Screen Saver

 One of the nice things about my PC operating system, in my case Windows 10, is the screen saver.   I have it cycle through folders in my pictures and get to "recollect" some of my travels.  Here are some different shots.

and some more.

So why not use your own photos for the scrolling backgrounds?

Slide show on computer (Recollection Phase of the Experience)

 I back up most of my digital imagery on the computer and all on my google drive since it is so big and my hard disk is full.  (Yes I have some external drives too, but they are filling up.

Anyway, on my Dell (Windows 10) I have it set up to do a slide show of pictures.  It is set up to randomly show a picture every minute from a preselected folder.  For the past month or so,  have been enjoying pictures from Iceland and get to see some shots that I totally forgot about.

See Recollection Phase from Clawson and Knetsch.  (Clawson, M., & Knetsch, J. L. (1966). Economics of Outdoor Recreation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.)

Here some pics from Iceland:

What in the world is this?

I like to explore the planet using Google Earth.  I use it before trips (the anticipation stage, see Clawson and Knetsch 1966).   And I use in the recollection stage as well.

When I fly I also like the window seat to watch the land beneath.

So anyway, I was playing around with Google Earth retracing a flight from Europe where we flew over Eastern Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador and discovered this.

SW of Labrador City, near Fermont

What the heck in the red stuff?  See it for yourself.  Well it is the waste from a mine.

Travel Planning

Based on the Recreation Phases of Clawson and Knetsch (1966) model of the recreation experience, they proposed 5 stages:

Anticipation:  here I am planning a trip.  Looking at guide books, travel websites, Google Earth and so on.

Travel to:  Here we are driving, flying, taking a train or what ever to get from Home to our final destination.

On site:  This is the vacation or business trip at some other location.

Travel back:  Often tired, broke and full of memories, typically just want to get home to my own bed and Biscuit.

Recollection:  Ah the memories, photos, video and all those memories.  I typically will try to edit down video and photos and such into a 10-15 minute DVD clip to share with family and friends.

Think about your travel planning.

Citation:  Clawson, M., and Knetsch, J. L. 1966. Economics of outdoor recreation. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins Press.

Anticipation Phase of the Recreation Experience

Yep, as I said yesterday in class, as soon as I come home from one trip and I am thinking about the next. I re-read Chilkoot Pass, the Most Famous Trail in the North over the break. Where I can virtually live the experience of that famous trail.

I like reading those kinds of books. Think about your "Anticipation Phase or Stage" on a leisure experience.

Travel to and From stage of Recreation Experience

I like to plan trips. The challenge of trying to find the best deal in time and money is something I like to do.

Now, to get the the island of Martinique for The Changing World of Coastal, Island and Tropical Tourism conference is a bit of a challenge.

Since I prefer to fly out of Hartford (BDL) there are few if any direct flights to the Caribbean or Central America, places I like to winter. But I can get to Miami (MIA) of San Juan (SJU) and from these airports I can get anywhere I want.

Can I use frequent flyer miles? I try to when I can, but sometimes you need to balance the flight time with the cost savings. Last time I looked I could use miles to get to Martinique but since it is high season, the return flight took two days. Spending the night in San Juan is not bad (I've done it before due to mechanical problems) but after the trip, I want to get home to Biscuit.

There are essentially three choices to get to Martinique. 1. Use American Airlines. 2. Use a combo of airlines to get to the islands. 3. Fly from Paris (ORD).

Forget the last choice; the last time their was no fun. For these second, I have found that many foreign based airlines are quite good but in this case the costs are quite high. So it is likely we will fly American, not use miles and relax.

Ah the travel to and from Stage of the Recreation Experience!

Anticipation Stage of the Recreation Experience

Three months to go until we head south to Martinique for the conference, sponsored, in part by the Commission on the Geography of Tourism, Leisure and Global Change of the International Geographical Union.

So like any good geographer, I am studying maps, using Google Earth, and reading books on this island. Ahhhh, an arm chair geographer sitting in front of a computer!

Maps besides small scale ones, are hard to come by. I found some available on Amazon and am searching for GIS layers so I can at least create some maps.

I have also used google.fr to help find information, since google.com doesn't provide as much French language information.

the Recreation Experience....again

ahhhh, enjoying the recollection phase of the Recreation Experience today. Lemme' go through the whole thing with you today.

About a month ago we had a small party in our house and played a CD by Rodrigo y Gabriela (http://www.rodgab.com/) so I checked online and found that they were touring and scheduled a visit to the Calvin Theatre in Northampton, MA. I bought the tickets and began the Anticipation Phase. Traveling to NOHO last night was an adventure following a quick 60 mph storm through Western Mass. Trees were down all over the region and it took well over an half an hour to get through town as we avoided down trees. Got to Spoleto's in NOHO for Dinner and made the show in time.

A wonderful time last night! Absolutely wonderful. Highly recommended. See this duo when they come to your area!!!

Travel home last night was uneventful, although late for me since I typically hit the sack by 10 pm.

And now the recollection phase where I am reliving the live concert in my head.

Think about the last concert you attended and think about that Recreation Experience. I hope it was as wonderful as mine! See this YouTube clip to see what I am talking about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5VFWA2YKdo

The travel to phase of the recreation experience

I got really good at reading this map while in Vienna. The abstraction of Subway Maps is an Art.

Funny thing, I bought a day pass my first day there and never used it. They have some kind of honor system there. But if you get caught without a ticket there is a big fine to pay.

The Anticipation Stage of the recreation experience

We can thank Clawson and Knetsch (1966) for describing the entire recreation experience in five unique stages. Let's start with the anticipation stage. Here people of planning the trip, scouring over tour books and maps, making travel arrangements and getting prepared for the experience.

Travel books are a great way to explore the world from your arm chair. And so is Google Earth.

Even if you are not traveling, consider thinking about it. It will be fun.