humanity
If nothing else, travel opens your eyes to the colorful quilt that is humankind.
The Silver Lining
This is the last photo I had taken before landing in what looked to me like a scene taken directly from a futuristic dystopian 80’s flick. I took this photo because I couldn’t believe how sad it looked compared to where I had just come from. I had just gotten done living in Hawaii on the island of Oahu, for one year and four months. I just so happened to be moving in the space between the beginning murmurs of the COVID-19 pandemic and videos of Italians telling us they wish they would have taken this more seriously. The plan was to stop in Seattle to visit my friend and future roommates, fly home to Ohio for a visit, swing by NYC and drop in to see my Dad in Cape Coral, Florida. I packed everything, said my goodbyes and I was off. Those were my last moments of freedom before quarantine took place.
By Autumn Rose Miller6 years ago in Wander
Tales of a Hitchhiker
I’ve only hitchhiked a handful of times in my life. Growing up in the UK you never come across it, and when you do the stories usually involve a murder or sexual assault or something to that effect. Over-the-top fanaticism no-doubt, it does happen from time to time. The only time I’ve consistently hitchhiked was when I was in New Zealand, in fact, rather proudly I can say that I hitchhiked from Auckland to Queenstown, from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island. In this month long trip, I spent money on transport only once, on the ferry between the two islands.
By Oliver Hall6 years ago in Wander
When I Look at the Stars, I am a Traveler . Third Place in Landscape Mode Challenge.
Out of the window of an airplane. No one had ever told me that this was the perfect vantage point for viewing the stars. On my right, the man next to me was asleep, somehow, slumped over with the airplane-provided pillow under his head and airplane-provided blanket draped over him. I had spent the better part of two hours trying to get those airplane provisions situated in a comfortable– or comfortable enough– way to let me sleep... with no luck. Sleeping on the plane was a challenge too great for me. But I didn’t mind anymore. Because I had opened my window. About two hours before, I had closed it as part of the equation that was supposed to equal sleep. I followed every step of that equation but could not get it to yield the expected result. I should have known. I’ve never been any good at performing equations. Looking with wonder. That’s what I’m good at.
By Reese Marie6 years ago in Wander
Lockdown, On My Terms. Top Story - May 2020.
Lockdown began as I packed my bag for a summer at sea. Plane ticket ready. Boat waiting. Life neatly packed away. It was a trip I'd been planning for months, a summer of adventure like I'd dreamed of for over a decade. All on hold, for now.
By Emma Styles6 years ago in Wander
Something Outside my Window
It's a beautiful early summer day; the sun shines bright, and the cool wind sweetly wipes away the sweat droplets forming on your forehead. You walk towards the bodega. As soon as you step on the block, you hear in the distance the faint sound of lively bachata music; slowly, it gets stronger, permeating the streets with melancholic melodies of past loves and betrayal until you get to the bodega. Both the guy, Pedro, and the bodega cat or Mr. Manager, as you call him, greet you at the same time.
By Jay Cordero6 years ago in Wander
Wanderings
At the border there is a checkpoint with 26 police cars. I told them I was from Georgia, and they waved me through with no further questions. Jacksonville was a ghost town, but the beaches were open. I pulled into dock “A,” of Lambs Marina and heated up a can of vegetable soup on my butane stove. In St. Augustine everything was open for mothers day and no one was wearing a mask, accept for me. I was wearing a Niosh certified respirator with P95 filters. Some people looked at me like I had made a fashion faux pas. Others as if I had made a bad joke. Some simply stared at me in a manner that would suggest in other situations, that I had a bug on my head. They thought the government was making me do this, but, in reality, I’m doing it because I care about other people. Social distancing was a foreign concept among these god fearing libertarian antivaxxers. Of course the beaches were open with the yellow plague flag flying. I stayed on the property of my step cousin, in a 3 man tent. When it started to rain at 7:00 AM I packed up and drove. At launch complex 41 in Cape Canaveral Nasa was preparing to Launch an unpiloted Air Force X-37B spaceplane on a secret mission. The secret mission is manifold. One objective is to monitor the effect that space has on seeds, and other materials. Another is to test technology that converts solar energy into microwave bursts. Its Russian built RD-130 engines were prepared to push the 20 story rocket