For several years I celebrated Christmas very far from home.  Sometimes I was alone and sometimes I was with wonderful new friends. From a fabulous oyster lunch in Sydney, to a gastropub dinner in London pulling ‘crackers’, to a free Natalie Cole Christmas concert in Milan, it was always different and always more than I ever expected.  It was a little strange not being home for so long, but honestly, in many ways, it was more exciting and touching not to be.

Wherever you are home or abroad, with family or new friends…have a Merry Christmas from LL World Tour.

A couple Decembers ago, I ended up in London at Christmas time.  I didn’t know how long I would stay and had no onward ticket.  In fact I had practically just circumnavigated the globe.   I wasn’t in a hurry for my travels to be over and thanks to couchsurfing, London didn’t cost me much at all so I stuck around for a month.   I also knew I wanted to volunteer somewhere if I could during the holidays.   It was kismet or fate because my couchsurfing host, Rene, volunteered every year with Crisis UK, a big organization in London dedicated to helping the homeless.   I had an amazing week with Crisis and it was one of the best parts of my entire journey. I always think of London and Crisis now at Christmas time and would love to return one day.    If you can, give back this Christmas,  it will be the best gift you ever receive.

Black Cab by St. Paul’s Cathedral
London, England

Has a movie ever inspired you to travel?  This is not that uncommon, in fact, my friend Mark and I visited Tokyo after seeing Lost in Translation. He called me up and said, “Want to go to Japan?”

“Sure,” I said. And we were off…well, not that same day, but you get the point.  Basically if I have the opportunity to go anywhere, I will. All you have to do is ask. Ask me…go ahead…I am waiting…oh, okay, I guess I’ll get on with the rest of this article.

It turns out, we are not the only ones traveling to far off lands after being inspired by a film. Nowadays, a growing vacation trend is themed trips focusing on popular books and movies such as the Harry Potter series, The Da Vinci Code and science-fiction favorites such as Star Wars.  Some statistics show that thirty per cent of under 20-year-olds are likely to visit a place after seeing it on film.

There are definite areas that have seen particular success as people opt for ‘location vacations’.

• New Zealand – thanks to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings (NOT why I went there)
• New York City – It’s said to be a character of its own. And has been featured in countless films such as: Woody Allen movies, When Harry Met Sally, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Superman, Ghostbusters, The Godfather, Taxi Driver, and most recently, Sex and the City which also treated it as the 5^th character.
• Italy – Under the Tuscan Sun, Roman Holiday
• Thailand – The Beach (I did visit THE beach…not too shabby, but, of course now very touristy—case in point)
• London – Always a popular destination on it’s own and thanks to movies like An American Werewolf in London, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Love Actually, Notting Hill, Sliding Doors (love this movie), Bend it Like Beckham (love this too), and period films like the Elephant Man, Sweeney Todd, and Sherlock Holmes.

Bob Atkinson, travel expert from travelsupermarket  said: “It’s hardly surprising that travelers are taking their inspiration from films, we’re a captive audience and the big screen often captures locations at their best.  People might also look to recreate the experiences in the films.

“From bored housewife Shirley Valentine ‘discovering herself’ on a Greek Island or gorgeous period dramas with the backdrop of some of the UK’s most stunning stately homes, to fun and frolics in hits such as Mamma Mia!, or films from best-selling novels like Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, when a destination gets picked to feature in a film the tourism office there should really capitalize on it.”

And locations around the world do capitalize on it. The New York ‘Sex and the City Tour’ became a huge success especially after the release of the first movie in May 2008.  Just as the “Sound of Music Tour” just outside of Salzburg is still extremely popular with American and British travelers.

“Undoubtedly the modern ‘tour de force’ behind movie tourism however is Dan Brown – demand for tours in Paris and Scotland increased after the release of The Da Vinci Code, Vatican Tour requests rose by 20 per cent in the months following the release of the Angels and Demons, so we have high hopes for Washington DC, which must be hoping to revel in the same success, having been the setting for Dan Brown’s latest novel – The Last Symbol.”

