Visions of Paris {from my iphone}

I'm off to catch a train down to visit my friend Boo and her family in Montpellier for a few days and take in some southern sun (courtesy of @raileurope and a contest I won on Twitter). So in the meantime, I thought I'd leave you with a few recent visions of Paris.

Peace.

Yesterday Italian designer Armando Milano came to speak to my branding class. His work and clever solutions were a good reminder of the way design can be a voice promote awareness and change. Click here for more of his work.

Boarding Pass - Jeff Barfoot

I don't drink coffee, and I don't really draw, but after reading Jeff Barfoot's Boarding Pass, I think I want to pick up both. What a fabulous travel tip for packing light and getting a little creative with your sketchbook. In keeping with my post from Saturday, I also have to say that I love that he travels with a mini sock monkey his mother made him - definitely a creative way to see a city. Check out lots more of Jeff's work here and here. Thanks for the dose of travel inspiration today, Jeff!
{This is me. In New York at 9 W. 57th Street, this giant "9" was designed by one of my favorite designers, Ivan Chermayeff.}

home town:
I'm from an itty bitty town in Arizona called Fort Defiance, on the Navajo Reservation. My folks were teachers from Colorado, and came out to the Reservation because starting teacher salaries were better on reservations back then. It was a very interesting way to grow up, not just being a white kid in the minority, but growing up where you would have to stop your car to let a herd of sheep go by, have a medicine man accompany your elementary school class when cutting down a Christmas tree, and learning to sing Christmas carols in Navajo (Ya'at'eeh Keshmas!).

where you live now:
After going to school for Marine Biology in Tucson, Arizona (I know, I know: "What ocean?"), I came to Dallas, Texas to practice graphic design and illustration, and I've been here since. Dallas is really coming along, I have to say. When I first came here, downtown was dead, there was not a real arts scene, not too many casual hang-out places (Dallas tends to be more hoity-toity). But in the last few years, the downtown has really come alive, there is a booming arts district, and the underground arts scene is really thriving. There has always been an extremely strong design community here, though, and that's what drew me here and why I've stayed.
{i stood at this spot for about 20 minutes, i loved this grey scene with the red door, waiting for one yellow cab to come through the steam.}

last trip taken:
Last trip was to New York City for the first time last fall. My wife has been a hundred times, but it was new for me. Of course I did all of the touristy things (Times Square, Letterman), and all of the geeky designer things (MoMA, stayed at The Hudson Hotel). I have to say, I LOVED NYC. It wasn't like anything I'd expected. I thought it would be a little dirty, run down, dangerous, mean people. It was exactly the opposite: easy to get around, friendly smiling people, beautiful, not a scrap of garbage anywhere.

{had to include this bizarre sticker i saw near NYU in NYC}

next trip on deck:
Las Vegas, Nevada. I have a friend getting married for the second time, and I think it's more of an excuse for him to go to Vegas than anything else. Not complaining. I like a beer and some blackjack. :)

one place you would go back to again and again:
London, hands down. I loved it. Insane diversity of people and food and shops, wonderful shopping, and I love riding the tube. You can just walk for hours and hours and keep seeing new things. Even more than New York, it seemed like London had all kinds of little pockets of neighborhoods to discover, and really interesting mix of brand new buildings next to others hundreds of years old.

{really cool sign at a vinyl record themed restaurant, VYNL, in New York}

place you'd most likely recommend a friend go visit:
The Grand Canyon. Yes, it's in the middle of nowhere and takes a little effort to get to, and once there, there's not much else to do. But I have to tell you: it will surpass any expectations your imagination can conjure.
{another little composition i thought was beautiful. three trees against a tall blue-painted construction wall on 5th avenue in NYC.}

preferred method of transportation:
Trains, absolutely. I remember my first cross-country trip on Amtrak with my Mom and Dad to Missouri when I was a kid, and I fell in love. I've since been on the Eurostar across Europe and on trains in England. Even the "L" in Chicago makes me think back to that first train ride. There is something just wonderful about drinking a cup of coffee and half reading, half looking out the window as you ride along.

place you've never been but dying to go:
Oooh, tough. I think its a toss-up between Switzerland and Scotland. The design nerd in me would love to go to Switzerland and see all of the poster and type museums, see the cities and country, eat the cheeses and chocolate. All on the train of course. :) And Scotland: beer, ocean, green everywhere, the most awesome accent in the world, what's not to love?

