history, a new culture and how to navigate it all is exciting to me.
Things scare and intimidate me less – I am a worrier by nature (like you didn’t all already know that!). When I first traveled abroad independently and when I led service learning trips abroad I worried and stressed about EVERYTHING. Where do I buy the ticket? Will they understand me? Where will I eat? How will I order? What if the train doesn’t stop at my stop? What if the rickshaw driver didn’t understand me and takes me to a totally different place? How do I call the contact person? What if I don’t find a place to stay? Did I get on the bus in the right direction? What will I do if our luggage doesn’t show up? I can’t do that or go there because I don’t know what to do or how to do it!! I could go on and on with examples of my neuroses.
Just recently I have realized that I worry less and less about these kinds of things. It is now harder to catapult me completely out of my comfort zone. I think years and years of travel has shown me that things always find a way of sorting themselves out. No matter what happens or how seemingly bad or hopeless a situation may seem things always work out in the end. It helps that I’ve become familiar with what kinds of “unexpected” or unusual things to expect when traveling in different cultures. Knowing how to ask the right questions, learning tricks for getting information I need, strategizing about how to communicate through language barriers, understanding customs, reading cultural nuances – all help in making things go smoothly. I’ll never completely recover from my worry affliction but now I try not to let these worries consume my entire experience. I try to be smart, be proactive, be polite, be assertive, pay attention and trust the process.
I approach the experience differently – I find myself spending less time documenting my travel experiences by taking pictures and collecting paraphernalia and more time experiencing/observing and reflecting/writing. This voyage especially has reminded me that traveling is less about what I’ve seen and more about how I process what I’ve seen and how it changes me. I used to collect stuff and take pictures that I thought people would think was cool. Now I know that people don’t really care about my trips rather than a couple of quick shots. What is more important is what I am learning, how I am changing, what I am taking away from the experience. I need to choose places and experiences that intrigue and draw me rather than hitting all the big, exciting, “expected” travel sites and destinations.
This current voyage has been a struggle for me for many reasons (many of which I have shared here). I think one of those struggles has been around the fact that I didn’t realize until now just how independent and travel savvy I’ve become. Traveling on a ship used to feel like a safe, easy way to get around the world (and don’t get me wrong it still is) but now it sometimes feels restrictive to me. Also, I’ve been hitting some big “sites” and popular countries on this voyage but most of them haven’t excited me or enticed me much. Have I "outgrown" this type of travel? Not really - I just think I'm ready to explore other, different ways of traveling.
These reflections have been good lessons to learn because it helps me to decide and shape how and where I want to travel in the future. As always I’m looking for travel to teach me more about me and once again it has not let me down. As we begin the next voyage in just two short weeks with 10 more countries before us all I can say is bring on the lessons!
It was interesting to spend a week in the first place that I traveled abroad 12 years after that experience. Throughout the week I found myself seeing sites and flashing back to that first trip. I also spent a lot of time reflecting on just how much I have changed since that first experience abroad. Here are a couple of my thoughts…
Things shock me less – The different and unfamiliar seem more familiar and expected. Streets filled with rickshaws and motor bikes…rural villages with no running water…cities with insane pollution…being stumped about how to communicate…chickens being killed and defeathered in a back alleys of restaurants…whole pigs being cooked on spits… unique foods and tastes…unfamiliar customs… shacks… dirt roads…grand palaces…magnificent waterfalls and wildlife…humbling historical sites and ruins…mysterious and grand religious sites…hawkers… beggars…new sights…new sounds…new smells – these kinds of things don’t surprise me much anymore, in fact, I expect to experience them when I travel (and I can be disappointed when I don’t find them).
Now don’t get me wrong – this doesn’t mean that I am not still in awe of the places that I visit and that traveling has become banal or ordinary to me – quite the contrary. Even though I may have less “head spinning” moments I think I’m actually able to absorb the experience in a deeper way because my head IS spinning less.
Being catapulted into a place that is completely different from any place I’ve ever been is one of things I love about traveling. Learning about a new place, a new history, a new culture and how to navigate it all is exciting to me.
Things scare and intimidate me less – I am a worrier by nature (like you didn’t all already know that!). When I first traveled abroad independently and when I led service learning trips abroad I worried and stressed about EVERYTHING. Where do I buy the ticket? Will they understand me? Where will I eat? How will I order? What if the train doesn’t stop at my stop? What if the rickshaw driver didn’t understand me and takes me to a totally different place? How do I call the contact person? What if I don’t find a place to stay? Did I get on the bus in the right direction? What will I do if our luggage doesn’t show up? I can’t do that or go there because I don’t know what to do or how to do it!! I could go on and on with examples of my neuroses.
