How to Dispose of Unwanted Money

Tomorrow I'll be stopping at the post office to drop off a box filled with foreign coins and banknotes.

Last year, at Newcastle International Airport, I showed my nephews an easier way to dispose of foreign currency. I led them to a big, bubble-shaped currency donation bin, then handed them some UK coins. As you can see in the picture at the top of this post, they were happy to perform The Disposal. 

They didn't think to rush over to a concession to buy candy with their new-found wealth. I'm grateful they want to help others.

I was thinking about this coin-drop the other day as I was sorting through my collection of leftover foreign currency. I always tell myself the money will be useful "the next time I go."

Small Experiences on a Big Journey

We stood behind a crowd at Edinburgh Castle waiting for the one-o'clock cannon to fire. Many eyes were fixed on cell phones to catch the moment to share on Facebook. Bodies in Edinburgh, minds in other places.

Meanwhile, my nephews were determined to climb up rocks where climbing was not allowed.

Last month's trip to the UK with our nephews (7 and 8) and their parents was a series of small experiences. We saw some big sights, but the time spent between those sights, living in the moment, gave meaning to my journey.

A metal drain cover extending the length of the sidewalk outside our hotel in Edinburgh is a case in point. (See the picture at the top of this post.) On a rainy day it became a slide, made all the more dangerous by the higher center of gravity imposed by the boys' backpacks. Our protestations fell on deaf ears as they giggled and slid.

The previous evening they enjoyed the attention of the hotel bartender. She was from Catalonia, the boys chatted with her in Spanish, and I barely understood a word.

Journeys Through the Eyes of Children

I'm planning a June trip to the UK. We're bringing our nephews (7 and 8) and their parents.

We start in Edinburgh, Scotland, then hop on a train to Morpeth, Northeast England, near where I grew up. We're carrying backpacks and we won't be taking cabs.

I expect my nephews will revel in small things rather than big sights. Through their eyes I will see the world a little differently.

Travel does not have to be an exercise in consumption. I will never take the boys to a Disney park, but when they're about 16, I want to abandon them in a European city with enough money for hostels and basic travel. A week later, we'd meet again in a different city in a different country with stories to share.

Wabi-Sabi Lessons for Imperfect Journeys

"Wabi-sabi represents the exact opposite of the Western ideal of great beauty as something monumental, spectacular, and enduring. Wabi-sabi is not found in nature at moments of bloom and lushness, but at moments of inception or subsiding. Wabi-sabi is not about gorgeous flowers, majestic trees, or bold landscapes. Wabi-sabi is about the minor and the hidden, the tentative and the ephemeral: things so subtle and evanescent they are invisible to vulgar eyes." [Source]

I love to hike up Japan's mountains, but I will never climb Mount Fuji. I love the trails of New Zealand, but I'll never walk the Milford Trail.

I'm unimpressed by brochure-speak and heavily saturated travel photographs. I don't have a bucket list, I generally avoid over-loved A-list destinations.

I don't seek "the perfect trip."

It Takes a Village

Yesterday I was in such an intense conversation with Iris, thirtyish, from Switzerland, we almost missed the only bus from the trailhead that day. 

I get to meet fine people when hiking. These are people who put some effort into their travels. They discover and research trails, they put one foot in front of another to explore the trails. Besides, they usually have interesting stories: as well as hiking boots, Iris travels with dancing shoes because she loves salsa.

We're in This Together

When he saw I was bringing my backpack, the six-year-old decided to bring his. When he saw we were bringing backpacks, the five-year-old decided to bring his.

Three backpacks, each containing one bottle of water.

Fifteen miles, three happy guys, in this together.

Success Secrets They Don't Want You to Know

Success is too often defined as celebrity, money, or power.

Do Something

A colleague, an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota, was about to deliver an early morning lecture. He stood in his heavy coat, and pronounced it to be a super frigid day.

The students groaned in agreement.

He then asked: "What are we going to do about it?"

Silence.

Then, everybody laughed as he removed his coat to reveal a brightly colored Hawaiian shirt.

Honoka'a after Dark

The hotel duty manager warned me: Honoka'a shuts down by 8:00 p.m.

That's why I'm here.

It's time to go out on the town. At night, this old sugar cane town takes on an unfamiliar hue, reminiscent of sepia-toned photographs from a different time.  I wonder what is going on.

The sodium street lights seem different from the high-pressure sodium lights of the mainland. But why?

There was some layer to be peeled back, so I Googled and learned these are low-pressure sodium lights. And there is a really good reason for this unusual lighting.

Ikebukuro Station

This picture evokes vivid memories.

April 2013, I'm underground in Tokyo, in Ikebukuro Station, the second busiest train station in the world with over 2.7 million passengers a day.

Urbex Lite

United Crushers, Dinkytown, Minneapolis

Recently, a friend and I "walked the Green Line," a light rail line between Minneapolis and St. Paul which starts service in June. Along the way, many structures caught our attention, including the "United Crushers" grain silos in Dinkytown, Minneapolis.

The silos have been disused for years. There is no "United Crushers," this is not a division of ADM (the Archer Daniels Midland Company); this is carefully applied graffiti.

Later, I fixated on the pictures in a blog entry describing a visit to the top of this abandoned structure. This type of exploration is clearly illegal and dangerous, but I find the whole idea quite exciting. Behind the facades of our cities, there are new layers to be explored, exposed, and explained.