Siena. Italy
I'm a bit frustrated. I think we're all a bit frustrated. I just finished up all my major "adult" responsibilities and was looking forward to doing more traveling with my partner and my camera when the Covid-19 pandemic put us all into lock-down. But, ever the optimist, I am planning and looking forward to a time in the (hopefully) near future when we've all been vaccinated, tested and approved for limitless excursions. In that spirit, and at the suggestion of a smart commenter, I've been working on a list of places I want to go; some to revisit and others to see for the very first time.
Here's my list:
I want to go to St. Petersburg, Russia in the dead of winter. I was there in February 1995 and I had such interesting adventures there that one of the new novels I'm trying to finish writing is set in that time period and in that city. I think seeing it again would help my writing and I think seeing the Hermitage Museum again would be great just because it may be the most comprehensive and wonderful museum in the entire world. Why winter? To match the season of my last visit during which I found the biting, stinging cold to be refreshing and in keeping with my vision of Russia.
I desperately want to go back to Rome. I've visiting Rome probably more than any other city in Europe except Paris and I find it, as a photographer, endlessly captivating. The people are as wonderful to photograph as well as the ancient architecture. I love the giant public squares and I also have a favorite hotel and a favorite restaurant that I think about frequently. We'd start at the Borghese Sculpture Museum and who knows where we'd end up. It will probably be the rooftop bar at the hotel.... I don't want much, just three or four weeks and the stamina to shoot endlessly. If I can make it happen it will be my first totally film-less engagement with Rome. I also remember Roman women as being both beautiful and very well dressed.
Istanbul. When I was very young my father (and by extension, the rest of us) was assigned to work in Turkey for two years. It was near the end of the 1960's and I remember it as one long, exhilarating adventure. In the city where we lived there were still horse drawn carts and many vendors with work worn wooden push carts. Occasionally flocks of sheep would march by front of our five story, downtown apartment building. Our parents purified the drinking water with chlorine drops (or something like that) but when they weren't looking we would drink from the garden hose; we didn't want to waste time going upstairs for a drink. In the two years we lived in Adana we didn't own a TV set and missed out on US trends like, "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch" but we didn't know we were missing out, we were too busy having sling shot fights and buying Turkish candy from the cart vendors.
I remember my mother taking the family camera after we'd all gone off to school and getting a taxi to go to the outskirts of town to a gypsy encampment. She photographed for an afternoon after negotiating with the chief, then things went south. But that's a story for another time....
At any rate, whenever we could catch a free flight mom and dad would take my brother, sister and I to Istanbul --- for some culture. My mom taught herself Turkish and got pretty fluent so she knew how to handle most situations. We ate in so many great Turkish restaurants and were in awe of the incredible mosques.
I'd like to spend a couple weeks in Istanbul, see how much it's changed and how much it's stayed the same. My memory is that it was a photographer's paradise. We were going to shoot a corporate show there in 1998 but there were some terrorist attacks against western companies and the multi-national I was working moved the show at the last minute to Lisbon, Portugal. I've had it in my mind to go back to Istanbul ever since.
I want to go to Montreal, Canada again around my birthday in late October. Belinda and I had a great time walking through the old town, taking the metro everywhere and spending time in the museums and open air market. It was relaxing, refreshing and so convenient since it was barely 7 hours away from Austin. This time we will not miss Quebec City and we'll explore in a wider circle outside the cities.
One trip I really want to take is two trips combined. I want to see Seoul, S. Korea and I want to go to Tokyo, Japan right after that. No sense flying trans-Pacific round trip twice if you can put the time aside to do both in one trip.
Those are the top spots for my first trips when the world opens back up. There are so many other places I'm anxious to see as well. A winter return to Iceland is in the cards as a solo trip. A vacation to San Miguel, Mexico is high on the general list --- we haven't been there in 34 years... Time rushes by so quickly and there's so much unseen stuff everywhere to uncover. Passport ready, credit cards ready. Now we just need the damn vaccine.
What did I miss? Where will you go when the restraints are lifted? What will you see next?
Rome.
austin.
