Travel Gear: Headphones

I rarely use headphones when traveling. On a long-haul, I prefer to read, snooze, or watch a movie in silence with subtitles turned on. I have yet to find comfortable, compact headphones.

Back in 1980, when the Sony Walkman was introduced to the USA, the airlines were still handing out pneumatic headsets in Economy.

Urban Hike: Nordeast Minneapolis

Nordeast, looking towards Downtown.

Last weekend, the annual Art-a-Whirl artists' studio tour drew crowds to Northeast Minneapolis ("Nordeast"). 

Nordeast was a quieter place back in February when I went there on an urban hike.

It was a winter's day, but I took advantage of the shoveled sidewalks and warm, locally owned businesses for coffee and lunch. I felt a strong sense of place: each building had stories to tell; this is no Anywhere USA with its temporary cityscapes and mandatory car ownership.

As I walked, I played audio produced, narrated, and sung by the people who live in the neighborhood. These recordings revealed political, social, and historical layers I would otherwise have missed.

Traveling with Cherry Blossoms

It could be another week before the buds on our apple tree explode; spring blossoms come late in Minneapolis.

Back in March, I hiked up Kaimondake, a volcano in southern Japan for a day with Cecilia, a twenty-something from Sweden. She was traveling with the cherry blossoms, through Japan, from south to north. She would end up on Hokkaido in late April when the blossoms would finally be coming out in that northernmost of Japan's main islands.

Beyond that, she was living in the moment: no onward ticket from Japan, no concern her meager funding from an arts organization might run out.

Travel Gear: One-Time Password Generator

My smartphone and tablet make it easy to access my Internet accounts, maybe too easy: what happens if my devices fall into the wrong hands, or if a username and password are somehow intercepted?

On my most recent trip, I used a YubiKey Neo one-time password (OTP) generator.

End of the Line

I'm on a fast train when I see a single train track peeling off into the distance. I want to go where that track is going.

Maybe the end of that single track is a remote place I can use as the start of an "Ekikhara hike," a hike from a train station.

Plain Views of Sado Island

Rice Field #1

Today, I explored part of the plain that bisects Sado Island (an island in the Sea of Japan, off northern Honshu, Japan). Walking on level ground gave my knees a rest after walking up a mountain the previous day.

Beyond wanting to be in the countryside, I didn't have a specific plan. If a side-road looked interesting, I took it.

Meeting Bashō

Zenshoji Temple

For two days I've been exploring an area the writer Matsuo Bashō visited in 1689 while traveling his "Narrow Road to the Deep North."

Today it worked out more practical to explore Bashō's journey in reverse. While he headed south, I walked north, in the rain, looking for little connections with his journey. I wondered if we would meet.

Temple Plumbing 2014

Just after you enter the grounds of a Japanese temple, there's always a fountain for ritualistic rinsing of hands and sometimes the mouth. Here's examples from the temples I visited April 2, 2014 when I walked the route of part of the Shikoku Henro pilgrimage ("Shikoku 88"). 

I wrote a similar post in 2013 when I visited other temples on this pilgrimage.

Temple 1 (of 88): Ryozenji

The pilgrimage starts at this temple.

A Day to Forget

OK I admit it: I got tired of figuring out this place all on my own, so I signed up for a "Landmarks and Viewpoints" tour for foreign visitors.

This was a day to forget.