Close-Out on My 2023 Travelutions (and Before That, Too)

 

2023.1102 Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, Canada. Credit: Mzuriana.

 

What I did: 

My descendant, Tab, and I went to Toronto for a week. This allowed Tab to use his passport for the very first time. My former TLG colleague, Sandy, kindly rented her place to us, and she hung out with her sister in outer Toronto. The trip also counted toward the Big City travelution.

I can't say I camped several months consecutively, but I sure as hellish-summer-heat did a hella camping in 2023. I'm absolutely counting this as a travelution completed. I camped in: Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and Texas.

2023.1003 Campsite at Finger Lakes State Park in Columbia, Missouri. Credit: Mzuriana.

What I didn't:

Although they still call to me, I did not go to Romania, Vietnam or Senegal in 2023. They're on my 2024-2025 list, though. 

Haven't made it to Houston, and it, too, is on my list for 2024/2025. 

Nope, not Alaska yet for the return trip. But it's definitely on the 2025 list. 

 

 

Below were my 2023 travelutions, published on December 31, 2022

For 2023, here's what other folks intend to aspire to will do: 

**crickets**

Yeah, I drew a blank, not for the wont of lists that exist, but for the wont of finding any lists that inspired me, amused me, or surprised me. Not because I'm so worldly, and certainly not that I'm world-weary. No, it's because the dozens of lists I viewed offered the bullets of low-hanging fruit that we've all seen before, like: go somewhere new, try solo travel, stayvacate, etc. Or it's because the target audience has far more money and disposable time than most of us do.

I'm gonna divide my own list into two parts: 

1. Destination possibilities
2. Travel practices or activities
   

My list of potential travel destinations for 2023

• Trips to Vietnam, Romania, and Senegal (or thereabouts). Why these three? I have current or past students in the first two destinations, and because I've got a hankering to do that motor scooter thing that Phil in the Blank and a partner started up a few years back. Have I ever been on a motor scooter? Well, no. Maybe I'll take lessons somewhere first. That's on my list, too.
  
• A one-to-three month stay in Toronto, renting a friend's apartment in the city while she travels elsewhere. The only challenge is that in her perfect world, we'd do this during the winter, which she would like to escape. In my perfect world, fuck no, it's too cold! So we'll see how that all works out. 
• A visit somewhere with my youngest descendant, Jet
  
• A one-week visit to another Big City with my descendant, Tab (current contenders: Chicago, Las Vegas, Toronto), as a follow-on to a trip we took to NYC in September 2022
  
• A few weeks in Houston, with a gluttonous consumption of zydeco music and dance
  
• Several consecutive months of camping
• I'd still like to do another road trip to Alaska (which I did with daughter Kit a long time ago), but that might be better for 2024, when Jet has a driver's license.
  

My 2023 list of travel practices or activities

1. For the past decade, my rootlessness followed a model of one-year temporary residencies in different locations. With 2023, I am thinking to change this to quarterly moves, and even monthly moves, depending on the seasons and destinations. My tentative plan all along has been to settle in to a permanent home base in mid-2025, so accelerating my movement pattern for these next two and a half years feels attractive. 
2. Embark on and complete a list of creative projects that incorporate writing, family letters, and photographs. This practice relates to travel in that I will need to consciously choose locations and spaces that are conducive to peaceful blocks of time to invest in these projects. 
   
3. OK, so here's a practice that didn't hit my rootless radar until very recently: Establish medical relationships in convenient locations for effective continuity of care, record keeping, and oversight for:

• Routine screenings
• Management of noncritical conditions that require some oversight, or just those things that one needs to keep an eye on because of potential development into something that requires intervention
  
• In the event something serious develops, there's already a relationship with a health care provider I trust and who knows me
  

Past travelutions posts

• Travel Resolutions for 2021
  
• Travel Resolutions for 2020
• Travel Resolutions for 2015
  
• Travel Resolutions for 2014
• Travel Resolutions for 2013

 

Travelutions (aka Travel Resolutions) for 2023

 

El Paso-Juárez Bus mural outside the El Paso History Museum, El Paso, Texas. November 2016. Photo credit: Mzuriana.

It's been a minute since I wrote up a travel resolutions post. 

For 2023, here's what other folks intend to aspire to will do: 

**crickets**

Yeah, I drew a blank, not for the wont of lists that exist, but for the wont of finding any lists that inspired me, amused me, or surprised me. Not because I'm so worldly, and certainly not that I'm world-weary. No, it's because the dozens of lists I viewed offered the bullets of low-hanging fruit that we've all seen before, like: go somewhere new, try solo travel, stayvacate, etc. Or it's because the target audience has far more money and disposable time than most of us do.

I'm gonna divide my own list into two parts: 

1. Destination possibilities
2. Travel practices or activities
   

My list of potential travel destinations for 2023

• Trips to Vietnam, Romania, and Senegal (or thereabouts). Why these three? I have current or past students in the first two destinations, and because I've got a hankering to do that motor scooter thing that Phil in the Blank and a partner started up a few years back. Have I ever been on a motor scooter? Well, no. Maybe I'll take lessons somewhere first. That's on my list, too.
  