38 comments:
We've been wanting to take a trip to the Northwest Territories (Canada) for a Northern Lights viewing weekend. The risk is weather. You could spend all that money, go to a pretty desolate place at the coldest time of year and then get cloudy weather for 3 days.
We are going to travel the Canadian Rockies by rail, maybe even take the train all the way back east. My own personal prejudice is that rail is the best way to travel and flying has become the worst.
Norway.
The Italian Alps and Adriatic coast.
Also, I want to go out for a cappuccino and croissant so bad it's driving me nuts. And I'm going to tip big when I do.
If you go to Quebec/Montreal, Quebec has cooler weather than Montreal, so probably better to go there first on the trip. It's a nice 2 hour train ride between the two, much easier than flying, dowtown to downtown.
I won't be traveling outside of Canada for quite some time, at least not until a vaccine is developed. You might want to wait on Montreal for another year Kirk. Their rate of infection is much higher than anywhere else in Canada and the province is already starting to open back up. I love Montreal as well but I'll skip it this year. Quebec City is beautiful too but I won't be going in 2020. I would recommend Ottawa if you are looking for a Canadian visit. It's great for a 3-4 day getaway. It's our nation's capital, a beautiful and safe city, lots of interesting places you can reach on foot. Our Parliament building has a great light show every evening at about 9:30 or so. Plenty of museums and art galleries. Great restaurants. My wife and I may go later this summer if it's safe to do so. I would love to return to Rome. It's an endlessly fascinating city. So much history, architecture and just beautiful light. The food, the cafes. The light in Rome is like nowhere else. We did a cruise two years ago and never again. It was a great experience, no horror stories but after seeing what's happening on these cruise ships I will never do that again. Cruising is a bit too decadant for me and not really my style but it was an experience I enjoyed as a one-time event.
Austin, TX wouldn't be so bad to visit. I visited there for IBM reasons in the '80s and '90s. Would like to see how it has changed, even if not for the better.
And I have good friends in Rome, in Stockholm, in Paris. Seeing them again would be an even better change than just punching another hole on my bucket list.
I'd love you to rock up to Hamburg in Germany when our brew-pub is open again. The city gets a whole lot right.
I have no expectation of traveling for some time. But, I am excited with the news that I may soon be reading a new Kirk Tuck novel.
I'm going back to Paris to visit friends and a City I love.
My company has sent me there 7 times in 2 years (lucky, I know!) and I can't wait to return.
I so miss sitting at a sidewalk café eating a Pain Au Chocolate and having a coffee crème.
I'd like to go visit a friend in Budapest in the fall and then take the train to Prague.
I was going to go this spring but didn't get my tickets bought in time. Good thing.
Berlin and London are also on my list.
St Petersburg would be interesting, especially the Hermitage but I wouldn't want to go in winter.
d
I lived in 7 countries in Asia over a 25 year period, but never visited Cambodia or Vietnam, so they are high on my list. I want to get back to Bangkok & Hiroshima, my favorite cities.
Bhutan, Cuba, Greece, Czech, Hungary, Russia... so many places, so little time!
A very long road trip in the United States. Just wander with my camera.
I enjoy reading your blog every morning.
A pleasure...
john
For work I normally travel both in the US and Internationally 2 weeks out of 4 so this stay at home has been... an adjustment. This is the first time I've been home this long in more than 20 years - not a bad thing though, but it would be much better if I could do more than get my daily constitutional outside.
I'm hoping the "new normal" will allow my trip to Australia at the end of November as that has long been on my bucket list. As far as places to visit again, almost anywhere in Italy will suffice, Corsica in the off season, the south of France... Or anywhere I have friends - it is always fun to get back together again.
"Where will you go when the restraints are lifted?" Greece! Always Greece. I'll revisit Paris. See the rest of what we might call Eastern Europe. New Zeland would be fun, though Australia seems daunting because of the distance involved. There is more of Italy to see, but I don't care if I ever get back to Rome.
By all means, visit Istanbul, and every other part of Turkey that strikes your fancy. Take a hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia. A very intelligent and motivated friend of ours lives in Ankura and said it took her three years to learn the language. Your mother was a genius.
