A Walk Along the Nile (in photos of course!)

Hello Aswan!

It might be a while before any tourists visit Egypt.

That’s not a bad thing.

“What are you talking about Robyn?!”

Ok, look I am the last person to ask for violence. I wish that Egypt could have reformed without the violence that may have left dead and hundreds hurt.

But what we’re looking at, what we’re hearing about in Egypt is about people finally standing-up for their rights. They are standing-up to a government that did very little to actually treat them with any rights.

I can’t say I totally understand, but when I visited Egypt last year I did witness some of the poverty and the helplessness that people felt. People couldn’t do something as simple as marry because they didn’t have enough money.

More than that? Police routinely used citizens for fun. People were afraid of Police rather than witnessing them as there to help. Read this interesting article in The New York Times today.

The unrest in Egypt, however, will not and did not remain in Egypt. Nope. It spread to it’s neighbour Jordan (another one of my countries visited) and will have massive consequences for Israel (they had a peace deal with both Egypt and Jordan. Oops.)

So what I’m saying is it could be a while before I’m strolling along the Nile again. Or you for that matter. Which is too bad. For a country that has such a regal and curious past (pharaohs and mummification?), I hope a new leadership might emphasize these positives and bring a country together to respect its past and its future!

But while we might not be able to go there right now, I thought I would bring it to you: A Walk Along the Nile. From Abu Simbal (only miles from Sudan) to Cairo.

Lake Nassar, which was dammed and ensured the relocation of the tombs at Abu Simbal (sometimes you can see crocs here!)

The temple at Abu Simbel for Rameses II (he built a second one for his Queen Nefertari next door)

The gorgeous (!) Aswan Dam: Don't blink or you will miss this monstrosity that was built for hydroelectric power and also flooded the lands of Nubians causing 150,000 or so to have to be relocated to Aswan and further north.

Near Aswan is this unfinished Obelisk. Some poor man was just chipping away on this enormous object when it suddenly cracked. Can't imagine he was much liked at the water cooler that day.

The Nile cuts through Aswan creating stunning views and Elephantine Island

A window into life on Elephantine Island located in the Nile passage of the city of Aswan

Life is not always so pretty on Elephantine Island where many of the displaced Nubians have made their home.

Lost in the desert! I had to run along the sand dunes for the ferry, which turned into a lift with a man rowing home from work and his sons, so we could get the train north to Luxor!

A sunset in Luxor!

The long entrance to the Luxor Temple

A closer look at the Temple

One of the Sphinx statues that lines the 3 km stretch between the Luxor Temple and the Karnak temple along the Nile (or used to. The city is trying to recreate the connection between these two temples)

The entrance to the Karnak Temple (the largest ancient religious complex in the world)

Crossing the Nile in Luxor to visit the Valley of the Kings (i.e. where Tutankhamun was buried)

Washing his water buffalo on the other side of the Nile

A feluca ride down the Nile

Looking at Luxor from Banana Island

Making a Living on the Nile

Skipping through the Valley of the Kings

Time to head even further north to Cairo. This is the famous "Mirror" Cafe in Cairo's bazaar.

Cairo's extensive Museum (amazing place that you could and should spend hours sifting through). It's also right near the Tahrir Square where the protests are taking place.

And Finally:

These guys (the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx) run near the Nile and just as close to the city of Cairo....I just hope we can all visit again soon!

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step,” Lao Tzu

Wandering the streets of Buenos Aires

“Robyn, I don’t know if I can come to Buenos Aires.”

“What! Why not?”

“They say there are street protests by students often and there are pickpockets. My mom is worried.”

“Uh, Rachel you live in New York City. Seriously?”

The absurdity must have hit home; Rachel met me in Buenos Aires. And not a minute too soon. I had been traveling for almost a year around the world last year and I was tired. I wanted a friendly face.

I couldn’t believe the United States’ Government had almost gotten in the way. I’ll be the first to admit it: I never check travel advisories. They seem like a waste of time. Unfortunately my friend, and travel buddy, Rachel wasn’t quite so reckless and nearly ruined her trip! We both survived. We actually even saw a protest (it was a bunch of students with a sheet, monitored by Police and controlled through the streets).

Which got me to thinking this week, as I watched Egypt erupt into flames, Tunisia turn upside down and foreigners flee for the first flight, how do you know travel is safe?

Well I suppose my Rock Fever column in The Royal Gazette this week starts with an obvious one: you don’t know. Each time you board that plane you don’t know if you’ll land. When you sail away into the sunset, how are you sure you’ll come back? You don’t.

Which is why you have to head to two which is: plan for what you can control. Get your vaccinations, bring

Be careful with the water when visiting Egypt (and there are no protests!)

your hand sanitizer and check whether you can eat raw food and drink water in your destination! At least if you can keep yourself healthy you’ll be better prepared for anything that might come your way.

