Travel To Flea Markets

One of the world’s largest flea markets is right in my home state. The one in San Jose has more than 2,000 booths and sprawls over 40 acres, eight miles of booth-lined walkways with arts, crafts, jewelry, antiques. And junk! Lots of junk.

The old saying tells you something about them.: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Well, that isn’t always what you find anymore. It’s gotten a lot more commercial since I first went with my Mom and Dad, but it still draws huge crowds, vendors hoping to make some money, and shoppers hoping for a bargain or at least a day of fun.

Now I’m not much of a shopper, and we usually go more for museums and history when we travel, but sometimes you can have lots of fun at flea markets around the world, and learn something about that country’s culture at the same time. At the very least, finding one of these giant jumble sales will keep you from getting museum sensory overload!

Probably the first one we ever found abroad was the Marche Aux Puces de Clingnancourt in Paris. All the French guidebooks mention this one. It’s a great place to prowl around and find all sorts of vintage French items. I have to admit… we never bought anything, but it was a fun way to spend a morning.

If it wasn’t the Marche Aux Puces, then perhaps our first international “junk prowl” was Portobello in London, or maybe it was the Camden Passage to look at antiques. (Certainly not to buy – we couldn’t afford that on those early trips!) There are antique and junk markets all over London, many have become touristy, but if you look hard and bargain, you might still find a treasure to take home. There are lots of websites to direct you to all of the possibilities.

You’ll find markets like this all over the U.S. From the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market in New York to the the Pasadena Rose Bowl Swap Meet which is supposed to be the largest on the West Coast. There’s the “127 Corridor” in the middle of the country. It’s actually a giant once-a-year yard sale that stretches over 600 miles through 5 states in August.

There’s the Mercat Gotic in Barcelona, Spain. In South America, there is the San Telmo Flea Market in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in Japan, there’s the Togo Antique Market in Tokyo.

You can find them in many less developed areas too. But what really differentiates a flea-type market from the local bazaars? Flea markets typically sell second hand goods. The question sometimes is when do they become antiques? And, in those developing counties, the next questions is… what is really an antique, and what is just made to look like one? Remember, anywhere you shop, it’s always buyer beware. Far from home, it’s hard to return what you bought.

Go ahead and explore those markets where ever you find them and if you find that one man’s junk is your treasure. Buy it and enjoy it.

Shopping While On Holiday

Some people love shopping. I’m not one of them, but I do like shopping on holiday. While I like shopping on holiday, I think some people holiday to shop! Travel for what ever reasons you want – and if shopping is one of your loves – why not shop while you’re traveling?

I like wandering in bazaars and flea markets, but I like looking at big department stores in cities like London and Paris or almost anywhere else too. Exploring big stores lets you see what the fashions are like in the country you’re visiting, and it gives you a different perspective on the country and it’s people. If you’re a real shopper, you probably just love shopping someplace new!

I love prowling museums and historical sites, but grocery stores, department stores, and bazaars give you a glimpse of everyday life.

I like going to small boutique stores almost anywhere. You find more local flavor, less “mass marketed” items. If I can find a jacket that Bhutanese women wear over their “kira”, I’ll have a jacket at home that no one else will have. Unless they, too, have been to Bhutan.

I like going into grocery stores. There are supermarkets now all over the world in addition to small local markets. It’s fun to look at local grocery items and see what else is for sale. There are places like Carrefour and LeClerc in France and Lidl all over Europe. Not to mention IKEA! We went to a Safeway in Amman, Jordan. It was fun to try to buy lowfat milk in Arabic and see the kinds of goods they had for sale.

Small markets are fun to see too. You see exotic fruits and vegetables. And if you’re lucky enough to be in a town for the weekly market, you’ll probably be doing some cheese or sweets shopping on holiday!

It’s fun shopping for arts and crafts made by local artisans. Sometimes we shop for something for ourselves to bring home. We have gone looking for carpets in India, Nepal, Pakistan and Turkey. And we came home with a few. We have bought “made for tourist” items like Tibetan horns, and African wood carvings, and sometimes jewelry. We try to find things that are small and pack easily. Except for the carpets!

