Mongolian boy in Terelj Park

One of the best things about doing a Ger to Ger trip in Mongolia is that you get full access to the families and the culture.  You learn, you communicate, your spread knowledge and understanding.  I have another ulterior motive though – staying with families in their gers give you great access for photography.  The families are always eager to show you their lives and share and they do love to have their photos taken.  Whenever I return to Ulaanbaatar after a Ger to Ger trip I always get the family photos reprinted and then take them back to the Ger to Ger office so that they can send them to the families.  Each family I visited has a great photo album of images tourists/guests have sent them.  I’m simply happy to be a part of that process of providing them some memories that they wouldn’t otherwise have.

May latest Ger to Ger trip to Terelj Park in Mongolia yielded these results.  It’s good to know that these same pictures are safely tucked away in a book in their ger which they will show off to other visitors – sort of like the circle of life.

Where do you go to find authentic travel and great photos ops?

To purchase any of these photos, simply click on the image for more information.

Men relax outside their ger

A lone tree in Terelj Park at sunset

Brothers hold tight

Horses tethered in the park

Sewing inside a ger

Ox and tree

Cuddling kitten

Ger in Terelj Park

Making booz

Mongolian Ovoo (sacred place)

A mother teaches me to sew as part of Ger to Ger Experience

The bus bounced along on the road north and for the first time in 5 weeks I just sat back, relaxed and didn’t have to worry about directions, breakdowns, or deal with the nagging internal question of “Will we make it?” The road was bumpy and slow-going, but in Mongolian standards this road was perfection. I was heading on a public bus towards Terelj National Park to experience yet another side of Mongolia; the nomadic lifestyle that is unique to this part of the world.

I had just completed the Mongol Rally, a 5 week road trip from London to Ulaanbaatar Mongolia, and the idea of someone else (aka the bus driver) driving and making decisions was a great relief. We arrived to the finish line of the rally earlier than expected and we had time to kill in Ulaanbaatar before our flights. My other teammates decided to chill out in Ulaanbaatar, but I decided to revisit and relive one of the best travel experiences I had ever experienced; a Ger to Ger adventure in Mongolia.

I convinced another Mongol Rally friend to join me on this cultural journey, John, a young traveler from Ireland. Together we found the correct public bus according to the instructions in our Ger to Ger handbook and we were heading north with other Mongolians and a small handful of tourists.

The barren landscape around Ulaanbaatar gave way to evergreen patches and rolling hills every mile north we traveled. After two hours, the bus stopped at a small looking village in the park. We departed the bus with our backpacks and immediately saw our ride – an ox and rickety cart. A local man smiled at us and said “Ger to Ger?”, we nodded and he took our bags flipping them onto the flat bed cart. We hopped up on the cart and away we went.

We had no real idea of where we were going, but we happily sat on the cart and took in our surroundings. Shortly we were at a strong river and the ox kept powering through as the water rose nearly over the top of our cart. John and I looked at each other slightly nervous, but the ox stayed his course determined to get us to our first ger stop.

We arrived at Mrs. Umaa’s ger where we were immediately invited in and served fried bread stuffed with mutton and onions. Mrs Umaa’s was still frying up batches of the bread as we sat and had our milk tea and surveyed our surroundings. The gers have such a simple, yet functional design. Two poles in the middle with a stove in between are the foundation with spokes jutting out from the center providing it’s stability. Felt surrounds the circular wood lattice wall keeping things toasty warm for the harsh winters.

John and I on our small Mongolian horses

John and I had familiarized ourselves with the Ger to Ger cultural handbook on the bus ride to Terelj. I was reminded once again about the importance of entering a ger, the respect of age and gender, and the life saving phrase in Mongolian, “Hold your dog!” After our quick, hot lunch Mr. Umaa saddled up two horses and was ready to take us to our next family 18 km away. I took a look at the horse and realized he didn’t look too intimidating thanks to his small Mongolian size, but I knew better than that.

Eighteen kilometers was excruciating to my bum and my legs, but we just kept on trotting along as John and I hoped each ger in the distance was the one we were supposed to stop at for the night. We finally came down a little clearing and saw a ger with puffs of smoke marking its territory and Mr. Umaa pointed to the ger. Hallelujah – we made it!

We arrived at Ms. Amarjargal’s family ger where we immediately bonded with the kids, a boy around 4 years old, and other cousins running around; some younger and some older. Before the sun went down we decided to take the young boy with us on a walk to an ovoo off in the distance. The boy wasn’t intimidated by strangers taking him away from his mother . He had long flowing hair which is similar for many Mongolian boys his age; in Mongolia it’s customary to only cut hair when children reach certain ages.

John carrying our new hiking friend to the ovoo

That night we ate a feast and then listened to the family call their oldest daughter who was 11 at a school in Ulaanbaatar. It’s customary for kids to be sent off to school at a very young age since there are not good schools in the area for children to attend. John and I sat and watched the touching moment between the family as they all tried to talk at once on their cell phone with spotty coverage.

They had an extra ger so they insisted that we stay inside their extra ger instead of unpacking our tent – they didn’t have to work too hard to convince me of that as the temperature was quickly dropping.

Breakfast of champions - fresh cream

The next morning we woke up to a deliciously sinful breakfast of fresh cream and bread. The food in Mongolia is nothing to write home about, however they do dairy the full fat way – nothing but the real stuff. Butter, cream, yogurt; I love learning what these products are really supposed to taste like! We drank tea and ate our bread with cream warming up around the ger stove. I watched as the father dressed his young son in a traditional Mongolian coat and sash and then they played around practicing a little fun wrestling, the traditional sport of Mongolia. It was easy to see how the cultural customs are carried forth from generation to generation.

Father and son practice wrestling moves

Part of the Ger to Ger mission is to teach visitors about the customs and culture of Mongolian families. The mother took John and I to the other ger and gave us a sewing lesson. She taught us how to make an intricate Mongolian pattern and silk phone holder. John and I weren’t the most talented students , but we loved how patient she was with us simply showing us what to do without really being able to communicate with us well. We used an ancient peddle sewing machine that I never really got the hang of, but at least I didn’t sew my finger!

Mongolian pattern

John getting his sewing lesson!

We spent the rest of the day playing with the kids who had an endless amount of energy for us. The mother next prepared the ox and cart and took us to our next family ger. Once again I’m amazed at how hearty and talented the Mongolian women are, they remind me of my grandmothers on the farms in Nebraska; they do everything – true working women.

John and I with our 'fans'

We sadly bid the children goodbye and bounced along on our ox cart to Mr. Bold’s family ger. According to our Ger to Ger handbook, we learned that Mr. Bold trains horses and has the prestigious title of ‘Lion’ from the Regional Naadam Festival where he used to compete. He became the Great Horse Trainer of Nalaih District. By the size of Mr Bold I would have though he was a wrestler; he was the definition of foreboding. It took a long time (and a little vodka) to see him smile, but when he did he looked much less intimidating! Ms. Battseseg, his wife, was also a professional herder and sews for many people around the area.

They welcomed us into their home with milk tea and bread. It wasn’t long before John and I were out with the family rounding up the cows so that the they could be milked. Our job was to find all of the calves and put them into a specific little square fence. John and I were feeling pretty rugged and were actually successful at this task! However milking the cows proved a bit more challenging!

Milking a cow...sure, it looks easy...

The next day we spent our day learning archery (which proved really challenging!), gathering up horses, and I even was allowed to help Ms. Battseseg make booz (Mongolian dumplings). She showed me how to fill the dough with the mutton mixture and pinch it together in a pretty looking dumpling. However it didn’t take long until I was demoted to simply rolling dough!

Our short stay was over and Mr. Bold loaded us onto the ox cart and we took the 15 km ride back to the bus stop to be picked up that night on the local bus. We were secured and toasty under blankets as we bumped along in the ox cart with our backpacks for pillows.

My archery form isn't too bad. My aim is horrible!

Our ox cart awaits. Mr. Bold and Mrs. Batsetseg say goodbye...

As I sat on the bus with John sharing a bottle of vodka I thought about this wonderfully rich culture and the fact that Ger go Ger really brings you an authentic experience that I’ve never been able to find in other places. Sure – this type of travel/experience is not for everyone. It’s rough, not at all luxury, and basic; but it’s real.

The Good:

This is the real deal, staying with Mongolian families on their terms. If you are someone who is looking for authentic experiences, then this is a ‘must-do’ if you are in Mongolia. Other great things about it:
• A large portion of the money goes back to the families you stay with
• Get a useful handbook and training on cultural etiquette before you go.
• You take local transportation which provides richer cultural experiences and exposure
• Provides a great opportunity for photography!
• Get to stay in a real ger – not a ger camp.

The Could be Better (or be prepared for these hardships):

• There is no bathroom facilities besides a hole in the ground with a few boards surrounding it for privacy
• No running water
• The food is very basic
• Have your own tent else you will have to rent one and it’s rather expensive
• The horse saddles are severely uncomfortable
• It’s not well planned and doesn’t really stick to the itinerary in the book. However if you keep an open mind, be patient, and know that you will get to accomplish a lot of great things that may not be in the published itinerary.

Would I recommend it?

Yes, absolutely yes! This was my third trip with Ger to Ger, and I’ve loved each one.
I found it to be really rewarding. However it is more independent travel than organized tour. You have to go into it knowing you will rough it and things won’t go as planned all the time. Be open and the experience can be amazing. I can’t wait to take another; however the next one I have told myself would be in the dead of winter so that I can experience the winter culture which I expect to be very different from the summer!

More information:
Ger to Ger Website:  www.gertoger.org

Photos from our Terelj Park Experience:

Sprawling Ulaanbaatar

I instinctively made it to the office building; it had been two years since I was there and even though the buildings around it had changed, the Ger to Ger office building stood out to me teasing my memory and providing me flashes of deja vu. I remembered the stairs, the odd sculpture outside the building, and as I walked through the lobby the sensation of something familiar in this foreign country enveloped me. I walked into the Ger to Ger office and noted that it hadn’t changed a bit. I started browsing through brochures on the wall when a familiar looking woman greeted me and asked if she could help me. I told her I was interested in a short trip to Terelj Park. As I was saying this a flash of discovery came across her face, she wrinkled her brow and said in a part statement, part questioning tone, “I know you – you traveled with us before?”

I was astonished that she would remember me after 2 years, but she did. As we embraced and chatted about what I had been doing for the past two years, Zanjan – the stunning looking manager of Ger to Ger, amazed me by recalling my past details of living in Vietnam, teaching, and being a travel writer.

It was a strange feeling to be back in a city that I had been to before; I seldom revisit places I travel to simply because the world is big and there are so many new things to see. However after seeing Zanjan again it reminded me how comforting it is to be recognized and have a familiar conversation in my constant motion I call “my life”.

I was last in Ulaanbaatar in the summer of 2009, and it has always been one of my least favorite cities in the world. Strangely, the country of Mongolia is one of my favorite countries in the world and it continues to pull me back to its different and simple culture and landscape. However if you are going to travel in Mongolia, you really can’t avoid Ulaanbaatar; it’s a necessary evil.

In many ways Ulaanbaatar was as I remember it; chaotic, difficult to navigate, dangerous (in petty crime ways), and not a place where I enjoy being a solo traveler. As I walked around the tourist area of the city, I was constantly reminded by locals to be careful, don’t walk alone at night, and don’t take out a flashy camera. I also heard tales told of other tourists being mugged, pick pocketed, and simply followed. I remember the familiar feeling of constantly being on edge in Ulaanbaatar.

However in many ways Ulaanbaatar was nothing as I remember it. Buildings sprung up like fresh green stalks in the soil reaching for the sun in the spring time; they were everywhere. I was staying in one of those shiny, new buildings built for the Mongolian and expat elite. Our Mongol Rally sponsor,  Roomorama,  had provided an apartment for our team’s time in Ulaanbaatar. It was a far cry from my previous hostel diggs on my first trip to Mongolia. The apartment was full of the latest amenities and comforts in a city that is anything but comfortable.

Roomorama apartment rental - luxury highrise life

My lodging 2 years prior

Big malls had been built in 2 short years, and it felt as if the population had doubled. High fashion and luxury goods appeared in shiny store windows of new buildings. The streets were at a complete gridlock of a mish-mash of cars from foreign origins. Luxury housing glistened and beckoned those with any bit of money, yet the destitute seemed as worse off as ever. There were more homeless and kids on the street than I recall seeing two years prior.

Basically, it was turning into another overcrowded, poorly planned Asian city.

The city had grown at rapid rates since I was last there. It had a population of 949,000 in 2009 and now in 2011 it has risen to 1.17 million. There is an approximate increase of 35,000 vehicles added to the vehicle pool each year in Ulaanbaatar. The city is complete gridlock and polluted and I have a hard time understanding why people would want more cars when the average speed is slower than a person can walk during rush hour.

Old buses can barely move in the conjested city

Roads were in sorry shape and overcrowded

There is little urban planning as the city population grows, infrastructure loses the battle to ‘Demand and Desire’ and the whole place appears chaotic. Quality loses out to speed in construction and planning. As I walked around the familiar streets of Ulaanbaatar for days I had the overwhelming feeling of sadness for it. Like you were watching a person gain weight with no idea how they were ever going to get their weight gain under control thanks to a lack of willpower.

It was that sadness and frustration I felt for Ulaanbaatar that ultimately led me to the Ger to Ger office once again. I needed to get out of the overcrowded, dangerous feeling city and instead experience the Mongolia I love. Even though I had just driven through the entire area of Western Mongolia independently with my Mongol Rally team, after just 6 days in Ulaanbaatar I was frustrated and overwhelmed with it. I wanted to breath in the fresh air, see the wide open spaces, peer out into vast nothingness, see the simplicity of herding and nomadic ger life.

My Ger to Ger experience in 2009 was, and still remains, a highlight of all of my travels I’ve done around the world. It was the most immersive, educational, cultural exchange that I had ever experienced. I was excited at the thought of seeing how Ger to Ger had grown in the last two years; but as I peered around the office and talked with Zanjan, it seemed as if nothing had changed. They were still running unique cultural tours in the remote areas of Mongolia. They were still improving the lives of the locals involved in their cultural exchanges, and they still used the exact same cultural handbook.

It was good to see that some things hadn’t changed in Ulaanbaatar.

Big Business is moving in...

This palm tree has a golden view of Oahu

Trees are like a magnet to my camera lens.  I find myself capturing trees around the world.  My recent trip to Hawaii was no exception.  The Big Island and Oahu were full of perfect trees ready to model for me!  Here are some of my favorites.

A Tree at the Punch Bowl war cemetary in Oahu

A lone tree sits along the Chain of Craters Road on the Big Island

Oahu coast

Drive from Hilo to Waimea on the Big Island

A complex leaf pattern near Akaka Falls on the Big Island

Trees in front of Iolani Palace in Honolulu

Rugged trees on the hike to Makapu‘u Point Lighthouse

Rain Forest on the Big Island near Hilo

Tropical Hawaii - Hilo Rainforests

For me, travel is about experiences and connecting with people. When I make a connection with people in a destination, then it will turn into one of those magical places that will be on my ‘favorite’ list for years to come. That is what the Big Island of Hawaii was for me. I made many connections while I was there that will keep me going back to revisit friends, and find new adventures.

I had eight days on the island, a car, and a passion to explore the diversity of the Big Island of Hawaii. For anyone who is looking for a Hawaiian vacation that is ‘not the normal beach vacation’ then here’s my itinerary to something different.