Of course, you could check three: the United States’ Government travel advisories at: http://travel.state.gov/travel. On their website you can check the country you are going to travel to and see what the American’s worry about.

I’m afraid they worry about a lot. That’s why my tip four is to take that website with a good dose of perspective. Look at Rachel? New York was the centre of one of the most internationally, transformational terrorist attacks in the last decade or even two and a NewYorker is worried about some pick pockets in Buenos Aires?

What I’m saying for tip five, then, is not to let these advisories advise you against travel to “exotic” places. We don’t think for two minutes about boarding a plane to go to New York, but to head to Malaysia?

Well in Malaysia (and anywhere outside of Bermuda, of course) my tip six would be to adhere to the warnings and advisories of your bank! Tell them where you are going (even if you don’t tell anyone else!) or face losing the use of your credit cards. Or in my case, know which countries are entirely blocked by your bank. Yes, the entirety of Malaysia is blocked for ATM use by Bank of Butterfield clients, apparently. In Malaysia I spent my trip visiting banks to withdraw on my credit card. The trip could have been a lot less safe if I hadn’t had a travel buddy with me to provide cash until I could get to a bank (it was a holiday when I arrived).

Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!

I’m lucky my Malaysia emergency proved to be easy enough to resolve when I knew why my ATM card was being declined. What’s not easy to resolve are major clashes in countries. Which is my tip seven and make sure you check the news for the country you are going to visit or where you are!

Sound obvious? Well I’ll be the first to say I didn’t think about it while navigating the world. When I was in Chandigarh, India it was my mother who was thousands of miles away, mind you, who told me there were violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims miles from me. Luckily they were far enough away from Chandigarh, which was perfectly calm and quiet. I boarded the bus to Delhi and, as you know, I made it.

Of course my mom was worried, but tip eight is a reason I don’t always check the news and the advisories: clashes and protests are never (almost) as bad as the lines in a newspaper or the screen explain it. Well unless the country has literally shut-down internet and countries are evacuating their citizens. Then I might worry. But more often than not the problems are in a particular area of the country. Not in that area? Worry slightly less.

And tip nine is, unfortunately for women: take extra precaution wherever you are. Don’t go out at night on your own; an innocent walk in Cusco, Peru could turn into a drive-by bum grab even with male travel buddies there! Imagine if I’d been on my own?! Leave a bag (light enough so you can move it in an emergency and heavy enough so you hear it move if an uninvited guest arrives) in front of your locked, hotel room door. Want more ideas? Visit my post on female travelers or Wanderlust and Lipstick!

La Cholita wrestling in La Paz, Bolivia: Bolivian women in skirts and braids wrestle with their foes!

And finally tip ten, after scaring the daylights out of you, is: don’t let any country intimidate you from visiting it. Some countries will be poorer. Some will have infrastructure that could use some help. All countries will have a tour that can help you navigate pitfalls that could arise and provide you with tour guides with local insight. That is, if you’re worried about doing it on your own. Just don’t let that stop you from experiencing cultures, food, landscapes and languages that include women with plaits wrestling in Bolivia or the crackling of a glacier in Chile.

Of course if you’re Bermudian or a resident you will be facing questions when you visit these new places, right? You said….you promised you would try somewhere new! Well when you do you’ll want to take with you my travel cheat sheet in next week’s column and of course visit here for your daily dose of travel tips and tales!

“We must consider the happiness of our sons and grandsons.”

Hello Kitty Bouquet!

There is nothing quite like traveling to enhance the difference between men and women! Men traveling on their own? No problem.

Women? Oh my gosh you must have been so scared. Weren’t you worried about your safety?

And that’s not even the biggest difference, as Emily Ross our faithful Hong Kong Wanderer finds out this week:

Ah yes, a Hello Kitty bouquet. No wedding would be complete without it.

Yes, this week I found a treasure trove of bridal boutiques. I think I’ve found the source of all glitter.

A good week of classes but I sensed the distracted energy of students about to head home for the holidays. I don’t blame them. A group of us are off to the Philippines midweek since as of Wednesday we’ve got a week off for Chinese New Year/the Lunar New Year (is one more politically correct than the other? I should check this out).

I’ve been undeniably grumpy all week thanks to my bikini diet…which I ditched on the weekend as soon as we saw the forecast was for ‘showers, chance of thunderstorms.’ Bring on the wine, nuts and carbs! And I brought. However this morning I’ve awakened to a message from my friend currently in the Philippines (where the weather’s supposed to be a-raging) to say ‘don’t worry! The forecasters were wrong! All is sunny! Don’t forget the tanning lotion!’

A different view from Hong Kong?

Poor dear. Nobody could have prepared him for my reaction.

A note on attitudes towards women round these parts. I’ve noticed some subtle patriarchy slipping in here and there. Certainly more than I expected in a university environment – enough to fill me with feminist indignation at least once a day. Take for example, one of my lecturers describing the different social strata of China.

