calcaf38's VirtualTourist Home Page
| Page Views: 9,990 | Oliver's Home Page by calcaf38 - last update: Oct 23, 2009 |
Pros: "Eager to please"
Cons: "Hard to please"
In a Nutshell: "Pennsylvania Eurotrash with Latin fusion and pan-Asian delusions"
Thank you for dropping by.
I was born in Paris, France, traveled through Europe as a teen, and moved to the U.S. at the age of 20.
During my first years in America, everything was a surprise. Everything needed to be deciphered and processed. It was exhilarating.
More recently, I have undergone a mild but lengthy midlife crisis. I miss the constant discovery of being an expat. I recapture it, in short glimpses, through travel.
My ultimate goal, however is to uproot myself one more time. At the end of a hard day, I often come home telling my wife: "Pack the kids, we're moving to Gabon (or Mayotte, Suriname, Brunei, Miquelon, Gagauzia)." Her usual reply is: "Empty the dishwasher."
While waiting, I have visited:
Laos in 2000
Peru in 2003
China in 2005
Lisbon in 2006
Guatemala in 2006
Ecuador in 2007
Provence in 2008
Honduras in 2009
On my wish list: Bangladesh - Burma - Romania - Mississippi - Mali - The Philippines - Taiwan - Israel - French Guiana. |
|  | Due to family and job obligations, I take short trips. In some ways it suits me fine because my favorite part of traveling is being on the go: taking a train to catch a bus to catch a boat. And when I'm there, I walk all day, until I am ready to collapse (no nightlife tips from me, sorry).
Still, I am in awe of the young travelers who measure time in weeks when I measure it in hours. Eventually, I would like to trek from Kolkata to Kunming, doing it my favorite way: taking a train to catch a bus to catch a boat... And that, I know, will take more than one week. |
| | I am attracted to destinations with a certain shock factor. If I went to Tuscany, Napa Valley, or New Zealand, my mind would still be partly at work by the time it's all over.
I need to go places where I get dirty, wet, hot, cold, borderline sick, and possibly a bit scared too. I love the smell of wood smoke mixed with animal dung which you encounter if you know where to go. |
| | This still leaves me with 50 to 51 weeks a year. Here is how I alleviate the ordinaire: I go on hikes while listening to Mandarin and Spanish lessons on my iPod. I have been studying Mandarin for 5 years, first with the Rosetta Stone method, then with the Pimsleur Method, and now with Chinesepod.com. Spanish is easier for French speakers, of course, and after finishing the Pimsleur Spanish program, I keep in shape with Spanishpod.com
While climbing rocks close to my home town and speaking to myself in Mandarin or Spanish, I almost feel like I am traveling. Please contact me if you are curious about learning languages from scratch, or about good trails in South Central Pennsylvania. I recently wrote detailed tips about one such trail, the Sunset Rocks Trail, in case if there is interest from the VT community. |
| | I am often a little depressed, or almost depressed. It feels like having my nose half an inch below or half an inch above water. Depression makes me self centered as I keep assessing my mood. I deplore my self centered tendencies, and this in return contributes to depression. When I was younger, I had great enthusiasms: this movie, that book, this pasta sauce, that sunset, moments of Faustian relish. Today, the best way for me to recapture intensity is through travel. Most everything else is too often gray, cold, and full of dread. |
| | Being incapable of relaxing, of staying up past 9 p.m., or of staying put more than two days, I don't claim to be a master traveler. However there is one concern which unites all travelers, be they bus and bugs fiends or midnight Margarita by the pool specimens: the wish for digestive peace. I have yet to encounter on VT the most important tip of all, which is to take a Pepto-Bismol tablet before every meal while traveling. Since I discovered this preventative, I haven't experienced the faintest cramp, even after dining on unidentifiable street food, buying sandwiches through the windows of buses, or drinking sugar cane juice from market stalls staffed half by humans, half by dogs. |
| | My idea of a successful trip is one that leaves you completely shattered, one that challenges your systems and your beliefs to the marrow of your bones. Think Fernanda Montenegro in Central Do Brasil: running away from everything and finding oneself in the most unexpected way. For instance, I left Iquitos (Peru) completely drained emotionally, with burned cheeks and a heart in pieces. Mission accomplished. |
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 Comments for calcaf38 | | | | |
toonsarah Sat Nov 7, 2009 19:54 UTC
Thank you for the birthday greetings. I am just back form Marrakesh today after a rather adventurous trip, as you will no doubt read in due course! | Helenbb Wed Oct 28, 2009 02:55 UTC
xie xie ning ;) | sandysmith Sun Sep 27, 2009 22:29 UTC
Thank You! Enjoy magical Venice | Ataurique Sat Sep 26, 2009 10:21 UTC
Any unspoilt places in Laos?! Nowadays it's difficult...hmmm...yes, Dong Daeng island and some spots around the Bolaven Plateau...but who knows, for how long...Honduras looks great! (-: |
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