My Big Island Itinerary

Hilo and Around

It’s a great place to start on the Big Island, but be warned, it’s not the sunny Hawaii you may be dreaming of; it receives 75 to 125 inches of rain a year and it will rain pretty much every day at some point. However it keeps Hilo looking fresh, green, and cool. Rent a car and use Hilo as a home base for a few days. You can fly directly into the Hilo Airport.  From Hilo you can visit Volcanoes National Park in a short 40 min. drive, see Akaka Falls, or do a day drive to Puna.

Volcanoes National Park – You can drive the Chain of Craters Road yourself and stop anywhere you’d like to see the stunning landscapes, or you can take a complete tour of the park and see the glowing caldera at night with Hawaii Forest and Trail’s Twilight Volcano Tour.

From your home base in Hilo, don’t miss the beautiful winding roads of the Puna region.  If you are looking for beauty and seclusion then you’ve found it on Hwy 137. Pack picnic lunch and go eat on the secluded shore line and watch the waves crash against the jagged coast.

Akaka Falls – The biggest waterfall you can easily view on the Big Island is Akaka Falls and it a very short drive from Hilo. As you drive there you may ever get to see the summit of Mauna Kea if it’s a clear day!

Time to bid goodbye to the rain and head for the pastureland of Waimea.

Waimea and Around

Now you can use Waimea as a home base to explore the rolling hills and deep cut valleys of Waipi’o Valley. A great base in Waimea is the Aloha Vacation Cottages where you will have everything you ever needed for a delightful stay.

On your way to from Hilo to  Waimea be sure to stop near Honokaa and add a little sweetness to your day at the Volcano Island Honey Farm.  Pick up some rare organic silk honey, learn about the amazing lives of bee colonies, and meet Richard – a very unique bee keeper.

Farms & Ranches of the Big Island

Get an early start to the morning and do a little work on vacation; yes that’s right work. Be sure to try your hand at being a Hawaiian cowboy (Paniolo) and herd cattle at the Dahana Ranch.  This is the only place on the island that allows you to participate in an actual cattle drive and it’s absolutely worth it. It was the highlight of my trip on the Big Island.

Now since you’ve worked up an appetite, make a lunch stop at the Hawaiian Vanilla Company and pick up some delicious souvenirs to take home with you while learning all about how to cultivate vanilla orchids.

Take a day to discover some hidden beaches on the Kohala Coast from your base in Waimea. Stay for sunset and catch some great photo ops.

Kailua Kona and Around

Head down to your final location for the week to the pleasant beach town of Kailua Kona and use it as your last base to explore. Kona Hula Girl provides a great location to be near the famous Kona Brewery and the shops, restaurants, and beaches. (plus they will give you a discount if you mention Ottsworld!)

Lay on the beach and enjoy poke and watch sea turtles dive in the morning and then drive to Mauna Kea Summit to watch the spectacular sunset from the tallest mountain in the world. Or try to book an star gazing tour from Kailua Kona and have them take you to the peak, view the massive telescopes, and see star formations from a beautiful vantage point.

Finally, I suggest you end your time on the Big Island with a special treat that will bring the whole week long experience on the Big Island together; a helicopter ride! It’s a great way to see the ‘big picture’ of the Big Island from above This is your chance to see the lava flow from an amazing vantage point!

You can turn in your rental car at the Kona airport and fly out back to mainland having experienced the diversity of the Big Island.

The Big Island is a great place to rent a car!

What other non-beach experiences do you recommend for the Big Island?

Happiness in a Jar

Can honey make the world a better place?

Prior to traveling on the Big Island my answer to that question was most definitely “Huh? ” most likely followed by “No.” However, after meeting Richard of the Volcano Island Honey Company, spending hours talking to him enthralled with every piece of information that came from his lips – my answer is now an enthusiastic “Yes!”

I am hopelessly lost trying to find the sign for Volcano Island Honey and as usual I am running late. The drive here is distracting me with it’s beauty and I think to myself that this isn’t a bad place to be lost on the winding tree lined roads of Old Mamalahoa Highway near Honokaa.

Finally I see the turn off and it takes me deeper into the maze of private farms; at the end of the road I see the sign leading me to honey. I’m here to meet Richard Spiegel, a beekeeper who is leading the way in organic honey production. I have a dream of dawning a bee suit and seeing the hives, but Richard has agreed to fit me into his busy schedule, so I am simply thankful that I’m able to meet him at all.

A rainbow frames the bee hives at the Volcano Island Honey Farm

Richard wears a wide brimmed floppy hat, has a gray beard, and a welcoming smile. He leads me into a meeting room where I learn he holds presentations for various groups including students, tourist, media, and the neighborhood also uses it for a community meeting space. Richard gets me some tea and of course offers me honey. I accept and he brings out a jar of his honey, twists open the lid, and sets it next to my tea.

This is like no honey I’ve ever seen before. It’s cream colored and thick like frosting or a butter spread. I try a little directly from the spoon out of curiosity. It’s his rare organic white honey and even though it doesn’t look like honey to me, it tastes like honey; it has a delicious sweet flavor.

Creamy smooth organic honey

I’m eager to learn about his honey production.  However, when he starts telling me about his journey from attorney to beekeeper all of a sudden I realize that maybe my real interest is not honey, it’s his story from traditional career to finding and following his passion which interests me.   His views on business and life have captured me and I can’t agree with him more.

He describes himself as a retired hippie. He started as a lawyer participating in the civil rights movement, and ended up in a VW van traveling across the US to live an ‘alternative’ lifestyle. He wanted to show people that there’s another way to ‘do it’; ‘it’ meaning life in general.

I consider the fact that fate maybe brought us together. He was out preaching my way of life way before I was born. We begin to chat feverishly about our views of work, life, and of course career breaks and travel. I am delighted; yet we haven’t once discussed honey.

Richard talking about wax foundations

After a long, fun diversion, we get back on track and he begins to show me a slide show about his business and the business of bees. His hobby had been bee-keeping and when he moved to the Big Island he decided to use the bees as a way to change people. He wasn’t really interested in starting a business, but he wanted to see if it was possible to succeed in business based on values.

Richard next began to introduce me to the complexities of bees; the information he provides me is practically unbelievable.

• 1 colony contains over 50,000 worker bees – all female
• The queen bee can live for 3 or 4 years
• 1 colony can make 60 pounds of honey a week
• All bees in a colony have a specific role
• Bees fly 2 miles from the hive searching for nectar to make honey and when they find it they fly back and do a specific figure 8 dance to tell the other bees where the nectar is located.

The sheer thought of how a bee can communicate complex geographical coordinates of a 2 mile radius without speaking is about too much for me to comprehend. Richards describes the whole process of bee hives, pollination, and honey production as a four dimensional chess game.

Honey bees

I examine the prize jar of honey further as Richard continues to tell me about organic honey production at the farm. What makes this smooth, silky, mixture which is in front of me so unique is the way the bees are handled, and the way which the honey is produced. The first key is the honey is produced from pollen which comes only from one plant; the exquisite nectar of the Kiawe flower in its most natural form. Instead of the bees finding the pollen around them, Richard takes the bees to the kiawe grove so that it’s the only pollen to choose from. You can learn more about the process and why kiawe trees are used here.

The rest of the process is complex but Richard and his team of bee lovers are coming up with ways to lead the production of truly organic honey. As I listen to him talk I realize honey is not at all what I thought it was. Instead honey production is a true science. To get the rare organic white honey it takes into account things like purity, timing, crystallization, heat, enzymes, and filters.

Organic wax foundation

In the same vein in which Richard struck out of the corporate world to show people there’s ‘another way to do it’, he revolutionized honey production too. Volcano Island Honey has gone as organic and environmentally sustainable as they possible can. From organic beeswax foundation, to the jars they use, to the paper they print on, to the fuel they use for their vehicles; Richard is making the world a better place and teaching people to accept and embrace different ways to produce honey. He calls it his Bee-green initiative.

I tour the farm and we talk for hours about bees, honey, the world, careers, passion, and life. My trip to Volcano Island Honey is more than I ever expected it to be. It is different, surprising, and educational; but the best part is that I met a kindrid spirit in Richard.

Richard is “interested in changing the world in a more positive way.” He’s doing it through bee keeping and in my opinion he’s been quite successful. His honey is on shelves all around the world. He uses his famous honey to get into the hearts and minds of people, planting seeds of change inside people.

He may actually be a retired hippie, but he’s succeeding at making the world a sweeter place.

More Information:
Website: www.volcanoislandhoney.com
Purchase products
Ways to use Honey

You can (and should) visit Volcano Island Honey Farm on the Big Island and purchase products directly, or take a tour!
Tour Information
Bee Farm Tour (watch the bee hive through a glass window)
Bee Hive Tour (Dawn a bee suit and get up close and personal!)
Educational Tour for students or non-profits

You can purchase products directly at the farm

What next? Your guess is as good as mine!

The most frequent question I get asked is “What’s next?” followed by “How are you making enough money to continue traveling?”. I’ll tackle the latter at a different time. Both of these questions cause me anxiety, but it is a given that I will be asked them by 90% of the people I meet.

The simple answer is that I never really know ‘what’s next’; I don’t have a plan. My only plan is to remain flexible, and continue to do things that excite me intellectually, and challenge me.

I don’t have a plan on how to make a living as a travel blogger, on how I will survive the next year, on what I’m going to do in five years; I’m adrift on this globe simply trying to do things that bring me happiness and survive at the same time. I’m pretty sure that’s not a great way to get through life, but it’s been working for 5 years.

Lately I’ve been in bit of a funk. I can only attribute it to the fact that I’ve been in the US since September 2011 and I’m really itching to get out and use my passport again. I’ve had commitments which have kept me here and it’s allowed me to spend a great deal of time with family and friends, but I’m ready…ready to get out again.

Lately Europe has been ‘calling’ me. But at the same time in some weird way Europe bores me. It seems easy, posh, not very challenging. But I also have to accept that not everything has to be a challenge in my life; at least that’s what I tell myself.

I’ll be hopping on a plane with a passport in hand again on February 23rd heading to the little known island of Malta. Malta is one of these interesting places that is commonplace for Europeans, but rather obscure to Americans. Malta is actually part of the EU and it should provide a great mix of culture between Europe and Northern Africa.

Where is Malta?

After two weeks in Malta, I will head to Italy on March 10th to begin a big Europe tour that will include Italy (Rome, Sorrento, Venice), Austria (Vienna) , Germany (Berlin) , France (Paris), and Spain. It will also include my 18 year old niece for a week in Italy. I have no real solid plans yet, but I’m in the planning stages, so feel free to provide advice!

I plan to arrive in Spain in the end of April and begin a big challenge that has been on my Travel ‘Bucket’ List for a while now; I am going to walk the Camino de Santiago trail. In full it is a 800 km walk from the border of France to the coast of Spain.  I don’t yet know my route or if I will do the full route or not, but I will do it – and my feet will be screaming at me no doubt.

The typical Camino de Santiago Route

As for the rest of my year, I’m working on some ideas (some really exciting ones), but not ready to provide those details yet! However I will always be looking for opportunities to accomplish things on my Travel ‘Bucket’ List. And I’m always willing to take advice from readers!

Prague

One thing is certain no matter where I go in the world, I run into graffiti.  Sometimes it’s painful to see when it scars beautiful doors, buildings, and walls in Europe’s ancient cities.  But sometimes it’s beautiful, artistic, and brings a city together.  I’ve been taking photos of graffiti that captures me for sad or happy reasons as I have traveled the globe and here are some of my favorite shots.

Graffiti is art or an eyesore around the world?  Let me know what you think in the comments!

Barcelona

London

Beirut

New York City

Amsterdam

Ho Chi Minh City

Milan

Oahu Hawaii

Volgograd

Caught in the act - Prague

Kona Hula Girl in Kailua Kona

Big Island – Accommodation – Kona Hula Girl

When I first wrote to the Kona Hula Girl owners to learn more about their rental property the owners said, “I do want you to be aware that this is not a traditional hotel in any way”.
They clearly knew exactly what to say to me to get me interested! He went on to explain that the rooms are ‘open air’ with no glass windows but only screens instead. It gives it a light beachy feeling. Their goal is to make it feel like a “home away from home”.

It was easy to make the Kona Hula Girl feel like home since it was their home that you were staying in. Dean and Sherri live there on the upper floors and they built and custom designed the home themselves; Dean is in construction so this was his chance to build a dream home/guest house. Since they lived in the house on the upper floors, they took meticulous care of it and were always floating around somewhere coming and going.

I got along with Dean and Sherri immediately; they were from the Midwest and northwest of the mainland and had lived in Kailua since 2003 and clearly loved it there. I love it when a room is more than simply a place to stay and instead it’s a place where you feel welcome and taken care of.

Location:

Lots of windows!

The Kona Hula Girl Vacation Rentals are located in Kailua Kona and were very easy to find. There was plenty of parking available around the house and if you didn’t have a car, it was central enough that you could walk places. It was an easy walk down to the main shops and restaurants of Kailua. It took me about 15 minutes to walk down to the shore in Kailua-Kona town where it was bustling with activity of coffee vendors, farmers markets, and cafes. However I preferred the Hula Girl location because it was off the main tourist trail and a bit more secluded from all of the tourist shops.

Since the rooms have a partial kitchen facilities, you could walk to the store (another 15 to 20 min walk) and get supplies. I will say though I think I was the only person staying there who didn’t have a car which meant that there are very few people walking to the store and the beach; I was the minority! Dean and Sherri would occasionally see me and offer me rides if they were coming or going, but I enjoyed the walk in the perfect 80 degree weather. I wanted to soak all of the lovely sunshine in!

There was a shuttle that ran through Kailua Kona, but I have to admit, it was very slow and I found that I could walk places quicker than the shuttle could transport me.

Rooms and Amenities:

There are four rooms to rent and each room is different, I stayed in the smallest room called Hualalai and it was perfect for my short term solo stay. One whole wall was screen windows with pretty white shutters to keep privacy. The room had wifi, a kitchen sink, small fridge, microwave, and a few minimal place settings and glasses. Perfect for snacks and drinks. I went to the store and bought a variety of poke and a bottle of wine and I was set for the night! It was easy to eat breakfast there in the morning with a few items from the grocery store so it was a nice way to save money.

The other rooms were the same feel, but different designs. Two of them had bay screen windows and high ceilings, which let in tons of light. Plus the Garden Room had a patio and outdoor shower.

The house had laundry facilities, beach chairs, boogie boards, and supplies that any guests could use. However my favorite amenities was the patio and grill that was available for all to use.

One very special amenity listed on their information sheet was that Dean would come remove geckos for you! In this climate geckos are normal, but many tourists get a little freaked out by the cute, bug eating creatures. I loved the fact that you had a personal gecko remover if needed! I prefer to keep my geckos around, but to each his own!

Hualalai Room I stayed in

Kitchenette was enough to make small meals

Patio for all guests to use

Atmosphere:

Open, cheery, and helpful is what come to mind regarding my stay at Kona Hula Girl. I met some couples who were staying at the Hula Girl for a few months at a time; they were repeat customers which it a great indication of how well Dean and Sherri take care of the house and provide a great experience.

Costs:

10% off your stay

Range from -
$79 per night (Hualalai room) to $85 per night (Garden Room)
Or $500 – $550 per week

Special Discount! The Kona Hula Girl is offering a 10% discount off of your stay if booked by Jan. 1, 2013  when you mention that you heard about them in Ottsworld.