‘At the top are the civil servants. These are who all the little girls want to marry.’

‘Next come managerial staff of big corporations. The little girls want to marry them too!’

And what if the little girls want to BE civil servants? Or BE managerial staff of big corporations? Hmm?

A similar slip happened in another lecture.

‘Sustainable development is important. We must consider the happiness of our sons and grandsons.’

I understand it’s just a slip of the tongue, and that none of the local female students in the lecture seemed to notice…but does that not show the deeply ingrained patriarchy in this society?

Family in Hong Kong

Another lecturer discussed the difficulties facing women in reaching higher education as the family found it difficult to justify ‘investing in someone who someday would no longer be a member of the family.’

I suppose as a modern (militantly feminist) gal, I never considered marriage to be akin to leaving the family, but the philosophy behind and duties associated with marriage are so different here.

If I criticise the lecturers for their machismo slips I come under criticism for being intolerant! ‘It’s a different culture,’ people say, ‘you just have to be respectful and accept it.’

I’m all for experiencing new cultures. I’m all for respecting people whose customs differ from my own. But there’s a line between respecting tradition and hampering progression. In my opinion, just because it’s a traditional value doesn’t make it right, and doesn’t mean it’s some taboo subject that can’t be questioned.  So what does that make me? A self-righteous westerner barging in? Or is it a fair point? Where do you stop being respectful and start asking questions?

Well, now it’s time to shower and head off to lecturers. Best of luck to the poor men who landed me in their classes.

Bye bye Bermuda in photos

Nicola and her sister Katie spent an afternoon amusing themselves in the Botanical Gardens... this was Nicola's post-India pose

It’s time to say good-bye to one of Robyn’s Wanderers! No worries, Nicola Arnold, who blogs for us every Saturday, is not going to leave the blog.

Nope she’s just leaving her home (Bermuda) for a little while. Where’s she headed? Well for anyone who did not read her blog post from last week, she’ headed to Canada.

Is she crazy!? Leaving her semi-tropical home to take-up some snow gear? Maybe….no, just kidding. Nicola’s heading to the Great White North for a job.

And for that we are happy for her.

But before she can go she must give us her slideshow of her home (uh…Bermuda of course) and the images she’s most definitely going to miss (and those she’s soon going to see every day). Click here if you cannot see the slideshow.

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Check your visa requirements before you go!

Visas for Turkey

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

“Where have you been?”

Where haven’t I been, I felt like saying. Sarcastic, however, is the last thing I would dream of being to an immigration officer.

“I’ve been around the world.”

“Bring back anything interesting?”

I couldn’t hold back, “Interesting? I mean I got a blue, silk dress from Vietnam if that is what you meant.”

I was waved into the back room. It was freezing.

Welcome to Miami.
The problem? Besides the sub-arctic temperatures? Well it wasn’t my sarcasm, I was happy to find out. I was, however, unhappy to hear the problem was my American visa. Or my denial of one.

I had been warned three months before Miami and in Dallas that I need to sign-up online for the incorrectly named American Visa Waiver Program (how are you waiving a visa when you make me pay for entrance to your country? That is a visa, no?).

Anyway, I wasn’t going to argue and I did sign-up here.

Computers are great until they’re not. The problem? Six years before Miami, America decided to enter in their computers that I was denied my student visa for my Master’s program.

“That’s funny because I have the student visa right here and I have a Master’s.” I am a pack rat, luckily and produced the document from my passport holder.

The customs officer didn’t apologise, but did let me transit to Bermuda and suggested I invite him on my next trip around the world. Right.

OK enough of the sarcasm, though, because visas are important things and the only way you’re going to get into countries.

Which brings me to the Rock Fever Column in The Royal Gazette this week: Visas. Awww fun, Robyn. Real fun. Yeah, well it might

Visas for Vietnam

not be fun now, but it will be worse when you don’t plan ahead. Which brings us to tip one: before you visit any country, check with the consulate for up-to-date visa information. Example? Bermudian passport holders are still allowed to enter the United States without a formal visa process (well besides the automatic tourist one for 180 days). But those Bermudians who hold UK passports (like myself) need to go online every two years to apply for the tourist visa (this only changed two years ago).

And make sure you check tip two: which passport are you using? Ok so I am probably not writing this to the spies out there, but Bermudians will usually have a couple of passports. At the very least a Bermudian passport and a British one (I could even have a third, Canadian, if I wanted to). So before you fly figure out which one would give you the greatest immigration clearance ease.

Which leads to three and if you are flying to the United States, Bermudians, you probably want to use a Bermudian passport. It saves you from the online visa application and worrying about when that might run out. Of course if you find yourself on the stop-list (i.e. you did something that landed you in court) then you will have to plan ahead regardless of your passport. Make sure you visit the U.S. Consulate to begin the lengthy process of applying for a U.S. Visa (another reason you don’t want a conviction!)

