Gray Line Wanderings Travel Blog

Super Cool, but Not the Most Practical Way to Keep in Touch Abroad.

If you’ve ever left the country for more than a couple of weeks, you understand how difficult it can be to stay in touch with friends and family at home. Whether you’re a retiree enjoying your newly discovered free time, a mid-lifer trying out something crazy, or a recent grad with an enviable gap year planned, you probably want to take off without leaving everyone behind. While there are some obvious ways to stay connected while abroad, I’d like to also suggest a couple of original ideas about how to keep in touch from across the world.

The Basics: There are several ways to stay in touch that you’ve probably already thought of, but I suppose I will mention them anyway. Good, old fashioned mail and post cards. E-mail blasts. International calls either by calling card or video calls on Skype. Posting photos, sharing anecdotes, and writing to friends via social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Got ‘em? Good!

Creative Skype Sessions: While many people might be familiar with Skype, and use it as a way to chat, there are some other more creative ways to use the video tool. If you’re abroad for a long time, sometimes you miss the normal stuff. How about planning to watch the same movie together with Skype open? Or what about chatting over coffee with both of you sitting at a different cafe? Bring things in for show and tell to engage each other in your new lives. See what you can come up with, and have fun!

Care Packages: Sending care packages from abroad is a personal way to remind people that you’re thinking of them. Fill it with local favorites, inside jokes, notes, pictures, or anything that you think they might be interested in. Whether you break the bank on a big box or stuff some things inside an envelope, creating a care package reminds people at home that you’re still thinking of them.

Celebrate Birthdays: A message or letter is a nice gesture, but try a bit harder for someone’s birthday from abroad! It can be as simple as giving them an online gift certificate or having flowers sent to their home, or as intricate as having a mutual friend set up a scavenger hunt to which you write the clues and pay for later. Whatever you think of, they will appreciate that you thought of them from so far away.

Snapshot of My Travel Blog

Blogs & Vlogs: Blogs are a fun and easy way to share stuff with your loved ones and an even broader audience if you’re interested. You can write an “and then we did this after this” kind of blog, or you can focus on specific anecdotes, create photo blogs, generate top 10 lists, make a weekly video, or whatever interests you! Get creative.

Photo Projects: Sharing a photo of a cool cathedral or impressive palace is all  well and good, but perhaps you’re friends at home might appreciate a more personalized version of your photos. Try editing your photos into collages or make them into cartoons. Take specific photos for your individuals and include a caption about why it made you think of them. Create cards or online books with your photos and send them home. The more effort you put in, the more connected you’ll feel.

Do you have any creative ways to stay in touch from abroad? Tell us about them in the comments section below or on Facebook! (Click here if you can’t see comments: How to Stay in Touch While Traveling Abroad)

Self-Proclaimed Señorita. Very Cheesy Photo of Author in Spain.

I guess I expected  too much from my Spanish education– that is, the 3 years in middle school and 2 years in high school where I sat in a class called “Spanish Class”. In fact, during this five year span, I think I spent more time copying exercises from my best friend’s workbook and making fun of the games than I did actually trying to learn Spanish.

The cause of my disinterest was that I didn’t understand how valuable knowing a second language is, not only for college and professional reasons, but for the purpose of communicating with different cultures both at home and abroad. I think everyone who loves to travel should know at least one other language.

At least now I’m taking Spanish classes taught in Spanish, in Spain, and I think I’m off to a good start.

If you’re serious about learning a foreign language, here are 5 ways you can learn a foreign language [relatively] fast.

1. Get Down the Basics: Ok, first for the boring/hard part. Get your foundations by reading a language book or taking a class. Learn sentence structure, verb tenses and basic vocabulary. You’ll definitely appreciate having a solid understanding of the language basics later on when you try to form your own sentences.
2. Change Settings of Everything into the Foreign Language: It takes me an extra few minutes to edit photos, make phone calls and post to Facebook because I have changed my language settings to Spanish for EVERYTHING. I also watch English movies dubbed in Spanish, watch Spanish TV, listen to Spanish music, and do pretty much anything else I can to immerse myself in the language. Changing the settings on your electronics is a good way to integrate language learning into your everyday life, and you’ll be surprised how much vocabulary you pick up.
3. Make Word Lists: Translate vocabulary in your head. If you don’t know the word, look it up! When unloading your groceries, recite the words for the different vegetables. Label stuff around your house to pick up furniture vocabulary. Mentally make sentences about things you do throughout the day. Pick useful words for the things you do and say in English, and look them up in the foreign language. Then keep the words on your desk or on your phone to review throughout the day. The more you reuse the words, the more they’ll stick.
4. Practice Speaking & Listening: The ability to understand the foreign language on paper is a good start, but in order to communicate, you’ll need to learn how to listen and speak. Active skills are harder to master! If you have a friend or family member who speaks the language or is also learning, try chatting with them. If not, check out a website like Conversation Exchange where you can find conversation partners in your area. It’s a good opportunity to make a new friend and test your language skills!
5. Travel Abroad: Of course, the best way to really learn your new language is to use it in real life situations. The more time you can spend abroad, the less you’ll sound like a Spanish textbook robot. Besides, there’s no more fun or relevant way to learn a language!