with more than 860,000 pounds of thrust. This will be the 90th flight of the RD-180 engine. The goal of the flight is to place the X-37B into one of the Pentagons private orbits, governed by the Rapid Capabilities office of the U.S. Space Force.The X-37B looks like a space shuttle. It has Delta wings, heat shield tiles and a compact payload bay for a solar array that allows for extremely long flights. The last flight of the X-37B lasted 780 days before ending with a secret landing in Florida last October. The duration of the current mission is not known. I checked out the big white boner on the launch site with my binoculars. It looked like the flight was going to be postponed due to incessant rain. So I headed to Lake Okeechobee at 120 mph, because the roads were empty and the landscape was so flat that I could see a cop from 2 miles away. I was starting to feel dirty so I took a bath in lake Okeechobee, with Dr. Bronners soap. Afterwards I still felt dirty. The Towns on the circumference of Lake Okeechobee are somewhat impoverished farming communities who grow Sugar Cane, Papaya, Limes or raise Cows. I told Arnold Schwarzenegger, the voice actor of my GPS, to direct me to Miami and avoid all tolls. Initially I was excited to see Miami, the kind of city that makes you feel like you’re in a science fiction novel. The kind that will be under water by the year 2100, like most of Florida. Upon closer inspection I was disappointed to learn that Miami was closed to all but the homeless. Even the Beaches and state parks were closed. Human feces littered every street downtown. “This is what renaissance fairs should look like, I thought.” I didn’t feel safe camping again. Arnold directed me to a 4 star hotel, called the InterContinental. I rented their $500.00 sheets for $100.00. That night I applied to a few jobs in the keys, to get me around the road block. I had an interview scheduled in Key west by the morning. No continental breakfast. Rooftop Pool closed. I almost made it to Key Largo, but at Mile marker 120 the police turned me around. My e-mail from “Two Friends Patio,” didn’t cut it. So I refueled In Homestead and crossed the everglades. Only one Airboat company was open. I Harvested Epiphytes, and hunted alligators on the Seneca reservation. Giant orange grasshoppers communing on the Cedars. In Fort Meyers the beaches are open, and no one wears a mask. I mean NO ONE. Wearing a mask is considered a political statement akin to waving a flag with Barak Obama’s face on it.I wanted to see the Gulf Coast so, I headed for Cape Coral, then Matlacha, then Pine Island. Couldn’t find anywhere desolate enough to camp and the sun was going down, so I drove until midnight. Disney land Is Closed, though they are preparing to open in a week or two with blunt disclaimers posted pertaining to the inherent stupidity of visiting Disneyworld in the middle of a Pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. The cheapest hotel in the Magic Kingdom is $160.00, but there was a defunct bank with cones surrounding the drive thru adjacent. I just drove between the cones and parked in the shadows. Three exposed light bulbs shed light on my intended campsite, so I took out my Daisy Powerline Air pistol and shot them out, using 10 of my 14 pellets. Then I kicked my shoes off and relaxed for a bit. Less than 15 minutes later a state trooper was parked on the other side of the bank. He was hiding out in the shadows just like me, I’m pretty sure, because when I drove out of the drive through he was pretty surprised to see me. In Orlando and Deytona,(That’s central FL) people are being fined $500.00 for failure to put a mask on. As I drove through Deytona, I looked at my Odometer. It said 7,420. I had only driven one thousand miles during my time in Florida. It is a long and Narrow state. It has gotten a bad rap from all the steak fuckers and junk huffers, but it had a lot of beautiful places in it.
By Andre Bertolino6 years ago in Wander
What Is Working On A Cruise Ship Like? | Chris Wong
Before working on ships, I had never stepped foot on a cruise ship, or had any idea of what a cruise even was. I originally saw this opportunity as a way to do a bit of travelling for 6 months, and earn some money at the side. Little did I know that this experience was going to become my career, and change my life!
By CHRIS WONG VLOGS6 years ago in Wander
Weather Ticks for Better Days
Taking trips even without a vehicle or a massive amount of money was normal before being told to stay at home to “self isolate” on highway signs. Not only from the beach but the library, museums, nightlife and the parks was considered expected. It was undoubtedly so that when it was again gonna be a thing, or better than that, the little things in life we do as people that brings us joy, that they will. The thought of doing so again fills me with even more so wanderlust than before.
By Ruby Estelle 6 years ago in Wander