Sometimes we shop for interesting items that will make fun gifts for friends and relatives at home. The amber earrings that we bought in Gdansk will make great gifts for my nieces come Christmas.

It’s interesting, in researching this article, I found thousands of sites trying to entice readers to go there and shop and THERE was any place in the world! There are whole tours set up for shopping on holidays – either near home or far away!

We prefer to think that we go to those department stores and boutiques and bazaars for the cultural experience. If I come away with an interesting new “ethnic” outfit that I could never get at home – that’s a souvenir. If we come home with a new carpet – that’s a wise purchase. If we come home with a “tacky tourist curio” to hang on the Christmas tree – that’s just plain fun.

Psychologists say that the act of shopping someplace new can dose the brain with dopamine, a natural chemical that provides deep satisfaction and that often starts to flow when we confront something novel and exciting. Maybe that’s why I like shopping on holidays better than shopping at home!

Walled Cities Of The World

Do you love city walls? Ancient walls? Historical walls? Mediaeval walls? We think they add an extra dimension to any city. You find them in cities with history.

There are many cities around the world where the old city inside the walls has been preserved. It’s fun to see what lurks inside those walls.

If you’re looking for a reason to travel, something like finding cities with walls is another lure to get you going.

Hopefully you didn’t miss our story about the W-A-L-L-E-D City of Rabat in Morocco, and how just hearing it mentioned, in just that way, set my hubby to dreaming about travel as a boy.

There are many other great cities with walls, or at least parts of their walls.

We just got back from exploring Jerusalem. We were told before we left that we probably wouldn’t want to be inside the old city after dark, but those walls called to us. We just couldn’t stay away, so we dove right in and found a friendly, welcoming, little restaurant the very first night. The warning was unfounded. We loved walking the walls and exploring old Jerusalem in daylight and in the dark.

Dubrovnik, Croatia is a real jewel of a walled city. There was a lot of damage during hostilities a decade ago, but those famous red roofs were repaired with an international effort, and walking the city walls is a great introduction to that charming little city. We just couldn’t stay at a hotel on the outside, we had to find a B&B inside the walls.

Lucca, Italy has great walls too. We stopped there one time just because it was getting late, and we needed a place to stay. Little did we know the treat we were in for. You can walk the walls, and inside the city, you can find a ring of shops and restaurants around an oval plaza, the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, where the old Roman amphitheater was… a delightful place for an outdoor dinner.

Avila Spain is surrounded by tall, formidable walls, amazing for a city of its size. Things are pretty austere inside the walls, but there’s a lively area for tapas and dinner right outside the walls.

There are plenty of cities where you can walk sections of the walls. The city of York has had walls since Roman times. York has more miles of intact wall than any other city in England, though most of the walls have been rebuilt since the Romans started them.

The Romantic Road towns of Germany have well preserved city walls. Walk the walls of Rothenberg ob der Tauber, Norlingen and Dinkelsbuhl.

Carcassonne in France is famous for its walls. They almost look like a double ring around the city. The fortifications have been completely restored. Aigues-Mortes, further south in France, also has well preserved walls.

You see bits and pieces of the old city wall in Krakow in Poland. Lots of cities have preserved parts of their old walls. More cities have bits and pieces of their walls preserved than have the whole wall.

You can visit ancient city sites, like Mycenae in Greece. The city is in ruins, but the Cyclopean Walls are still there to see.

Circling the globe, there are walls around the old city of Cartagena, Colombia and the abandoned city of Fatehpur Sikri in India. We had a great time bicycling the city walls in Xi’an China. It was fun to peer over the walls and watch groups of people exercising and playing music.

The list of cities with walls goes on and on. And of course, the ultimate wall – though it isn’t a wall around a city – is the Great Wall of China.

If city walls intrigue you, go and find a city that has them. It’s one more great reason to travel and explore.

Consider Taking A Pilgrimage

Here’s a different travel idea for you, take a pilgrimage. Does that sound a little heavy? It doesn’t need to.

You’re right in one sense. A pilgrimage is, most often, to go on a journey to visit a place that is religious or has historic significance, and more often than not, it is a journey to a sacred place. Whether you go for strictly religious reasons or for personal satisfaction, a pilgrimage can be a moving experience. It’s a journey inward as well as outward.