Just recently I have realized that I worry less and less about these kinds of things. It is now harder to catapult me completely out of my comfort zone. I think years and years of travel has shown me that things always find a way of sorting themselves out. No matter what happens or how seemingly bad or hopeless a situation may seem things always work out in the end. It helps that I’ve become familiar with what kinds of “unexpected” or unusual things to expect when traveling in different cultures. Knowing how to ask the right questions, learning tricks for getting information I need, strategizing about how to communicate through language barriers, understanding customs, reading cultural nuances – all help in making things go smoothly. I’ll never completely recover from my worry affliction but now I try not to let these worries consume my entire experience. I try to be smart, be proactive, be polite, be assertive, pay attention and trust the process.
I approach the experience differently – I find myself spending less time documenting my travel experiences by taking pictures and collecting paraphernalia and more time experiencing/observing and reflecting/writing. This voyage especially has reminded me that traveling is less about what I’ve seen and more about how I process what I’ve seen and how it changes me. I used to collect stuff and take pictures that I thought people would think was cool. Now I know that people don’t really care about my trips rather than a couple of quick shots. What is more important is what I am learning, how I am changing, what I am taking away from the experience. I need to choose places and experiences that intrigue and draw me rather than hitting all the big, exciting, “expected” travel sites and destinations.
This current voyage has been a struggle for me for many reasons (many of which I have shared here). I think one of those struggles has been around the fact that I didn’t realize until now just how independent and travel savvy I’ve become. Traveling on a ship used to feel like a safe, easy way to get around the world (and don’t get me wrong it still is) but now it sometimes feels restrictive to me. Also, I’ve been hitting some big “sites” and popular countries on this voyage but most of them haven’t excited me or enticed me much. Have I "outgrown" this type of travel? Not really - I just think I'm ready to explore other, different ways of traveling.
These reflections have been good lessons to learn because it helps me to decide and shape how and where I want to travel in the future. As always I’m looking for travel to teach me more about me and once again it has not let me down. As we begin the next voyage in just two short weeks with 10 more countries before us all I can say is bring on the lessons!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
The Power of Endorphins
Before I left Philly I was taking an awesome Urban Boot Camp class. 6am on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum (yes –the Rocky steps) we would run the stairs, do dips, push ups, lunges, suicides, sprints, bear crawls, fire hydrants, etc. It was great! I had become very bored and lazy in any workout routine and this class was just the shot I needed to get myself back in shape.
I knew that living on the ship would make it challenging to do any fitness activities. Last time I sailed I was the most physically INactive I had ever been in my entire life. My hope was that I could keep some of my momentum going from my boot camp class and start up a fitness routine immediately. Well, then, as you all know, the first month and a half of the voyage was a tour through hell so I barely had the energy to be social let alone do anything physical.
After Panama I did attempt to work out occasionally – run on the treadmill, lift some weights and do some of the exercises we did in our class. This kind of bored me and I had trouble committing to it more than every couple of days. Plus if it was rocky at all the treadmill was no place to be. So I decided to join the 7am Pilates class. I had taken Pilates before and enjoyed it. That class was good and kept me minimally active. On the way to New Zealand I began teaching a RAD class which added to my physical activity but I still felt like I was missing something.
After Australia the student who was teaching Pilates decided that with her class load she couldn’t run the class anymore. Great – what now? Well I started teaching a second RAD class, but didn’t have anymore of a plan beyond that. Then one of the students who is a Personal Trainer decided to start running a Boot Camp class at 6:45am every morning. Bingo! Just what I needed.
I’ve only been doing the class for 4 days now but WOW what a difference! I have more energy throughout the day, I love the sense of accomplishment when I have sore muscles and most importantly my attitude is more positive and my mood is far better than it has been for the entire voyage.
I think there are lots of reasons for my improved mood and attitude. We are on a longer leg which is always easier for me….lots of time to get everyone prepared for the next port and less of a crunch and cycle of crisis. I know that I will be headed home soon for a short visit which is exciting and encouraging. Being at the halfway point of this experience feels like a milestone. It’s not that I’m wishing the time away, but this type of life is intense and feels like the equivalent of running a marathon. Knowing I made it through the halfway point feels like an accomplishment – and hell if I made it this far I can do anything for 4 short months (especially considering what we’ve already been through)! All are reasons that I attribute to my improved spirits, however as I reflect on it I still think that the number one contributor is Tripsie’s boot camp class. It’s been quite shocking to me just how much my perspective on things has shifted just in the last couple of days since I started the class.
