womantraveler

I Shall Return!

Sans doute, for those who are paying attention, Womantraveler has taken a very long vacation. Refreshment is often necessary, especially in the always-on wired world. But I shall return! So keep checking back for fresh insights and tips focusing on the two essential prongs that inspire this blog: mastering business travel and escaping it all with very cool getaways. Ciao!

In-N-Out Burger's Founding Mother

Womantraveler Esther Synder, the founder of the cult favorite In-N-Out Burger, has died at 86, and we remember her this week. Whether you grew up in the post-World War II drive-through hamburger craze or have been indoctrinated more recently, this West Coast alternative to Big Macs, etc., since 1948 has been scoring as the best burger (and, I'm reluctant to admit, best fries). There are many locations, with modern versions of carhops, including an In-N-Out Burger just 5 minutes from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at 9149 S. Sepulveda Blvd.

And for another taste plus '60s nostalgia, stop at the In-and-Out off Highway 101 north of San Francisco at 798 Redwood Hwy. in Mill Valley. Then drive 10 minutes north to San Rafael -- where director George Lucas used the main street (4th Street) as the 1962 American Graffiti set and the nightly auto cruising to and from Mel's Drive-In. That's the way it really was in San Rafael when Lucas was growing up in the area, and the landmark renovated Rafael movie theater is a popular destination for independent films.

The Mystical Midsummer Solstice

Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year -- known in Europe as Midsummer Day. Revelers danced at Stonehenge when the sun rose this morning and had their annual dispensation to actually touch the prehistoric monument. Because of the sun's 24-hour presence in most northerly places like Scandinavia, all sorts of myths surround this day.

In Scandinavian countries, the "midnight sun" remains visible in the sky all night. I'll never forget staying up all night to witness that phenomenon for the first time one Midsummer Night in Kiruna, Sweden, about 100 miles inside the Arctic Circle. You still have time to get to Kiruna for the Midsummer celebration this weekend.

Last year in Spain, my son enjoyed the frolicking/rollicking Bonfires of St. John in Valencia, festive with beach fires, fireworks and all-night partying.

Mom's Student Abroad Summer Primer

Sending our college graduates and teenage kids abroad for summer studies or student travel takes a village for even a seasoned womantraveler -- with planning complexities far beyond sports and arts camps. Destinations, flight deals, often last-minute ticketing, safety issues, itineraries, hotels, cell phone and Internet cafe connections -- just for starters. Sure, there are books and guides, but the wired generation have their own resources -- and the Internet is primo. What's an experienced travel mom to do to help tee up the experience, yet stand back and let the kids have the enjoyment -- and challenges -- of making it happen?

The options aren't as simple as "packing my bag and heading off to Europe" to bum around, as we moms did back in the dark ages. though possible, it's not so easy as air travel is more expensive and more crowded. Hostels are so full this year in the popular European cities that students need to book ahead, not to mention plan for the reserved trains that are separate transactions from the various types of Eurailpass, which must be purchased in the US before the trip. And the choices can get even more complicated than that -- a father recently asked for a reference for a Spanish-language self-defense class in his hometown region for his 17-year-old daughter heading to Latin America in the next two weeks. Great question, but not a quick answer. With some digging, they found the best option. We parents have to think on our feet, too.

Having "been there, done that" now for the past two summers, and interviewing my womentraveler friends who have accomplished the same, there are several ways we can set the right stage for a great travel experience for our newly touring teens and 20-somethings...

Traveling Beyond the Tuscan Sun

"I love to wake up in a new country and know a whole new world is right there for me to explore," says author Frances Mayes, whose memoir Under the Tuscan Sun was only the beginning of her appeal to the womantraveler in all of us. In an interview with the Sacramento Bee, Mayes describes her adventurous spirit, which she also chronicles in her new book, A Year in the World. "You hear so many travelers wanting to put things into their own contexts, but I want a city to be 'other' and foreign,'" she adds. Like many Southern writers, Mayes transforms the places she goes into essential "characters." Her new book is about moving through other world travel destinations with her husband Ed.

Argentina's Mothers Move Us On

Journalist Joanne Omang, back in 1976, first wrote about the courageous Argentine mothers who protested repression and demanded  to know the fate of thousands of their disappeared loved ones, including their children. Omang's vigilance to the deeper story as a Washington Post reporter helped create the new language of "los desaparecidos," the disappeared. Returning to Argentina this year, 30 years later, she observed the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo's annual March of Resistance. Her account in The Nation about the slow but determined progress toward human rights is a thoughtful and moving example of what it means to be a womantraveler.

Riding On, Not In, the Train

Rather than advocating hobo-style train-hopping, womantraveler wants to reward this adventurous young journalist for her impressive piece of writing in the San Francisco Chronicle. As an undaunted explorer, she finds danger an acceptable risk in this thrill-seeking subculture that now attracts the middle class.

Flying: What Happened to Manners?

We all have our miserable air travel stories -- about the passengers, not the airlines. Most of us do not desire a food court or party bus experience while we're crammed on airplanes with people we don't know. We are flying for business, or even pleasure, but we did not choose to spend our day with you -- we got are stuck with you for a few very long hours. So, mind your manners, please! The constant cougher in the next seat, the baby's yogurty fingers allowed to roam by a comatose parent, loud shrieking chatter erupting from the completely unaware behind, the seat in front that moves back and forth -- in and out of your lap. Helen Bryant Anders nailed this phenomenon expertly -- and with a hoot -- in the Austin American-Statesman.

Vagabond Me

Moving home and job for a womantraveler isn't unlike a complex travel experience. It's necessary to be a visionary planner and a resourceful concierge, yet personally fearless, incessantly curious and comfortably adaptable. Skills as a manager are added value in the orchestration of huge amounts of activity, and it's ok to occasionally throw your hands in the air (or have a big cry) and say "help!" No wonder moving is high on the list of the major stressors of life.

Several times over the years, womantraveler has picked up stakes and moved on for the next creative adventure, usually a strategic business decision balanced by the opportunity to improve the quality of personal surroundings. As this weblog becomes more active again -- after the recent moving hiatus -- it will share the perspective that life is an adventure in which the skills of an informed and intelligent travel come in real handy.

Mapping the Imagination

I recently discovered this intriguing map book that charts the imagination of the inventor as it transcends actual landscapes and treats them with artistic vision. It maps to my approach that maps are full of backstory -- and much more than lines on paper connecting geographical places.