State Department Labels

So if you visit travel.state.gov, you will see the new travel advisory system.

It is meant to simplify the warnings our state department issues for Americans traveling abroad.  For instance Hurricane Irma hammered the Caribbean this past fall, so I should't plan to return to Tortola for one of the Full Moon Parties. (There is also the Bomba Shack.)

Trellis Bay

Bomba Shack

Crime is becoming another issue for many other vacation spots, so even popular Providenciales (TCI) has been issued a number 2!  I am heading to the UK later this summer and Terrorism is a threat there.

I wonder how others are warned about visiting the US?  UK warns its citizens about terrorism, health issues and natural disasters in the US.  See my prevsious post here.

Edward Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989)

This guy should be required reading for every college student. 

The first book I read was Desert Solitaire.  It is a collection of essays prepared during his period as a park ranger in the mid 1950's.  As a steward of these public lands he observed the unique perspective of humans and their environment, so geography-like.

His fiction included The Monkey Wrench Gang.  Something that I can admire and dislike at the same time.  I mean, I guess I am glad there are these ecoterrorists out there, But don't want anyone to get hurt physically or financially for that matter.

But in the meantime, enjoy this short video (10 minutes) about one of his speeches.

CFP Liminal Landscapes in Tourism

CFP Liminal Tourism RGS-IBG Annual Conference

Call For Papers:

RGS-IBG Annual Conference, Tuesday 28 August to Friday 31 August 2018, Cardiff University, Cardiff.

CFP: Liminal landscapes in Tourism

Sponsored by the Geographies of Leisure and Tourism Research Group

Session conveners ; Robert S. Bristow, Westfield State University, USA, Ian S. Jenkins, University of Iceland

Liminality has recently gained the attention of tourism scholars (Preston-Whyte, 2004; Pritchard, & Morgan, 2006; Andrews & Roberts, 2012; Brooker & Joppe, 2014). The transitional time and space for the tourist experience is an important one to understand since it has a great impact on the overall encounter.   Yet the shear nature of liminality is generally so abstract that only recently has research attempted to explore the relationship in tourism.

Liminality is anthropologically associated with Rites of Passage (van Gennep, 1960).  Turner (1974) refined liminality as the edge of everyday life. Similar to a tourist experience, the chance to break away from the norms of daily life is an important aspect of tourism.   Liminality is a logical transition for tourists since they are leaving the comfort of home to travel to some unknown experience.  This frequently reflects the period and space in the anticipation and travel to/from phases of the experience (Clawson and Knetsch, 1966; White and White, 2003; and Lew, 2012). 

We invited contributions that explore how liminal landscapes are viewed in travel and tourism.  

Please send; an abstract of no more than 250 words, name, email contact and affiliation to Rob at rbristow@westfield.ma.edu and Ian at jenkins@hi.is or dr.isjenkins@gmail. The deadline for submissions is the 2nd February 2018. If you have any questions or concerns please be in touch.

Planning to fly soon, don't read this.

On one of the 3000 cable channels there is a show called air disasters.  That is not something you want to watch if you fly.  I guess the public's eye for this kind of stuff is daily reflected when we slow down on the highway to gawk at a car wreck.

For flights don't look at this.

Airport delays

JFK, Atlanta, Waco?  Yep most airports have experienced some significant delay or closure.  Most are related to weather conditions, but occasionally there are other problems (Atlanta).  Sometimes the delay is felt at other airports, several legs down your trip. One time we were flying to San Juan Puerto Rico, had to wait to get there and after arrival, were told Hartford was closed.  Spent the night in the airport hotel.  And how many times have I spent a night in Miami since Hartford was closed due to bad weather.

The most harrowing experience in airports for me was in 1989.  I was flying from College Station, Texas to St Louis.  Severe thunderstorms closed College Station, but I got a ride on a plane flying to Waco where I had a chance to catch a flight to Dallas/Fort Worth and then St. Louis.  That flight was crazy.  We flew over and around a cumulonimbus cloud to get to Waco; like riding in a roller coaster. Since it was an unscheduled flight, had we crashed, they would have to check my dental records to id me!

Long story short, we made it to Waco, only to have that airport closed due to the same storm.  I caught a ride with a fellow traveler to Dallas where he had important business, I caught my flight to St. Louis that had been delayed 9 hours, drove back to Carbondale and went to work on time.  No sleep mind you!

Whew.

To see the current air traffic, click here.

Winter Hiking

Get out the snowshoes, maybe the skis and if not deep, just hike!

Here is a winter hike I took recently to see the Keystone Arch Bridges in Massachusetts.

Looking out the airplane window

I like to look out the airplane windows.  It is fascinating to see the earth from about.  And just like Google Earth, it is really cool to explore the planet. 

I try to figure out my root and after taking pictures and/or video, I will retrace the route on Google Earth to try to identify what I observed.

50 deg 23 min North, 61 deg 27 min West.

Check out this landmark in Canada that I "discovered" flying back from the UK.

Eclipse 2017

This past summer we enjoyed a rare total eclipse in the US.  Carbondale was one place where people could observe the event (although ended up being a bit cloudy). But in any case, I reported on the astronomical event here.

I also attempted an amateur video taping with a digital camera and a pair of glasses.  There are better videos out there, but this one is short.

The next one is in 2024 and will pass through Carbondale again!

I want to go ....

Skiing?  or what about swimming?  In either case, we can get a rough estimate of future conditions for the states at this link.  For New England it appears likely to be warmer (except one month out). 
But tomorrow is another story with winds and temps below zero!

Brrrr.

oh yeah, one more r.

Snow fun

Expecting a bit of snow tomorrow, so the 3 inches we got last year (xmas) will get a topping and make for some good cross country skiing.  After the snow, we are expecting another arctic blast with single digits and below zero's at night.

Some great weather trivia for today (3 January) is found here.  So if you have  a hard time striking up a conversation while waiting in the express lane at the grocery, you can always say...

On this date in "1777...An overnight freeze enabled George Washington and his troops to flank the British at Trenton, cross their lines at Princeton, and seek security in the hills of northern New Jersey."