Great Reasons To Have A Passport

By Anne | April 27, 2010

It’s a fact:  Most Americans do not have a passport. The number of Americans who have a passport, according to the State Department, is 68 million, or around 22% of the population.  That means that as of this year, 78% of US citizens cannot see the Eiffel Tower or Machu Picchu or the Great Wall of China.  Heck, they can’t even visit their grandma in Canada!

There are so many reasons to own a US passport.  Freedom. Adventure. Exploration. Education.  I could go on and on.  One of the best reasons I’ve heard is from Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler, who says, “It’s through travel, first and foremost, that we meet and understand the outside world. We can read all about other countries in papers and magazines or see them on television, but it’s remarkable how different places turn out to be when you actually visit them.”

There is a terrific book edited by Sara Benson titled “Don’t Let The World Pass You By! 52 Reasons to Have a Passport”.  I believe in each and every one.  Here are a few of my favorites:

#2 Find Out Who You Really Are
Flipping through your passport is like reading your diary. A passport makes grand adventures possible, and also preserves them like photos in an album. Where go go in the world says something about you. - what you’re interested in, how adventurous you are, what kind of activities you like…who you really are.

#6 C’mon, Live a Little
In the words of Auntie Mame - You’ve Got to Live, Live, Live! There is so much life in you and plenty of energy to connect to out in the world.  But you have to get out there to experience it.

#7 It’s Not Such Risky Business
The world is not a dangerous place if you choose your destinations carefully; the book lists the 10 Safest Countries. By the way, the U.S. ranks 27th, right after Armenia.

#15 Ship Out and Shape Up
True Fact:  I lose weight every time I take a trip - even when I indulge. It’s all that moving around and carrying luggage.  The fact that I am not cooking for myself, have no cupboard to peruse when I am bored and hungry and am walking a ton more than I do at home helps, too.

#22 Feel the Thrill of the (Un) Familiar

Has your life become routine?  Is it time to try something new?  Your passport is the key to that new door that can lead you on adventures all over the world.  Beaching it in Cancun?  Riding camels in Egypt?  Helping at a school in Costa Rica?  These all make you feel more alive - and I think, happier.

#33 Activate Your Life
Travel moves you - literally!  Whether it be swimming in a crystal blue ocean, hiking an ancient trail or biking through vineyards, travel is an active pursuit.  It’s the perfect way for you to re-ignite a joy for life AND burn calories at the same time.

And here is my own Oprah moment of travel: You can be your own best self when you travel.  You can re-invent yourself every day.  You can talk to new people or spend the day within yourself.  If you are open to the experience, you will learn more in one day of travel than most other pursuits.  Martha Gellhorn - war reporter, novelist, travel writer (and Hemingway’s 3rd  wife) - said it best “Now I am alive again.  Ponce de León was a nut case:  the fountain of youth is not a little spurt of water but travel.  I forget everything I know; otherwise I would have left much sooner. . . I have only to go to a different country, sky, language, scenery, to feel it is worth living.”

Martha?  Mame?  The message is the same.

Want the book?  Amazon.com has got it:  http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Let-World-Pass-You/dp/1740595785/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272392861&sr=8-1

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Wine, Poetry & Patagonia Women’s Trip/Chapter 4

By Anne | March 11, 2008

Fung Shui, Science Fiction and Barrel Lullabies

February 3 (continued)

So - two wineries and one excellent lunch later - were we done for the day?  Not a chance.  We headed next to Montes - the winery that is credited with introducing the concept of creating premium wine in Chile

- up until about the 1980s, Chilean wine production was dedicated to inexpensive table wines of little quality.  Montes was for years a small place - but has now been reinvented into a temple of wine. Their symbol

- an angel - spoke of the spirituality of the owners.  The winery’s beautiful new building was built using feng shui principals - select walls painted red for success and luck, a combination of elements - metal, wood, water and air - incorporated into each room. Wow.  But it was the barrel room that floored us.  There, in the quiet dim light, the barrels - arranged in a semi-circle and filled with “living” wine - were being serenaded 24/7 by echoing monastic singing - an otherworldly sensation.  It was almost science fiction in feel - like these barrels were the embryonic pods that would someday burst forth with little angelic living creatures.  Which in this case would be bottled and drunk by mere mortals.  Thank goodness for small favors.

We ended the day at the Santa Cruz hotel in Santa Cruz - another charming place in a sleepy small town.  Gathering for dinner at the hotel restaurant we tried the local Chilean specialties - charquican (diced meat cooked with garlic, onions, potatoes and pumpkin all mashed), humitas (boiled corn tamles rolled in husks and filled with seasoned ground corn) and bistec a lo pobre (beefsteak, french fries, fried onions, topped with a couple of fried eggs - and a heart attack on the side).  All pretty tasty and a great introduction to the food of the region.  Including, I might add two desserts that, though not drop-dead delicious, were noteworthy for their ingredients.  The first, a pumpkin mousse with caramelized onions and red wine ice cream; the second was boiled corn with dried peaches (whole!) in sugar syrup.  Yummy?  Well, sort of. . .