Would I recommend it:

For anyone making a stop in Kailua Kona I would definitely recommend the Kona Hula Girl. I feel that it provides a more personal and homey touch than hotels and it’s a great place for longer stays since it does have the kitchen and laundry amenities. The owners on site is a big plus and adds to the atmosphere of the place. It would be a great place to stay for a week (cheaper than hotels), rent a car and be able to explore the south part of the island or the Kohala coast’s gorgeous beaches.

More Information:

Kona Hula Girl – www.konahulagirl.com
Don’t forget the 10% Discount you can get on your booking by mentioning this article.

Sherri and I before my departure

Disclosure: Kona Hula Girl hosted my stay with them.  However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Halema’uma’u Crater glows with lava at night

I stand looking out over the jagged landscape; toppled-over trees without bark and a silver sheen provide a contrast against the dark petrified sea of lava. Occasionally I see a tuft of green sprouting up as if it was trying to reach to the sun. I imagine these scarce green leaves sprouting out of the hard lava core and screaming out, “ Life!” at the top of their lungs. I walk across the years of devastation, with each step the rocks crunch as if glass is under my feet. I stop and plant my feet firmly on the ground as I survey the area; I can feel the energy. The energy is deep beneath me, bubbling, rumbling, and aching to get out; I can feel it in the soles of my shoes. This land is alive; the Big Island of Hawaii is alive.

The tour guide, Taj, asks us all to introduce ourselves and say what we are passionate about; I knew right away this wasn’t your average tour. This ‘ice breaker’ takes place with my fellow tourists in the 13 passenger van driving towards Volcanoes National Park to witness the unstable ground we are all vacationing on. This is going to be a long day, a 13 hour tour, and getting to know each other seemed like a pretty reasonable idea.

Even though outside of my window the landscape appears very foreign to me, there is no mistaking that we are in the US when the waiver form is passed around and all of the seat-belts in the van are functional. Taj explains we are traveling between the world’s two largest mountains, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, but they don’t look like they deserve that title if you ask me. They seem like barren hills rather than mountains; however their mass comes from below the surface. ‘Below the surface’ seems to be the theme of the Big Island.

Taj chats away on his microphone non-stop as he drives along the saddle road. He begins by informing us volcanoes are simply giant masses of weak rock. The volcanoes on the Big Island are considered shield volcanoes, which are ‘built’ entirely of fluid lava flows. The lava is thinner and takes less pressure to erupt; it oozes out making it easier to view and get close to. Taj is more than an enthusiastic guide, he has a degree in environmental studies; today is going to be a learning experience for all of us. However he not only discusses the science of volcanoes, but he starts to tell us about the rich folklore of the Big Island’s volcanoes and the story of the goddess of volcanoes, Pele.

The scary and beautiful Pele

Taj points out the pu’u’s, which are small hills created from spurting lava in flank eruptions. The pu’u’s look out of place in the middle of the flat landscape; like a zit on the Big Island’s forehead. We eat our box lunches in the van as Taj prepares us for our first stop, a trek inside a lava tube. A lava tube is actually as scary as it sounds. When it’s active, it’s a conduit through which lava travels beneath the surface draining lava from an eruption source. However the lava tube we are trekking through today is extinct; the lava flow has cooled and formed a cave like structure.

I know just how much I like Taj when he says we are skipping the ‘Disney version’ of a lava tube (aka Thurston Lava Tube inside the park) and instead going to the real deal with no tourists. We get out of the van and Taj passes out rain coats and flashlights; I’m liking the non-tourist lava tube already. Kaumana Cave is an extinct lava tube which once carried molten rock from Mauna Loa’s upper rift zones down to the ocean.

We descend deep into a damp cave, ducking jagged rocks and carefully placing each step along the slippery rocks. Taj takes us into the mouth of the lava tube and invites the adventurous among us to follow him deeper into the tube. I go willingly, walking through water that is ankle deep for another 5 minutes to where he is stopped. He tells the few of us who followed him to turn off our flashlights and we all get to experience complete and utter darkness. He lectures us on the formation of the tube and tells us we can find them all over underneath the island. They are like a vein system in a body, once again reminding me that the Big Island is alive.

Kaumana Cave entrance

Hiking out of Kaumana Cave

We stop at the Halema’uma’u Crater near Volcanoes National Park visitor center and Jagger museum. Taj walks us through the museum intertwining the science with the folklore and let’s us view the Halema’uma’u crater by daylight . The crater is impressive at it spews out vog, but Taj informs us it will look completely different at night when we return. I love the anticipation he builds in us.

Halema’uma’u Crater by daylight

This area of the park is literally bubbling with activity. We hike a trail around the steam vents and Taj points out hardly noticeable plants and flowers describing them to us and telling us the Hawaiian mythology associated with them. The smell of sulfur and bright colors of chemicals make the landscape look like an experiment in a petri dish. The hike is very moderate, but Taj makes it interesting and fills our heads with even more information.

Volcanoes National Park Hike

Taj hiking by the steam vents

Chemicals oozing from the surface

We get back into the van and drive down the Chain of Craters road stopping along with way to see various lava formations, dangerous pit craters, and hearty plant life. I am left in awe of the power beneath me and the havoc it could wreak at any moment. Yet I’m also considering this same dangerous land I’m walking on as the beginning – the birth. It’s a strange dichotomy that leaves my head spinning.

Maybe I’m feeling light headed because I’m hungry, so our picnic dinner down at the coast comes at the perfect time. We drive to the end of Chain of Craters Road where the island is expanding as lava flows into the ocean. Although lava flowing into the ocean is not currently visible (and hasn’t been for a long time), you can still imagine it as you peer down the jagged coastline.

Lava covered trees along Chain of Craters Road

The rugged lava formed coast

We have dinner by lamplight while Taj shows us his personal videos that he’s taken as he and some of his friends have gone lava chasing around the island. Lava chasing is like storm chasing, and it sort of explains why Taj is so enthusiastic about teaching us on the volcanoes and the ecosystems here. Volcanoes and specifically the Big Island is his passion.

In darkness we drive back thru the Volcanoes Park and learn it’s the only national park open 24 hours. We park again at the Jagger museum to view the big finale to the tour, the glowing lava of Halema’uma’u Crater. (see the first photo) As we snap photos on tripods, Taj is able to ‘connect the dots’ from the full day of touring with a last story about Pele and her immortal friends.

As we drive back to the Kohala coast, Taj was quiet for the first time all day as he let us soak in all of the knowledge of the day. It was a long but educational, fun day. In one day we did 25,000 feet of elevation change and drove over 300 miles. Taj put on Hawaiian luau music and I dozed off in the back of the van dreaming about the birth and continual growth of this amazing island.

The Good:

• This was a well organized, informative day long tour. The customer service from booking to the day of the tour was very high quality.
• Lots of knowledge dispersed on the ecosystems, volcanoes, and mythology.
• Meals (lunch and dinner) were excellent and plenty of drink and snacks were provided throughout the day.
• Raingear and warm weather gear was also provided which was a nice touch since we were traveling through various climates all over the island in one day.
• I loved the fact that we got off the typical tourist trail and explored the lesser-known lava tube.

The Could Be Better:

• I would have loved a bit more hiking, but we had a full day to fit many things in so the hike was only for about 45 minutes and very easy. It was more of a gentle walk than a hike.

Would I recommend it:

Yes, even though I had already been to Volcanoes National Park on my own, I was able to learn so much more and see many more things than I ever could have independently. I loved our guide and his passion for what he did was evident making the whole experience fun as opposed to dry. It was a reasonable price ($179) if you consider the fact that you drive 300 miles, had two meals and entrance into the park. It was a long day, but I was never once bored. If you are going to spend 13 hours with a guide, they better be good, and Taj was certainly the right person for the job.

More Information:

Twilight Volcano Adventure Tour
Hawaii Forest and Trail Tour Company (they offer a variety of hikes around the Big Island

It's hard not to enjoy Volcanoes Park

Photography from the Volcanoes Tour

Disclosure: Hawaii Forest and Trail hosted my Volcano Twilight Adventure. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Colorful sunsets on Mauna Kea

As I drove the gradual incline, the car downshifted to a lower gear, jerked and slowly inched up the road; I could feel just how hard it seemed to be working to get up to the Mauna Kea visitor center.  Hawaii has the tallest mountain on earth.  No, I haven’t lost my mind, and no, Everest hasn’t moved to the Big Island of Hawaii.  Mauna Kea is in fact the tallest mountain; from it’s base (under the sea) it comes in at 33,000 feet which puts it significantly above Mt. Everest!  However from sea level it is measured at 13,796 ft – which is certainly tall enough to wreak havoc with your body and provide a hefty headache.

This was one of my most anticipated sites on the Big Island, Mauna Kea, home to the best stargazing and astronomical observation.  This is where my Big Island luck had run out.  I had tried to go on a astronomy tour to the summit, but thanks to a number of factors, I was unable to go.  So I was relegated to the 9,000 foot level at the visitor center only.  However I made the drive up to the visitor center as I knew it would be a fascinating area to see that would once again leave me thinking, “I can’t believe this is Hawaii.”

That’s exactly what I thought when I parked the car and stepped outside into the cold air.  I quickly kicked off my flip flops, put on my socks and tennis shoes, and put all the layers I could possibly fit on my body.  With a two wheel drive car I was unable to go any further up to the summit, but I was able to still go the visitor center which had some interesting videos of the observatories and after the sun sets they bring out telescopes to do some star gazing with students from the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy.

However the most fascinating thing to me was the drive to Mauna Kea via the saddle road.  The road climbed up out of the rain forest and Hilo area and soon I felt as if I was on another planet.  There were plants I had never seen before, and the landscape was barren except for complex cloud formations.  The drive to the visitor center was stunning, and it’s worth a stop, especially if you time it for sunset as I did that evening.

However, on my next trip, I’m determined to get to the summit and see those laser telescopes in action!  You have to leave some things for the ‘second visit’!

The stormy saddle road to Mauna Kea

Unusual plants dot the landscape as I get closer to Mauna Kea

A rainbow appears in the distance welcoming me to Mauna Kea

The Road to the Visitor Center

Climbing the hill near the visitor center to get the best view

The visitor center is graced with a full rainbow!

The last bit of light slips away on Mauna Kea

Aloha Vacation Cottage Patio - a great lodging rental on the Big Island

As a solo traveler I look for smaller, intimate places to stay. I feel lost in big resorts and quite frankly it’s just not my style. I was combing the internet in search of a small, local place to stay near Waimea on the Big Island and I came across Annette at the Aloha Vacation Cottages. I contacted her about availability and to learn more about the cottages to see if they would be right for a solo traveler. Annette and I immediately bonded over worldly travel and expat living. She was an avid traveler and expat for her career in Europe, however a medical scare made her re-evaluate life and landed her in Hawaii based solely on an instinct to follow her passion. Clearly you can see why we would get along!

As I pulled up to the Aloha Vacation Cottages in South Kohala in my rental car, there was Annette waiting for me to arrive. After speaking to her extensively on the phone to set up my reservation, I felt as if I knew her. I got out of the car and gave her a big hug as if she were an old friend. She introduced me to my new ‘home’ at Hale Kea Cottage, showed me around, and then we sat in the kitchen and chatted for the next hour about travel, careers, taking chances in life, and about the Big Island. She had a passion for the Big Island and her home that was delightful to see.

I only stayed 2 nights at Aloha Vacation Cottages, but it was a very memorable 2 nights, and when I left I knew I would be back again one day for a much longer stay. It was a place you could easily call home.

Location:

The cottages were nicely located for travel around the North side of the island. They are nestled in a neighborhood far from the big commercial resorts. From the cottages, you could easily reach the gorgeous public beaches of the Kohala Coast within 15 minutes, the ranchlands of Waimea, and the stunning views and hiking in Waipio Valley. Annette will send you detailed instructions on how to get to the cottages and will be there to welcome you!

Annette has maps and info at the house on how to get around the island and information on the nearby attractions and hidden beaches.

Rooms and Amenities:

Aloha Vacation Cottages consist of 2 separate cottages – Hale Kea and Hale Plumeria. Each have separate entrances and driveways. I stayed at the Hale Kea cottage; it was quite large and slept 4. It had everything one would need for a long term, comfortable stay; kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom with laundry, a patio, grill, and parking.

The living room is bright and sunny

Kitchen has everything you'll need

However, what made the cottage stand out above any other I have ever stayed in was the all of the extra amenities. I was so surprised to find all condiments, fresh fruit, and even food for a dinner (spaghetti) in the cupboard! Everything you needed for the beach was also provided – towels, beach hats, chairs, mats, boogie boards, and snorkel gear.

In addition, she offers a free laptop and wifi for you to use, a bathrobe and slippers, a cooler for the beach and ice pack, and even sun screen.

Atmosphere:

You could easily tell the love that was put into the cottages. I was especially impressed with the amount of information provided on Hawaii. Don’t bother with a guide book as Annette will have all the info and maps you would ever need; maps and pictures of beaches and other sites.

Plus I really appreciated the notes left all over the cottage with instructions. Little notes on the beach towels informing me to not use the bathroom towels at the beach. Or a note about using the ice for the cooler or how to use the cable box and the washer/dryer. I found the notes endearing and clearly a sign that a lot of love and work was put into all of the details of the cottage and your stay there.

A friendly reminder....

She even had a quilt project for those who liked to sew. A quilt square was started with a traditional Hawaii design and she allowed guests to contribute by quilting on the square. Even though I don’t sew, I love the idea of the traveler’s quilt project.

Hawaii Quilt Project

Costs:

Hale Plumeria – from $125/night + tax (double occupancy) – seasonal / 13.25% tax
Hale Kea – from $160/night + tax (double occupancy) – seasonal / 13.25% tax

Would I recommend it:

If you want a central place to stay in the North of the Big Island that feels like ‘home’, then I recommend Aloha Vacation Cottages. The price was competitive and you get an abundance of extra amenities that make it really stand out. It is clearly evident all of the work and thought they’ve put into the cottages. I just wish I had more time to spend there. I greatly appreciated all of the information provided about the nearby attractions and island. Plus – stocked cupboards = BLISS!

This was a quality place to stay with owners who were amazing hosts.

“Hawaii is about warmth on different levels: it starts with the first “Aloha” you are greeted with upon landing. The ground beneath you is warm. The sun is warm. The ocean’s warmth is inviting. The people are special. Hawaii offered me a warm, soft place to land when I first arrived. It’s what draws people here and brings them back. It’s what makes it easy for me to call home. It’s infectious. Be aware. Hawaii is now your “home away from home”– Annette

More Information:

Aloha Vacation Cottages Website: www.alohacottages.net
Hale Kea Cottage
Hale Plumeria Cottage
Inquire about Availability: www.alohacottages.net/Order.html

Disclosure: Aloha Vacation Cottages hosted my stay with them.  However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Vanilla produced on the Big Island of Hawaii

Ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, coffee, cakes, and shakes – these are all places where you expect to find vanilla beans or vanilla flavor. But what about lemonade, BBQ sauce, chutney, cornbread, maple syrup, jelly, or salad dressing? And would you expect to find a vanilla farm (the first & only commercial vanilla operation in the US) in Hawaii?

The Big Island continues to surprise me and today the surprising secret ingredient is….”Vanilla!”

The ingrediants for Vanilla Extract

Today is my day to learn all about one of my favorite flavors in the world, vanilla. I don’t think that I’ve ever met someone who doesn’t like the taste of vanilla; it invokes thoughts of comfort food, warmth, sweets, and pure flavor. The simple thought of vanilla makes me salivate in hunger which is a good thing because I’m at the right place for lunch – the Hawaiian Vanilla Company.

