A Week in California

I took a week off work to meet Becca and Nate in Oakland, CA as they returned from their 7 month trip abroad. We stayed with Leah, Nate’s sister, and had a grande time lounging around, drinking wine, eating cheese and playing Yahtzee. We took a day trip up to Dry Creek Road in Sonoma County for an all day Wine Tasting Event wherein we visited Wilson Winery, Quivira Winery, & Bella Winery and another one that I can’t recall the name of… (I wonder why I don’t remember the name of the last Winery we stopped at…)

We also took a day trip down to Santa Cruz where we enjoyed beautiful weather and watched the surfers enjoying themselves in the water around the Santa Cruz Surfers Museum. Both trips gave us lots of time to enjoy the beauty that is Highway 1 as it winds up and down the California Coast. It was a great week; great food, great city, great wine, great weather, mediocre company.

Couldn’t ask for more. Enjoy the photos.

And for even more fun, enjoy all the writing and photos that Becca and Nate have contributed to this wonderful week:

Hi & Thank You : Santa Cruz

Hi & Thank You : Sonoma County

Looking Back: Traveling without a GPS

In an effort to keep my blog relevant despite my current sedentary lifestyle, I have decided to try and write some posts about my traveling experience now that I’ve had some time to think about everything that’s happened over the past 9 months. And so without further adieu; Traveling without a GPS.

Long before I lived in New York I remember finding my dad’s old Road Atlas that was clearly out of date but too important to throw away. I remember thinking that the idea of a Road Atlas that didn’t have relevance on today’s roads but had significant nostalgic value was something that seemed to go hand in hand with traveling…yet is something that is in danger of being under appreciated, and perhaps forgotten, in today’s digital culture.

I decided on traveling with only a Road Atlas long before the mystique of going West became a reality for me.  In fact, this realization came well before I started serious plans to travel, and even further before I bought my car or quit my job.

I had the opportunity to join the GPS Love–Fest that so many of my friends and family members are a part of, but was stead fast on going across the country with only the help of my rather exceptional internal compass and the pages of a book. I was offered a GPS as a birthday present before I started traveling, and one of my Uncles even offered up his old GPS  halfway through my journey…and when I think back about my experience, I couldn’t be happier with my decision to politely decline both of these gracious offerings.

Having traveled with friends and family who use (and often rely) on their GPSs, I do see the advantages that they present. I realize traveling without a GPS might not be as ‘easy’ in a lot of ways, but I found it more fulfilling. I realize the fact that one might not experience anything any differently with or without a GPS, but you sure as hell pay more attention to everything when you don’t have one. By this I mean you don’t rely on your GPS to direct you once you’ve made a wrong turn….blinding driving down an unfamiliar road, confident that the robotic woman inside your GPS will politely and calmly guide you to the nearest road that gets you back on track without making you feel a hint of embarrassment. Without that little robot suctioned to the glass of your windshield, you keep driving down a wrong turn to see where it ends up. Or, you make a mental note of the school you passed 5 minutes ago and if you get really lost, you can remember where to turn once you back track past it. And when you do get miserably lost, you do feel embarrassed, but only for a little while. This is where your fellow man (or woman) can offer up their non-computer-like guidance!  Asking for directions often times led me to some of the most amazing experiences on my trip (and I’m sure any number of other travelers will tell you the same thing).

My somewhat limited experience with traveling has also taught me that there are many styles of traveling. I’ve read a lot about how ‘getting lost’ and ‘finding your way’ on road trips are the best way to travel, but I have always been far too annoyed by aimlessly roaming around to fully appreciate that style of wanderlust. I wanted to be efficient (in order to save money on gas) but still find routes that were scenic and allowed me to arrive at my destination during the perfect time of day (ie: sunset/dusk). When you have a car and are in control of when you leave/arrive at a place, its always nice to get to your destination during the golden hour.

I realize that getting lost is inconvenient and not always fun. I also realize that Road Atlases have their downfalls. My particular map never seemed to zoom in quite far enough for me to see which road I needed to take in some of the bigger cities…but now I know those cities almost as well as I do Pittsburgh (my hometown) or New York (my alma-city-mater). My favorite memory of my Atlas comes from when I broke down in Abingdon, VA. The map split the left panhandle off of Virginia and the southern Kentucky portion was just as vague. I was literally stuck in a place that was on a crease in my map. At the time it seemed like the perfect metaphor for, ‘Why in the hell would anyone ever pass through this part of the country?’. I mean, when’s the last time you got stuck in the crease of a page? That’s some web 0.0 shit right there.

It also takes quite a bit more planning using just an Atlas. Part of my traveling routine involved looking up the best way to get from place to place before I actually started my drive…something that is pointless with a GPS…but it also allowed me to look at where I had been the day before and gave me some time to reflect on the place I was leaving and the places I was going.

By far the best thing about traveling without a GPS is that when I revisit the places I have been to, I recognize them. I remember them. I have memories of the places I passed through effortlessly, and the places I got lost. And I remember being annoyed at myself for getting lost…unlike the hindu cow of a woman directing you from inside her computer  box on your dashboard.

With a little bit of extra planning and some patience with yourself, you might find that traveling without a GPS can be far more rewarding than with one. If nothing else it will give you memories of the places you have seen but without the shiny digital glaze.