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Wine, Poetry & Patagonia Women’s Trip/Chapter 3

By Anne | March 11, 2008

 

A Sip Here, A Nibble There: Wine + Food

February 3

We are up and out and on our way to the Colchagua Valley to begin some serious wine tasting for non-serious wine drinkers.  First stop - Casa Silva - a charming place that has been family owned and run since 1892.

Tiny, elegant and a wonderful way to introduce us to the interesting history of wine in the area.  It was here we first saw the middle of the barrels painted with wine - a purely cosmetic thing.  That way, when they open the top and take a taste the drips don’t make the barrels look messy, but instead blend right in.  Clever, these winemakers.

But no rest for us - it was off to Viu Manet for a wonderful lunch that started off with some cold tomato soup that was fantastic - and enough to have for lunch on its own.  Followed by a huge portion of pork loin and vegetables (with wine, of course) and choice of desserts (important for us!) of a duo of crème brulee (amazing chocolate & vanilla) or a trio of sorbets made with fruit and wine - red with calafate berries, another with gooseberries and late harvest white and the last with chocolate and port.  Yum.

Our visit here continued with a carriage ride through the vineyards to the wine making area to see how their wine was made - pretty much the same as others but here we were led by a charming fellow - Christian - who was Chilean by birth, raised in Venezuela and recently graduated in viticulture and enology from Fresno State!  Here was a fellow who was smart, charming, handsome and passionate about wine. At Viu Manet we had our first taste from the barrel - unaged and full of tannins . . . it was pucker city. But interesting and good to have the perspective.

Another carriage ride back to the main house for our tasting - and to listen to this educated young man wax poetic -  “Wine and food cannot be separated,” he said.  “I cannot think of a wine without thinking of what food it will go best with.” A man after my own food lovin’ heart.

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Wine, Poetry & Patagonia Women’s Trip/Chapter 2

By Anne | February 26, 2008

Inspired by Chileans – My ‘New’ New Year’s Resolution

February 2

I went to the airport to pick up our group of “interesting, imaginative and adventurous” travelers (that language was from our brochure).  It was the first time I’d met some of them and instantly knew we would be a good conglomeration of personalities. 

Standing in the international arrivals area waiting for the group, one thing became perfectly clear – Chileans really know how to welcome friends and family home.  With enthusiasm and passion.  With love.  With excitement.  Just once I would like my family to wait for me at the airport and when I come through the arrivals door – run to me, throw their arms around me, rock back and forth, cry with joy that I am safe and here and in their arms.  Wait in a line to take turns to hug me, take pictures of me, give me flowers and toys and kisses all at the same time.  My newest New Year’s resolution?  To welcome my family in this manner all the time – when they come back from a trip, when they come home from school, when they leave one room in the house and come into the room where I am.  I shall greet them the Chilean way – and leave no room for doubt that they are the most wonderful thing to ever happen to me.

 Needless to say, I was quite taken with the scene I saw over and over again in the 1.5 hours I was waiting for the group to arrive.  Which they finally did – and I still feel a bit bad about not welcoming them in a way I knew was de rigeur in Santiago.  Next trip. Next group.  I swear.

One gal’s luggage did not show up (after traveling to London, it finally caught up with us 3 days later). She was an extremely good sport about it – a good sign.  A quick hotel check in and lunch and we were off to see the city and have our first “date” with one of the stars of the trip – Pablo Neruda.  We visited his Santiago home “La Chascona” (the wild haired woman) and began our little journey into his poetry by seeing this house built like a ship and filled with his collections of everything from bottles to statues to his Nobel Prize.

From there down Avenue Bernardo O’Higgens (the leader of Chilean independence and, let’s face it, one of the all-time great names for a South American hero), to La Moneda, to the Plaza de Armas square it was a quick tour.  We went up the hill to Parque Metropolitano and walked around to see the views of the city – though getting up by funicular didn’t work out (too long a line) and getting down by cable car didn’t either (too long a line).  One thing that did work was our first introduction to the wines of Chile at the restaurant on San Cristobal Hill by a charming, young sommelier.  It was here we heard our first, but certainly not last, passionate wine lover/expert/maker/promoter of Chilean wines.  We learned and tasted and got the first tiny taste (pun intended) of how important wine was to Chile.  We were hooked.  Dinner that night was at Casa Neruda – out in the candlelit garden (I’m sure the poet would have loved it – and would have romanced someone there if he had the chance).  But instead of the poet, we got the restaurant owner, a former actor - who brought us into he cellar and read “Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines” (a.k.a. Puedo Escribir los Versos Mas Tristes Esta Noche) in Spanish.  “I simply cannot read Neruda in English – no matter – you will understand the meaning from just hearing the words” which was actually true.  Dramatic, romantic, sexy – an apt description of the poem and the interpreter as well.  Ahhhhh.  Another fine introduction to Neruda – helped along by (quite) a bit of Chilean wine.

