For God's Sake! You're On Vacation...Put Down Your Phone!

I'm sorry to admit that a computer has now actually become a necessary travel accessory for me, but it has. For my specific travel computing needs, a notebook type PC is perfect. That's kept me from being tempted to buy a tablet, and since I don't own a smart phone (and never will) I have been blissfully insulated from the horrifying level of distraction I see around me in fellow travelers. My years in Mexico made me the "frog in hot water" with regards to the widespread change in behavior that has come with smart phones. (If you haven't heard the analogy, it's said that if you drop a frog in hot water, it will jump right out to save itself, but if you put a frog in cold water, and then heat it slowly, it doesn't notice the dangerous increase in temperature, and just sits there until it's too late).

In the late 90's, cell phones were pretty much just phones, and I never got involved in their slow transformation into what are really just tiny tablet computers. In fact I worked in the cellular phone industry back then, and it was while I was at a seminar to roll out the new "data services" that I first saw the social apocalypse coming. A rabid presenter was urging the sales-troops to sell-Sell-SELL the expensive new data airtime packages on the reasoning that without them, the users wouldn't be able to keep up with work on their lunch hours, during their time at home, and while on vacation. I was wondering if I was the only person in the room that had recognized what an insane proposition that was, when I looked around me to see a room full of equally rabid cell-phone salesmen that were frothing at the mouth over the opportunity to make a killing while ruining pretty much everyone's lives. (I was living on a island in the Caribbean within a year of that nightmarish day).

Consequently, I was unnerved to see how much things had changed in my absence, with armies of zombie-like smart phone users roaming the streets, their eyes and thumbs firmly glued to the screen in front of them, and apparently oblivious to the real world. I felt like the only person left in Invasion Of The Body Snatchers that hadn't been taken over by the "pods" yet. It's bad enough to see it in my hometown, but on a recent cruise to Hawaii, I saw people (most people I might add) that were never "in the moment" of their travel experience for more than a few minutes at a stretch. Instead, they were single-mindedly focused on figuring out how to keep their electronic slave-drivers connected so they could obsessively check their Facebook accounts, or whatever it is they do with those things.

Your travel memories should look like this... 

Bear in mind, we're in Hawaii here, and it was no doubt the first visit for most of them, yet I'll wager that the thing they saw MOST of during their entire fifteen day cruise, was the screen of their smart phone. At the dinner table, during shows, during excursions, on the beach, in the lounges, at the movie theater...NEVER free. There's a pretty fine line between that sort of obsessive phone checking, and laying in your cabin in a heroin induced stupor. Both are addictive behaviors, and both rob the user of the real pleasures of the real world, uninterrupted by constant pointless distraction. (Indeed, there seems to be a real chemical dependency here related to dopamine production in the brain. See this link about the condition called "Nomophobia"). And if you're reading this and thinking that I'm the one with a screw loose, just try to leave your phone in the drawer for a whole day and see what happens. It's wireless heroin, and I weep for this generation.

Or like this...

Now I admit, there I was on the same cruise ship with my travel computer -- but -- I did what I needed to do in about a single 30 minute stretch late every night, and that was that! The rest of the time I was actually fully engaged with my surroundings, and in the moment.

But NOT like this!

I realize that trying to tell people to give up their smart phone mania is like trying to tell people to give up their cars and go back to the horse and buggy for a better way of life. It's not going to happen. But at least make the effort to moderate your behavior, and dial it back while you're dropping five grand to go on a cruise to a beautiful group of tropical islands in the Pacific. Set yourself a specific half an hour of time each day and then ruin it completely with your phone, the same way I do with my travel computer. Then the other 23 1/2 hours a day you'll be free from the evil little device, and you might actually remember a few sights that didn't include a smart phone screen.

Aloha!


