Mara is a travel-loving mum for whom parenthood has done nothing to stop her passion for travel. Her blog is an inspiring read for parents who want to impart a love of travel to their children.

Photo taken in Sibenik, Croatia by Laura R..

Less than one week into a nearly six-month stint in Brussels and I had already racked up my first travel mishap. Heading out to an Internet café for a scheduled online chat session, I was so sure of my route until I came up against a dead end with no sign of the correct street. Only then did I realize that I had walked a good 20 minutes in the wrong direction. I dejectedly backtracked, arriving at the café 30 minutes late only to discover it was closed.

While frustrating and a bit demoralizing, my story is nothing compared with the travel disasters most of us will accumulate in our lives on the go. But it still highlights that no matter how much you travel, no matter how experienced you think you are, stuff happens. I blogged about this topic – travel disasters – last year, insisting that things that go wrong, while maddening at the time, actually become our best travel stories.

True, travel disasters are often the funniest, most entertaining stories, but only to certain people. Namely, people who don’t travel.

But do they?

I’m starting to think it’s more nuanced than that. True, travel disasters are often the funniest, most entertaining stories, but only to certain people. Namely, people who don’t travel.

Think about it: every traveler knows what it feels like to go home after a big trip. You get the inevitable questions of “what was it like?” “what did you see?” Questions that are impossible to answer. Summing up an emotional, inspiring, life-changing voyage into “It was great” leaves you feeling empty somehow. And if you really try to get into those more profound details, you can be sure the eyes of those listening will slowly begin to glaze over. They just don’t get it. However, tell them about the time you missed your flight, lost your passport and were accosted by local security guards in a language you don’t understand – all in the same day – and you’ll no doubt have their attention. Everyone can relate to a tragedy.

People who travel like to hear the good stuff. They appreciate the value of making friends with the locals. They know the feeling you get when you first gaze upon a truly magnificent work of art you had previously only seen in school books. They understand the existential quality of a quiet day spent sipping strong coffee and cheap (but good) red wine at a French café. And they identify with your burning desire to get back out there, see more sights, experience more perspective-altering, character-building, only-while-traveling moments.

Yes, everyone can relate to a tragedy, but it takes a fellow traveler to ask “what was it like?” “what did you see?” and truly mean it.

Coming home. Photo taken by Marlis Seelos.

How has the economy affected your travels in 2009?

That’s the question I put to the internet’s finest travel bloggers last week. For some, the economic crisis put trips on hold, while for others it seems to have had no impact whatsoever. Whatever the case, their responses show one thing: if you’re passionate about travel, you can pretty much always find a way to indulge that passion.

Credit should go to Debby Lee of Tea, Sugar, a Dream for suggesting this discussion topic. Thanks Debby!

Ara Sarafian from The Life Less Travelled

As a long-term traveler the economy has affected me quite a lot. Seventeen months ago, before starting my current trip, I had saved enough money so that I could in part travel with the bank interest. At the time the interest rate was over 8% in Australia, but then it suddenly crashed below 3%, meaning I was receiving less than half of what I had before. So I had to seriously re-think my expenditure.

Luckily I was in South America – where things are relatively cheaper anyway – but I planned my route so that I would move toward cheaper countries. But I still had to budget a lot harder and stricter.

Things which help include: eating where the locals eat; cooking for myself; Couchsurfing; avoiding hostels and restaurants recommended in guide books (their prices always rocket after such exposure);travelling by bus; and camping and hitchhiking (if you’re confident to do so).

But a big, over-looked money-saver is: traveling during low season. Hostels are cheaper, bus companies have special offers, and you have a better chance of negotiating discounts and bargains in tourist areas. Remember, an economic crisis means less tourists and therefore businesses dependant on tourism suffer also.

