travel

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January 16, 2010

Did you hear the one about…?

Posted by Grendel's Mother under God, marketing, travel
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It’s so easy to put something out there on the Internet and have people believe it. On Facebook for example, there have been a number of times I’ve seen people put in their status, a comment that had been said by someone else. They just copied and pasted and passed it along. There is a name for that. It’s called gossip. And not just gossip but opinions, reviews, travel descriptions—all based on someone’s perspective. I’ve been guilty of passing those Facebook status things along. How about you?

 

I was thinking about the trip my parents and I took last summer to Canada. And recently I found some comments online about this place we visited—Frontier Village in Sault Ste. Marie. If you read my post on it, I stated that it was a couple of shops, a fry stand, and ice cream place with some wooden statues of Wild West characters scattered around. We missed it several times (it was right on the side of the big highway) and even asked for directions to it from a local who gave us a weird look. But, here is how two Web sites describe it.
  • Frontier Village vividly recreates life in the nineteenth century. 
  • Visit Frontier Village and catch a glimpse of what Sault Ste. Marie looked like in the 1800s. There is a collection of stores, restaurants, and craft shops associated with the era. Life-size woodcarvings depict scenes from the Old West.

Nice. Makes me want to seek out this place. Oh wait. I did. Was it fun? Yes. But only because of how the reality of it compared to the descriptions. See below and you tell me.

I remember once I was writing some marketing copy for an upcoming conference and found a great quote about San Diego on some Web site. My boss asked me to confirm it and after looking for the source, found that the source of the quote had gone out of business long ago and the quote had been used over and over again by various organizations such as mine. We had each found something online and took it for granted that it was the truth because it was posted on some Web site.

I find it interesting that it’s so easy for us to believe rumors or what the media tells us and yet so many doubt or even refute the truth of Jesus. Why do we put blinders on to something so wonderful and yet accept lies and deceit so easily? It’s sad but I guess it’s just human nature. I often pray to God to help me stop and pull the plank out of my eye before telling another about their splinter.

I am a professional marketer and it’s my job to persuade people to purchase products or register for events. But I have found that I can be successful by telling the truth. If you feel like you have to stretch the truth or lie in order to sell something, then why are you standing behind it? Just a thought.

Well, I’m off to read some travel brochures. They say this place in Nova Scotia has great whale watching and that it’s the most beautiful scenery in the world. Hmmmm. 

the Wild West at Frontier Village

Characters at Frontier Village

The trading post at Frontier Village

Frontier Village depicts what life was like in the 1800s

The totem pole at Frontier Village

The Old West dudes and the fry stand

Canadian humor

 

January 14, 2010

Oh, the places I’ll go.

Posted by Grendel's Mother under travel
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Now that I’m working again, it seems a bit hard to come home and write, especially after doing it for hours at a time and having few precious hours left in the day to hang with the Grendel dog. But enough whining. It’s been a great month back on the job. I still feel for those who are still looking for work but I have to say it’s nice to be able to think about spending a little money.

So what to buy? Part of me wants to get a big screen TV, but that’s going to have to wait. Another part of me wants to redecorate the kitchen, fix the leaks, and bring things up to date. And then there’s the part that wants to see the world. So it’s between watching the Travel Channel on a huge screen while cooking new dishes learned from the Food Network in my new kitchen or experiencing those places myself while others cook for me. Hmmmm. Me thinks we will be putting more stamps in the passport. Where to go, where to go?

Any ideas? I’m thinking Nova Scotia, Alaska, Israel, Africa (safari), the Galapagos Islands, China, Italy, and I can’t keep France off the list even though I’ve been there before. What do you think? Any special stories from places you’ve visited? Because until I get that savings account built up I need to live vicariously through other adventurers like you.

Love life, experience it, and see the world—be it in person, through books, or through the TV. Au Revoir, elalleqa, Hagoonea’, Auf Wiedersehen, Sayonara, Ciao, Shalom, Adios, Do svidan’ya, and Slan.

 

October 22, 2009

All aboard! (Even the crazies.)

Posted by Grendel's Mother under manners, travel, unemployment
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Do you ever watch those stories on the news about weird or tragic events or stories about crazy people causing a lot of chaos and wonder if you’ll ever be caught in the middle of one? I lead a pretty unassuming kind of life so I feel like I’m usually standing on the outside looking in at those events.

Well today as I hopped onboard the DC Metro train I thought I’d look around to find out what people left on the floor and seats and see if that would make a good story. (Last week I saw a stocking and some other random items and started getting curious.) But as luck would have it I was inspired not by the discarded items of my fellow commuters but by a crazy woman.

Now don’t get me wrong, I can’t stand it when people get on the train (or plane, bus, etc.) and play their music so loud that I can hear it. In fact just last month I was about to reach over and ask a gentleman to turn down his iPod until I heard that he was listening to that song, Land Down Under. The song choice was so not what I expected that I just laughed and tapped my toes. But I digress.

The guy who got on the train today was playing something (the people around me said it wasn’t music it was noise) loudly and the whole car could hear it. As much as I didn’t like that I also didn’t appreciate the lady sitting next to me who screamed over the aisle to tell him to “Turn that s*&t down.” A moment later we were subjected to listening to her yell at him again. I’m certain he did not hear or see her. When she told him that he had 60 seconds before she would stop the train, I proceeded to get into my tackle position. You see, I was on my way to an interview and there was no way I was going to let her stop me from getting there on time.

I’m not sure she heard me when I told her, “You’re not going to stop this train.” But the guys next to me heard me and I could tell they were going to support their new favorite quarterback if the situation arose. Thank goodness the offending iPod blaster got off at the next stop because I was starting to envision the evening’s news clip. “Desperate Job Seeker Tackles Crazy Cursing Woman on Metro.” She must not have been from around here because everyone knows you don’t mess with DC commuter traffic. Anyway, next time I’ll get the scoop on those stockings.

 

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