Travel and Little Known Travel Vloggers and The Beauty They Bring

Often the little known, the better quality of the work.  

When I have free-time besides reading, YouTube is where I spend a good deal of my online time. Travel vlogger channels are some of my favorite spots. I prefer video bloggers who do not go to the standard, prescribed places that tourists are advised to go to, but they travel to some of the most beautiful, ancient, and war affected nations in the world.  Americans are taught to be afraid of such places, resulting in us being left in a cultural, historical, and social vacuum which results in our missing out on so much about the outside world and other cultures. 

About two years previous to the Syrian War which began in 2011, a friend of mine toured there.  He had been a trainer in a program that my then boss sent me to in Istanbul.  The language school where I had been hired at that time used a special teaching method, so everyday for one week another teacher and I were driven to Istanbul, and that is where I came to be in the class where my future friend was the instructor.  He was Iranian and something of a nomad.  I am not a very outgoing person, so it was a great surprise when he reached out to me and showed that he was a calm, compassionate, and highly intelligent man.  

Eventually we lost touch, but prior to the friendship going

silent, he traveled to Syria two years or so before the war broke out.  He emailed me a couple of photos of the ancient city of Palmyra. Since I love history, he wanted to send me a photo of himself in Palmyra. Just a few years later, ISIS captured the area, damaged, looted, and destroyed portions of that ancient metropolis. When I learned what happened I felt a mixture of sadness and nostalgia. Wherever my friend was I wondered what feelings he might be experiencing since he had visited that site just a few years before.  He had encouraged me to visit Syria because he believed I would love it there.  My hope had been that whenever I taught in Turkey again, I could take a bus and travel to Syria.  My friend told me that I would really enjoy the country because of the similarities in culture and kindness of the Syrian people. He wrote that the Turks are nice, but the Syrians are even nicer. I wondered if it was possible to be kinder than Turkish people I've met. The wonderful experiences I've had in Turkey teaching and being a foreigner could fill a book which someday I would love to write. 

More so than Damascus or anywhere else in the country, my dream was to someday travel to Maaloula, an ancient Syrian town which is a holdover from ancient times.  It is one of the few places on earth where the locals still speak Aramaic which was Jesus Christs' native tongue.  Aramaic is a Semitic ancestral language to ancient Hebrew and to Arabic. There are only a few thousand people left who speak Aramaic, and Maaloula is like a time capsule, an ancient relic where even the children speak the language.  

I still would love to visit Syria someday.

I sometimes joke that I am the educated poor, but I love my job and wouldn't drop it and change over to anything else. My only regret is that I didn't find my calling earlier in life. When I was a young person, teaching English as a foreign language was not so common as it is now.  After I finished graduate school the main road to get on for education graduates was just to the public and private schools and colleges and universities here in the states. Changing over to EFL (English as a foreign language) slowly brought me to a new way of life and a new way of thinking.  Over time living and teaching abroad changed me into a less anxious, more confident, and thankful person. The silly little meaningless things that some Americans clutter their brains with aren't important to me.  Living and teaching abroad gradually changed me into more of a minimalist. I learned to accept life as it is, and I try to do my best and be a good example for other people if anyone cares to notice. I don't worry like I was prone to for years, and I don't allow myself to be submerged in the madness of competition and envy.  

Because it is so expensive for me to travel outside the US unless I get a teaching position in say a place like the Emirates or Saudi Arabia where employers would likely pay for my plane ticket, I just can't travel at this time.  Also my father is old, has multiple ailments and is disabled. Fortunately, my mother who is also old has good health. I must stick around in the states to be here for them since I am now basically the head of the house, making decisions and helping my parents with important information which they need and can't access because they lack any knowledge of tech.  

Since I am stuck here, I use YouTube as my means of travel to such places as Lotofen Island in Norway, Senegal, Baghdad, Vietnam, and other places I am so interested in. I also travel by reading in translation the works of authors from around the world. I'm close to a decade of being TV free, since I haven't watched television since 2011.  With books the topics are endless.  Reading requires that you exercise your brain in a small degree even if what you read is low level New York Times Bestseller material. On average I'm always reading four or more books at once.  

I am always happy to see when people decide to leave ignorance behind and explore this world during this one life we have. I don't mean superficial travel to garner attention and envy from others, but serious travel for learning, growth, and to start scrubbing away all the incorrect thinking our society and the people around us have imposed on us. Yes, there are dangers in some places but there is also the reward of rolling out of and away from the false security blanket. It is wonderful that some vloggers are going to countries with immensely rich and complex histories and  cultures and mingling with the regular people who have the same basic needs as us. 

