travelenvelope: 10

See the World for Free

The idea here is to TRAVEL THE WORLD regardless of time or budget. It dawned on me one day that even if I had unlimited time and money (which I definitley do not), I still couldn't see everything in the world that I'd like to see--I'm simply not going to live long enough to do it.

But I had a bit of brain wave and soon after the travel envelope was born. This is an actual physical envelope. I typed the name of every country in the world, plus every state in the US on little slips of paper which I then put into the envelope. In the beginning we (myself, my husband, Dave and daugher Catherine) would draw out a slip at random at the beginning of the month and that's where we would go---at least in our minds. We grab some books about the country from the library and put them in our bathroom to look at. We also check out some videos about the country if any. We check it out on googleearth, listen to the music, try the food, maybe even attempt to learn a dance or celebrate a festival.

After the first two years we discovered that even virtual traveling can be tiring, so we travel now whenever I happen to be in the mood.

It's great fun. I especially love it when people I meet have been to the place I'm "visiting" in real life, or get excited and have some virtual adventures of their own. I hope that anyone who comes across this blog will feel welcome to come with us on the trip!

You have a standing reservation to see it all!

Jun 12, 2010

Judge Dee

Mystery lovers check out the Judge Dee mysteries by Robert Van Gulik. Van Gulik was a scholar of Chinese culture and these mysteries are based on ancient Chinese detective stories. They are set in about 7th century China and have a very authentic feel to them. One of the beauties of detective fiction is that details of everyday life are central to the story so you get to find out what people are wearing, how they spend their time, how they treat their families, what they eat and what their hobbies are--probably more than in any other kind of literature. Van Gulik is a first class writer and the books are loads of fun. I meant to read one this month--and I just went and checked out two more.

Jun 7, 2010

Tonsils

Funny how once something is in your mind everything comes out of the woodwork to enhance the concept. Today we were in the hospital recovery room with Catherine because she had her tonsils out. Being in China (or anywhere else) was the last thing on my mind--or it would have been except that the top magazine in the room was "Smithsonian" with THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA on the front cover. Well you can't fight fate. I learned that the great wall is 4,000 miles long, not 2000. Catherine is doing fine and I'm grateful for Western medicine--especially general anethesia.

Jun 6, 2010

Things to See

Chloe, a professor I work with from Beijing, recommends the following as must sees.

I would say Jiuzhaigou or Nine Stockaded Village channel, Tibet, Mount Huangshan, and Big Shang Hai Area (including Shang Hai City and surrounding areas).

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