ANOTHER TRAVEL BLOG?

Does the world need another travel blog? Do I have any  new information that might be useful or interesting to a prospective traveler? Do I have a different perspective than that of the typical travel blogger? Is it worth my time and effort to start a project that may take hundreds of hours?

I did a lot of thinking before deciding to begin this project. I came up with three broad reasons why it might be a good idea. But, before I go further, I have a suggestion for anyone who might be interested in reading this blog. First check out my online photo album at:

www.michaelsheridanphotography.com

The album contains thousands of travel photos stretching back for over 40 years.

If your interest is piqued, continue on. Here’s my rationale:

PLACES

It’s never been my ambition to visit every country in the world. This has been done before and I simply have neither the time nor the interest to try to do it myself. Several countries – India, Burma, China, South Africa, Peru are so interesting and diverse that I’ve traveled to each of them a number of times. Other areas – for instance much of West Africa and the Caribbean consist of countries that are so similar to each other as to be almost indistinguishable. I preferred to visit the fascinating Indian Subcontinent eight times rather than to try to tick off a bunch of almost identical Caribbean Islands. And there are some countries that, while undeniably interesting, are just too much trouble to bother with – Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan.

I’ve traveled to many exotic places – places that some people have never heard of. Most of these seemed to be perfectly acceptable places to visit – Turkmenistan, Burkina Faso, Georgia, and the Solomon Islands come to mind. In fact, apart from a few dicey encounters in Senegal, I’ve enjoyed almost every country I’ve had a chance to visit.

I’ve traveled to places that many people would consider dangerous – Yemen, Syria, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Colombia. And I’ve gotten off the beaten path in countries that are popular with mainstream travelers – Cajamarca in Peru, Rakhine State in Burma, Harar in Ethiopia, Kutch in India. I’ve designed all of my own itineraries, have always traveled independently (with my wife, of course), and have never traveled with a group.

I’ve been to sub-Saharan Africa more than a dozen times and have been on many, many safaris. The first two of these were part of around-the-world trips and involved self-driving. For subsequent trips to East Africa, I have always managed to arrange a private vehicle with driver/guide. In Southern Africa, I drive myself. I have checked in to a few super-luxurious private lodges in Southern Africa and these usually involve group game drives. But I have always arrived at the lodges under my own steam and have always sat at my own table.

TRAVEL STYLE

Before deciding to start this project, I thought that it would be a good idea to read some other travel blogs. The first thing I noticed was that many of these are written by shoe string travelers – backpackers getting by on the minimum. They spend years on the road, visit exotic places, sleep in the dirt, swelter in the heat, freeze in the cold, and don’t shower for weeks. They live in villages, eat local food, and drink questionable water. And they see amazing things.

I have no problem with this style of travel. In fact, I marvel at the toughness of these people and at the thickness of their collective skins. I actually envy these people in many ways. But I discovered years ago that my particular body was not equipped to deal with conditions such as these. I basically need clean sheets and air-conditioning. Yet I have managed to travel to many exotic locales in relative comfort. I’ve done all of this independently without resorting to group tours. And I’ve done it while working at a conventional job and raising a family.

I also have no problem with the other extreme – with the luxurious style of travel that is provided by such agencies as National Geographic. But, again, group travel is just not my thing. The travel style that I do find fault with, however, is the mass, budget tourism that has become increasingly common in the past decade. We can thank the low cost airlines and the cruise companies for this unpleasant phenomenon. I first visited Dubrovnik in 1983 when Croatia was still part of Yugoslavia. I basically had the place to myself. When I returned a few years ago as part of an extended driving tour of the Balkans, I literally could not find a place to STAND! on Dubrovnik’s main street.

For me, it all started in Kenya over 40 years ago.

We arrived in Nairobi at sunrise on December 10, 1975 from Cairo via an Egyptair flight. I had previously spent a lot of time reading “Adventuring in East Africa” a travel book written by a young American couple. There was a chapter in the book that described a 2 week self-drive camping safari for an average outlay of $50 per day. This looked easy enough to me and so I decided to model our first safari on this template. What I had forgotten to take into account at the time was that I had only camped once before in my life and had hated the experience.

We had made previous arrangements with Thorn Tree Travel – the last European owned travel agency in Nairobi. They picked us up at Jomo Kenyatta Airport and transported us to the New Utalii Hotel – a clean, new, mid-range hotel on the outskirts of Nairobi. It was operated mainly by Hotel Management students and basically served the purpose. It was located in a nice, semi-rural area on the road to Mt. Kenya. Today it stands cheek by jowl with the notorious Mathare Slum – one of the largest slums in East Africa and certainly one of the most desperately poor places on earth.

The following morning, we were transported into town to pick up our car and camping gear. We ended up with an orange Volkswagen Bug. On the side of both doors, there was a large green bullseye encircling the words “TOURIST VEHICLE”. The world was an innocent and naive place at that time. In view of Nairobi’s record breaking carjacking epidemic, the modern day tourist would be ill-advised to raise his profile in this manner – it would be inconvenient at best, lethal at worst.