As an adherent of the Christian faith who has studied and enjoys church history, I see Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia all as Bible lands. The apostles, prophets and the saints walked in some of these places. These are lands where the religion took root and flourished, so these places are the spiritual homelands here on earth of all Christians.The Bible lands should not be limited to and recognized as only Israel (Palestine).  All of these nations are highly important countries in the history of humanity. 

Eva Zu Beck is a world traveler who was over here in the states a few weeks ago traveling by train.  Afterwards she went to Syria and visited Damascus, Maaloula, and Aleppo.  Both Maaloula and East Aleppo were occupied by various terrorist groups but were later freed by the Syrian Arab Army and their allies. I don't want my blog to be political, but I must say that it is highly curious that the terrorist groups such as ISIS occupied, looted and damaged or destroyed the oldest parts of cities like Aleppo and Mosul in Iraq.There are certain countries and groups who would love for history to be erased so those countries they don't like cannot have revenue for tourism, and also so overtime people lose their true identities since we live in a time when people are being lured into false and toxic identities particularly here in the Western nations. Click here to go to Eva's tour of Aleppo.

Kento is a Japanese vlogger who loves Middle Eastern culture.  He has been to Syria as well, and he went to Iraq two years ago. Click here for his impassioned anti-war plea that he made in his hotel room in Iraq.  It starts at 4:21 and also click CC for English subtitles. 

Iran is another country I would be very excited to visit. I could be wrong, but I sense there may not be a war between the United States and Iran even though the leadership of this country wants a war that they planned years ago.  It's ridiculous that the US has continued its' ongoing drama and feud with The Islamic Republic of Iran since I was 18. I am now 57. Conflict resolution and negotiation are signs of civilized governance. This country is overextended already, being that it's in seven wars at the moment, most of which are undeclared and unknown to the average American.  The guy here is American and a little silly and childish, but his content as a food travel blogger is very good. I have to praise him for his courage to get out of the box and check out Iran for himself. 

This young woman who is far more classy and who journeyed to Iran also has a wonderful message starting at 20:20.  

There are many other YouTube vloggers who are traveling around the world on roads less traveled by Americans. 

Check out the video here not by a traveler but by a native of Senegal to show the beauty of his country.  Senegal is a country in West Africa.  

In their own way with an audience no where as large as they would have in mainstream media, these young people are doing humanity a service in a small but important way.  Being against warfare, I applaud them, and I am pleased to see a few more people are not accepting the same tired and vicious narratives about our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world.  

Creativity and Healing

81 year old Jiang Shumei was mentioned on Twitter previous to last week.  She is a grandmother in China who started writing books in her seventies after learning how to read and write in her sixties.  I am attracted to tales about people courageous enough to search for their better selves.  

At this time there is a high rate of suicide in the United States.  Even young children are reportedly killing themselves because of bullying and abuse.  Besides abuse and neglect it seems that where people have gotten used to an existence of too much ease and free time, where jobs are close to meaningless except as a source of earnings, where there is an unrealistic optimism based on the self help concept instead of a realistic approach to and understanding about how life works, where people feel they are more special and entitled than other people, these are places where people are more likely to be discontented and have mental problems which could possibly lead to suicide. 

In this country and in countries where Americanism is adopted people are told that there are only a few indicators of success, namely money and material goods are the sole life goals.  What if a person wants something deeper in life?  Everyone does not and cannot acquire the same things and at the same time in life. The way we are taught by society and the media on what defines success can lead to huge anxiety and depression.  We are to conform to a one size fits all pattern, and if we cannot fit ourselves into that box we feel like failures. Then when those who appear to have it all go berserk or take their own lives, some of us find it hard to understand why.  There is a state called emptiness....

There are only some areas where we can have control in this life.  The main one is ourselves.  Often we don't get what we want.  We cannot get people to act or do the way we want them to. We can control children when they are small, but after childhood any type of force becomes futile and can have bad consequences. When I was younger there were things I wanted that I believed would fulfill my desires. Now years later I am most happy that those desires were not fulfilled.  The loss of a dream in the past can be revealed as a blessing in the future.  The warning, be careful what you wish for should be heeded.  

