The Niche

I found this article on my twitter feed last week.

Why Travel Writers Really Need a Niche

The article suggests to "find a specific topic that you are passionate about (and no, “travel” is not specific enough), and focus on writing about that topic."

I read this article and became disheartened. While I love writing about travel, I don't have a niche. I haven't been abroad for that long to be considered an expert in anything.

While I'm sad that I can't think of a niche right away, I realize the niches are found over time. And the more I try to find a niche, the more frustrated I'll become. And the desire to write will die.

Screw that.

In the meantime, I'll keep writing, honing the craft, finding my voice. Although I will say that after some thought, I have a feeling my niche will be somewhat related to this picture:



I think I'll rename my blog "Me and the Cuy." That's pretty precise, right?

Stateside

A year ago on this day, I was riding an elephant in Chiang Mai.

Two years ago, I was on a plane to Lima, ready to hike the Sacred Trail of the Incas.

Today, I'm in L.A., minutes away from meeting with friends, watching fireworks and eating pulled pork sandwiches.

This is the first time I've celebrated Independence Day stateside in three years. I enjoyed being abroad every July 4th. It made me more aware of my place in this gigantic world. It made me proud to be an American. But it also made me more aware of cultures that are not my own.

But there's nothing like a Fourth of July BBQ. I've missed those.

Kokoreç

There's a section in the Rick Steves guide to Istanbul devoted to street food. Along with mussels,kebabs and sandwiches, you can also get something called Kokoreç.


*Credit: Turkish Politics in Action*

Kokoreç is basically grilled sheep intestines, seasoned, and served with tomatoes and peppers. I don't know how it tastes, but I aim to eat one of these bad boys. Hold the tomato.

Could it be any worse than balut? Or cuy? I doubt it. I'll try most foods, especially if they're sold by street vendors. Am I crazy? Probably.

Has anyone had Kokoreç ? What's it like? Should I be warned?

The Wandering

I ordered Rick Steves' Guides to Istanbul and Athens, as well as the Lonely Planet Guide to Egypt. Guidebooks maybe considered "old school" nowadays, with the proliferation of Twitter accounts, online forums and blogs. The traveler has so much information, that lugging huge books in their backpacks is inconvenient. Whatever. I still get the guidebooks.

Rick Steves' books are big on self-guided walking tours. One of my fondest memories of Amsterdam is the taking the Jordaan walking tour. I wandered down canals, passed people's homes, all in relative peace. Those are the experiences I long for.


*Taken on the Jordaan Walk*

When traveling, don't forget The Wandering. Wandering works best when you're traveling independently, but some organized tours have time in their itineraries for walking around and taking in the scene. Beware the tours that limit your wandering time.

Unless you're in North Korea. Then don't wander.

Travel Keywords

This month, I've been learning how to be a better man.

The Art of Manliness has a 30-day challenge on how to be a better man. Each day, men (and women, should they choose to accept the challenge) are given a task to complete. The tasks vary from shining your shoes, to taking a woman on a date, to writing your own eulogy. Each task is geared to equip males to become better...males.

The task for Day One was Define Your Core Values. What are the values by which you live your life? For example, my core values are Humor, Humility, Honesty, Integrity and Love. With everything I do and say, I try to adhere to these values.

Why not apply this concept of to travel? When we plan a trip, we want to do too much. We pack our itineraries to the brim. Then our trip becomes more about crossing off things on our to-do list, than enjoying our surroundings. That's no fun.

What if we did some thinking before we plan? What if we came up with a short list of Travel Core Values? Core Values may not be a good fit here, so let's say Keywords; What do we think of when we see "travel"? What phrases or images come to mind? Once we define those Keywords, our planning can now be centered around these words. We don't have to plan everything. Just the things that matter to us.

Here are some sample Keywords:

Food
Culture
Music
Fun
Partying
Adventure
Politics
Community
Environment
History
Art
Volunteering

...and there are so many more Keywords out there.

A fun exercise you could do by yourself, or with your travel companions, is to come up with three to five Travel Keywords. From there, when you plan, you can spend your energy researching activities that are centered around those Keywords. Your trip can be a quest to find the perfect Italian gelato, or a week secluded in a Tuscan villa. You get the most out of your vacation, and peace of mind, to boot.

What are your Travel Keywords? I'll put mine up shortly...

Southwest Airlines is Cool

I wish all flight attendants were like him.

Seeing this video makes me want to get on a plane and go somewhere. I just wish I had the time.

Invest In Travel

Now that Tax Day has come and gone, some of you are fortunate to get a refund from Uncle Sam.

The economy stinks. I know. Retirement funds are dwindling. Stocks are plummeting. Anxiety abounds. What are we to do?

We travel, dangit!

Travel Guru Rick Steves puts it best:

So, what's the impact of these “hard times” for travelers? Airfares are down about 20 percent since this time last year. (I just sent one of our researchers to Europe, flying from Seattle into London and home from Rome for $600 — wow.) Our dollar is about 20 percent stronger versus the euro, compared to a year ago (the euro used to cost $1.60, now it costs about $1.25). And the tumbling stock market means most of us have 30 or 40 percent less in our retirement accounts than we hoped to at this time. (Many are starting to think that investing in life experiences like travel might bring better and more reliable returns than investing in the stock market.)

Now is a great time to travel. And not just because everything is reasonably priced. But at a time when we're so reluctant to trust in our 401ks for our financial well-being, how about investing in "life experiences" that only travel can bring.

Invest in travel. The rewards are priceless.