Thinking Travel

Wow.

We had a fantastic time in Costa Rica. I’m preparing several posts about the trip.

In the meantime, click here to see the photos I’ve uploaded to Flickr.

Update: Click here to see a slideshow of photos.

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A CNN travel article noted that more US American travelers are “sight-doing” rather than “sight-seeing”, meaning that many travelers are moving beyond simply looking at tried-and-true sights like the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or Big Ben.

Instead, travelers are learning something new by doing something interesting, whether it be taking a cooking class while in Paris or booking a special tour focusing on knitting.

I haven’t ever signed up for a cooking class in Paris, but I’m pretty sure I do more than just look at things when I travel. I just read this article a few minutes ago, so I’m still thinking thinking about whether my past travels lean toward sight-seeing or sight-doing.

What about you? When are you a sight-see-er? A sight-do-er? Which travel experiences would you characterize as sight-seeing vs. sight-doing?

Hey! Join the conversation: leave a comment!

Something to read before we head into 2008…

• Travel Skills: I’m Getting Better at Them
• Journaling Prompts: Globalism
• Coffee Talk
• Bridging the Academic/Business Divide
• ORYGUN
• Hot, Hot, Hot
• Serendipity in a Car
• Happy 4th of July
• Another View

Hey! Join the conversation: leave a comment!

I created ThinkingTravel.com about a year ago as a new way to explore the intersection between travel, journaling, and culture (learning). I had just completed my dissertation research on culture learning during short-term study abroad and wanted to gather and share ideas, insights, and tips on how to become a more culturally aware and effective traveler – both at home and abroad.

Early on I decided to give myself 2007 to tinker with the blog, read other blogs, and simply figure out where I wanted to go with ThinkingTravel.com (I’m definitely a trial-and-error/learn-as-you-go type of person).

Now that we’re on the cusp of 2008, I’ve decided to recommit myself to ThinkingTravel.com. My goal for the coming months is to take ThinkingTravel.com to that proverbial next level, whatever that level may be.

New Posting Schedule

In the coming weeks I’m instituting several blog enhancements. Getting on a regular posting schedule is the first one. Here’s the plan.

ThinkingTravel.com is fuel for your journey to becoming a more reflective and effective traveler – at home and abroad.

To this end, I document my own journeys: travel, journaling, cultural, and being a first-time home owner. I also gather and share insights, tips, and resources to help others on their journeys.

I post at least three times a week. And I encourage your involvement in ThinkingTravel.com – leave a comment, share your ideas, provide feedback, subscribe!    

I’m mulling over several other ideas for this blog (series topics, interviews, podcasts…), which I’ll roll out in the coming year.  

The SIETAR-USA conference is going on right now and, oh, do I wish I were there. And thanks to their live-bloggers, I sort of can be.

The focus of this year’s conference is “Culture and Conflict: Courageous Conversations for Caring Communities.”

Beth Yoder’s post about Dr. Christopher Deal’s session on “Bridging the Academic/Business Divide” caught my eye because it hits close to home. Actually, it doesn’t hit close to home, it’s plowing down my front door and slamming square into my forehead. I won’t go into details, but I will say that I’m currently in a professional situation where I feel like I’ve landed in a very different culture.

Initially, I didn’t characterize this experience in intercultural terms. But then, a few days ago, I emailed advice to someone who is helping a friend through a trying cultural transition. As I typed, it dawned on me that I could apply the advice I was giving to my own situation. I stopped typing and mentally re-framed the situation as one of going abroad. And then it suddenly all made sense.

Beth notes several causes for the cultural divide between the academic and business worlds:

In addition to a decades long history, arrogance, resources and a self-perpetuating cycle of degradation, the cultural differences include: language, principles, goals, ethics, behavioral philosophy, values, motives, and time orientation, to name a few.

Just as I became aware of myself as a U.S. American when I lived in Germany, and an Oregonian when I moved to the Midwest, and then the South, in my current experience I’m becoming extremely aware of myself as a professional…my language, principals, goals, motives, time orientation – exactly what Beth mentioned in her blog.