Where will you go when the restraints are lifted? What will you see next?
My bucket list has been shrinking since retirement kicked in. Paris is currently at the top of my list and has been there for far too long. I'd like to see Iceland doing a self driving tour. We almost made it in 2018 but waited too long to make plans and went to Turkey instead with a very small group (six total). In Istanbul we stayed in the old town, on the European side, and had a great time. We boarded a small boat and sailed around to Antalya. Swimming in the Mediterranean was a real treat. Too many photos from that trip here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/7331818@N02/albums/72157702943410834 But, back to where I'd like to go, Next up would be taking part for a couple of weeks in a fossil dig somewhere in Wyoming or Montana. I'm not sure why it appeals to me. Maybe something left over from my fascination with dinosaurs as a youngster. For something more active I'd definitely like to hike in the Alps. We almost made it there last year. Maybe next if there is a vaccine. It would be good to combine with a trip to Paris. Or maybe Flanders.
So glad you took me up on my suggestion of listing post-COVID trip candidates! My short list is Bacalar, Mexico. Just the color of the water is enough to lure me there. Japan: Tokyo, Osaka and Nagano area. Going when the cherry blossums are at their peak would be marvelous. Ireland: Went on a business trip 20 years ago and have been trying to get back ever since. As a country, the nicest, friendliest people I've ever met. At first you think they're trying to pull the wool over your eyes, but soon after you take their friendliness at face value.
Thanks so much for the suggestion. A nice way to take my mind off the news of the day!
My list would have to include a revisit to Rome, for the same reasons you state and Turkey because the people are amazing and the history is so deep. I also want to do a road trip from Thailand all the way over to Vietnam. Take about a month to six weeks. Again wonderful people, great food and history. Serbia and Croatia are also on the list. Malaysia would be a definite redo as well.
I love Mexico and have spent a lot of time there but the current instability has me put off. I have been in enough war zones, declared and undeclared.
While we are talking about black and white printing I just got out of the darkroom and produced three prints that really excite me. Like you I cut my teeth on graded papers and all the darkroom gymnastics we used to realize our vision. I still have some graded FB paper and Selectol Soft. You know, just in case. With todays PyroCat-HD film developer, multi grade papers and split grade printing life has become so much easier! My Blad negs are just singing!
Erna and I had Iceland on our radar but it seems it has become one of the "it" spots. So we will wait for it to become passe and then go.
Eric
Skip Ottawa it`s a boring government city, nevertheless the museums are very good.
The dream would be a road trip in the Miata. Start in Boston, first stop to be Dia Beacon museum, then ramble all the way to Marfa, TX, then ramble back. The full 645Z kit on the luggage rack.
But first thing is back to Paris, where family live. Not this year for sure...
Revisiting Australia is very high on my list. If ever possible, I will revisit Alice Spring in deep winter in the red center, where they reach low temperatures akin to summer temperatures “at home”. Experiencing the “Henley on Todd regatta” in august is the main purpose for a stopover on a trip along Stuart Highway from Adelaide to Darwin. It will not be this year. With a bit of luck in 2021, but I wouldn’t object to 2022 either.
I have sworn myself, that I simply have to experience one of the wackiest regattas ever taking place anywhere in the world. The short version is, that Todd river only holds water a very limited number of times per century, so the “boats” used in the regatta delivers fond memories of “Flintstone movements” involving bottomless boats (litterally) in the dry river bed (which I’ve actually walked in in 2009).
What a blast! If that’s the last I ever experience in my life, I’ll leave this world with a smile on my lips (if the actual proces of leaving isn’t hurting too much ;-)
My go to is Provence, as we have a house in a small village there. Love to explore the area and take the TGV to Paris. My reach is Australia/New Zealand. We have dear friends in Sydney, they live half the year in our village in Provence and I have always wanted to see Straya.
