Category: travel

love, memory, Nashville, travel

What, and who, used to be in Nashville

Christa Avampato

During my long weekend in Nashville, my friend, Dan, and I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express close to downtown. It took me a day to realize that the hotel was across the street from the Union Station Hotel, where I stayed back in 2000 during my first trip to Nashville. It was early on in my first theatre tour – a production of Sunset Boulevard. 

Dan I took a stroll over there yesterday afternoon. In the Union Station, I had my first of many meals that I would have with Petula Clark, the star of the tour. I was seated down in the lobby having breakfast and she asked if she could join me. And of course I said yes. To this day, she’s the greatest person I’ve ever worked with. The magnificent stained glass ceiling is the same, as are the rooms around the atrium, but the breakfast bar is gone. Even though I can clearly remember that breakfast with Petula as if it happened yesterday.

Next door to Union Station is a restaurant called the Flying Saucer. In that space, I met Susan Schulman, the director of the Sunset tour, and the first well-known director I had ever met up to that point. It was also the place where I first talked to a man that I would eventually fall in love with and be involved with, off and on, for several years. 5 years ago, that man was in a motorcycle accident that would cause him to become a quadriplegic, though in truth he was lucky to survive at all. And that first conversation with him is so vivid to me that it could have just happened.  

It’s a funny thing about places – they serve as the backdrop of the events that comprise our lives and yet they often don’t retain any of the physical evidence that we were there or that anything significant happened to us in their walls. What’s amazing about Nashville is that every place seems to house a story, or many stories. That city lives, and breathes, and of course, sings.

economy, environment, happiness, travel

Gross National Happiness (GNH)

Christa Avampato

I’m starting to feel panic at the pump. In Rhode Island this past weekend, I paid $3.99 for a gallon of gas. When I arrived home, I found this week’s issue of Business Week waiting for me. Some energy sector analysts are predicting $200 / barrel oil by the fall of this year. Wal-mart and Costco are placing limits on the amount of rice any one customer can buy. Food bills, air fares, electricity prices are all climbing. And then there’s the real estate market.


On my long drive home from work, I often consider whether or not we did this to ourselves. Our consumption level is frighteningly high. In this country we seem unable to be happy with what we’ve got – it’s embedded in us, as Americans, that we always strive for more. 


While we are obsessed with measuring GDP, other nations in the world have different benchmarks. The country of Bhutan considers GNH, Gross National Happiness, an indicator of societal well-being. A while back I found the following definition and history of the term GNH:


“Coined by Bhutan’s King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, Gross National Happiness (GNH) measures actual well-being of a country’s citizens rather than consumption, accounting more fully for social, human and environmental realities. Its premise is that basic happiness can be measured since it pertains to quality of nutrition, housing, education, health care and community life. By contrast, the conventional concept of Gross National Product (GNP) measures only the sum total of material production and exchange in any country:


Promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development

Preservation and promotion of cultural values

Conservation of the natural environment

Establishment of good governance    


At the GNH International Conference in 2004, participants adopted a declaration that said that the facilitation of GNH should be accompanied by “the development of indicators that address human physical and emotional well-being. They must be capable of use for self-evaluation, so that individuals and groups may gauge their progress in the attainment of happiness. In addition, indicators should facilitate full accountability, good governance, and socially constructive business practices, both in day-to-day life and in long-range policies and activities.”   


So while we weather this latest economic situation, the consideration of alternate indicators is at least worth a few moments of time. After all, if you’re going to wait out a storm, you might as well have some reading material that gives you hope for a better tomorrow. Learn more at http://www.grossinternationalhappiness.org


The images above can be found at http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0411/Bhutan_Monastery.jpg

environment, green, travel

Life dream: Rwanda

Christa Avampato

Real Simple Magazine recently asked their readers to write in with the top 3 things on their life’s “must-do” list. I needed to think long and hard about this and I came up with the following short list, though there are many more things I’d love to do:
1.) Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef 
2.) Learn to play the piano
3.) See the mountain gorillas in Rwanda