Getting back to Jiang Shumei, when I learned about her some of the thoughts above came to me.  Her husband was killed in a car accident when she was in her early sixties.  Her daughter rescued her from despair when she offered to teach her mother how to read and write. Now in her eighties, Jiang Shumei has written several books and gotten awards for her work. Her daughter was her gateway to a new life, a life of creativity and healing.  

I've read some of Kate Chopin's stories, and I'd like to read some of Elizabeth Gaskell's novels in the future.  I am a fan of the BBC version of her book Wives and Daughters.  Both women were successful writers in their time, who took up the pen after the deaths of family members. One of the maladies of postmodern existence is lack of creativity emerging from the heart, aspiring to spread hope and beauty.  There are tainted forms of creativity tied to money and ego, but creativity for creativity's sake is almost lost, but it can be regained. 

I think that humans were never meant to be idle to the degree that many people are now.  When everything wasn't at our finger tips, we had to make things for ourselves, when the goal was not just money and applause, we had healthier minds and bodies.  People took less for granted and was more frugal when we couldn't just shop in a brick and mortar building or online and things dropped into our hands so easily. 

People who believe in God know that He is the Creator.  I believe He put in us the same need as Himself to create in some form or another, find our talent so that we can have peace in our minds and peace with others.  

I have cut my social media time in the last four years, and I'm very pleased to have done so. I read a lot in my free time, and now I'm making a return to writing. In this era, social media platforms can be useful, but if used in a superficial way these websites can breed idleness, ego, broken relationships, depression, envy, and for some death. 

The old adage, 'The idle mind is the devil's workshop' is true. If used in the wrong or average way, social media can be a dark place of aimless time wasting, pain, envy, unhealthy needs, and gross conduct and ego.  

I believe that most people are capable and have dormant talents that can be tapped into.  Jiang Shumei, Kate Chopin, Elizabeth Gaskell and others tapped into the hidden gifts inside them after the deaths of their loved ones.  

Seek your talent; find a hobby; find meaning in life.  If you believe in God ask Him to guide you to your purpose in life and your hidden talents. It's there; don't waste time.  

Welcome To Hinterlands Blog

So here I am about to get at it again after a four year break from blogging and a break for two years from writing in general.  It was April 2015 when I last posted on my old blog Rosewater.  I was in Turkey at the time, and my blog's name was, I felt, fitting.  

June of that year I returned home and started learning about self publishing and how to become an independent author.  Then I was toppled by health issues, one right after the other, culminating in two major surgeries and one outpatient procedure performed on the same day as the second operation.  Because of weeks of recovery, physical therapy, and adapting to a new sort of teaching position I put aside the manuscript of a short book of stories that I had written.  

For over two years I've been nagged by a thirst to write again. I both longed to write and at the same time didn't have the energy to get busy.  Faced also with family crises I had to step up and manage the situation.  I became an efficient benevolent dictator determined to create order.  

I have learned in the last two years that if you have a talent or ability you're likely to be highly dissatisfied until you put your skills and creativity to use and at least try.  

The era of the blog with long, thoughtful posts is about over, but not quite.  There are still traditional blogs out there.  One of my Twitter friends occasionally sends me email updates for his blog.  Authors often have blogs on their websites.  One blog that has influenced me to return to the medium is Club Orlov maintained by professional blogger and author Dmitri Orlov who is Russian American.  He's a political and social critic whose writings I love and admire.  I love his mixture of intellect and sarcasm.  He doesn't bite his tongue about the serious social and political issues the US faces.  People like him are rare because immigrants certainly will be criticized, likely in crude ways, as ungrateful if they point out the inadequacies of this country even more so than natives who complain.  He probably didn't come here willingly since he immigrated to the US with his parents when he was a young teenager. 

Partially due to Mr. Orlov's blog along with the necessity to have a space to promote my own writing including my upcoming self published book of stories, I knew I needed to return to Blogger or some other platform. My plan is to try to post once a week, on Mondays or Tuesdays.  Along with being a vehicle for my books and artwork I will write on these topics: education, history, travel, social commentary, book reviews, and some sharing of my experiences as a teacher, thinker, and traveler that might inform or inspire. 

My upcoming book of stories is called Gratitude, and I will follow it with a book of poetry. I have the manuscripts for both. Once I have gotten further into editing my poems I will continue working on a novel that I've started writing.  I cannot say the date that my first book, Gratitude, will be available, but I would like to have it published before 2019 ends. I am in the process of proofreading it again for the final time, I hope.

I hope you will enjoy my future work here.  The links to posts will be available on Twitter, Goodreads, and my personal Facebook page.