Road trip tip: How to sleep comfortably in your car

by Jamie Rhein on

I have slept in a car once on a road trip. When I drove from Odense, Denmark to Paris where people are smiling more than when I was there, my friend and I pulled off of the road somewhere to sleep. We could have been in France. I can’t remember. What I do remember is that it was not comfortable. We were in a Peugeot station wagon, so space wasn’t the problem, but we didn’t have enough bedding and it became light too soon. By the time I finally fell asleep, there I was waking up again.

Yesterday’s video road trip tip was about how to stay awake while driving. This one is about how to sleep comfortably. After watching this video you might think why get a hotel room when there’s a Walmart parking lot? Sleeping in a Walmark parking lot is a budget travel idea for sure. This video has demonstrations and some great ideas. The main idea is to plan to stay in your car.

Mexico and being “Mexican Enough”

by Brenda Yun on

As the scare over the swine flu escalates and the border regions grow increasingly violent, it’s about time we put some perspective on what exactly is going on in Mexico. Just two months ago, I contemplated whether or not Mexico was a dangerous travel destination, and the thread of comments to the article sparked even more interest for me to see and experience Mexico for myself.

I’m talking about the heart of Mexico, mind you, not the touristy coastal towns or culturally rich Oaxaca. I want to see the part that few talk about, the REAL Mexico, where the social and political struggles are transparent, and the people are living and breathing Mexico in all its raw glory.

That’s exactly why I picked up Stephanie Elizondo Griest’s recent travel memoir, Mexican Enough. Having seen Griest read from this book last year, read and reviewed her other books (Around the Bloc and 100 Places Every Woman Should Go), and spoken with Griest over the phone, I felt I could identify with Griest as a solo female traveler paving her own path in wide open world. If I can’t right now travel to Mexico myself, I wanted to read about it from someone I could trust.
Griest’s own journey to Mexico took place over the course of several trips to various parts of the country between 2004-2006. While she had been so daring to travel to such countries as Russia, China, and Cuba, Griest had an overriding fear of her half-motherland. As a bi-racial child growing up in Mexico, Griest felt she was never quite Mexican enough, and opted to avoid traveling to Mexico altogether until she realized she was running away from her own half-reflection.

Mexican Enough covers such potent topics as being bi-racial, social politics, gender roles, and immigration. Griest is able to confront her Mexican heritage and accept that she is, in fact, Mexican enough. She enters parts of Mexico during a Red Alert, witnesses the post-election riots, and investigates the disturbing violence against gay and women rights movements throughout the country.

I really enjoyed Griest’s ability to weave together these different threads into an interesting — at times humorous, at others heartbreaking — tale. There’s much to be learned from reading Griest’s memoir, but most of all, Mexico clearly remains a fascinating and culturally rich place that everyone should experience at least once in their lives.

A friend of mine is a traveling nurse and has been spending the past three years on the Arizona-Mexico border, witnessing the devastating drug-related violence there. When I asked him if I could go down with him some time to see it for myself, he responded, “I don’t care if you interested in the air rescue that saves lives, the drug cartels, or the human casualties at the border, but the pain and suffering that goes with it would probably be enough for a normal American to go crazy. It’s not worth going down there for the story. It’s only worth it if you’re willing to risk your life to see just how precious life is and how peaceful it could/should be but is not.”

Luckily, Griest’s latest memoir helped to satisfy my thirst for the real Mexico. I’ll wait for my chance to see Mexico one day when it’s just a little safer.

“Taken” (the movie) and travel safety

by Brenda Yun on

Upon the suggestion of a family friend, my parents treated me to a $1 movie to see “Taken,” the new movie with Liam Neeson. My dad had told me his friend thought it would be relevant to my travels abroad, but after reading the synopsis, I kind of scoffed at the idea that the movie could have anything to do with me! After watching the movie, however, I can now see how it could in fact have to do with me, any solo female traveler, and travel safety in general.

The film’s plot is based on a real existing crime in Europe. In this case, an Albanian mafia group in Paris solicits information from female tourists, kidnaps them, gets them hooked on drugs, and then uses them in shady sex trade deals. Although this would appear to be a ridiculously convoluted storyline, the ease with which the mafia identifies and eventually captures these innocent girls is pretty easy to imagine. In the film, a man simply asks to share a cab into the city and then invites the girls to a party later that night. Suddenly, they’re taken.
Luckily, in the film, the father happens to be on the phone when his daughter is captured and also just happens to be a former spy. He single-handedly rescues his daughter from these dangerous and scary mafiosos. (Making matters worse, when he seeks the help from a former French spy, he discovers the mafia group is actually paying the government to keep its despicable operation running).

