Exploring the Many Faces of Istanbul

 

Photos: Jann Segal

I explored Istanbul with Overseas Adventure Travel on their tour Turkey’s Magical Hideaways, and some on my own after the tour of Turkey and the Mediterranean concluded. I found the Istanbul portion of the tour to be a great orientation with a focus on historical and religious sites, but certainly not all that Istanbul has to offer. Even with three extra days on my own, I barely scratched the surface afterwards. There is the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar to visit for sure, but other important sites give a broader glimpse into the cultural and religious heritage of this rich city.  

Adventures of a Passionate Solo Traveler

 

Photo: Jann Segal
Waterfall flowing upward in Iceland

They say if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. That has certainly been true during some of my travels, either independently or with a group, but always traveling solo. I've had a number of unplanned adventures during my travels which certainly added to the experience. Some were a bit scary, but all added to my exploration, and tested my skills at knowing what to during an uncertain travel situation.

 

My late arrival after 11 pm in Phuket, Thailand certainly qualifies, after the plane from Bangkok was running late for hours. A taxi drove me to a tiny Marina area in a jungle forest with a lone pier. There I was, late at night and nobody else around, where I was supposed to meet staff from my timeshare on tiny private Coconut Island. My taxi driver was just going to drop me off in the dark; he informed me he had ot catch the next ride from the airport.  I surveyed the surrounding area, and there wasn't even a hotel or restaurant nearby. Just jungle, completely unlit, no place to call if necessary. So, when he dropped me off at the dark and lonely pier, imagine my surprise when I saw a person standing next to a small boat saying," Are you Jann Segal?" 

Rethinking Genocide in Turkey as a Traveler

 

gen·o·cide

/ˈjenəˌsīd/

the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group

"a campaign of genocide"

 

Photo: Jann Segal
Fairy Chimney in Cappadocia

Definitions form Oxford Languages

 

I was heartened to hear President Biden declare that nearly a century after the systematic killing of the Armenians in Turkey which began in 1915 at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, that atrocity is in fact considered a genocide by the United States. Turkish President Erdogan and the government of Turkey to this day flatly deny there was ever a genocide there. Rather, they maintain they were in a state of war at the time and both sides suffered casualties, with Turkey suffering as well. However, the International Association of Genocide Scholars affirms the death toll to be over one million Armenians.

Slow Travel or Adventure Travel?

  

Photo: Jann Segal
Lake Guatavita, Colombia

Slow travel. I love even reading the words. They calm my travel soul and remind me that there will be travel in my future, at an even and interesting pace. A pace where I can see the magnificence, smell the spices and flowers, watch the locals count buckets of money, learn how to cook a new dish from locals in their homes, meet their families, run into them by accident on the street of their charming town, or be greeted by these kind strangers during an accidental meeting at the airport.  All of these things have happened to me while traveling with Overseas Adventure Travel, sometimes as part of the group, sometimes on my own before or after the group adventure. These moments don’t require having a
camera to capture them. They require an appreciation of life and living, learning, wandering.

The concept of slow travel began in 1986 as a movement in Italy after a Mc Donald’s opened in Rome. People were afraid that interest in the culture and the food would start to wane and ultimately be forgotten rather than relished, savored, appreciated to the fullest. In fact, a whole slow movement began that many of us heard little about. Then the world was treated to a global pandemic, and even local traffic came to a grinding halt. But in the travel world, slow travel was talked about for when travel resumed. It includes a connection to people and their cultures, to educate oneself and to stay in the moment in a sustainable and lasting way. But of course, this education has lasting consequences for the future for those who endeavor to take the slow path, even if it’s in conjunction with a group tour, which is how I like to do it. 

Remembrance of Great Meals Past

Do you remember when you had your last exceptional and unforgettable meal during foreign travels? I surely do.

Photo: Jann Segal

 Local food and beverages are among the things we all look forward to enjoying when we travel to a foreign country. In Turkey one year I was quite taken by the pomegranate salad oil, which for me became a life changing experience I had to write about. Then there was the unexpectedly delightful risotto and mushroom sauce I experienced in Milan. When I classify a meal as life changing, that means I loved it so much, I had to go home and cook it! And now, thanks to an olive oil farm I visited in Israel, I know how to shop for higher quality olive oil to enhance my cooking. After my visit ot Vietnam one year, my food walking tour was such an eye opener in terms of both food and locale that I would normally never have experienced, I now always take a food walking tour in foreign cities. Food in all its unique varieties is truly the heart and soul of every culture. Other foods (in particular, spices) of which I have fond memories, are spicy fresh paprika from Croatia, fresh pepper from Southern India, which is along the Spice Route, and of course spices in Istanbul at the Grand Bazaar.

