Travelling Starfish

Even though I’m single at the moment, I still have to admit that I’m a sucker for Valentine’s Day!  It is a sweet time of year.  I don’t enjoy the commercialism AT ALL but I thought in honour of my blog, I’d find out more about this holiday filled with love, hugs and kisses!

So, how is Valentine’s Day celebrated around the world?

With a bit of research, I found out that there is definitely a commercial element to it worldwide but there are some really unique traditions too.  Here’s more -

Valentine's fruit bouquet, 2004

The North American Way

My take - Every year on Feb 14th, Valentine’s Day is quite the affair in North America.  As soon as the XMAS and New Year’s decorations come down, the hearts and chocolates go up.

Interesting fact – I wasn’t actually all that surprised to find out that over 188 million greeting cards are exchanged in the US a year making it the 2nd biggest card holiday just behind Christmas.  What a money maker for Hallmark!  lol.

Tradition – Millions of couples across North America exchange red roses, boxes of heart-shaped chocolates, cookie bouquet gifts or a bouquet of fruit (that looks likes flowers) that I got on one V-Day – pic to the left.

Out East

My take – Valentine’s Day is more about the men than the women – not sure how I feel about that…hehe.  In Japan, it is the day when women give men gifts of chocolate and other Valentine gifts. On February 14th, women present gifts to their male lovers and friends.

Interesting fact -  On March 14th which is known as White Day (started in 1980), the men return the favour by giving gifts to the women. It is customary for the men to give gifts that cost at least as much and usually more than the gifts they received from their female counterparts. Gift ideas include white chocolate or marshmallows to carry-on the white theme as well as flowers or jewelry.

Tradition – The traditional gift given to men is chocolate and great care is taken to make sure that the correct type of chocolate is given because there are two types – one suitable for friends and one for lovers.  Giri choco or obligatory chocolate is given by women to their male friends, co-workers and superiors. Apparently, it isn’t unusual for a woman to buy and hand out 20 boxes of Giri choco for Valentine’s Day.  Honmei choco is chocolate given to the man that she is truly interested in or serious about. Usually the honmei choco is given with another gift such as a necktie to her significant other.

Valentine's Eve in Eilat

Israeli Style

My take – Not as big as it is in North America but, when celebrated, it resembles a lot of the same attributes to the North American celebration.

Interesting Fact – Israel actually celebrates two holidays of love – Valentine’s Day (on Feb 14th) and Tu B’Av. – which is the festival of love. We are LOVEly people!

Tradition – For Valentine’s Day, it’s all about the chocolate in my opinion in Israel – Israelis do love their chocolates.  On Tu B’Av there is no official status as a holiday and is a regular work day in Israel but there are a number of festivals of singing and dancing on the night of Tu B’Av.  A definite celebration of love and all that is great about it!

Mexican Madness

My take – Mexicans celebrate Día de San Valentín (St. Valentine’s Day) on February 14th just like the Western world – dinner, small gifts & romance.

Interesting Fact -  In addition to gifts, the men of Mexico have another special way of showing their affection to the women in their lives. In the evening, they show up at the home of their girlfriend with a mariachi band or trio of singers who serenade the girl with 2 or 3 romantic songs while standing beneath her window.  Is this for real?  lol…can you imagine?  I think I need to plan a trip to Mexico next Feb just to see it.

Tradition – The most prevalent tradition is to exchange gifts in a secret way – much like the way Americans do with secret Santa exchanges during XMAS.  All over the small towns and big cities of Mexico, you can find vendors offering up colorful balloons with captions of love such as I Love You (Te Amo) or For My Love (Para Mi Amor), chocolates, stems of red roses and greeting cards.

Some beautiful flowers & a glass of champagne - perfect!

And my favourite – Wales (yes, Wales!) -

My take – I love that the Welsh do something just slightly different.  When I read this story about how they celebrate love & affection, I really fell (pardon the pun) in love with it!

Interesting Fact – People in Wales do celebrate on Feb 14th but many celebrate St Dwynwen’s Day on January 25th instead. On this day, they say ‘dwi’n dy garu di’ (I love you) and men give gifts of jewelry, chocolates and flowers to convey their love and affection.  St. Dwynwen is the patron saint of Welsh lovers making her the equivalent of St. Valentine.