Kirk,
Rome? Yes a wonderful place. But if you are going to Rome, you mays as well rent a car and drive to Tuscany. Yes, I know it's the worlds largest tourist trap, but that's because its a wonderful place.You can drive outside of Florence to many nice places that even not all Italians have seen. Siena is of course steeped in history and a beauty, andneed it be said, great food and wine. but also there are places like Montepulciano and Montalcino, wine centered places, and one of my favorites, the microscopically town of Bagno Vignoni. Located in the scenically gifted Orcia Valley, it is home to a hot springs that are thousands of years old. As a swimmer you might appreciate the swimming pool filled from the mineral water from the hot springs.Options for hiking and cycling abound. I recommend you stay at the Albergo Posta Marcucci. Rooms are smallish, as are many european hotel rooms, but no more so than any other. You can get a room with breakfast and dinner, and I highly recommend you do.
And Florence! it is a city with some of Italy's best art there. The uffizi and the Pitti Palace house many masterworks. Food is exceptional, and I had the best steak I've ever eaten there, better than Ruth's Chris or the Palm, and I say that as where I live is near where many of the finest steaks in the world are grown. Yes, better than Texas. and, p[lease don't tell Belinda, I've never seen more strikingly beautiful women. I've spent at least six weeks there over several trips, and you can spend months walking the older part of the city with a camera and only have scratched the surface. (from my experience a Hasselblad xPan is ideal.)I suggest you should stay at the Hermitage Hotel. well kept up, delightfully friendly and helpful staff and a perfect location only about ten steps, 15 if you are short, from the Ponte Vecchio. no more than a block from the Uffizi, easy walking to the Duome, and great food and wine. Enjoy drinks on the roof garden, where you can see the Duomo from one side and the Ponte Vecchio fom the other. And at the front door, walk across the street to Bucca del Orafo, a tiny family owned restaurant.
Do I sound like a promoter for Italy? I'm not, although I would love to be one. Just a satisfied traveler. But remember, I once wrote ad copy for a photo client.
Well, I retired in December, (about time, says my wife: I'm 78), and she is retiring in a few weeks. We had planned a road trip starting in mid-June, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, the Maritimes, then back to the States through Maine, stopping to visit various branches of the family in Connecticut, finally back home to PA. Well, they closed Canada, and other stuff happened, so we'll see.
Another long visit to Italy, not sure to where, reprising a month-long visit that in 2012 included Rome, Milan, Florence, Lago di Garda, Como, and Tuscany. Ireland, where my wife visited about a dozen years ago with her mother and her sisters. Scotland. Iceland in Winter, when it never gets light, to balance the weeks we visited in June, when it never gets dark. Paris, of course. We visited in 2000 with sky-high expectations, and were disappointed, so we want to give it another chance, this time with more experience under our belts. London. Lisbon. Las Vegas (yes, Las Vegas. Why not?)Vancouver again. Chicago, and the Presidential library. (That was on our list for July, but "something happened.")
National Parks and Monuments. Plug for hometown Philly: Liberty Bell, Constitution Center, Independence Hall, Museum of the American Revolution, many other art museums,
Valley Forge out in the suburbs, and one city building that gets little respect: City Hall ... the world’s largest free standing masonry building.
Re-visit Yosemite in Winter. Grand Canyon, same. Mount Rushmore.
Now THAT'S an itinerary! We'll all travel again soon.
Hoping to be off to Alaska for the first time in June to pick up on a film project that went on hold. One from the bucket list.
Well, there is the possibility of visiting Monico and then the Isle of Man in late May and early June. I could see myself doing that.
Fantastic set of destinations. Istanbul will be the most changed from what you remember in the 1960s.
Let me recommend:
1. Cuba. It's fantastic, like a land that time forgot. Go before the developers finally get in and rape and pillage the culture (especially if they let American developers build hotels and McMansions).
2. Burma. Another land that time forgot.
Have fun!
All these posts and no mentioned of Nepal? I have been VERY fortunate to travel to Nepal three times in the last two years; Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan, and parts of the Himalayas, amazing people and unlimited photo opportunities. Great food and inexpensive. Of course 25 hours travel time each way from New York City is a little daunting.
I had thought about visiting Moab, UT for the rock formations. I've been to southern UT in the past and it's just a stunning place to visit. I would prefer to go in cold weather to avoid the crowds.