But, we didn’t know any better at the time as we innocently set out on the road to Lake Nakuru. I had never driven on the left, and had to master this technique under less than ideal conditions. We arrived at Lake Nakuru after an uneventful drive and actually proceeded set up the tent. We then ventured out to look at the flamingoes. There were no White Rhinos and very few other large mammals in the park at that time. When we returned to the campsite we noticed at once that the Vervet Monkeys had paid us a visit and everything was a mess. We cleaned up, cooked a simple meal and turned in just after sunset. We immediately ran up against a problem that we hadn’t even thought about prior to that night. It began to get very, very cold. The safari areas of Kenya and Tanzania are almost all located at over 5,000 feet. And nights are very cold at that altitude, even at the equator.

We managed to shiver through the night. But I noticed in the morning that my body was covered with dust, that my hair was plastered to my scalp, and that my teeth had sprouted a furry, green slime. No shower?? What was I to do? I had been in the habit of showering twice a day and I hadn’t really considered that this might present a problem. Well – there was a simple and immediate solution to this problem – a solution that was staring me right in the face. Just ditch the camping!

We proceeded to forego our reservations at campsites around Kenya and began to just wing it – driving from park to park trying to secure accommodations at the various safari lodges. This worked surprisingly well and we were able to stay at the Kiliguni and Ngulia Lodges in Tsavo West, the Voi Safari Lodge in Tsavo East, several hotels along the coast, the Keekorok Lodge in Mara, the Lake Naivasha Lodge, the Ark, and the Leopard Rock Lodge in remote Meru National Park.

I am certainly not recommending this type of approach for the modern traveler. Nor would I be in favor of self-driving around East Africa at this time in history. But, the point I am trying to make is that it’s entirely possible for a normal person to see a lot of the world without dropping out for 5 years and strapping on a backpack at the one extreme or mortgaging the house and signing on to a luxury group tour at the other.

A few preliminary suggestions. If you decide to use a travel agent, pick one who operates in the country you’re planning to visit. Except for the occasional specialist, most local travel agents know little more about the place you want to visit than you do. They simply contact their resource in the country of interest and double the price. Of course, make sure the agent you choose is reputable. This takes patience, research, and a bit of luck. But, I’ve only been stung once in my life and that was my own fault. And it actually worked out OK in the end – more on this later.

Self-drive where you can. This is entirely practical in Europe, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Israel, Chile, South Africa, Namibia, Malaysia, Australia and many other places. Hire a car and driver where it is appropriate and affordable – India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

Design your own trips making use of open-jaw or multistop flights where possible. Look at stock itineraries – but don’t follow them to the letter. And arrive before the tour buses – or you’ll wind up at the end of a line of people following a lady with a flag. Book your own hotels, but don’t necessarily trust every online review. And look for places that haven’t been completely trashed  – hard to find these days, but I have a few suggestions.

PHOTOGRAPHY

I know about photography. Anyone who has traveled recently cannot help but notice that everyone is snapping digital photos of everything everywhere. To say this is overdone is an understatement. No one should spend his entire trip looking through a view finder or peering at cell phone screen. But to contend that photography is not an important part of the travel experience would be to deny reality.

Most travel blogs will point out the most photogenic places to visit. But very few of them point out what subjects to actually photograph, how to photograph these subjects and, most importantly, what time of day to take the photographs. They all mention the obvious reality that the light is best in the early morning and the late afternoon. But they almost never mention specifics. I’ve shown up in the early morning or late afternoon at several famous sites, only to have the sun glaring directly into my eyes. Petra and Victoria Falls come immediately to mind and I was forced to re-visit both of them the following day.

I know there are blogs out there that are concerned strictly with photography. But a lot of these are just too technical for the casual travel photographer. Many of us care very little about f-stops and ISO settings. And to be honest, if one shows up at the right time of day, these technical details become much less important. Let’s face it – it’s all about the light.

So, I feel that I’m in a good position to advise a person who wants to take good quality travel photos, but isn’t interested in crawling out of bed at 4 AM and scaling a mountain to catch the sunrise. I also have sympathy for the person who goes on safari but isn’t motivated to take along a 50 lb lens and an 80 lb tripod. Good luck on South African Airways where the carry-on limit is 16 lbs.

While I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself a professional photographer, I maintain a huge photographic website:

www.michaelsheridanphotography.com

 I  have sold thousands of photographs both online and at art shows. I have had many photos published in magazines. And with the help of my 24-inch Epson Professional Printer, I have made short work of all my available wall space.

I know how to get the best images from equipment that can be managed and afforded by almost anyone who is able to travel. And, I have solid advice for inexperienced photographers. For instance, if you decide to go to an exotic market to photograph exotic people, try to go on a cloudy day.  If you’re not able to arrange that, make sure that the subject is in full, bright SHADE! Bright sun causes harsh shadows, And harsh shadows ruin people photos.

And, pay close attention to that most important and most neglected part of the composition – the background. And shoot from the hip when you can.

So – there it is…in a nutshell.

I’ve decided to present my information as a series of vignettes – not necessarily in chronologic order. To just plow through 43 years of travel, one trip after another, would be tedious. Some of these episodes are seriously funny – I can’t really believe that I lived through them. Others are mainly informative – where to go, where to stay, what to see, and how to get good photos.

Thanks for taking the time to read this introduction. I hope you enjoy the blog.

Michael J. Sheridan, MD

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