Matt Kepnes from Nomadic Matt

The economy hasnt effected my travels at all. In fact, I wouldn’t know there was a problem if you didn’t tell me. I don’t have a job really tied to the “real world.”  While some of my advertising revenue is down, the internet is still pretty well insulated from the overall crash because people continue to use it more and more to find travel information.  Additionally, I save good so, even if my income dips, my travels don’t have too!

The economy affected my travels by teaching me that money never really mattered.

Daniel Roy from The Backpack Foodie

Like everyone else’s savings, mine took a hit in October 2009. I stared at my 401K, sitting there in the bank waiting for me to grow old. I quit my 6-figure job, sold everything, and took my life on the road to my dreams.

Here I am: jobless, homeless, and happier that I’ve ever been. The economy affected my travels by teaching me that money never really mattered.

Eileen Smith from Bearshapedsphere

Since I’m an expat, I see the crisis up close but from a different angle. Traveling is already a luxury activity in Chile, and has been for years (maybe always), so my occasional jaunts to the northern hemisphere have generally seemed peculiar and decadent to many people I know. This has not changed, and neither has the fact that I don’t talk much about those trips, except to people who ask directly.

But in terms of pleasure travel, I find myself scaling back a bit, choosing local spots over things further afield, jealously guarding my frequent flier miles and trying to take advantage of incentives that local and international airlines are spinning. In truth, it’s not a bad thing, as there’s a ton of interesting stuff right outside my door, and I’ve never really given it its due to begin with.

What I do notice now that I’m staying closer to home is that the number of travelers coming to this area continues to rise, including recent grads who have been excluded from the job market in the north, so they’re down here weathering the storm, traveling or expatting. It’s been this way for about a year already, and I expect we’ll continue to see this trend.

Nancy Sathre-Vogel from Family on Bikes

Today’s tough economy has certainly added a whole lot of stress to our journey!  Although we made the decision to not call off our trip, we are doing what we can to keep expenses down.

When we initially made the decision to ride our bikes from one end of the earth to the other, we figured the interest from our savings and the rent from our house would cover expenses.  However, with interest rates approaching negatives, and rental rates the lowest they’ve been in decades, that hasn’t happened.  We made the decision to keep going and dig into the principal on our retirement account.

In order to reduce expenses, we are staying in lower-budget hotels than we normally would and are cutting out big-ticket items like visiting the Galapagos Islands.  Although we would love to take our children to the islands, we simply can’t afford it right now.  They will have to learn everything from other activities!

More information:

• Finances for Travelers
• Extended family travel in tough economic times
• How to afford an extended family vacation
• Family travel: A life-changing event

Ant Stone from Trail of Ants

I’m in the throes of travelling; the big plan was to arrive in Wellington, throw down the backpack and absorb some of the real world. I have a 23-month working holiday visa and a shiny CV. So, how has the economy affected my travels?
 
For a start there are very few jobs available in New Zealand. Secondly, the successful applicants for those very few jobs are quite rightly resident Kiwis. I’ve never been asked so many times what kind of visa I have, or how long until it expires. We’re just coming over the brow of the Global Financial Crisis — or whatever we’re calling it these days — and companies are looking to invest in their long-term, and hiring a quick-buck backpacker won’t do them any good.
 
I’ve tried my knowledge bases in publishing houses, plus a host of charities, retail, bars, cafes, museums and galleries. I managed to land one job – volunteering for a retail chain that supports the Fair Trade ethos. The situation wasn’t quite as bad in Australia, but unfortunately I’m locked out, having used up my once-in-a-lifetime Australian WHV. Perhaps for me to fund my travels — I’ll have to look back towards England: the homeland I thought I’d traded in.

Jon Brandt from Travel Guy

Now that I’m based out of Buenos Aires, I’ve been traveling less while I get to know this area. However, I am working for a travel agency, and it’s obvious all around that tourism is down in the last year. While people are hopeful that it will turn around, that has yet to be seen. The true test will be this summer (December-March) as a traditional peak season begins.

