Monday, January 25, 2016

OK - ONCE AGAIN WITH FEELING - THE NOMAD'S RANDOM LIST OF IMPORTANT TRAVEL STUFF

STAPLE TODAY'S MUSINGS TO YOUR BUCKET LIST

Again - Happy New Year One & All. Before the travel season kicks into high gear, a little house keeping is in order. As someone who has devoted his very existence to the intricacies and joys of travel for longer than I am willing to admit, I have pondered the many side roads that make travel important. I have broached this subject before in various posts, but, today, I offer up my thoughts, right or wrong, with renewed passion that memorable travel involves planning and serendipity, the familiar and the unexpected, the common and the bizarre and a willingness to embrace every single experience into your very own travel heart and soul. Only then can a true Nomad say, with conviction - JUST GO!


MAKE THAT BUCKET LIST
From dreams we come and to dreams we can go. But you can't get there if you don't know what you want to do. Of course, if you are like me, your Bucket List will constantly change. The point is - Write it down! And then go and go and go before they put your ashes in a Choc Full O'nuts Can - Just kidding!


HAVE NO FEAR
Let's be honest. If you watch the news or read the newspaper, the world has elements that can make one  hesitant to travel due to the constant fear of some insane jihadist pulling the plug in the seat next to you. Don't buy into that feeling. Even with all of the crazies in full bloom, the chances of you being vaporized by a terrorist is about 1 in 3 million, making air and train travel ridiculously safe. Over four million people fly every day without incident.  So don't worry, you can take that plane, train or automobile  to your dream spot with no fear- You are good to go!

TO EVERY SEASON - PLAN, PLAN, PLAN
With the ubiquitous existence of the internet, travel planning has been taken away from the travel agents and tour companies that want to corral you into a bus or a cruise liner and charge you a fortune to go where everyone else has gone before. So, get out your laptop, your iPad or your cell phone and get very, very busy. There is so much available for the savvy Nomad, rich and poor.


ONLY SMALL WILL DO THANK YOU
IMHO - If it's over fifty beds, skip it. If you are a big hotel kind of person, if you demand a concierge to suck up to you when you get out of the limo, if you really think that the $25 room service Bubba Burger is for you then by all means - enjoy. But if you really want to experience the enjoyment and pleasure of staying in a unique environment, small is the thing. And just to show that I am not just talking, check out the following web sites for small places to lay your head where design, comfort and value comfortably coexist.

I-ESCAPE      
TABLET    
HIP HOTELS     
AIRBNB       
EPOQUE     
MR & MRS. SMITH     
BOUTIQUE HOMES     
JET SETTER


SLOW DOWN, YOU MOVE TOO FAST
You got to make the morning last - So wrote Paul Simon back in the day. In the warp speed world of today you have to quit looking at your phone, Ipad, whatever and focus on kickin' down those cobble stones and feelin' groovy. You know - the whole stop and smell the roses thing. Twelve countries, cities, holiday spots, beaches or mountain ranges seen in twelve days will leave any Nomad tired and unfulfilled. So, pick a few spots and hang out for awhile. We try to keep our minimum time in any one place to three days. The longer you stay in one spot, the more you feel  a part of the local culture and will better understand the people and all the interesting things they do in their world. You find out where all the best places are for a morning coffee or tea, not to mention places to eat. After all, Nomads do not travel well at all on quick or bad food. One of the most interesting things we noticed in Italy is the Italian's love of meal time. You have to beg for the check. They really don't want you to leave. Very un-American wouldn't you say? And I mean that in a good way.

So, when you plan your next trip, pick some really cool places that are centered near other things you can do. Day trips are the thing. La Mancha is only 90 minutes from Madrid, after all.


AND A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT AIRBNB
That's right. This Nomad loves AIRBNB! Why you ask? First and foremost, you can choose from over 850,000 rooms, houses, condos, cabins, hostels and intimate hotels featuring an amazing array of bunking accommodations in virtually every country on earth. Second, if you do your homework, you can find places that delight the senses with cutting edge design, comfortable beds, rain showers, etc. etc. etc.. And third, your wallet and your bank account will love you for it. Our last adventure with AIRBNB was just outside of Carmel in an 850 square foot tricked out private guest house with a stunning view of the Pacific over Point Lobos State Park, considered to be the "Crown Jewel" of the California State Park System, for substantially less compared to other places in the area. The Post Ranch Inn, at $1,200 a night, is just down the road. So, if you are desirous of hard to find design quality for a romantic getaway or a family place with all the fixins', for a song - AIRBNB is worth a look.