I’d love to connect with others who are bridging the academic/business divide! Feel free to leave a comment or email me: cate (at) thinkingtravel.com

Have you seen the “Shift Happens” video from Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod?

If not, watch it now.

I saw it this morning on a huge screen at the World View Symposium. Simple. Brilliant. Powerful.

Take a look.

Leave a comment.

I’m so totally jealous.

I just came across the Pursue the Passion website of three recent college grads who traveled the US interviewing people who love their jobs.

I’m jealous because I’ve always wanted to roadtrip the US/Mexico/Canada for several months…a year…longer. (Heck, what I really want to do is live out of a backpack for a couple years while Aaron and I volunteer our way around the world. I have the trip all planned out. Just ask Aaron.)

I’ve mentioned the idea of finding sponsors to help finance my round-the-world travel (hey, I’m still paying off school loans).

The response?

“Who in the world would fund you to travel?”

Well obviously the idea isn’t that far-fetched because these PTP guys have Nestle giving them money (and chocolate?) to travel the US and write about it.

Anyway.

Browsing their website I found myself thinking, oh, if only I’d done something cool and out of the ordinary back when I graduated from college. If only I’d followed through with one of my big crazy ideas.

Then I remembered: Oh ya, I did do something like that.

Not in the buy-a-special-bus-and-line-up-interviews-and-get-corporate-sponsorship way.

More in the do-something-off-the-beaten-path-that-doesn’t-involve-a-cubical kind of way.

At the time it was a big crazy idea that was exciting and scary and the best thing I ever did.

More in the next post…

At lunch today I went to Panera for Creamy Chicken and Rice soup and to write in my journal. I always feel centered and more focused after scribbling a few pages. I should do that more often.

It’s officially fall now, yet the temp’s back in the 90′s. Last night we turned on the a/c.

October is going home on Sunday. I’m excited to see my brother-in-law and hear about his summer in India, but I’m really sad to see the cat go home. We’ve grown quite fond of her (even despite her hairball issues).

Speaking of India, I had Chicken Tikka Masala and a Mango Lassi at Spice and Curry in Durham with my SIETAR-NC group. We had a native Indian join us so we had some
Q & A over dinner.

Our carpet has arrived and will be installed on Monday afternoon.

Just random bits of the average week…

Do you listen to ‘This American Life” on NPR?

I do. Usually I catch snippets in the car on Friday nights.

This evening, on the way from work to dinner, I heard a story about “an Iraq War veteran comes home with an aversion to all Muslims and decides to systematically defeat his own bigotry.” It’s Act 1 of the show and it’s called “And So We Meet Again.”

It’s worth a listen so check it out!

I write in my journals a lot. Yes, journals. I carry a small one in my purse, a mid-sized journal serves me on trips when I carry my laptop bag, and I have a large heavy one that I keep on my desk in my home office.

A few years ago I took a journaling class out of curiosity and in an attempt to ease myself into public writing. (My journal for the course was a spiral college rule notebook with an orange corrugated cardboard cover.) Each week our instructor offered writing prompts and then we scribbled away until she called time. Then we read our writing to the group, if we wanted to.

I like writing prompts, even though I don’t often write in the direction the prompt intended. But that’s ok. Prompts should simply give you a nudge down a writing road, create a spark that ignites reflection.

So here are some journaling prompts for you. These prompts are actually questions submitted by interculturalists around the world who are virtually deconstructing the idea of globalism, which is the theme of the Global SIETAR conference that will be held in Granada, Spain in October 2008. Enjoy!

• How do cultures adapt to the demands of globalization? Is there a greater need to hold on to cultural differences?
• How can one determine the ethical guidelines to follow in a global context when cultural ethics differ? What is globalizing ‘right’ and what’s globalizing ‘wrong’?
• When does globalization NOT mean ‘Americanization’
• What is the role of the interculturalist in addressing globalization issues?
• How do we leverage our best in cultural identity and break out of the “we-they” mindset?