Travel Oops: The Unfortunate Photo —Is that Vomit in the Viewfinder?

Posted on December 20, 2012 by sglaser

With digital cameras, it’s so easy to delete photos with mistakes or unwanted shots. Sometimes those pics can be gems, however. At the very least, they may be a reminder about a funny incident or the challenge to get the photo in the first place. So Travel Oops has a new feature: “The Unfortunate Photo!”

Melbourne, Australia (above). I really wanted a family photo with a cityscape of Melbourne in the background. We chose a bit of an awkward spot in terms of getting several buildings in the shot. My friend Anne took the picture and was definitely intent on getting the right angle.

Unfortunately, with that angle, she also inadvertently included a pile of barf, which we had almost stepped in moments before. It caught my eye after I picked up the developed shots, and now it’s really the only thing I see when I look at the photo. It cracks me up each time.

Travel Oops — Mad about Mountain Biking

Posted on December 19, 2012 by sglaser

Embracing the active, outdoor lifestyle seemed like a great idea when I first arrived in Colorado for a visit.

However, after a few weeks, while white knuckling it on a mountain bike ride, I started thinking that maybe listening to some John Denver while drinking Coors Light was a better idea.

It’s actually best not to know anything about a mountain bike trail before riding it. Ignorance, while not bliss, is definitely an advantage when it comes to participating in an extreme sport. It’s either ignorance or fearlessness —and — since I am not fearless by nature, at least I was clueless. In fact, I was completely clueless about what I was in for.

Most of the Crest Trail, which runs along the continental divide in Colorado, is considered to be “singletrack,” a dirt path not much wider than the bike. When you’re riding downhill next to a sheer drop off on three inches of trail that goes over rocks and tree roots, it seems more like “tightrope trail” with no net.

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Friday Funny Sign — Open 7 Days Except for Monday Through Sunday

Posted on December 14, 2012 by sglaser

Australia. I passed this not so convenient store just about every day for a year and nothing changed. It was still abandoned and still said, “Open 7 Days.”

Avoid the Oops — The Hangover and Getting Really Drunk on a Plane

Posted on December 13, 2012 by sglaser

The journey has begun. The anticipation is there. It won’t be long before you arrive in an exciting new location or an old favorite. Speaking of arrival, here comes the drink cart. Even better — the alcohol is free!

It’s a perfect time to celebrate, so why not have another and another and maybe another after that? You’re not driving. Plus, your flight is fourteen hours; you have a lot of time to kill. So, it’s tempting to get the party started and to keep drinking.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with celebrating and drinking in moderation on a flight. And perhaps you know what you’re potentially in for, having already experienced hangover hell and feeling like complete crap at one point or another.

But remember, you may not have experienced this while in a confined space where you don’t have quick access to fresh air, toilets or even your own pillow.

Not to mention you may have to endure this state for several more hours with crying kids and grumpy passengers who are over the flight.

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Travel Oops — “Do You Have a Gun, Miss?”

Posted on December 11, 2012 by sglaser

A “temporary” building with two classrooms, P301, on the inside, was a faded green mint color — like saltwater taffy gone stale, having been left in a carnival candy sack too long.

But I had windows, a big white board, carpet and neat tables and chairs lined up perfectly. On high, the air conditioning unit blasted air that could cut any perennial’s life short. Was this real? I didn’t have any of these items in my US classroom.

In the little climate controlled temporary, I felt a certain calm even on the first day as a new exchange teacher. Of course this was mixed with a free-flowing anxiety. I didn’t know a thing about Australian students or Year 8s, for that matter, but really, how hard could it be? Plus, if I totally bombed, I could definitely milk my accent for the first week of school, at least.

Right?

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The Travel Ahh…Roads and Streets

Posted on December 10, 2012 by sglaser

Roads and streets are definitely symbolic when it comes to travel. Just listen to Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild” or read Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. Of course, when you are stuck in traffic during a commute, the road is the last place where you want to be. But, when you’re traveling, roads and streets always lead somewhere new or unexpected. Sometimes it’s not always the destination, but what you see on the way that is so striking. (The photo above was taken along a remote road on Kangaroo Island, Australia.

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Friday Funny Sign — Filling Up in More Ways than One in the Outback

Posted on December 7, 2012 by sglaser

Central Australia. The Outback can be a pretty desolate place. A petrol/gas station and road house are literally like an oasis. Definitely a one-stop-shop. This Road House, which did have lodging, was not advocating drinking and driving, I would like to believe, but merely efficiency.

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Gimme Shelter — In a Balinese Elephant Cave

Posted on December 5, 2012 by sglaser

Goa Gajah or the “Elephant Cave” is a beautiful ancient Hindu complex near Ubud, Bali (what isn’t beautiful in Bali?) The entrance is a bit intimidating since it looks like a dragon’s mouth. A place to worship, the Inside of the cave is rather small and at one corner stands a small statue of the Hindu deity, Ganesha, who has an elephant head. Photography is not permitted, and visitors and worshippers, alike, must cover their legs (except children and this was good since it was so hot and humid, the cave was somewhat stifling!)

A bathing temple with fountains is also part of the lovely grounds. Another open air building stands nearby in the peaceful and serene setting. It is believed the spiritual complex was built around the 11th century as a sanctuary for Hindu priests.

Travel Oops — Should I add McDonald’s to the Guidebook?

Posted on December 4, 2012 by sglaser

No more creating copy about high-speed railways, long-span suspension bridges, retrofitted freeways or any other engineering miracles. I was going to be a travel writer. For nearly three years, I had worked as an editor in the public affairs office for the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley, and I longed to write about other subjects. I would, however, gladly examine engineering feats along the lines of windmills, dikes and bicycles.

Hired to write insights about Europe — the Netherlands in particular — for the 1996 edition of the Berkeley Guides, a budget Fodor’s travel guide series produced by students at Berkeley, I had found a dream job. Although not a Berkeley student, I was a copywriter and editor.

Plus, I had studied in Leiden, Holland, for a year while in college. Ultimately, I could serve as a cultural anthropologist.

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The Friday Funny Sign — Whoa! A Storage Unit for Hannibal Lecter?

Posted on November 30, 2012 by sglaser

I did a double take BIG Time when I first saw this sign. YIKES. They sell BONES??? And units are available — what might be in the units? Don’t want to know.

Because that would be way too twisted to actually advertise the availability of bones (let alone have a business that sells them), the sign requires closer examination. When you see the sign from the correct angle, it says, We Sell Boxes. However, when you first drive into the commercial site where this storage business is located, that is NOT how the sign reads. Time to choose another font.