However tip four: if you have a passport that requires an American Visa (check here to see if your country is listed) then, obviously, apply! It will take you about ten minutes and cost you about $15 for a two year visa. Hardly difficult compared to some countries’ processes.

And tip five is for those who may not be computer literate or comfortable, have no fear because travel agencies will be able to help apply for the United States visa online. Of course it would help if you also buy your plane ticket from them.

Which leads to Tip six and should a Bermudian passport want to travel to Europe, the tables turn. The passport (well and by extension, you, obviously!) will need a Schengen visa, which can cost at least $80 processing fee (depending on which country in the Schengen countries you apply to), additional fees to send it abroad and could take weeks to process. And as Pat Adderley from CTravel warns: “Most of the Schengen require a personal appearance. They don’t want a third party involved. They don’t want to hear from us (the travel agency). They want to meet you in person.” So why wouldn’t you get a UK passport? If you are Bermudian you have the right so use it!

Of course no Bermuda or UK passport will get you off the hook when it comes to India. Visiting the largest democracy in the world will require a visa, but this visa is not about just visiting a website.

Nope, which is why Tip Seven is about planning ahead for any trip because visas can take a while to get (I’m just using India as an example). For Bermudians to get their India visa for your Bermudian or UK passport it will have to be fed ex’d (for security) to Washington, D.C. and could take as many as two weeks to process. The tricky thing is once you have the visa the time starts ticking.

Vietnam's Border Patrol

While you might receive a six month visa to visit India, that does not mean from the time you enter the country. Nope, it means from the day they issue the visa, which leads to Tip Eight: pay attention to details. India is not the only country that operates on time. Vietnam is similar. Once you tell them a date you are entering the country, it is set in….paper and will last for a month minimum. Silly me let that one run out before I had enough time in the country.

Which leads to Tip Nine: DO NOT let visa applications stop you from traveling. They are just a way for a country to know who is entering (and make money as far as I’m concerned). So if you are intimidated by visa applications, then visit a travel agency in Bermuda for guidance. Do NOT apply though an agency online – only the direct embassies of the country. I have heard some horror stories.

And finally Tip Ten: for those who are planning a trip around the world: only apply for the first visa you need. Every other visa can be done abroad. In Cambodia I could get a Vietnam visa in three days (one if I had wanted to pay more). If I had gotten it at home, it would have just been headache, fed ex (so lots of money) and a waste (I didn’t get to Vietnam when I thought I would).

Oh and just because I’m feeling generous you’ve got ten plus one this week Tip 11: When crossing borders make sure you have plenty of American cash on you for those visas that are only available for purchase (i.e. Turkey) and open for negotiation! I was almost in a pinch when crossing into Cambodia and all the “processing” fees. Thank goodness for American travel buddies.

There are lots of visa tips out there and I could continue but that would be boring! So email me at skinnerrobyn@gmail.com for more and of course stay tuned for next week and travel quirks! Until next Wednesday, Adios!

Call me old fashioned…Books belong on shelves (even when traveling!)

So bookshelves don’t tend to be something you think about when you’re hitting the road.

I never do. That’s said from a person who can’t stand NOT reading a book! If I don’t have my nose in a novel then something is wrong (or I’m insanely busy as I have been for the last few months).

And if anyone has been following this blog then you know what my reading list often consists of – randoms (remember: Eight Travel Books and not one is Eat, Pray, Love?)

But what got me thinking about this blog post today is multi-pronged. One is listening to CBC (the Canadian online radio) about a Canadian (of course) artist who decided to get rid of all of her books! Sacrelege as as far as I’m concerned.

I get why people want to deconstruct their lives, but if there is one thing I will never (ok almost never, which is why I write this blog) are my books!

Which brings me to point two about this post: I have been researching an article about travel items available in Bermuda. I know, I know, not always easy!

So I debated…..do I try and find the Kindle? Do I include the iPad? Everyone seems to be all about reading words on a computer these days. And, really, who am I to complain? I do have a blog by the way.

But the point is books don’t translate. Call me old fashioned! When I read a book I want to be able to scroll through the pages. I want to be able to bend the pages.

And the best part? No matter how tatty or wet they might get….the words will not go. Now tell that to someone who soaks their iPad in the rain!

What has this got to do with travel? I thought you’d never ask. It’s got everything to do with travel because the

more books

Kindle, in particular, was introduced as a compact way to carry around all the reading material you might need on the road.

BAH! Is what I say. The beauty of the road is the loving way that people read their books and then sell them to the tiny second hand shops that spring-up in every backpacker haunt or on the shelves of hostels around the world (yes, from South America to Europe and Asia). In fact many will even give you a book for a book (or two). It’s exchange and commerce!

Even better? Well nothing could be better than having the chance to wander around a book store taking in the titles and deciding what type of adventure you want next. Do you want to go through someone’s life? Perhaps visit your next trip to Thailand?