Runners-up:
4.) Speak another language fluently
5.) Visit Sicily with someone I love
6.) Buy a home

Taking the Rwanda “must-do”, I did a bit of research after hearing the tail end of a story about mountain gorillas on NPR. Many scientists have traveled to Rwanda to study the animals, and many conservation groups are working round the clock to save them and their habitat, in the face of poachers and a never-ending stream of wars in that nation. The gorillas grew used to seeing people, though once the genocide grew rampant throughout Rwanda, scientists withdrew from their work with the gorillas. The populations of the animals has been falling ever since, until now. 

It appears that the gorillas could sense the stress of the wars going on in their area, and their birthrates declined as a result. Another well-supported theory suggests that once the scientists withdrew, the gorillas missed them, became depressed, and stopped having as many young. Now that peace has been restored, even though tenuous, to Rwanda, the gorillas population is growing and birthrates are up for the first time in 24 years. 

The natural world often goes overlooked in war-torn areas. The human casualties of conflict are heart-wrenching, and there are other species that are also harmed in the wake of war. They suffer in silence. All the more reason to do whatever we must do to keep the peace – there i more at stake than our own existence.
travel

7 Wonders of the World

Christa Avampato

I was recently flipping through the April issue of Vanity Fair and came across an advertisement for MasterCard. It was advertising the a giveaway for a trip to see the 7 wonders of the world: the Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu, The Amazon, The Great Wall of China, Victoria Falls, The Great Pyramids of Giza, and the Great Barrier Reef. And it occured to me that in my travels, while I have seen many incredible things, I have not seen a single one of these place. This is a sad state of affairs.

Last night, I went to a work event and then dinner with friends, Dan and Lisa. Dan asked if I had any birthday wishes. At the time, I really didn’t. Now I do – by the time my 33rd birthday rolls around I hope I’ve been able to see at least one wonder.

Cuba, love, politics, travel

Dreaming of Cuba

Christa Avampato

I’ve been in love with Cuba since watching the movie For Love or Country with Andy Garcia. The white sand beaches, the music, the food, the art, and the language. I considered hopping over the border and entering illegally though after my South Africa passport debacle, I don’t think that would be wise. Instead, I have been waiting for Mr. Castro to pass on or step down as the US government has made it abundantly clear that they will not lift the ban on Americans traveling to Cuba with him in power.

And he has stepped down. Though his brother has assumed power, it seems that change may be afoot on that small island only 90 miles from Miami. In my lifetime, I may get to sink my feet into that white sand, take in the music and the art, drink my authentic Cuban coffee with my authentic Cuban sandwich, and drown in the beauty of the language and the people who have so long been isolated from us. 
One can only hope that love and country no longer have to be mutually exclusive.      
The above photo can be found at: http://www.vjv.co.uk:.webloc.
New York, travel

Where to travel in 2008

Christa Avampato

Before moving back to New York, I was pretty much a nomad. I get to one place, settle in, and start dreaming of where to go next. I’ve done quite a bit of travel in the last few years, especially out of the country. So much in fact that I received a notice from the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia stating that I was due a refund for all of my foreign expenditures because I was charged unfairly on my foreign credit card purchases. Who knew my nomadic life could lead to some extra cash?!

So now that I’ve been in New York 6 months almost to the day, I am considering where to travel in 2008. No worries about a return to my life as a gypsy – I am here in New York to stay. But as my friend, Rob, often says, wanderlust is a hard habit to shake.

I will be the first to admit that I have had my issues with the New York Times – mostly because they have always been incapable of executing my home delivery properly. However, I do love that paper, particularly the travel section. When I was little, my father bought that paper everyday. One summer as I was dreaming of how to escape my tiny hometown. Dozens of these things poured into our mailbox, addressed to me and I coveted them. I kept them in a large stack under my bed and would look through them, wishing so much to see these far flung places like the Galapagos and Easter Island.

