The latest issue of Pology is out. Do you know it? It's a wonderful web magazine on travel and world culture that showcases travel stories and photos that editor Neil Schwartz calls "impassioned vignettes of cultural exploration" which he hopes will inspire people to get out and see the world. Neil writes of Pology's aim: "In a time where representations of the world are fed to us through polarized lenses, traveling has become of supreme importance. Traveling can remind us that in any situation there are multiple and often conflicting truths. Traveling can humble us, and remind us of how little we know. Immersion in a new culture can force us to see a beauty in the world that all too easily gets lost in the routine of the mundane." I couldn't agree more. And this issue's articles, on places like Uruguay, Benin, India and Peru, do just that. (There's also a wonderful Portraits of Thailand photo series, which is why I've posted one of my own portraits taken near Chiang Mai on our trip last October.) What I like about Pology's style of article is that they read like short stories rather than travel features. Their length and form provides enough space for 'characters' to reveal themselves, enabling us to more closely identify with the storytellers and their situations, and allows sufficient time for the narratives to develop so we can better engage with them. Neil writes: "Too much of today's travel writing focuses on where to stay, eat and shop, but I'm convinced that there is a breed of traveler out there that knows getting lost and having the details unfold spontaneously is what leads to the stories that can be fondly retold for the rest of your life." While I get paid to write about those places to stay, eat and shop, I'm with Neil on this one. I do believe there are travellers out there who want more - savvy travellers who know how to get off the beaten track and who have the skills to seek out the best local spots to eat and interesting places to sleep, but who still want to read inspiring travel writing that motivates them to move in the first place, stories that they can relate to, which ring true, and which remind them of their own travels. Travellers like me and you.
Pology: presenting the beauty in travel normally lost in the routine of the mundane
The latest issue of Pology is out. Do you know it? It's a wonderful web magazine on travel and world culture that showcases travel stories and photos that editor Neil Schwartz calls "impassioned vignettes of cultural exploration" which he hopes will inspire people to get out and see the world. Neil writes of Pology's aim: "In a time where representations of the world are fed to us through polarized lenses, traveling has become of supreme importance. Traveling can remind us that in any situation there are multiple and often conflicting truths. Traveling can humble us, and remind us of how little we know. Immersion in a new culture can force us to see a beauty in the world that all too easily gets lost in the routine of the mundane." I couldn't agree more. And this issue's articles, on places like Uruguay, Benin, India and Peru, do just that. (There's also a wonderful Portraits of Thailand photo series, which is why I've posted one of my own portraits taken near Chiang Mai on our trip last October.) What I like about Pology's style of article is that they read like short stories rather than travel features. Their length and form provides enough space for 'characters' to reveal themselves, enabling us to more closely identify with the storytellers and their situations, and allows sufficient time for the narratives to develop so we can better engage with them. Neil writes: "Too much of today's travel writing focuses on where to stay, eat and shop, but I'm convinced that there is a breed of traveler out there that knows getting lost and having the details unfold spontaneously is what leads to the stories that can be fondly retold for the rest of your life." While I get paid to write about those places to stay, eat and shop, I'm with Neil on this one. I do believe there are travellers out there who want more - savvy travellers who know how to get off the beaten track and who have the skills to seek out the best local spots to eat and interesting places to sleep, but who still want to read inspiring travel writing that motivates them to move in the first place, stories that they can relate to, which ring true, and which remind them of their own travels. Travellers like me and you.
Sky Watch Friday
I took these Wed night as we have been having some pretty good storms the last few days, having temperatures to 104 on the weekend and then going to this, although it isn't cold it makes for humid days that we are not used too.Click on side bar for sky watch blog roll and join Tom, Sandy, Imac
Here i caught a rainbow, it was really bright but by the time i ran in the house to grab the camera and came out it was practically gone. )-:
Travel and the fragility of life
I was devastated to read about the tragic news of the Madrid air crash, which killed 153 people. You can read about the tragedy here at BBC news and at the International Herald Tribune. I don't deal with bad news well at the best of times. And it should go without saying at the worst of times. I'm one of those people who cries when I watch TV and see somebody else crying, who feels the pain of another's injury or loss, especially the loss of a life. But it's not only the loss of life that moves me. But the loss of life when it's least expected. Like when people are going on holidays for godsake, when touching down on the runway should be one of the happiest times of their life, the start of an amazing trip, when they should be feeling a sense of anticipation. Not of dread. And of course I can't help but think of ourselves. I know there's a greater chance of being hit by a car crossing the road than there is dying in a plane accident, but it always sends a chill down my spine when I read about air crashes because we fly so often. We get on and off planes as most people do buses. I've lost count of the number of flights we've caught this year, let alone in the 2.5 years we've been on the road this last 'stint'. I hate to think. But let's just say we've flown a lot more planes than we've caught buses. Although I've been flying since I was four, I did go through a period when I got nervous flying. It was mainly the times I flew by myself. (I never get anxious when flying with Terry.) When I flew back to Australia when my Dad was dying of cancer and Terry had to stay in Dubai and work. And when I'd flown on my own to film festivals and conferences elsewhere in the Middle East and Europe. It only took a bit of turbulence and I'd be running a list through my head of all the things I hadn't done, the things I hadn't said, and how I hadn't prepared for... for... well... let's just say, for the fragility of life. Just as I imagine most of those people on the plane hadn't either.
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