Anticipating Travel

Much has been written in the last several years about how anticipation of taking a trip is often even more satisfying than the trip itself. Studies have shown that looking forward to a trip makes our work go easier and reduces some of the negative aspects of our everyday lives. Of course, as with most studies, this validates simple common sense. My 80 year-old grandmother used to tell me that she always had to have a trip planned so she could look forward to it. True to her word, she even had a trip planned during her final days, even as she was confined to a nursing home with little chance of recovery.

And so it is now as Tanya and I anxiously anticipate our trip to South America and the Amazon, set to begin next month. Every day we tell ourselves, "Only 32,31,30 days until our trip." It's interesting how our minds go through each detail of our upcoming journey. We imagine what we'll be doing at breakfast time, what we'll be doing during the day, the new people we will meet and so on. We can feel the humidity, the smell of the tropical air, the sound of the jungle. It really doesn't matter whether the ultimate reality of the trip matches our imaginings. It's as if we will be taking two vacations: the one visualized and the real one. Both are satisfying. Now I've got to get to work planning our next trip so we have another one to look forward to.

Addiction to Travel

Maybe it's because it has been a few months since I got on an airplane. Maybe it's because it is mid-January and very cold. Maybe it's because a friend of mine and his wife are planning a one-year around-the-world trip. Whatever it is, I find myself obsessed with taking a trip around the world. I can't even get a complete night of sound sleep I'm so excited about the prospects of another trip. What is it with me and others like me? I think we belong to a sub-culture of travel addicts. It's not that we're not satisfied with where we are. It's just that people like me know there is so much out there that we have not seen and experienced yet. Tanya used to say that if I didn't smell jet fuel every 90 days I would get cranky. I think that's still the case.

Thankfully, we have a trip planned for next month. It's not for a year long and it's not around the world. But it is to another culture, to another climate and to another part of the globe. My addiction will soon be placated.....at least for now.

"I got a Nikon camera, I love to take the photographs.."

I can't seem to get that Paul Simon song out of my head. Although it seems appropriate when the next line of the song is "please, don't take my Kodachrome away" because my skill with a single lens reflex camera goes back to those pre-digital days with my trusty Canon Eos Rebel.

This Christmas I got a new Nikon D5200 SLR to replace (or substitute) for my little Canon point and shoot. I had finally had enough ribbing from my professional photographer buddy, Dave Nishitani, who once asked me "when are you going to get a real camera?" Tanya also encouraged me and suggested that it would be fun to get some higher quality photos of our travels. So I bit the bullet and got this groovy new camera and I'm all set. I quickly realized that I had forgotten almost all that I had learned from my photojournalism class 30 years ago. What is an f-stop again? How do I adjust the aperture with the film speed? Oh yeah, we don't use film anymore. Darn, just when I thought I could revive my darkroom techniques. What's the rule of thirds? Or was it nines? Anyway, I went to the library and got several books on digital photography and even one specifically on my new camera. So, now I'm on a quest to absorb all this new information and become friends with my new tool. I was going to say "new toy" but Nishitani would surely tell me the "toy" was my point and shoot. We'll see how this all goes now that I have a "real camera".

Winter in Wiesbaden

Last week's snow has melted and we have settled into a typical wet, gray weather pattern, not unlike that of Portland. But here we can reflect on those few beautiful days of snow and sun.