Today, The Times published a list of the top 53 places to consider traveling in 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/ref/travel/20071209_WHERE_GRAPHIC.html?th&emc=th# I am entranced by the suggestions and possible adventures to be had in this diverse list. – some I’ve never even heard of! Old habits die hard…

Tibet, travel

The tracks to Shangri-La

Christa Avampato

There are many places that I dream of seeing, and then there are some that I feel would fulfill some of my life’s greatest wishes. Paris was one. Vienna was another. And then there was also South Africa. One that I have wished to see for quite some time is Tibet. The trouble is that getting there is a bit of a bear. Or, at least it used to be.

For a year, a rail line has linked Tibet to the rest of China. This is phenomenal news for those who want to see Tibet and would prefer to avoid the arduous plane or bus ride to the area. And the tourism numbers support what a revelation the rail line is – 3.2 million people visited Tibet the first 9 months of 2007, a 67% increase over last year. And there are concerns that this rail line is not only bringing tourists but bring destruction to Buddhist culture. This makes me wonder if my curiosity and interest in the region will actually harm the region itself. Can tourism and popularity wipe out a way of life?
This is of course a constant struggle for environmental conservationists. While we want people to take a keen interest in other cultures, people, and area of the world, there is also a delicate balance to guard to protect the very thing driving the interest. Technology has so many benefits, and yet there are some very powerful disadvantages, one of them being a movement toward sameness across cultures.
I do dream of seeing Tibet some day, of spending time there wandering the mountains, talking to Tibetans, and sharing with them how much their perseverance and strength and belief in happiness have influenced me and the way I live my life. I wander now if by the opening of the flood gates I have missed the window to actually ever see the real Tibet.

The picture above is a Tibetan couple stands at the end of the tracks that link the rest of China to the platform of the Lhasa train station in Lhasa, Tibet. It can be found at http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-11-28-tibet-railway_N.htm

change, travel

Travels: Delta Rising

Christa Avampato

Delta is a remarkably consistent airline – consistently horrible. As a general rule, I avoid their flights completely. This could be because I associate Delta with Atlanta, GA, my least favorite city in the country. Until recently, I have put Delta in the same class as Sleepy’s, the 7 train, and reckless bicycle riders on the streets of New York City, all of which I have ranted about on this blog in previous posts.

Times change, views change, and improvement does happen. I flew Delta to Florida this weekend to see my little sister and brother-in-law, and to throw a baby shower for them. And for the first time ever, my flight left a New York City airport on time and arrived in Tampa, FL 15 minutes ahead of schedule. The same situation was repeated on my return trip.

Now, I am still a bit peeved with Delta because they told me a ticket I changed was good for a year from the date of the originally scheduled flight time and it was actually good for a year form the date I made the change – a difference of a month that rendered that original ticket useless when I was booking my recent flight to Florida. Annoying. Really annoying.

But hey, you’ve got to take the bitter with the better. Improvement is a piece-meal process. Delta may be on the path to getting off my bad side. I’m open to changing my opinion – rare, but it happens.

adventure, creativity, GEL, Mark Hurt, technology, travel

Currents

Christa Avampato

The best thing about working for a boss whose title is Consigliere is that he knows other equally brilliant Consiglieres. My boss recently introduced me to Mark Hurst and the GEL conference. (You can find more information about Mark, the conference, and Mark’s company, by clicking http://www.goodexperience.com/. (Coincidentally Mark is a friendly, engaging guy who lives just a few blocks away from me. I love this town!) The GEL conference is a once-a-year event that bring together brilliant thinkers and innovators from many different fields to share their ideas, concerns, experiences, and hopes for the future. The brain power in these conferences at any given moment is nothing short of incredible.