Fox & Vicky

A Caribbean Christmas Tale

Vicky and I took a Caribbean cruise back in 2010, and the weather was just awful the whole time. Fall is always a pretty dodgy time to cruise, and there were several tropical storms and even a hurricane or two in the area. Since we cruise often, we recognize that the stated itinerary is at best just a suggestion, so when port stops were changed or skipped entirely, and excursions were cancelled outright, we just rolled with it. Usually the port facilities themselves have shopping and other diversions, so we often found ourselves sitting on the dock at some little bar, watching the rain pour down in buckets like it can only in the Caribbean.

Under A Thatched Roof In The Pouring Rain

Many of these little islands have a local beer, and they're often served in bottles that are smaller, or even much smaller, than the ones we're accustomed to in North America. Because the labels and brand names were unusual, and because these port-side bar tours in the pouring rain were becoming something of a theme for the cruise, I made a point of taking a picture of the little bottles we were drinking from at each stop.

It was only later that I realized what I'd done. I had actually captured photos of those most elusive bringers of Santa's Christmas cheer...you've all heard of them...The Eight Tiny Rain Beer!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Fox and Vicky

Jewels

Okay, I admit it. I'm too busy either preparing to travel, travelling, or recovering from travel, to actually write about travel. That is irony...right? In fact, the date on the post prior to this one has been taunting me so aggressively regarding my failings, that I feel compelled to get something up here just to make it stop. (I would just hate to end up being one of those writers that "think" about writing a great deal, but never actually writes). Now that my confession is out of the way, I will regale you all with another post regarding our time "Down South" which indeed had sufficient effect on our lives to warrant another visit...

Enjoy!


I’m walking along one of the roads that run parallel to the waterfront, but it’s not one of the roads a tourist would be likely to see. There are no jewelry stores and no T-shirt shops. No one is asking me to come inside because they “have the best junk,” or “speak broken English perfectly.” No enormous white ships can be seen sitting offshore like office buildings lying on their sides. None of the things twenty thousand cruise passengers a day might remember about this island are on this street, but it does have a few attractions of its own. I pass a bougainvillea, pouring over a mission style wall like a waterfall, exploding with red flowers. The color is so intense in the setting sunlight that it doesn’t even seem real. On my left now is a bright orange house I never tire of seeing. The locals are fearless about their use of color in decorating, with vibrant yellows, blues, and reds everywhere. My neighborhood back home was brown and gray. The sidewalk under my feet is mostly cracked concrete, but in the center of every rectangular section is a small, bright-blue square of tile, set like a jewel. Jewels of a different kind for those of us that pass this way. 

Orchid Growing Wild In Our Back Garden - Cozumel, Mexico

Yin and yang, good and bad: each needs the other. I enjoy the frequent blasts of beauty I see while walking here all the more, because ugliness is not that rare either. Cozumel is never neutral, and never dull. One minute I might pass a house or restaurant and exclaim, “Oh my god! What is that smell?” as the intoxicating aroma of a delicious meal being prepared escapes into the air. The next, while passing a vacant lot, might produce the same exclamation -- but for a different reason entirely -- as I smell something dead and decaying amongst the garbage and empty beer bottles. It’s a feast for the senses here, but good or bad, everything is set to maximum. When I returned home for a visit last summer, I was struck by how ordinary everything seemed. There were identical houses with identical lawns, no highs and lows, no wild oscillation in the range of sights and smells. Beauty isn’t as valuable without anything to compare it to.

Mayan Ruins - San Gervasio Site - Cozumel, Mexico

I walk past a "municipal jungle," my name for the empty lots dotting the town. Green rectangles of unrestrained nature, they are usually bordered on four sides by man's handiwork. In these places nature makes a stand, and fights back with a ferocity that can only be seen in the tropics. I smile at the notion that the whole island looked like this once, and would look like it again if it were not held at bay every single day. Sky-blue flowers, the size and shape of a petunia are everywhere, giving the jungle the look of an out of control garden. A young egret stands near one border of this wild spot like a garden ornament: slim, graceful, and white. But it’s real, and a reminder that nature is patiently waiting to take over if it gets the chance. I often hear we need to save the planet, but I think the planet will do just fine by itself if one day we aren’t around to interfere; it’s we that need to be saved from ourselves. 

