Travel is more than just visiting places
Welcome September!
Greetings! I hope that everyone enjoyed a long weekend. I wanted to make sure this hit on Tuesday morning as we are all back to work, so it could be the first fall issue. I know it is not technically fall but it always feels like it after Labor Day since we are often back to a routine when September hits, the days are noticeably shorter and the weather is hopefully a little cooler for most people.
Fall is my favourite time to travel. Perhaps it is because, for most of my adult life, I have lived somewhere with great summers and long winters. Thus, I wanted to get away in the winter and enjoy the summer and fall. Please note that is only Chicago and now Victoria, but the summers are great in both places, for different reasons that I’ll address in future editions when I do a travel guide for each. :)
I love travelling in September, October, and November. The crowds and the prices have usually decreased a bit, and the weather can be cooler Last year I went to Peru to hike the Inca Trail and in September I did my first surf trip with Bitches in Barrels in Tofino, BC. In 2021 I went on a kayak trip on northern Vancouver Island in early September. In 2019 my friends and I visited Victoria and later that year I went to Ecuador. Previous fall trips have been to Chile and Argentina, Central Europe, and Los Angeles.
I have been privileged to be able to travel during those times and up to two weeks for some of them. None of this is to brag but just let you know that fall, or September-November, is a great time to vacation for a long weekend or longer. Summer does not have to be the only time you go on a big trip. Whether you are a solo traveller or travelling with a partner, spouse, or kids, you can squeeze some time in to enjoy a fall getaway.
Links
Travelling in the shoulder season (often in the fall in many destinations!) can have sustainable benefits for the destination.
How to respectfully engage with local cultures when you travel.
How Iberostar hotel chain is investing in saving the oceans.
US News names 20 great places to visit this fall if you’re looking for a North American getaway.
Great fall trips in South America, this was written last year but is still applicable!
Everything you need to know about travel insurance. I may have linked this podcast episode before but I don’t think it hurts to mention it again. When the clients at my current job ask about travel insurance I often remind them to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
Fall would be a great time for a running vacation! Or, if you don’t want to run the whole time but go somewhere and run a race, or it is too soon, I know of a fun trip to Portugal that is happening next April, another shoulder season and a great time to travel.
And this, this JUST rolled into my inbox with my tourism news alert articles. There are menopause wellness retreats, growing in popularity because there are necessary treatments as well as more attention needed to this subject and it falls into the realm of wellness tourism.
Next editions
I promised that in the fall I’ll return to my light reviews of academic articles about tourism issues. The next three newsletters will feature the following articles and will be themed around these topics, in no particular order.
Positive experiences of visually impaired tourists
Corporate Social Responsibility in the casino industry (haha can’t wait for this one)
Climate change from the perspective of Canadian mountain guides
Consuming
I also said this section will return in the fall and here’s the summer recap of what I can remember. I spent a lot of time outside running, walking, hiking, swimming, biking, and TV for nights. I’m ready for shorter days and more reading and audiobooks while I finish and start some WIPs, or works in progress in sewing and knitting. A friend just loaned me two books and I hope to have read both of them by the time the second October edition posts.
TV
This summer I have watched many shows while knitting or while writing and linking these newsletters. Some of them are Black Mirror, The Bear, And Just Like That, Beef, Dark, Working: What we do all day, and a rewatch of Frasier. I enjoyed The Bear and I liked the kitchen action and the family dynamics, the characters (except Claire), the visit to Copenhagen - one of my favourite places, the glimpses of Chicago, and the character development of one character who I HATED early on, it’s a good show! I am cackling while rewatching Frasier and I am not interested in the reboot. Some episodes of Black Mirror I have enjoyed and others I’ve disliked. All of them have made me think. Beef and Dark are well, both dark and thought-provoking in different ways. Working was an interesting look at employment and was narrated by Barack Obama. And finally And Just Like That, I heard so many bad things. I thought it would make me cringe and I was pleasantly surprised. I think it needed a season to get its bearings but I think the writers and creators did a good job with the show in allowing the original characters to evolve believably with the passage of time while also acknowledging that the world has changed. I was entertained. I’m happy it was renewed for a third season.
Books
Finished Camp Zero and enjoyed it, it was fine. It was a post-apocalyptic look at the US and Canada in a world that had grown too hot for most people to live in due to climate change so people moved to the most northern parts of Canada or the rich lived in floating cities off of the coasts. It was set in 2049 and felt a little too eerie.
I picked up a book titled My Year of Rest and Relaxation from the free little library in my neighbourhood mostly because I kept encountering terrible reviews of it and I was so intrigued that I had to know for myself when I saw the cover so I snatched it. By terrible, I mean other readers hated the characters and found them extremely unlikeable and so far I agree. It doesn’t seem to be going anywhere yet plot-wise after 100 pages so I am wondering if that also contributes to bad reviews? I am not dying to pick it up on a daily basis but when I do read it is a quick read and I am moving along. We shall see. I have not read much this summer because I’ve needed a brain break from thinking or reading words and thus I have been knitting or sewing a lot. Those are easier to do while listening to podcasts or watching/listening to a show. Since I live alone, I often like background noise instead of complete silence.
Movies
Barbie! Saw it, and loved it. If you saw it, what did you think?
I want to see Oppenheimer but have not yet and will probably need to watch it at home so I can split it into two nights.
I wanted to see the new Indiana Jones but didn’t want to go alone and no one wanted to see it. There are a lot of things I will do alone but I like a movie buddy so I have not seen that yet. Instead, I rewatched the original 3 at home, I will not watch The Crystal Skull again.
What are you reading/watching/listening to? I have pondered sharing music on here too but my taste is all over the place and I like discovering new music thus I am always open to new suggestions, share with me!
That’s all for this edition! See you in mid-September for the next newsletter on the 15th.
Sonya