It’s old school – exchanging books, but it’s more than a chance to recycle books. It’s also a convenient way to expand your own literary adventures.

Do you know how many times I’ve need to lighten my backpack only to be faced with the prospect of titles I have never heard of before? Lots of times. But that’s when you pick-up a book like River of Time written by journalist Jon Swain who lived in Cambodia between 1970 and 1975. The book is his account of these tumultuous years at the beginning of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. It was one I could not put down.

Not only do the old-school manners of exchanging books expand your own personal library it also means that you’re not another backpacker with a cool electronic gadget.

Look I’ll be the first to admit that I travel with an iPod, but when I see the amount of gadgets that some people pull out (i.e. a place tracker for photos) and I look at the poverty that surrounds them (i.e. anywhere in South East Asia) a good, old book is better for the soul!

And because you can exchange them you never have to keep them in your backpack. Well I will admit this, as I finish this post….I couldn’t part with The White Tiger! I just couldn’t do it….so I gave it to my dad when I saw him during my trip around the world.

Does this make me sentimental? I don’t think so. I will never be the Canadian artist able to sell all of her books. Even on the road when I was breaking my back and an exchange loomed ahead I found it hard to part with my papers filled with escapes.

Does that make me a bad traveler? Does that make me too sentimental? Who knows. It does mean when I walk into my room and I’m looking for inspiration, now, I have a library of adventures to choose from.

Hell it’s cheaper than jewelry!

Robyn’s Wandering in Hong Kong!

Hong Kong

It’s Monday and Robyn’s Wanderings is broadcasting from Hong Kong. That’s right the blog is expanding.

First it started with Bermudian Nicola Arnold (who will soon be transplanting herself to Canada) and now we’ve added Emily Ross.

Another Bermudian, Emily Ross will be reporting from Hong Kong every Monday. What’s it like there? What’s it like to live in another culture? Tune in every Monday for her latest.

And to start: Who is Emily? Here she tells us:

Everybody said, ‘Oh, Hong Kong, you’ll be tall there.’

LIES.

I am five feet tall. I blend into the crowd round these parts. I’ve been here three weeks and my fellow exchange students have already lost me in the crowd at least a dozen times. Tall! Hmph. I’m not tall, I’m just not short anymore.

The stubbornly politically correct part of me wrestles with penning my observations about my relative height

Skyscrapers in Hong Kong

round these parts. But then again, I had a massive internal battle after watching Mulan on the plane on the way over here. Is that racist? So far everything I know about China I learned from Eddie Murphy.

As I’m trying to catch you up for three weeks worth of roaming, here’s a quick rundown:

-It is cold here. They told me it would be warm. I did not pack for this.

-Everything is out of context in Hong Kong. Start with a skyscraper. Turn the corner and there’s a beach. Turn the corner and there’s a mountain, turn the corner and there’s a village, turn the corner and there’s an island. Everything is extreme and everything is here.

Random scene in Hong Kong

-I’m on an exchange between the University of Bristol in the UK and City University of Hong Kong for one semester (January to May). Before you get too excited, the lectures are in English – so far the only Cantonese that I know is ‘Tsing mat kau gaun tsae mun’ which according to the recorded English translation means ‘Please stand back from the doors.’ The underground or ‘MTR’ is familiar ground to me now.

-I have to say, I expected the lecture environment to be somewhat…well, different. People are talking, they leave early, they answer their phones, they go on Facebook…and the lecturers merely raise their voices to be heard over the din rather than tell them to kindly please SHUT UP. At first I was concerned about the two or three hour lectures I had scheduled (I’m used to 50 minute lectures at Bristol) but then I realised there wasn’t necessarily more content; the lecturers simply speak more slowly. I don’t mind of course, you’ve got to give these kids credit – they’re studying in a second language! Maybe the chatter is them translating what the lecturer is saying. Not sure I can justify the Facebooking though. Sorry, guys.

-They LOVE Hello Kitty here. Seriously.

-They’re preparing for Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year at the moment. Are you ready for the year of the rabbit? Everything’s decked out in red and gold. Gorgeous!

-Old people take their birds for walks – they sit in the park and bring their bird in its cage with them. Adorable.

-In order to get a space in student housing, you have to show that you actively participate in student life at CityU. So everyone is super enthusiastic – floor gatherings, hall meetings, societies, inspirational posters. My first hall gathering is at the end of the month. Something tells me this will be different from the ‘British experience.’ The words ‘Happy and Free’ are written in giant letters on the side of the hall building. I don’t think that would be taken too seriously in Brizzle.

So there’s a quick summary! Until next week!

How to learn to ski without ending relationships!

Skiing in Vermont

There are a few ways to end a relationship.

“Wait Robyn, what has this got to do with travel?”

Ha! Relationships and travel are inevitably intertwined, but that’s not the point this week. Nope. I already wrote about how to pick your travel buddies in this column.