{a gorgeously designed license plate in mexico - i wish us plates were are beautiful.}

place you'd never go back:
Nebraska. Cold. Desolate. Flat. Corn for hundreds of miles. Grumpy people (not their fault - I think they're dealing with the cold, desolation and unending corn as well). Although I did get to eat the self-proclaimed "Best Omelette in the World" there.

most memorable trip in 2 sentences or less:
I have to say, the recent NYC trip. I've seen it my whole life in movies and on t.v., and it just just surprised and blew me away with its beauty, warmth, charm, cleanliness, and never ending things to see and do. I love New York.*
{a really pretty little composition i shot at the north end of times square; [right]: times square. another one where i waited until the sun started to go down, and times the screens when they were all orange :) }

how do you prepare for a trip?
i pack the morning i leave, and desperately try to find my flight info while I'm trying to get out the door (drives my wife crazy). I usually make it by the skin of my teeth. Having said that, I pack comfy. I figure the people in Brussels will never see me again, so I'd might as well be comfortable than fashionable. My wife has worn pajamas all around Europe.

how do you record your travels when you're traveling?
Mostly pictures, and some sketches. But mostly I like collecting the little ephemera that remind me of places: cards, stamps, coasters, napkins, plastic key cards from hotels, museum ticket stubs, pins, stuff like that. The designer nerd in me loves that little detail stuff. I also love to bring back currency from other countries (most beautiful so far: England).

{little monkey goes everywhere with me - new york, london, köln germany}

what is your favorite thing to photograph in a new place?
This is funny. Even before Amélie came out, I carried around this tiny sock monkey my mom made me. It was sort of a joke to take pictures of this little monkey in front of well-known attractions. So what ends up happening a lot of the time is that I spend half a day finding the right angle to take little monkey's picture in front of, say, Big Ben, instead of seeing other things. But it's funny to me. Little monkey is also photographed with any willing well-known people I run across, like Henry Kissinger and Patton Oswalt. I also love taking photos to really interestingly designed signs, found compositions, or other objects that I see that inspire me (I have always been more interested in recording "things" than people).
{this is an illustration project I did for Neiman Marcus. The illustrations were inspired by a trip to London, northern France and Brussels with my wife.}

on an average, how many pictures to you take on a trip?
Not as many as I should. Besides the little monkey pictures, I tend to be pretty picky. We should probably take more pictures than we do, but my wife is an art director and stylist, and with me the designer, we're always looking for "we need to be able to frame this when we get home" shots, not "let's record this so we can remember our time here" shots. But that's who we are.

{coffee sketch - this is a typical nyc hot dog cart - which i was obsessed with visually. :)}

what's in your "designer travel kit" ?
As I said, I love to sketch on a trip. I used to carry watercolors, but what a hassle. Instead, an illustrator I know gave me a great tip: use coffee. So now I sketch with a pen (never a pencil, I like dark lines, I think), and then carry a little paintbrush with me and do a little watercolor work with coffee; you get a wonderful little sepia-toned sketch/illustration. And since you can get a cup of coffee anywhere, no hassle. :) So my travel kit is: brand new pens, watercolor brush, camera, sketchbooks (one big, one small), sometimes a few colored pencils. We carry a Canon digital camera, and heavy-paper notebooks (so each side of the paper can be drawn on/colored without bleeding to the other side).
{we make sure sure sure to take polaroids with us - we love the crappy, charming, instantly sentimental and melancholy quality of them. sometimes we draw on top of them. :) }

what do you do after a trip? scrapbook, blog, online, book, slideshow, etc? long after a trip does this happen?
I wish I did this better. We have kids, so it's a miracle we go anywhere at all in the first place. :)
{I was very inspired by a series of very simple prints in the MoMA in NYC, and I had an idea for a screenprint right there on the spot. I sat down and sketched it right there, and we just printed it a few weeks ago! It's called "Frog, Dog, Hog, Log, Bog". :)}
favorite souvenir/thing to bring back?
I try to bring back cool posters or prints. London was the best for this. Anther reason I'm dying to get to Switzerland - awesome poster city champion of all time!

{a pond with lillypads in seattle}

[wildcard] do you refuse to travel to South America?
The bugs. Cockroaches the size of your foot. Mosquitos the size of your hand. Walking sticks that should be called walking branches. Ants that outnumber people 800,000,000:1. The bugs. The horror. My God. My God.

