Welcome to the Travel without Leaving Home

 When I was little and the Internet couldn't handle video sharing, I would often watch the Travel Channel with my sibling. Our favorite host was Samantha Brown and our favorite show was "Great Hotels". Naturally, my sibling and I preferred the episodes that centered around Disney World Resorts (Disney owns Travel Channel) and the Hershey Hotel and Spa.

Today anyone can be a host of their own - though COVID-19 has made that a bit difficult as of late. There are tons of travel bloggers and vloggers all over the web. I wish I could join them, but I'm not that confident in my ability to make a living that way.

My first site when I arrived in Iceland

The only reason I'm bringing this up now is because my dad has been watching a ton of travel vlogs on YouTube lately - which means that I've been watching a lot of travel vlogs. My dad's favorites are the ones that focus on train rides. He's determined to one day take the Siberian Express across Russia with some friends of his (said friends are Siberian).

I think my dad misses his travel lifestyle. Before he retired (and the pandemic) his work took him around the world. Even before that he spent most of his young life traveling. I think he'd been around the world twice by the age of ten (possibly three times, but I forget the timing). 

For the record, I am envious of his youth spent overseas. He had managed to get to thirty countries before the age of thirty. I've barely made it to twelve.

My grandmother kept journals of all of their trips (which I've been slowly going through) and they are fascinating. She wrote a brief account of each and every day, including what they ate, where they stayed, and interesting sites. If she'd had the Internet, and been into social media, I can easily see how she might have been a vlogger or blogger. 

Traveling is an experience, one I encourage for everyone. However, it isn't accessible for everyone. It's expensive, not always easy for people who have disabilities, and requires a lot of time that someone with a full time job or school schedule might not have. Plus there's a pandemic going on right now that has pretty much halted non-essential travel. 

Mark Twain has been quoted as saying: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

I believe it. I've learned a lot from traveling and from watching travel shows on TV, streaming services, and YouTube. I still think it would be cool to have a job that allowed me to travel. It can be tough and it takes you away from your family.

But it's also an adventure and experience that you never forget. The wonders of the world are out there waiting to be seen and explored. 

Until it's safe to do so, I'll keep watching the experiences of others.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Until next week!

Welcome to the Hate, the Hurt, the Anger

 For the past few months, I've been job hunting. I was laid off again in January and, though I felt it coming, I was still unprepared for the turmoil my life was once again about to be thrown into. Last Friday, I received a job offer to be a consultant for five months. I felt relief and excitement, but didn't feel like celebrating much. 

There's a lot of anger right now in the world. A lot of hurt. A lot of hate. 

It's overwhelming in an impersonal and intangible way. Most of these negative emotions do not directly affect me. I'm not the one feeling these feelings or acting on them or a victim of the violence that's been springing forth. There's a distinct distance that I neither created nor really understand.

I recently finished a novel called Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky - he also wrote The Perks of Being a Wall Flower, which I haven't read but hear is good. It's an over 700 page horror novel that I would probably have overlooked if not for the fact that I won it in a Goodreads' give away. I'll try not to spoil the book too much, but it heavily relies on Christian symbolism (Catholicism being the prime religion present), middle American suburbia, and the (erroneous) analogy of the frog being placed in water and not jumping out as the water slowly comes to a boil. 

It also repeats itself a lot.

And yet, there's very little that I can think that should be cut out of the story. Each repetition reinforces and adds detail to the first time the idea or image, or thought occurred. There were a few times where I found it annoying, but I was also getting increasingly uncomfortable. It was almost like the book wanted me to get mad at it.

I'm also not sure that the lack of diversity was intentional or not (there is a lesbian couple mentioned, but they have almost no narrative impact on the plot other than to be moms to two other characters). Everyone (as far as I can tell) are Christian and they don't like the fact that they had to change the name of the "Christmas Pageant" to "Holiday Pageant" to be more inclusive. The story takes place in a fairly well off suburban neighborhood outside of Pittsburg, PA.

That doesn't stop the town from trying to rip itself apart and turning the story into a monstrous "us versus them" narrative. There are the people who stand by and want to help the main character Christopher (an eight year old with an imaginary friend who wants him to build a treehouse deep in the woods) and there are the people who want to destroy everything in their path. The people in the second group distinguish themselves by sewing their eyes and mouths shut.

I'm not kidding. I shivered every time it was mentioned and I'm squirming in my seat now typing it out. At the back of the novel, there are a few questions that Chbosky answered to explain some of his creative decisions. He included a small paragraph about why he chose to have the people sew themselves up. I honestly thought it was a little obvious. It was a grotesque mockery of the "see no evil, speak no evil" saying (though "hear no evil" wasn't included). He said that evil in this world is spread by us not "seeing it" and "staying silent" about it. It's a benevolent representation of the sort of evil that is perpetuated by ignoring a problem.