That’s why this week, my Rock Fever Column in The Royal Gazette is about skiing. While travel might be the number one way to end a relationship, the number two? Teaching someone to ski.

Believe me I have tried. Seven years ago I took a boyfriend (now ex) to the slopes for a weekend. I became the teacher and there were some kids on the beginner’s slope who learned some very bad words that day.

So when it came to planning a New Year’s ski trip this year I debated what to do. There was going to be five of us: a Brit, a Canadian and two Americans and of course, me, a Bermudian.

Take a guess how many of us could ski….. One. Guess who… The Bermudian. We won’t go into why that is ridiculous, what we will go into is what was a good plan for a ski/combo trip because not everyone in the group wanted to even learn to ski.

Trying to ski in Vermont?

So this wee? Ten tips for planning a ski trip with various levels of people (or basically any good ski getaway from Bermuda). Take tip one: go close to home. Now living on a 21-square-mile island doesn’t usually afford us that possibility. Luckily Boston is not far away. I found a flight on Delta for a little more than $300 and that was over New Years. (remember my tips about using online agencies). With Delta your flight will be under two hours.

Tip two is find good car deals and rent at least one (with a group of friends you might want two to ensure flexibility). There are plenty of sites to investigate prices. You know all of the main car rental places: Alamo, Hertz, Budget, etc… So start with the online agencies (hotwire.com, orbitz.com, expedia.com) and then go directly to the car rental sites to ensure the prices.

Now you’ve got the vehicle so drive for two hours to….Quechee, Vermont (or at least that is what we did). Tip three is to book a house in Quechee. Luckily there are plenty of Bermudians who frequent Quechee and you’ll be able to find a place to borrow or even a place to rent (if you want to rent your place out check our my website www.robynswanderings.com which lists them for free!) With a group of friends that is the perfect option.

Which leads to four: Quechee is quaint. Quechee is beautiful. Quechee could be a Norman Rockwell painting. It is also a great place to combine a group that wants different things from a holiday. I wanted to ski. My Canadian and British travel buddies wanted to learn, but my American travel buddies wanted to take photos (there are at least two covered bridges and waterfalls next to a Simon Pearce – a glass blowing factory – to add to your albums) and visit Breweries (Harpoon has their brewery a good 20 minutes nearby). We were all accommodated.

Even better is tip five for planning your ski trip here. There is a great rental place (Henderson’s Ski Rentals) which charges only about $30 a day for boots, poles and skis. That’s a great deal if you look at any other resorts (Killington, which is only 45 minutes away charges at least $10 more). I mean skiing is never going to be a cheap sport, but you can cut costs where you can.

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Which leads to six and the five minute drive to Quechee’s own “mountain” (I would say hill because it’s too small for anyone with experience). But it is right in the middle of town. That means it’s close enough if people are sick of skiing or cold or tired, it’s not a far ride back to home.

Even better is seven, which is for the beginners there are great slopes which will keep them busy and instructors that will help immediately. We showed-up at 10.30 a.m. and had the beginners on the slope by 11! I had to keep myself busy going on the higher slopes that were open, but luckily Vermonters are incredibly friendly and I was always chatting with someone from Harvard who visited Bermuda every year or the wife of a producer for XSports.

And when everyone gets better at skiing you head to tip eight, which is that Quechee offers more than beginner skiing. A 45-minute drive (or so) will deliver you to Killington, which has been named one of the top resorts for skiing in the United States! Even better is if you stay in Quechee you don’t get the prices (www.quecheelakerentals.com can help you find an affordable house for a group. If we had not borrowed a house it would have been about $60 a night each. That’s a deal!)

Cheese at Sugar Bush farm in Quechee, Vermont

Plus you get the choices like nine: which is going into Woodstock ( a town 15 minutes away) with little restaurants, cafes and even a country store that sells everything from rubber boots to gluten-free beer. Yeah it’s old school and very cool! Ha I rhyme. Anyway, Woodstock is beautiful and small, which makes it perfect for those who don’t want to ski. Or even better is the family farm Sugar Bush which offers all the cheese tasting you could ever want. I mean seriously do NOT eat lunch or breakfast and go try their 8-year-old cheddar. Besides a stunning setting that allows a view of the Vermont valley, it also fills the tummy.

Which is good because, as we found, the restaurants in Quechee were definitely hit or miss. Tip ten: CAREFUL where you eat twice. Because our flight to Boston was delayed by five hours, my Philadelphia friends arrived in Quechee before us. They chose a seat at the Firestone’s Restaurant. We eventually arrived, had amazing service and great pub/upscale food. I was relieved because I had booked the same place for New Year’s Eve. What a mistake revisiting. We splurged on Kobe steaks which came cold and sea bass that could have been in the Quechee river. Luckily, like everything in Quechee, our night was salvaged by a view that was spectacular: fireworks leaving the side of the Quechee ski mountain, a fire in the place, and a front seat to the NYC ball drop. As far as we were concerned with Quechee, Vermont, we had it all.