*Go Red Sox.


links:
website: bee-things.com
website: barfootworldwide.com
blog: shayometz.blogspot.com
online shop: beethings.etsy.com

Click HERE for all past editions of Boarding Pass!

Gone Hunting

While Easter is still a week away, with the help of some amazing chocolate displays in the windows of my local boulangeries, I’ve been in the spirit for awhile now. The goose may not have laid a golden egg (yet), but she sure has laid some giant eggs, engraved eggs, and macaron filled ones too! I can’t help but feel like a kid again on a giant Easter egg hunt that spans my neighborhood, and the entire city. Luckily as an adult I’ve exhibited a bit of self-restraint and have listened to what any mother would say: “Look, don’t touch.” Instead my Easter Egg hunt has turned into a little game of photos I collect on my iPhone. I also find you save a lot of calories that way.

While Easter is the perfect season for “city hunting,” really it’s a game I like to play all year round. Ever since the first time I moved to Paris, I’ve always noticed that there are often themes to my day - anything from “there’s dog crap on every block day,” to “motorcycles on the sidewalk run me over day” to “wow, that Easter egg is bigger than the last one day.” While not always glamorous, I find that stating the obvious and mundane can be one of the most exciting ways to explore a neighborhood. And while stating the obvious, it’s fun to document it too.

Despite my love affair with the movie Amelie, I was never a huge gnome fan until my aunt and cousin came to visit me in Paris. I had never seen a gnome in this city until they came and pointed them out to me. The next thing I knew was that they were everywhere and we were all capturing the proof on our cameras. To this day our game continues back and forth. But I must thank my aunt and cousin for helping me open my eyes to something that was around me, but I never would have seen without their help. (As proud owners of a Westie dog, they also managed to “capture” several during their visit. Funny, I had never seen one in the city until they came along either).

I was recently at a lecture where the speaker made the point that we learn more about New York by going to Turkey. Sometimes we take for granted what is around us until we experience something that makes us look at a place with new eyes. In my case, I didn’t have to go anywhere - rather, I had others come to me. In the same respect, in my adventures in “mundane hunting” I’ve enjoyed teaching the French a thing or two about their own culture. It goes both ways.

For the next week, I invite you to go on your own "Easter Egg hunt" in your neighborhood and see if you see anything different, and as always, I welcome you to share in the comments section.


(This post has been entered into the Grantourismo-HomeAway travel writing competition.)

Paris Mash-up

Five years ago when I lived in Paris I think I set a record of having 18 visitors come in a 9-month period. This round I'm still far from this count. Maybe it's the economy, or maybe it's the fact that I've downgraded from 30m2 to 10m2 (110sf) so the option of free lodging is no longer a service that is provided (instead I just give awesome recommendations and lend out my pay-as-you-go phone). In any case, I invite you all to travel to Paris through Paris 26 Gigapixel, a panoramic mash-up of 2346 individual hi-res images. Now we just need to throw in Aladdin and Jasmine on a magic carpet ride singing "A Whole New World." No, I think Yann Tiersen's Amelie theme song suits this project just right. Click HERE to travel!

{via My Little Paris}

Open Your Eyes

JR expo Paris de Women are Heroes from La Boite Concept.

Isn't it the worst when you realize you were around when something was happening, but completely missed it? I still can't get over the fact that I was in Paris this fall during this "Women Are Heros" exhibition, featuring 70 larger than life portraits of women from around the world. I must have been sleeping under a rock or something. . . Thankfully the video more than does it justice. {via fubiz}

Gran Tourismo Travels

With my trip to Marrakesh, I got lucky in a lot of ways. One of those unexpected ways was that world travelers extraordinaire Lara Dunston and Terrance Carter were in Marrakesh (and Essaouira) just a week before I arrived. While our paths aren't set to cross until April when they make their way through Paris as part of their new project, Gran Tourismo, I still benefited from reading about their experiences. The project has these professional travel and guidebook writers turning in their hotel keys for homestays around the world. The year-long adventure is sponsored by HomeAway holiday-rentals, and is documented on their blog, Gran Tourismo. The blog strives to capture the experience of travels in ways such as creating playlists, examining the cost of living through convenient comparison shopping lists, local recipes, the quest for local knowledge in each destination. It's the kind of stuff you wished showed up in guidebooks, but doesn't.

