Supertramp

Travel bucket list for 2012:

This is the year of “The Far East” for me (actually the far west for us west coasters). It’s all about China. The Middle Kingdom. The Land of the Sleeping Dragon. The Great Exporter. This year I’ll be teaching in Shenyang, but visiting all the landmarks. The Harbin Ice Festival is tops on my list, it’s practically a city made of ice and color. Heavens gate near Zhangjiajie also draws me in, it’s a massive hole in the side of a mountain, and until you see pictures you won’t really know how awesome this place is. It’ll be incredible to see places like Beijing but it’s really all about the countryside for me. The rice fields, the pandas, the mountains! Oh my. I can hardly wait.

To go off-the-brochure:

Portland. City of the quirky, the kooky, and the charming. Spend a Saturday in Powells City of Books (it’s an entire city block and one of the worlds largest) browsing billions of bundles of books, then head down to waterfront park for the Saturday market and stroll through hundreds of handmade arts and crafts booths. Want something really off the wall? try taking a tour of Wilhelm’s Memorial Funeral Home, with over 5 miles of corridors, this creepy mausoleum is sure to give you the heebie-jeebies, the creeps, and/or the jeepers-creepers.

A travel dilemma started when:

I had traveled to Peru half on a whim. I had no one to take with me and frankly preferred going it alone anyway, you get to pick where, when, and for how long you want to go someplace that way. I had been there about two weeks traveling with some Canadians I met at a hostel, they got sick, and I moved on. Now I was alone again and looking to find some adventure, I was near Lake Titicaca but I wanted a better view then the usual tourist hotel window. So off I set, having found some information on an obscure village with a tiny home-stay that supposedly all the bus drivers to this tiny town knew all about. Unfortunately either my poor Spanish failed me or my intel failed me because after making my way through the one town all the guidebooks tell you to avoid in Peru (the dirty, crime riddled Juliaca), riding in a hot minivan so cramped it would make a contortionist hurt next to a chicken and a toothless guy who kept laughing and saying something about a “loco gringo”, I made it to my tiny village only to find that no one knew of a place for a gringo to stay. So I made my way to the lake and took in the Bolivian mountains on the lakes far side, took my pictures, and hopped in a minivan back to Juliaca. When I arrived back a woman came up to me, apparently concerned for my safety, grabbed me by the arm put me on a mototaxi and rode with me to the bus station to make sure I got out of that town safely. Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers.

To be a prepared traveler, don’t forget:

2 swimsuits. You pack one for when you happen upon a hot spring or other body of water and the other becomes your towel. It dries twice as fast as a regular towel so you don’t end up with a bag that smells like mold and mushrooms. Also, if you’re going to warm climate, get yourself a pair of hiking sandals. Those bad boys will be far more comfortable then flip flops if you’re planning on walking any farther then the hotel lobby. The most important thing you can bring though is nothing. Particularly if you’re going to be hosteling it up and carrying your bag from town to town. Pack what you think you need then eliminate half. Your back will thank you.

Next up is Kristin H>>