Geotraveler’s Niche

He strolled in well-dressed, brown coat slung across one arm, a worn out briefcase in the other. He clearly didn’t want to be there. In his past life, it seemed, he’d been used to so much more.

I instantly shadowed him with a tray of multigrain bread and mini tubs of butter, anticipating his need before he took a seat.

“Tack,” a quick thanks as he reaches for a few slices. Within seconds, I was back with a plate of rice and a sweet-sour meat-y gravy before he had a chance to peel back the little foil cover of his butter.

“Soyasås,” he asked. Soy sauce? I rushed off to find him a bottle of the dark syrupy liquid.

“Tack. No Lemonade?”. I apologized as I poured him a glass of cool water, the only beverage we had. At least, it had lemon slices.

“Socker?” Sugar. He was on to something.

Soon, I was rushing back with cubes of sugar and slices of lemon for homemade lemonade at his table.

With biting cold driving us all indoors, I’d been looking forward to meeting and working with Stockholm’s homeless for weeks. Wondered how they dealt with the heaps of snow. Wondered who they were.

Like him, I was used to so much more in my past corporate life. The business travel. Hopping from one high profile project to the other. Staring at lines of code. Geeking out at tightly written syntax. Business suits. High heels.

I used to have a title.

While I voluntarily gave mine up, I may never really know his full story.

Frankly, his previous story need not matter anymore.

As I rushed to my gate at Heathrow for the fourth time in just 6 weeks, I quickly glanced at my reflection through sliding doors. The oversized ski cap, knee-length scarf, flat-heeled boots, muted neutral colors…

One of the sweetest things I’ve learned while immersing myself in Swedish culture is the silent confidence that comes with that unspoken word…”be” not “say.”

That even beneath nonthreatening exteriors and shabby greys, you can be confident in what you know well, who you are, and no one else really needs to validate that.

My previous story need not matter anymore to anyone else, but me.

Isn’t it ironic that learning a culture’s pseudo-language can get you ingrained faster than fluency in its native language?

Case in point, the wide use of Pidgin or “broken” English in most parts of Africa and the Caribbean. I recently penned a piece for Matador Abroad that takes you behind Nigeria’s Pidgin language culture.

Here’s an excerpt:

I’ll admit. Whenever a foreigner spews a few words of Yòrubá to me, regardless of delivery quality, I instantly warm up, throwing them a cheesy grin of approval. This gesture shows they’ve made an effort to learn my tribal tongue, one of 521 estimated Nigerian languages they could have chosen from.

If they open up with Pidgin English instead, I instantly perk up. Speaking Pidgin transforms them from visiting foreigner into one of hundreds of well integrated expatriates in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. There’s a certain intimacy that this form of broken English emits; a down-to-earth, survivalist approach to everyday living and hustling in Africa’s most populous nation….

Read the full article (and listen!) over at Matador Abroad.

Shot in Lagos, Nigeria

A few shots from a handful of hotels I’m researching in Stockholm.

Shot with Nikon D300

Back in from a brisk, cold walk around the icy block, underneath the snow-crusted bridge, along railroad tracks…alone with my thoughts.

Listening to my favorite tunes from a generic $20 MP3 player. All I really need.

Much to think about during these heavy times, thanks to give, aid to share, and lots of personal priorities to address; one being seriously learning Swedish.

Currently working on many big projects, including putting together the MatadorU Photography curriculum with fellow writer and photographer, Paul Sullivan, and a slew of amazing guest photographers whose work I greatly admire. As I’ve been working on the project, I’ve been learning a lot as well. Tons of ah-a! moments when elements that I’ve understood separately for so long finally came together, showing me how they truly work together.

Also, working on an article that I’m excited about, and need to turn in a draft for within the next few days.

Tenative 6-month Outlook

Tentative because God may have other plans and His plans win.

February will find me in London for the Travellers’ Tales festival. In March, I plan on moderating a panel at the WDLS conference in Vienna, while the latter part of March may find me working with one of my favorite shows in Nigeria. April takes me to Istanbul to cover the International Destination Expo. The hubby and I may head somewhere intimate in May, and June will bring me to New York for TBEX.

And the rest of the year?

More travel in the forecast mostly along the realm of photojournalism work for nonprofits in Africa and Asia. Assignments and travel detours sprinkled in between.

Ideas to pitch, queries to follow up on, opportunities to consider.

