Travel is More Than A Destination.

Over the holidays I received a book titled Are We There Yet? Travel as a Spiritual Practice. I had not previously thought of travel in that way.  I am not searching for anything and have no expectation and/or desire to be transformed by my travels. Good thing too, or I would be changing all the time. I try to live more or less the same life on the road as I would in one place. However, I do make a conscious effort to be present in the now, which is a zen way to approach life. No past, no future, just experiencing this fleeting moment,

However, after reading this book I see that I am seeking something. From the moment we sold our home we have been looking a new home where we can live our lives in the best way possible. A place where we can have the highest quality of life and where our spirits can be at peace in these troubled times.

I don't want to list all the countries, cities, and communities we have considered, however,  Arizona weather still comes in first.

This week Franklin and I headed down to Tucson to check out a community he had read about. It is connected to the University of Arizona and offers a lot of lectures and stimulating activities. The facilities are terrific. Physically it is probably like any adult community with gyms and art studios, social events, etc but there are so few people here, one can have the place to yourself, like a private resort. the people very Interesting and friendly. But the location is extremely remote. Bordered by a national part on one side, there are only three business or actually three buildings in about a half an hour drive. So the question for us has been could be see ourselves living in a small community (fewer than 300 people) in the middle of nowhere. It has been a journey of reflection and self discovery of what is most important to us at this time in our lives.




My starting point is: what would my life be like if I lived here full time, without a support network to rely on?  We usually aren't tourists on a journey or vacation. We are doing the things we like to do every day: spending time on our computers, walking a lot,  going to the gym, sitting in hot tubs, and dancing. We seek out destinations where we can easily live our lives, more or less as usual, without being bored or having to work to find things to keep us busy.

I really enjoy the multidimensional aspect of travel. There is doing something, say, ordering a pizza. (maybe in another language). Then there is the level of safety paying for the pizza when you pull out money somewhere like Naples or Buenos Aires, cities known for pickpockets and purse snatching. Then there is experiencing the pizza and comparing it to previous pizzas. And experiencing the ambiance, the restaurant, the street and watching the people around you. Just being in the moment keeps me pretty busy. 

Naples, Italy from one of the most famous pizza restaurants. A nice light crust but too much of it. 

And compare it to pizzas we have tried elsewhere

Lucca Italy. Pretty darn good. 

Flammekueche, a cheese and onion flatbread (almost a pizza), a local snack food from Alsace Lorraine, France.

Another thing that becomes multidimensional is the sense of time. The hour remains the same (allowing for the time difference) but is it the first day or last day of your trip? Do you have activities that need to be scheduled into a short timeframe or too much tine to kill between checking out of the hotel and until your flight leaves? Do you need to stay in touch in your job back home on their tine schedule or the stock market on theirs? I firmly believe there is more than one reality and the elastic nature of time really becomes apparent on the road.


Early on one figures out whether you like to plan ahead or prefer the freedom of making plans at the last minute. I- we- travel with a general plan but allow the time and opportunity to be flexible and shift gears at a moment's notice. On our last trip to Argentina last winter we expected to spend three weeks in Buenos Aires but had such a good time that we stayed for three more months. We planned to borrow a friend's condo and instead checked into a hotel for the whole time.

Our next few months are totally open-ended. It has been many years since I-we traveled this way. We are heading back to Argentina at the end of January with a one-way ticket. There is a tentative plan of staying two months, returning to Arizona for a couple of days to switch suitcases (already packed), driving to Seattle then flying to Japan. Only time will tell if any of this plan comes to pass. There are dangers attached to having no plan such as higher airfares, and no seat availability. But I look at travel as an adventure- even if things go wrong. Travel, like all new experiences has the risk of danger. Life is a dangerous proposition.

