How Travel Unclutters the Mind and Enriches the Spirit

The rewards of travel are greater than simply seeing a new place.

For the duration of a vacation, your possessions are reduced to the contents of your suitcase.You don’t need all that crap in your basement, attic or storage space. You don't need shoes in every color and maybe, just maybe, you will feel the lightness that comes with owning less.

You may be carrying baggage in the physical sense on vacation, but your metaphysical baggage is lifted.

For the duration of a vacation, the nagging pressures of everyday life evaporate. You don't fret about house repairs, repainting, paying bills, or getting along with your boss. You don’t worry that you aren’t keeping up with life's demands and how the bathroom is never quite clean.

For the duration of a vacation, life is no longer about going to work, lunchtime errands, traffic jams, and second-shift chores once home.

When traveling, you fall into discovery mode. Your mind is free to focus on where you are. Live in real time where there is little stress. Soak in the joy of awe-inspiring scenery, the profundity of historical places, the flavors of new cuisines and okay, great new places to shop.
For the duration of a vacation, everything is here and now. You shift effortlessly into mindfulness.

My last vacation seems longer ago than it really was, and my next one seems far in the future. But I am planning . . . Italy? South Africa? London? Germany?

San Francisco Travel Journal

In April, Gene and I took a trip down California's Highway 1. We started with 36 hours in San Francisco and packed as much as we could into that short span.
We climbed Telegraph Hill, traipsed up and down Columbus Avenue, shopped at City Lights Bookstore and hung out on Haight Street.
Read my account of that lightning trip to San Francisco.

Bolivia: Pizza in the Andes

I am a fan of pizza: New York slices, cheesy Wisconsin thin crust, Chicago deep dish, you name it.
Would I go to the ends of the earth for it? My friend Bryan Myers, world traveler and news producer, did.
He and his crew sampled Bolivian spicy llama pizza high in the Bolivian Andes. I'll pass on the llama topping myself, but Bryan's experience at the highest pizza joint in the world proves the ubiquitous nature and infinite varieties of The Pizza.

Traveling in Italy: Do's and Don'ts

I recently got this list of Do's and Don'ts for travel in Italy from my friend Bryan Myers who works for a news program broadcast on public television. Many of the people who work on his program are foreign nationals, and each were recently asked to prepare such a list for their home countries. The one written by a staff member from Italy was one of the best:

1. Italian families and friends usually kiss when they meet, irrespective of their sex. There are usually two kisses - first on the right cheek, then on the left. When greeting a person you don't know, stick to a firm handshake.

2. It is usually forbidden to enter a church if you don't have your upper arms and legs appropriately covered by clothes. Men should wear long pants; for women, a skirt within a couple of inches of the knee is acceptable. You may be asked to leave the church if you are wearing a sleeveless shirt or short pants. Locals often complain about tourists breaking this rule.

3. In a formal conversation, when talking to someone holding a university degree (any degree), you should address the person with the title of "Doctor," not "Mr." or "Ms."

4. Like in many languages, in Italian there are two distinct ways of addressing people; one familiar, used with friends and relatives ("tu"), and one formal used with strangers ("lei"). It's considered very impolite (even aggressive) to address people you jut met with the familiar "tu."

6. When eating, it's very rude to put a piece of bread on your plate. Leave it on the table beside the plate. Bread is not considered a part of the meal, but rather more like salt and pepper. This is why restaurants do not charge for bread. Also remember to break the bread with your hands and not with a knife.

7. When eating at a restaurant, asking for the check immediately after finishing a meal is generally seen as rude. Take the time to relax and exchange a few more words with the other people at the table.

8. After entering one's home, it's impolite to take your coat off is you're not invited to do so. Ask first.

9. Putting one's bag or purse on the floor is considered bad luck; you should hang it somewhere or put it on a chair.

10. Flowers should be offered in odd numbers only.

The Berlin Wall: A Reminder in Battery Park City

This piece of the Berlin Wall sits outside my apartment building in Battery Park City in lower Manhattan.
The plaque reads:
"In November 2004, the 15th Anniversary of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the city of Berlin donated this piece of the Wall to Battery Park City. These segments were originally located in downtown Berlin in the area between Potsdamer Platz and Leipziger Platz. They were not exposed to the West ("Outer Wall"), but part of the Inner Wall that was designed to prevent East Germans from entering the heavily guarded death strip between the Inner and the Outer Wall."

Since I moved in a year after the donation, I had no idea where the cement slab came from. I walked by this piece of history a few times wondering if the painting depicted a chicken or a sexy snake. Eventually, I was curious enough to read the plaque. Sometimes a chunk of cement is more than just a chunk of cement.

Go To Arizona for Top Hotel Spas

I found a list of Travel & Leisure's Top 25 Hotel Spas in the continental US and Canada, as I browsed their October issue--just noting what cool places I will not be going to in the foreseeable future. Why did they include Canada in the parameters when no Canadian hotel spa made the list? To rub it in? (a little spa joke)
Hard to miss that five of the 25 hotel spas are in Arizona--four in Scottsdale and one in Phoenix:

Fairmont Scottsdale
The Phoenician
Camelback Inn
Desert Ridge Resort & Spa
Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North

(Don't let the names fool you. the Phoenician is in Scottsdale and it's the Desert Ridge Resort that is in Phoenix.) Arizona has 20% of the best hotel spas on 3% of the United States land area. Why haven't I been there yet?!
The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin ranks #5. Wisconsin's pride and joy, you may only know the name Kohler because it is etched into your bathroom fixtures. I know Kohler because their Sunday brunch is etched in my brain.
Don't we all deserve a spa weekend?

Jane Goodall's Chimpanzees

A Day in the Life: Chimpanzees at Tchimpounga Sanctuary from The Jane Goodall Institute on Vimeo.