Starling Travel

I saw this quote today and I believe it, but I want to argue with it as well.

It reads:

Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.

• Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Yes! It’s important to learn the language, the terrain and the people of the place that you’re visiting. It is important to prepare for a far away trip in every way you can.

No! It’s ALSO important to pack the necessities. I still have a toiletries kit that I keep stocked for travel. I talked about it here:

• Starling Travel – Travel Essentials: Toiletry Bag

I have a very similar bag in the camper, although the medicinal items are in a separate first aid kit. You MUST bring the things you need to SEE, BREATHE and stay alive. If let your memory be your travel bag, you’re going to be paying lots of money for replacement contact lenses if you lose one or be searching the tiny town in Ireland for deodorant.

It is essential to pack both your mind AND your bags properly for a trip.

Nikoli Waller posted a picture of this camper on Glampers on the Loose and I absolutely LOVE the color scheme.

I love the coordinated colors that match inside and out.

The ornate hardware on the simple drawers just make it look awesome.

There is plenty of sleeping space with the gaucho couch and the dinette.

Photos like these really inspire me. I want to do something VERY colorful with my next camper. I was so conservative with the Tangerine Turtle. The next time, I’m going to do something bright like this.

When we went to breakfast at The Egg and I a few months ago, I saw this awesome tiny motorhome.

It’s a Chinook and a highly efficient one. The cab is perfectly sized for exactly two people and they have to be short and physically fit people.

The summer sun in St. George is oppressive, but we were in the winter, so I don’t know exactly why they had a shade up unless it was for privacy in the camper.

I’m so used to seeing the doors of campers and motorhomes on the passenger side of the vehicle that I was surprised by this because the door was at the rear.

We never saw the owners of the camper, but I would have loved to talk to them and loved to see the interior even more. The camper was only slightly longer than the typical car, but I’m sure there was room for two to sleep. I wish I could have seen more of this camper, but in the end, it continued on its journey without us.

I found this quote on The Quotations Page and it made me so excited to travel.

It reads:

Maps encourage boldness. They’re like cryptic love letters. They make anything seem possible.

• Mark Jenkins

I have the same feeling about maps. Whenever I was riding in the car on the way to or from my grandparents’ house in Billings, Montana, Grandpa would throw the map in the backseat and tell me to navigate. It helped me so much to learn how to find ourselves on the map and to plot where we would be going next. We always went the same route from Salt Lake to Billings: through Idaho Falls, over to West Yellowstone, up to Bozeman and over to Billings. Even though they were smaller roads that route, it was faster for us to go that way (unless West Yellowstone was snowed in).

Now, Google plots it all for me, assuming that I can go the speed limit, not knowing that my tiny trailer’s tires top out at 65 mph. So, I change the route. Smaller roads don’t slow me down because I can only go 65 mph anyway. I’m already slow.

The next time Google plots a route for you, try going a different way. Really USE your map and choose a route that has something to look at on the drive. And when your first instinct is to fly, suppress it. Take the car and actually SEE the places you pass by. Let the map give you boldness!