About a month ago I was at the San Telmo fair, a big spot for tourists where you can buy antiques and other things. It was still winter, but it was a beautiful day, yet the streets weren’t that crowded. Going back there last Sunday, it was another great day and the streets were loaded, so much so that it was hard to get through the crowds. That in itself is a good sign that things are picking up again.

For me though, it’s all about opportunities and how much money I have at my disposal. Generally a frugal traveler, I’m always watching what I spend no matter what. Now the question is time. Working a full time job here, I just don’t have the option to take off for a few days and see another region, though I do have plans to visit Patagonia in January for a vacation. That, however, will be a trip not taken on my expenses.

Homeless man. Photo taken by Marlis Seelos.

Richard Stupart from Cape to Cairo

I think that while the dedicated RTW and rough-travelling crowd are sufficiently set on their plans that, even if the state of the economy means deferring them for a bit, they will continue on their journeys in due course. I think that if you are willing to travel a bit rougher than you were intending to before, then your traveling aspirations can still be pursued, albeit slightly off the beaten path (and isn’t that, after all, where many of the most interesting adventures lurk?). Realizing that for longer trip it is often possible to exchange flight costs for taking a train or a bus at a more relaxed pace between countries can not only cut your costs but make for a much richer journey. Less cash to burn on traveling may also mean deferring buying that nicer camera or new laptop, or trying to find shortcuts to saving on travel insurance and other unavoidable expenses. While it makes you travel smarter, it need not keep you from traveling.

For long-term travelers, prior savings that seemed sufficient are now scary in light of the looming possibility of unemployment upon return.

Andy Jarosz from 501 Places

2009 and the economic crash has been a year of opportunity for me. My job came to a natural end at the start of the year, and I took the plunge to set up my own writing business. Travels have not been affected, and in fact I no longer have the restrction of annual leave allowance. This has allowed us to take 4 weeks in December to visit Laos and Cambodia, a trip that would otherwise have been a 2 week rush. If work comes in while I’m away, a wi-fi connection and a couple of hours of work on an evening might pay for a few hotel nights!
 
Jodi Ettenberg from Legal Nomads

There’s no question that the current state of the economy affects most travelers, including myself. For long-term travelers, prior savings that seemed sufficient are now scary in light of the looming possibility of unemployment upon return.  And the many friends I have who were considering a round-the-world trip have either put off travelling for now because they don’t want to risk quitting work when they actually have a job, or because they are too skittish about leaving so open-endedly when the economy is a bit of a disaster.

I’ve been travelling for close to 18 months now, on and off. There is no question that I have started to watch where my every Baht or Ringgit goes, even if it means walking a few blocks to get the same food just a bit cheaper.  I’ve also crossed off Europe and a return to Australia or NZ from my list, since those destinations are much more expensive. That’s not to say I’m truly penny-pinching:  travels through SEA, India, Nepal and China can be done very cheaply, while remaining extremely fulfilling. Some tips: eat as much street food as possible (it’s usually more fresh and definitely tastier than tourist restaurants) or use the kitchen if you’re at a hostel and cook, try CouchSurfing out for size, take overnight buses and trains to save on lodging costs, and try and take advantage of student discounts where you can (and if you are not a student, you can buy a student card on Khao San Rd in Bangkok – but you didn’t hear it from me!).

Linda Martin from Indie Travel Podcast

I don’t think the economy has affected my travels at all. I planned my travel schedule before the recession really hit, and have stuck to it. That said, though, I planned to do very little travel! We’ve just returned from three years of full-time travel and have been spending some time at home.

Lower income this year has meant we’ve had to scale back some of our plans for next year though – we’re still going to travel as much, but on a smaller budget. We’ll be using our friend network and be doing a lot of couchsurfing!

Debby Lee from Tea, Sugar, a Dream

I chose to travel locally this year, instead of abroad. Part of this decision was economical. While I already am a budget traveler when I journey anywhere, the two trips I took this year were definitely inexpensive – a backpacking trip within my own state, Washington, and an exploration of nearby Alaska.

