When I Travel to _______, People Say this_______.

by Adrienne Wilson on

Go on, fill in the blanks. Just humor me alright. It’s early Saturday morning and I’m as giddy as ever. My visa for Tajikistan is finally on its way, I have less than a month to go and high hopes of making it to the Pamirs. My head is swirling with sweet exotic travel thoughts of a land beyond lands – the Roof of the World. I’ve got happy feet. I’m elated. I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it… I’ll stop now. Now if only I could make my family understand. Every time I pick a new destination to jet off too, the response is often why do you want to go there? I usually spit out the typical off-the-beaten track traveler’s answer, why not?

Why not?

Not that I’m the kind of person to pay too much attention to public opinion I do find what people have to say about the places I go or think about going rather hilarious. It’s almost like a nice round of MadLibs. If I were to describe what some of the responses have been like and who they came from this is how it would probably read:

When I travel to Tajikistan, people say ‘where?’ (75% of reactions) Well I haven’t gone yet, but I’ve got 25 days left till departure.

  • But, why, why, why, would you want to go there? – Family member desperately trying to understand my NEED to travel there.
  • Oh, so you’re going to the ‘Stans?’ – Random person who couldn’t point out the so-called ‘Stans’ on a map to save their life.
  • You’re going by Afghanistan? Are you crazy? – Overly concerned friends.
  • I’m pretty envious of you. Dushanbe is one of the best places in Central Asia. Stay at Malohat’s. – Friend of a friend who knows and who has been. (I liked this guy.)
  • Adrienne, you’re crazy? – Multiple people speaking in regards to travel and non-travel related issues.
  • Isn’t it dangerous there? – Americans who don’t realize how dangerous it is here. (Isn’t there a Serial Killer on the run in Arizona now?)
  • My brother just got back from there on business. – Woman who was trying to hire me for a job I had to pass up.
  • I’m so glad you’re doing this for Habitat for Humanity. That’s really cool. – Andy, my amazing travel agent and pal who does the booking!
  • No one goes there. You’re the only one. – An employee at a bookstore that didn’t carry any Central Asia travel guides.

I could go on, but I won’t. What do you think about when you hear Tajikistan? What have people said about your travels to Milan, Abu Dhabi, Eritrea, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Kingston, or where ever you may have been? Planning a trip now? What are people saying about that? Anything useful? Just a fun little way to exercise your brain this fine Saturday morning.

Happy travel planning!

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of July 30

by Adrienne Wilson on

What a week! Not that all weeks aren’t a little something special here at Gadling, but you know. Maybe you don’t know? Maybe you missed all of our goodies this week? Maybe you missed only a few? Tsk-tsk. Well here’s a few to review:

5. Builda Yurt:
Of all things seen on Gadling – why would I point to this Builda Yurt blurb? Because I agree with Erik. Because Yurts are cool. Besides it’s a fun plug on the Yurt craze and if you’ve been paying attention you’d know that the holidays are just around the corner. Is a Yurt on your wish list? Should be.

4. Balkan Odyssey Part 16: Ulcinj, Montenegro:
Gotta love how Neil keeps every detail coming from his last adventure to the Balkans. He started with Albania and has worked his way into Montenegro with this post. More specifically, he describes the waiting-to-be-discovered beach resort that is Ulcinj. If you have to ask why – then you need to check out this excellent piece. The pictures are phenomenal.

3. Top Haunted Hikes:
Reading about some of our National Park’s top haunted trails really spooked me out. I wouldn’t want to imagine what walking the path of one on a dark starry night (lost, without a map, and a coyote’s howl) in the distance would be like. Spine-tingling indeed. Yosemite, Big Bend and Grand Canyon are all there. See what other parks made the haunted list.

2. Transparent Kayak:
See-through canoe-kayak, yeah – insanely awesome. Erik points out a fine piece equipment in the gear world and though it ain’t too cheap makes you want to start saving for one. Seats two people and it is really transparent. Check it out.

1. Havasupai:
With this one you almost wish Neil didn’t go running his trap about how grand the Havasupai Canyon located about 40 miles from the Grand Canyon is, but at the same time you’ve somehow placed it high on your list of destinations to go. If it sounds too hot for you to trek to these days, then you obviously weren’t put onto the cool blue Havasu Creek. Miss this piece again and that’s just your loss pal.

Our Plastic Seas and Nauru

by Erik Olsen on

Neil beat me to the punch on this wonderfully bizarre article on these massive floating islands of trash in the Pacific. I saw it earlier and thought it was a marvelously morbid tale. But I’d heard something about these islands a long time ago on a great edition of This American Life, and so I thought I’d post about it. The story takes us there, to these Texas-sized mid-oceanic dumps, but the second story here is the one I also think you should hear because it is one of the best radio stories I’ve ever heard.

The story is by the writer Jack Hitt and tells the tale of the island of Nauru. Nauru is one of those places that is literally in the Middle of Nowhere, but even though it is far away and hardly anyone has ever heard of it, the island’s story touches us all, in a way. The island was a key source of guano in the early century, when the Germans and others used the guano for phosphates in order to make gunpowder and other products. During a short spell, the island became awash in guano wealth, or guano dollars. But once bird turds were no longer used for this purpose because other synthetic and otherwise sources of phosphates were developed, the island went into serious decline.

Now it is a wasteland with yet another story attached: the story of Afghan refugees. I believe the story of the refugees has been resolved, but the way it is told here and the deeper history if Nauru just described makes this a fabulous Friday listening experience.

Fried Olives…Yum

by Erik Olsen on

My wife LOVES olives. We have jars galore inside our fridge, and I have to confess I’m not such a fan. Olive oil on bread? Sure, delish. But olives alone? Nah. You can have them. But this story over at NPR alerted me to a new way to prepare olives that kind of made me drool (it could be because it is just before lunch and I am very hungry). But in the small Italian town of Cagli, about four hours northeast of Rome, in Italy’s eastern Le Marche, they make a yummy-sounding little dish whereby they stuff olives with spiced ground meat and then fry the suckers. Too bad the folks at Google, or someone else for that matter, hasn’t yet invented a way to download food, because right now I’d pay a pretty penny…or Lira…to have some of these babies come right through my modem.

Make Fortune Cookies

by Adrienne Wilson on

One night when I called one of my close friends she rushed me off the phone because she was in the middle of cooking. When I asked what was on the menu and whether or not see needed any taste-testers she quickly told me she was ruining the fortune cookies and had to go. Fortune cookies? Huh? Who on the planet makes fortune cookies? I thought a machine did that… How do you make fortune cookies? You can make them at home? After talking with her I wanted to look up a fortune cookie recipe to see what step she could have been at to be ruining the folded cookie like treats. After checking it out I’m not sure which it was and I’m sure glad she didn’t needed a taste-tester.

I won’t try this one, but FoodNetwork.com has one from their Sweet Dreams episode if anyone is interested. In summary the prep time is what gets you in making the cookies. They take an hour of prep, 24 minutes to cook and yield about 20 cookies. This could be a fun way to travel to Asia by way of food with friends or family on an evening stuck in the house.