Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Review: Travel As A Political Act by Rick Steves

Back in January I attended the annual Travel & Adventure Show here in Chicago. It’s a big, noisy, colorful event that sees travel companies and local tourism bureaus from all over the U.S. and beyond come out to convince winter-weary convention-goers to make Utah! Tanzania! Tunisia! Orlando! Door County!! their next vacation destination. There are hundreds of elaborately decked-out booths at the show and hundreds of much less elaborately decked-out Midwesterners walking around the convention floor, perusing tourist pamphlets on the Oneida Nation Reservation or Cozumel and picking up such freebies as beach balls with “Make It Miami” printed on them and tote bags touting the wondrous sights of Oklahoma. There are also various “around-the-world” stages devoted to cooking demos showcasing exotic foods and dance performances showcasing exotic places (these are the best stages in my opinion), plus usually a section with a scuba tank or rock climbing wall for the sporty crowd. And for some reason there’s always an area roped off for camel rides at one end of the floor (and which you can smell all the way at the other end). All in all, the Travel & Adventure Show does a great job of recreating the experience of being on a cruise ship at high tourist season combined with shopping at the mall at Christmastime--which can be a good or bad thing, depending on your particular traveler personality.

Another feature of the convention is the stage for up-and-coming and big-name travel personalities who come to speak and plug their latest book or tour. This year the big name was Rick Steves, whom you probably know from his many PBS shows on traveling in Europe. Usually each speaker gives just one presentation for the whole weekend, but Rick Steves gave two talks for each day of the show. One of his talks was his usual schtick on travel tips for Europe--what to do in Paris, what to see in Munich, when to go to Rome, what to pack for London, etc. This is the talk I caught a little of. I say a little because I got to the stage a few minutes late, by which time every seat was taken and it was standing room only 4 or 5 people deep at the back. At the back I had a hard time hearing Steves even with his microphone, so I wandered away after a short while. I also realized I wasn’t connecting to the sight of Steves in person, and it took me a couple minutes to figure out why. He was dressed in a suit and tie, rather than the usual khakis and casual dress shirt or polo he wears on his TV show, and so he suddenly seemed unfamiliar to me.

This is significant because familiarity is a big part of Steves’s appeal. Though a world traveler several times over, Rick Steves looks more like a guy you’d readily see picking up his kids after school or standing in line at your local Best Buy or Starbucks than someone who regularly wines and dines his way across Europe.


See what I mean? Photo from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

He looks...familiar, like almost anybody's idea of an average American, though he's been to many places in the world that many Americans will never get to. The reason why many Americans won't get to those places abroad is a bit of a mystery, given the general affluence of the United States. A recent statistic shows that only about 30% of Americans own a passport, compared to 60% of Canadians and 75% of British citizens. And in 2009, of the 61.5 million trips taken outside the U.S. by Americans, nearly half were taken only as far as our neighbors Mexico and Canada. (Further, one wonders how much of the remaining half comes down to cruisers and resort vacationers who never go beyond the resort walls except to fly in and out of the country.) Why don't more Americans travel abroad? Is it lack of time or money? Or is it a classic example of American arrogance or ignorance?

It's a question that can be argued for as long as it takes to fly from New York to Paris and back. But in Rick Steves's latest book, Travel As A Political Act, rather than examining the question from all angles, Steves zeroes in on one possible reason--fear, as in fear of the different and unknown--and runs with it. Steves's hypothesis seems to be that many Americans don't travel outside the U.S. because they are afraid to go outside their cultural comfort zones. Considering the man has built a very successful career out of helping Americans overcome this fear, he has a point. Steves has written dozens of books and produced dozens of TV shows and videos featuring his easy-to-understand advice and down-to-earth observations about foreign places and cultures and how Americans can navigate their way through them. With his easygoing demeanor and ordinary American appeal, his message to Americans who may be nervous or apprehensive about traveling abroad is, If I can do it, so can you.


Where Travel As A Political Act takes departure from Steves's other books and his shows is in focusing less on how to travel (what to see, where to stay, etc.) and more on why we should travel--less on the logistics of foreign travel and more on the benefits. Steves writes:

"For the last 30 years, I've taught people how to travel. I focus mostly on the logistics: finding the right hotel, avoiding long lines, sampling local delicacies, and catching the train on time. But that's not why we travel. We travel to have enlightening experiences, to meet inspirational people, to be stimulated, to learn, and to grow."