THINK AND TRAVEL RICH YOU SAY - HOW YOU ASK?
HOMEWORK! Travel planning is a unique blend of vision, art, science and wit. If money is no object - cool. If, however, you don't want to get letters offering you a way to pay off your debt in three years or less, you have to work at creating the perfect sojourn. Of course, I spend countless hours researching and trying to spread the word so your life experiences on the road will be the best that they can be. You CAN have your cake and eat it too. And you won't be depressed when the bill arrives.


THE WORLD VS THE GOOD OLE USA
That's a tough one, isn't it? In my travel experiences, I can say, without hesitation, travel in Europe is always a transformative experience for me and mine. Visiting Europe makes you see the world and its people as never before. Watching old men playing bocce ball in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower or sitting in the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and hearing your son express that he has never seen anything like this, knowing that he will take this imagery and moment with him forever, or hearing your daughter talk to a cabbie as if she were a native Spaniard, makes you have a better understanding of "that other world". I am constantly intrigued by the many places in the world  I want to experience. I just hope I can get to half of them before I take the ultimate trip.

Of course, when it comes to The New World, the places you will discover in the greatest country on earth are really unequaled. Whether, it's the artful, ancient towns of Santa Fe and Taos, the Great White Way of New York or the bucolic beauty of the Pacific Coast,  America is the place that must be seen to be believed. So - Whether it's The States, Europe or other points north, south, east or west, your Bucket List will become your daily reminder to get on the road to the places that will expand your mind and open your heart.


MEMENTOS & ARTIFACTS
We have a Picasso inspired glass sculpture we purchased on the isle of Murano, a short boat ride from Venice. I never see that sculpture that it doesn't make me smile and think about our time in one of the truly great places on our dwindling planet. We have so many artifacts that remind us of places we have visited. When I visit someone's house, the stories behind the things they display are always fascinating because of the meaning those things have. So, make sure you bring back something that will make you remember and smile when the memory has faded.


AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Somebody, somewhere in your crew MUST keep a journal of your travels. It does take some discipline. I mean its hard to stop and write while your having fun or doing nothing on your favorite beach. But, write you must. I still drag my always less than complete journals out to remind myself of what we did, where we went and other expeiences and emotions that are not fit to print. A travel journal serves the same purpose as photographs - it can bring back floods of joy, laughter and emotions that are buried way back in your consciousness. And a final word on photographs. I have just rediscovered recently that an old box of photographs can take you back to places that you forgot even existed AND it can help you fill otherwise slack time with meaning.


And for those who need a little humor with their travel, here is a quick look at comedian Jim Gaffigan's take on the ultimate vacation for all Nomads with kids -  DISNEY.



SO FELLOW NOMADS - MAY YOUR TRAILS BE HAPPY AND YOUR PILLOWS BE SOFT.


See you on the road sometime!


d.l.stafford
THENOMADarchitect


P.S. It's back. That's right, Nomads. BLOGGER has decided to make the VIDEO BAR function again. It was down for it seemed like forever. But no more. I have renamed it TRAVEL MUSIC and this week's artist is Harry Connick Jr. with his latest killer project - That Would Be Me. Fantastico! Just click on the link at the top of the right margin to hear and see some great tunes from the man that plays like Monk and sings like Frank






Friday, January 1, 2016

HAPPY NEW YEAR - GET BUSY VAGABONDS!!!


That's right. Now that you have spent all the money and returned half the stuff you got from Santa, it's time to get serious. Revise that Bucket List and resolve to head for the four corners. Time does indeed move faster and faster. I will be sharing with you throughout the year what, I hope, will be erudite, urbane and witty commentaries on places to sleep, eat and just be - where design and uniqueness are at the top of  your list of criteria for such places. Somebody, probably a guy that was very lost, said that half the fun is getting there. But, once you get there, you want to be sure that there is, in fact, a there there.

That's what this blog, now entering its fifth year, is all about. Cool places and cool spaces do not happen by accident folks. It's like a song by Connick or a sketch by Matisse. Great design comes from a unique combination of vision, talent and hard work. And when its done right, you get to sit back and take it all in.

So repeat after me:

Design is good.
Small is better.
Different is even better.
Unique is really outstanding.
Serendipity is fantastic.
Travel to the unknown is utterly, absolutely life changing.

It may sound random, but, if you put all those thoughts in a TRAVEL MUG and stir it up - Well,  I  get goose bumps just thinking about it. Other than my lover, best friend, wife and travel muse for forty plus years and my amazing kids, nothing and no one has changed me like travel. So, get busy, get out the map and log on - you have work to do fellow vagabonds.

May your dreams come true in a place you never thought they would.

To kick off 2016 on a personal note, check out a photograph taken by my daughter from her seat on American Airlines coming home to God's Country for Christmas, with her cell phone no less! She's a born vagabond just like her old man.
























Happy 2016 Travels To All Nomads, Vagabonds and Dreamers

d.l.stafford
thenomadARCHITECT

P.S.
New Year - New Header - No Charge