But there were other financial reasons for these travel choices, because luckily the economy has affected me in a positive way. Not only am I fortunate enough to still have my job, but also because of lower housing prices, lower interest rates, and the first-time home-buyers credit, my Love and I were able to buy a house this year. For the first time in a long time, I now truly enjoy staying at home!

Therefore, my local travels not only allowed me to have extra money for our new home, but I have been able to spend more time at home as well. But, my travels this year were not any less fantastic than any travels that I have had abroad. In fact, they were both spectacular trips, filled with adventure and fun.

There is something wonderful to be said for both traveling abroad, and for staying near home!

To make my holiday pounds go further, I’ve readjusted my sites to include more local destinations.

Dave from The Longest Way Home

Since the “Economic Collapse” I’ve heard budget guesthouses in Asia say there are less people around. But, at the same time many places are booked out. I think a lot of people who have already budgeted for 2009 travel went traveling as planned. 2010 may be more interesting in that regard.
 
I’ve been traveling around the world for 5 years on a budget and I’ve not noticed prices going up. But I have noticed a few more places closing down. This makes for a more competitive market; however it means the consumers power of bartering is slowly slipping away.
 
Mass tours seem to be becoming more popular for popular day trips as well. And even though I don’t like them, they are becoming cheaper in some places than independent travel.
 
I’ve also seen more cheap flight style guesthouse pop up and take over smaller hostels. Check yourself in, basic amenities and less staff on hand. They also carry brand name security, you know what you are getting.  
 
If you’ve not been effected by a job loss etc, and can plan and budget yourself properly, these are the only differences I’ve come across.

Greg Wesson from Greg Wesson’s Esoteric Globe

When I first moved to the UK from Canada last year, I figured I would be doing a lot of weekend “city breaks” (as they call them over here) to places in Europe.  Originally when I was envisioning these weekend city breaks, I pictured myself jetting off to exotic locations in Europe like Riga, Copenhagen or Bratislava. Thanks to the “credit crunch” (as the alliteration-obsessed British press call the recession), the British Pound is in a sad state compared to the Euro.  To make my holiday pounds go further, I’ve readjusted my sites to include more local destinations.  Instead of jetting off to foreign locales, I’ve spent weekends visiting places like Cardiff, Dover, Brighton and Liverpool, and taking day trips from London on other weekends and getting out and exploring London when I’m at home.  

Actually, I’m glad the pound’s poor performance has forced me to stay within the UK borders.  It has given me an opportunity to get out and see the country in which I have chosen to live, and become a little more familiar with more of the people and places in the UK.  I still want to visit Riga, Copenhagen and Bratislava, but it is nice that the recession is forcing me to ensure that I am not neglecting my adopted country and my new home.

Steve James from Overland Tales and Free Wifi Guru

The downturn in the economy has certainly affected my travel habits – but not in the way you might expect!  In response to the tougher market, the European budget airline RyanAir has been aggressively marketing “bargain” flights on a regular basis, with differing promotions offering fares at £5, £1 and even as low as 1p from my home airport.  The trick is that there are cunning additional fees for checking luggage, paying by credit card and forgetting to check in online; these extras bump up the cost for most punters who’ve been lured in by the promotion – but not me!  As a budget traveller who sets off with just a 40 litre carry-on pack, pays with a Visa Electron card and checks in online, I’ve been able to book up a wealth of cheap flights.  For less than £30 total I’ve been to Eindhoven, Riga and Bratislava this year so far, and have further flights booked to Budapest and Milan for the princely sum of £10 total.  So curiously the recession has seen me travel more, making a flurry of week-long trips into Europe that I wouldn’t have otherwise made.

Tammie Dooley from Solo Road Trip

The economic downturn has affected my travel, as in a 15-day trip to Spain/Morocco canceled just days prior to an October 8th departure.  It was the prudent thing to do. The be-a-good-steward with your money thing to do. Responsible. Grown-up.  It sucked.
 