Tradition – The traditional gift is of giving Welsh Love spoons on both Valentine’s Day and St. Dwynwen’s Day.  The story goes that hundreds of years ago, hopeful young men would carve intricately detailed wooden spoons to woo the girl they were interested in. If she accepted the spoon as a gift, it demonstrated that she was interested and dating commenced. These spoons had various symbols like hearts, Celtic knots and horseshoes, to demonstrate love and luck.  Why can’t dating be that easy nowadays – lol?

Anyway, I’m a sucker for romance so I loved hearing about all of these stories from around the globe – I hope you did too!

To finish off my V-Day post, I thought I’d leave you with some final top 3′s I found in my research -

Top 3 most romantic spots (adapted from My Dear Valentine)-

1) Paris, France – of course

2) San Francisco, USA

3) Venice, Italy – a bit cliche but I get it

To 3 most romantic flicks (from All Womens Talk) -

1) The Notebook

2) Dirty Dancing – of course

3) Titanic – gotta love Leo!

What do you think about these – agree, disagree, not sure?  Drop me a comment & tell me your thoughts.

And with that, I’m going to bid you all a farewell.

For those in love don’t forget to say “Wo ai ni”, “Ich liebe dich”, “Ti amo”, “Ana behibak”, “Ani ohev atach” or “I love you” to your partners today AND for all the singles out there have a bit of fun on this Valentine’s Day!

As they say, love is in the air!

Bye for now, Miriam

What’s better – to travel on your own or to find a travel partner?  This is a debate across many of my fellow travellers.

As I get older, I struggle with this a lot.  It’s not that I’m old but I’m also not 19 anymore and I guess the allure of roaming the world on your own starts to wear on you as you grow up!

Me Cruising in Oz

When I first started travelling, many of my friends weren’t in the same place in their lives.  I was fortunate enough to start earning a fairly decent salary straight after graduating university and had a decent amount of holidays from the get go.  After a few business trips that I did on my own, I realized that I had it in me to do a trip on my own.  So, when I felt that travel urge, I booked a trip and jetted off on my own and realised it isn’t so bad flying solo.  Since then, I’ve ventured off to far away places like Australia, European classics like Spain and Italy – and all not knowing a soul.  Sure most of the time I’ve met people along the way but there were never any guarantees.

There are so many great things about travelling on your own but as you age sometimes you want to share these incredible experiences with someone else – whether that’s a friend, family member or partner.

If I was to list the negatives of travelling alone I think that (if I’m honest) there is only one.  However, saying that, it is a big one!  As I grow older and see sites on my own, I have to admit that I ponder how it would feel to share these amazing sites, sounds and adventures with someone I care for and love.  I’ve done that before so I guess I know that it is lovely to share trips with another – even just when they are your friend.

There are a lot of positives though of travelling on your own, I have to admit.  If you don’t have a travel companion, I’ve always told people not to hold back on their travels if they lack that partner in crime (so to speak).

Beautiful Budapest

Travelling alone offers many advantages – the 2 biggest I think are -

1) Opening up your mind to meeting more people –

I think most of us can agree that when you travel with others, you tend to stick together.  You definitely meet other people but you have a safety net in that other person or people.  When you are on your own, it really forces you to get to know new people and experience new things.  If you are looking for a trip to grow as an individual and have a different experience, travelling on your own may just be what you need.

2) No compromises – see what you want to see when you want to see it -

When we travel, we all want different things.  Some people want to see the sights, others want to lounge on the beach and another wants to shop the day away.  By travelling with others (especially partners or good friends) we often have to make compromises.  If you are one who is a serious lover of art and wants to spend 3 days touring the Louvre in Paris then you may want to discuss this in advance with your travel partner who just wants to spend the day sitting in French cafes gazing at the Eiffel Tower.  It can be an issue.  By travelling alone, you take this out of the equation. I’m not suggesting you can’t achieve a happy medium or see what you want to see (by breaking off from your partner for a few hours) but going on your own is the sure fire way of guaranteeing you do what you want to do.

When we are young & free, I think travelling alone is the way to go.  It is such a learning experience and it really helps you to evolve as an independent traveller.

Now that I’ve been there & done it a number of times (I am the Travelling Starfish!) I’m ready to settle down and find that travelling companion who enjoys seeing the world as much as me.

Enjoy your travels – whether alone or with a companion, Miriam

Over the years, I’ve done my fair share of crossing borders.

