Welcome to My New Blog

Anne Tyler’s novel The Accidental Tourist, which inspired the movie of the same name, tells the story of a lonely, self-absorbed man who writes guidebooks for business travelers who hate to travel. The protagonist, Macon Leary, doesn’t know how to experience new places, let alone navigate the paths of his own life. Macon champions sameness and predictability on every trip. He abhors surprise.

But for those of us who are anti-Macons -- “deliberate travelers" who choose to travel because we love the thrill of exploration and want to experience the essence of a place -- predictability and routine are the very things we’re trying to escape. Instead of clinging to familiarity and wanting each trip to be as smooth and uneventful as the previous and the next one, deliberate travelers seek out the extraordinary and the unexpected. We like to take the paths less traveled and try new things. Sometimes we’re disappointed, but more often than not our trips are satisfying and memorable. Traveling enriches our lives.

After 25 years of travel writing for publications such as The New York Times and many others, I’ve seen it all – hotel showers with geckos poking their heads out of drains, waiters who served me dishes I didn’t order and insisted I eat them, tourist guides who mispronounced the name of every attraction and got their facts wrong, taxi drivers who were certifiable maniacs behind the wheel, scary motels and managers that looked to be straight out of the movie Psycho, and numerous hotels, inns, restaurants and resorts that turned out to be nothing like the glowing descriptions on their websites or in their glossy brochures.

In my deliberate travels I’ve made some mistakes, but I’ve also made some great discoveries. I’ve been to heaven and I’ve been to hell. And I survived to talk about it -- and write about it.

Along the way I’ve uncovered many of the secrets of traveling well, especially today when we all need to get the most for each dollar. It seemed a shame not to share them. Traveling should be a pleasure, not a chore.

            This is a different kind of travel blog. It’s not like a guidebook that hits the hot spots, not a “how-to,” but an intrepid companion for the deliberate traveler who wants to bring back the best souvenir -- the feeling that you captured for yourself a sense of place, the heart and soul of a piece of land and its people. I hope this blog inspires many joyous journeys and, if you can't travel right now, you can at least come along for the trip in your imagination.

Bon voyage!

Kathryn Jones