Following on this statement, Steves goes on to offer a series of essays--"heavy on travel tales and people-to-people connections"--that explore the benefits of traveling to places that challenge the American way of life, places that many Americans won't go to out of fears that are often entirely unfounded. In this book, that includes European countries with health care systems or drug policies very different from the U.S. (such as the Netherlands), countries with a very different religious makeup and outlook (such as Turkey, Iran, and Morocco), and countries struggling to right themselves after or in the midst of violent political conflicts, including conflicts with the U.S. (such as the former Yugoslavia and El Salvador). As he writes about all these places, he takes care to point out both the similarities between these cultures and America's and the differences--and the right for other countries to practice and celebrate ways that are very different from the American way. I was especially moved and fascinated by his chapters on his visits to El Salvador and Iran--two countries that have been effectively demonized in one way or another by the U.S. government and media. And in that regard, it seems Iran has much in common with America, as Steves makes observations on the genuinely warm and friendly reception he received from one everyday Iranian citizen after another, despite the "Death to America" murals he and his crew passed on daily basis.

Steves really has to be commended for writing this book and attempting to open up more American minds to the benefits of foreign travel. He is also to be commended for not glossing over the challenges of foreign travel. Indeed, his book argues that being challenged is the whole point of traveling abroad, the thing that makes it a more meaningful and political act rather than just another easy, mindless getaway, and the best thing about it.

I mentioned earlier that Rick Steves gave two talks each day at the Travel & Adventure Show in Chicago. Travel As A Political Act was the topic of his second talk. In my opinion it's an ideal topic for a venue like the Travel & Adventure Show, which still leans heavily on the draw of all-inclusive cruise and resort getaways, even as it hawks some more exotic travel destinations. I hope Steves's talk at the show was a success and won a few cruise-crazy Midwesterners over to the idea of traveling outside their comfort zone, of travel as a political act. And I hope to get to more of the places Steves writes about in his latest book someday soon--to Central America, to Morocco and Turkey, and who knows where else--so I can continue to grow as a citizen of the world.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Homecoming For An Irish-American

Here is a great picture I wanted to share:

President Obama in Moneygall, Ireland. Courtesy of whitehouse.gov

This Monday, May 23, marked the beginning of a week-long tour of Europe by President and Michelle Obama. The tour began in Ireland--yes, physically the closest European country to American shores of course, but also the European nation where Obama has ancestral roots. Obama began his day in Ireland in Dublin, shaking hands with all the big-wigs (the Taoiseach Enda Kenny, the President Mary McAleese). And then he left power behind for awhile and headed off to a small town in County Offaly in the Midlands called Moneygall, to shake hands with the people--specifically, his people. For Obama's visit to Moneygall was a tribute to his mother's ancestors, who emigrated from there in 1850--a homecoming for an Irish-American, one with Celtic ties as well as Kenyan.

Even with the classic Irish weather of rain and wind, it was a great day for the town of Moneygall. By all accounts the people there (and later at another gathering in Dublin) were over the moon about Obama's homecoming. And certainly the picture above conveys that enthusiasm. But for me, the great thing about this picture is that it really captures the warmth and friendliness of the Irish people and the bond between the United States and Ireland.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Post of Intent: El Camino de Santiago

This post is about some travel plans I wasn't intending to announce for awhile. But because in the last few weeks I've stumbled across several news stories about the very same journey I'm planning, I feel compelled to write about it now. I guess I'm concerned that in the months to come, more and more stories about this journey will appear in the media, especially the American media, and it will seem as if my plans are merely part of a tourist trend, rather than a personal dream.

The journey I'm planning is the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage walk once popular in medieval days that follows a path to the city of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain. In Santiago is where it's long been said the remains of the apostle St. James lie. Hence, the name El Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James. In the olden days the Camino was nearly as popular a pilgrimage as routes to Rome or Jerusalem. Christians across Europe set out from their homes on foot or on horseback (or on mule) and made their way to one of the several main routes to Santiago, joining up with other pilgrims and staying in hospices or churches, which granted them special protection. The journey was usually undertaken for penance and took however long it took a person to walk from his or her front door in Germany or France or Belgium or where-have-you to the great cathedral where St. James rests in Santiago de Compostela.

Like many medieval rituals and practices, the Camino was largely abandoned for many centuries--in the wake of fears about the spread of the Black Death that kept people from traveling and then the spread of Protestantism and Enlightenment views across Europe. In recent decades the Camino has seen a resurgence though, and the number of pilgrims who undertake it each year is currently in the thousands. These days most pilgrims follow the Camino Frances route, which begins just over the border in southern France and takes pilgrims through the Pyrenees and across the northern top of Spain to Galicia on the west coast. The Camino Frances route is about 780km long (nearly 490 miles) and generally takes about a month to walk in its entirety.