Knowing that life and travel, in particular, is potentially dangerous, I do try to limit the risk without limiting my experiences. My purse was stolen in France last autumn. I am not sure how or even when it happened as I was en route, burdened with my luggage and backpack at that moment. But I had my passport safely on my body and extra credit and debit cards hidden away as well. So yes, it was a mistake and certainly inconvenient (there went camera number 3 right before my barge trip) but my travels continued and ultimately it was a growth provoking experience. An aphorism I live by is "if you don't gamble, you can't lose, but you can't win either." I could have stayed home.

Which brings me to serendipity (things that happen by chance in a happy or beneficial way). When my purse disappeared my only money was $10 American dollars and my barge trip was starting in half an hour. Somehow I could not get cash from an ATM with my back up debit card (note to self: check that cards are activated before starting a journey). I used the $10 bill to take a taxi to the meeting place (a hotel) figuring I could get a cash advance there, and a minor miracle occurred. The first people I met were from Scottsdale, my old hometown. We had not met previously but the man immediately offered to lend me money and any potential crisis was averted. BTW that is his teeshirt in the photo above.

Christmas Tamales

Those of you who do not live in the Southwest, or other areas with a large Latino population, may not know that Christmas is tamale season. For many Latinos the holiday season is synonymous with tamales. Families gather together to make them together. Their value comes not from their ingredients but from the fact that they are hard to make, and handmade. They are gifts of love and if you have any Latino family, friends or employees, like a gardener or cleaning person, you are likely to receive a gift of tamales.

At first glance making a tamale might seem simple enough, a dough stuffed with filling, wrapped in a corn husk or banana leaf and steamed. But they are actually hard to make and labor-intensive which is why it is often made in groups.

On Sundays we dance in a church that has a Latino service going at the same time. Yesterday there was a rumor that there were tamales available for sale, but by the time the milonga finished, the cooks had gone home. It was only then that I realized that I miss them and want a homemade one desperately. I am really really hoping my cleaning gal brings some as she used to do when we lived here. She is coming tomorrow morning, so I am hopeful.

Sometimes people sell them outside supermarkets during this week but I am not staying in a town with many Latinos so I don't even know where to look. And time is running short before Christmas. I don't know- are homemade ones even available after then?

 I'll tell you a tamale story. I like to go to garage sales. A few years ago I went to a garage sale in Scottsdale. There was a Latino man going around to the shoppers and whispering something in their ear. The women I saw seemed to ignore him so when he got around to me I only half-listened to what he had to say. But after a few moments I realized his wife was in the car selling warm tamales. I bought a dozen, went home, and ate one. It was the best one of my life. So I hopped back in the car and drove around the neighborhood looking in vain for his car. No luck.

I come from a culture that also equates food with love. Franklin too. So I get it. Anyway, I am sending this blog out a day or two before Christmas. If you know where I can get some, please get in touch soon.

Part Two- What's It Like Living As a Nomad ?

Last blog I started talking about what it is like living a a nomad. Actually, there is more to say about this lifestyle. I want to talk about my relationship to Stuff. Because having Stuff and/or the lack of Stuff occupies a great deal of my time and attention. Certainly, a lot of time more than it did when I had a house and a lot more Stuff. This is ironic because we started this lifestyle because we prefer experiences to possessions. 

If one has a home, as most people do, you buy something when you need it or want it, then you put it away with similar items.  It is not so easy for me. First I need to consider whether I can do without it. If not, then I have to decide whether I will use it and somehow delete it out from my life, or keep it. And if I keep it, what am I going to do with it after use- can I pack it or do I store it when I move on? Chances are I have no like items to put it with. So every item needs it own space and most important, I need to be able to find it again. 

At the moment we are staying in a big condo with lots of storage, including two walk-in closets. One is for clothes, one for ... well, it is probably meant to be a  pantry but for me, it is a sorting place for things that require further thought and/or action. A pantry full of things that have accumulated in our suitcases and/or storage space which require further attention to organize, incorporate or delete. 

I know everyone misplaces things but from day one here I have been misplacing lots of things because there is no natural place for them to go and/or no natural place for me to look. Yes, you are also looking for Lost Stuff. But not every day.

