Travel blog and musings

Came across this fun website this morning. These two guys are basically traveling the world, but not speedily - they are spending 91 days in each locale, trying to get a really good grasp on the culture they're in. Guess where they are right now? Istanbul!! Here is their website address: http://istanbul.for91days.com/

Three months is about the same sort of time we have had here as well, so I'm curious to see what places they choose to visit. I am starting to compile a list of remaining sights we would like to see before we leave. Time is really flying now and we have less than a month before our return to the Twin Cities... A fact that is giving me lots of pause for reflection... How can we live this slower paced and more thoughtful way in our world back home - in a land of immediate gratification, fast news, American pop culture and media, where so many people thrive on their crazy schedules?

I have not driven a car in 3 months - I have walked everywhere or taken public transport. I have not purchased more than I can carry home in my bare hands (think about that next time you go grocery shopping). I have not worried too much about time or deadlines, or bothered with how long it will take me to get somewhere - in fact, we will ADD minutes to our journey somewhere in order to take a ferry or an interesting bus route.

In the US, I constantly felt like I needed to protect my children, in the sense that they could easily and unintentionally stumble upon things, particularly through media, that would be unsettling to them or would give them a sense of who THEY should be that isn't their own. This is particularly dangerous for young girls in the United States today. I did not want them sucked into the world of American pop culture/consumerism/advertising that gives so many kids these days an artificial world view. I felt like the day my kids would learn who the Kardashians are was imminent and I have been fighting it off, tooth and nail. But a strange thing happened when we left - all I have been saying is Look! Look! Look! See this, and try that, here is art and food, architecture and nature, amazing accomplishments of history and human effort. Walk, draw, taste. I feel as if my job these past three months has been exposing them and opening their eyes as much as possible... It's been a great feeling.

Italy and Turkey are both completely modern in terms of amenities (despite occasional power or water outages), but both have an Old World sort of feel that permeates its culture. Work is not King, but they work hard. People sit and drink tea/cappuccino and watch the world go by. Old men stop and play with babies as their moms push them down the street. Family is number one. Life feels simpler here in a lot of ways and I don't want to lose that when we go home. Lots to think about in the weeks to come.