When I started travelling a lot for work when I lived back in Canada, I crossed the Canadian/US border quite a lot – like I’m talking weekly.  It got so bad, a year into spending 3 weeks per month for a year travelling back and forth from Toronto to California I got stopped by Customs and Immigration at the US border in Toronto.  Luckily, they let me in but I did get a warning that my employer needed to provide me with a letter explaining why they needed me to make so many trips south of the border.  Since I was in my mid-20s at the time, I was freaked out.

And so began my interesting adventures with the border patrol authorities.

I think all travellers have stories – some funny, some serious – of strange stories either they’ve experienced or witnessed while crossing the border.   All you have to do is watch an episode of Border Security: Australia’s Front Line to know about some of the odd ball stories that happen when you are crossing into other countries.

Entering Jordan!

When I went to Australia, I got stopped by customs officials as there were 5 almonds peaking out at the bottom of my bag.  I also remember the time I got stuck at Heathrow behind a flight that just got in from some small African country where each person had to be examined for hygiene.  Thank goodness they saw I wasn’t coming from that flight – I don’t need an “extra” check.

When I lived in the UK, I hated going through the border from day one. Every time I’ve entered I’ve felt nervous.  I find it quite humorous as – I’m a Canadian passport holder (and who doesn’t love Canadians, eh?) who is a professional.  Most people think I’m crazy for getting so worked up but it’s always been an interesting experience nonetheless.

Even though Canada is a part of the Commonwealth and still technically has links to the Queen via our Governor General there is nothing “special” for us when we got off that flight.  If I was Hungarian (which I technically am…but some may argue I’m not – again a long story!) I could walk right through a fast immigration check and off I’d go.  To the official, I may not even be asked anything or need to speak (demonstrating I can communicate in English) but I’d be free to live & work in the UK with no worries.

I could start a whole political debate her so for now I’ll just say – rant over…lol.

Anyway, of all my border experiences I must say some of the smoothest have actually been when I’ve flown or crossed in and out of Israel. Although some might be surprised about this, I have found that any questions I’m asked (which are few) are fair.  They are well trained in looking at behaviours more than anything else and the whole process is extremely efficient.

Note that when flying in and out of Israel there are no additional exit fees to pay when you exit the country.  I believe this is added onto your flight fare already so at least you don’t need to worry about bringing extra cash. At the land border crossings into Egypt and Jordan, you must pay a 96 shekel exit fee.  This goes to the admin costs of maintaining the border.

Also if you are travelling to other countries in the Middle East it is a good idea to ask for authorities to stamp a piece of paper vs your passport.  They will do this if requested nicely.  Some of the Arab nations do not accept passports with an Israeli stamp in it – including the UAE (i.e. Dubai, Abu Dhabi) and Lebanon.  You will have no issues in Egypt, the Maldives or Jordan.

The reason why I find going through the border in Israel fairly comfortable is because everything feels efficient.  I feel that when I’m asked a question, it’s to verify a legitimate query.  This is compared to my experiences with other services I’ve been through frequently (in North America and the EU) where I often had inconsistent experiences.

Eilat/Taba border

So if I could offer any advice to my readers about what to do when you’re going across borders, here it is:

1) Know what to expect – the internet is such an important tool for any traveller and it is at our fingertips.  It’s always worth it to do a google search about the border and understand about any additional fees and processes you may need to consider.

2) If your travelling is work-related – figure out if you are going to need a special visa in advance. Likely, if you are just attending a conference or office meeting you won’t need one but if you are visiting direct customers you may – so check it out.

And most importantly…

3) Come prepared – have your documents ready, know your local details (like addresses) and tell them what they ask – not less and definitely not more.  Trust me – that’s the way to do it – I will say no more!

Happy travels &  enjoy,

Miriam

Me in Vancouver, BC

So what makes Canada and the US unique?

A part of the fun of travelling is getting to know and experience cultures.  Having grown up in Canada and having had the chance to travel across North America quite a bit, I realize that there are a lot of things that make this part of the world unique.

Over the years, my travels across the globe have made those North America-isms (as I call them) that more obvious.

A typical Canadian stereotype is around what we say.  Many say that Canadians always say ‘eh’ as in ‘I come from Canada, eh?’.  I don’t say this so I guess I’m an exception to the rule.

There are loads of North American-isms I could list but I’ve narrowed it down to my top 2 good and 2 bad ones – here I go:

Cleveland

The goods -

1) Excellent customer service – I think most people will agree about this point and I believe its partly why many people who visit North America,that  love it. Everytime I’m in Toronto for a meal, I’m always amazed at the quality of the food, the friendlieness of the staff and the value for money.