The walk was invigorating, cleansing my mind, clearing a few things up. I need to take more winter walks.

New photography accolades have been added to the notables page, and new articles/photo essays posted under Guardian UK and Matador Network.

“Have you been watching the news?”, my brother-in-law asks. The same heart-wrenching news of helplessness we’ve all been watching over the last three days.

“Of course,” I respond, the emotion-laden voice of a CNN broadcaster dispatching from Port-au-Prince in the background.

“I want to help so badly,” he continues.

“All you can do at this point is send some money,” I tell him. “Money is really needed right now.”

“But it just doesn’t feel enough,” was his reply.

It doesn’t feel enough…

I share his sentiment fully. With scenes of desperation constantly flashed across the screen, survivors fighting to stay alive, lying next to the dead, children clinging to injured mothers, newly-made amputees with nothing more than cloth wrapped around severed limbs, lack of electricity, limited food and water supplies, destroyed roads…..sending money just doesn’t feel enough.

In times of disaster, we naturally tend to quantify our response. No amount of aid or assistance we offer seem enough. One fact we also have to realize is that each situation initially poses a different set of challenges, and in the case of Haiti, complex on-the-ground logistics has made reaching victims extremely challenging; victims who also need immediate medical attention, food, shelter, and clean water.

That’s why the best way to help right now is to send some money. The money will go to organizations better equipped to figure out the logistics nightmare.

How You Can Help Right Now

1. Matador Change is currently working with the Haitian Consul General of New York to identify the most pressing needs of the people. We’re also seeking qualified and skilled professionals like doctors, nurses, and engineers who might be able to help. Please contact Julie directly at matadorhaiti@gmail.com

2. You can text donations to the following organizations:
   • text “Yele” to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele
   • text “HAITI” to “90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross
   • text “HAITI” to 864833 to donate $5 to United Way
   • text “HAITI” to 85944 to donate $10 to International Medical Corps

3. CNN put together a comprehensive list of aid organizations currently responding to the Haiti relief efforts, and these organizations have been categorized by services being provided: basic needs, shelter, medical aid, and food.

Remember, rebuilding Haiti will take years. Sending some money today will go a long way in cleaning up and providing medical aid until it’s physically feasible for you to go there yourself to help.

A quick glance at just the first 6 months of my calendar and 2010 is already looking very travel-heavy. Each month will find me someplace or two different. From conferences (at least one of which I’ll be moderating a panel in) to some possible photojournalism trips (my true passion). 2010 will bring big transitions, add a new language, and switch some of my personal roles.

Also got me thinking about this profound post, Some thoughts on saying no to South Africa, written by my friend and colleague, Julie Schwietert, another traveling soul.

As much as we’d all love to be perpetual nomads, moving through cultures, traveling and relentlessly exploring the globe, life really is about balance sometimes and tending to what’s most important at the moment, as she eloquently explains.

Be it a growing family or a new family. They both need to be nurtured in a way that constant travel will not allow.

2009 was that year for me. The year to pull back, make huge decisions, and focus on my next stage in life. Yes, I did travel a bit (Sweden, Nigeria, Finland, United Kingdom, and many domestic cities) but not at the level I’m accustomed to.

So yes, maybe 2010 will bring a ton of travel spanning four continents. But maybe 2011 might bring an addition that requires and deserves my full attention.

That’s one of the many beauties of your life’s journey. Accepting that it needs to be balanced in some way or the other, and making the most of travel surges when they do roll in.

Life truly is all about survival, relevance, and that never-ending quest to make some sort of mark others can relate to. Forging ahead in an attempt to stay one step ahead when, in actuality, everyone’s life path is different.

Stay your life’s course and once in a while, take the backseat and help others succeed.

Can be much more fulfilling in so many ways.

Shot with Nikon D300 in Cleveland

It first started with mini hops to get the blood flowing, blood moving to my brain. I needed to keep moving.

Feeling around for the shutter release button with fingers numb from skin-biting cold, puffs of cold smoke escaping me like an air vent, my mind was devoid of thought. Then came the tears. At least I think they came as I felt ice race down my frozen skin.

This was a whole new level of frigid.

Stockholm in winter is a dichotomy – gorgeous soft colored architecture, garnished with dirty snow beneath gray skies. Ironically, most of my time in Scandinavia has been spent during blistering winter months – from tracking Aurora Borealis in Iceland to ice racing in Swedish Lapland, including an upcoming trip up to Jokkmokk to cover the winter Sami market.

