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| Photo by Francesca Del Gobbo
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Red Eye
By Jeff Booth
I've been planning a trip. A long trip. I'd love six months straight, but I'd miss the magazine too much to be gone that long (though the staff might want to get rid of me for longer). Two months sounds reasonable to be gone long enough to find the rhythm of trains and new places. But where to go?
It's a wonderful problem to face. A map of the world is tacked up to the wall in front of me, and every dotted border, every colored capital, every sinewy blue river is an invitation. It's like the ultimate tease. Do I want to return to some of my favorite places (Lijiang, China; Luang Prabang, Laos; the Oriente in Ecuador)? Or cover new ground in the Himalayas and North Africa? What criteria do I use to winnow out continents and countries? Safety's on every traveler's mind these days, and for good reason. The calm of Bali's been shattered–and it would have been on every traveler's list of safe havens. It goes to show that no place is immune to dangerous situations, but that shouldn't deter you from visiting anywhere you want to go. Danger is an inherent risk in travel. Managing it is how intrepid seekers still see the world.
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I'll decide where I want to go by the whitewater kayaking opportunities by the trekking routes and the train system and whether there's good street food. I'll even ask my travel partner where she wants to go. Mountains plus beaches plus culture is a combination that I always look for. In the end, though, I might just use the tried–and–true method of most travelers faced with an open map: close my eyes, spin around a bunch of times, tell everyone to duck, and throw a dart. Can't get better than that.
Damn, I love maps,
Jeff
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