Then there are items we occasionally need but  we don't want to buy. We needed to change a lightbulb last week. How many nomads does it take to change a lightbulb? Well, this my life and not a lightbulb joke so let's just say it took one person several days to figure out how to reach a twelve-foot ceiling without a ladder.

Preparing meals is different too. Recently I got carried away grocery shopping and now have a full freezer- which sounds normal, but for me, it is a source of concern. I have less than one month left to use up more than 12 protein items, which means 12 or more meals that need to be planned out weeks in advance. And still have time for all the restaurants I want to visit. In addition, I can’t make dishes that use a lot of ingredients. Some rentals come supplied with kitchen staples like flour, sugar, oil, mustard, etc. Sometimes the kitchens are bare. This is one of those. Two pots, two pans, a roasting pan. No baking pans- that's it. I do travel with my own knives, spices and tea but all other kitchen staples need to be purchased now and rationed out to last until we leave. Yes, these things are cheap but I stayed in 7 different homes in different cities and even different countries just this year and that is a lot of waste if I just toss out unused food. Mostly I give it away. Sometimes I can carry it on to the next home but in this case, I don’t expect to be renting a house again for at least 4 months. And somehow it feels a little silly carrying things like mayonnaise from one country to another. I don't store any food items in our storage space.  

Plastic bags have become really important to me. Every size has their use and I don’t want to throw any away in case I need one that size to pack shoes, toiletries or any of a dozen other uses. Reusing bags may happen in your house too in the normal course of events. But I have no normal course of events. Snack-size plastic bags have become my best friend. For spices, medicines, jewelry, etc. plastic bags are my go-to storage space. You may not even know snack size bags exist but I definitely do. 

The one plastic bag I have never paid any attention to is the TSA request for a quart size bags of toiletries. I use specific-use kits for toiletries with lots of pockets and have never ever put drugs or toiletries in a clear baggies for some stranger to inspect. I have never been good at following the rules.  (I hope none of you work for the TSA).

I guess if I am taking about Stuff I should mention some of the Stuff I carry around. We’ve been on the road almost two years and as I said before I am not on vacation, this is my real life. I have learned what items I need to use frequently and make a place feel like home and I don't want to run out to buy when I need it. I know from reading posts from other travelers that this is a very individual thing and your list would be vastly different than mine but these are some things I carry around:

duct tape 

a night light. Internationally I use electric votive candles

detergent batteries of various sizes 

pens

a measuring tape 

corkscrew

mini foot massager which comes in handy after dancing. 

superglue

permanent marker 

mini swiss army knife (I could possibly eliminate this but know the minute I do, I will need it)

scissors I use this every day. Before we started traveling I never thought about them at all. 

mini flashlight. I rarely need it but when you need a flashlight, you need one. 

earplugs

eye masks

rubber bands

scotch tape
hand wash detergent
a sewing kit

stitch witchery for hemming pants. I am out of this right now and it is annoying to have to keep buying the same little items over and over again. And where exactly do you buy this? The supermarkets and drug stores don't have it. Walmart maybe? 

I keep all these things together in a small hanging bag 9x11. It is surprising how small all this stuff can get. Of course I take small sizes and small amounts. The tape, for example, is wrapped around pens. 

I also take a iPad and iPhone, a camera and charger, headphones, and a very compact kit with items I may want on an airplane like an inflatable head pillow, sleeping pills, moisturizer, earplugs, eye mask, etc. I am considering adding something I saw online, a footrest, but lately, we have been flying in a high class of service so I haven't needed it. I may need one, however, returning from Argentina this spring so I may order it now. 

I shall end with a piece of trivia. People living in warm places know that your blood gets thin and you get cold easier than other people. Well, apparently this is reversible. We have not been anywhere particularly cold but do wear sweaters and light jackets for 6 months in the Pacific Northwest. And now in Arizona daily people tell me it is cold but I have yet to put on a jacket. I'm not cold at all.