So you’d think I’d be used to Nordic cold by now.

With only four hours of daylight, we had to rush out to go get some supporting photos for an assignment I’m currently working on. The wind chill seemed unbearable at the time. I huffed and puffed like a frustrated child.

But it was temporary. I knew I was going home to warm tasty glögg, pepparkakor, and a toasty blanket.

My mind immediately went to the homeless. I turned to my husband. How do people survive this?

People with nowhere to go?

Happy New Year!

Went through my 2008 in Review – Gratitude List and those very same items can be transferred right to my 2009 list below:

God’s steadfastness, healthy family, new friends from Matador Network, solid opportunities that came in, good health, a wonderful husband, a new life…

As for resolutions for 2010, Nancy Harder (new friend and Matador pal) beat me to it.

I’ve got none.

Last year, my mission word for 2009 was focus, and boy did a lot of doors open when energies were focused in the right direction.

So if I had to choose a focus word for the next 12 months, it would be discipline.

A more controlled discipline about my life, actions, and decisions. Adding compulsory routine where it’s absolutely needed.

Happy New Year and may those dreams you’ve dreamed for yourself for so long be soon realized. For me, I’ll continue to live each day with gratitude and contentment.

God bless.

Photo by Karin Wahlström

The snow-coated landscape looked eerily apocalyptic with wind whistling as we both trudged through knee-deep white powder. We’d occasionally catch swaying tree branches from the corner of our eyes. Like apparitions.

Cars so buried we could make out only their outlines. Like a gift-wrapped basketball.

Not a soul in sight. This normally busy subdivision lined with kids walking home from school, cars playing rock-paper-scissors in the intersection, and other random acts of living…was finally silent.

In a creepy hair-raising way…

Continue reading ‘Photo Essay: Snow, 23 Below, and Christmas Tidings’

The best breakfasts are usually not found on the exclusive Sunday brunch menu at a fancy restaurant or even at that neighborhood hole-in-the-wall joint you swear by.

They’re the ones prepared with love. Be it a slice of buttered toast because your kid made it. Runny, watery sunny-side up eggs because your significant other toiled over it.

Or a waffle spread prepared together by two childhood friends for their husbands.

Currently sorting through photos from Cleveland for subsequent essays including a sports-related photo essay for Matador Sports.

As part of the growing Tripbase travel tag-a-thon, I recently got an email from Audrey Scott, half of the dynamic, multi-talented duo that make up Uncornered Market and Ekua Impraim, a fellow adventurer and kindred spirit.

We travelers have, at least once during our explorations, discovered “that” place. Call it place-finding.

That place, be it a patch of land or a corner café that halts your forward-moving flow and forces you to acknowledge it in its entirety. To listen to its story in that very moment…

3. Fika Your Heart Out at Café 60

So I’m not a big coffee drinker, but Café 60 on Sveavägen makes up for this by providing nourishing “basins” of green tea. With an unpretentious décor, mounds of fikabröd (buns, pastries, tarts, biscotti), and generous portions of salads and foccacia sandwiches, what sets this joint apart from the thousands littering Stockholm is its instantly disarming atmosphere.

Stress evaporates once you step in.

Continue reading ‘Travel Secrets in 3..2..1′

Just back from Cleveland where a relaxing weekend with dear friends was just what we needed. Besides a Cavaliers vs. Bulls game that took us out into frigid weather (more later), most of our time was spent reminiscing, eating, sleeping in, watching movies, and sorting through wedding photos from both sides.

A really low pressure weekend. Everyone needs more low pressure weekends.

In other news, my article on the “Realities of Finding Love Abroad” can be found in the latest issue (Dec 09/Jan 2010) of Heart and Soul magazine.

Nothing snuffs out the initial excitement of new love quicker than distance and the key is to mentally and emotionally prepare one’s self for the arduous process.

In the piece, I briefly share the stories of a couple Black expats who’ve found love in various countries. Rosalind also shared key nuggets of wisdom and insights as to why some women choose to widen their dating options internationally.

You can check out some of their blogs below:

• Whitney Love’s blog – vakkerkvinne.blogspot.com
• Camille Acey’s blog – wheelville.blogspot.com
• Carolyn Vines’ Blog – www.blackandabroad.com
• Adrianne George, Black Women in Europe – www.blackwomenineurope.com