Beyond the city limits

Since the summer of 2009, I’ve been sharing thoughts and memories about the city of Los Angeles at walkingthroughlosangeles.blogspot.com In addition to that outlet, I have decided to create a space where I can share my non-local thoughts. Trust me, I have plenty of them.

A few things have occurred in the recent weeks that led me to this plan of action. For one, I bought a travel journal. Not an e-journal on an ipad, but a classic journal dedicated to my travels. I have other journals but none of them have any record of my trips. That's something I’ve always regretted, so I finally did something about it in time for the New Year. I bought a $5 black journal at Borders and I immediately began recollecting and writing. My goal is to be caught up before my next big trip. I’m not going to copy my journal onto this site, although I may throw in a memory here and there.

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The next spark came from a book that a good friend of mine gave me for Christmas, “100 places every woman should go” by Elizondo Griest. I'll be the first to admit I probably wouldn't have purchased this book on my own. But I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. I devoured this book in about a week. Filled with brief two page summaries of various suggestions serve as a good stepping stone for any countries that may spark a reader's interest. This book cemented countries already on my bucket list, and I was also inspired to think about destinations in regions I hadn’t even given a second thought to. There is a chapter dedicated on visiting one’s motherland. My family didn’t put much emphasis on their cultural roots so it has taken me a Very long time for that curiosity to finally surface. 

So what finally pushed me to click the “add blog” option? I was one of the selected winners to receive “The Travel Book” from Lonely Planet. It’s a thick 400+ page book about every country in the world. The contest was to describe your dream trip. This was my answer.

 My dream trip is to follow the Orient Express route from Paris to Istanbul and then travel overland from Istanbul to Cairo, while capturing images of what I see along the way. It’s the closest I’ll realistically get to having a “Phileas Fogg” experience. After I take that trip, I’ll dream up another one…

I’m not sure if winning a $50 book on1/11/11 is a “sign” of anything, but it's a coincidence of things that don’t happen everyday. I’m definitely open to the idea that it’s a sign of a great year to come.