Mark was kind enough to send me a few DVDs with some footage from last year’s event. There were two speakers whose work really struck me as something that I could write about on this blog. One of them is Marie Lorenz. She’s a boat builder, artist, and tidal expert who lives right here in New York. She started a project called the Tide and Current Taxi. She sent an email to everyone she knew in New York, asked them to give her two points that they visited often (around the costs of the islands that comprise New York City) and then invited them into one of her boats to navigate between those two points using only the current of New York City’s rivers. They rarely got exactly where they were trying to go, though she always got a great story. And really, it’s always about the story and we rarely ever end up exactly where we thought we were going. We’re in it for the journey.

In her talk at GEL, Marie explained that on one trip, the current had become particularly rough in the East River, and more and more water lapped up into the boat, causing it to sink, no matter how much she and her friend paddled. They ended up letting go of the boat and everything inside of it and had to swim to the shore of Roosevelt Island. Marie was so upset, so discouraged. She and her friend nearly drowned, and she had lost the project. It was now floating out there in the East River, menacingly, upside down, right near one of the strongest currents in the world. Her heart was broken.

And a moment later, she climbed over the short fence between her and the East River, and she dove in. Like hell that current was getting her boat and her gear! She swam diligently out to the boat, scooped it up, and swam back to shore with all her might. She had worked too hard on this project to let it all go down the current.

It made me think about all the times I’ve worked so hard for something, paddled furiously in the wake of impending disaster, only to end up swimming for the shore. Like Marie, on occasion my heart was broken and so I dove back in, in an effort to salvage was was taken away. The salvaging has never worked quite as well for me as it did for Marie – each time I ended up discarding the very thing I dove back in for once I realized it would have been better to let it remain out at sea and for me to move on. Though I suppose that’s better than having it drift away and never being sure of whether or not you needed or even wanted it.

I’ve been thinking a lot about those currents that surround this island I am making my home on. I don’t think I’ll ever look at them quite the same way as I did before Marie’s talk. Sometimes they carry us to some place new that wasn’t on our itinerary, and sometimes they take away everything we’ve got leaving us able to do nothing else but swim to shore. I guess the trick is to know the difference – when is the vessel that carries you worth paddling like hell for, when is it better to just let it fall away, and what makes some of these vessels so special that they are worth diving back in to rescue?

For more information about Marie, visit http://www.marielorenz.com/.


The above image can be found at http://www.destination360.com/caribbean/bahamas/images/s/bahamas-boat-rental.jpg.

fear, kayak, travel

Riding Atop the Water

Christa Avampato
On a recent kayak trip in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I went out with some friends on one of those perfect days. Days that make you happy you’re alive, breathing fresh air and able to enjoy just being a part of the surroundings. All my friends had kayaks that had them seated low in the water. This allowed them to maneuver easily, though they had a fair possibility of tipping once out of the protection of the sound.

My kayak was an ocean kayak. It sits higher in the water making it a bit harder to paddle, though providing it with superior balance and a significantly smaller likelihood of tipping when the water gets rough. Since I just learned to swim this past year, choppy water makes me a little more than nervous. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that making a boat sit higher in the water made it less likely to tip even though I was having to use all the arm strength I could muster to paddle around.

In a testament to my bravery, I tried to follow my friends out of the sound. I may have had a safer kayak, though they were all better swimmers. My seasickness and general fear of death by drowning sent me back to the sound, alone, after only a few minutes out on the open water.

So I made my way, albeit slowly, down a few channels among the cattails and mangroves. I was overwhelmed by the stillness when I let my paddle lay across my lap. I could only hear the whisper of the wind in the tall grasses around me. And I felt the water lift me up.

Riding atop the water, living above the fray, takes work. Hard work – we have to paddle with all our might, with everything we have within us. We feel every bump beneath us. We sway back and forth with the water, with life, roiling underneath us. And we have to keep going. Put the paddle in the water, put our hearts on the line, and move forward with courage and confidence. There is no guarantee of preventing a tip into the water, not in a kayak, and not in life. To be sure, traveling on a higher plane is more difficult: it takes patience, time, and an understanding of the forces all around us. The prize is knowing that when the waves really kicks up, we are much more likely to keep moving ahead, toward our goal, than those sitting low in the water who are being consumed by the chaos of the seas.