Which is why I would totally recommend it as a destination for Bermudians hoping to learn to ski or even those advanced enough for Killington’s slopes to tackle more! And next week I will give you how to ensure entering the United States is not a problem. Hint: It means a visa!

How to get cheap tickets for Broadway shows and what to see in Canada next month!

Walking down Broadway!

Whatcha doin next month? Wanna visit New York? Do you know how to get the best tickets? Have you found a cheap flight to Toronto, but want to figure-out what to do there?

Well have no fear our trusty Robyn’s Wanderings blogger, Nicola Arnold, is here as ever on Saturdays to help. She’s lived and studied in Toronto and spent time as a student in New York so I think it’s fair to say she might know where the deals are and where the fun events are happening!

Read on and get ready to plan your next trip:

Music. Film. Sport. Food. Heck, even Bridal!  Personally, I am a big fan of musicals – whether it be Broadway in New York, London’s West End theater, or elsewhere. Over the past year, I was able to catch a few musicals in New York, Toronto and London, such as Mamma Mia, Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Jersey Boys and Mary Poppins (magic umbrella included!).

There are a few tricks of the trade with scoring cheap tickets, and quite frankly, on a student budget you really appreciate the great discounts. At the individual theaters, you can get student rush, lottery or standing-room-only tickets. Stand in the back of the theater for 3 hours? Nicola are you crazy?

Well… a few years ago, I had standing-room only tickets to Lion King, and I can tell you that once animals come down the aisles in the opening act, you completely forget that you are standing up. How can you not be thrilled when there is a singing elephant RIGHT behind you?! Plus you can beat the rush to the restrooms, which can work in your favour.

Be a foodie in Toronto this month!

For Bermudians studying in or visiting Toronto, you know there is many a thing to do in the ever-exciting T-dot. When I was studying at University of Guelph, a 45 minute bus ride away, I used to trek into Toronto with my housemates for fun events such as the Santa Claus Parade and to be in the live audience for one of MTV’s shows, Much on Demand (MOD).

www.toronto.com is a great site that has various events, from music concerts to bridal shows, so check it out for what’s on this week, in January, or February, or in the future. For example, the link below takes you to the ‘Must-See January Events 2011’…. http://www.toronto.com/events/article/647959

Hey, it’s like one-stop shopping!

– If you are a foodie, you can check out Winterlicious from Jan 28 – Feb 10, 2011 at various locations in Toronto.

– If you are a fan of dark & mysterious films such as Edward Scissorhands or the new Alice in Wonderland, you should look into the Tim Burton Exhibition and Retrospective running until April 21, 2011 at the Museum of Modern Art.

– And, if I may, I personally recommend the Monster Jam happening at the Rogers Center Jan 22-23, 2011… I know, it may seem highly unlikely that I would be raving about a monster truck show with roaring engines and daring tricks. However, I went to one in London, Ontario last spring and the whole day was electric, given the high energy levels and excitement of my friends. Never turn down an invitation… you never know what may come of it!

If you delight in making snow angels and want to escape for a quick trip to a winter wonderland, there are a few fantastic snow-filled events coming up in February in Ottawa and Quebec. Don’t worry if your extent of French is ‘bonjour’ and ‘croissant’… the Winterlude in Ottawa and the Quebec Winter Carnival cater to everyone – francophones, anglophones and international visitors alike!

The Quebec Winter Carnival gives you a taste of old Europe right in North America, with traditional Quebecois activities like canoe races and dog-sledding. This year Carnival takes places from January 28 – February 13, 2011 so the winter amusement park is ready & waiting for its new arrivals… families will enjoy the giant (life size) table-soccer game, and  sports enthusiasts may enjoy the 500-foot zipline that flies above the Carnival.

[I have not been myself, but I did do a presentation in my 2^nd year French class, which was all about le Carnaval de Québec… and I dressed up as Bonhomme Carnaval, the snowman who represents the festivities. Oh, what great lengths I went to make a good impression on my French T.A.!]

Winterlude (or le Bal de Neige) is being held in Ottawa, the capital of Canada, from February 4-21, 201. That means there are 3 weeks in which to enjoy activities such as skating on the world’s longest skating rink (the Rideau Canal), marvel at the ice sculptures, and eat one of Ottawa’s mouthwatering BeaverTails… your choice of toppings: cinnamon & sugar, chocolate & banana, and many more delicious flavours! www.canadascapital.gc.ca/winterlude

And of course for all of you traveling to Bermuda or currently on our 21-square-mile island, Nicola has some advice for you too:

Visit Bermuda for a run?

 

Special events pop up very often, and if you are in Bermuda, you could throw a glance at websites such as www.nothingtodoinbermuda.com or www.todo.bm. The what’s what, who’s who, where & when of our sub-tropical island!

