National Poetry Month: Emily Dickinson’s Grave and house museum

by Jamie Rhein on

Cemeteries are fine destinations for gathering poetry fodder. I’m fond of cemeteries myself. To me, they are peaceful places where one can search for the connections between the people who are buried there and our own lives.

No one wrote poetry about death as well as Emily Dickinson. For National Poetry Month, here’s a nod to Dickinson with information about the house where she lived, a tour of of her grave in West Cemetery in Amherst, Massachusetts and one of her poems.

Dickinson was born and lived her entire life in Amherst, where she wrote more than 1,700 poems and lived as a recluse with a few exceptions.

Her house is now a museum, but check the hours as they are seasonal. There are actually two houses that make up the Emily Dickinson Museum. She lived at The Homestead and her brother Austin lived next door at the Evergreens with his wife and children.

The tour of the cemetery and the poem are after the jump. The tour gives you the feeling as if you are following the narrator around the grounds, and the poem alludes to how Dickinson might feel about where she is buried.

Ample Make This Bed

Ample make this bed.
Make this bed with awe;
In it wait till judgment break
Excellent and fair.

Be its mattress straight,
Be its pillow round;
Let no sunrise’ yellow noise
Interrupt this ground.

— Emily Dickinson

Even though I’ve never been to this particular graveyard, after seeing this video, I have a sense of what it might be like. I love the interactions between the person behind the camera and the person in front. The details about the grass around Dickinson’s grave compared to the rest of the cemetery offers insider info, something a person might not notice otherwise.

Susan Boyle: The Global Ambassador of Good Will

by Jamie Rhein on

If there ever was a Global Ambassador of Good Will, Susan Boyle, the woman who has wowed the world from her “Britain’s Got Talent” performance is it.

Ever since I saw the video, I’ve been enamored. First, there’s the song. Who hasn’t dreamed a dream of days gone by? The first time I saw “Les Miserables” I was living in Singapore. That musical seemed to seep into my pores. Hearing Susan Boyle sing reminded me of my first impressions, but more importantly, about what I think most world travelers know.

The world is filled with astounding people who surprise you when you have time to absorb the nuances of their lives. It might be the shopkeeper who puts fruit on a scale with a certain hand movement and a smile–or the way a woman sweeps a sidewalk in the early morning. It could be the way a group of school kids throw their arms around each other and tilt their heads back in laughter when they ask you your name. It could be that woman who could be age 40 to 80 who scoots over to make room for you to sit down on a bench. It’s hard to tell how old she is because her days are spent out in fields in the sun and wind. There’s something about the way she sits and how kind she behaves that is alluring.

Those people that attract us to them might be wearing threadbare clothes, have a tooth or two missing, and not have a decent pair of shoes, if any, but there is an essence about them that travel with us long after our taxi or bus has pulled away. When we go through our photos, we look for them–, and if we didn’t have our camera, wish that we had just in case the good feeling could be absorbed into a photograph so that we would have a prop to help us recall it at will.

Watching an inteview with Susan Boyle is a peek into a normal person’s life–the woman who might live in the house down the block or in the apartment on the third floor. She’s the one with the cat whose life seems to move through days like clockwork. If you stop by, she’ll invite you in for tea and you’ll feel comfortable and sane.

When we get busy about our days with billboards and TV commericals and the marketing of celebrity sameness, and stories about just what’s wrong, we can forget about what’s right. That a person like Susan Boyle can walk out on a stage, belt out a song with a triumphant lift of her arm during the high notes, and remind us just how great we can be. In today’s word, it’s also astounding that such a message can reach millions around the globe almost as soon as the magic begins. What better Global Ambassador of Goodwill is there?

Here’s a video I found with various shots of Susan Boyle in her world

And another one of her singing “Cry Me a River” that was published on a fundraising CD. Her performance wasn’t a fluke.

Two guys, two thumbs, one week and no money. Hitchhiking across the U.S.

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s a line in the “The Hitchhiking Movie” that made me laugh. Ryan Jeanes, one of the two guys who decided one fine day to hitchhike across the U.S. from New York City to Berkeley, California in one week to test out the kindness of strangers says, after one car dropped them off at what looks like the middle of nowhere, “Three miles further and only 3,000 miles to go.”

There are the rides one takes when hitchhiking because at least a short ride means going further in the right direction, and who knows when there will be another chance to sit down again?