This theme came to mind because of our recent trip to Jerusalem. Our trip was just for fun; we didn’t intend to take a pilgrimage. Most people would say we didn’t, but when we were there, we went to all of the most holy sites of all three major religions represented there. It was a moving experience.

Remember that if you want to take a pilgrimage, there are no hard and fast rules. It’s YOUR pilgrimage. If it is a long pilgrimage trail like the route through Spain to Santiago De Compostela, you might want to take it in stages. Do a section this year, another section another year. Many people don’t have time to take a whole long pilgrimage all at once, holiday time being what it is.

Or you could do a one week pilgrimage in Jerusalem. We felt we saw all the sights well in that time. There, of course, we stayed in one hotel the entire time and ventured out each day to explore the sites. On other pilgrimages, you will be moving day to day.

Pilgrims in the middle ages made long difficult journeys to earn favor, or do penance, or hope for a cure. Your pilgrimage doesn’t have to be long and hard, but part of the satisfaction for taking a pilgrimage comes from challenging yourself or learning something.

Pilgrims do go to specific places for a deeper, more significant experience than the casual tourist might. Although pilgrimages may be spiritual experiences, they all don’t have to be “churchy”. People even go on pilgrimages for somewhat less reverent reasons. A pilgrimage to Elvis’ birthplace for instance.

Whether you go to the Potala in Tibet, the Vatican in Rome, or the Western Wall or the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, you really feel like you’re some place special. A visit to ancient caves like the Font de Gaume in France – connecting with the 25,000 year old art can feel like a pilgrimage. You get that connected feeling in places like Stonehenge and Avebury too.

You can choose to just visit a site and stay in a hotel. You can make the long walk like the Way of Saint James to Santiago de Compostela. You can go with a group or by yourself.

However you choose to do it, take a pilgrimage for personal satisfaction to someplace that means a lot to you. It’s a great way to give travel more meaning.

Be A Flexible Traveler

When you’re traveling, you have to be ready to be a flexible traveler, even when you’ve got your itinerary planned down to the last minute. There are just times when it doesn’t work out the way you planned.

The world is changing quickly all the time. With the internet and 24 hour news, travel is changing. It’s changed a lot since we started traveling. The world and your travel plans can even change while you’re traveling.

The point is, while you may have things planned out, you have to at least be aware that you might have to change your plans. Be a flexible traveler. You have to be prepared for changes.

Here’s our most extreme example: We had just arrived in Nairobi, Kenya on September 11, 2001. A few hours after our arrival, things were totally different in the world of travel.

In this most extreme of circumstances, our safari went off as planned. We couldn’t go home right away even if we wanted to, so we went forward. The biggest change then was the security on the flight home, and that we had to check EVERYTHING. Our airline gave us a plastic bag for our passports, pills, and glasses.

In less extreme examples, your tour operator could change hotels, or your cruise ship could change ports of call. One time we didn’t stop at a Caribbean port because of political unrest.

Ships may be delayed or rerouted because of weather. On a cruise around Antarctica, we had to skip one stop because the pack ice was way too thick.

Weather can certainly cause changes. We were visiting Gombe National Park in Tanzania to see chimps. We had to leave the park the night before our flight from Kigoma rather than the morning of the flight because of a storm brewing on Lake Tanganyika. We still saw all the chimps, but back in Kigoma, we had time for a drive to the little town of Ujiji where Stanley met Livingstone. You know, as in “Dr Livingstone I presume?” That change was a bonus.

Flights can be delayed due to weather. This applies in the middle of your trip as well as the beginning and end. We were going into the jungle in Peru, but weather delayed our flight to Puerto Maldonado. We had to overnight in that frontier town. The river wasn’t safe to navigate as late as we got in, then we extended our trip for a day so we had our full time in the jungle.

Even with a group booking you might not be safe. We got left behind on a flight to Tibet because a Chinese delegation took our seats. The plane wasn’t overbooked, at least not until the government stepped in! So our tour operator gave us two more days seeing Nepal, and we got a private tour of Tibet instead of a small group tour. We were more flexible and saw it all anyway.