I first heard about the Camino a couple years ago while reading Colm Toibin's book The Sign of the Cross: Travels in Catholic Europe. I'll write more about Toibin's impressions, and other authors' I've read, another time. I also briefly mentioned the Camino in my post in March on my pilgrimage hike up Croagh Patrick in Ireland in 2009. Now in just the last few weeks I've come across articles about the Camino in both the British Guardian and BBC Travel. The reason for the recent hub-bub seems to be a new film coming out that centers on the Camino, "The Way" directed by Emilio Estevez and starring his father Martin Sheen.



The movie has already been screened in Santiago and released in the U.K. and Ireland. It's set to be released in the U.S. at the end of September. I think its release in the U.S. will certainly bring more awareness of the Camino to Americans, who seem a little more oblivious to the Camino's existence than are many Europeans.

And me? I admit, I want to beat the onslaught of my fellow Americans. And I want to undertake the Camino for a personal purpose of healing. I may do the walk as a way to raise money for a particular charity. And instead of beginning in St. Jean Pied de Port in France like most pilgrims, I'd like to begin farther east in southern France at the shrine at Lourdes, where I also visited in 2009 after my climb up Croagh Patrick. That would add another 80 miles onto the journey. I don't know if that's biting off more than I can chew. But the Camino itself is biting off a lot. And anyway, that is my intention. I hope to see it through by year's end.

Anyone who reads this who has done any portion or all of the Camino is welcome to leave a comment describing their experience or offering advice. And anyone in Ireland or Britain who has seen the movie "The Way" who'd like to comment upon it is welcome too.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Just Down The Road...

Haven't blogged in a couple weeks. But I don't want anyone to think this blog has become kaput, so I'm checking in with this little message on what's to come on Writing and Wayfaring.

In the days and weeks ahead, look for these new posts:
Catch y'all later on down the road in a day or two!

Women-Only Tour Of Ireland In September: NEW SALE PRICE!!

Hey everyone! We're announcing a SALE on our women's tour of Ireland this fall. Book now until the end of May and SAVE $125!! We've added the new price below, or check out our website where you can make your reservation.

This September, Wayfaring Women Tours is heading to this extraordinary island country of spectacular beauty, fascinating history and culture, and the friendliest people on earth for 9 days of craic go leor (that's Irish for "fun galore"). We’ll be visiting Ireland’s stunning western and southern counties, beginning in Galway and making our way down to Cork. All the while we'll be viewing breathtaking mountain and seaside scenery, drinking jars of black stout in cozy pubs, dancing to the tunes of local fiddlers and pipers, gobbling jam-slathered scones and sipping mugs of strong, steaming tea, tramping around gardens and past ancient ruins, hearing stories from Ireland’s long, rich history, and so much more! (But now for the cost of a little less!)

On the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry
This tour is September 8-16, 2011 and starts at $1,700 per person (for double room sharing). You can read on for more details or check out the itinerary (and make your reservation) at the Wayfaring Women Tours website here.

Your tour manager, on Spiddal beach in County Galway
Best of the West & South Ireland Tour for Women: September 8-16, 2011 (9 days/8 nights)

Tour Includes

  • Nine days of touring covering Counties Galway, Clare, Kerry, and Cork
  • Accommodation for 8 nights in comfortable hotels and guesthouses, located in Galway City, Lisdoonvarna, Inis Oirr (the Aran Islands), Dingle Town, and Shanagarry (outside Cork City)
  • Walking tour of Galway City to see its historic pubs and churches, the Spanish Arch and Lynch’s Castle, and the home of Nora Barnacle (the woman who would become Mrs. James Joyce and inspire Bloomsday)
  • Visit to Brigit’s Garden in Moycullen with tour of gardens, tea break, and special workshop on the Brigit tradition in Celtic folklore and culture
  • Tour of Connemara, including the charming village of Clifden and picture-perfect Kylemore Abbey
  • Free night in Galway City for you to enjoy the pubs, sit in on a traditional Irish music session, stroll along the bay, venture out to nearby Salthill, whatever you fancy
  • Tour of the Burren with a relaxed walk led by Tony Kirby, Burren guide and author
  • Visit to the Cliffs of Moher, with plenty of time to take in the views
  • Two nights of music, dancing, and all-around merrymaking at the world-famous annual Matchmaking Festival in Lisdoonvarna
  • Optional excursion day to Lahinch, a seaside town noted for it beaches and golf course, with opportunities to sign up for a surfing lesson
  • Trip to Inis Oirr, the smallest and loveliest of the Aran Islands, with ferry transport from Doolin (weather permitting)
  • Overnight stay on Inis Oirr and afternoon Irish language lesson and activity led by islander and Irish teacher Bríd Ní Chualáin
  • Tour of the Dingle Peninsula and its many archaeological sites
  • Afternoon cookery course at the famous Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork, focusing on scone, jam, and bread making
  • And of course, visit to Blarney Castle and opportunity to kiss the Stone for the gift of eloquence as well as shop ‘til you drop at Blarney Woolen Mills
  • Plus: All breakfasts (8) included (full Irish), welcome dinner on first night in Galway City and farewell dinner on last night at Ballymaloe House), transportation in a roomy, comfortable coach with reclining seats, professional driver and guide, and transfers from Shannon Airport to Galway City on first day of tour and to Shannon from County Cork on last day (for guests arriving in/leaving from Shannon)
    Colorful, cobblestoned Quay Street in Galway City