Similarly, whenever I stay in a hotel I always love the size of the beds and the cleanliness – something that can vary in other parts of the world that I’ve visited.

2) Multi-culturalism – since North America is a ‘new world’ continent, we are a mix of cultures from all sorts of countries. I love that about North America.

Some may say the Irish influence in Boston or the Asian influence in Vancouver (as examples) aren’t genuine as it goes back so many generations.

I disagree because these cultures have built up the cities they immigrated to.  In Toronto, when you go to Chinatown, Greektown or Little Italy, you get a taste of those cultures and an interesting perspective from those generations who took a bold chance and headed to the new world.  You have to give these people credit for this.  As an expat and the granddaughter of a Canadian immigrant (from Hungary), I am amazed about this part of North American history.  Can you imagine packing up your life, getting on a boat and starting out in a place you’ve never even seen a picture of before? Probably not as, with the Internet and cheap travel, that would rarely happen in this day-and-age.

Me in Boston

The not so goods -

1) The large portion sizes – although a positive to some, something I dislike about North America (especially in the US) is the large portion sizes. There is so much excess that isn’t necessary. I recall one visit to The Cheescake Factory in Boston where I ordered a lunch size Symphony Salad (which is delicious by the way) and my partner ordered a club sandwich. Doesn’t sound like anything so special?  Well, when he got his sandwich there was a mountain of fries. It was insane and my salad was enormous considering it was the lunch size. I recommend taking a doggie bag home with you or share – both common practices in North America – for good reason.

2) Saying sorry & being too polite - again this could be viewed as a positive but I don’t think so anymore. After living in the UK (a country known for its politeness) and Israel, I think the whole sorry thing is something I don’t like. I’m actually trying to change it in myself – not any easy task after 26 years of saying it all the time:). Sure, it’s good to say sorry when you’ve done something wrong but I know some fellow Canadians who say sorry when someone pushes them out of the way! Does it really get us anywhere as individuals to be so freaking nice?  I think you know where I stand…your thoughts please!

Well, that’s my laundry list. Do any other North Americans out there have anything to add?

What about all of you who’ve visited the US or Canada…what do you like or dislike about it? Have your say!

Celebrate!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Every year around this time I get very sentimental.  Even as a kid, I remember looking back on photos from the past year & pulling together a little summary of my favourite songs and memories from the year gone by.

I’m going to be honest, the past couple of years I’ve had New Year celebrations that were really emotional. Life has been quite crazy for me but, I now realize, remarkable all at the same time. A year ago no one knew about Travelling Starfish (not even I)  and now look where I am today.  I am very proud of where I’ve gotten to.

I’ve always loved travelling but writing about it & sharing it with the world has really brought it to a whole different level. For anyone considering a blog (especially a travel one) – I say, do it.

I’ve had  opportunities to extend my experiences on other sites through guest posts on Two Backpackers (2 actually here!), Hike Bike Travel and Bears & Beans. These guest posts, with some of the top travel blogs out there, makes me even prouder of what I’ve acheived.

Jordanian Camel

When I look back at 2010, I realize I’ve had a lot of adventures – ones I’ll never forget. My top 3 have to be visits to Gran Canaria, Jordan and Jerusalem.

Chilling on a lush beach for 2 weeks in Gran Canaria with great food, drink & company was an incredible experience, trekking in Indiana Jones territory for a day in Petra was an adventure I’ll never forget & going back to one of the most holiest, beautiful & special places I’ve ever been to cannot be beat.

I’m a lucky girl, thats for sure.

My belief is that after reflecting you must look forward. As most of my friends & family know, I’m really looking forward to 2011, I have a feeling of hope and positivity that it will be a great year.

Me

As a Travelling Starfish, I hope that in 2011 I’m able to -

• Have a better work/life balance day-to-day
• Have more down time (travel without having to work)
• Visit an area or areas of the world that are underdeveloped where I can make a difference in some way

It would be great to say this time next year that I acheived one or all of these goals. I have other personal hopes & dreams for myself but I won’t bore you with the details.

Well, what more can I say? It’s been a great year and I’m ready to close this one down and start off an even better 2011.

For my New Year’s Eve celebrations, I’ll be in the holy land, partying Israeli style.  I head back to Tel Aviv tonight just making it over there for the festivities – should be just what the doctor ordered.

For now, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all my friends, clients, colleagues & family for supporting me throughout 2010. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Here’s to a happy & healthy 2011.

Happy New Year!

Miriam x