Now the fun comes and you have the opportunity to win your own excuse to travel. This month's competition invites you to:
create an inspiring blog post, consisting of a 500-word piece of evocative travel writing and one compelling photograph that motivates people to:

• explore more authentic and enriching ways to travel
• get beneath sthe skin of a place when they travel
• learn to live like locals
• travel more slowly and more sustainably, and/or
• give something back to the places they visit.

Click here for more details on how you can enter. My submission will be up in the next couple days, so stay tuned. [Deadline is March 28th].

{images by Terrance Carter for Gran Tourismo}

Boarding Pass - Caroline Duke

Caroline Duke is the author behind i am greedy girl, which she describes as "a catalog of smart, well-designed and inspiring finds from around the world and web." I love this idea of getting out into the world, but also of being able to explore the world from the comforts of your home. I mean, just look at this fabulous Parisian ensemble that Caroline has pulled together with those ideas in mind! Enjoy the rest of Caroline's Boarding Pass feature below! {Thanks, Caroline!}

last trip taken:
salt lake city. it was a bit impromptu and i was only there a couple nights, but i loved that the city is surrounded by mountains. such a stark contrast to oklahoma city.

{Salt Lake City}

next trip on deck:
hopefully, a sweet seattle getaway (i WON a trip there, if you can believe it) and then to san francisco to visit my best friend and her husband.

{NYC}

one place you would go back to again and again:
new york. yes, cliche.

{random shot, Brussels}

place you'd most likely recommend a friend go visit:
fort worth, texas. the dallas-fort worth area is the closest "big city" we've got, and people are always so glad to get to dallas. but fort worth is where it's at, i'm telling you. there's a shocking amount of culture in that little cowtown.

{train travel, Belgium}

preferred method of transportation:
train. i would love to not rely on air travel.

{tiles, Brussels}

place you've never been but dying to go:
everywhere. i have really, really itchy feet. morocco? new orleans? cambodia? prague? everywhere, i tell you.

{escargot, Brussels}

place you'd never go back:
anywhere i've ever been always leaves me wanting more, so i don't think i have an answer for this one.
most memorable trip in 2 sentences or less:
to cape cod in the dead of winter when i started dating my boyfriend. everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, but it still turned out perfectly.

{Santa Fe}

how do you prepare for a trip?
with my boyfriend, we start and share a google document with our ideas and links to what we want to see and do. most of that is centered around food. also, blogs blogs blogs.

{Brussels Grand Place}

how do you record your travels when you're traveling?
a ridiculous amount of photos. and i always take along a little notebook with some very serious intentions to write a bit, but i always disappoint myself when i don't.

{sign, Santa Fe}

what is your favorite thing to photograph in a new place?
anything i find amusing or inspiring.

on an average, how many pictures do you take on a trip?
a lot. on a weekend trip, i can easily end up with hundreds. i came back from two weeks in europe with 4,000.

{Monticello}

what's in your "designer travel kit"?
a camera (canon g10), then — depending on the trip — at least a couple lomo cameras (fisheye, diana, holga) for fun. what do you do after a trip? how long after a trip does this happen?
upload photos and make everyone i know look at them. (i'm that person.) i made a dvd of belgium photos set to jacques brel for my mom, grandma and aunt after our trip. i'd like to start making little books to catalog future trips and places i've already been.

{postcard souvenirs}

favorite souvenir/thing to bring back?
tchotchkes and postcards. and maybe a pair of shoes. or two.


links:
blog:: i am greedy girl
on flickr

Click HERE for past editions of Boarding Pass, exploring how creative people travel.

The Art of Traveling [Alone]

For years I've been someone who gets an idea in my head and does it. So several years ago, when I realized as much talk as there was of people who wanted to take a trip, the only way I was actually going to be able to go was if I went on my own. So I did. I found a great deal, and did what I knew best - I went to Paris. It became less daunting to visit a city alone when it was a city I already knew, and the fact that I knew people there I could visit. Then I realized the freedom I had and I could do anything I wanted. The next year, I did the same thing when I found a cheap ticket to Amsterdam. That time I didn't know anyone, but thanks to the wonders of the blog world, I not only had great recommendations (and very design-savy ones I must add), but I even got to meet up with one of my favorite bloggers for coffee in the park.