 Food can be so much more than a meal. When traveling and experiencing new cultures, if can feed the human spirit, lift the world-weary traveler’s soul just enough to make it to the next destination, enhance new friendships forged through travel, and heighten a traveler’s awareness of new possibilities that go beyond the travel experience. In under- developed countries, the food purchased and served even in a restaurant, can elevate those whose livelihoods depend on the income.

Finding Cultural Understanding in Unexpected Places

I had an unexpected experience while traveling independently in Asia prior to joining the Overseas Adventure Travel Heart of India trip in 2014. What started out as a breakdown of our transportation to the airport turned into an unexpected cultural exchange.

Travel the World Against the Evil Eye

There are cultures on every continent that have amulets of good luck as part of their cultures. Pick a county and you will find a way to avoid bad luck as part of the country's customs and history. But one country where I saw this literally everywhere and in the most colorful of ways was Turkey, when I took the trip Turkeys Magical Hideaways with Overseas Adventure Travel.

Solo Travel: The Mystical, Magical, Musical Soul of India

I am the sort of person who has a smile on my face standing in the TSA line at LAX.  I never underestimate that which always makes me feel this happy. Most recently, it was on the way to Singapore, as part of a 5 week solo journey which included the Overseas Adventure Travel Soul of India trip.

Celebrate Cultural Connections: Women Preserving their Heritage

Photos: Jann Segal

I observe when I travel. It is part of my sightseeing experience, but more often part of my post –trip reflections. I have felt the tears of history in Vietnam; observed how clotheslines can reflect how an entire society lives all over the world, and very particularly in India; and beyond doubt, how women preserve their culture and heritage worldwide. I am sure that men participate somehow along the line, but it seems that the role of women is more prominent. Performing small acts or rituals to preserve cultural heritage is truly something to celebrate no matter the culture. For an understanding of different cultures makes us richer. Many countries have women’s cooperatives where this activity is nourished, and the women are afforded a livelihood as well.  As it turns out, the countries where I have observed this most prominently were countries I also wanted to return. In two cases, these were countries I visited on an independent trip and later returned with Overseas Adventure Travels. In the case of India, I took an OAT trip there to two separate regions, but also included independent travel.  In all cases, the way the women preserved their heritage was unmistakable.

Visit Southern India’s Temples and Behold the Excellency of Life in Tamil Nadu

Photos: Jann Segal

I recently took a tour of Southern India, and one of  the highlights was seeing the magnificent temples. India is known for them, and while the southern Indian temples look alike on the outside with a large base that gets steeper as the temple reaches skyward, the experience inside the temples could not have been more unique. I traveled alone for some of the trip, and the rest was the Overseas Adventure Travels trip, Soul of India. And this trip truly feeds your soul.

Visit India during Festival Season

I was fortunate enough to visit Southern India during their festival season in January of this year. I took the trip with Overseas Adventure Travel, but added two additional weeks in India by myself. I had no idea this would allow me even more festival time to enjoy when I planned the trip, but it turned out to be wonderful.

The group was in the state of Tamil Nadu during their their annual Pongal festival, which is a harvest festival. The festival is timed each year around the lunar calendar. On the f first day of the festival, the people burn belongings that they no longer need and cant give to charity. So the air is filled with quite a bit of smoke the first day. The people get up as early as four in the mooring to begin this ritual, and smoke cans be seen throughout the entire day.

Photos: Jann Segal

The second day of the festival, the people present a bowl of the Pongal (rice and milk blended together what other ingredients as well if desired) to the sun god in an earthen pot and place it outside their homes as an offering. They also create large and colorful designs outside their homes with lime powder known as Kollams. The colorful designs remain throughout the duration of the four days and typically until a rain washes them away afterwards. They are one of the foremost symbols of the Pongal festival, and for travelers, they are photographic delight of color.

Explore Clotheslines in Southern India

Photos: Jann Segal

I am always fascinated by clotheslines when I travel .So intrigued in fact, that I wrote an article called Clotheslines, and as I perused my photos for trips I have taken around the world, I identified all the different types of clotheslines I had observed, and what they were used for.