Of course, if you are in Bermuda and drove down Front Street in Hamilton on Friday, you may have seen the set-up for the International Race Weekend. With over 600 participants coming from abroad, it’s bound to be a great weekend! Check out some of the activities here: www.bermudaraceweekend.com

Can a Travel Writer take a vacation?

Kissing Fish in Boston

“E tu Brute?”

So greeted me my editor at The Royal Gazette, Bermuda’s National newspaper, two days after I had handed in my notice to the Editor and Chief in December 2008.

“Uh….sorry,” is about all I could pitifully squeak out. Stabbing in his back is not exactly what I planned. No, I had planned to go travel around the world. Slightly a different affair.

Luckily he recovered from the wound and attempted another approach: “How would you feel about writing about your travels? It wouldn’t have to be on a regular basis or long.”

That offer required no thinking: “Yes, of course!”

What transpired was a weekly column, which followed my trials and tribulations through 24 countries in one year.

When I returned to Bermuda (my home) one question remained: “Would the column continue?”

I didn’t want to give-up my new-found love. I fought for its continuation, but from the point of analysis and any small trips I might take, rather than from around the world.

Now it’s been almost a year since I have been maintaining the Rock Fever Column and I have one question: Can a travel writer take a vacation?

No, seriously. I can hear you accountants and desk hounds scoffing. “Robyn, seriously, you have to have adventures for your job. How can you ask us this?”

“I told you, yes, I am serious.”

I might be serious, but I’m not naive. I get that I have a good gig writing a column about travel. But what about

The smallest violin in the world playing "My heart bleeds for you" as my father would demonstrate

when I don’t want to write? Or think about writing?

Yeah, yeah I hear your heart strings playing for me. Or as my father would demonstrate like the photo to the right: “My heart bleeds for you” played on the smallest violin in the world.

But seriously, (have I said seriously enough? ok enough questions) when do I get to turn my brain off?

The weird thing for travel writers (I humbly include myself here for arguments sake) is that when we head to vacation spots it’s not a holiday.

When accountants head for the beach (what is my deal with accountants today?) they are heading for a relaxing time. Instead for the writer everything in front of us is possible substance for a travel column or article.

Well, at least for me. That hotwire booking in this week’s Rock Fever Column? Oh that derived from my New Year’s trip to Vermont and Boston.

But with deciding to write about the actual trip to Vermont and Boston I was stuck by a conundrum and this blog post. That’s because I traveled with two friends from the states, a friend from England and a Canadian friend. I knew if I was going to travel with this many people I would never get a break to write something.

I also knew that I wasn’t going to be able to do whatever I wanted to do i.e. investigate things for my column.

I would not be able to travel simply to ensure I had the best priced options for Bermudians or travel simply to discover some new place simply to write about it.

Well, I can’t place all of the blame on my friends. I also felt like having a vacation. I know, crazy, right?

“But how can you go away so soon, you were just on a trip?”

Technically, you are correct. I was in London for a month working on ten columns about ten trips that someone could take from this capital city.

Visiting Vermont

But there again you see the important word, right? No, not London. Not trips. Nope. I am talking about “working”. Believe me I love traveling. I love discovering new places and having my senses bombarded by new experiences.

When I am traveling for my column, though, it’s not the same thing. I experience things, but I also look at everything as: “how will I write about this?”, “Will this make a good entry?”, “Will anyone really want to have some suggestions for visiting Dover?” “What about Berlin?”

I swear! These are all questions (and more) that run through my head while I travel. I never stop thinking about who might read about my adventures.

So what was I going to do in Vermont? Was I going to be able to take a vacation? It didn’t sound, with four friends joining me, that I was going to have much of a choice.

While they may have turned-off my choices, they couldn’t turn off my brain.

As soon as we arrived we had to pick-up the car. “Hmmm he booked the car for a discount price. That could be a column!”

My friend Lauren is a photo buff. We couldn’t keep her contained inside the house for long: “Best places in Vermont for photography?”

Out of the five of us, only one could ski. Yeah, that was me a Bermudian. Go figure. I was with four others from cold places and the sub-tropical girl knew how to use two planks to get down a ski hill.

Next Column: “How to teach beginner skiers to ski.” (Hint: don’t teach them! Hire an instructor!)

The tap wouldn’t turn off. We visited Sugarbush farm. “Sunsets in Vermont,” “Family farms to visit.”

Visiting Boston

Ok getting ridiculous. I know, but I couldn’t stop…..what did stop me? Well that would be technology. My little lap top that traveled around the world with me? It decided to throw a couple of keys out and I couldn’t type.

By the time Boston creeped-up on me my little typing fingers were itching! MUST…TYPE…SOMETHING! I missed writing.

I missed being able to analyze and look at where I had been through words. And therein lies my answer: I might stop writing. I might not travel for anyone, but myself (and my five friends), but I will always be a travel writer.

I can’t stop and I can’t take a vacation! Thank goodness for blogs!