January Edition of the Itineranti

The inaugural edition of Travels of the Itineranti drew submissions from bloggers scattered across the globe from Patagonia to China and everywhere in between. The themes of the posts run the gambit from inspirational to utilitarian. Enjoy!

We'll start today with Zhu, who bused 3,048 kilometers from Patagonia (down at the tip of South America) to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Great advice on some of the ins and outs of the bus systems in South America, including tips on how to keep yourself fed, watered, and sane even under a deluge of Adam Sandler movies. Who knew they love Adam Sandler on Chilean buses. Crazy. Zhu' s account reminded me that traveling isn't all about the destination - sometimes we need to take a long breath, grab a bottle of coke and an iPod full of podcasts and settle in to watch the land shoot by the window.

Next up is Steve and Sarah, who spent part of the Christmas holiday exploring the South Bank of the Thames River in London. I loved the little bits of history in this post, including glimpses of the Globe Theater, Clink Prison, and St. Paul's Cathedral along with a few facts about their past. I tend to read up about a place before I go visit it so I can understand its historical significance. It lets me understand whose footsteps I'm walking in and how different their lives might have been from mine.




Now I'll shoot from London across the world to Korea, where Seth reviews the top five things he's learned so far from his travels. He and his wife have been there for six months, teaching, traveling, and getting accustomed to the hot crowded streets of the city. Taking an assignment for a year or two somewhere out there in the world has always been a dream of mine. It seems like the only way to truly experience a culture other than our own. It gives you the time to tease out the nuances of commerce, transportation, mannerisms, customs, and all of the subtle and complex components that make up a culture. Thanks Seth for the inspiration and bits of practical knowledge about getting along while living in a place very far from home.



Onto the Earth Pilgirm, aka Graham Phoenix, who offers some practical advice about how to handle the details of working from anywhere in the world. He focuses on helping people make travel the driving force in their life, to remain out there on the road as long as possible, and to let the rest of life follow along. I found the details about how Graham manages his tech requirements (laptop, cell phones, adapters, internet etc) to be the most helpful. The devil's in the details and Graham seems to have it all sorted out.

I was very excited to receive this submission from Twenty-Something Travel about negogiating the competing desires for advancing one's career and hitting the road to travel. There is so much pressure to follow the standard route of climbing the ladder at whatever work environment you are in. It's ingrained through school, family pressures, mortgages, etc etc etc. It's a tough trade-off and remembering your inner Itineranti is critical. Great content on the rest of the website as well.

Once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker. I couldn't resist posting this article from Watch Me Eat about spending Christmas in New York. Watch Me Eat travels and eats, blogs and eats, travels and eats, and...well you get the idea. He managed a quick trip up to New York from his typical Florida stomping grounds and it was wonderful to experience the magical winter cityscape in New York through his descriptions. It is a unique place in general, but in the winter, New York is something special. Great to see a blogger with a different take on traveling as well, though come on, knishes only? So much more cuisine to try in the Big Apple!


Here's another great posting from a world traveler who has settled into a foreign country and is filling us in on the experience. Devin is teaching in southern China and took a short trip out to Shantou to visit a friend. After many jostling hours aboard a local bus, he shared some experiences with the local residents and got a feeling for the life in Shantou. His visits to Mr. Zheng's family and home are particulary interesting as Devin takes us right into the homes and lives of the people he visits. Thanks Devin for taking us along with your adventures, I look forward to hearing more as time goes by.


And I'll wrap it up with a humorous post from Mad Kane, whose satire on the travel planning process made me laugh. I hope you've enjoyed the first edition of Travels of Itineranti, we'll be back next month with more world travelers, inspirational advice, and practical know-how. For now, be well and safe travels to whatever corner of the world you find yourself in.