Visit India’s Karela Backwaters for a Look at Rural Life

I was on the Overseas Adventure Travels trip to southern India called Soul of India in January this year. One of the highlights of this newly revised tip was spending two nights on a houseboat on the backwaters of the Southern state of Karela. And to use an Indian parlance that I noticed on my trip, where something can be “like X, but not X," I noticed the backwaters ware like the Amazon, but not like the Amazon.  We left the spice plantation where we stayed in Thekkady near Perriyar National Park, drove through the verdant tea and rubber plantations, and arrived at our houseboat in Alleppey after first stopping to see the “loo with a view.”

Visit Southern India for a Multitude of Blessings

Photo: Jann Segal

I was in Southern India with Overseas Adventure Travels for two weeks this year, and added an additional two weeks on my own afterwards. Their Southern India trip, Soul of India, is rich with the culture and natural beauty that typifies soulful southern India. It was truly inspiring to be in a country with such religious and ethnic diversity. And even during troubled times, their diversity and religious freedom is part of their law, embedded in their constitution. So while Hinduism is a dominant religion there, so is Buddhism, Jainism, Sikkim, and Christianity, Judaism had seedlings there as well, with many in the large Jewish population playing an important part in the spice and tea trades of the South before the people moved on as part of their own diaspora. Aside from the religious diversity, the Indian people there speak over 137 languages, and have over 3,000 casts and sub-casts!

Clotheslines: An open window to the soul of a people

Photo: Dan King

Clotheslines are a window into the soul of other people’s lives. From a seemingly small part of life, you can observe the daily ins and outs of the culture, the things you don’t get to see as a tourist. This is part of why we travel. Not just to see the sights, hear the sounds, and taste the wonderful food. We also travel to gain some insight into how the locals live, maybe even get to meet the people. Taking a look at the clotheslines outside of someone’s home is a perfect way to gain this understanding. And many tours give you the opportunity to see that, thus allowing us to understand the social and economic conditions of a country and the people who live there. But if they don’t, pay attention to the sights you see along the way. Even an unwitting tour guide will pass a local community on the way to a major sight. Some of the places that have given me this particular vantage point I took with Grand Circle Travel (www.gct.com ) or Overseas Adventure Travel (www.oattravel.com ). And of course, many I have taken independently.

Visit Vietnam and Feel the Tears of History

There is no denying that travelers can feel the tug of history when they travel. I have unknowingly felt it several times, only to realize later what it was. In Munch, Germany in 1973, I felt intimidated for some unknown reason. As it turned out, I was on a street where Hitler had given a famous speech, and where many buildings stood that were part of the Third Reich. In 1994, I stood on the pier in Famagusta, Cyprus and took my time amid the fact that I was holding up my taxi and others I was traveling with. I lingered for some unknown reason. I learned only when I got home, that was the dock where the ship The Exodus was turned back and all on board faced certain death. In Cove, Ireland in 2010, I stood where many immigrant ships departed including the Titanic, and tears streamed down my cheeks. This became all the more personal for me, when I later realized my paternal grandmother likely left from those very docks since she had attained an Irish surname, quite a departure for a Russian refugee. I thought all my grandparents had departed for the New World from Russia via Liverpool, but she was the only one I could not locate on Ancestry.com. My ancestry had located me.

Visit Vietnam's Rice Paper Village

On a recent trip to Vietnam with Overseas Adventure Travel, this author was exposed to one of the most unique and extraordinary villages in the world, whose sole function is to produce rice paper. This village is one of the largest in the country for the creation and distribution of rice paper and rice noodles. The side trip to Tho Ha is an optional excursion during the Inside Vietnam trip, and is part of OAT's enhanced itineraries. The village is worth a visit for its uniqueness and glimpse into rural life, since it is like no other a traveler will experience anywhere else in the world. The buildings in the village itself are also unique, with some going back as far as the late 1800's.

Visit Three Asian Markets

Photos by Jann Segal

Visiting markets in foreign countries can be a real awakening as to how the locals live. Many open air and floating markets are fascinating and exist around the world. Some of the most fascinating can be found in developing countries, but there are certainly no limits. Here are three you might went to check out in your travels to Asia.

Visit Kuala Lampur and see the Petronas Towers

Photos by Jann Segal

One of the most interesting things to observe and explore on any trip are the landmarks. Some are unmistakable, some are magical, and some make it in movies and become the hallmark of the film. Kuala Lampur's Petronas Towers are all three in one. They are one of the first things you see when you enter the city, and one of the last sights you behold as you leave.

Visit Nikko, Japan to Hear, See and Speak No Evil

Photo by Jann Segal

The Japanese flock to Nikko, Japan especially on weekends. Yet very few American tours do. If planning a trip to Japan, this might just be the highlight of your trip, in an already extraordinary country.