TRAVEL HAPPY

travel happy : senses wide open

Where in the World?

Where in the World?  Seems like I am quiet, sitting alone in a room for 2010 and the start of 2011 right?   No, this is similar to how I started this blog in 2006. What?  You didn't start this blog until 2008, you say.  Well, I see how it seems that way, but I started traveling in 2006  and scribbling down thoughts, outlines and stories. It was 2008,  when I  sorted through 5000 photos and  posted my travel stories. 

2010 was a travel year. I post "drafts" on typepad and  I am slowly gathering my thoughts, travel stories, photos, illustrations and links.   As a teaser, here is  a list of the towns I've been around in 2010. 

the balkan Influence

 

outside the box, TAS mania copyright 2010  goAWAY gear LLC

In the last few days, I have brushed off the dust to my computer and hooked in my new monitor.  My new apartment is decorated  in  deco pink corduroy and black.  My life in the balkans is beginning.  I am in wine country.  It is different than Napa, Stellenbosch, Marlborough or  Piedmont.  A land, where bulk grapes, become bulk wine, sold to bulk countries.  Little to no tourist here. The food best cooked at home. Artisans are few.

Crowds of men, dressed in black standing in the triangle of the town center, flocks of screaming birds, swooping from the dark comic like skyscrapers, scissors and shears to cut the new growth on the vines are what dominate my visual cue.   History revealing itself as the proud countrymen tell of mystical tales, turkish occupation, folklore and ancient times.   

 My senses are wide open and my illustration ideas percolating.  

 creating the view from my apartment window,  copyright 2010  goAWAY gear LLC

 

Find me on Polyvore

Arrival Time

Arrived in The Balkans.... no clear, dependable wireless internet.  So look for a post when I get my roots planted in December 2009!   Image Illustrations are piling up!

packing with four seasons in mind

What does it take to pack for four seasons?    With the various limits on weight and size among airlines, circling the globe can make my packin' head spin.  Layers and  lite ducky down is the way to go, but what about the sleeping bag?  My pillow?   Where is that going?  How about the piles of tanks, long sleeves, sweaters, jackets, coats and patagonia thin layers?  Do I really need them all? I'm going for an extended period ya know.

Something to know about me, once  I rode 500 miles in a week from Minnesota to Chicago on a bike with a bike bag, two water bottles, jacket and a lock.  It was within the first five miles, that I knew that the contents in my handle bar mounted bike bag  had to go and that extra water bottle.  I remember the moment, when I trashed the bag too. I felt free and light. 

It's kinda that way with my package.  I shed shirts and shoes, toss towels, leave behind my layers, early and often. This time I want to do it smartly and sustainably. 

I have two weeks to figure it out? Who stays and who gets to  go?  Time for a new bag, or with my record of tossing, I might have room for timely purchases.  so I can take off and travel happy!

Time in the woods

Cedars grow  tall. Time stands still. Nothing like swimming in an alpine lake with nobody around.  Art work is from the cabin clusters among the cedars in the High Sierras this summer. 

traveling in america

After four weeks in the forest of Lake Tahoe California, U.S.A, I noticed a lone American Flag peeking up from below the deck of our lodge. The inspiration for this t shirt with peace being the possibility of future.  Soon I will add some tales from the kitchen and hikes up Airplane Meadow, Cedar Meadow at 8,000 feet, the trek to Squaw Valley and around Emerald Bay. 

 

In somewhat hidden place, the travel happy tribe is forming.  Click and you will see 6 of 10 on buttons, mugs and aprons. 

virgin fairies

just got this in my email... now available on virgin america....  absinthe. . . how can this not be everybody's favorite airline? oh how i wish virgin routed to/thru Chicago. 

P.S.  stay tuned for my mid 2009 travel journal...  2 months working in  Lake Tahoe, CA  and a CA road trip for the summer months.  

travel plans - get ready to go global mobile

in the not to distant future...it's will be time to fly.... west for the summer in  California.   And now for the big one.... I will travel with destinations unknown for 2 years starting Sept 15th.  - looking forward to taking off - senses wide open.  come along and travel happy.

contest clue 1 & 2, number 3 gives you the answer

Take a look at the  button bling contest image dated March 11th  and connect the clue mud.

Mud makes pots, bricks, statues. Boats carry the equipment that dredges the mud from the riverbed. Look to your right of this post, some clues reside there.      

My most vivid memory of the "hello" children around the globe comes from my experience of biking deep in the delta, along single track dirt paths, carved from the edge of the river banks. Families bathe, wash dishes and earned  income from the rivers many resources.  MUD is the number one crop!  What do they make?   I snapped photos of bricks, clay statues shaped like lions and clay basket weave pots.

Industry booms along the delta- daily water markets at dawn. Boats ferry crops, cars and people. And many factories can be seen from the banks-    I visited a noodle factory, brick factory, soy sauce, smelly! and a candy factory.   The Mekong  Delta is the answer to the contest.    Look to your right to see Mekong Delta photos.

You're  on your way to tagging the world.  

tag the world CONTEST

 

travel happy tribe copyright, all rights reserved  2009 TAS mania

Identify the location and name three products, the locals create from the bed of the river.  The first ten, who leave the correct answers will receive three goAWAY gear buttons.    Please leave your answers at the bottom of this post! There are hints on travel happy and I will post a hint each day!   Ends @ 10 correct comments! TAS 

 

 

want to see more buttons from my button marathon? travel over to goAWAY gear