• A one-to-three month stay in Toronto, renting a friend's apartment in the city while she travels elsewhere. The only challenge is that in her perfect world, we'd do this during the winter, which she would like to escape. In my perfect world, fuck no, it's too cold! So we'll see how that all works out. 
• A visit somewhere with my youngest descendant, Jet
  
• A one-week visit to another Big City with my descendant, Tab (current contenders: Chicago, Las Vegas, Toronto), as a follow-on to a trip we took to NYC in September 2022
  
• A few weeks in Houston, with a gluttonous consumption of zydeco music and dance
  
• Several consecutive months of camping
• I'd still like to do another road trip to Alaska (which I did with daughter Kit a long time ago), but that might be better for 2024, when Jet has a driver's license.
  

My 2023 list of travel practices or activities

1. For the past decade, my rootlessness followed a model of one-year temporary residencies in different locations. With 2023, I am thinking to change this to quarterly moves, and even monthly moves, depending on the seasons and destinations. My tentative plan all along has been to settle in to a permanent home base in mid-2025, so accelerating my movement pattern for these next two and a half years feels attractive. 
2. Embark on and complete a list of creative projects that incorporate writing, family letters, and photographs. This practice relates to travel in that I will need to consciously choose locations and spaces that are conducive to peaceful blocks of time to invest in these projects. 
   
3. OK, so here's a practice that didn't hit my rootless radar until very recently: Establish medical relationships in convenient locations for effective continuity of care, record keeping, and oversight for:

• Routine screenings
• Management of noncritical conditions that require some oversight, or just those things that one needs to keep an eye on because of potential development into something that requires intervention
  
• In the event something serious develops, there's already a relationship with a health care provider I trust and who knows me
  

Past travelutions posts

• Travel Resolutions for 2021
  
• Travel Resolutions for 2020
• Travel Resolutions for 2015
  
• Travel Resolutions for 2014
• Travel Resolutions for 2013

COVID-19 Unfolding, Part 888: 2021 Travel Resolutions

 

A ship approaches on an afternoon in an Istanbul park. June 2012.

 

Before COVID

Gosh, hard to believe that it was only last year that I wrote Travel Resolutions for 2020, with corona barely a blip on my radar. 

These were my 2020 travel plans: 

1. Regular carV practice in Chez Prius before the big road trip to Alaska
2. Road trip to Alaska
3. Road trip with my mother
4. Loose ends closure: New Mexico: A hike in the Bisti Wilderness
5. Loose ends closure: Drive to the southern end of Highway 1 in Louisiana
6. Indirectly related to travel: When I leave Tucson, I will have slashed my inventory of belongings to the point where I can carV in Chez Prius as I migrate on the way to whereversville
7. A second trip to Nogales
8. A trip to Yuma, forever riveted into my brain with The Devil's Highway
9. A trip to San Luis Rio Colorado, MX, which is just south of Yuma
10. A trip to Naco, Sonora, MX, which is south of Bisbee
11. A trip to Agua Prieta, Sonora, MX, also south of Bisbee
12. While still in Arizona, push out of my comfort zone by staying solo on public lands
13. Push out of my comfort zone by hiking solo more often

 2020 held such promise! 

Dubai boats, United Arab Emirates. January 2012.

My 2021 travelutions

Assumption: COVID will still be an active agent among us for most of 2021, but solo travel, conducted with prudent precautions, will be relatively safe.

1. Visit all of Alabama's state parks
2. Camp solo on public lands at least once, i.e. dispersed camping, not in a campground
3. Loose ends closure from 2020: Make that trip to Grand Isle, Louisiana, before it disappears
4. Hike on the Appalachian Trail - distance unimportant
5. Venture into Florida a bit, camp on a beach there 
6. Fingers crossed that I can take one of my descendants on his first trip out of the US, maybe toward the end of 2021
   

A modest list, as you can see. 

There are travel plans that await the demise of COVID, but ....

 

Travel Resolutions for 2020

My top 13 personal 2020 travel resolutions - or, as someone coined - "travelutions" - include:

1. Regular carV practice in Chez Prius before the big road trip to Alaska
2. Road trip to Alaska
3. Road trip with my mother
4. Loose ends closure: New Mexico: A hike in the Bisti Wilderness
5. Loose ends closure: Drive to the southern end of Highway 1 in Louisiana
6. Indirectly related to travel: When I leave Tucson, I will have slashed my inventory of belongings to the point where I can carV in Chez Prius as I migrate on the way to whereversville
7. A second trip to Nogales
8. A trip to Yuma, forever riveted into my brain with The Devil's Highway
9. A trip to San Luis Rio Colorado, MX, which is just south of Yuma
10. A trip to Naco, Sonora, MX, which is south of Bisbee
11. A trip to Agua Prieta, Sonora, MX, also south of Bisbee
12. While still in Arizona, push out of my comfort zone by staying solo on public lands
13. Push out of my comfort zone by hiking solo more often

Below are past travel resolutions, which continue to be relevant today. I've looked at more recent lists, but they generally repeat the content of previous years' lists. This is because the best resolutions are timeless best practices not only for travel, but for daily life.

