Travel TopOfBlogs Past and future wanderings of a travel bug . . .: May 2010

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Guest Post By Krista D. Ball

Not everyone has the desire to travel the world. Not everyone has the means, either. Yet, I think a little exploration can do our minds good. If we spend too much time in the same place, we become entrenched and our world view becomes stilted.

As a speculative fiction writer, the imagination needs constant stimulation in order to keep up with creating new worlds, cultures, and even races. Visiting new places, even as simple as a new ethnic restaurant or a small town gift shop, expands my world just a tiny bit more.

I confess that I’ve never had a burning desire to see the world. I trust the internet when it says that there are pyramids in Egypt and that there are leaning towers in Pisa. However, I have travelled in small ways and have seen many things crop up in my writing.

I’ve been along the coast of Labrador and saw firsthand what cultural genocide, corruption, and alcoholism can do to a proud people. I’ve been to outport Newfoundland where I saw people cling to their culture in the midst of economic upheaval. And I’ve seen the Rocky Mountains and myself an early explorer.

As humans, we need to continue expanding our minds or else we risk mental atrophy. Regardless if it is grand or small, travel is one of the important ways that we continue to explore the world around us. And, in doing so, we explore our own lives.







Krista D. Ball is a speculative fiction writer in Edmonton, Alberta. Her upcoming novelette, Harvest Moon, travels back in time to visit a fictional First Nations tribe in northern Alberta.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

I've been remiss...readjusting to life at home after a year abroad

Apologies for taking so long to post this. It seems as if the rest of my life has gotten in the way lately of sharing my travel stories. I am hoping this will soon improve. I've now been back for nearly seven months and I am slowly going about reclaiming the accouterments of the average person's life. The new job was found sooner than anticipated and while it started out as temporary and uncertain it has since become more permanent. For this I am grateful. I got my phone number back too--I've only had it for 10 years now and I don't know if I could ever give it up. I've been saving as much as I can to pay off the bills from the last trip too. This still hasn't stopped me from dreaming about the next one though. I am slowly trying to tie up all the loose ends, bank accounts, taxes, you name it. I made mistakes in not considering a lot of things before I went away. Lessons learned I guess. For right now I am looking forward to reclaiming my own space. The last few years have been characterized by short stays in shared accommodation. While this way of life has many merits and I have had wonderful experiences the time has come to start over. I am however very grateful for all those who have put me up over the last couple of years. So needless to say I am looking forward to my new digs.

So for now my travel plans aren't big ones but that doesn't mean they still can't be fun ones. A long weekend road trip is first up and then I am hoping for at least a couple of short camping trips over the summer. Who knows what the summer will bring?

For those of you who followed the Flight Centre's Best Travel Job Ever and the entry made by Alesha and I--I wanted to thank you all for your support. However I just found out there is going to be a little bonus round! Vote for us one last time on May 20th, 2010 to get our names in to win a trip to video blog in sunny California! To go to the page to vote click this link!

And you won't have to wait too long for the next post--tomorrow brings a guest post from a fabulous new Canadian writing talent, Krista D. Ball. Her novelette Harvest Moon will be published in the fall. Her post will discuss how travel has influenced her writing. I hope that you will enjoy it. To learn more about Krista's work please visit her website www.kristadball.com.
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