I park the car next to the cheery yellow house with white trim.  It’s shaded by big trees and trimmed in flowers. It looks picture perfect as I walk up the stairs to go inside for my lunch reservation. As I pull open the screen door with a creak and walk inside the smell hits me – vanilla. I stop and take a big deep breath in, close my eyes and a little grin creeps onto my face as my stomach rumbles.

Other couples are milling around and soon we are all called into the dining area in the back where a waiter asks me if I’d like vanilla ice tea or vanilla lemonade. A vision of Willy Wonka passes through my head and I think if Willy had a vanilla room, he would have vanilla lemonade -  I’m sure of it. I order the vanilla lemonade and settle into my table for one, ready to eat and be educated for the next 2 hours.

Jim Reddekopp, the owner of the family run farm, introduces himself and starts to tell the story of how he and his wife started growing vanilla. The first thing I learn which surprises me is that vanilla is an orchid and it’s the only orchid that has a flavor associated with it.

Jim tells us his vanilla story

I love hearing the story of an entrepreneurial dream. Jim grew up in Oahu and married Tracy and they have 5 kids. This is a family operation for sure; the kids are involved in all areas of the business from working in the kitchen to working in the Orchid houses. Plus, vanilla was not something that Jim or Tracy knew anything about originally, instead they came up with the idea since the Hawaiian climate was right for raising vanilla orchids and they built their knowledge and business from the ground up.

As Jim talks about the science behind raising vanilla orchids and making extract, he simultaneously fries a skillet full of shrimp in butter served with vanilla mango chutney. He says, “Everything here is fattening. It’s the way food is supposed to taste!” As he places the vanilla shrimp appetizer on my table I can’t help but feel his enthusiasm about food. He exudes joy for bringing the farm to table movement to Hawaii and clearly is a leader and innovator on the Big Island. I think to myself, this is what passion is. When you can find your passion, everything falls into place. My first bite of shrimp with vanilla chutney is full of flavor; a fabulous start to my Vanilla Experience lunch.

Our first course - vanilla grilled shrimp

Jim continues to explain to us how to make vanilla extract with a variety of different liquors, which is surprisingly simple once you have a good vanilla bean. He also gives us a demonstration of how to remove the seeds from a vanilla bean. The waiters bring out our main course consisting of bourbon citrus marinated chicken breast on a vanilla sweet bread roll with vanilla caramelized onions and organic greens. It is served with a salad with dusted vanilla pecans, feta, and a vanilla raspberry balsamic dressing. Vegetables also get the vanilla treatment; we have Okinawa potatoes with a vanilla southwest rub served with vanilla BBQ sauce.

Prepping in the kitchen

Bourbon citrus marinated checken breast with vanilla carmelized onions

The vanilla flavors are subtle and not overpowering, and I consider licking my plate. Would anyone notice? I think that Jim would probably give me a standing ovation if he saw me do it!

After all of the new, creative vanilla dishes that I try, it is time for a well known favorite – vanilla bean ice cream.

This.  Is.  Heaven.

Vanilla bean ice cream is an 8 billion dollar business worldwide.

All of us are now fat and happy and full of vanilla, but there is no rest, we have more to learn and see. Doug, one of the managers, takes over the tour and has us get up and walk around a bit, which I’m quite thankful about.

A vanilla orchid plant growing in the shade house

Doug explains how the orchids are grown and most importantly pollinated. He walks us down to the shade houses on the farm and points out various plants along the way. From Doug I learn about the rich and proud farming community on this part of the Big Island. As I listen to Doug talk about the surrounding ranches and people doing amazing things on the Big Island I wonder if it’s possible for me to love this island any more?

The shade houses are the home to many new baby orchid plants. Doug explains that a baby orchid takes 4 years to flower; patience is a necessary trait for vanilla farming. Plus, farming vanilla is incredibly labor intensive, the vanilla orchids are pollinated one by one by hand. This explains why vanilla is so expensive.

The tour comes to an end back at the yellow house in the gift shop where you can purchase your beans and various products to take home and try your own vanilla recipes. The last piece of advice that Jim leaves us with, “Anyone who thinks that vanilla is ‘just plain vanilla’ hasn’t tasted pure vanilla. It’s divine.”
I can’t agree more. Now it’s time to make my way to the beach for a big vanilla coma nap.

The Good:
• The food was phenomenal, and service was great.
• The 2 ½ hours was very educational and took you through the whole process of vanilla production.
• I walked away with knowledge on how to make my own extract!
• I loved the fact that Jim, the owner, was involved with the luncheon. His enthusiasm and love for vanilla and the Big Island was infectious.
• I liked the fact that the group was a manageable size. There were place settings for about 15 people so it was intimate and easy to see and hear while on the tour.

The Could Be Better:
• It would be nice to get some of the recipes from the luncheon or to have some of them available on the website so that we could recreate the dishes we ate.

Would I Recommend It:
Yes!  I highly recommended a stop at the Hawaii Vanilla Company as a great afternoon to get out and see another part of the island. My lunch was a true farm to table experience; I not only ate an amazing meal with the key ingredient grown down the road, but I was educated and entertained throughout the whole process. If you are visiting the sites of Waipio Valley or Akaka Falls, then this is a great stop to make, even if it’s just to come to the gift shop or for one of their Afternoon Tea tastings. I felt like the price ($39 for lunch, drinks, tour) was very reasonable in comparison to eating on other parts of the island.

More Information:
Hawaiian Vanilla Company Website:  www.HawaiianVanilla.com
Information on the Vanilla Experience Luncheon (Reservations are required!)
Other tours and tastings offered at the farm: Vanilla Tours
Hawaiian Vanilla Company Inc.
P.O. Box 383
43-2007 Paauilo Mauka Road
Paauilo, Hawaii 96776
Phone (808) 776-1771
Fax (808) 776-1661
Toll Free (877) 771-1771
orders@hawaiianvanilla.com

See all photos from the Vanilla Luncheon Experience and tour:

Disclosure: The Hawaiian Vanilla Company hosted my Vanilla Experience Luncheon and Tour. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Goodbyes are never fun for me...

Crying is not a weakness, nor does it mean I’m unhappy. At least that’s what I try to tell myself every time I find the tears welling up and streaming down my face as I say goodbye to someone.

I have no explanation for how terrible I am at goodbyes. It makes no sense to me at all. My life is all about goodbyes and constant change. I’m an adventurous, independent, solo traveler. Not just a solo traveler – but a solo person. I’ve been single and living on my own far away from family for my whole adult life. I’m not lying when I say I love being on my own, having an independent life and doing what I want to do whenever I want. I get stressed out when I have to be with others for too long and I don’t get my alone time. Yet the act of saying goodbye to anyone who I’ve been surrounded by for a while makes my throat tighten, my heart ache, my lips purse, and my eyes sting with tears.

How can I drive a car to Mongolia, live solo in Vietnam, circle the globe multiple times; yet I can’t say goodbye to my niece at the airport without crying. She’s my niece…not my child…my niece. But I’ve grown attached to her for the last 11 days. I felt responsible for her. She was a fabulous, mature travel companion who made me laugh and I was oozing pride that she was so bright, funny, and strong. But that doesn’t explain tears and the deep rooted sorrow I feel.

Evie and I in Hoboken waiting in line at Carlos Bakery

Even though the tears seem to happen most often with family (even if they are driving me crazy and I am ready to leave), they also happen with friends, lovers, and new acquaintances. I even remember a distinct time this last year being excited for someone to leave and be on my own again, yet when they walked out the door I collapsed in tears.

Why do I suck at goodbye? Why does being alone again make me so deeply sad and emotional; even though I long for that solo life most days?

It must be something to do with ending chapters in my life. Every time I travel with someone or stay with someone I consider it another chapter in my life. A definitive moment that I will recall one day in my old age; “remember that time when Evie came to New York City when she was 15 years old… “. Even though I live in a constant state of flex and uncertainty, I must be terrified to start the next chapter. Is the next chapter going to be the last?

Maybe it’s frustration. I know just how hard it is to be on my own; it’s hard work to do everything for yourself, no one to lean on or draw good vibes from. You have to find your own happiness. So maybe I’m simply sad about being back on my own and having to adjust to doing everything on my own again.

Maybe I’m just feeling the sting of living in the present. I’m simply in the moment, deeply feeling the emotions of the moment. Leaving and change are emotional no matter who you are.

Maybe I miss the security of having someone around me.

Maybe I feel vulnerable and exposed being on my own again.

Maybe deep down I’m lonely and I’m dying to find someone I can spend my life and experiences with.

Whatever the reason, it always makes me reflect and maybe that’s simply what my heart and mind is looking for. After about an hour of sorrow, I push it back, wipe my eyes, quiet my mind, and push it to the back again until the next goodbye.

How do you deal with good-byes?  Please share in the comments.

Kohala Coast - Big Island Hawaii

When I first started my career break travels in 2006, I stumbled across a photography exhibition in Melbourne Australia called The Earth From Above; aerial photography from all over the world.  I fell in love with it immediately; it provided such a unique perspective that few people get to see.  The exhibit inspired me so much that I actually made a trip to Morocco to see the leather dying vats in Fez that I saw in the exhibition.  They captured my interest and I wanted to photograph them myself.  Actually – I wanted to photograph many of the places I saw in the exhibit, but access to  a helicopter  is not normally in my travel budget!  So when I had the opportunity to take a helicopter tour via Paradise Helicopters in Hawaii, I jumped at the chance to finally get my shot at aerial photography!

Shooting through glass is not easy, but here’s the best of what I saw….from above.

You can purchase any of this photography by simply clicking on the photo to learn more.

Lava Tube viewed from Above

Halema’uma’u Crater spewing vog (Volcanic smog)

Hidden beaches are revealed from above

The forested regions between Kona and Hilo

A pit crater in Volcanoes National Park along the Chain of Craters Road

Waipio Valley - a sacred place on the Big Island

A tree surrounded in flames of lava

The dry side of the island cracked and desert like

The wet side of the Big Island is full of green forests and valleys

Vog and lava dominate Volcanoes National Park

Coral formations are works of art from above

Molten Lava ignites - a spectacular view from above

To learn more about the helicopter tour beyond the photos, be sure to check out the post from yesterday – Touring the Big Island from Above

Disclosure:  Paradise Helicopters  hosted my Hawaii Experience tour. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

The coast of the Big Island is ever changing

After driving around the entire Big Island for a week I could appreciate the diversity of landscapes, however today is when the all of the puzzle pieces come together. The lava field piece connects with the rainforest piece. The brown desert piece connects to the turquoise waters of the coast. The towering mountains connecta with the fertile ranch lands and rolling hills. The wet side connecta with the dry side. Today I will be able to see the ‘Big Picture’ of the Big Island – from the sky.

I arrive early to Paradise Helicopters thanks to my childlike excitement; this is my first time in a helicopter. Considering I am eternally late to everything, the fact that I have time to kill is unusual, but I use the time to clean my camera and lenses since I am anticipating a lot of photos. It is a hot day, made worse by the fact that I am dressed entirely in black clothing. Paradise Helicopters instructed us to wear dark colors so that the glare would be reduced when shooting pictures out of the helicopter window; a great piece of advice. Soon the rest of the passengers arrive; it will be a full helicopter with 6 of us taking flight for the Hawaii Experience tour. A complete 2+ hour flight of the entire island plus a landing in a secluded valley.

We listen to our safety briefing from our pilot Koji. In addition to learning about the safety instructions, he also briefs us on our route for the day. The good news is we have perfectly clear weather and he feels we will have a good opportunity to see some lava flow from above. Upon hearing this my heart starts beating faster. Seeing actual lava flow on the Big Island is not as easy as one might think based on all of the tourism marketing materials you see about the Big Island. In fact, seeing lava flow is sort of like getting a winning lottery ticket. The only real way of increasing your odds of seeing lava flow is to see it via helicopter. Lava is constantly flowing on and under the island, however it is in remote places where cars or hikers can’t get to.

I am seated on the side of the helicopter in the back with a large ‘floor to ceiling’ well cleaned window. We are packed in tightly, it reminds me of taking the public bus in Nepal minus the live animals. I locate my headphones and the other passengers and myself take turns testing our audio.  I am ready for lift off – Roger!

Hawaii is colorful from above!

Koji ensures us we are all ready and the helicopter blades start up. The sensation of lifting off reminds me I forgot to take my Dramamine in my excitement this morning; I will have to tough it out. We rise up smoothly and soon we are gliding down the coastline. From above I can see the clear waters and coral formations, the perfect little golf courses, and the town of Kona. My camera clicks away in excitement.

Koji flies us between the massive volcanic mountains of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa towards Volcanoes National Park. I have already been to the park twice by car, but this new aerial view was stunning. The great thing about traversing the island prior to taking the helicopter tour is that I know the lay of the land already, I am familiar with the roads and where they lead so it is easy to orient myself even from above.

Lava oozes out of the Earth's crust

We fly over the Halema’uma’u Crater and proceed to fly deeper into the park where roads no longer exist. Soon we see it – the silver flow of molten lava. I have to refocus my eyes on the details below me and when looking closely I can see the red hot outlines of the flowing lava oozing from the earth. We fly over lava tubes, lava explosions, and burning trees caught amidst the flowing lava. Koji circles around the active areas and flames with precision maneuvers ensuring that each side of the helicopter can see equally well. We do S turns, dipping down to get the best pictures possible.

Fresh molten lava flows on the Big Island

After about 25 minutes of hovering over various lava flows, we must move on to circle the rest of the island. We leave the barren ‘other –world’ of Volcanoes Park and fly to the rainy side of the island. Dark lava rock gives way to little bits of green life below us, and eventually we are flying over a carpet of dense, green rainforest surrounding the town of Hilo.

We fly up coast to the undisturbed valleys of Waipio where the oldest part of the island is on display. Deep, lush valleys are cut into the coast line completely secluded from tourism. The only way in to one of these valleys is to hike in or be flown in. Once again Koji flies us back and forth along the coast ensuring everyone has a perfect view and then he turns and starts heading into one of the deep cut valleys. We fly by waterfalls hundreds of feet high and I feel as if I have entered a land that few people have ever seen. We snake between the valley walls and slowly Koji sets the helicopter down next to a river for a short break in this secluded landscape.

Doing a valley fly by

Multiple water falls exist all over the valleys

When I get out of the helicopter my legs rejoice finally able to stretch a little bit as well as settle my stomach on solid ground. I turn to look at my surroundings and gasp. Koji had landed us on a dime; between a river and large boulders with only 5 feet of clearance on either side. In fact the tail of the helicopter actually hangs off the river bank over the roaring river. This is one time where I am happy I have a back seat view since I would have been quite nervous if I had fully seen what an obstacle we were landing in.

Our tiny 'landing pad' in the valley

We have about 20 minutes to explore, stretch, and eat a snack. I walk along a path to a river and pick some fresh guava for a snack. I sit and simply enjoy the view in solitude; a unique and powerful moment to reflect upon my week on the Big Island and it’s pure beauty and many surprises. Soon we gather back up and lift off from the valley floor flying to the northern tip over the birthplace of King Kamehameha. Once again the landscape changes from lush green to brown desert. We have flown to the dry side of the island; cracked and barren land begging for water. We fly back down the coast towards Kona seeing some of the most spectacular hidden beaches and coral formations along the Kohala coast.

