about

I struggled with whether or not to explain my Travelog’s name and the quote behind it, as I cringe at the 20 year old version of myself who peppered their Thorn Tree and Eurotrip/trek profiles with quotes from Twain, Chesterton & Stevenson. Why did I “sign” my posts with these badges of approval from history? Did I truly agree with Stevenson when he said that he travels for travel’s sake, not to go anywhere, but to go and that moving is a “great affair?” Lord, seems like the drivel of many a ego-maniacal travel-writer lamenting about what a pain it is to pack up from one short stay to another, to live out of a backpack for months at a time. To have the luxury of travel is a gift to be treasured, not one to be dissected and whined about until it seems much like the job you escaped from to do it!

No Land Foreign, however has a much more simple & pure intention of a title. Stevenson said “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” Think about this for a moment, and to me at least you have so much more than a quote, but what should be an ethos for travel. To enter into a new and “strange” land and realize that the people there have done just fine before you arrived and will do just fine after you leave. This is not to say that you can’t “help” as a traveller — much good locally & globally is done by conscientious individuals who give of themselves with time and money to help a community accomplish a task. One should, however, always remember that you are a guest in this new land, and as much as your hosts could potentially learn from you, you could potentially learn from them about life. I think we all seek to get beyond this with a favorite destination – to be a “local.” What does that mean? To me, essentially a “local” has crossed over to the other side and now is the host, and while ever learning, giving and taking from the land – they are at least somewhat more “at home” in this place than elsewhere. How long does this take? Who am I to tell you — I’m sure there is a BuzzFeed quiz out there that can tell you if you really are a true New Yorker/Seattlite/Las Vegan. What’s important instead I believe is the journey as you can unlock the secrets of what have drawn many to this place before you, and why some have stayed and some have gone onward.

Oh, and you are probably now thinking “why the hell did he call this a Travelog,” is this some hipster shit to redefine blogging into something more elevated? I can assure you it certainly is not – instead it is a bit of an homage to one of the main life experiences that made me into a traveller at a young age – journeys with my Babci and Dziadzi (Polish grandparents) to local cinemas as a child during odd times in the middle of the day when no shows were on so they could hear a person from their Travelog society talk about their latest trip and share slides of the images they captured. To me it was amazing, to sit in that dark theater as a kid probably no more than 10 years old and hear about a retirees recent trip exploring Portugal, or taking ferries along the coast of Norway to the Lofoten Islands. To me this was far more interesting than sitting inside and watching cartoons or the latest action movie, and I think this not only was partially responsible for giving me the travel bug, but also may have given me a love for documentaries!

If you’ve read this far, thank you for giving me the time to explain a bit of the  meaning behind this exercise in sharing with you. It is my hope that my sharing of the  places I am lucky enough to see and the experiences I’m fortunate enough to have inspires you to live your dreams and lives to the fullest as well. Travel can be relaxing, terrifying, educational, gluttonous, and primal – but in all it’s states it fulfills something for us who spend most of our days in a “universe” that is those who are 99.99% like ourselves.

 

 

 

12 thoughts on “about

  1. Love the blog name. Envy your luxury. Have a wonderful journey & look forward to seeing the world through this travel blog.

      1. Absolutely. Well….if Taiwan is one of the options for Asia, I would be more than happy to provide some suggestions since I grew up there. 🙂

  2. This is a lovely introduction to the journey you are about to embark on. I especially love the name and it’s connection to your grandparents. Your story reminded my of my Oma and Opa and the way they shared their travels! Looking forward to tagging along with you guys via this blog! What a great adventure you have ahead of you.

    1. Thanks Jules – it was really nice to hear that you noticed that part. Interesting re: your Oma and Opa – I guess Travelogs were “a thing” back in the day. See you soon!!

  3. Enjoy every moment and let me know if you end up going to Africa! Victoria Falls in Zambia is breathtaking

  4. Hey Alex! Your trip has inspired a trip to the bay of Kotor and I need a good site/contact to find a good villa with a pool for ~10 ladies! Help!! 🙂

  5. Hey Alex!!

    Want to do a quick trip to Morocco with a tent in the desert, a camel ride, and a good bazaar at some point and thought you could point me in the right direction? Thinking of going over Thanksgiving later this year! Thanks!

    1. Hey!!

      We had an awesome experience at Ali & Sara’s Desert Palace which was really a 5* desert camp experience. I would contact them and they can arrange most things you want to do there….including of course the camel ride. They also might be able to advise on some more authentic bazaars and such. Email me if you want more info 🙂 So glad you enjoyed your time in Kotor too!
      -a

    1. Hey thanks for sharing that! I think I know who you met, I remember a friend of a friend Tyler visiting here and telling me he told some people he met here about my blog.

      Hope you enjoyed your stay!

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