Globe Corner Blogs

Kilimanjaro--photo by Meghan

I climbed Kilimanjaro in the fall of 2006, taking the Machame route. The Machame route is arguably the most scenic: camera crews having chosen this route for the Kilimanjaro iMax movie. It is also one of the longer routes and one of the more arduous.

The Machame route, however, is not a technical climb and requires no previous mountaineering skills. I will add, though, that some ropes may have proved comforting when faced with the 1,000-foot drop above jagged rocks and the leap requiring lots of faith to get to the other side of the path.  The summit was not as easily reached as I had suspected, based on the large number of tourists who climb it every year. It took seven days of hiking for six to eighteen hours per day. Clouds often obstructed our promised good view, but sometimes I got a rare glimpse of the spectacular scenery as though I was in an airplane taking aerial photographs.

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Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon

“I took to the open road in search of places where change did not mean ruin and where time and men and deeds connected.” And such is the reasoning behind Blue Highways, a travelogue of a man and his van, traveling around the perimeter of the United States solely on backroads, no federal highways allowed. William Least Heat-Moon named his van Ghost Dancing, an homage to the resurrection rituals of Plains Indians–he left home in part for personal reasons. But he also went to see the parts of America few people ever see, except those living there. He wanted to travel from Simplicity, Virginia to Whynot, Mississippi and onward.

Perhaps what he accomplished could not be done today–the trip was taken in the late-70s–but it seems worth a shot. The people Least Heat-Moon met and talked to at length is the meat of the book; his actual travels merely the backbone. He has an uncanny ability to get to the heart of a town and has an insatiable curiosity that gets him deep into the relations of people to each other in the town, the relation of them to the rest of the country, the peoples’ personal philosophies, and often, the story behind the name of the place.

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Playa Zicatela--photo by Lisa

Having endured several cold and harsh winters in Boston, I have begun to understand the appeal of heading south for the winter. After a particularly freezing walk home I booked my ticket to Oaxaca, Mexico. Oaxaca is a beautiful city in the southern part of Mexico and I have always wanted to go there. It is a well known culinary capital and is also home to lots of folk artists. After researching more about the region I decided that I also wanted to go to the coast for a couple of days and Puerto Escondido seemed like the perfect destination to soak up the sun and get away from it all. Puerto Escondido means “hidden port” in Spanish. These days, though, it is becoming more of a destination even though it can be kind of treacherous to get there.

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Let's Go Ireland: On a Budget

I often travel by myself.  Sometimes it is great; I love the freedom and flexibility to do whatever I feel like doing at that particular moment. Sometimes it is not so great, and I become so painfully lonely that I shop just so I can talk to sales clerks. I used to think that I was not the “tour group type,” but lately I have started to take some traditional tours, and not only have I enjoyed them, but I have made lots of good friends. The problem seems to be finding the right tour group.

Recently a friend told me about a group of backpackers who organize trips to Europe that are based in the North End of Boston. There was also a great article about them in the Boston Globe today (Local Backpackers Flock Together). Since I just found out about them, I haven’t actually participated in a tour. However, I am glad that they are on my radar for future trips.

As a side note, the new 2009 Let’s Gos have arrived. They are a longtime budget traveler favorite. New titles include: Britain, Europe, France, Italy, Spain & Portugal with Morocco, Western Europe, Australia, Buenos Aires, Costa Rica, Germany, Hawaii, New York, Paris, and Thailand.

Women Travelers by Christel Mouchard

I have only had one “major” problem while traveling by myself. This happened way back in 1998, when I was working as a teacher in Romania. During my two week Easter vacation my sister and I went on a “sister-bonding” trip through Scandinavia. After dumping her off at the airport, I just wanted to get home and relax. Against my better judgment and multiple warnings from my surprisingly travel-savvy 5th graders to “NEVER EVER TAKE THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM BUDAPEST TO TIMISOARA!!!” I decided to go ahead and take the dreaded night train to Romania. The whole thing was a disaster. Once I got to the train station I was unable to buy a ticket for the “Romanian” portion of my trip, due to local bureaucratic peculiarities that were (and still are) baffling to me. I finally decided that I was going to take a chance and try to buy a ticket from the conductor once I crossed that border, and started to settle into my compartment. While stashing my luggage in the overhead compartment, I was suddenly relieved of my purse by a charming Hungarian petty thief. I channeled my inner Powerpuff Girl, chased the guy down, grabbed my purse back, screamed Romanian obscenities that made no sense whatsoever coming from a girl, momentarily incapacitated him, and made my way back down the corridor to a chorus of “bravos” from all of the Hungarian men that witnessed the event, but didn’t bother to help me. As I sunk into my seat, a large majority of these men surrounded me, pinched my cheeks, told me to be careful, asked why I wasn’t married, and persistently tried to sell me their watches.

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