A good friend of mine sent along this great song by Julieta Venegas, a rising songstress from Mexico, called “Oleada” a few months back that I loved initially for superficial reasons: I love the melody, and he said the song/video reminded him of me. The melody is fantastic, but I was too lazy to translate the Spanish; and I assumed the video reminded him of me because it has a pug in it that looks just like mine.
Now, several months later, I’ve given this song and video some fresh and deserved attention. Now, I understand why my friend sent it along to me.It has a lot to do with the loneliness that I wrote about earlier, but much more than this, this song really encapsulates the combination of fear and excitement that every solo traveler feels when entering the “mundo abierto.”
For those of you who can’t understand Spanish, I’ve translated the “Oleada” lyrics into English below.
Big Wave I don’t want to get off This big wave I’m riding To where, where I don’t know Only that I’m moving with it
And no one will know me And I’ll recognize no one But I’m not afraid
I don’t want to get off This big wave I’m riding
CHORUS: And everything I’ve already lived I’ll continue carrying I carry it deep inside of me I have never forgotten it I feel it so close to me I carry it deep inside of me
I’m going to look for a place In this open world Where I can stay And begin anew
And no one will know me And I’ll recognize no one But I’m not afraid
Say the name “Hugo Chavez” and a creepy tingle crawls up my back and, if I could, I would scream at the top of my lungs in frustration and anger. Hugo Chavez, Venezuela‘s long-standing President, is what many Americans believe to be an evil, socialist dictator. While I certainly don’t agree with ultra-Conservatives like Pat Roberts that someone should kill the guy, I do believe Chavez needs to be stopped in seeking re-election until 2021 and beyond.
On the other side of the spectrum is Sean Penn’s humane approach to and interview with Chavez. In an interview that was recently posted on The Nation, Penn describes his time with Chavez since their first meeting in 2006.
I am a huge fan of Sean Penn as an actor, but his humanitarian resumé is rather brief. Penn seems to paint an awfully positive picture of the Venezuelan President in some ways because he is trying to disapprove of the Conservatives’ (on Fox News, for instance) extreme dislike of Chavez.
While my own opinion of Chavez is rather biased because of my time in Colombia and approval of Álvaro Uribe, Colombia’s President, whom Chavez once called “Bush’s poodle,” I still cannot see how anyone — particularly an outspoken actor turned interviewer — can be even the slightest bit approving of a man who supports terrorists and does not honor the democratic process. Chavez sought an end to presidential term limits last year, but his referendum was narrowly yet democratically rejected. Now he seeks the same thing — except this time, he has numbers on his side. In addition to this, he is slowly winning approval from such powerful nations as Russia and China. His wielding of power is frightening to say the least.
Here at Gadling we’ll be highlighting some of our favorite sounds from the road and giving you a sample of each — maybe you’ll find the same inspiration that we did, but at the very least, hopefully you’ll think that they’re good songs.
Got a favorite of your own? Leave it in the Comments and we’ll post it at the end of the series.
“King of the Road,” my first Sounds of Travel pick, evokes the spirit of independence. It’s an ode to the traveler who strikes out alone without a care in the world.
“500 Miles” by the Proclaimers, however, is a tribute to traveling with another. In my case, this travel often has been on foot– literally.
My husband is a walker. He has great big feet–size 14. When I met him when we lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, one of the first things I noticed is his need to walk. He has a way of striking out into the world in great big strides wearing boots that could double as door stops. Not long after I met him, I was hoofing it to keep up.
One of our first forays into mega walk travel was on a camping trip into the Gila Wilderness in southern New Mexico.
“How far are we going, exactly?” I wanted to know when he suggested such a venture. It’s not the walking I mind– it’s the carrying stuff. “It won’t be that far,” he said. “By the way, there are a couple places we’ll have to cross a stream.”
“Okay, sure,” I said, not mentioning my phobia about wading through water–or rather, I did have a phobia about wading through water. After crossing the stream at least 14 times, I was cured.
That walk was just the beginning.
“How about a trek in Nepal?” he suggested as our first Christmas vacation while we were living in Singapore. “We’ll hire porters to carry our stuff.”
That trip took us from Jomsom to Pokhara. Two other couples went with us. It’s not the going up a mountain that hurts all that much if you go slowly. It’s the going down that is hell on knees.
“There are pack-mules AND porters to carry stuff,” my husband said to entice me. The only time I whined a bit was when I noticed how dry my skin was becoming in the thin mountain air. “I don’t know if my skin can take much more of this,” I said, thinking that in another week I’d look one hundred.
“Why don’t you ask the women here what they do?” my husband said, casting his gaze towards a group of women in the distance who were wrestling with rubble and dirt while hoeing a field. He’s sympathetic that way.
Still, whenever he slips on those massive Red Wing boots of his to head out the door, calling for me to come with him, I know it will be an adventure–one that I wouldn’t be taking if I wasn’t willing to share the road.
The first time we heard “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” we were on a date seeing the movie “Bennie and Joon.” The song was the movie’s theme song and Johnny Depp was one of the stars.
When we got married, three weeks before we moved to Singapore, this song was the recessional at our wedding. For a traveling pair who walks, it seemed to fit. Whenever I hear the Proclaimers belt out this song in their jaunty, Scottish Irish fashion, I see images of all the places my husband and I have passed by from the simple walk in the neighborhood to the expanse of a spectacular vista.
One of my two most favorite images of the miles we’ve traveled is of my husband winding through the streets of the Old Quarter in Hanoi with our daughter perched on his shoulders high above the crowd when she was three. My other favorite image is of him strolling through the streets of Bangkok swinging our then 3 month-old son in his Graco car seat carrier like our son was a purse.
Yep, he’d walk 500 miles–and 500 more. Honestly, I would too.
Walking or cycling are the best cardio exercises while you are on vacation. That’s the first exercise tip on this video I came across while I was looking for the video on the Push-up Bandit in Santa Monica. The recommendation is to put your car keys away. As the narrator states, bicycling and walking on vacation offer a close-up experience of your surroundings. Considering that this is the time of year where packing on pounds can come easily, this video has a certain timeliness quality.
Despite the tropic theme, as noted by the palm trees and sand, and the incredibly built hard-body of the narrator that sort of distracted me at first, the exercises are doable if one has the notion to exercise while on the road. As the guy who makes these videos points out, you don’t need a gym to stay fit. He also give effective explanations on how to achieve success even if you are a beginner. Perhaps I was distracted by the biceps because in Columbus, one doesn’t see such a scene all that often, if ever.
All Jim Birch wanted to do was a bit of exercise. He’s been exercising for years on the 4th Street median in Santa Monica. As I posted earlier, people are getting cited and fined for such unruly behavior. Doing any sort of exercise except for jogging or walking is not allowed on the medians anymore.
Birch and others aren’t too happy about that. This video is a lighthearted, but sort of serious faux newscast where Birch stages a protest by doing a bit of exercising so he can get arrested–kind of. This is such a Santa Monica scene.
Look for the part in the video of people exercising on the sidewalk. There’s even a yoga mat.