Unfortunately, not every girl can be so lucky. It was both funny and scary when, after the movie, my parents said to me, “Well, at least you know there’s no way we’ll be able to save you.” And it’s true. If I did find myself in that situation I would pretty much be at the mercy of the cruelty of my captors, which is not a very pleasant thought.

Females absolutely have to keep their wits about them more than men do — both at home and abroad. The first time I traveled to Colombia I was honestly scared of getting kidnapped. I was particularly wary of taking night buses. Fortunately, Colombia is a far safer place than people believe it to be, but it doesn’t mean that you can travel everywhere and anywhere to your heart’s content.

It’s a shady, shady world out there, so if you’re female and traveling alone, use really clear judgment:

  • NEVER get drunk or go to a party where you don’t know anyone (even if you’re going with another female travel companion).
  • Never hitchhike alone.
  • Always take a certified cab if you don’t feel safe walking back to your hotel at night.
  • Always do whatever is within your power/control to be safe even if it means staying in at night, taking a day bus, or not going somewhere altogether.

Mexico: Too dangerous?

by Brenda Yun on

Just as my Budget Travel piece on Mexico was released, news from Mexico came pouring in that shed unfavorable light on the travel situation south of the border. Within this week alone, Mexico’s been getting some important attention for being one of the most dangerous and travel-unfriendly places in the world to visit right now. Therefore, it seems necessary for us here at Gadling to catalog the recent headlines and stories as an extra precaution for those of you considering travel to Mexico in the coming months.

According to AZFamily.com, a local news station in Phoenix, university kids anticipating spring break in Mexico have been warned of the potential dangers of excessive partying in such hot spots as Puerto Vallarta: “The State Department says violence, especially on the U.S. Mexico border, has reached alarming levels with shoot-outs and kidnappings taking place in broad daylight.”

Some students who had been eagerly awaiting their spring break festivities on a Mexican beach have already cancelled their trips and have decided to wait until the situation gets better, which may be a long time coming. According to the Associate Press, the drug crisis in Mexico continues to escalate, and The Week reports that even Obama is trying to turn the tide by actively taking part in the clamp-down of drug-related crime at the border.

All of the major newspapers, including the Washington Post, which typically focuses on business and political news and tends not to report on travel-related topics, are suggesting heavy caution for travelers to Mexico. This leads me to believe that it might be best to avoid travel in Mexico at this time. This isn’t to say that you can’t or shouldn’t travel anywhere in Mexico. I imagine there are indeed places that are perfectly safe. However, getting to these destinations while avoiding the dangerous ones could prove difficult even for the most savvy of travelers.

Mayhem in Mumbai and why not living in India seems safer

by Jamie Rhein on

This time six years ago, I was pregnant and living in New Delhi, India. On one of my journeys to a sonogram appointment, the taxi passed by one of the Indian government buildings where terrorists had attempted an attack that day. The camera crews and reporters were just leaving.

Later at the doctor’s office, as I saw a clear image of my son thanks to 3-D technology, the curve of his nose and the way his hand rested against his cheek showed the contrast between his life on the inside and what life felt like on the outside. There was a sharp division.

Generally, I see the world as a safe place. Even when we continued to live in India, the various incidents of unrest did not startle us much. We went about our lives like most people do. We worked, visited with friends and took interesting trips to various places where I never felt unease.

Since we left India, two places we used to go regularly in New Delhi have been bombed. Orissa, a state we visited before we moved to India has been fraught with religious unrest.

Now, with the latest hostage situation and killings in Mumbai–a place we did not get a chance to visit but planned to if we had not moved back to the U.S, the division between safety and danger seems all that more acute.

I’m certain that if we were still living in India, we’d be going about our business as usual and we would probably be on a Thanksgiving weekend away somewhere at this moment. Perhaps, we’d be staying at one of our favorite raj palaces turned into a hotel surrounded by countryside with nothing but tiny villages for miles.

Still, the news coming out of India gives me the feeling that sometimes, as mundane as home may seem, home feels like a blessing.

Then again, it’s always good to travel to remind oneself, that in most cases, the world is safe despite the news.

[This article posted 2 hours ago in the Business Standard says that the hostage situation is under control. The photo is of the Taj Palace burning.]