Travel

Last year at this time I was having an awesome, fuzzy jet-lagged walk around Frankfurt on my way to Africa.

I had several hours between flights and decided to take advantage of the excellent weather and speedy train into town to stretch my legs a bit.

The day was one of those totally bizarre half-drunk with jet-lag and half-drunk with excitement of traveling off to new destination days.  The combination of hyped-up excitement and over-tired dull brain made for an interesting, dizzying state of mind.

Africa was definitely one of the best trips I’ve done, and while I imagine it may be a while before I get back, it is definitely on the list.

In the coming weeks I’m going to take advantage of the weekly-photo posts to re-visit the experience.

For now, I’ll just continue sitting at my desk, working.

Inevitably, one of the questions that comes up while planning for or thinking about a trip is whether to go someplace new or to revisit an old favorite.

I love the idea of exploring someplace new, after all that’s a big part of what I enjoy about traveling.

But I also love returning to someplace familiar – reminiscing through old trips and seeing what’s the same or what has changed.

So in thinking about where my next possible destination will be, it got me to thinking about places I’ve been and specifically, where I’ve traveled the most.

Right off the bat, New York would probably be the city I’ve visited the most (and never lived in) but that doesn’t count, or, it doesn’t feel like it should.  Part of the reason it’s at the top is I grew up 15 miles from the city.  It’s basically home.  Yosemite  doesn’t count either – too close to home, though less than New York, it still feels like home.

Thailand was a great destination both times I’ve gone, as was Japan.  Both places I would return to in a heartbeat.

I’ve been to Germany 4 times, though to different cities.  I was in Berlin 3 of those 4 trips.  I’ve been to Paris 3 times, London 3 times.  Somehow though they seem a lot more familiar than that.

I’ve gone to Hilton Head Island several times, mostly on family trips but also on a memorable college trip – so that’s probably 6 times I’ve been there.  I think that’s probably the most.

I’m surprised that Germany is the place I’ve been to most outside of the US.  I did figure someplace in Europe – I’ve taken a couple of longer trips there (in ‘93 and ‘01) as well as a couple of trips in college and a couple of shorter trips – but I hadn’t really thought through that Germany would be at the top of the list.

And I’m surprised about Hilton Head.  I guess you could argue that might not be the most visited place – I’ve been to the Jersey Shore more than that, Yosemite more than that.. perhaps even Joshua Tree more than 6 times.

Maybe Joshua Tree counts?  That’s far enough away from ‘home’ (it certainly is different from San Francisco).

For the next trip?  I think it will be someplace new.  There’s more than a few of those out there still.

I’m always thinking about traveling and where I’ll be heading off to next.  I’ll often talk about my ‘list’ but the reality is, I’m always ready to head off anywhere, and I rarely follow any kind of order.  For the past few years, South America has been on the ‘top’ of my list and I’ve yet to get there.

So Meghan and I are thinking about where we will head to next, and inevitably, we’re having trouble deciding.  South America is still on the top of the list, but we’re trying to decide when we will be able to go somewhere, and where would be a good place to go, based on the time of the year.

If we go earlier, like in the summer, then perhaps Ireland or Alaska, if we go in the fall or spring, then perhaps South America will happen.

Then again, if we head out in winter, maybe we should go back to S.E. Asia?

But, this year I think it’s possible we won’t go anywhere internationally and we might not take any big trips.

We’ve got a busy summer ahead of us and both of us want to make a couple of trips back East, so perhaps we’ll start planning for next year.

Hmm.. maybe India?

I am a huge fan of traveling by train.

Growing up outside of New York, we had an extensive rail network that we could take advantage of.

After college I took my first large (more than 1-month) trip abroad -the fairly typical Eurpoe by Eurorail.  I loved how the trains there could get you into just about anywhere you wanted to go.

Years later, traveling to Japan I was amazed by the Shinkansen service and its ability to swiftly carry us across the country.

All that said, for years I commuted to work via train here in California and the experience was pretty poor.  The train took much longer than driving and I needed to drive to the train station (or double my commute time by taking the bus to the train station) and I had to have  a shuttle take me from the station to the office and back.  And when the train broke down, it really left you stranded.  I arrived 4 hours late for work one day.

Which is why this map makes me excited.  It depicts the high-speed rail systems that are proposed over the coming years here in the states.  With the right experience, train travel can be so much better than the alternatives.

A few examples?

• How about departing and arriving into the heart of the city instead of commuting out to the airport.  Have you ever tried to get to O’Hare during rush hour?
• What about an overnight trip from New York to Atlanta with a comfortable bed.  Leave the city after a nice dinner and drinks and arrive for breakfast after a good night’s sleep.
• Downtown San Francisco to Los Angeles in 2 hours?
• Boston to New York in speed and comfort – even during a wicked Blizzard or Nor’Easter.

I hope the system gets the funding that it needs and that Americans realize the benefits and convenience of an efficient, comfortable rail network.

After a bit of a delay, I’ve finally gotten around to posting some images from my trip to Germany earlier this year.

In September, just as I accepted an offer for a new job, I took off to Germany for two weeks.  The trip started in Munich where I met up with Erica, a former coworker from my Intuit days.  Erica, Kathleen (Erica’s sister) and I then spent a few days hut-to-hut hiking in the Alps.

After an overnight train to Berlin, I met up with my father and the two of us visited some old friends throughout Germany: Eta in Berlin; Dieter in Bavaria; and Bill in Ludwigshafen.  We had a great time.

Well, it’s taken me a month or so (then again, I’ve had a busy month…) to get through the Africa photos but I’m finally starting to post them online.  I’ll trickle them onto the site over the next couple of days.  Check here for the latest..

There have been a few reasons that it’s taken me a while to get these photos online.

First of all, I really have been busy, Hiking in the Sierra for a couple of days, moving Meghan into her new apartment, heading to the East Coast for a couple of weeks, and finally settling into San Francisco again.

Second, I’ve been exploring other ways to display my photos, including playing around with iMovie on the Mac (a product I’m pretty impressed with – it definitely has its limitations but it exceeds expectations for a free application) and other online sites.  In this case, Flickr really has the stronghold on photo sharing.

Third, I am supposed to be looking for a job…

Anyway, if you want to check out the Africa Photos, check out the site over the coming days.  And if you want to see the iMovie I put together, just ask.  It’s a little long for an upload to Youtube, besides, the High-Res file is the way to see it.