1
CRYSTRAVEL BALL
Over the last couple of weeks, how many times have you caught yourself daydreaming of that next trip? Where would it be? Who would you be with? What would you do? Can’t tell you how many times I’ve found myself in the Caribbean, wondering when these dreams may come to true, here are interesting best guesses by the experts – from the LA Times: “When international travel does pick up again, “I know we’re going to find an eager and welcoming Europe,” said Steves, whose business withstood Sept. 11, 2001, and the recession of 2008. “When something stops travel and people start on an amazing hike, a road trip, or quite frankly even local restaurants in my very own hood. And if you’re coming back, it’s a beautiful moment for all involved. … But I’m not going to jump the gun.… I just don’t have the heart for that after what we’ve gone through this spring. I’m going to be patient.”” Now, I realize I’m not putting any dates out there yet, but I’m feeling sometime this summer with road trips safely starting as soon as June. And, just to be sure, that’s 2020! Tune in next year for my international travel predictions (just kidding).
2
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME OR NYC
I told you I was missing that local restaurant down the street – you think about the first one you’d go to once you can get out again? Sometimes you really don’t have to go very far. I’m so grateful to NYC for that. So much to see, so many things to do, so many characters to meet (and more to avoid). It’s home, and every time I leave my apartment, I feel like I’m going on an adventure, like I’m about to explore a whole new world that’s also familiar. You can be out all day and return home feeling like you’ve just had the perfect day, every day. That’s New York for me, and also, I guess a few editors from Condé Nast Traveler in their 4 Perfect Days in New York: “I live in Brooklyn, but every now and then I take the subway uptown for a dose of the Nora Ephron New York that hooked me as a teen. One filled with witty writer friends, strolls through Central Park, and spacious Upper West Side brownstones. I start by grabbing a bagel at Zabar’s (poppyseed, thick schmear of lox cream cheese) before cutting through the park to The Met, passing two favorite spots: Skate Circle, where Rollerbladers glide and twirl to ’90s house music, and Emma Stebbins’s Angel of the Waters at the Bethesda Fountain, the first public artwork by a woman in New York. You could spend a year at the Met and still not see everything, but I always have to visit the Temple of Dendur in the Sackler Wing.” Just FYI, I almost copied the entire article. It’s all amazing, all true, every single bit of it.
3
100% PURE COVID-FREE SOON
If you were able to guess it from the title, kudos to you. 100% Pure is New Zealand’s slogan. Here’s an older (from January 2020 – seems like an era ago) guide I’ve been wanting to share with you. Basically, it’s your New Zealand vacation planned for you. I trust this guy – I mean he has a weekly newsletter too. His newsletter is really quite insightful touching on a variety of topics. This one so happens to be a trip he took to New Zealand earlier this year. From Kyle Westaway (great name for a traveler, right?): “New Zealand is a place of pristine beauty. After traveling for a month there, I’ve created a comprehensive guide of New Zealand – including a google map of 100+ locations – that you should check out for more detail. But I wanted to feature my favorite places to hike, stay, eat, drink and things to do below. Enjoy!”
Here’s his list of 92 spots in New Zealand from bars to skydiving you’ve got to hit up.
4
BOOK TO AN END
Last week I shared a number of movies that get us in the travel mood. This week I share books that make us dream of travel again. Fairly decent list by CNN. To read my favorite suggestion for now (it changes every few months), read to the bottom of this blurb: “Paul Theroux had me hooked with his first lines: ” … I have seldom heard a train go by and not wished I was on it. Those whistles are bewitchment: railways are irresistible bazaars …”Those words speak to the child in me — the small-town Southern boy who would listen to the trains ride by late at night with the bedroom windows open and wonder: Where are they going? What adventures would I find on one? Well, Theroux’s 1973 train trip from London all through Asia to the Pacific and back was certainly an adventure. He chronicles a journey both romantic and realistic.” And here’s my recommendation: Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan – picture a surfer traveling island after island in search of the perfect wave…
5
WAIT, WE HAVE A VIEW?
For all this dreaming of travel, something inside me does not want it to go back to the way it was. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not enjoying this situation, but there’s something to be said about the break we just had. This break from running around, noise, commuting, and general abuse of our planet. I’ve been reading about some destinations seeing mountains in the distance for the first time in decades because of the lack of pollution: “The screenshots began to circulate on Delhi WhatsApp groups last week, captioned with varying expressions of disbelief. Having checked the air quality index, something of a sadistic morning ritual among residents of India’s capital, most could not believe their eyes. Gone was the familiar menacing red banner, indicating how each intake of breath is really just a toxic blast on the lungs, replaced instead by a healthy, cheerful green. Could it really be that Delhi’s pollution levels now fell into the category of … “good”? “It’s positively alpine!” exclaimed one message.” The question I’ve been asking myself lately: how do we keep this break and yet travel at the same time? I don’t know that there’s an answer to this question, but it’s at least worth being aware. Maybe do our part and make that part bigger than before.
Thanks,
Joe Naaman
Managing Editor, Waywinds
Keep Exploring!