What creative methods do you use to learn or practice your foreign language? Tell us all about them in the comments below or on Facebook! Happy Learning! (Click here if you can’t see comments below: Learning Espanol in Espanol, in Espana: How to Learn a Language Fast)

Provided by playpianoking

Oh Smokey the Bear, how I mocked you as a child. You made it so easy for me and my friends to twist your words into something inappropriate.

This, however, is no joking matter.

Having grown up in New Mexico, I know what it’s like to live in a dry climate. Colorado can be much the same. And unfortunately, this year is one for the books.

Our gorgeous state is in a state of emergency. There are currently fires in Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, and Boulder.

• 32,00 People were evacuated in El Paso County near Colorado Springs as the fire came down Waldo Canyon.
• Flagstaff fire is about 1.5 miles from the Boulder city limits.
• 90,000 acres have been swallowed up by the The High Park fire in the Fort Collins area. With containment not expected for TILL JULY 30^TH!

We haven’t had any rain, we have extreme temperatures (reaching 106 in the Denver metro area), and high winds. All of these things equal disaster.

So what can we do?

• The Denver Post has provided resources and information on how we can all help in all 3 areas.
• Here is a full list of county bans and restrictions.
• There is a ban on all private fireworks.
• You can only have a campfire if it is in a developed campsite with a metal fire ring.
• DO NOT, I repeat, do not smoke outside!!!!

Fires can happen anywhere. Caution should be exercised everywhere you go. If you are unsure of what preventative measures to take our old friend Smokey the Bear is here to lend a helping hand.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this tragedy.

Do you have any updates on the situation? Can you provide any tips on how to prevent fires? Let us know in the comments below.

Only in India can a quick walk to the bank be interrupted by a scuffle with a petitioner, a negative aura reading, and a near death-by-rickshaw experience…

Notorious for its touts and scams, navigating your way through New Delhi is a learned art. Whether you’re walking to your favorite spot or exploring a new part of the city, the best way to avoid any unwarranted attention is to walk like you’ve had the direction in your mental-GPS since the day you were born… and when you walk past the same street again 10 minutes later, utterly lost, you act like you just wanted to check out the area.

It’s a confidence and an assertiveness that you’ve got a direction, and usually, with the walk, you can avoid some unnecessary ventures into tour shops and rickshaw rides without even breaking your smile.

Usually, I pride myself on my ability to stay out of unwanted situations when traveling, but today, the hawkers were coming on strong, and there was no amount of poise that could get me through unscathed.

At this point, I had been a solo traveler for approximately two hours. My friends took off in the morning and I was left behind in the hotel room with a head cold, an almost empty wallet, and a nearly unplanned itinerary. I took initiative and peeled myself out of bed for a quick jaunt to the bank, but as I was reminded, nothing comes so easily in New Delhi.

I pioneered my way into my alley and was immediately accosted by a woman collecting “signatures and no money”– as usual, “no money” actually meant “some money”– but I managed to decline as politely as possible and escape her sharp-nailed grip before getting seriously trapped into anything.

I had barely strided away when I received a complimentary-yet-unwelcome aura reading from a baba pacing beside me on the road. “Hello ma’am. I want to tell you… You have a good heart but a negative energy from my three very serious problems. Very very serious. Your life is terribly out of balance. I think you are a little insane.” …Thank you? I suppose I could have paid to learn that I am oversensitive and that I lack focus, but I actually already know that, and I really just need an ATM.

“Oh Wow. Thank you sir… maybe I come back later?” I said as I quickly changed to the other side of the road.

Listen guys… I’ve got a head cold and an attitude, do you think we could do this later?  I thought. Maybe they would have left me alone if they realized I had less than $8 in my possession.

Finally, as I rounded the corner to the bank, a bicycle rickshaw sharply cut left behind me. I jumped back to find my space obstructed by a mango stall. Luckily, I made it up on my toes, pinned against the steel table and barely avoided getting my feet crunched by the passenger cart of the rickshaw. I didn’t expect an apology, or even wait for some acknowledgement of what just happened. It happens at least thirty times on a good day.

Getting to the bank, the intention of the trip was nowhere near as significant as the trip to get there. When traveling, it always takes a while to find your feet and even longer to grow your teeth. There is a steep learning curve to knowing when to talk and when to walk, when to smile and when to scowl, when to be polite and when to argue.

After today, I suppose even walking like you know where you’re going isn’t always enough, but it’s still worth a shot.

Here are a few quick tips for avoiding touts when traveling:

1. Most important of all is walking with purpose!

2. Throw on sunglasses and look straight ahead in touristy areas. Pretend not to hear the “hellos” and “where are you froms” coming out of nearly every shop if you don’t have the time or interest in buying.

3. When confronted directly by someone, simply say a genuine “No, thank you” and keep walking. If you slow down, it becomes a lot more difficult to walk away without being rude. If they are persistent, it helps to have an excuse about why you’re in a hurry.

4. Ask for information from people with no vested interest. Don’t get directions from a rickshaw driver or shopping recommendations from a silk shop owner! Instead, ask at an upscale hotel, someone on their way to work, or a fellow shopper.

What’s your best trick or tip for avoiding touts when traveling? (Can’t see Facebook comments? Click here to view the full version of the Walking Like You Know Where You’re Going Blog Post)