Archive for the ‘Perspectives’ Category

Posted on March 3, 2010 - by Janice

Chile: whether to travel during a travel alert.

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How to donate to Chile Earthquake Relief – Canada

As mentioned in a post quickly written on Sunday, I have a flight booked for Santiago, Chile on Friday. At that point, I wasn’t sure whether I should go and I put my dilemma to all readers. I received many thoughtful comments and good advice.  You can read them here:  Solo Travel to Chile: Torn between two values.

Now, I have made my decision. Here’s what has gone into it.

The Canadian government’s travel alert:
OFFICIAL WARNING: Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada advises against non-essential travel …

My personal network’s travel alerts:
Here’s how my friends and family weighed in on the decision which, I should point out, is not about whether to go at all but whether to go now.  Their comments ranged from things to consider to direct advice to personal preferences. The result is this list of reasons to go and reasons to stay.

Reasons to go now:

• The condo that I was going to borrow in Santiago was spared so I still have safe accommodation.
• My flight has changed but is not canceled. I can still go on Friday though it would not be a direct flight.
• The tourism office is not discouraging people from going to Santiago, the deserts of the north or Patagonia in the south.
• By going, my need for travel is fulfilled – at least, I don’t have to come up with another trip.

Reasons to stay for now:

• It feels grossly inappropriate to me to go to a country for pleasure when it is reeling from a disaster. Logical or not, that’s how I feel.
• Reports I’m receiving second hand from people in Santiago say that the people of Chile are dealing with a form of post-traumatic stress syndrome since the quake. I certainly would not see the people and culture at its best.
• I work with tourist offices not tour companies. The final details of my trip were to be confirmed Monday. Due to the quake, this didn’t happen so I am not sure how much of what I hoped to do is now possible.
• Tourism dollars are always welcome but I think that my going and writing about Chile under normal conditions would be more beneficial to the country than writing about its present state.
• My family prefers that I don’t go.

That’s my list. I’d like to add two other comments that hold weight:

• “I think your answer is found in your question.”
• “Take the time to really evaluate & then trust what your heart tells you. The pause in your decision may be your answer.”

My conclusion:
I will wait and go at a later date.

For those considering going to Chile, or any area during a travel alert.
For anyone considering going into a disaster area to help, I’d like to offer the core of a comment left by Gwen McCauley in my last post. Gwen is a personal coach and poses some excellent questions for those considering travel during an alert.

• Have you ever experienced a major natural disaster or environmental trauma scenario before? If so, what was the long-term impact of that experience on you? If not, how do you tend to react to dirt, putrid smells, lots of noise and being in the presence many, many people in deep emotional distress? Can you even imagine how you might respond?

• What’s your capacity for being around people and animals who are in distress but whom you can’t help? (some people don’t get hooked, others torment themselves by their impotency -pay attention to cues from day-to-day living: do you have a history of rescuing injured cats, dogs, squirrels; if you see a crying child how difficult is it for you to pass by? Your responses to those kinds of situations reveal a lot)

• Have you considered the language dynamics. I don’t think you speak a lot of Spanish so what do you think it’ll be like for you to try to process your emotional responses to awful situations in a context where you might not have access to fluent English speakers? I’m sure you’d do just fine in making yourself useful, it’s the deep emotional ‘aftershocks’ within yourself to what you’d have to deal with that interests me.

• How long after you return home are you prepared to have your life disrupted? I know and work with a lot of folks in the International Development field and each of them has had to develop their own way of dealing with the culture shock that is the norm for their work. Those who end up in disaster situations often have many of their assumptions about themselves and the world shaken up and it can take a prolonged time upon returning home for them to find stability and equanimity again.

Posted on March 3, 2010 - by Janice

How to Donate to Chile Earthquake Relief – Canada

Americans wishing to donate to Chilean relief please go to
Mashable where there is an excellent list of options.

Here are some options for Canadians wishing to donate funds to Chilean disaster relief:

Embassy of Chile – Earthquake Relief Fund
Bank of Nova Scotia, Account # 40006 01408 13, 119 Queen St., Ottawa, ON

Red Cross in Chile
CITIBANK, Account No. 9941973331 ABA Code: 021000089 Address: 153 E. 53rd St, 4th Floor, New York, NY

Doctors without Borders / Medecin Sans Frontiers
Donate online at: http://www.msf.ca/

Salvation Army
www.SalvationArmy.ca or 1-800-SAL-ARMY or at you nearest Salvation Army facility. Please specify that your donation is for the Chile Earthquake Relief Fund.

Aeroplan
Aeroplan has committed 1 million Aeroplan Miles to the Canadian Red Cross to support Chile’s emergency relief efforts. Aeroplan Members who wish to support the Chilean community can donate their miles online at www.aeroplan.com.

Text Giving

Text the word “CHILE” to 20222 to donate $10 On behalf of World Vision

Text the word “CHILE” to 52000 to donate $10 On behalf of the Salvation Army

Text the word “CHILE” to 45678 to donate $5 (In Canada Only in English) On behalf of UNICEF Canada

Text the word “SAVE” to 20222 to donate $10 On behalf of Save the Children Federation, Inc.

Text the word “CHILE” to 85944 to donate $10 On behalf of International Medical Corp.