The barren, dry Kohala Coast

Koji lands us back down at the airport effortlessly. The landscape puzzle is completed and our 3 hours have disappeared from me as if it was 1. It is the perfect way to put together the pieces of the Big Island; it’s diversity, beauty, anger, and energy. This island is alive!

The Good:
• One of the most unique and longest helicopter tours offered on the island.
• Loved the intricate valley landing in the middle of the tour
• Ensured that everyone could get equally great photos and views no matter what side you were seated on.
• Lots of time to see the lava! And really one of the only ways you will see lava.

The Could Be Better:
• This should come as no surprise, but I took a lot of pictures. I loved the fact that Paradise recommended you to wear dark clothing to take better pictures, however then they had a tan seat belt that they had upholstered with white fur so it would be more comfortable. I have no idea why they chose white fur – as it should have been black. Even though I was dressed in black, the seat belt was glaring in all of my photos!

Also – this was just specific to me, but don’t forget your motion sickness pills if you are prone to that sort of thing.  This is not a smooth airplane flight – there are many twists and turns!

Would I recommend it:
If you have the financial means, then I highly recommend taking a helicopter tour of the Big Island above any other island. It clearly has the most diversity of all of the islands, so to be able to see that from above is really special.  The Hawaii Experience tour was expensive ($445) , but there are many tour options at various price points.   I was very happy with Paradise Helicopters, with the pilot, and the office staff; all were very professional and were focused on safety.

More Information:
Paradise Helicopter Tours – www. paradisecopters.com

Koji and I back on solid ground

To see all photography from the tour – check out my Hawaii From Above photo album

Disclosure:  Paradise Helicopters  hosted my Hawaii Experience tour. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Preparing the horses, a little 'helper' looks on

“The horses are not pets. They are workers. Do not let the horses eat; they have all day to eat. Now they are supposed to be working, they are on my time now.” This is the first thing I hear from the good looking young man dressed in levis, leather chaps with fringe, cowboy boots (with spurs), and a big rain slicker. The only thing missing is a cowboy hat, but this young paniolo opts for a baseball hat; giving this Hawaiian cowboy a modern twist.

I hear this speech from Pa’akaula while I’m perched on top of one of those referred to ‘work horses’. A wave of seriousness comes over me, as my mind switches from ‘I’m a tourist’ mode to ‘I have a job to do’ mode. I’m about to participate in my first cattle herding experience…err…job.

Strangely I’m not in Texas, Wyoming, or Colorado; I’m in Hawaii.

Prepping the work horses

The rain is pouring down, and the wind is whipping around me. The skies are filled with gray low hanging clouds hiding the beautiful pasture views from me. I think about other tourists out on the beach on the sunny side of the Big Island, but I just had to be different. Now I’m on top of a horse named Red, slightly exhilarated and slightly nervous. I can hardly believe that a beginner rider like myself is about to embark on a cattle drive with absolutely no tourist fluff to it.

But this is where I like to be, on the edge; the edge of excitement, nervousness, and newness.

Going to 'work' in the elements

“The horse’s job is to do nothing. Your job is to make it do something. These horses are not trail horses; they will not follow each other. In fact, I don’t want you to follow each other, you need to be comfortable splitting up, “ says Pa’akaula. I continue to listen to the lecture and I can feel my adrenaline rise. Pa’akaula comes over to my horse to tighten some parts of the saddle and he begins to give me my ‘driving’ instructions. He tells me how to get the horse to move forward, backward, turn left and turn right. He tells me how to stop the horse and make it stand still or stop the horse and make it back up. He instructs me to keep my heels down but keep pressure on my toes and to hold the reins as if I’m holding a bottle. I feel like I’m 16 again learning how to drive a car for the first time; it all sort of makes sense, but it’s nerve-wracking.

To top it off, the rain is blowing sideways now. This isn’t the beautiful day I was hoping for when I signed up for this cattle drive. Instead I am cold and getting more and more soaked by the second. However, somehow the horrible weather makes the whole experience seem even that much more authentic. We aren’t out here for fun; we are out here to get a job done.

Pa'akaula getting the horses ready for work

Pa’akaula tells us to walk our horses down the muddy drive until we get to the fence line, then stop and wait. He wants to see if we can successfully instruct our horses to do this simple task. I give Red two quick hard kicks with my heels and he slowly takes a few steps forward. Soon he is walking and as I continue to tap him with my heals occasionally.

At the fence line we all stop successfully. Mission accomplished! We are now given our next set of instructions. Lead our horse to the patch of trees over the hill in the distance. There is a slight pause and then Pa’akaula firmly instructs us to not follow each other. “You all have to take a different route to get to the patch of trees,” he says.

Now this is a bit more challenging, but my mind races with excitement. I pull the reins to the left and kick Red with my right heel in the hope that this will make him turn left. He stands there and doesn’t move. I think to myself, wait a minute, am I supposed to kick with my left or my right foot? My mind is second-guessing myself. Out of futility I decide to try again, this time Red turns and starts walking to the left. Success!

I walk Red towards the patch of trees and watch my cowboy peers do the same, the three of us are all spread out as instructed. I feel free, I feel in control. I never in my life have had real control of a horse; directing it solely by my desire. I’ve done trail rides before, but there was little decision really left to the rider, the horse was in control. However now it is I who is in control. I decide to turn, I don’t take the most efficient route, and I choose to stop – just because I want to. It feels amazing.

We continue to practice this horse control for the next 40 minutes; trying to teach the horse that we are the boss. The rain also continues, harder and harder. I can feel my jeans are already soaked underneath my rain slicker. The rain is dripping off the brim of my hat as well as my nose. I feel real. I feel like a paniolo; a Hawaiian cowboy.

Pa’akaula tells us to scan for cattle, we now need to get an idea of where the cattle are so we can round them up. We walk the horses around the vast fence line scanning for cattle. However, truth be told, I don’t think I am looking for cattle as I am still struggling with becoming the master of Red. Red does the turns I instruct him to, but not quite with the precision I would like and the perfectionist in me wants to get it right.

Our pawns...we must move them wisely

We spot the cattle all grazing in the same general area; there are about 35 of them. However off to the left I see black animals running the opposite direction of the herd and wonder if I should be pointing these ‘runaways’ out. However Pa’akaula reads my mind and quickly points out that those aren’t cattle, they are wild bore.

Pa’akaula motions for us to gather up near the rest of the cattle; it is time to get down to work. The wind is whistling, the sky is dark and the cows look as if they really don’t want to move. He gives us a little advice about how to use the fence line to keep the cattle ‘pinned’ in. He also suggests to be vocal in order to get the cattle to move. Pa’akaula looks at us each slowly and says, “Ok – this is your adventure, good luck!” and walks away on his horse. The perfectionist in me panics and wonders if he is leaving us! The three of us look at each other and swiftly make a game plan as there’s no time to waste in this uncomfortable weather. My fellow tourist herders bolster my confidence. We spread out as we have been doing all morning and go along the perimeter of the herd of cattle. Pa’akaula is watching from a perimeter spot ready to step in and chase any ‘runaways’.

“Ya” I meagerly say, and walk towards the cattle in my area. Meager isn’t going to cut it. “Ya! Ya!” I yell. The cattle take notice and begin to walk in front of me. I smile to myself and think, “I just made cows move. “ I’m amused by the thought and strangely proud.

Red and I use the fenceline to herd the cattle in

The rain continues to pour down on us, but we are moving the cattle, slowly to the pen. I belt out more “Ya! Ya!” vigorously as I go up and down steep, narrow, muddy sections of the pasture. I am amazed that a beginner like myself it tackling this terrain, but there’s no time to dwell on it; I have confidence now in the ability of my sure-footed horse. I hold on as if I’m riding a mountain bike leaning into the hills and back on the downhill. All the while my eyes are on the cattle. I can see us all converging on our end destination. Pa’akaula opens the gate and the cattle instinctively enter.

He closes the gate to the muddy pen signaling that our work is done. The three of us let out a sigh of relief and nod to each other in the rain; signaling a job well done. Today none us of feel like tourists, we feel like paniolos.

The cattle are in the pen! Our work is done!

The Good:

• Beginners can participate in the cattle drive
• The website description was accurate – there was no fluff!
• The instruction by the Ranch was good and even though we were separated in distance, they kept an eye on you.
• Provided rain slickers!

The Could Be Better:

• The weather could have been better! That’s honestly all I could come up with!
• They don’t always run the tour as they need enough people to do it. Check with them to see if they have a cattle herding experience available when you are there.

Would I recommend it:

Absolutely! This was one of my favorite things I did on the Big Island. I had always had a dream to herd cattle for some reason, and this was a great way to get a taste of it in a very unexpected place. There are many places that offer trail rides on the Big Island, but Dahana is the only one who offers the cattle herding experience. I was skeptical at first thinking it might be watered down for tourists – but I honestly felt like I was a part of the real thing. It was a lot of time on the horses, but the time went fast – even in the rain!

Website: Dahana Ranch
P.O. Box 1293 • Kamuela, HI 96743 • toll free: (888) 399-0057 • p (808) 885-0057 • f (808) 885-7833 • dahana@hawaiiantel.net

Disclosure: Dahana Ranch hosted my Cattle Drive experience. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Seeing Times Square for the first time

The last 5 days I’ve been playing tour guide of my favorite city in the US – New York City.  My old home still holds a very special place in my heart, especially for New Years.  My 15 year old niece has traveled with me to NYC for the first time and I’ve been putting all of my effort into showing her the time of her life this week.  She lives in Nebraska and hadn’t yet been to a big metropolis like NYC, so I felt a duty to show her what life in the big, artistic, bustling city of New York was like.

It has been a treat to see her experience NYC  for the first time; with new eyes on things that are familiar to me.  We have rode the subway and walked all over the city to see Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum, China Town, Times Square, Chelsea Market, Little Italy, SoHo, Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central Station, High Line Park, Rockefellar Christmas Tree, 5th Ave. Shops, MoMA, attended a show, and even took a ride over to Hoboken NJ to see Carlos Bakery.  We have eaten everything in sight, and have nursed our aching feet.  And I even found a little time to take a few pictures of some of my favorite sites in NYC.

For this last post of 2011, you get some of my abstract photos from my week in New York City, for the New Year, with the new eyes of my niece.

Manhattan skyline on a blustery winter day

A golden cupid shoots his arrow in the Met

Architecture of the Gubbenheim

Circling the MoMa

Archways frame Central Park

Headless in the Met

Black and White MoMA

Beauty in Simplicity

Happy New Year!

View all of my New York City Photography

Travel Q&A

I constantly get questions about my travels and I do make an attempt to answer them all back. However when someone asks a question that I think others would really benefit from hearing the answer, I like to share them for my entire Ottsworld audience (my mom + 20 other people)

I had a recent question from a reader Helen from Colorado who is planning her upcoming year long career break trip.

Q: How do you like HTH Global Citizen medical insurance? I read your comment on a Meet Plan Go article and saw you use them. I’m leaning towards them as they offer unlimited maximum, renewable, coverage inside & outside US, travel benefits, etc. I’m generally healthy but want that worst-case-scenario coverage. Also just turned 40.

A: I have been happy with HTH and have used them for a couple of years now. I am 41 and wanted to be covered as I continuously go back and forth in and out of the US and didn’t want to deal with changing insurance all the time. I haven’t had to use the insurance yet overseas, however I have used it back in the US through the Aetna network and it all worked smoothly. Had pap-smears and mammograms and was referred to dermatologists no problem.
So far so good for me with HTH. My rates even went down this year strangely.

Should you pack the bulky hiking boots?

Q: Regarding packing… I’m traveling for a year and plan to do some major trekking along the way (New Zealand, Nepal). No set itinerary really – following summer! I’m at a loss how to travel as a trekker/backpacker and be ready to head out at any moment, versus bringing along more worldly items of DSLR, storage, iPad, phone… that I won’t lug into the mountains. Seems I’ll always have to check in somewhere and separate out backpacking needs and store whatever I leave behind.

A: I had/have this problem all of the time – and I still sort of struggle with it – there are a couple of ways I handle it. I take my good hiking boots with me…suck it up and have them take up a lot of space. Then I buy whatever else I need in the way of hiking clothes when I arrive. In Nepal this will be super easy – and cheap. You can find North Face jackets (knock offs), fleece, hiking pants, socks, mittens, hats, and sleeping bags for cheap – also a walking stick. It’s cheaper and easier than bringing it all with you. Then I generally try to sell it to someone else when leaving or donate it to porters as it wasn’t that much money.
In New Zealand that’s not as easy…so I took a few layered things and still bought other things I needed when I got there.

Just remember the cardinal rule about packing is that you can buy anything you need at your destination – so don’t worry too much about forgetting something or packing something that you will only use for one activity.  Finally – really, really consider if you need your hiking boots or if you can hike in tennis shoes.  Pretty much every place I have hiked, including New Zealand I could hike in tennis shoes.  I needed my hiking boots for the Annapurna Circuit, but that was a 3 week hike.

However hiking boots are a bit challenging. If you don’t bring them with you, then you can always leave them with a friend all packed up and then when you need them have them mail them to you! I’ve done this before too – and it’s worked just fine!

Q: I was wondering about storage when/if you take extended backpacking treks/circuits (ie, Milford Track, Annapurna Circuit)? Where do you store the items you do not take along with you (ie, laptop)? When I did long trips in Patagonia I was able to store unnecessary items within the park’s hostel systems. Just wondering what has been your experience in this regard? Do you feel safe leaving valuable items behind in storage?

A: I never feel safe leaving my valuables behind when I trek – however it’s something that’s necessary else I’d never go anywhere! Sometimes the company will store them. Sometimes I store them in a secure room at the hostel or hotel. You can always find somewhere to put them – and simply try to make sure it’s a locked area. I’ve done this all over the world and so far it’s been fine. You just have to remember – if something gets stolen – it’s not the end of the world…everything is replaceable. It would suck, but it’s part of life, it happens.

Here are a few other resources out there regarding packing. It’s personal to everyone, there is no right or wrong way to pack. Yes, you should try to pack light without a doubt, but make sure it also fits your style. Some of these resourcesPacking Resources:

Pack light - I'm not a great example of this!

http://www.bootsnall.com/rtw/faq-packing.html (includes a male and female clothes packing list with links)
http://www.poweredbytofu.com/how-to-pack-for-a-1-year-round-the-world-trip/
http://alittleadrift.com/rtw-travel/rtw_packing/ (includes a female packing list)
http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/how-to-pack-your-backpack/ (how to best pack your backpack)
http://www.travelindependent.info/whattopack.htm

Ah - some days I feel like a freak!

I was recently told in a very heated and unpleasant discussion that I don’t share. The person wasn’t talking about sharing items as in sharing your toiletries while traveling. Instead they were talking about sharing my thoughts and feelings; in essence, opening up my life to others and sharing what goes on inside my head.

As hard as it was to hear – they were right.

After ten years of not being in any real relationships (God that hurt to even type that) and five years of traveling and living nomadically few things actually make it out of my mind and into words because there’s really no one to verbalize to. I sort of chalk it up to the fact that this is the life of a solo traveler and a very independent, single person.

You might be surprised to hear this if you have read this blog for a while. You probably feel that I share a lot of information publicly. However consider this – you only hear what I decide to share. And even that is finely crafted and controlled. The beauty of blogging and social media is that you have a delete and publish button. I decide what you hear and what you learn about me. And yes – sometimes my true thoughts are highly restricted or deleted.