It took Ryan and Phillip Hullquist 23 rides to make it across the U.S., although, I don’t know if they made their deadline. If they didn’t make the deadline, they would have missed their flights back to NY. Ryan had purchased the tickets before hand to add some motivation.

After reading the text on the movie’s website and watching the trailer, I became intrigued about the unfolding of the journey. There are the people they talked with about their trip who thought they were nuts, and the stories of the people who gave them rides. All are woven into the narrative while the scenery adds the backdrop and also highlights the diveresity between the coasts.

Whether they made it from New York City to Berkeley, California within their self-imposed time period is almost beside the point. Having a goal did influence the outcome. People altered their own trips to help Ryan and Phillip out. Because these two vowed not to use any of their own money, their success depended upon others’ generosity.

Their success also depended upon their willingness to stick out their thumbs to see what would happen. Sticking out their thumb took effort. According to Ryan, they “piddled around for awhile” in New York before they actually hit the road. Starting seemed to be one of the hardest parts.

Last spring, there was a story about three friends who were driving through 48 states in less than a week. Some states meant a quick trip through one small section, and in one case, in and out on the same road. At Four Corners, they checked off Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, for example. “The Hitchhiking Movie” reminds me a bit of that story, except Ryan’s and Phillip’s success involved others’ efforts. In the case of driving through every state, it’s a matter of getting the geography, gas, and bathroom breaks just right.

The “The Hitchhiking Movie” was released on DVD this week. Watching it seems like it would be a great boost to fuel the traveling spirit. Here’s the trailer to get you in the mood. You can buy the film on the 11 Visions Website or pay to watch it online.

Travel Read: Road Trip USA

by Brenda Yun on

Avalon Travel writer Jamie Jensen traversed the nation several times, testing various two-lane highways in the process, to bring road trippers the best (really, it’s the BEST) road trip guidebook for the U.S. to date. Road Trip USA, released this month, features eleven unique cross-country road trips. I would not only recommend this guidebook, I would insist that you buy it if you’re embarking on a U.S. road trip of any sort — or if you’re one of those information junkies needing a good fill of fun facts and historical tidbits.

North to south, east to west, Jensen really covers it all, and he includes helpful information about nearly every interesting town along the way as well as detours or side trips that are worthy of some extra time. The great American byways have never sounded so enticing and intriguing. There is one mega-book that includes all 11 trips (retail $29.95) and two smaller books (each $9.95) for the countries two most charted journeys: the Pacific Coast and Route 66.
Here’s a brief overview of Jensen’s 11 road trips:

  1. Pacific Coast: Route 1, otherwise known as the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), spans the whole western coastline from Washington’s Olympic National Park through California’s rugged Lost Coast to San Diego. Forks, Washington, of Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” fame, sits firmly along the PCH, so you can search high and low for vampires (or loggers) if you so please.
  2. Border to Border: Start way up north in Canada’s Jasper National Park and make your way through Banff, Sun Valley, and the Extraterrestrial Highway down to the Arizona-Mexico border. Little known fact: Hemingway wrote part of his famous For Whom the Bell Tolls in the Sun Valley Lodge.
  3. The Road to Nowhere: Follow the US-83 straight through the middle of the country from North Dakota to Texas. It’s all about the open road on this journey. Don’t know where the Chalk Pyramids or Monument Rocks are? Well, go and find them for yourself. Drinking is legal on the beach of one of the destinations on this route, too.
  4. The Great River Road: Follow the mighty Mississippi River to the deep south, and learn about some of America’s most iconic figures (Mark Twain or Elvis ring a bell?) You can find the world’s largest six-pack too, and I’m not talking about a hot guy, I’m talking about beer — a lot of it.
  5. Appalachian Trail: I considered maybe for a brief minute of hiking the whole Appalachian Trail, and while that would be an amazing feat, I think I’ll stick to pavement. Those who’ve accomplished the AT by foot talk about how grateful they were when they found “trail magic,” so you shouldn’t be surprised to find your own form of “road magic” — maybe in the form of food (diners aplenty), but more likely in the visual form (mountains beyond mountains).
  6. Atlantic Coast: Start at the Statue of Liberty and head along the the coast through eerie Savannah to the lively Florida Keys. Make sure you walk Jersey’s piers and try a night or two in one of the state’s many “Doo Wop”motels.
  7. The Great Northern: Something awfully mystical awaits you up north in places like Maine’s Acadia National Park and Montana’s Glacier National Park. If those don’t strike your fancy, there’s always the stunning Great Lakes in summer.
  8. The Oregon Trail: Niagara Falls, Yellowstone, the quintessential American cities of Boston and Chicago, Mt. Rushmore, the Great Plains, the Finger Lakes, Cape Cod. Yes, please.
  9. Loneliest Road: America’s backbone runs across such famed stretches as the Santa Fe Trail, Million Dollar Highway, and Pony Express Trail. You’ll be charting your own map, but journeying through some of the countries most gorgeous landscapes all by your lonesome. Don’t forget to bring your camara and don’t be afraid to get lost in the beauty of it all.
  10. Southern Pacific: This is the American south in all its glory. Deserts, swamps, spicy Tex-Mex food, and good old southern hospitality, where everything is biggest, sweeter, and just plain hot. You might want to brush up on your line dancing and donn that hat and those boots for some wild nights on the town.
  11. Route 66: John Steinbeck called it the “Mother Road.” Songs immortalized it as a place where you can “get your kicks.” Diners, roadside attractions, and motels are all just part of what gives it its character. From giant statues and Cadillac farms to barns and billboards, this most famous Route must be traveled at some point in your life. Why not let it be now?