Siem Reap, Cambodia has been on my mental list of places to go as well as Hong Kong and Bangkok. Cuba is somewhere I wanted to visit as well. Upstate New York in the fall sounds compelling as well.
Hi Kirk,
I guess many of us are dreaming.....and hopefully our dreams will become a reality when we are able to travel freely. I was actually due to go to Ireland today and Istanbul at the end of this month so your post resonates with me. I haven't been further than a couple of miles...and I haven't taken a photo since lockdown here in the UK.
There are so many places I'd like to go to and also places I'd happily go back to. Here's a few thoughts:
Do much more travelling around Europe by train, it's very civilised and you see so much. High on the list are travelling by train from the UK to the Czech republic, Cadiz and all the way to Sicily by train which includes going on a train ferry! This website can help you dream about train travel - it's helped me plan trips: seat61.com
Barcelona - a favourite city, visited a number of times - always something to photograph - especially if you time your visit for the Merce festival and the correfoc (fire run) - photographed that with a Nikon D40 - would like to try with my current cameras.
Countries I've never been to but would like to visit include: Japan (more rail travel!!); Bolivia, Cambodia and Vietnam, Denmark.
And places to go back to:
China - an amazing place to photograph away from the major tourist sites..such as wandering around hutongs in Beijing; Java; Seville; Brussels, Bratislava.....
It's good to think of future travels, a lovely post, thanks
Yep, Australia, and don't miss the Territory. To really see the country you'll need at least a month. Do the coast and the interior.
And, since you've traveled all that way, might as well go to New Zealand, since you'd be only a few hours flight away.
And, once you're in NZ...why not Antarctica? So, there you go, a nice three-month itinerary.
After a trip like that, buzzing over to Rome, Paris, London, Copenhagen, will be almost like day trips!
I have to disagree with you and most of your readers here, Kirk. I gave up flying a couple of years ago. I drive an electric car. I think it is way past time for us old white guys to step up and take some responsibility for fucking up the planet. Traveling because we can. You think this virus is bad? The here and now and worse coming climate crisis is not going away. We keep spewing CO2 and all kinds of other crap into the atmosphere. I know, lets all go see the polar bears before they are all gone! Oh, wait, us going to see them is going to make them all die off even sooner. Yeah, but I got a photo of one!
Here in Australia I'd love to tick the Great Ocean Road off the list, as well as all the non-east coast capitals and Tasmania and Broome as well. Not too concerned if I don't get back to Sydney again although I'd love to get to the Aquabumps gallery in Bondi and buy a giant print. Also, Alice Springs, Uluru, Coober Pedy and a few more places in the middle of nowhere.
I've always wanted to see the old cities in Europe, especially Prague and Istanbul, as well as Malta and Gibraltar. Definitely want to see the Northern Lights as well as the midnight sun in Iceland. Russia in the middle of winter, Austria, Lichtenstein and Andorra just because, the French alps,tge list goes on.
Strangely I'm not hugely keen on going to the US, however if I ever get to Canada I'll make some stops there to see Yellowstone, Vegas (yeah, I know) and New Orleans and the head south to Mexico and wind up at Macchu Picchu - I've wanted to go there since I was about 7 and was given a book about the Incas.
Antarctica, the Congo, Egypt... Honestly, 8d go pretty much anywhere I think.
Cheers - Isaac
Jerry, You make good points. I imagine we could still travel and do so with a lower carbon footprint if we made many modifications to our mode of traveling. I suppose I could take a train from Austin to a port city and book a berth on a container ship or some other cargo vessel on which to travel trans-oceanically. Once in Europe I could take trains to all the EU and Russian destinations I've suggested. But, I wonder which part of the country you reside in. How do you heat your home? If you live south how do you cool your home in the Summer? If air pollution from air travel is a major culprit could we find some ethical balance between "no flights" and much reduced air travel use? Could we start limiting business air travel (which is a huge percentage of air miles...). More online meetings and fewer face to face engagements? If I fly once a year for pleasure but drive half as much as the national average is that a trade-off? Taking into consideration total footprint? If more and more people work from home instead of commuting to work every day would that be beneficial? Can we increase tax incentives to allow more people to afford electric cars? Can we require the power plants that recharge electric cars to install more clean technology to deal with pollutants?