Endorphins have a powerful effect on the human body and spirit. I’ve always known that working out makes you feel better about life….research tells us that….my past experience tells me that but yet it’s still something that I have to mentally struggle to commit to time and time again.
I think the power of exercise and the effect of endorphins was particularly striking to me this time around for two reasons. One, it’s really difficult to get ANY physical activity on the ship. I’ve always been one to try and get small bits of physical activity throughout the day – take the stairs rather than the elevator, walk instead of drive. When I lived in Philly I always walked to work – what a great time to clear my head, gain perspective, get some fresh air and aim for reaching my 10,000 steps per day goal. Opportunities for even small bits of activity are few and far between on the ship. There are only about 50 steps between my cabin and my office and about 30 steps from my cabin to the dining room. Second, when you live in the same place that you work it is extremely difficult to get distance from your work or time to gain perspective on what’s happening.
Doing this boot camp class in the morning has catapulted me forward in both of those areas – already I can think more clearly and can feel my perspective shifting and my body is getting the basic physical challenge that it needs. Wow – what a difference a workout can make!
I knew that living on the ship would make it challenging to do any fitness activities. Last time I sailed I was the most physically INactive I had ever been in my entire life. My hope was that I could keep some of my momentum going from my boot camp class and start up a fitness routine immediately. Well, then, as you all know, the first month and a half of the voyage was a tour through hell so I barely had the energy to be social let alone do anything physical.
After Panama I did attempt to work out occasionally – run on the treadmill, lift some weights and do some of the exercises we did in our class. This kind of bored me and I had trouble committing to it more than every couple of days. Plus if it was rocky at all the treadmill was no place to be. So I decided to join the 7am Pilates class. I had taken Pilates before and enjoyed it. That class was good and kept me minimally active. On the way to New Zealand I began teaching a RAD class which added to my physical activity but I still felt like I was missing something.
After Australia the student who was teaching Pilates decided that with her class load she couldn’t run the class anymore. Great – what now? Well I started teaching a second RAD class, but didn’t have anymore of a plan beyond that. Then one of the students who is a Personal Trainer decided to start running a Boot Camp class at 6:45am every morning. Bingo! Just what I needed.
I’ve only been doing the class for 4 days now but WOW what a difference! I have more energy throughout the day, I love the sense of accomplishment when I have sore muscles and most importantly my attitude is more positive and my mood is far better than it has been for the entire voyage.
I think there are lots of reasons for my improved mood and attitude. We are on a longer leg which is always easier for me….lots of time to get everyone prepared for the next port and less of a crunch and cycle of crisis. I know that I will be headed home soon for a short visit which is exciting and encouraging. Being at the halfway point of this experience feels like a milestone. It’s not that I’m wishing the time away, but this type of life is intense and feels like the equivalent of running a marathon. Knowing I made it through the halfway point feels like an accomplishment – and hell if I made it this far I can do anything for 4 short months (especially considering what we’ve already been through)! All are reasons that I attribute to my improved spirits, however as I reflect on it I still think that the number one contributor is Tripsie’s boot camp class. It’s been quite shocking to me just how much my perspective on things has shifted just in the last couple of days since I started the class.
Endorphins have a powerful effect on the human body and spirit. I’ve always known that working out makes you feel better about life….research tells us that….my past experience tells me that but yet it’s still something that I have to mentally struggle to commit to time and time again.
I think the power of exercise and the effect of endorphins was particularly striking to me this time around for two reasons. One, it’s really difficult to get ANY physical activity on the ship. I’ve always been one to try and get small bits of physical activity throughout the day – take the stairs rather than the elevator, walk instead of drive. When I lived in Philly I always walked to work – what a great time to clear my head, gain perspective, get some fresh air and aim for reaching my 10,000 steps per day goal. Opportunities for even small bits of activity are few and far between on the ship. There are only about 50 steps between my cabin and my office and about 30 steps from my cabin to the dining room. Second, when you live in the same place that you work it is extremely difficult to get distance from your work or time to gain perspective on what’s happening.
Doing this boot camp class in the morning has catapulted me forward in both of those areas – already I can think more clearly and can feel my perspective shifting and my body is getting the basic physical challenge that it needs. Wow – what a difference a workout can make!
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