If you’re traveling anywhere in the U.S. by car, rest assured Jensen’s got your destination covered. In many senses, you can bypass expensive single-State guidebook purchases and just invest in in this one comprehensive national guidebook. Check it out, really.

Gadling’s hosting a Road Trip USA giveaway in the next few days, so stay tuned for that as well as a “Talking Travel” Q&A with the series’ intrepid writer, Jamie Jensen himself.

Dead pilot? No problem. How to safely land a plane

by Jamie Rhein on

Tom’s recap of the recent passenger-lands-a-plane-after-the-pilot-dies story is another reminder to brush up on how to land a plane in an emergency. It’s helpful to remember that principles of physics can be your friend, and planes are designed to fly–and land.

In this article “How to Land a Plane in an Emergency” at wikiHow, landing a plane is explained in seven multiple-part steps.

Remembering Stryker, the character played by Robert Hays in “Airplane” might help. The autopilot, however, isn’t a blow-up doll, there isn’t a button on the control panel that flashes “a little hot,” and the folks in the air traffic control tower who will give you directions on how to land once you contact them, won’t be popping pills or sniffing glue–one would hope.

Here are a few items to keep in mind. Consider these as prereading to help you remember what to do if you ever find yourself winging your way through the sky with only your wits and the help of people below to get you safely to the ground and that stiff drink you might be craving.

  1. There’s a handy gadget called an altitude attitude indicator that will let you know if the plane is flying steady. See photo. It’s that round control with the blue in it.
  2. The stick is called the yoke. Pushing it, pulling it and turning it will help you keep the plane flying steady.
  3. The autopilot will also help fly the plane steady if you turn it on.
  4. There’s a button on the pilot’s headset or on a handheld microphone that you press and keep pressing so someone can hear you say “Mayday” three times in a row.
  5. Saying Mayday three times in a row will let someone know you need help. Plus, it sounds cool. Just like the movies.
  6. To hear someone talk, you need to release the button. When you want to talk again, press the button and hold it down.
  7. The plane has a call signal somewhere on the control panel. The call signal starts with the letter N and is followed by a series of numbers. The call signal will let the people who are helping you land know what kind of plane you are flying.
  8. There is an airspeed indicator that will tell you how fast you are flying. Maintaining the right speed is important.
  9. There are other indicators that may flash on red if there’s a problem. Let the control person know of any indicators that might be red so he or she can tell you how to fix the problem.
  10. There is a small wheel called a trim wheel that can help you keep the plane steady while you are landing.
  11. Some planes have a gear handle for letting the landing wheels down. On some planes the landing wheels are always down.
  12. You use the throttle to reduce power.
  13. You use the rudder to slow the plane down.
  14. Oh, yeah. Make sure the conked out, and hopefully not dead, pilot is out of the way and not leaning on the controls. Otherwise, things could get more dicey than you need.

Make sure you read the wikiHow article for way more detail. I like the fact that remembering to breathe is given as a step. Breathing is a good thing.

If you want to toss in a few lines from Airplane, maybe you can use these.

  • “Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?”
  • “I’m doing everything I can…and don’t call me Shirley.”
  • “Roger, Roger. Where’s our vector, Victor?”
  • “All right, get me Hamm on five. Hold the Mayo.”