Text the word “4CHILE” to 50555 to donate $10 On behalf of Convoy of Hope

Text the word “CHILE” to 50555 to donate $10 On behalf of Friends of the World Program

The donation is added to the cell user’s bill.

I’ll add to this list as I can. Please add your organization in the comments field.

Posted on February 28, 2010 - by Janice

Solo Travel to Chile: torn between two values

My ticket is for this Friday, March 5th.

Many arrangements have been made.

But with the devastating earthquake in Chile yesterday, I am unsure whether this is a solo travel adventure I’m prepared to take. (more…)

Posted on February 23, 2010 - by Janice

Travel & Art Intersect on the
Road to Understanding.

What inspires your travels?

Are they just about fun? Are they also about learning? You can’t go everywhere so, how do you choose where to go? (more…)

Posted on February 13, 2010 - by Janice

Love, the Olympics and
is somebody camping in your head?

This is a follow-up to my “Confessions” post last week.

Love: Valentine’s Day(as manufactured by the greeting card industry)  isn’t a big deal. But, if you’d prefer to be partnered, it does highlight the fact that you aren’t.  So, as described in last week’s post, I planned to go to, ”A Special Valentine’s Day Aphrodisiac and Wine Affair” put on by The Works in Toronto. Why not give it a try? Meeting new people is always a good thing. But, it was canceled.  Ah well. (more…)

Posted on February 10, 2010 - by Guest

Why I Travel Solo

Welcome to guest blogger, Andy Hayes. Andy is a professional writer, published author, and probably not
as introverted as he’d have you think. He’s the editor of Sharing Travel Experiences, an online magazine that
shares rich and authentic travel stories, whether they’re solo travel or not. Click over and check it out –
maybe you’ll find the inspiration you’ve been looking for.

There’s an awful lot of talk about whether one should travel solo or not. Sure – there are issues like safety, security, and your own physical health that influence a decision like that. But the bottom line is only one person can make that decision: YOU. I’m not going to tell you whether it’s right or wrong to travel solo, and nor can the next person. What I can do is tell you a bit about why I mostly travel solo. I hope it leads you to some internal thought and possibly a better idea of what kind of travel is best for you.
(more…)

Posted on February 5, 2010 - by Janice

Solo Traveler’s Valentine’s Day Confession

I have had second, third and fourth thoughts about this piece but, I got myself committed so I lay my situation before you. Please be kind.

Confession time. While I love to travel solo — it is enriching, satisfying, exciting, unpredictable, rewarding… — I would prefer to travel through life not-so-solo.

I was contacted recently by a journalist putting together a story on solo travel for Valentine’s Day. “How progressive,” I thought. She wanted exotic escapes that people take, just for themselves. I offered my post “Falling In Love in the Lake District“. It was truly the most romantic place that I have ever taken myself.  She was happy with the contribution and I started thinking: (more…)

Posted on December 29, 2009 - by Janice

Travel Your Way to Success:
the thoughts of 6 people who have.

What is success?

According to Alain de Botton, we live in a world where snobbery is no longer based on an accident of birth as it was in the past but on the success that we make for ourselves. We live in a meritocracy and it has it’s benefits; we are not stuck in a life predetermined for us. But it also has a downside. If we are not successful, we only have ourselves to blame. This can result in stress, regrets and feelings of failure. (more…)

Posted on December 24, 2009 - by Janice

What Matters Now – thanks Seth Godin

The travel we do is informed by the thoughts we have.

Let’s have good thoughts.

Multiple Perspectives
The “Perspectives” category of Solo Traveler was developed specifically to allow me to muse on a wide variety of subjects — to think about trends and issues as they relate to travel.  (more…)

Posted on December 19, 2009 - by Ffion

A Solo Traveler’s Holiday Thought:
A lesson from my dog.

Can you imagine living as a human in a dog’s world? I know. It sounds like some corny rehash of Planet of the Apes, but the thought does cross my mind when I see my dog live in a human world 90% of the time. She only has occasion to interact with others of her kind when she meets them on walks, or at the doggie day care. She is mostly a solo traveling dog.

I choose to travel solo, but what about Kiah? Sure, she sees me as the (human) pack leader, but doesn’t she get tired of her solo dog life sometimes?

I have a long history with dogs but they have not been solo animals. In fact, this is the first time I’ve shared my life with just one dog; usually it’s been at least two, sometimes three and, once, we had three dogs, two cats and two rabbits. Never a solo animal.

Recently, when I took Kiah over to my dog-sitting friends, it hit me how much she needs her own kind. We hadn’t been there for about six weeks and when we pulled up at the gate, she was so excited she practically leapt out of the car. Humans lucky enough to be familiar with Kiah know that she is generally a very laid-back animal. Leaping out of cars is not her style. And the other dogs were equally happy to see her, especially her packmate, Willow, who rolled over in a (for her) rare display of canine affection and pleasure. Kiah spent the day with her dog friends, and was happy and content not being a solo dog for a while.

I guess it makes me, a solo (human) traveler for much of my life, realize that although we humans can choose to travel solo, perhaps, at times, we also need the company of our special pack.

Solo travel, whether through life, a year-long global sojourn or on a brief weekend trip, is brilliant, great, fun and challenging. But perhaps, it is all the more so when spiced with the occasional “pack” day. I suppose, at this time of the year (Christmas, winter solstice, or simply the ending of one year and the awakening of the next), many thoughts turn to absent pack mates. Mine certainly do.