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Wine, Poetry & Patagonia Women’s Trip/Chapter 1

By Anne | February 26, 2008

Welcome to Chile. You’re Busted.

January 31

Leaving for Santiago, Chile. The flight was crowded, long and uneventful. But not a problem for me – I just kept thinking about the adventure ahead. In his famous poem Descubridores de Chile, the country’s beloved poet and diplomat Pablo Neruda romanticizes his homeland as a “slim nation” made of “night, snow, and sand.” And we are about to see it for ourselves. . .

 

February 1

Welcome to Chile. You’re busted. That was our story when 3 out of 4 of us tried to enter the country carrying in some big time contraband. Two apples, a sealed hotel jar (2 tablespoons full) of honey and some Trader Joe’s roasted almonds sealed in a bag. We were reprimanded, hauled into a little corner, ushered into a back room, mildly threatened with jail and then told to pay big fines - $80 each for the apples alone. Honestly – couldn’t they just have taken them away? It was such an unpleasant introduction to Chile. It is apparent to me now that this is a government inside joke - “let’s get some money out of the tourists in high season”. But honestly – fining someone $150 for bringing SEALED microwave popcorn into the country? They should be ashamed. Tourism is a big business and I would not want to risk the bad PR that can come from a shakedown like this. Are you listening to me, Ms. Chilean Minister of Tourism? More than an hour later we were released. Criminals each one, but free to go. Hello to Marilyn, our guide and a quick trip into town for hotel check in at El Bosque Suites near the Providencia area. It’s a wonderful hotel, the suites are huge, and each has a small kitchen and living room in addition to he bedroom and big bathroom. It’s within walking distance of plenty of small shops, restaurants, etc. and a good choice if you don’t need to be downtown.

That set up the first evening’s activities in Santiago – search for an Apple Store, since I had left my power cord in DFW. Lo and behold – there is one – in the Parque Arauco shopping mall. $140 (!) later, I was powered up and ready to go. And we decided to have a drink at an outdoor café - “Let’s try a Pisco Sour” – a local concoction. Famous last words. . . let me tell you something about these cute, sweet local drinks – they are deadly! One drink and we were – how shall I say this? - delightfully tipsy (looped would be another way to put it). A few plates of delicious empanadas (and a second Pisco Sour later) we headed back to the hotel.

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Entering the Blogging World

By Anne | December 11, 2007

It seems like it was yesterday I had this notion of starting up a travel company that really paid attention to the details of travel.  So I did.  On The Map Travel (check it out at www.onthemaptravel.com). Not mass market stuff, but trips that include all the small things I love so much when I travel – the things I bring up when talking to my friends about a destination. A good example of this is an experience I had in Peru at Machu Picchu when I was employed as a tour director for a large travel company. I love the ruins of Machu Picchu on their own – they are simply amazing, it’s true. But what stands out in my memory most is the early morning I spent with a 80 years and counting professor (a client on one of my trips) who invited me and a few of our other tour members to go with him to the ruins at dawn.  Once there, he pulled out a copy of Pablo Neruda’s famous epic poem “The Heights of Machu Picchu” from his knapsack (well worth a read, you can get it at my favorite travel bookstore www.longitudebooks.com or at www.amazon.com).

We all sat on the ancient stones and read portions of the poem out loud to one another, while llamas grazed nearby and the mists moved up and down the mountains, bringing them into focus and then making them disappear again.

So there we sat - a wise man, a tour guide, a middle aged American tourist and a business executive - and listened to each other read the magic words of Neruda:

“Kiss these secret stones with me.
The torrential silver of the Urubamba
Makes the pollen fly to its golden cup.
The hollow of the bindweed’s maze,
the petrified plant, the inflexible garland,
soar above the silence of these mountain coffers.”

Wow.  A travel moment I will never forget.

So, now as On The Map Travel enters the blogging world, I hope you’ll come along as we talk travel – places we love, secret spots we’ve discovered as we travel the world, great places to eat, fun things to do, fabulous people we’ve met, why we believe in responsible travel, how travel is the most direct way to achieve peace on earth . . .our list of what makes travel so wonderful goes on and on.

Sometimes it will be me, Anne MacIntyre, writing.  Other times my business partner Audrey Kennedy will throw in her two cents.  We are excited about joining a whole community of people who love to travel and love to share their experiences with other travelers.

Anne

By the way, when people travel with us to Machu Picchu, EVERYONE gets a copy of “The Heights of Machu Picchu” as a gift.

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