I've also had the continued policy of "I'm going _____. You're invited, just come!" Luckily, I've had some awesome friends take me up on that offer as well, which also makes for a great way to travel and have your own adventures. Due to the way that flights get booked, we usually still had a little time traveling on our own in the place, but that also made for great stories when we finally connected up.

I will admit though, that my trip - alone - to Morocco, was the trip that took me out of my comfort zone the most. From the maze of the medina, to the comments of shop keepers trying to get my attention, to the fact that everyone wanted to earn a quick buck (if you ask for help, people in the medina came to expect a reward) was a lot to take in. But the beauty of that was that at the same time it was incredibly empowering. Furthermore, it never ceases to amaze me how much I still learn about travel and myself to this day. Anyway, here are a few lessons I picked up this trip.

• Hostels are a great way to meet people. You not only meet people, but they are often are people like you and have their own interesting stories to tell.
• Unlike at hotels, at hostels you tend to interact with people more, and they serve as the best "guides" and can provide really great tips and tricks to visiting the place.
  
• When you're not on a set timeline/schedule you can take it all in as it comes, and learn from others and go try new things you may not have considered yourself.
• The wonders of the internet make it possible to connect with people you have never met before. In Marrakesh I had two meetings for a project I'm working on. While it was for "research," these two encounters were some of the biggest highlights of my trip. It's always worthwhile to try to connect with a local, however works for you.
• Poker face. It's a lesson I learned in Paris (my official terminology is my "Paris bitch face"), but it goes with me around the world to escape unwanted attention. If someone talks to you, or makes a comment, it's best to ignore it, don't make eye contact, definitely don't respond and just keep on your way. It may seem cold at times, but it's also for your safety (and sanity). And trust me, as a single woman walking around the souks, there will be comments. (My favorites ranged from Hey, Lady! to Hey, Spicy Lady!, Hey, Homie, and Hey, Chicken!).
• Have a sense of humor and roll with the punches. Traveling alone also you to go at your own pace and take in all the details. What did you notice that you wouldn't have otherwise.
• You may be traveling alone, but bring your friends to you. My favorite past-time (even when I'm traveling with people) is to sit in cafes and write postcards.
• Break the stigma of traveling alone. I had a couple interactions in a cafe or in a cab where I was asked, "you're alone!?!" While it may not be the most common occurence, they were also impressed by the end of our encounters.
  

Disilusionment

When my friend Sarah saw this picture on flickr, she left the comment, "Moroccan Idol?" which seems very fitting. One thing was for sure, Mohammed had rehearsed and his routine down pact. He was good.
He persuasively lured me into his shop and was eager to teach me about the process of dying the yarn that turns into fabric. Meanwhile, I was excited to have an excuse to speak French. He invited me back to see the inner workings and the artisans at work (as the colorful yarn dried overhead). I got a really cool color demo, and he showed me the "magic colors" that change when wet.
He then made me into a Berber, and told me to take a picture.
And then up to the rooftop deck of the shop across the way so I could take in the views of the medina (which space is tough to grasp when you're lost in a maze).
And I loved the patterns and textures.
But it was my first day in the souks, so I wasn't ready to buy (that ended up being a good story all day to avoid unwanted pressure). But I asked for his card, said I would return and thanked him for his time. I'm sure there's a tendency for shop keepers to not believe tourists when they say they will be back. Heck, in defense of the tourists, it's nearly impossible to find anyone/shop again. But I was determined to go back, and I did. Unfortunately, Mohammed was "on vacation" according to his "brother," but lucky for me, there were plenty of gentlemen happy to help. We chatted a bit (they all loved that I was doing my business in French), and were making deals and specials (I had even brought a friend with me - which I pointed out was new business). I was shown all sorts of scarves. Apparently the beautiful two layer silk one was made it the shop just across the way (it was closed). Hmm, funny that I had bought that same scarf in Egypt 5 years ago, and saw it on my travels in South East Asia last year too. Clearly many of these "beautiful handmade scarves" were factory made, but I was willing to play the game and they were still cool. So finally I had picked my items. He tells me he's going to give me a fair price for a necklace and a scarf. The answer I get 600Dh (that's more than 60Euros). I walked out immediately, and he tried to get me back to get the sale. I looked at him and gave him the "are you serious eye?". Clearly, I was being taken for a ride. I was willing to make some concessions for my good experiences a couple days earlier, but it was a pity to leave on this note. What was worse, was that he seemed so upset that I wasn't buying into it. Perhaps he could learn a thing or two from Mohammed, and maybe too things aren't everything they appear.