Then there was the time the train derailed on the Altiplano in Peru on the way to Lake Titicaca! We got there much later at night than we planned, so we had to take a boat to the Floating Villages very early the next morning to fit it all in. We were the only ones there – another bonus!

Do you have time to be a flexible traveler?

Most of the time, things will go just as you or your tour operator plan. But weather, delayed flights, life, and world events can sometimes throw little “monkey wrenches” into the works. Hurricanes happen. Roads wash out.

We feel that each trip is an adventure. Be a flexible traveler. You might get more than you bargained for!

Is The Water Safe To Drink?

It’s a basic travel concern. Can you drink the tap water? Should you brush your teeth with it? Do you need to drink and brush with bottled water? That’s important to find out in order to stay healthy, but there are other considerations you should pay attention to.

You should know enough by now if you’ve been reading along with us that if you need to drink bottled water, you should also avoid using ice cubes in drinks.

Some people will even tell you to drink beer and soft drinks from the bottle in case the glasses were washed in contaminated water. We think that’s a bit extreme, unless they look dirty of course. I guess that kind of goes along with the possibility of salads being washed in contaminated water. It never hurts to use the “peel it, boil it, or avoid it” mantra. Use your judgement on that depending on where you are.

Beyond all that, sometimes you need to ask is the water safe in rivers and lakes? Should you swim in that inviting lake or river? Or are there dangers large and small lurking there?

You need to know what endemic problems there are in areas you plan to visit. Are there parasites in the rivers or lakes? This doesn’t necessarily apply only to developing countries. Back country streams in the U.S. can have parasites such as Giardia. In less developed areas, infectious disease risks include typhoid and cholera.

In Africa, South America, and other tropical areas watch out for standing water in some places and moving water in others. If Bilharzia or River Blindness is a problem for the local population, you don’t need to ask if the water is safe. Just stay out!

Is the water safe when wildlife is present? If you’re on safari, you can see predators like lions at the waterhole, but there may be territorial hippos underwater or even hungry crocs. Watch for crocodiles in some coastal areas of Australia too. We were disappointed not to see Anacondas in South America, but you wouldn’t want to be taken by surprise by one.

If you’re a diver or snorkeler, you probably know that you have more to worry about from stinging jellies and sea wasps than from sharks. Stinging fish and fire corals can be hazardous. The water is safe if you’re aware of your surroundings.

Is the water polluted? Rivers and lakes can be polluted, and where they empty into the oceans or bays, the marine environment can be contaminated with bacteria and foreign bodies too. If there are warnings up about pollution, heed them.

Heed local weather forecasts too. Is the water safe to play in? Not if there are thunderstorms and lightning.

In most places, and most times, the water will be safe for drinking and eating and playing, but it’s just smart travel to be a bit cautious.

Get Fit Before You Travel

If you want to really enjoy your trip and stay healthy, you should be fit before you travel.

Your doctor probably tells you all the time that you should exercise more, but some people find it hard to stay motivated to exercise just because they should. Decide to shape up for travel, and hopefully you’ll stay motivated.

Exercise, do some serious walking, some physical training or practice. Once you get on the road, you’ll be glad you made the effort to shape up for travel whether you’ll be hiking or biking or kayaking or just walking around cities.

There are lots of active travel destinations where you know you should do some training before you leave home: hiking the Grand Canyon, hiking the Inca Trail, actually hiking anywhere!

For instance, have you ever wanted to trek in Nepal? Spend some time walking and hiking at home, then you’ll be in good shape and ready to tackle… well, if not Mt. Everest, maybe the Annapurna Loop Trek!

When we went to Madagascar, looking for lemurs had us hiking up and down hills in the rain forests and when we “hiked” in the Tsingy? That was more like rock climbing. We were really glad we were in shape!

Why, even going to someplace like the air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin you should get in shape. You’ll do lots of walking, and it’s apt to be hot and humid. My sister wore a pedometer, and one day she walked 7 miles. Now that’s not much if you’re a marathoner or long distance hiker, but if you’re a casual tourist that amount of walking could wear you out if you aren’t in shape!

The same goes for cities that cry out to be walked: Paris, London, Prague, Budapest, even Venice could have you walking in circles for miles. We recently went to Jerusalem, and scrambling up and down in the miles of those narrow streets and bazaars was tiring, not to mention the steep hike on the Mount of Olives.

