Oh, I see! moments
Travel Cultures Language

World Views:

Topics

09

Oct

What’s in Your Suitcase?

by Joyce McGreevy on October 9, 2017

A souvenir store in Budapest, Hungary leads a writer to seek the locus of travel inspiration and other aha moments. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Souvenir stores straddle the border between “this place” and “any place.”
© Joyce McGreevy

Collected Travel Inspiration,
With & Without Souvenirs

Souvenirs—talismans of travel inspiration, mere trinkets, or  trash?  Can they inspire aha moments or only memorialize them?

The very word is a souvenir of 18th century French—from souvenir “to remember.” But I like the ancient Latin even better. Subvenire, “to come up from below,” tips its hat to the subconscious. It makes me think of opening old boxes in a basement and finding forgotten treasure, some silly, small item of no value.  And yet  . . .  Read more...

 

Cultural Symbols/Life Lessons/Worldwide Sites/Your Own Aha Moments

18

Sep

Discovering the Art of Sand Sculptures

by Meredith Mullins on September 18, 2017

A lion sand sculpture, part of the great Carmel Sand Castle Contest, discovering the art of sand sculpting. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Winner of the 2017 Great Carmel Sand Castle Contest
© Meredith Mullins

The Great Carmel Sand Castle Contest

What lives and breathes sand and water . . . and brings out the kid in everyone?

What passion requires a unique combination of creativity, patience, delicacy, and grit?

What depends on building with the simplest of elements, but can rise to the pinnacle of artistry?

And what, without lament, is always inevitably destroyed?

Shovels in the sad, the remnants of a sand sculpture at the Great Carmel Sand Castle Contest, discovering the art of sand sculptures. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Grand finale for a sand sculpture: Inevitable destruction
© Meredith Mullins

It is the wonderful world of sand sculptures, or, for us novices, the wonderful world of plastic shovels and buckets and mounds of malleable sand.  Read more...

 

Discoveries/USA

26

Jun

More Than a Travel Mascot

by Joyce McGreevy on June 26, 2017

A toy canine travel mascot named Bedford, dressed for Maui, inspires his human travel buddy to see the world differently. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

“Have pawsport, will travel,” that’s Bedford’s motto.
© Joyce McGreevy

To See the World Differently,
Take Your Travel Buddy

I have a confession. Although my posts for OIC Moments suggest I’m a solo traveler, that’s not the whole story. Truth is, I never travel without a guide. To some, he’s just a “travel mascot.” To me he’s much more, a travel buddy who helps me see the world differently.

Bedford, take a bow. And a bow-wow.

A toy canine travel mascot named Bedford, dressed in Scottish tartan, inspires his human travel buddy to see the world differently. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Testing the tartan in Scotland . . .
© Joyce McGreevy

A toy canine travel mascot named Bedford, sipping tea in Istanbul, inspires his human travel buddy to see the world differently. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

. . . and the tea in Turkey.
© Joyce McGreevy  Read more...

 

Art of Travel/Life Lessons/Worldwide Sites/Your Own Aha Moments

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