Part Time Vagabond

Friday Snapshot: Ocean City, New Jersey

// May 28th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // SNAPSHOT

I have another guest post today, this time from my friend PurpleCar (a.k.a., Christine). Christine lives in Philadelphia, PA. I asked her to send me a photo of some of her travels, and she sent me about 15! This one stood out though. Read on.

Ocean City, NJ Summer 2008

I should live at the beach. Fewer allergies, more sunshine, peaceful sounds of waves crashing. Alas, we live and work in Philadelphia, so our shore exposure is limited. We take the standard week-long beach vacation everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) from Philly takes, and we have the occasional hey-why-don’t-we-drive-down-the-shore-today insane jaunts that the kids love (before kids it was the crazy hey-why-don’t-we-drive-down-to-Atlantic-City-tonight jaunts… *sigh*). But in the summer, who can get enough of big ol’ beach chairs, fresh ocean breezes and feeling the soft sand between your toes? Certainly not me.

Can travel make you smarter?

// May 27th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Feature

I realized something just now. It just hit me. I was reading this article on the Twenty-Something Travel blog, about travel making us smarter, and realized how dumb I’ve been. I was complaining on Twitter that I just didn’t have anything to write about here, that I had lost my inspiration and motivation.

And then I figured out why.

I haven’t traveled in a really long time. This is the Part Time Vagabond blog, meaning that yeah, part of my time is spent at home and at work, while part of it is spent traveling. But I haven’t really traveled in a long time, just for the pleasure of traveling. I haven’t been anywhere new. I flew to Arizona a few weeks ago for my brother’s wedding, but I’ve been there before. I took an impromptu road trip a few hours north here in Maine, but it was short and we didn’t get to do too much.

When the siren song of the open road calls you, and you don’t answer, do you get dumber?

I think the more important question is, how does travel make you feel? Do you feel smarter (or dumber)? Are you more creative? More interesting? Funnier? The life of the party? Are you just a better person because you travel?

What it really boils down to is that people who travel on a regular basis are generally more open to new people and new situations. Travelers deal with situations that most “normal” people aren’t prone to, so their reasoning, deductive, and survival skills are all enhanced. Plus, feeding the natural desire to travel allows travelers to more effectively solve problems. Jonah Lehrer delves deeper into this topic in this article, but suffice it to say, travelers better themselves through the simple act of traveling.

Travel itself obviously does not make you smarter. Similarly, lack of travel does not make you dumber. It’s the lack of a change — in scenery, in pace, in lifestyle, in exercise — that leads to a stagnation of the mind. And it’s that stagnation that effectively makes you dumber; or at the least, less able to effectively deal with life.

What this tells me is that it’s time to get out of my routine and into my hiking boots. It’s time to get smarter.

Friday Snapshot: Grand Teton National Park

// May 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // SNAPSHOT

This week, my neighbor & fellow beer lover Matt, a.k.a. Hokie, submitted a great snapshot from his trip back to Maine from Colorado.

While moving back to Maine from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, we decided to take a detour. My mother and I chose to head north and go through both Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. The picture above was taken at one of the many stops in GTNP. While on a quick hike around Jenny Lake, the trees parted enough for me to take this snapshot. I’d highly recommend a visit to the Tetons to anyone, both in the summer and the winter.

Part Time Vagabond & Hi-Tec Giveaway!

// May 14th, 2010 // 11 Comments » // Uncategorized

I’m so excited about this announcement, I’ve been trying to hold it in for weeks! If you signed up for the email newsletter, you already know, but for the rest of you, here’s the awesome news! But since it’s Friday, I figured I’d give you something to do this weekend…
Click past the jump to see!

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American Pickers: One man’s junk is another man’s treasure

// May 12th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // ROADSIDE

There’s a new TV show on the History Channel called American Pickers, where two scruffy, Laurel and Hardy looking guys travel around America looking for treasure among our junk. I love this show, mostly because I’d love to be doing their jobs. You know, if I had the audacity, determination, and sheer will to do what they do every day. Part treasure hunter, part schmoozer, and all lunatic, being a picker looks like a difficult, sometimes dangerous, but always fun way to make a living.

As a reader of the Part Time Vagabond blog, I assume that you, like me, have obligations that keep you from pursuing a life of junking like the gents on American Pickers, but there’s no reason why we can’t dream about it and then live out our fantasies on the weekends. In New England, flea markets, garage sales, and weekend scavenging are a way of life usually reserved for wealthy folks with too much time on their hands. But there are treasures lying in wait in someone’s basement, ready for you to find them. (more…)

Friday Snapshot: Sedona, Arizona

// May 7th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // SNAPSHOT

I know, I know, I keep posting Arizona pictures. But seeing as I just returned from the area, I thought it’d be nice have a new image to show you. This was taken on a hike a few miles outside downtown Sedona (the trailhead was right behind my hotel, in fact).