How about kayaking? Better be ready for that. Or how about scuba diving? Sometimes scuba can just feel like you fall off the boat and swim gently, but even when it doesn’t seem very hard to dive, you should be in shape.

Maybe you don’t want to do anything quite so strenuous. Golf anyone? Maybe exercise at home is driving around in a golf cart, but you might want to train a bit. If you’ve ever wanted to play golf in Scotland or Ireland, you might not find golf carts there. Shape up for travel, and you won’t have any problems walking the Old Course!

Just being in good shape will make your trip more enjoyable.

Coping With Constipation On Your Travels

The flip side of travelers’ diarrhea is constipation. While the old scourge of “tourista” gets most of the publicity, so to speak, constipation is almost as prevalent among travelers, and for some of the same reasons. No, it probably won’t be the water, but it can be the jet lag and the diet that bind you up.

Being tired from not sleeping well on the plane, being dehydrated, the stress of travel. All of these may add to your problem. But wait, you say, I thought those caused diarrhea! Yep, they can cause both, depending on all the other circumstances, and depending on your body. What gives some people the runs, clogs up others.

It may be that you traded off your usual fiber-fortified morning cereal for a fiber-free continental breakfast. Too much refined bread and the cheeses that go with it maybe? My grandmother used to say, “Eat cheese, it’s binding.”

I used to love all those new breads and cheeses to sample for breakfast when we travel, but now I try to eat those “active enzyme yogurts” before we travel, and I look for yogurt and fiber rich foods at the breakfast buffet.

Our bodies are conditioned to the clock, and your body clock is all off if you’ve passed over several time zones. So for a couple of days, your body (and your bowels) can’t figure out when it’s supposed to work.

When it comes, don’t ignore the urge. You may be walking down the street in a foreign city and think, “Oh no! Not now!” Well, not going will just block things up more later, so do your best to find a toilet. Eventually your body will get on a schedule in your new time zone.

Remember to call it a toilet or WC. Calling it a restroom will only confuse people in many countries. And speaking of the facilities – sometimes it can even be the strange bathroom facilities that cause travelers’ constipation in some people.

Those facilities may not be as clean as you’re used to, or you could encounter one of those “hole-in-the-ground toilets” instead of “the porcelain throne”. Some people just can’t go when the facilities are so different. I guess you’d better be looking for “higher end” hotels where things are more apt to be what you’re used to.

When you go on holiday, you probably drink more alcohol than you do at home. Alcohol can dehydrate you, and that can make you more apt to suffer irregularity.

Drink plenty of water and fruit juices. Try to keep meals on a regular schedule, and try to eat plenty of raw fruits and leafy vegetables. Go for the prunes, granola, and yogurt if you get the chance at breakfast. You might want to try taking packets of a fiber supplement like Metamucil along.

And get plenty of exercise, it’ll help get things moving again.

Coping With Diarrhea On Your Travels

The trots, Bali belly, Montezuma’s revenge, tourista – call it what you will, if you travel, you may have to put up with this one day.

Country and city names aside, you can get diarrhea anywhere. It may be the water, even if it isn’t dirty or contaminated. Water away from home contains different minerals and bacteria than your water at home. And it doesn’t matter where home is or where you travel. Australians traveling to Bali may worry about Bali Belly, but we’ve talked to residents of Bali who got Diarrhea in Sydney!

There are countries where you shouldn’t drink the water. Hotels in those countries will usually provide complimentary bottled water in your room. Double check before you just assume this though – both whether the water is safe and if the bottle is complimentary.

If in doubt, go ahead and drink bottled water. Better to be safe than sick. Beer, wine, bottled soft drinks, boiled coffee and tea are also safe to drink. But skip the ice cubes.

You can get intestinal troubles from the food as well as the water. It all depends on what your body can put up with.

To be really safe, the tried and true travelers’ rule is to eat food only if it’s peeled or boiled or well cooked: a rule I’m afraid we break more often than we should. We do eat at street stalls if they look clean, but you never know what microbes are lurking.

And we eat salads even on safari or in the jungle or traveling overland in India or Tibet. Sometimes it’s a matter of “what else can you do”. For all the fun experiences we have being this adventurous, we haven’t had all that many bouts with “the revenge”.