With the summer movie season on the horizon, here are some films and possible ‘location vacation’ destinations for 2010:

What did we ever do before the internet? Well, the same thing we did without VCRs (and now DVRs), mobile phones, and microwaves. We went to the library and looked things up in the encyclopedia and we watched less TV and we called people when we got home. We lived like normal and we were just fine.

And before I had this blog, I still traveled.  Up to now I have been to about 43 of the US States and about 45 countries.  I have decided to post some of these trips here so I can basically have a more complete list of my travels all in one place…and also so people can stop asking why I haven’t gone to Greece or Japan, when in fact I have, it was just B.B. (before blog).

• My First Trip Abroad

In 1996, I met my college friend Katie in Europe for my very first trip abroad.  For 3 weeks, we backpacked from Paris to Rome, Florence, Venice, and Pompeii, to Zermatt and Lucerne in  Switzerland and finished in London. It was quite a whirlwind. I was amazed, awed, scared, anxious, shocked, and simply delighted.  I remember our very first night we had already befriended another traveler (a solo girl from San Diego) and drank a bottle of wine literally on a Parisian rooftop (we climbed out our tiny hotel room window).  It was amazing and exciting and yet I remember feeling scared and homesick. What was I doing? Why was I here? It’s hard to believe now as I look back how far I have come and  all the traveling I have done since that first night when I felt so very far away.

I was definitely out of my comfort zone and not exactly sure what I was in for. But, just like now, I realized I just needed a day to acclimate and then, boom! I fell in love. The streets of Paris amazed me. The history everywhere you looked; the luscious architecture; the cafe life; the fresh breads and pastries. My first European train ride through the French countryside literally reminded me of  “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron.” The animated countryside of rolling green hills dotted with stone farmhouses and cypress trees was right here before me in real life. I couldn’t get over the buildings of ancient Rome – narrow lanes of old buildings and shops, then BAM, you turn a corner and your jaw drops as the huge Pantheon reveals itself. Or you come face-to-face with the Colosseum still standing after nearly 2000 years. It is still mind-boggling to me to this day. I remember seeing Mt. Vesuvius and the ancient city of Pompeii. It was amazing and a much bigger town than I even imagined; shops, homes, and people wiped out in an instant.

Switzerland dazzled me with its perfectly quaint alpine homes decked with flower boxes bursting with hardy, chromatic petunias. I was in love with its efficiency, cleanliness, and perfection – a stark contrast to Italy’s craziness, bustle, and messy passion. I liked a little of both and figured my dream home would be somewhere near Lake Como and the alps of northern Italy, not far from the Switzerland border…the best of both worlds.

London was our final stop and, at the time, the least interesting. Perhaps it was because I was exhausted. Perhaps it was because everyone spoke English and it was like being back home. About ten years later I would be back in London for a month and would come to love it much more and get to know its great neighborhoods and fun, charming people.

After my trip, I made a new life goal – to go abroad somewhere every year during my vacation time.  And I did just that.*

*It didn’t hurt that in the ‘old days’ (read: 1998) of my job at ABC7 in Chicago, we  had this amazing deal with United Airlines for approximately 40% off international fares. Unfortunately, like all good things, it didn’t last. But it allowed me to travel abroad for cheap for the first few years at least. Yay, perks!