As I'm sure you know I am not a "nature" photographer and have no interest in going to photograph polar bears or whales and I would not fly just to make landscape photos. In the past ten years I've traveled three times out of the country, twice on business (one trip was by car to Mexico) and once for pleasure. Is that too much? Did you just recently give up gas cars for electric? What did you drive before that? Did you travel by air much before you gave up flying? Were you first able to see all the places you wanted to see and have all the adventures you wanted to have before you decided to adopt a new, more stringent moral stance?
Is this a case of "already getting yours before pulling up the ladder for everyone else?"
Do you still eat meat, understanding that livestock production is one of the ten major sources of pollution?
So, we've known for at least ten years that air travel and cars create the most pollution, just ahead of power plants and factories (+refineries) but can you tell us why it was just two years ago that you made the decision to buy the electric car and stop flying? Did you have an epiphany or was it the result of a lifestyle change? What tipped the balance for you and what were your habits like before two years ago?
Have you researched the actual carbon footprint created by the construction of batteries for electric cars and their transport for installation? Have you researched the waste streaming of lithium car batteries? You do understand, of course, that any use of the electric car causes air pollution because of the recharge cycle which requires dependence on power production which is point source air pollution? Right? If you live in an area serviced by nuclear energy or solar/wind then, BRAVO (as far as air particulates are concerned) but what if you drive and charge that electric car in a state predominantly served by dirty coal fired plants? It may be and equivalent burden overall but one that falls unfairly on people living nearest to the plant. Some studies early on (when batteries where manufactured in one country, raw components were sourced in other countries and then shipped trans-pacific for installation before the cars were shipped, trans-pacific, back to the world's biggest market place) showed that one could drive a Chevrolet Suburban for 80,000 mile before matching the total carbon footprint required for all the stages of production and delivery of a Prius car battery from raw to finished and delivered to a car dealer in the USA.
continued to Jerry:
I think people use air travel way, way too much for business. When I was growing up a trip outside the country was a big deal and happened once or twice in a lifetime. A vacation to end all vacations. I'm happy to ride on boats, trains, bikes, etc. My advice is for you to lobby the government to re-regulate flying and require higher ticket prices for all tiers of flying. That should slow down gratuitous business travel. Everyone who can should want to office at home because the largest single source of pollution is car travel commuting to and from workplaces. If I were king I'd mandate that everyone work within a five mile radius of their home.
Sadly I live in country that seems to be going backward with environmental regulations. Me driving a very low emission car is rather pointless if we take limits off polluting and encourage lower and lower MPG performance. You may see it as selfish but I think one can make trade offs over the course of their existence to be able to ethically include vacations that require air travel if they make concomitant sacrifices in other areas. We drive efficient, ultra low emmission cars and, as a family, average less than 8K total miles per year. We have a "right sized" house instead of a big mansion that needs more heating and cooling. We both work in home offices now (and have for most of the last 35 years) so we reduce our carbon footprint every time we "walk" to work. We try to buy local produce and local products whenever possible (too bad Austin doesn't have camera factory!!!). We have only one child. He lives frugally and with an extremely small carbon footprint. Do you have kids? How many? Do they travel?
Sorry to be long winded and I certainly get your point but there's very little in life that's starkly black and white even though it would certainly be easier to make choices that way.
I'm sure, on reflection, you can see that many of my travel suggestions and those of others here are what we'd like to see if everything was on the table. It doesn't reflect a confirmed and committed agenda.
Also be aware that the blog has reader all over the EU and most of them could probably would travel to their destinations by train...
One final thought: We could radically reduce repeated travel to places by giving USA N. Americans longer vacations so they could buy one ticket and stay in an areas for weeks or months instead of days. That way public transportation makes more sense and time limitations don't drive transportation choices.