Apparently I’m using a publish button in my personal relationships too. I rarely ‘publish’ anything verbally to my friends. I feel like my life is so distant from theirs that I don’t even know where to begin. So all they really get is the surface level. No one dives deep nor do I let them.

Me - a pixelated mystery

In fact lately I’ve been dealing with this huge gap in my life; the gap of what people think my life is like and what’s really going on in my head and my life.  The problem with editing is that it seems to be pushing me further away from the thoughts, feelings, and conversations in my head…the ones that never come out. The ones I don’t share. The gap is becoming a crevice and days it feels like a canyon.

I desperately want to fill in the canyon, and share again, but to whom? It takes a while to undo so much that has been done. And quite frankly I wonder if I will ever be someone that gushes personal information about myself. There’s a part of me that wants to remain a mystery…until I meet the right person to share that mystery with. At 41 I’ve been waiting a long time.

One thing I miss from my pre-blogging days is my journaling. I journaled for 7 years prior to me starting to share my stories online in 2006. I realized that the journaling for me was therapeutic; it’s how I was able to process thoughts and analyze my feelings. It was my therapist in a way. However when I stared blogging, I stopped journaling as the thought of writing on paper wasn’t as appealing any longer. Plus I just had no extra time to do it when I was working so hard at putting out my blog stories. The lack of journaling has finally caught up with me I believe.

I seldom share personal thoughts and feelings on this blog; which means that I rarely share personal thoughts and feelings anywhere. I’ve been fantasizing about opening up more, starting an outlet for the more personal side of me, my life, and my thoughts on this blog. Strangely, the pieces I write which are more personalized seemed to be the ones most people are interested in. I think it’s because we all go through the same things – and people can relate. However in the past I’ve decided to not share as much on my blog since quite honestly I’m scared.

But I’ve decided to give it a go. Starting in 2012 I’m going to try to write more personal posts under the section “Life” and the category “In my head”. They may be about travel, they may be about me, my thoughts, relationships, work, my insecurities, my sex life – or lack thereof. Don’t worry – there will still be all of the same travel info that I also do, but I’m not really sure what ‘In my Head’ will take on.  All I do know is that it won’t be highly edited…they will be simply what’s going on in my head.

My family home that I spent the first 18 years of my life in. And yes - that little yellow trike was mine from Santa

This blog is as much about me as it is about travel – so here’s a little personal look into my Christmas past that has absolutely nothing to do with travel – but everything to do with family and tradition.  As my family has grown older and evolved – new traditions take over.  However at this time of year I’m always thinking about our old traditions and how special they were to me.

Every Christmas Eve we’d all get dressed up and drive into town to go to candlelight service (which I was terrified of as a kid!).  We’d count all of the lighted Christmas trees on our way to and from church and see who could find the most.  We’d come home and take photos by the Christmas tree and then feast on a huge meal of turkey or duck.  We were never allowed to open gifts before Christmas.  We’d watch the old version of the Christmas Carol on PBS that evening by the fireplace.  One thing was for certain – I could never sleep on Christmas Eve.   I still remember that childlike anticipation and excitement that took over my whole body and mind on Christmas Eve.  I would wake up every hour and look at the clock in anticipation.  As an adult I cherish that memory of absolute pure excitement.  I often wish I could experience that feeling again – but wonder if it’s ever really possible.  Our adult lives have become so complicated these days; the holidays are more stress than they are excitement.  Some of my travels have come close, but I don’t really think the feeling can be replicated.

Christmas morning would finally come after what I thought was the longest night ever!  My parents had a rule that I couldn’t get up before 7AM so I would lay in my bed and wait until the magic time and then proceed to wake everyone else in my family up to see what Santa brought under the tree.  As you can see from the picture above, Santa was pretty kind to us.  We spent the morning opening gifts, putting together toys, and eating homemade cinnamon rolls.

Those are my old family traditions – what’s yours?

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Holiday Season with people you love!

1970 - My brother, mother, me (baby) and sister Christmas morning

1971 - Prepping for Christmas with my sister and brother

1972 - Christmas Eve

1973 - My mother and I get dressed up for Christmas Eve service and dinner

1973 - Posing with siblings for the annual tree picture!

My gifts from Santa - Fischer Price was a popular! No gameboys or electronics!

Vietnamese families drive to see the Christmas lights

One of the most unusual sites I witnessed in my travels was experiencing Christmas in Asia. I had been living in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam for 3 months when December 25th rolled around. In a country with no real religion, and no westernized consumerism (yet), Vietnam surprised me with their Christmas spirit.

Christmas in the western world seems to be more economic consumption than religion these days, so why should that be any different in Vietnam? The strange thing is that in Vietnam it seemed to be about neither. There was very little reference to anything religious about Christmas and there was really no one out shopping for gifts except for expats. So why do the Vietnamese care about Christmas? I never really knew, but my first guess was that they like any reason to drive their motorbikes around the city and get out of their homes! I may never understand the Vietnamese fascination with Christmas, but in the meantime, here’s what I was able to observe.

Merry Merry Christmas

Vietnamese referred to Christmas as “Merry Christmas”. For example, I frequently was asked, “Teacher, what are you going to do for Merry Christmas?” I found it kind of charming; it always reminded me that it was a merry holiday. And no matter how depressed I was about being on my own for Christmas, at least I could be doubly reminded that I should be merry.

Decking the Halls

On December 23rd I walked by a crew working at constructing yet another Christmas light display in District 1. In the US, the decorations start going up on November 1st, in Vietnam they go up on December 21st! As I saw the people frantically working to put their fake snowmen together and the reindeer carefully placed near the door, I wondered if they were going to all of this work to simply take it down again in a week. I’m assumed not. Why would anyone go to 2 weeks of work to set something up to simply tear it down again right away? Then again, nothing surprised me in Asia.

Vietnam was Surprisingly Lit Up for the Holidays

When you think of Christmas, you think of Heineken

In the center of HCMC near the market exists the pinnacle of all of Christmas displays; I called it the Heineken Snow Globe. No, it was not an actual snow globe, just a large light display shaped like a dome. I pass this monument to holiday beer (oops, I mean holiday cheer), every day on my way to work. I watched it go up piece by piece over the previous 3 weeks. Men dangled from the scaffolding, a giant disco ball was erected, and carefully placed ‘snow drifts’ were constructed. Then I finally saw it – the familiar green and white logo – a Heineken sign on the Christmas tree. There were Christmas light displays like this all over the city and many of them were sponsored by Heineken for some reason. I even saw a Christmas tree made of Heineken beer cans!

The Heinekin 'Snow Globe'

The Festive Smell of Pollution

I thought that the Heineken snow globe was rather impressive…or tacky….I couldn’t quite decide. That probably means I had been in Asia too long. However, I was not the only one who thought it was impressive, the other 7, 999,999 residents of HCMC also thought it was impressive. I believed this because the viewing of the snow globe was a family affair. Instead of hopping in the minivan, the Vietnamese put their family of 4 on a motorbike and took off to go view the holiday lights in District 1. There were lights hanging everywhere in the main part of the city. Displays of elves, reindeer, snowmen, Santa, and even a Winnie the Poo Santa littered the sidewalks. I supposed these lavish displays were in the same vein as window displays in NYC, but no one had a store front big enough to display their Holiday light extravaganza, so it spilled out into the streets; like most of life in HCMC.

The traffic was as unbelievable as seeing reindeer fly. I had never seen such a massive sea of motorbikes. They just slowly circled around and around looking at the light displays. I walked through the heart of Heineken Christmas Village to capture the absolute chaos and culture of the holiday. After an hour of walking around taking pictures of the traffic, families, kids dressed in Santa suits, and the street vendors; I realized that I couldn’t take it any longer. The pollution from the motorbikes was literally going to kill me.

Motorbikes circled the city center non-stop

Eat Papa, Eat!

At the snow globe, there weren’t only lights strung from all of the trees, and vendors selling little Santa, lollipops, and devil horns (not sure that those had to do with Christmas), but there was also St. Nick himself. Actually, there were about seven St. Nicks. They were all dressed up in their Santa outfits, shaking the kids hands and taking pictures with them. Of course in true Asian style there was no queue, that would be silly; there were just masses of people pushing and shoving to get to jolly old St. Nick. However I was a bit distraught when his belly didn’t jiggle like a bowl full of jelly. Instead, the belly was non-existent; this Christmasia Santa was a skinny Santa!

The Skinny Asian Santa

My ChristmAsia was eye opening, just as every day was living in HCMC. Merry Merry Christmas to all, and to all – let the lights and Heineken shine on. Merry Merry Christmasia!

For all of you who I met for the first time this year around all parts of this globe – it was a pleasure to spend time with you and learn about your country and culture.  For my old friends  – thanks for sticking by me and always giving me a bed to sleep in!

I bring you the 5th annual Ottsworld Holiday Video Card!

Yes – I’ve been doing this 5 years – if you are curious what the other years looked like – you can check them out here:

Holidays 2010

Holidays 2009

Holiday 2008

Holiday 2007

So – what do you think…have I changed over the years?!

Seattle's waterfront shows us that gloomy can be beautiful

This week I made a very quick trip to Seattle thanks to lady luck;  I won a trip from Travelllll.com.   Even though my time there was short, Seattle managed to seduce me with it’s  food, fresh air, and peaks.  Even though my time was short, I was able to capture a bit of Seattle’s personality through my lens.

Seattle all lit up! The view from the famous Space Needle

Seattle is the home of the farmer's market and it's still a staple there in the heart of downtown.

American Made - Boeing proudly calls Seattle home

Surrounded by the Puget Sound

A walk on the weird side...the Seattle Gum Wall

The Space Needle is adorned for the holidays

It's crab season in Seattle!

Festive Markets line the streets of Seattle

The sunrise over the Boeing planet and Mt. Ranier - two of Seattle's icons

A turtle captured on my Photo Safari

A familiar diesel idle echoed through my ears as the big safari truck pulled up next to me and my little rental car. This truck was my transport to go on safari on the Big Island of Hawaii. However I wasn’t searching for wild game, instead I was searching for good photography.

Photo Safari Hawaii was immediately of interest to me when I started researching my trip to the Big Island. They offer private photo ecotours all over the Hawaiian Islands, creating a custom experience for each client. The Photo Safari guides are experts in their knowledge of the islands as well as photography of the islands. The tour provided an insiders guide to the best places to shoot, as well as fine art photography exercises to enhance your photography.

Even though I have been doing photography for a while now, I always think it’s good to try to improve your skills and get refreshers. I get into bad habits, I get lazy, and I was hoping that this Photo Safari experience would help me brush up on my skills as well as take me to some hidden places on the island. I chose to do the Big Island Light Chaser ½ day tour.

Kohala Coast - chasing the light

Sean picked me up in the early afternoon and we went out to shoot the Kohala Coast and ‘catch’ sunset pictures. Sean clearly loved the Big Island, he came here 10 years prior from the mainland and had never been back! His love was evident also in the amount of knowledge he had about the Big Island. He rattled off stories and facts as I enjoyed the view and asked questions. It was nice to let someone else drive me for once and allow me to look for shots . The whole week I had been juggling the beauty of having complete control of my journey and being able to stop where-ever I saw a great shot, with having to watch the road and figure out where I was going!

Our first stop was the Pu’ukohola Heiau; a sacred rock structure peered out over the Kohala Coast. We stepped out of the truck and I secured my camera and lenses while Sean brought a little laminated notebook full of lessons to help me think about photography in different ways.

Kohala Coast

Sean and I had already talked about my experience as a photographer, but I told him that I wanted to experience the tour as his normal student would experience it. Typically their customers carried SLRs and were beginners or enthusiasts, but he did say that many clients also come with point and shoot cameras and more frequently there are people who simply show up with a mobile phone! He mainly focused on the beginning steps of photography and how we see and process light. It’s a great place to start when it comes to photography, as it’s important to understand the types of light and how our brain processes them.

We wandered along the paths and Sean provided a nice mix of history and photography information. He would ask questions about aspects of light and composition and then show examples from his book. Next he would challenge me to find examples of what we were speaking about and shoot them. We didn’t get into the nitty gritty of aperture and shutter speeds very much, yet I know we could have went there had I wanted to.

We changed a bit of our itinerary based on the weather on the mountain; the heavy cloud cover made us stick to the coast for our sunset shots. We made 3 or 4 more stops after the Pu’ukohola Heiau; a mix of beaches and resorts to practice the various parts of composition. We ended on a secluded little stretch of beach where the sun glistened off the still tide pools; a perfect location for sunset. I thought to myself, I doubt I would have found this place on my own.

There's plenty of inviting beaches along the Kohala Coast

Sean spotted a big sea turtle resting on the rocks so we went over as close as we possibly could to get the shot. He advised me on the lighting conditions and I was able to capture the big creature without disturbing it.

We stayed until the sun went down shooting away experimenting with different settings and angles. My light finally disappeared and therefore my photo paintbrush disappeared with it. I packed up my camera and Sean drove me back to my cottage. On the way back I was able to get some great advice on other places to visit for continued photography practice during my time on the Big Island.

Sunset on the Big Island

The Good:
• They pick you up anywhere on the island in a large, comfortable truck with plenty of room for equipment
• You get a ton of information about the island, the history, and the must see places.
• It did reinforce the basics of photography for me and really did get me to think about contrast and light more before I took the shot instead of just dealing with the situation in post –processing. I thought the exercises were effective at getting you grasp the concepts in a non-technical way.
• Even though my experience focused on basics of composition for beginners with light, contrast, lines, and points, the tour has the ability to be more advanced and cover aspects of more technical manual settings too.
• They have cameras you can use – but you do have to rent them as a separate charge. Same for underwater casings and any other specialized equipment.
• They operate on all of the islands and they offer multiday workshops with focus on underwater photography.

The Could Be Better:
• Since this is a half day tour, there is no real review process of what you shot and discussion of what worked and didn’t work. However that type of portfolio review is included in the longer workshop tours.
• The cost is prohibitive for a solo traveler – $550 for 4 hours. This is an investment in your skills, not just a fluff tour, and the price reflects it. The downside about the prices is that it is a private tour and therefore you can’t really be combined with other people if the truck isn’t full. However, if you are traveling with companions and you organize it as a group – then you can fit up to 5 people in the truck and then the cost is reasonable for such a tour. So the key is to find people to go with you and help reduce the cost!
• The website provides information about the tours, but you will likely really have to contact them personally to get additional info that you need regarding details of the tour and the photo instruction. I didn’t find the website very informative for the price of the tours.  On tours with higher price points, I do believe more information is better than less. In addition, there are not many images or reviews of the tours listed on the site. I personally think that a photography business like this should be showing off the great images that their clients have taken, but, what can I say, I’m picky about websites!

Would I recommend it?

I love this concept, especially for the islands of Hawaii where everywhere you look is begging to be photographed! The key is that it is a private tour – so it can be tailored to your needs, and that’s what you are paying for ultimately.
I would recommend this tour for the person who:
• Really wants to invest in learning about the basics of photography
• Someone who wants to learn how to get off of auto mode and start to learn about the more technical side of shooting
• Has a few companions that want to also learn about photography in order to bring down the cost a bit
• The super serious photographer who wants access to the best locations on the island but doesn’t have time to research them on their own.
• Someone interested specifically in underwater photography as they have a special workshop for underwater shooting

To get more information or to book a tour check out
Photo Safari Hawaii – www.photosafarihawaii.com

Disclosure: Photo Safari Hawaii hosted my ½ day Light Chaser tour. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

The ticket to your dreams

Accepting change is hard. Most people don’t have a choice, when the world changes – they eventually have to change with it. My mother on Facebook is a great example of this; it was the only way she was going to keep up with her grandchildren’s lives. I have to admit though – I’m a bit scared of the day I need to try to teach her how to use Twitter – that just may be the scene of my head exploding and brain matter going everywhere.