Iguana - So common that they're the "gophers" of Cozumel, Mexico

I heard a parable once about an old man standing near the gates of an ancient walled city. A family approached carrying all their belongings in a wagon. The father spoke to the old man, telling him they were looking for a new place to live, and asking him what he thought of this city. The old man asked, “What was the place you came from like?” The father answered, “It was a terrible place, dirty, ugly, and full of liars and thieves. No one was kind and everyone looked out only for himself.” The old man replied, “You won’t like it here then, because this city is just like that.” With this, the family moved on. Soon another family approached and asked the same question of the old man, as they too were looking for a new place to live. Again, the old man asked, “What was the place you came from like?” They answered, “It was a wonderful place, clean and beautiful, full of loving and kind people that were always ready to lend a helping hand.” The old man said, “Then you will like it here, because this city is just like that.” Well Cozumel is just like that too, and like any other place, it is exactly what you make of it.

Performers In The Annual Carnival Parade - Cozumel, Mexico

The sun has plunged toward the sea now, seeming to set faster here somehow. The sky to the west is on fire with yellow and orange and red. The clouds look like something from an oil painting, illuminated from within as if they are the source of this light and color. I’m on my way to a local nightspot. It’s not some noisy bar full of twenty-somethings, swilling beer and flashing their tattoos and body piercing. It’s a quiet oasis of cosmopolitan flair called Ambar, another example of the surprising range of this place. I walk through the lounge; past eclectic art and machine turned tabletops, thinking this place would be at home in the most hip of districts in any metropolis. I head through the back door into a garden seating area, where jazz plays softly from speakers hidden in the plants. I love the way the architecture in Mexico blurs the distinction between indoors and out. Vicky is waiting for me at one of the tables, with two ice-cold bottles of dark beer at the ready. The moon is full, or nearly so, and those areas not lit by the garden lights are bathed in bright blue moonlight. I shake my head, thinking that back home the snow is two feet deep and it’s thirty degrees below zero. We clink our bottles together, making a toast, and drink deeply; it’s hot out tonight. 

The Harbor At Christmas - Cozumel, Mexico

Travelers to places like this probably go home thinking they have a notion of what it’s really like here. They tell their friends and family they have been to Cozumel. Sadly though, they have likely seen only a sanitized and carefully prepared set, designed to empty as much cash from their wallets as possible. Avenida Rafael Melgar, the main shopping street along the waterfront, is all of Cozumel most people will ever see. They are warned not to wander onto the dangerous back streets, and to be wary of the local eating establishments. Patent nonsense, as this is the safest place I have ever been, and I’d rather trust local restaurants (that feed their friends and families day after day) than tourist joints that serve you once and never see you again. Make the effort to break free of convention and see the real Cozumel, because you won’t find it on Melgar. Sure, you might see some garbage on the streets, or smell something bad, but you might see some unexpected beauty too.

Sunset From The Ventanas Al Mar (Windows To The Sea) Eco-Hotel - East Coast - Cozumel, Mexico

Vicky and I are walking home now. The streets are quiet but for the occasional taxi driving by. They still flash their headlights in case we want a ride. I guess we’ll always look like tourists no matter how long we live here. Overhead, the moon is bright and clear, and seems impossibly large. Closer to home, we are passing by another municipal jungle when something catches my eye. We stop to look more closely, and within the densely packed leaves and vines is a natural marvel. Hundreds of tiny flickering yellow lights are moving this way and that throughout the plants. They are fireflies, and they look like Christmas tree lights that have been freed, as if by magic, to float away from their wires and do as they please. I stand and stare in wonder. It’s dark, and though I’m sure this jungle is just as full of trash as all the rest, it’s the fireflies I will remember. Each one of us lives in a world of our own making, given form by the power of our thoughts and perceptions. We can see the beer bottles and garbage, or we can see the flowers, birds, and fireflies: the jewels of a different kind. Each one of us is in charge of how we feel. 

I feel lucky.


Fox & Vicky