The symbolism might have been a bit on the nose, but I also think it's apt for the times I'm living in. We don't have these same stark visual to tell us who is susceptible to hate and ignorance and who isn't.

For the past year, hate crimes against Asian Americans has risen. One of my friends is a first generation Chinese American. Occasionally, she'll send me news articles or YouTube videos of the violence and hate crimes being committed against people who look like her in places like New York and San Francisco. Though she's never outright said so, I can tell she's scared.

This week has been particularly tough with the conflict between Palestine and Israel. I personally don't feel comfortable commenting on the conflict for a variety of reasons, but it's been a near constant in my mind all week. 

There's a rage that simmering across the globe. It could be the rising temperatures from climate change. It could be the stress from COVID. 

In some ways the violence, anger, and hate have caused people to become numb or pretend not to see it happening. But it is happening.

Sometimes, I wish all of the conflicts of the world could be as simple as right versus wrong. Some of them should be that simple, but they're not. And like in Imaginary Friend, people keep their eyes and mouths shut so as to not see or say anything.

Wishing for the real world to be as simple as a horror story is a disservice to the people in pain right now. It solves nothing and helps no one. I can only hope that those wiser than me can make the best choices possible.

Though I didn't give Imaginary Friend a five star rating (I gave four stars), it's still a good horror story. Again, I won't spoil the ending, but it is a classic "good versus evil" narrative (which *SPOILERS* means the good guys win). 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to My Imagined Dream House

 Supposedly, my generation is finally able to buy houses. I can confidently say that I am not one of those people. I am years (if not an entire decade or more) from homeownership. The housing market in my area is not in my favor, renting is still a better option for if I need to move in a hurry, and I’m still not convinced that I am mature enough to take care of a house.

That being said, I still daydream about my perfect home. 

Naturally, this being me dreaming, this house doesn’t have to be in existence...at the moment. My ideal house will have several key items (either right off the bat or as a future renovation project), be affordable, and HOA free (for those of you who don’t know what evil has been wrought by the existence of Home Owners’ Associations, you are very lucky).

First and foremost, my ideal home must have enough space for a veggie, herb, and flower garden. My current little apartment balcony is nice, but it’s tiny and facing the wrong direction (for best growing I need a south facing balcony - I have a northeast facing one). I want a huge garden. One that I can cultivate enough veggies for me to not have to worry in the summers and can donate the extras to my local food pantry. I’d probably need a pretty large fence around it to keep out deer (and neighbors who don’t know who to ask for anything).

If there’s enough room, I’d like to include a sunflower maze with a spot for tea at its center. And a weeping willow tree to have picnics under.

Aside from the garden, I must have a library space. I’ll be content with it being connected to a study, but I must have a room lined with bookshelves. I’d love it to be two stories high with a reading nook balcony, but if that’s not possible, at least a window seat with comfy cushions and a built in ladder to reach the top shelves.

My extensive doll collection might be housed in this library or my bedroom. Depends on if I have a sig fig or not. Dolls can intimidate people and I’m prone to moving mine around to mess with people I don’t like. If my sig fig can’t handle dolls, in the library they will live to guard to books.

There must also be a wood burning fireplace to keep me toasty on a cool night. There can also be a fire pit outside, but a beautiful brick fireplace with a squashy armchair and footstool. A hot water maker would be on hand to make tea and hot chocolate.

Additionally, my perfect home with have a secret passage...or two...maybe three.

My grandfather’s house had a secret passage in it. Well, it had what the grandchildren referred to as a secret passage (it was really a back staircase that lead from the back of the house to the kitchen). There was a crawl space passage that lead from grandfather’s basement to the next door neighbor’s house, but I never went in it.

The type of secret passage I want doesn’t have to be fancy. I’d prefer something hidden behind a bookcase or sliding wall that opens up to a staircase. I think it would be cool if this staircase was lined with more books (maybe my diaries from school or writing journals could be hidden there for a laugh...and my embarrassment). Where this staircase leads doesn’t fully matter as long as the entrance is also hidden. Though I do have one feature I think would be fun for it to go to...

A tower. I’d really like a tower.

Not the kind that holds forgotten royalty in. I want a tower that is my creative space and lets me see the night sky. I’m not super picky (right now) on the view. I might enjoy seeing a glittering city or having the starry heavens open above my head. I just want a tower with windows on all sides with curtains that flow and a swinging bed. Maybe even a patio on top of the tower.

Finally, I must have a big bathtub with plenty of room for bubble baths. There should also be a free standing shower that is not attached to the bathtub. Actually, let’s have an outdoor shower too. I love having those at the beach. I know they’re for making sure you rinse off all the sand, but I think it would be nice to have one after working in the garden all day.

So that’s it. That’s my dream house.

I know it probably doesn’t exist outside my imagination, but I can dream and try to save up enough money to turn it into reality. Or I’ll write a book featuring it.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y’all like hearing from me.