Morocco was one of those place where there were challenging moments, but in the end you have to trust yourself, do your research, and know what's right. It made me realize the important role they play as hosts, and we play as guests in a country. Talking to someone who works in tourism there, she noted that Morocco is the one place in the world where every time you ask for directions people are eager to take you somewhere and demand money in return. (Can you imagine that happening in Paris? she notes). Still, whenever traveling you're going to have a range of experiences, and you have to take from each what you can. We all have to do our part.

Boarding Pass - Janelle Nanos

Growing up it was always my dream to work for National Geographic. For travel writer Janelle Nanos, it's a reality. I first encountered Janelle through NG's Intelligent Travel blog, and these days I follow her own posts as she makes her way around the world for work and pleasure (imagine that!). We seem to have a lot in common from traveling with a yellow purse to loving Morocco (her number one place to recommend to people). So without further ado, enjoy a taste of Janelle's travels! {Thanks, Janelle!}

last trip taken:
I found it rather ironic that in order to escape the snowpocalypse in Washington D.C., I actually had to head north to Canada. More specifically, I was in Ottawa, Ontario, for a wedding/work. In short: My fiancé's brother was getting married, and I was working on a story for my magazine, which is pretty much what I do whenever I go anywhere. But the city was lovely and in the midst of both pre-Olympic frenzy and Winterlude, meaning there were ice carvings, skating on the canal, and yum—BeaverTails, the fried-dough treat served with sugar or maple glaze that alone was worth the trip. The wedding was beautiful, it started snowing lightly just before the ceremony and they took pictures on the canal.

{Mardi Gras}

next trip on deck:
New Orleans! I wrote a story about Mardi Gras for Traveler that ran in the January/February issue, so I went to NOLA twice last year to talk to the people who work behind the scenes to make Fat Tuesday magical. But I haven't been with my fiancé yet, and I'm so thrilled to show him around town in April. New Orleans is the New York City of the south: hectic and colorful and a little bit crazy, and their love for their hometown is equally fierce. I could definitely live there.

one place you would go back to again and again:
I lived in New York City for five years and worked at New York Magazine at the time, so the city has imprinted itself on my DNA. When I go back I go on autopilot, and can navigate my way around like nowhere else. Internationally, it's a tough toss up between London and Dublin. I've been to London numerous times and adore it, but I don't think I've ever felt so at home in a foreign place until I arrived in Dublin. It's the Irish in me I guess, but I felt in a weird way that I'd always been from there.

{Moroccan musicians}

place you'd most likely recommend a friend go visit:
Morocco. I can't stop talking about it, in fact. I just spent two weeks there in November, and I still don't think I've processed it. It's such a fascinating mix of cultures and colors. I loved my glass of sugary-sweet mint tea and the thin-skinned tangerines served after every meal; the way the stars were planetarium-perfect during our night in the Sahara; and I could meander through the alleyways of Fez for months without ever finding my way.

{Golan Heights}

preferred method of transportation:
It's funny because I'm not a huge cyclist in D.C. but I almost always rent a bike when I travel to get the lay of the land. And I'm dying to take months off and do one of the epic bike rides with the group Tour D'Afrique. But I also love public transportation in foreign cities, as it lets you interact with locals and people watch. I've probably missed my stop dozens of times because I was too busy admiring the styles of the Madrid teenagers or London gentlemen in their three-button suits.

{swimming in the Dead Sea}

place you've never been but dying to go:
That list is too long to get into here. But I've yet to visit Southeast Asia or Australia, and I'd love to take some serious time to explore both. I also think it's rather ridiculous that I've never driven cross-country through the U.S., as I love road trips. That's in my blood, I guess, as my parents did it back before I was in the picture, and their photos are some of my all-time favorites. City of desire right now is Copenhagen, I'm kind of obsessed with getting there soon. That and I have to plan my honeymoon....