Similar to justifying the purchase of something simply because it’s “on sale”, it’s the absolute cost of the outlay that drove our decision. $5,000 on sale, is still $5,000 out of your pocket. It wasn’t a matter of taking the trip for less or going to a less expensive destination for a shorter length of time. It was the simple outlay of cash we chose to not make, regardless the amount. 
 
What did we do to alleviate the 1) disappointment and 2) the stress associated with too much work and not enough play this year?  My husband called restaurants all over town and found one serving paella and gazpacho.  We dined there and drank plenty of sherry and Anis liqueur to drown our sorrows.
 
Then I chose to bring life to the Spain/Morocco trip by starting a new series on my blog for those of us forced to travel in our robes and slippers – The Fuzzy Slipper Travel Chronicles.  A trip to the downtown library netted a stack of picture books on Spain and Morocco and we’ve flipped through those every night of what would have been the trip.  And enjoyed the fall weather and the sherry we’ve learned to love.

True Nomads is a reflective, almost philosophical travel blog written by Cooper and his wife Jill, a couple who rest in Saipan and live on the road.

Alison quit corporate America for a life on the road. Along for the ride is Max, her dog and companion as she travels around the USA writing and taking photographs.

In November, Richard Stupart is setting off on an overland adventure from Cape Town to Cairo with a twist: he’ll only travel by public transport.

Miss Travel Girl is the blog of Rachel, a sufferer of a syndrome that causes both slow progression of blindness and deafness. She is travelling the world to appreciate as much as possible while she still has usable vision.

Playing cricket on the streets of the Benares-Varanasi ghats. Photo by Luis Dafos.

Your camera equipment was stolen in Portugal. A clumsy bauble above the Seine left the river owning the digital SLR. You own no camera equipment, but there’s something you really want to photograph on your upcoming trip. Lots of scenarios could result in a disposable/single use film camera landing in your hands. The good news is great photos (even artistic photos) can be achieved with the simple equipment.

A whole new world opens up to the holder of a disposable camera.

My personal experience has shown there to be an advantage to carrying a disposable camera (my secret weapon is out!) – everyone thinks you’re a tourist with no serious photographic intent. This translates to an ability to capture moments that wielding more serious camera equipment can make difficult. A whole new world opens up to the holder of a disposable camera.

Disposable film cameras come in several ISO choices – 100 to 800, but at most convenience type stores (and even vending machines in Japan), you’ll be hard pressed to find anything other than 400 and 800, with 800 being prevalent. A flash is optional (and recommended). Various manufacturers make them today in a few “versions” – wedding, sport (waterproof up to 50 ft.), panoramic, and one with a zoom function, albeit a weak zoom function. Chances are if you’re purchasing one on the road, your choices will be limited to the most basic.

Despite the simplicity a point and shoot, fixed focus camera connotes, to get photographs you’ll be proud of, MORE work and creative thought is required – not less. Understand the camera’s limitations. They typically focus anywhere from 4-5 feet to infinity, and for the flash to be of use, you’ll need to be within 10-12 feet of the subject. Work within these restrictions though and magic can happen. And remember, the camera has nothing to do with how you see the world. Look for new perspectives and the single use camera will become your photographic friend.

Before we get into the tips, here’s something else to consider where disposables are concerned: kids LOVE them. Put one into the hands of each child and prepare to be amazed!

While ALL the basic photography rules apply, there are a few things in addition to the basics that will give your photos from a disposable camera some WOW power.

