A very wise college professor of mine once veered sharply off-topic to talk about our coming careers. She said, “You’ll likely choose your profession for one reason, but to keep doing it, you’ll have to keep coming up with ever new and more compelling reasons. If you can’t find those reasons, change careers.”My career, travel writing and editing, in a manner, chose me. I am the daughter of travel writers Arthur Frommer and Hope Arthur, after all, and started vagabonding around the globe at the age of four months. I’d always loved to write, the planet was my playground, and travel gave me a charge—boom, profession picked.
But beyond the visceral thrill of dashing here and there, trying exotic foods, and seeing eye-popping works of art and architecture--the initial lures—I’ve found new reasons to write over the years which I hope will become the hallmarks of this column. They include:
- Frugality: Unlike many of the travel bloggers you’ll read online, I pay for my own travel. So I understand how important, no crucial, saving a loonie is. Lack of cash very literally clips our wings. I’m going to do my darndest in this column and in my blog, to uncover the best deals out there—ones that allow us, as adults, to travel in comfort and safety, but not overpay. From money-saving methods of travel to last minute offers, you’ll find them with my byline.
- Estrogen: No secret, I’m a woman. And I do think that many of the issues in travel, particularly safety and destination choice, can vary, a bit, by gender. So I’ll be gearing some of these posts towards women’s travel. But you fellows who are in touch with your feminine sides, please feel free to read along, too.
- Motherhood: Blame it on estrogen (see above), but over the years I've "reproduced". I have two daughters and now drag them along with me, from China to Guatemala to Disneyland. This has been both a joy and a royal pain and it has schooled me in the art of planning trips that are appropriate for all ages and levels of obsession with Justin Bieber. So family travel, too, will be a focus.
- Expanding Horizons: I’m all for going to the top of the Eiffel Tower when you’re in Paris, or to the edge of the Grand Canyon when in Arizona. But I believe travel is more than just viewing natural wonders and works created decades or even centuries ago. You need to get off the tourist treadmill. It’s eye-opening and just plain fun to engage with the locals, pull back the curtain on the current culture of the places you’re visiting, learn new skills, have adventures! So I’ll also be devoting a good amount of space here to the more unusual experiences one can have on the road, experiences that create friendships and open eyes.
I look forward to creating an ongoing conversation on all these issues and more in the upcoming months.
(Photo: Me with my exhausted daughter in Mykonos, Greece taken by my husband Mahlon Stewart)