Hi Kirk -
I'm one of the EU readers (expat) and travel by train takes too long. I work in Frankfurt and have clients in Budapest: that's a full day train trip, versus a 65 minute flight. Takes a full day to get from Frankfurt to London by train, but Paris is closer and not that much slower. Given the chance, the TGV wins for me, but after 1000km (600 miles) flying always wins...and don't get me started on the total and complete incompetence of Deutsche Bahn when it comes to customer service. Makes the DMV look like a model of efficiency in comparison...
We have booked and paid to visit our adult children in London in July before heading to the Scottish highlands for hiking and a wee dram in the evening. Not happening now, hoping for rescheduling for the fall.
We were scheduled to fly to Sapporo in October and hike in the national parks there, before heading to a place outside of Osaka to kick off a 125 mile hike along a pilgramage route dating back 1000 years. Staying at temples and ryokans, but carrying everything, leaving only our footprints and taking only memories and far too many pictures.
Instead: meh. We'll probably go to the northeastern coast of Germany, in the tongue-twisting Mecklenberg-Vorpommern, to catch some rough winds and walks on the beach.
All due to the machinations of something long due for the ash pit of history...
Kirk, You will love Japan. We did the usual Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka in the fall of 2018 and had a blast. Big cities doesn't even begin to describe Tokyo, and I'm a native New Yorker.
To paraphrase Cicero:
Ceterum autem censeo sinis factionis communistarum esse delendam
Qui cito escalated.
Kirk, what's the biblical verse about he who is without sin casting the first stone? I'm one of the old white guys that has benefitted from the incredible luck of being born a white male to good (but poor) parents in 1954 in America. The all time luckiest lottery winners!
My business is completely dependent on the internet and Fedex, both of which requires massive amounts of energy, therefore CO2 production. I'm guilty as charged.
Personally, I fell under the influence of Steward Brand and the Whole Earth Catalog in 1969 and never recovered. I stopped eating meat almost 50 years ago after reading the book "Diet for a small planet" that was recommended in one of the updated Whole Earth Catalogs.
I've been out of the country twice, once to the Bahamas is 1973 on a small plane, once to BC Canada for work about 2 1/2 years ago by jet. My work sort of requires me to go to California every few years to meet with builders/suppliers. If I go ever again, I'll drive. I have friends who live all over the world who have visited me in Florida and encourage me to visit them. I'd love to see Europe, Iceland, New Zealand, etc, etc, etc. Who wouldn't! But the US has spectacular, well everything. Couldn't see a tiny percentage of what is available right here. I love being outside. In my own yard I've seen bobcats, coyotes, otters, alligators, diamond backs, water moccasins, bald eagles, swallowtail kites, on and on. Just out my door.
I was driving (and still do on occasion) a 2006 Scion XB that gets 33 mpg. It has less than 60k miles on it. My electric car gets the equivalent of 135 mpg in energy used. I saved for 4 years to buy it. It cost 3x more than any car I've ever bought. I'll never buy a gas car or truck again. Yes, it requires electrical generation. Yes, that is coming from a gas fired plant. But power generation from a power plant is much more efficient than everyone producing their own power in a gas car engine. The power company is installing the largest solar power plants in the US not far from me. Eventually, all power generated will be solar and wind (Texas has immense wind turbine fields) with battery backup. Europe is way ahead of us in that respect. The whole world is rapidly changing over to sustainable energy and electric cars.
My shop is 100 yards from my house, so my commute the last 14 years has been short. I have a house, a shop, and house for rescue animals (80 cats and dogs the last 22 years, 29 currently) that add up to 4000 sq ft. The house we bought, the others two I built. With retrofitting the house and building the two buildings from scratch to be as energy efficient as possible (on a humble budget) our power bill for all three is $60 an month until the AC is on (7 months or so here) and it goes to about $110 in July. Not bad for 4000 sq ft in Florida. I'd put in solar panels but I would have to cut down a giant old Live Oak that I won't do. I've planted over 200 live oaks on the 5 acres over the years. They live 400 to 1000 years (if they are not underwater before then) and I think they are the only real thing I've ever given back to this planet.
Pleased don't take any of my words as an attack on you or your readers, Kirk. I just want people to consider what a slight change in habits might mean for anyone living 50 years from now.
Fair enough and well laid out. Love the choices. Thank you for not taking my response personally.
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