• 1998 – Return to Italy with Joe (Siena, Rome, Sorrento/Amalfi Coast)
• 1999 – Germany & France with Susan (Heidelberg, Rothenberg, Munich, Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Strasbourg, Paris)
• 2000 – Ireland with David & Shannon
• 2001 – Europe Trip with Mark – 3 weeks and my first time traveling alone for just half the time  (Barcelona, Nice, Cinque Terre, Lake Como, Bolzano, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Prague)
• 2002 – Canada Road Trip with Andy (Toronto, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec)
• 2003 – Greece with Andy (Athens, Santorini, Mykonos)
• 2004 – Croatia with Andy & his mom (Zagreb, Split, Brac, Dubrovnik, quick wrong turn into Bosnia)
• 2004 – Cayman Islands with Andy and ABC7 Crew
• 2004 – Mexico for work with ABC7 Crew
• 2005 – Tokyo, Japan with Mark
• 2006 – Montreal, Canada for work with ABC7 Crew
• 2006 -2010    World Tour Begins!   (((inhale)))   Costa Rica, Ecuador, Chile, Buenos Aires, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Dubai, Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Amsterdam, Spain, Sweden, London, Wales, NYC, Chicago, LA, NYC, France, Italy, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Stockholm, Paris, NYC, Virginia, Colorado, New Jersey, Chicago, LA, New Jersey, Chicago. ((((exhale))))

Random London Musings:

One rave:

The city is full of amazing museums. I’m not a huge museum goer and still checked out the Tate Modern (housed inside an old power plant on the banks of the Thames), the Victoria & Albert, the Natural History Museum, the British Museum (which boasts the largest covered square in Europe), and the National Gallery. They are all great and the buildings themselves were oftentimes just as impressive as the contents inside. And the best part—they are free. You can just pop in for no more than an hour and not become overwhelmed because of their size because you know you can always go back whenever you want thanks to the no-admission fee.

And one rant:

What is up with the eat-in/take-away differing prices? I don’t find this very fair and frankly don’t understand why this concept is still around.

One Cheer:

All the pubs, bars, and restaurants have gone ‘smoke-free.’ I have to say it is wonderful to hang out in pubs now where it just smells like someone’s living room (not even stale beer smell) and not a smoky den that would make my clothes stink and usually make me leave early due to the inability to no longer breathe.

One Jeer:

The London Underground does not run all night nor were there any train or bus services at all on Christmas Day. C’mon people, this is London not Albuquerque (sorry my friends in NM)! London is one of the biggest cities in the world with an incredibly diverse population who certainly don’t all celebrate Christmas and need to ‘move’ on the 25th of December. I mean even New York and Chicago have public transport still going on that day and have 24 hour trains the rest of the year.

I have traveled all over the world and had trouble reading the street names in some places in Germany or Turkey (Can you say: Mecidiyeköy? It’s pronounced Medj-i-dee-ye-kurr), but even though they are in English, some names in London are just as foreign to me. I couch surfed near “Tooting Bec” tube stop. I could have eaten at the very appetizing sounding restaurant chain, ‘Slug and Lettuce,’ but I didn’t. I passed pubs with names like ‘The Blue-Eyed Maid” and “the Rat and Parrot” and “the Hairy Armpit.” And I could have eaten ‘winkles and whelks’ (snails), but I didn’t.

One night I met Tony, Emma, Nick, and Sara at the Cow, a famous pub near Notting Hill. I don’t often go into bars alone as I usually feel more comfortable going solo at a café with a coffee and a book. But it was damn cold out and when I got there, the friendly, intimidating atmosphere beckoned me inside for a quick pint. This surprisingly turned into a few pints and dinner.

The Cow was a nice corner pub (not really sure if it is on a corner though), not too trendy and not too ‘over done’ fake British. I was at a small table just across from the bar partaking in a pint and reading my trusty guidebook (Lonely Planet) just minding my own business. That is, until I started eavesdropping on the conversation next to me between two guys (one of whom had an American accent) and two gals. Their conversation had turned to Americans and how easy it is for them to find ‘legal’ work in Britain. This sparked my interest and my nerve to jump into their chat. I was feeling a kinship with my fellow American and, as always, was curious to hear his story. I finally blurted out in my tell-tale American accent, “Please tell me where to find work because I’m an illegal American always looking.” They laughed, introduced themselves, and in literally seconds were inviting me to join them for dinner. Tony was a documentary filmmaker in New York, Emma was an Artist. Oh, and she used to be married to George C. Scott’s son. It turned out to be another fun night and quite typical of the solo traveler who may not be alone enough to even use the word ‘solo.’

