Update from Karin

Karin is having trouble posting from Thailand. Apparently, her blogger page was in Thai, and not being fluent, well, she's a little lost. So here's her first update:

GUIDE BOOKS ARE OVERRATED

...Is what I thought when packing my backpack in LA and astutely determining that my Lonely Planet South East Asia guidebook was too heavy (although the two 2,000 page novels I have been wanting to read all year were not.) So, after a 17 hour flight to Bangkok, a 2 hour layover, and a 2 hour flight to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, and when waiting for our backpacks to come off the belt (mine was 2 kilos too heavy for the overhead even without the guidebook), my best friend Shannon asked me: "What are we doing in this city again?" "Uhm not sure," I sheepishly replied. "Well, what does the book say?" "Which book? The one about Climate Change or the guy who spent 18 years in a Bombay prison?" "Uh oh," she replied. So, we improvised and in 37 minutes found ourselves totally immersed in the Thai culture. We had stumbled upon a Thai Massage Spa and for 20 dollars we each got a 2 hour massage. As the nice Thai lady was massaging out the jetlag from my swollen ankles, I remembered. Chiang Mai is where we need to go to catch the 4 hour bus to the border, to catch the 1 hour boat into Laos, and to ultimately catch the 9 hour bus to Luang Namtha where there is a majestic eco/elephant reserve. Ha! Of course don't ask me the exchange rate, what to tip, where the bus station is....or more importantly, where the nearest Guidebook Store is located.

Mapping Adventures

When I was a kid I used to spend a week or two every summer with my grandparents in Virginia. In their basement hung an old National Geographic map of the United States. Every time they went on a trip they would mark it by putting a pin in their destination and take a piece of string from Woodbridge, Virginia out to their destination. Like a spoke and hub, dozens of strings decorated the map, representing their various trips to Vermont or Wyoming or New Mexico.

These days, the old map and string system has been replaced with Goggle maps. Today I came across this very cool series in the New York Times, called Frugal Traveler: American Road Trip. It's my grand mother's map on steroids. Some good tips and good stories.

As we get ready for our trip across the country (my first ever) I'll have to figure out a good way to map out our trip. Any ideas?

Introducing Kitty

For the last two years my life has not taken me to any far flung regions of the world. After coming home from Kazakhstan and re-entering the world of law school, my travels have mainly been confined to the east coast (with some excursions to the west and a great trip to Portugal about a month ago). Friends once asked me why I didn't send out those great emails anymore about my adventures, and I dutifully told them that "wake up, study, eat lunch, study some more" was not great material to work with.

But, I am lucky. I have friends who have the travel bug just as much as me. And some brave friends indeed. My very, very good friend Karin has just quit her job and is embarking on an around-the-world trip that will take her from Vietnam to Paris to Kenya. And lucky for us, she's going to take us along for the ride. For the next three months, Karin Kitsman will be a guest blogger for The Road Less Traveled. She is probably the most well traveled person I know; we once played the "how many countries have you been to" game and she topped out at somewhere around 60. And after this trip, she'll hit the 70s. She's been to Latin America, Central Asia, and even Baghdad. So come along for the ride as we ask, "Where in the world is Karin Kitsman?"

June 28, Travel Panel at National Press Club

I've been invited to speak next week at the National Press Club on how to start a career as a freelance travel writer. The panel includes some great folks, including Gary Lee who writes for the Washington Post. It should be a very informative event, and I'm looking forward to hearing what others have to say about the process of getting your work to print. I've been so focused on academic writing (and finishing law school!) for the past two years and I'm really looking forward to getting back into travel writing. Which won't be a tough challenge, given that our jobs/lives are taking us to Utah and Baku over the next three years -- couldn't ask for betting spots from which to travel and write.

For information on the panel, click here.

Ancient Silk Road

Great multimedia show in the NY Times this week on the Silk Road. Makes me miss Kazakhstan.