We had an old doctor tell us that one of the best ways to ease your digestive system into the local cuisine was to eat things that are acidy and yeasty. He suggested beer and yogurt. The yogurt abroad has enzymes that can help. And the beer? I don’t know how much it helps, but it’s fun to try all the local beers, and it’s always safe when the water isn’t.

The causes of diarrhea are just as likely be the stress of travel, the fact that you’re overtired and jet-lagged, and that your immune system is worn down, so it may not be the food or the water.

If you do get diarrhea, it will usually run its course in short order. Eat bland foods, and take it easy for a day. Drink plenty of water to replace lost fluids and avoid dehydration. You can take anti-diarrheals to help slow those trots down and start you feeling better as long as you don’t have a fever or blood in your stools.

Gross as it sounds, I had an attack when we were walking the Vietnamese city of Hoi An. Our driver wasn’t coming back for a couple of hours, so I told our guide every time I had to “make a dash”. She seemed to know people everywhere, and I was graciously allowed into the back room of businesses and several private homes to, …ahem…, use the facilities. I wasn’t too happy at the time, but in retrospect, I had a tour like no other! What a story, eh?

To re-emphasize: if the condition persists, if you’re running a high fever, or if you have blood in your stools, you should see a doctor and get antibiotics.

Don’t be worried about this. Try to be smart about what you eat and drink. Even then you may get “tripped up”. You’ll soon be over it, and maybe you’ll have stories to tell too.

Tips For Healthy Travel

We’ve discussed health and travel before, but if you’re going to travel healthy, there are some things we can add and there are some things that bear repeating!

We’ve said that you should be healthy when you leave on your trip. A last minute cold aside, you don’t want to be climbing on a plane if you have the flu or some serious illness. That seems obvious, but people do it all the time. Not only will you be miserable, but you might be infecting others on the plane with you.

Most people can leave on a trip without consulting their doctor, but for some itineraries, it’s wise to get a check-up. If you’re planning a trip to an exotic location, meet with your regular doctor or your travel medicine doctor.

Find out if you need any vaccinations or medications for your trip. They can probably give you a prescription for a broad spectrum antibiotic and give you instructions on how to take it in case you get diarrhea and need it.

If you have some health issues, like a heart condition or something that limits you, discuss with your doctor the proper care you should take for those conditions to keep your travel healthy.

Make sure your teeth are in good shape too. If you’ve had some little pains in a tooth, go get it checked out. My spouse had resisted getting a wisdom tooth extracted for years. It had broken, but didn’t bother her. She started having “twinges” on that side of his mouth, but she was sure it was further forward. I told him it was probably that tooth, and it would probably blow up on him when he was on the plane! Turns out the tooth had decayed since his last checkup. She got the tooth extracted and we had a great trip.

Be sensible about what you eat and drink on your travels. Eat what you like, but if things look unhygienic, you might want to take a pass. If food looks like it’s been sitting out for the flies for a few hours, you wouldn’t want to eat it anyway.

Try to eat nutritiously. If you have a dietary restriction, try to learn how to say it in the local language (or get it written down). And let the restaurants know. Ask if they can help you if you need to avoid something for health reasons.

If you have serious food allergies, like allergies to shellfish or peanuts, you should carry an EpiPen or its equivalent. Of course you’ll try to avoid the culprit, but in a foreign country, you may not get your point across, so it’s better to be prepared. A precaution like this not only keeps your travel healthy, it could keep you alive!

Drink bottled water in places where the water isn’t safe. It is usually pretty easy to tell where that is. Drink tea or coffee made with boiled water, or drink bottled or canned soft drinks, beer or wine.

You have to watch your own hygiene as well as the water and the food. Make sure your hands are clean. Wash them before eating or use those hand sanitizers that are available now. They come in small packets that you can take in your carry on luggage.

Get in shape for your trip so you’ll feel good about all that walking and all those stairs. Try to get plenty of exercise when you’re on your trip. And get plenty of sleep.

Sure you want to run around and not miss anything, but if you’re going to travel healthy, you need to rest. That way you will be able to keep going, and you will see it all.

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