I spent the rest of my rainy and damp days in London strolling around picturesque ‘hoods like Chelsea, Hampstead, and South Kensington catching up with friends I had met during my travels around the world: a late ‘English’ breakfast with the fun English School owner I’d become friends with in Istanbul, lunch with the sweet British law student I’d cruised down the Danube with in Budapest, dinner and drinks with the charming Airline CEO I’d met years back at the British Consulate’s house in Chicago, sleeping at the flat of a cool chick I’d met on a tour of Turkey, wine and feasting with an Australian Couch Surfing Host and her cool Tasmanian (and nicely devilish) friend, beers with a cute chap and fellow Crisis volunteer, dinner with a Sri Lankan/Australian I’d also met in Turkey who lives in London, and a partridge in a pear tree…

London is an expensive city. The British Pound is worth twice as much as the sad, weak U.S. ‘greenback.’ So for those making bags of Sterling, that can mean a lot of disposable income floating around and of course, there are a lot of places to spend it. Besides the glittering and massive stores like Harrods and Harvey Nichols, there are other great places to find just about anything you ‘don’t’ really need. Oh, and the first ever (and the largest) Whole Foods outside of the United States has recently opened here in the fashionable South Kensington neighborhood.

I had fun checking out several of the local markets:

Camden Market— Commercialized hippie Market with intense incense, smiling Buddhas, and heaps of hemp clothing. It’s huge, fun, and goes on forever, but you can always take a break and feast at some of the great ethnic food stalls scattered about.

Borough Market— In a great location just under the London Bridge across from the gothic Southwark Cathedral. This arched brick cavern of gourmet delights was one of my favorites. It was all about food and I’m all about that. What to eat? Ostrich burgers, Panini sandwiches, German sausages, juicy olives, Moroccan cous cous, gooey brownies, and steamy coffees beckon you on a chilly, damp London afternoon. And apparently the famous ‘naked chef,’ Jamie Oliver, shops here often for his local organic ingredients.

Spitalfields Market— A trendy, modern glass-covered market surrounded with restaurants and boutiques, this market has the standard jewelry, photography, and t-shirt stalls.

Sunday Up Market—This one was just a block away from Spitalfields, but was it’s edgier pierced cousin. Located inside the Old Truman Brewery…which is old, just like its name, and in 1873 it was the largest brewery in the world, .is a hip, alternative market full of young artists and designers selling overpriced cool t-shirts, jewelry, and the like. This market of current coolness is also has some great food stalls—from Ethiopian specialties and Spanish paella to hand rolled sushi and Turkish delights.

Perhaps for the very first time, this Christmas I finally discovered what it’s all about. They say that ‘giving’ is the best gift of all…and I’ve always enjoyed that, but this year was something truly special. Don’t start choking on my cheesy words yet, because I really mean it. I wanted to do something in London to get ‘in’ to the city more like I had in other places—I wanted to work somehow and meet the real people of the city. And I did just that–I met the city’s true residents—the homeless. During all of Christmas week I volunteered for something called Crisis Open Christmas. Crisis is a national charity that focuses on the ‘hidden’ homeless people who may be living in hostels, cheap hotels, or sleeping on friend’s and family’s floors. The Crisis vision is that all homeless people, or those in danger of becoming homeless, should be able to easily access individual help and support to help them to rebuild their lives and prevent them from remaining trapped in the cycle of homelessness.

Homelessness has changed over the last 35 years but it is far from being solved. Today, the majority have some form of accommodation, but still need companionship and warmth at Christmas. During the Crisis Open Christmas more than 1,500 ‘guests’ were welcomed at eight different centers spread around London in empty office buildings from the 23^rd to the 30^th of December 2007. The guests were not only provided with warmth, companionship, food and a safe place to sleep, but also amazing services such as checkups from on-site doctor and dentist, professional advice on housing, and other treats like an arts and crafts center, a computer lab, a movie area, karaoke, live musical entertainment, and even a mini beauty saloon for some pampering of massages and hair treatments. Of course there were also showers and plenty of cots to sleep on.

