Traveling Light

Late last year, the Associated Press reported that scientists had developed an experimental vaccine that would protect global wanderers against traveler's diarrhea. On the surface, this development was a triumph — a rousing victory against the travel equivalent of the common cold — but I read the news with a vague sense of disappointment.

This is because, in certain ways, I have a sentimental fondness for traveler's diarrhea.

Sure, on one level "traveler's D" is awful — a stomach-crippling, itinerary-destroying scourge that is best avoided at all costs. On another level, however, dealing with traveler's diarrhea has always been an important rite of passage for independent travelers. Much like old soldiers bonding over shared tales of combat, salty world travelers have always taken pleasure in comparing the gastrointestinal intricacies of, say, Ecuador or Fiji with those found in Tanzania or Belarus. Now, with a vaccine on the horizon, heated traveler debates about the horrors of "Delhi Belly" versus "Montezuma's Revenge" could become a thing of the past.

This is a good thing, I know — but it's also a sign of how travel is becoming less and less an experience of the unfamiliar. Indeed, in recent years, technology has made it possible to never fully leave the lives we lead at home, even as we wander the far corners of the earth. ATMs connect us to our bank accounts; e-mail, Skype, and satellite phones connect us to our friends back home; portable iPods connect us to our music and video collections.

Granted, travelers have always taken pains to bring home along with them. Ancient Roman aristocrats brought their personal silverware sets on pilgrimages to Greece 2,000 years ago. In the middle ages, the famed Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta obsessively sought out familiar Muslim-quarter comforts in 14th century China. Even the wanderers of the Hippie Trail — a self-consciously independent bunch — ensured that used 8-track tapes of Western hits turned up in the markets of Kabul not long after they debuted in the Kmarts of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

In essence, everything we bring on the road as travelers — our Gore-Tex jackets, our hand-held global positioning systems, our medication-stuffed first-aid kits — ties us to home. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; one just has to realize that much of the thrill of travel comes in leaving home behind and making oneself vulnerable to the glorious chaos of life on the road.

Personally, I'm a big fan of the happy chaos that comes with travel, and that's why this column is called "Traveling Light."  For me, traveling light doesn't just mean that you'll have more mobility and greater options if you bring fewer bags (though this is certainly true). Luggage aside, traveling light means wandering the world free of expectations, self-imposed limits, and the confining comforts of home. At its best, travel is a heightened state of being — something that pulls you out of your protective bubble and into the vivid adventure of direct experience.

This in mind, I probably won't devote much of this column to itemizing hip hotels, hot destinations, and trendy restaurants. Independent travel, after all, goes beyond the consumer experience of other places, and into the thrill of being disoriented, caught off guard, and utterly surprised by what the world has to offer.

In fact, if you leave yourself open to it, travel can provide you with the most exhilarating, idiosyncratic, and wonderfully ridiculous experiences of your life.

That's why, in future installments of this column, I aim to celebrate the joys and absurdities of embracing the unexpected on the road.  Also, every second week, I'll use this column to dispense straightforward travel advice and share travel quotes, inspiration, gear reviews, and reading suggestions.

Enjoy the ride. All comers are welcome, as are all questions.

(Diarrhea vaccinations, while recommended, are strictly optional.)

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Tip Sheet: How to Leave Your Home Habits at Home When You Travel

1) Postcards beat e-mail.

Nothing can hamstring the flexibility and spontaneity of your travels like compulsively checking your e-mail as you move from place to place. If you're logging into your e-mail account every day, that's way too much. Limit yourself to a couple of log-ins per week, and communicate with your friends and family the old-fashioned way: with postcards. Your friends will appreciate the novelty, and you won't fritter away your travel time in front of a computer screen.

2) Go local, and upload to iPod later.

So you feel naked if you can't travel without that comprehensive collection of *NSYNC albums on your iPod?  To each his own, I say — but what fun is Louisiana or Mongolia or Trinidad if you bring a generic American soundtrack?  For the best sensory experience of a place, leave the iPod at home (or only use it on the plane), and collect CDs of local zydeco or throat singing or calypso tunes as you go. Not only will this leave you open to new rhythms as you travel, but your new tunes will give you something to remember your trip by when you get back to your iPod.

3) Expand your culinary horizons.

The new vaccine for traveler's diarrhea leaves you with no excuse to skip over local foods. Leave your eating habits at home, and try out the delicacies of your host culture, from chitlins to biryani to bibimbap. If unsure where to start, just do what the locals do: follow them to the popular neighborhood eateries and try your luck.

4) Slow down

Don't get too ambitious with your itinerary, especially for short trips. Instead of racing all over Italy in two weeks, stick to a smaller region, such as Tuscany. Instead of hopping from one Utah national park to another your whole vacation, get to know one area (such as Zion or Bryce) in earnest. Micromanaging your schedule is normal at home, but on the road it will only put unneeded stress on your travel experience.

5) Do it long-term

If one week in Australia is a thrill, why not try one month?  If six days in Central America whets your appetite, why not explore the region for six months?  The best way to experience a faraway land is a long-term visit — and getting time off is easier (and cheaper) than you might think. (I'll offer more tips on that in later columns!)

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