Disposable Camera Pointers:

• Search for reflection. Reflection can be created from water, mirror or glass, the cone of an airplane, a pair of reflective sunglasses, or a rear view/side mirror. Use it for an artistic slant on common scenes.
• Panning the disposable camera can yield photographs with a bit of movement to them. It takes practice to know how quickly to bring the camera from side to side while you click the shutter, but it’s worth experimenting.
• Try using the headlights of a vehicle, or a flashlight to light your subject matter.
• Tilt the camera to capture scenes with a twist to the perspective.
• Take a picture of part/half of something. It’s a technique I’ve experimented with on occasion, and while it works best with close subject matters, it can yield a very interesting photograph.
• Assuming you sprung for the flash, use it! Backlit photographs, especially of people, benefit greatly from using the flash. Overall, don’t be afraid of using the flash. Unexpected effects will often be the result.
• Don’t be afraid of haze, fog, steam, or any condition that to the bare eye seems out of focus. Tack sharp is overrated.

Basic Photography Tips:

• LIGHT….is the only thing you are photographing, so make it your prime consideration. Where is the light? How is it falling on your subject? What color is it? How hard is the light?
• Everyone sees the world at…eye level. For your photos to stand out, find ways to shoot at anything but eye level. Stand on something, or get lower, even to the point of lying on the ground.
• Get off the beaten path, like the star ship Enterprise; BOLDLY GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE.
• Don’t be afraid. Don’t be timid. Never fear to ask anyone to do anything that will make a better picture; the worst they can do is say no, or maybe HELL NO.
• Tune in to the time and place. In the same sense that you can never swim in the same river twice, you can never shoot the same photo twice; the river of light is at a continuous ebb and flow. Let that moment speak to you, and then use your camera to take that message to the rest of the world.
• Shoot with/from your heart.
• If it’s not interesting, you’re not close enough.
• Don’t put the object of interest in the middle, a rule commonly called the Rule of Thirds. Offset the focal point.
• Look for symmetry of objects or a repeating theme.
• Walk all the way around something (if you can) to check out the various perspectives. You’ll be surprised at how the “backside” of things appears.

If you’re still convinced travel photography can’t be pursued with a disposable camera, shoot with one for 2-3 weeks at home. Sometimes it’s the simple exercise of carrying the camera around and tripping the shutter that overcomes our hang-ups.

P.S. It’s photography – have FUN!

Zhiqiang and Tingyi are a couple of travel addicts from Singapore writing about their home town and their travel experiences abroad.

Jumping red howler monkey. Photo by monkeyboy1.

I could tell it was time to move on. Eight years I had spent working for the same company. It had been good for both me and them, but times were changing. My boss and mentor had been let go, and the business focus of my department was shifting away from my core skill set. I needed to find something new to do.

This is the position I found myself in during the first few months of 2008. I thought about what I wanted to do next, and came up with a number of options, including moving to another division, moving to another company, starting a new career, starting my own business or going back to school. I spent a month musing on my next move. One idea kept coming forward, getting stronger and stronger as the month progressed. In March, about two weeks before I finally made a final decision on what I would do, I decided to create a list of the options and my thoughts on what I should do next. For one of the options, I wrote the following:

I am part of a community of migrants across the globe, searching out situations where they are strangers in strange lands, all so they can feel at home.

Option: Quit job and move to London.
Analysis: Least sensible option, but for some reason this feels important to do.

That’s exactly what I ended up doing. I moved to London without a job, a place to live or any friends, and I’ve spent the last year sometimes struggling and sometimes thriving as I found a job, made some friends and started to understand English culture. People would sometimes ask me why I did moved from Canada, and I would mumble something about “wanting international work experience” or “hoping to miss the recession by moving abroad,” but the truth was I couldn’t really explain the reason why I did it.

I had moved abroad because I felt like it was what I had to do.

Searching for an Explanation

It has always bothered me somewhat that I haven’t had a better explanation to offer of why I moved abroad. Not for others, but for my own sanity. I have always been a very logical, rational person and have always liked to believe that I am in control of my actions. So faced with the realisation that I did something simply because it “felt right” without any logical or rational explanation had bothered me.

Recently, while surfing the internet for expatriate resources, I came across the definition of “existential migration,” and on reading about it, some of that fuzziness about why I picked up and moved started to clear.