{Cabo}

place you'd never go back:
Downtown Cabo San Lucas. I went a few years ago with my fiancé and my family, but we stayed outside of the downtown hotel area. We spent the week exploring the adorable town of Todos Santos and searching for remote beaches as we drove along the coast (I became addicted to searching for the mist spouts that would appear before seeing a whale), ate street tacos and watched a local soccer game. But when we finally ducked into the downtown area for dinner one night, and found the tacky spring break stuff at its worst. Making things all the more awkward was that my mom's friends wanted to hit some of the bars nearby; no one should ever have to experience El Squid Roe with their mother.
most memorable trip in 2 sentences or less:
In college, I spent a month volunteering at a school in Seine Bight, a village along the coastline of Belize, and it was the first time that I remember being witness to how poverty and beauty can coexist alongside each other. Gorgeous beaches with homes built precariously on stilts, and a community that had so little but welcomed us so openly, sharing with us all that they had.
how do you prepare for a trip?
Research and reporting. I tend to try and make a lot of contacts before I head out somewhere, find a friend-of-a-friend who may be around or to give me some local insider tips. As much as I love to explore a place on my own, it's always so much more fun to have a local guide. I also try to start reading the local blogs and follow Twitter accounts from the places I'm heading to get a pulse on what's happening when I arrive. And I go down to the NG library and I pull as many of the guidebooks as I can carry and stack them all on my nightstand, which pretty much guarantees that I'll be dreaming of a trip for months.
how do you record your travels when you're traveling?
I always have a notebook of some kind (unless of course, when I lose them, which isn't pretty) and am constantly jotting down addresses, names, phone numbers, street corners, etc. And I always try to pick up a journal and keep one when I'm on the road, sticking tickets and pressing flowers and other plants into its pages as I go. Lately, I've also been bringing my tape recorder and just catching snippets of music or voices when I'm sitting in one place for a while. I'm hoping to incorporate them into video or photo slideshows in the future.

{Tel Aviv market}

what is your favorite thing to photograph in a new place?
Markets. I have a friend that says you can't take a bad picture of a market, and he's totally right. I have enough pictures of stacks of dates and spices and pomegranates to last a lifetime, but I won't ever stop taking more.

{Merchant in Fez (right)}

on an average, how many pictures to you take on a trip?

1500 or so, depending on the length of my trip and whether or not I'm shooting RAW. I tear through memory cards.

{Halibut Cove Alaska}

what's in your "designer travel kit" ?
I take a Nikon D-70 with me as well as a Flip video camera and a small Sony Cybershot. I sketch and particularly on my Morocco trip, I tried to categorize everything I saw by it's color: Red was the hats and cloaks of the water-sellers; the embers of the fire in the Sahara; the pottery in our cooking class in Essaouira; the tomatoes which bled into the Berber omelets we at each day.

{Society of Saint Anne's Parade}

what do you do after a trip? long after a trip does this happen?
I keep every map, ticket stub, and receipt from my trips but when I get home, the first thing I do is immediately download all of my photos and try and organize them into a slideshow or online gallery. And I typically try to blog as much as I can -- both for work and for my personal blog. When I have serious time, I'll put together a scrapbook of all the other odds and ends. I love taking the time to do it: it's like reliving the trip. But actually getting it done can take months.

{Moroccan yarn}

favorite souvenir/thing to bring back?
I've always ducked into whatever equivalent of a Salvation Army store I can find; some of my favorite sweaters, T-shirts, and pieces for my home I've found are in international junk or thrift shops. And I'm obsessed with visiting supermarkets and smuggling back all of the most random food items I can find. But I've recently started buying yarn and fabric when I travel -- as I find they're souvenirs that can take a while to really appreciate. I bought some beautiful handmade yarn while I was out in Alaska's Aleutian islands this summer for a story, and started making a scarf to pass the time on the ferry for several days. I finally finished it a few months later, and it was the perfect reminder of my adventure there with my father. The yarn's colors pull the purples, browns, and greens I remembered from the islands, and it's incredibly soft.

{Thrift store in Tel Aviv}

wildcard
The question I'm most often asked as a travel writer/editor is do I get to go out on the road all the time. Not always. But when you work at National Geographic, the world also comes to your door every day. I'm consistently amazed by the far-flung writers, photographers, and researchers who I engage with regularly -- those in the field or just back from their most recent adventures. It's nonstop inspiration, even when I'm stuck in the office.
links:
website: janellenanos.com
work: intelligenttravelblog.com
blog: janellenanos.com/blog
photos: picasa

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