I was just one of 7,000 volunteers who gave up their time during the holidays and many of whom return again and again every year to ensure that homeless people are not left out in the cold and are given the chance to move up in their lives. Without any family here, for me it just felt like the right thing to do.

I worked the afternoon shift (3-11p) for five days. Every day we started with a volunteer meeting at which different jobs were divvied up. I was not only impressed with the whole operation, but with the efficient organization of so many volunteers. The volunteers in charge had been doing this for years and had perfected the way to run such a program. Every hour or so we were relieved and rotated into a new job so we were able to try many different things and meet as many different guests as possible. The bottom line to everything was interaction with the guests—something many of them unfortunately don’t get much of all year long. Smiles, conversations, laughter and constant warmth painted the overall scene everywhere you looked.

One of my favorite jobs was working at the ever-busy coffee and tea bar. It kept me busy making drinks and there was no better place to get to talk to guests and get to know them. In just a day or two I was calling people by name and of course, they knew me as the girl from Chicago with the funny American accent. Another great ‘post’ was at the front gate where guests entered and exited. Since we were an alcohol and drug-free center, guests did have to be patted down. This job was given only to women as we were seen as less threatening. Of course it was a nice and funny treat for the many male guests and they joked with us and seemed to be exiting and reentering more than frequently to just to get ‘felt up’ by a lovely lady.

Other ‘jobs’ I did: dinner service, food clean-up, ‘gap’ duty (basically making sure guests didn’t go where they weren’t supposed to), and overall mingling. Luckily I never got assigned to toilet duty, but I have to say every volunteer seemed happy to be there and it was an amazingly positive environment.

One of the preconceived notions I and others have…and the most common question I was asked: ‘weren’t they dirty and smelly?’ I think we are so used to seeing (or smelling) the inebriated bum on the corner that perhaps we assume that is what they are all like. But after one day there, I was honestly forgetting that these were ‘homeless’ and was even confusing some volunteers for guests. They were all different kinds and from all walks of life–artists, writers, philosophers, musicians, immigrants, mothers, husbands, sons, etc. Yes, there were some drunks, but the majority were rather friendly, intelligent, and openly thankful for Crisis.

I did had a few ‘experiences’ because of the fact that I am very friendly and smiley and sometimes this can be misconstrued as ‘more’ especially when you are dealing with folks that perhaps never get any attention at all. I not only had a few new ‘boyfriends’ trying to woo me, I got my first marriage proposal. Not exactly the way I’d imagined it, but still flattering. One guest, I’ll call him Michael, started to fancy me. He was also a bit of a hot head and involved in a few fights between a group of Poles and a group of Blacks. Knowing he was taking a liking to me, the head volunteers actually used me to calm him down. I would hang out and talk to him, go out and smoke with him (without actually smoking) and in a way it felt a bit manipulative as I thought they were using me to sort of play on his emotions a bit, but I guess if it prevented violence then I guess it was okay. Michael ended up giving me a hand written note on the last night thanking me for ‘looking out for’ him saying he really liked me and ‘thought we could be more than friends.’ It reminded me of notes I’d gotten in grade school. I let him down gently and he took it like a man. Another guy, I’ll call him Johnny, started out as a super sweet guy always coming to talk to me. But after five days, a declaration of love and a marriage proposal, he became a bit of a stalker who kept giving me his phone number and asking for my info. This was a big ‘no-no’ of course.

Sadly, though, it was kind of like a ‘bubble’ in our center, a kind of safe place where you could talk to strangers, and laugh with drug addicts and convicts and not even think twice about it. Even walking back to the tube after my shift I would see some new ‘friends’ and say ‘hello.’ This was very different from real life where we all too often divert our eyes from the sadness we pass on the sidewalks of our own cities. It has definitely made me change this thinking. But, nevertheless, it will always be the same on the outside where you don’t have the safety net of Crisis behind you and really just never know what might happen.

Just think about a life where perhaps you are almost always alone. And then here at Crisis you are surrounded by warm people who talk to you and smile with you all week. I can’t imagine what this must feel like, but many guests continuously thanked us all week for our time telling us how much it meant to them.