Existential migration is “conceived as a chosen attempt to express something fundamental about existence by leaving one’s homeland and becoming a foreigner.”

According to Dr. Greg Madison, the Canada-born, England-based psychotherapist and counselling psychologist who coined the term, existential migration is “conceived as a chosen attempt to express something fundamental about existence by leaving one’s homeland and becoming a foreigner.” It is different from “economic migration, simple wanderlust, exile, or variations of forced migration” in that it is a chosen move, not driven by economic or political needs.

In developing his theory, Madison held intensive interview sessions with a number of voluntary migrants. These voluntary migrants all, to some degree, said that they felt like they couldn’t have stayed in their home country. They had to go. There was something in them that made them pack up and go. This urge to move was not a result of external compulsion, but due to some internal and unclear motivation. It wasn’t motivated by economic goals like increased standard of living or career advancement. In fact, Madison found that those moving internationally often ended up with a lower standard of living once settled abroad.

Rather, it was a need to live a life that was “self-directed.” By choosing to leave, the migrant has taken control of their life, forcing them to consciously work at daily life, and preventing any slippage into unconscious habit.

For these people, being in a foreign place brings a sense of comfort that they don’t get being at home. For many of them, they always felt like outsiders back in their home towns. Living abroad, they are actually outsiders. By matching their external surroundings to their internal feelings, it allows them to be comfortable with their feelings of being outside. Living abroad allows them to still feel out of place, but at the same time “at home” with that feeling. Being a foreigner allows them to feel as if they both belong and also maintain distance and independence.

The existential migrant – a term which Madison uses reluctantly, as he views existential migration as a process through which people go through, not a persistent condition or pathology to be diagnosed or cured – is a stranger in a strange land. However, they felt like strangers at home, so being a stranger is a “normal” feeling for them. Being abroad brings their external environment into line with their internal feelings.

Madison’s research covers these topics and a number of other topics, including definitions of home, family relationships and the dreaded question “can I ever go home again?” Madison examines the concept of existential migration in varying depths in works available from his website, from a short article to a research paper to a full blown, 70,000 word manuscript called The End of Belonging, currently available for free download. Within the manuscript, in addition to more scholarly works of psychology, Madison mentions some biographies of migrants like Eva Hoffman’s Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language and Pico Iyer’s The Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home where the authors exhibit some traits of the existential migrant.

Understanding Myself as an Existential Migrant

Reading the material gathered by Madison, and in particular some of the quotes that he had from those who participated in the research, I could certainly see parts of myself in what they were saying. The inexplicable draw to move and the belief that somehow I couldn’t quite live my life the way I wanted back home were feelings that I shared with those in the study, as well as the feeling of being “at home” as the foreigner.

I remember working in Paris back in 2005, a one day journeying with a Muslim co-worker to visit The Great Mosque of Paris. As my friend went in to pray, I wandered around the building, listening to the local Parisian Muslims speaking to each other in French. I remember thinking at that moment how comfortable I was, even though I was about as foreign as I could have been, speaking neither the language nor being part of the religion. I have visited Mosques in Canada, but never felt the same way. In Canada, I always felt like an intruder – I was the “majority” intruding into the space of the “minority.” That visit in Paris, I felt comfortable. As a foreigner, I was an outsider, even though in reality those in the Mosques in Canada and France probably didn’t view my presence there any differently.

Madison’s works have helped me recognize some of the subconscious feelings that I have had over the past few years, and this recognition has allowed me to consciously dissect these feelings. I am able to recognize times when certain “existential” desires like immersing myself in the unfamiliar or the need to jolt myself out of any habitually or mundane behaviours have impacted my decisions.