But actually making change, creating it from your own idea or desire for an end product; that’s about impossible for people. Creating changes in your life that society or no one person didn’t dictate can be seen to be as challenging as climbing Mt. Everest, starting a career break movement in the US, or teaching my mother how to use a cell phone.

But change has to happen if you want to save money to accomplish your travel dreams, or any dream for that matter. You have to be strong enough, have willpower, accept sideways glances and sometimes ridicule, and you have to follow through no matter how much the world around you is against you. However I can guarantee that when you persevere, and the willpower wins, the world will pay you back in ways that you can’t even understand now.

See Warren and Betsy on MarriedwithLuggage.com

Warren and Betsy Talbot know this. They are experts at making change in order to achieve their travel dreams. That’s why I was excited to hear that they wrote a book to teach others how to save enough money to travel or achieve any dream. The ebook, Dream Save Do , is not simply about saving money for career break travel; it’s about saving money to accomplish whatever dreams you have. It’s about how to make change in your life; how to take control of your finances and mindset in order to achieve goals.

I met Warren and Betsy in 2010 as they were preparing for their career break travels. They agreed to be our inaugural Seattle Meet, Plan, Go! hosts.  They have since been traveling for one year now and have decided to turn their 3 year planned career break into a lifestyle of location independent work and travel. Their first big project was writing the Ebook Dream Save Do which describes a focused way to think about money differently and how it can be used to fund your dreams. They took the processes they used to change their lives and save loads of money to create a plan with concrete steps that apply to everyone so that others can do the same. They continue to track every dollar spent on their travels at their Around the World Expenses Blog They live what they teach.

Saving money isn’t rocket science. It’s willpower and the ability to make change in your life. There is no way to get rich quick, just as there is no effective way to lose 20 pounds in a week and keep it off. The ebook provides concrete ways to save money, change your life, and provides you the inspiration you will need in order to follow through.  Woven among the concrete steps is their story of how they did it; the successes and the failures, the a-ha moments and the tears. It’s theory put into practice.

Kindle Version on Amazon $9.99

The book covers:

Dream: Defining your Dream, Creating Dream Porn, Determining the cost of your Dream, and Setting a Date
Save: Create the Vault, Calculate Current Spending, Resolving Credit Card Debt, Creating your Phrase to Save, Cutting Expenses, Revising Spending Habits, Where to ‘Find’ Money, Performing a Monthly Review
Do: Publicizing your Dream, Screwing up and Getting Back on Track, Learn to Handle Peer Pressure, Planning Your Holiday Spending, Enjoying the Saving Success

It’s sold on Amazon in a Kindle version for $9.99

But my personal take-aways from the book was how to :

Achieve goals
Create change in your life that you and others can be excited about.
Look at our consumption based society differently
Look at how we live differently
Achieve goals (yes, I know I said it already, but it’s such a strong message in this book. If you don’t like to achieve goals, then don’t get the book – you will be disappointed.)

As I read through the guide, I highlighted things that really spoke to me such as,

•  “We were trying to let money dictate our lifestyle instead of the other way around.”
•  “A budget is limiting only in your spending. Your imagination has no limits.”
• “You will learn to assess the value of everything – what it costs you in more than just money and whether it is worth having. It will become second nature, and you will be surprised at how often you truly want to say no to something when many people just accept what is offered without evaluating the true cost. You will be more discerning about what comes into your life and therefore what comes out of your life. “
• “People notice what is different from them. You can dye your hair blond, get a tattoo, or wear a cowboy hat in the city to get attention. Or you can stop spending and see how many people take notice. Some will think it an oddity, and some will consider it a challenge to their own spending habits. Either way, you’re setting yourself apart and opening your self up to scrutiny.”
• “…money is a means to an end, not the end itself.”

Why should you consider buying this book if you have a dream of doing extended travel?

Because the first thing I hear from people I speak to is – “You have to be rich to take travel like you do– right?” And it’s normally followed by “How much does it cost?” People’s biggest perceived hurdle to extended travel or career breaks is financial. Now I’ve just given you a way to shatter that perceived financial hurdle and understand how you personally can save money live the life you are dreaming of.

No more excuses.

Buy Dream Save Do today.

Warren and Betsy also collect dreams for others – here’s mine – Be a Solid Gold Dancer.   What’s your dream you want to save for? Please share in the comments!

Picture perfect for a Sunday drive (Pohaiki Road)

The trees look as if they have plotted a slow attack to take over the road. Vines hang down trying to slyly block my way and hinder my vision. The road isn’t straight nor does it have any defined shoulders or boundaries. The asphalt is laid around each tree trunk making the road look like a frayed ribbon blowing in the wind.

The drive around the Puna region of the Big Island is what Sunday drives are made of; curves, views, and solitude all requiring you to slow down and enjoy each minute ticking away in the day.  And yes, rather than playing golf in Hawaii like most tourists, I’d much rather spend my day driving down the open road!

Puna is located on the eastern side of the Big Island nestled between the rainy town of Hilo and the volatile Volcanoes National Park. The region is full of energy, both above and below ground. Above ground are the creative, funky residents of the region; the region is home to the artists and the hippies. Below ground is the rumbling lava flow; the region is in the path of the lava flows when the Volcano Goddess, Pele, decides to get angry.

The town of Pahoa is worth a visit and a stop for lunch, however my real joy is simply driving down the secluded coastal roads (Highway 137 and Pohaiki Road). The views are phenomenal and I hardly see another person or car. I am able to pull over, walk out on the rocky coast, and sit taking it all in with no one around.

This road trip through Puna is peaceful, spiritual, and something not to miss. You can see why below.

All photos are available for purchase, simply click on the image for more information.

A perfect place to sit and take in the view (Hwy 137)

A memorial along the coast. (Hwy 137)

The trees go in every direction, just like the road (Pohaiki Road)

An approaching storms can't even dampen my day! (Hwy137)

A life guard stand along the coast near a thermal pool (Hwy 137)

A tree sticks out among the lava rock (Hwy 137)

Waves crash into the Puna coast (Hwy 137)

Puna - the perfect road trip...yes, I think so! (Pohaiki Road)

For those of you who are golf lovers, this post was sponsored by Arizonagolf.com, where you can find hundreds of discounted Arizona tee times!

Where will you spend your money this season?

Have you checked out Passports with Purpose Travel Blogger fundraising yet? Why the hell not? Let’s look at this logically…

$10 for shopping this holiday season can get you:

• A parking space to shop in Soho, NYC for an hour.
• 2.7 gallons of gas to drive from mall to mall trying to find the new Kindle or Ipad.
• 2 slices of pizza and a coke at the shopping mall food court.
• A 10 minute neck massage at the local mani/pedi shop after carrying all of those bags.
• Sending approximately 4 Holiday Cards via snail mail.
• 2.4 hot apple ciders to quench your shopping thirst.

On the other hand…

$10 for Passports With Purpose this holiday season can get you:

• $500 voucher for a European Apartment stay in your choice of a Rome apartment, Berlin apartment, Barcelona apartment, Paris apartment or Florence apartment
• Kindle Fire worth $200
• 2 night stay at the Four Seasons in Scottsdale, Arizona worth $1400
• 5 night stay on the Big Island of Hawaii worth $1692  – I personally love this one!
• 15 day 1st class Eurail pass worth $1160
• A private Florence Italy Market Tour for 4 worth $665
• 1 year Boingo Internet global account worth $708
• And MANY other great travel prizes!

What are you waiting for – stretch your $10 this holiday, plan your 2012 travels and help build a library in Zambia!

The USS Arizona Memorial

Planes are zooming in, rat-a-tat-tat echoing around me, bombs exploding, smoke everywhere and the footage continues to roll past me in black and white. The Pearl Harbor attack; a day I’ve only read about. As I sit and watch the movie of the attack, which includes old footage and ancient pictures of a horrible day, I turn the tables and wonder what the masses of Japanese tourists are thinking about as they watch this film. I imagine what it would be like for me to visit Hiroshima or Nagasaki memorial.  The lights raise and the audio stops, I shake all of the thoughts from my head. The main point of the whole memorial experience is to honor and show respect; it is better to focus on that.

The grounds of the Pearl Harbor Memorial are impeccable; palm trees, glistening water views, and majestic buildings. I pick up my audio tour and walk around surveying the area. I wait for my turn to take the boat ride out to the harbor to see the USS Arizona memorial.

A plaque shows the pictures from the attack

We all silently shuffle out of the theater and onto the boat manned by Navy crewmen. I wonder what it’s like to work in this somber environment day in and day out; however they seem to be simply focused on their duties and clearly aren’t over-thinking things like I am. The sky is blue and the sun is reflecting off of the water as if it is a spotlight lighting our way to the scene of a crime. The US flag is flapping around the back of the boat as we pull up to the stark white memorial building. Everything seems motionless and calm around me; an overwhelming feeling of stillness comes over me as I walk off the boat, up the stairs, and into the memorial perched above the sunken USS Arizona.

Taking the boat to the memorial

The USS Arizona is the final resting place for many of the ship’s 1,177 crewmen who lost their lives in the surprise attack. The ship sunk so fast that most were not able to escape. Amidst the solemnness of the situation, I am pleased as I walk around the memorial; it’s beautifully architected above the sunken ship with an open-air design allowing visitors to sort of hover above the grave and reflect.

Vistors peer over the sunken USS Arizona

The rusty remains of the USS Arizona near the surface

As I stand here with the sun dancing and glistening on the water, I stick my head out over the railing and peer down; I am emotional. I can see the ship beneath the water surface; it’s rusted and full of aquatic life. It seems I can see, hear, smell, taste and feel the whole day; December 7, 1941. If a monument can evoke the 5 senses then I think it has accomplished its goal.

I walk into the room at the end of the memorial to view the names engraved on the wall and my eyes come to rest upon a surname that matches mine. A distant relative – I have no idea, but I think there must be a connection in some way. I look at everyone else around me, especially the older men and women and wonder what must be going through their minds. I look at the Japanese tourists and wonder what’s going through their minds.

The names of the fallen

Soon I am summoned back onto the boat, my time at the memorial is up and the boat points back to the shore. After we disembark I head directly to the museum; I have a thirst to see more and learn more. The museum puts a human face to the historical day. Everything inside is engrossing. It is filled with news clippings, dramatic photos, maps, artifacts, video interviews with survivors and even President Roosevelt’s speech with his handwritten edits declaring war on December 8, 1941. However, strangely I am drawn to the video interviews with Japanese civilians about what their lives were like during war time. I am transfixed by the stories of different cultures and how people are the same all over the world; reaffirming why I love to travel.

The infamous speech with edits

I stare at the plaque,

“Day of Infamy. December 7, 1941. The roar of aircraft breaks the Sunday morning stillness as Japanese planes sweep across O’ahu. They head toward military airfields and to Pearl Harbor, where sailors prepare to raise the Stars and Stripes. The surprise attack thrusts America into World War II.”

This is the story I hear throughout the afternoon in words, sounds, videos, and papers. It is a somber visit, but one worth taking.

I look at my watch; I’ve been at the park for over 3 hours. I let out a big sigh and decide I’ve seen enough. I’m happy I came here to learn more, see the aftermath, remember the dead, and honor our veterans.

The memorial was beautifully designed

More Information on Pearl Harbor Memorial:
The Memorial is run by the National Park Service and entry to the memorial is free (includes movie and short boat trip to the memorial on the water). Audio Tours are available for a fee and I highly recommend getting one. The audio provides even more information and interviews with survivors; a really moving supplement to the park itself.

Pear Harbor Park Website

The 70th Anniversary of the attack is this week – December 7, 2012 and there are a host of events planned. If you are in the area be sure to check it out -
(http://www.pearlharborevents.com/index.html) The few remaining survivors will also be there. It’s a fleeting opportunity to meet these veterans as time marches on.

Finally the rangers I spoke to told me about a fabulous program for schools that I was excited to share.
If you are a teacher – listen up!!
The Witness To History Video Conference Program provides students and educators, nationally and internationally, with a unique and invaluable distance learning opportunity dedicated to the history of Dec. 7, 1941. Through first hand accounts, artifact examination and expert historical interpretation, the events surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor come alive for students. Veteran survivors and civilians participate in the video conference. What a unique opportunity that will be fading away as the years go by and we lose our Pearl Harbor veterans. Participation is free. For more information contact witnesstohistory@pacifichistoricparks.org or (808) 954-8744

A rainbow appears while I was visiting a honey farm. The beehives sit as the pot of 'honey gold' at the end of the rainbow!

When moisture and sunshine combine in just the right combination, a rainbow occurs. The perfect combination happens more often in Hawaii than any other state and that’s why the state motto is The Rainbow State!

During my 3 weeks in Oahu and the Big Island I saw more rainbows than I’ve ever seen in my whole life! I’d be driving down the road and one would appear. I’d wake up and look out the window and it would be shining back at me. I was waiting for the sun to set and one would appear behind me. I’d be hiking and slowly two would appear around me forming that perfect double rainbow.

Every time it was physically possible I would try to photograph the rainbow sighting and after 3 weeks I came home with a great collection of rainbow photos!

A barely visable double rainbow on the leeward coast of Oahu

A rainbow joined my hike in Volcanoes National Park Big Island

A rainbow at Pearl Habor

My morning wake up call on the Kohala Coast on the Big Island

A rainbow hangs above Honolulu

A rainbow flows into the lava in Volcanoes National Park

Rainbow at high altitude on Mauna Kea Big Island

A rainbow over the Mauna Kea Visitor Center where I was expeting to see stars, not rainbows!

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Life battles forth from the Lava

The radio plays old Van Morison tunes as I sing along in the car with my eyes peeled on the Chain of Craters Road wondering what I will encounter next. Even the radio station on the Big Island has the call letters – LAVA – I let out a little chuckle at the silliness of it all.

However the land in Volcanoes National Park, and specifically the Chain of Craters Road, is no laughing matter. It’s the site of destruction; the product of the volcano goddess Pele and her wrath against Mother Nature. Even though I’m pretty sure they are cousins in the earth’s family tree, these women are in battle.  Each one in their corner of the ring,  and they are ready to rumble!

As I drive my rental car down the Chain of Craters Road I too am in an all out battle; not with Pele, but with Mother Nature. Wind and spitting rain are my nemesis for about ¼ mile and then abruptly I pop out into blue skies for a ½ mile, rejoicing quickly as I enter back into the rainy, gray muck; I’ve never experienced anything like it.

The drive starts near the park visitor center and goes through dense rain forest, steam vents, and old tunnels formed from lava tubes. It didn’t take long to pop out of the rain forest into a barren lava land. I immediately pull the car over to observe this jagged land of lava formations closer. As soon as I open up the car door the wind whistles and howls past me like an angry beast. There is nothing to impede the vicious wind except for a few sad looking trees sparsely taking root. I walk around the lava rock carefully as the sharp edges threaten to poke through my soles of my sandals.

Visitors to the park walk on the jagged lava fields

I continue the decline towards the coast on the two-lane road. I stop every time I see something surreal; which is quite often on this road where surreal seems to be the norm. I sort of feel as if I’m landing among the pages of a Dr. Seuss book as I stop to stare in awe of the bright orange plants surrounding dead tree limbs. It is as if the ground is on fire and the flames are dancing around the trees.