• 2015
• 2014
• 2013

Travel Resolutions for 2015

Highway 3, New Mexico

Here is my tiny round-up of travel resolutions for 2013. Salt plays a prominent role.

An even tinier round-up of travel resolutions for 2014 is here. Greg Kohl's list remains solid.

A common theme for 2015 travel resolutions is to unplug. As is local travel, a model I've long espoused.

I especially like two of Pauline Frommer's 2015 resolutions: 

1. Connect with some of her social media's "friends of friends" on her travels - what a keen idea to arrange a meet-up with someone who is a stranger to you, but with whom you share a friend! 
2. Use an outlet multiplier at public venues so nearby strangers can still get plugged in. Open source in a  literal way - love it.

I also favored two of Wanderlust's resolutions for 2015: 

1. Remember to look up. The Wanderlust author refers to the heavens, and I agree. Looking up also applies to treetops, surrounding hills, ceilings, and rooftops. 
2. Call on local guides to get more local back-story. I have smiling memories of a local guide in Harar, Ethiopia, who took me to see the hyenas.  

After dipping in and out of dozens of lists, what I've got above is the best of the lot.

2014 Travel Resolutions

Columbus, NM, and Las Palomas, Chihuahua, border.

Last year

I did a round-up of some online travel resolutions for 2013 here.

The CNN (on choices), the Travel Troubleshooter's "Don't Be A Jerk", and Arthur Frommer's lists are still good today.


For 2014

Geoff Kohl's list, 8 Travel Resolutions for 2014, speaks to quality and personal expansion. I'm a proponent of local travel, both in attitude and in action, and so is he. His is a list almost anyone can implement regardless of disposable income or time.

..... and after some time searching for other worthy resolutions lists .... the one new list above does it up just fine for this year.

Travel Resolutions for 2013

Lonely Planet has weighed in here [2020 update: Thanks to the Wayback Machine for revivifying this defunct link.] with staff lists of where they intend to go in 2013.

Salt flats, Bolivia. Credit: Best Travel Places

Sidebar: Reading about one staffer's desire to enter a new continent, with a photo of Bolivia's salt flats, made me wonder about an itinerary, executed over the course of several years or so, based on salt.

I like salt. It's necessary for one's survival, and has been demonized unfairly by so-called advanced medical experts. It figures prominently in local histories.

In a favorite book of mine, Alas, Babylon, there comes a time when the survivors of an apocalypse have a desperate need for salt, which prompts the search for same.

Salt Flats, Texas

I've already been to the site of a war over salt (and other things) - Salt Flats, Texas. 

The movie, The Wind Journeys, showed spectacular scenes of the salt mines in Colombia.

]

But I digress. 


Back to travel resolutions for 2013.

CNN offers a list of 2013 travel resolutions that isn't about specific destinations, but about choices and planning. I like it.

The "Travel Troubleshooter" offers one 2013 resolution for us to consider: Don't Be A Jerk.

Arthur Frommer [2020 update: Thanks to the Wayback Machine for revivifying this defunct link.] offers a thoughtful list of 2013 travel resolutions. I like it so much, here it is in full:

"At the end of last year, I hastily scribbled a list of 18 New Year's resolutions for travel in 2012, realizing as I did so that I was including too many marginal and minor ones. I have since pared down the list to 12 important rules for the year ahead, which I genuinely believe reflect important and realistic suggestions. Here they are:

1. I will be courteous and respectful to airport and airline personnel and members of the TSA; they work under stressful conditions, and deserve our smiles and understanding.
2. I will constantly remind myself of the moral obligation to leave a generous daily tip to the housekeepers who have made up my hotel room -- theirs is an underpaid profession, and we should supplement the measly wages of the hotel chains.
3. I will avoid traveling on airlines that delight in public-be-damned attitudes, the companies that exult in an openly-expressed disdain for the traveler.
4. On my very next flight, I will politely ask permission of the person sitting behind me to recline my seat.
5. I will stop burying my head in a newspaper or book, and converse with the airline passenger sitting beside me, if they have indicated a desire to talk.
6. I will continue to argue for high-speed rail -- either in journalism or meetings -- to make a case for a technology so urgently needed in a nation that will soon have 400,000,000 people, as dense as any other on earth.
7. I will agitate as well for an easing of our nation's overly-restrictive visa requirements for incoming tourism, that have prevented so many foreign residents from visiting our country.
8. I will bring sandwiches with me, prepared at home, to substitute for that atrocious airline food.
9. I will never leave on any trip before spending at least a few hours reading about the history and culture of the place I am about to visit.
10. I will supplement the recommended tipping policies of the cruiselines with additional sums meant to recognize the hard labors of the people who staff the ships.
11. I will never book any Caribbean cruise that stops at the many artificial "private islands" or "private beaches" that the cruiselines are substituting for encounters with actual local people.
12. And finally, in the writing I do and the talks I deliver, I will continue to regard travel not as a mere recreation, but as a serious learning activity, a way of understanding the world, an essential element of a civilized life."