Vicarious Adventures - Travel Writing/Reading

In the words of Neil Young, "Comes a time when you're drifting, comes a time when you settle down." And it appears, I'll be in the settled down phase for the next six months. Hard to believe I won't be flying off to Utah, or Arizona, or Colorado, or any of the other warm, sunny, states this winter, but baring some kinda of miracle conference, that's the case. Oh sure I'll get in some weekend hikes. Hey, maybe it'll even snow and there will be skiing, or winter camping, but no Big Adventures are in the future until late spring when I'll be heading down to western North Carolina, and swinging through Tennessee (got to keep adding to the state list, and even a chance to section hike some of the AT!).

The inevitable question arises. What then to write about? Last year during this time there was the ever popular "Adventures in Retail." While I will be working retail this year, at the same store, with many of the same folks, I suspect there will also be mostly the same stories. Aside from the fact that there may be fewer considering the recession, or rather considering that this year people have to admit there is a recession, there's probably won't be many new stories.

And yet there is something, especially about winter, that makes we want to write. Cozy up with a cup of tea (coffee is out for the time being) and typing away. Right now it's raining out and the wind is starting to pick up. Listening to the cars drive by and typing, just feels nice, really nice. (So nice, it really doesn't matter what I write so feel free to stop reading.)

But back to the question. What to write about? Beer also seemed a good topic. Not in the sense of reviewing it, but in it's history. A few years ago I realized that I liked beer. Much more than red wine, which gave me a headache, or white wine, which didn't give me anything, or harder liqour, which gave me more than I could handle, it was really the clear, crispness, or heavy heardiness (depending upon the season, or mood) of beer that I enjoyed most.

A few weeks ago Bethany was processing a manuscript collection and came upon an 1857 receipt for a shipment of IPA and sparked my newest interest - the history of Beer!

But no - research is a private pursuit, and long one too.

And then it hit me. Write about other travel writing. Every time I go on a trip, I try and read about the area before going, and as faithful readers know, book selection for trips is a key part of every adventures success. But it was on the trip to Portland, Oregon in that bookstore of bookstores, Powell's, that I became truly aware of the Travel Writing Genre, its pros and cons, and realized too that some of the best travel books, really aren't. Check out the travel section at Amazon and you'll know what I mean. Or, read on as I'll be trying to figure that out as well.