The ground is on fire!

I stop at a pit crater and peer over the edge and notice how the lava seems to take on different forms; sometimes smooth (called Pahoehoe), and sometimes jagged (called A’a). At that moment I hear a deep rumble. Shit – is Pele speaking to me? My instinct immediately tells me to run! I hear it again and realize I have nothing to fear, it’s only my stomach announcing that it would like to eat the sandwich I bought prior to entering the park in the town of Volcano. Yes, the town is actually called Volcano; that town sounds like it’s asking for trouble if you ask me.

A pit crater skirts the road

I drive a little further down the road and I see it, the blue Pacific waters stretch out beneath me. I feel small and insignificant in this battleground of Pele and Mother Nature. But my stomach is calling the shots now so I find a perfect little picnic spot to look over the coast while I am perched on a mound of lava.

A great place for a picnic

My stomach satiated, I continue to drive down the hairpin turns and my ears pop. All of a sudden a lone tree catches my eye. It stands tall and proud among the lava that had engulfed it years ago; it is begging me to take its picture saying look at me – I survived…sort of. Yet I have a sinking feeling that Pele will not stand for that arrogance much longer.

Mother Nature's tree hangs on amidst Pele's Lava

Back in the car I drive further down towards the coast where the lava rock has an almost chocolaty color. It glistens in the sun as if it was a giant pan of chocolate brownies baking in a pan. Maybe this is Pele’s peace offering to Mother Nature. A girl can never resist chocolate!

One giant pan of brownies!

I open up the windows and let the sea breeze enter the car. The air is thick and smells of the ocean. The LAVA rock station is now playing old Jefferson Airplane; life is good. I think to myself they should have a song called Lava is a Battlefield; that would be fitting for this place. Lost in my thoughts, I abruptly hit it – the end of the road. Really, this is where the road ends; not because of the coastline, but because of Pele and her lava. In 1988 lava flow engulfed the road and flowed right into the ocean and ultimately grew the Big Island bit by bit. It’s as if Pele provides sacrificial land to Mother Nature. You can still see the road in spots, which provides an eerie feeling of destruction. I walk onto the mound of lava which goes on for as far as my eyes can see and notice the last sign standing.  The Road Closed sign stands defiantly among the lava depicting the battle of man-made verses nature. It appears to be a standoff.

Pele's lava creeps into Mother natures territory

The road closed sign survived the lava flows - a miracle!

I walk around on the lava formation a bit longer thinking about what it would have been like to be here in 1988 to witness Pele’s spectacle. Then as if Mother Nature can read my mind, she makes her presence known. She provides me a colorful rainbow above Pele’s wrath.

The battle continues on the Big Island.

My drives ends at the rainbow - seriously could this be any more perfect?

Click here to Enter the Passports with Purpose Travel Raffle Fundraiser now!

Puma Nepal's Library thanks to Room to Read and a few book shelves

I walked into the brightly colored room with pillows and cushions strewn across the floor; the setting begs you to grab a book and lie down for a good read. Each wall was painted in a primary color; the little mountainside library was full of energy and fun. My eyes immediately went to the rows of bookcases neatly holding stacks of Nepalese and English books. I picked one up, flipped through some of it and saw the familiar logo on the inside front cover – Room to Read donated the books to this tiny village which I called my ‘Nepal home’. I was proud; proud I was a part of putting together this library in the little village of Puma, Nepal.

After volunteer teaching there a year prior in 2008, I had provided the principle with a financial donation to have the bulky library shelves be transported from Besisahar up to Puma which was perched high on a mountainside. It was such a treat to see that the shelves did actually make it up the mountain and had been filled with books just as we had discussed. The books were from Room To Read; an organization which works in collaboration with communities and local governments in developing countries to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children.

One of my Puma students reading a book

We all frequently read about companies and philanthropic organizations helping out in other countries, but when you can be a part of it, see it with your own eyes, and see the outcome – it takes on a different meaning. It’s one of the most rewarding things about my traveling lifestyle; being able to make a positive impact on a community, family, or person.

We take books for granted. They sit on our shelves, we probably don’t even think about them. They end up in old boxes in an attic, forgotten. But for other countries, books are a commodity in great demand.

Books lead to education, education leads to reducing poverty.

That’s why I was thrilled to hear that Passports with Purpose, the annual travel blogging fundraiser, would be working with Room to Read this year. An organization which I believe in, and I’ve seen in action first hand in Nepal.

Holiday Giving Back

Passports with Purpose raises thousands of dollars each December as they partner with travel bloggers and travel industry leaders to host a large raffle fundraiser; giving away amazing travel prizes for the small price of a $10 raffle ticket. The last few years they raised enough money to build a school in Cambodia and a build a village in India. This year we are raising money to build libraries in Zambia via Room to Read!

 The goal is to raise $80,000 through the travel bloggers who secured prizes from travel businesses. It’s really a wonderful way for the whole online travel industry to work together to improve the world in which we travel and do business.

Why should you care?

You should care because I’ve secured a kick ass travel prize from one of my favorite travel companies I worked with this year. In short, I can make your Europe travels this year cheaper and more rewarding – I guarantee it!

I’ve partnered with the good people of Oh-Barcelona European apartment rentals to provide Passports with Purpose an amazing prize to raffle off:

For a mere $10, you can enter to win a $500 voucher for an apartment stay in Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Florence, or Berlin this year! The voucher will provide you with an approximate 3 night stay for 2 people in one of these historical cities.*

In the words of a used car salesman…”You’d be crazy to pass this up!”

I’m so excited to work with a Oh Barcelona this year to give away such a coveted lodging prize. Why? Because it’s not just any company – it’s a company I used when I traveled in Europe this year. I have met the people there, I love how they do business, and I believe in the many benefits of staying in apartments when traveling.
Apartments for Extended Travel – Namely it’s a way to travel slow and integrate into local neighborhoods equaling a more rewarding travel experience.

So – as you do your holiday spending this coming month, take a moment to think about your future travels and consider helping the future of kids in Zambia. It’s a mere $10, such a small amount to make such a large impact. Hell – you’ll simply spend $10 for parking this holiday season as you shop away with no real impact. So put your $10 to good use this holiday and consider giving to Passports with Purpose and consider it a down payment on your future Europe travels!

A huge thanks to Oh-Barcelona apartments for donating the prize on behalf of Ottsworld. If you are planning travel to Europe this year – you must check them out for your Europe apartment rental! Plus – if you have any plans to travel in Barcelona, then don’t miss their Barcelona Blog – it was my best source of information on what to do in Barcelona beyond the tourist sites!

Click here to Enter the Passports with Purpose Raffle Fundraiser now!

*Prize Details:  Prize includes accommodation up to a maximum value of $500 in the vacation apartment of your choice selected from and booked on one of the following websites: Oh-Barcelona.com, All-Paris-Apartments.com, Oh-Rome.com, All-Berlin-Apartments.com or Oh-Florence.com   
All and any other costs related to the trip including additional cost of accommodation, transport, food etc. are not included in the prize. Bookings can be made up to 30 September 2012, for check-in dates of up to 31 December 2012.

If you won the Oh Barcelona $500 prize, which city would you visit to use your voucher? Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Florence, or Berlin? Share in the comments!

An essential item in Spain

We all know how to look like a tourist; carry a camera, map, wear tennis shoes and white socks. But how to you fit into a culture?  There are a few things I observed about the locals in Barcelona and with these tips, you can fit in too.

Carry a fan.

A woman on the metro fans herself

One of my favorite things about Spain culture is the fact that everyone carries a fan. I used to think those fans were just for show – but not at all. I saw them being used on the subway, in the market, walking down the street, by women, by men, and by all ages. I even bought my own.

Stay in an apartment in a local neighborhood.

A quiet neighborhood is a great place to meet locals

I found that by staying in an apartment in Barcelona it was a great way to learn more about the locals and see how to better fit in. After all, by staying in a local neighborhood instead of a tourist hotel I was forced to get out to the grocery store, meet neighbors, and see the day to day life in Barcelona.

Stay up late.

This culture is all about late nights. People don’t go to eat here until around 10PM, which means on a weekend they go to the bars at midnight and clubs not before 3AM. All ages seem to be out late – kids, grandparents, and of course teenagers. Granted – I don’t think everyone goes clubbing, but they do enjoy the late nights and being outside.

Take a nap.

Siesta in the Sun

The Spanish really do have the right idea – you are never too old for a nap. If you are going to stay up late, then you better make sure you get your siesta from 2 to 5PM. Prior to siesta, everyone goes to the market gets what they need, goes home, makes lunch, and then promptly takes a nap. Granted – not everyone does this, but they should!

Shop with wheels.

Locals don't go anywhere without their wheelie bag!

The sidewalks are littered with bags on wheels. Since Barcelona is traditional European city, there are no real big ‘super-stores’, instead the locals simply walk to their neighborhood market and get what they need on a frequent basis. Since everyone walks, they all pull a little bag with wheels to put all of their shopping purchases in and then wheel them back home. In grocery stores they even have a little ‘parking’ area for these carts so you can store your wheelie bag while you shop.

Eat Small.

Small bites frequently

It’s all about tapas – small bites with wine. I have yet to see many restaurants where you sit down and have a big meal. Instead people tend to eat small amounts and eat frequently.  My neighborhood was full of little tapa restaurants where the locals would sit, eat, drink, and gossip.

When you travel to Barcelona, make sure you wander out of the touristy Las Ramblas and see how the locals live when in Barcelona!

What other suggestions do you have to fit in like a local in Barcelona?  Please share in the comments!

Disclosure: Oh Barcelona Apartments hosted my accommodation in Barcelona. However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

The canopy of the rainforest barely let's in sun

Akaka Falls State Park on the Big Island of Hawaii was the next stop on my Big Island Adventure.  The Hamakua Coast and Hilo were living up to it’s reputation of the rainiest places on earth!   It had been pouring rain all day with no end to the moody, gray clouds – so I decided to go out anyway.  Moody clouds make moody photography.  In addition, I was able to find the one thing on the island that loved all of this rain – the rain forest.

Akaka Falls State Park on the Hamakua Coast is a rain forest with densely packed foliage providing the backdrop for the famous Akaka Falls.  A 442 foot waterfall awaits you as you casually walk through the rain forest on a short .4 mile paved trail.  As you peak out of the rain forest foliage, you will feast your eyes on the falls.  However when I hiked through the forest to the falls, I was greeted by low, white clouds and fog.  I set in for a patient stand off with Mother Nature.  I waited for about 30 minutes for the low clouds to dissapate enough to take some photos of the falls.  There was no need to be in a rush, I wasn’t going to melt and I had plenty to look at and explore in the surrounding rain forest!

How to get there:
Akaka Falls State Park is just a short 20 minute drive north of Hilo, which takes you through the Big Island’s old sugar-cane fields. The road (Route 220) ends at the parking lot for Akaka Falls State Park. Here you will find a paved parking lot and bathrooms.

The mighty waterfall finally showed it's face

Low clouds hover around the valley

Bamboo lined the paved trail

New Life

A Banyon Tree takes over the forest

A colorful plant provides some excitement to my foggy surroundings

Akaka Waterfall

The Ott Thanksgiving 1970. My grandmother (middle) is holding me (I'm the one in yellow). My mother is to her right and my sister and brother are on the far right.

It’s Thanksgiving – time for overeating and reflection.  As I look back on my last five years of travel there are many things to be thankful for – but there is one thing that I feel an overwhelming wave of gratitude for as it is the main reason I can live this life I’m living.

I am thankful for a bed to sleep in every night.

More specifically I’m thankful for those people who provide me, a person without a home, a bed to sleep in every night.

I am homeless. I’m not saying I’m destitute and looking for shelter, but I’m a new kind of homeless. I don’t always know where I will sleep, I don’t have a ‘home base’, I don’t have an address, I don’t know how to answer the frequently asked question, “Where do you live?”. Thanks to my past career, my education, my family, and my friends, I’m a new kind of homeless; the kind that relies upon networking , writing bartering, and past relationships to find places to sleep. I never take a place to sleep for granted…ever.

I earn less than $15,000 a year which is hovering around the poverty line for single Americans, yet I have stayed in luxurious places in Milan, Brussels, London, Prague, New York City, Sri Lanka, Hawaii, Kiev, Valencia, San Francisco, Barcelona, and Vancouver all for free. This weird elite poverty places me in some magnificent places, experiences, and beds – yet I can’t afford to pay to go to a museum, see a movie, or get the cereal I really want at the grocery store.

This elite poverty is certainly a result of my travel writing/blogging, but it’s also due to amazing friendships I’ve cultivated around the world.

I took the time recently to count the number of different ‘beds/locations’ I’ve slept in for 2011 and determined that I’ve slept in 75 different beds. I know – that sort of sounds a bit trampy…but it’s the truth! Sometimes I get to sleep in a bed, but usually it’s an air mattress, a sofa, a sleeping bag, a car, a bunk bed, or sharing a bed. One of my best talents is that I can sleep anywhere with anyone.

A few of my 2011 beds:

My niece's bed

Bed in Prague

I spent a lot of time sleeping in a tent this year!

Boutique hotel in Brussels

Hostel bunkbed

One of my bed's in Sri Lanka

Guesthouse bed

The point of this post though is to recognize the dear people in my life who support me time and time again by providing me with a bed as I travel through the US. If it weren’t for these people I couldn’t survive this crazy lifestyle hovering around the poverty line. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to follow my passions; travel, exploration, and influencing others to reap the benefits of travel.

Let’s start with the obvious ones, family. Family is stuck with you. Yet I don’t know that any of my family thought they’d have to provide me shelter as an adult with a graduate degree. But they graciously have. My brother –in-law and sister-in-law have been quite patient as ‘Sherry the homeless aunt’ comes yet again to visit! A special thanks to my two nieces which have to put up with me when I stay; Lindsey who has been sharing her bottom bunk of her bunk bed with me for the last 5 years and Evie who shares her massive king bed with me when I visit time after time.

Our Ott family photo taken last Thankgsiving!

My friends have also been a key provider of beds for me in New York City and San Francisco. I’m lucky that I have such great friends who continue to put me up when I’m in town. These are all friends who have also traveled with me during these 5 years so they do have a unique insight into my life on the road that others may not have. Lucky for me, they are all busy professionals – they travel a lot for work and pleasure so quite frequently their apartments are empty and I am left with a beautiful apartment to myself in a beautiful city.

David’s apartment is my NYC home base. He gave me a set of keys a few years ago and even his doorman knows me by now. It’s the only keys I carry with me around the world. David allows me to stay on his air mattress in the middle of his living room for a couple of weeks at a time. Sometimes I think I know his neighbors better than he does!

David and I in Croatia

Kathleen and Angie have recently been providing my San Francisco home base. Kathleen has a beautifully decorated apartment that makes me question my decision to sell all of my own apartment stuff every time I set foot into it! She has a spare room with a comfy futon and fast internet – what more could a girl ask for ?!

Kathleen and I doing our USA road trip in 2008

Angie provides me with a great location in Presidio Heights and a comfy air mattress. Yet I’m sad and happy to say that Angie’s location is short-lived as she gets married this winter and moves out of San Francisco.

Angie and I in Australia

And thanks to all of my friends around the world who have supported me and put me up; there are many, many of you.

I will never be able to pay them back for everything they’ve given me. How do you repay someone for helping you gain freedom? For a blogger – you write a post I guess.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?