Reading the work has also helped calm a nagging feeling I have had since moving to London, that perhaps I didn’t go “far enough.” Since arriving, part of me has felt that in choosing to live in London, a place where most of the people look like me and speak my language, I haven’t really fully immersed myself into the foreign. Understanding that what I might be going through is a process, rather than a destination has allowed me to take a much longer view of my journey. London is a step, but the future holds more steps. London is right for now, being here is heading my journey in the right direction, but the journey is far from over.

What Madison’s work doesn’t explain, and perhaps never will be able to explain, is why I and the others he interviewed feel this compulsion to leave and live in the unfamiliar and unknown. Unlike those quoted in the research that Madison undertook, I didn’t feel like an outsider in my homeland. I had friends and was popular throughout my life in Canada, and got along well with my family. Yet, I still felt the desire to leave. I may be able to recognise and logically discuss the existential urges that have driven my migration, but I am no closer to being able to explain why the urges grip me.

I do take some comfort in the knowledge that others out there feel similar urges, though. I don’t know that I am closer to being able to explain my reasoning to my friends, but at least I know I am not alone in what I was feeling. I am part of a community of migrants across the globe, searching out situations where they are strangers in strange lands, all so they can feel at home.

Set off yesterday to search for condors in the Andes. Left Arequipa early in the morning in a miniibus heading for the Colca Valley which is about 200 kilometres away. On normal roads that shouldn't take long but life is not as simple as that in Peru. At least half of the journey was across what could best be descibed as badly maintained stone track and it reminded me of one of the first records I

We are not on the trail right now however I do travel near the AT while driving my 18 wheeler. I was lucky enough to have a layover night near Unionville NY. While on the trail this year CC and I spent a wonderful night at The Mayor's House. He provides hikers a shower laundry and two super meals asking nothing in return other than to share your hike with him. I popped in with a bag o

This boot will be easy since it is cheap of course bad a child that he is not too much pocket money each time a pair of shoes should be broken into the shoes placed in front of his father and told him that shoe has really broken and can not be the next day he would give us back a new pair of ugg boots. At that time with new things like how happy wearing it everywhere will immediately run arou

November 4 5 and 6 2009Yoursquoll have to forgive the Bloggers for their lack of communication over the past several dayshellipbut wersquove been sooooo busy. ldquoBusy doing whatrdquo you might ask. Well this is the grueling schedule we by ldquowerdquo I mean me have hadhellip 9am Slowly rise from the Westin Heavenly bed and amble over to the deck off of our room and step out

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after the overnight flight from mumbai we arrived in singapore at 8.30 am went to the hotel booking desk and booked a hotel near chinatown.you couldnt get a country that is so different from the one we left the place is spotless and very very friendly we booked in and then for a stroll round town its unbearably humid so a couple of hours of that and we went back to the room to cool down.went b

24th 27th OctoberWe awoke slightly bleary eyed and packed up things in order to be out of the hotel by 11am. We met Rory and Morg who were looking in a similar state to the day before and off Doddy and Rory went to pick up the hire car. Turns out that the advertised deal was not quite as good as it first appeared so we hired one online instead. We picked it up from Las Vegas Airport and set o

I don't really know where to start I've been having problems with this all week and haven't been able to update it so I'll try and wrap it up now.Day 2 We all went surfing on a private beach in Bondi and the weather was 40 degrees. Couldn't have had a better day to be honest even though I was rubbish at it The water was just pure clear and the coach men were all mint we all finished off

Welllll helllooooo So I've been getting quite a bit of grief about not keeping this journal up to date. But in all reality I haven't been doing too terribly much. I work about 25 minutes away from where I live so I go to work come home play with my puppy and go to bed to start it over again. I am still having a good time at my job it is starting to get a little hectic unfortunately. Lot

I should have posted this entry as soon as I got back from Busan so I wouldn't forget the details but as we all know I'm a bit of a procrastinator. This will again be a 2 part blog this one about Busan the next about Seolleung tombs. Stay tunedhellipSo for Halloween weekend Alison Jen Margaret and I decided to go to Busan. There were a few reasons for this first we wanted to escape the scu