    Galway Bay meeting the River Corrib, Galway City

    NEW PRICE: $1,700 per person (based on double person occupancy)
    Single supplement is $345
    Required deposit is $500 per person

    Making a deposit or full payment on this tour is equivalent to having read and agreed to our Terms & Conditions.


    Meals included: All breakfasts (8), three (3) dinners, one (1) tea break, plus tea and generous tastings during afternoon cookery course. Some drinks and all alcoholic beverages are not included and factored into price of tour.

    Not included in price of tour: Transportation (airfare) to Ireland; airport transfers not specifically stated in itinerary (only airport transfers to/from Shannon Airport on the dates of Sept. 8 and Sept. 16 are included in price); local transportation expenses during free time on tour (i.e., taxi fares); travel insurance; meals where not stated in itinerary; personal items/shopping expenses; fees such as room service, laundry service, telephone calls, Internet use in hotels or elsewhere, etc.; entrance fees or expenses for any activities engaged during free time on tour, including optional excursions; any expenses incurred for tour members spending additional time in Ireland before or beyond tour’s start and end; tips for tour leader, driver, and local guides; passport/visa fees (for tour members arriving from outside Ireland). No refunds will be given for any unused portion of a tour by a tour member.


    It's even prettier in real life!
    Activity description: This tour involves several walking activities. We will be taking a 90-minute leisurely walking tour of Galway City, a 1-hour guided walking tour of Brigit’s Garden (at a very leisurely pace), and a 2-hour walking tour of the Burren (at an easy pace). Our time on Inis Oirr may also involve a walk or another easy but physical activity (depending on the weather). Many of the other sites we will be visiting involve some walking too, such as visiting the grounds of Kylemore Abbey or Blarney Castle (the latter also involves climbing narrow, winding stone steps to reach the Blarney Stone). The terrain we will be covering includes cobbled streets and sidewalks (in the cities and towns) and rocky earth (the Burren and Inis Oirr). None of the walking will be strenuous, but please be prepared and bring good walking shoes.

    We will also be visiting beaches and cliffs, where the wind can be quite strong. There may be some opportunities for heartier activities such as swimming or surfing--these will be optional during your free time. There may be some dancing (wink). We will also be crossing on a small ferry for our visit to Inis Oirr and while traveling from Clare to Kerry (via a car ferry). If you tend to seasickness, please prepare accordingly when packing for this tour. Rain gear, an umbrella, and warm clothes are essential for this tour as well. If you can brave a dip in the bracing Atlantic waters, consider bringing a swimsuit too.

    Note: This tour requires a minimum of 10 people and has a maximum of 15 people. The minimum age requirement for this tour is 16 years. Participants under age 18 must be accompanied with an adult (over age 18).


    In the most enchanting country on earth, even the dogs and doorways are charming to behold.

    Horse saying "Dia duit" (Hello) on Inis Oirr, Aran Islands

    This is a tour filled with the Emerald Isle’s best-known highlights as well as some of its hidden gems, making it ideal for both first-timers to Ireland and women who have been there before and want to see more. This is also a tour that was put together with a lot of care for what makes Ireland so wonderful and unique. Ireland has been a home away from home for me since my first visit there in 1994 and my first summer living and working there the following year. It is home to some of the best friends and happiest memories of my life. I'd love to have you along and see for yourself what makes Ireland so enchanting and easy to keep coming back to.