This was the best part for me…to just make someone feel good and not alone. The hardest part was on the 30^th the doors were closed…and the intensity of the week came to an abrupt end. What happens to these people now? Hopefully, with the help of Crisis, they will be on their way to a better life. But I do think the reality is, for better or worse, the majority will be back again next year. If this could only be the ‘true meaning’ of life all year round and not just at Christmas, we’d really be onto something.

There is an oft-used (read: over-used) saying coined in the 1800s: “when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” This was actually my first time hearing this turn of phrase, but just outside of the airport I was already ‘tired’ of it (it being the saying, not London), as it was printed in just about every guide, pamphlet, and article about London. Things in London are civil: you must buckle your seatbelt on the bus (the driver actually came down the aisle to make sure we were all tethered in), the immigrations officers were formal yet cheerful, everyone queues up (lines up) perfectly and even the ATM machine was nice to me. ‘He’ said: ‘thank you for getting cash out of this hole in the wall.’ And I’d only just left the airport.

During all my past travels, I’d only been to London once before nearly 12 years ago on my very first trip abroad. I was only here for three days and it was the end of a three week backpacking trip with my good friend from university, Katie. I have to admit—three days was not enough and I guess after being in Paris and Rome for the first time, London seemed a bit boring. But now I know I had barely scratched the surface.

This town is so much more than red double-decker buses, big black cabs (in which the drivers are rigorously trained and are supposed to know ever single street in the city), and the queen. London is a fitting end (did I just say ‘end?’ I’ll get to that later) to the European leg of my world tour. Probably alongside New York City, it is the most culturally diverse city in the world. As I walked down the streets and criss-crossed the city on the tube (with the help of my trusty Oyster Card), I was elated to hear bits and pieces of other languages I’d encountered all over the world—Polish, Turkish, Chinese, Romanian, Arabic, French, German, etc. In fact, here you can hear about 300 different languages being spoken all over the city from the underground to the pubs to the streets. More than a third of all London’s 7.3 million residents were born outside the country. London is everything to everyone: it’s manicured gardens and stately palaces are complimented with vibrant ethnic street markets and raucous pubs (where you can breathe deep—they are sans smoke nowadays).

I walked with Joanne (a friend of a friend of a friend…and probably a friend of Kevin Bacon) nearby and along the Thames and saw the big tourist attractions from the huge Norwegian Pine in Trafalgar Square to St. Paul’s massive cathedral to the wonderfully progressive Tate Modern Museum. I braved the Christmas crowds and gawked at the festively decorated shops along Oxford and Regency Streets. I wandered down posh Upper Street in Islington (home of former PM, Tony Blair) and Portobello Road in the uber-trendy Notting Hill (no sign of Hugh, though). I ‘rocked down to Electric Avenue’ in Brixton made famous ‘round the world by Eddy Grant back in the early ‘80s. The block was an amalgamation of sights and smells. Jamaican tunes blasted out of fish shops, halal butchers, and wig stores all side by side.

London was expectedly cold, gray, and wet, but in some ways that added to the Christmas feel (and added to the flu I’d caught in Sweden). There was no snow covering the cobblestone lanes or Victorian roofs though…and there was no sign of Ebenezer Scrooge (“I’m as merry as a school boy!”) or Tiny Tim (“God bless us all, every one”). It’s funny how I spent both my Christmases abroad in English speaking countries…one way down under in the southern hemisphere and the other up north near the home of 0 Longitude.

I have to say it was odd speaking English all the time again. I was more aware of this than any other time in my life. I would go into a store ask for something and they understood me straightaway. It was quite odd after all this time, to just open my mouth and simply use my native tongue. There was no odd mix of Spanglish or mangled Turkish. I did miss the challenge and felt like now my brain could officially turn to mush since I was using even less of it than before. Although here in England, I guess I still do sound ‘different’ and of course as soon as I speak they know exactly where I’m from.