:: Free Traveler ::

For Los Angeles artist Gayle Garner Roski, painting is a way of enhancing her travel experiences–a process that allows her to better see and appreciate the exciting locales she visits while traveling three months out of the year with her husband. “I paint anywhere,” Roski proclaims. “In the beginning, I would look for the perfect subject. Now I realize that wherever I am–whether it’s on top of a mountain or sitting in an airport waiting for a flight–there is always something interesting to paint.”

During her travels, Roski creates mainly sketches that she describes as noncommercial, something just for herself. “They’re not polished, not thought out,” she admits, “but they’re authentic. They express what I did, where I was. Travel has a lot of downtime, and I can fit in artwork while waiting. If I have one hour before the plane arrives I figure out what I can accomplish. Sometimes it’s just 10 minutes for a gesture drawing in ink, but one that may be the beginning of a future finished work.”

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In an interview, Alex Kummant says now is the time for a national dialogue on passenger rail

Don’t look for Amtrak’s eighth president and chief executive officer to apologize for the carrier’s federal capital and operating grants of the past. No, he wants more!

“We should ask for big things — we shouldn’t haltingly ask for small things,” Alex Kummant told Sen. Dick Durbin and more than 25 Illinois mayors that the Illinois Democrat and Rep. Tim Johnson (R., Ill) convened at the multi-modal transportation center in Champaign, Ill., on Oct. 17.

“One of the reasons I took this job is that if you look at gas prices, highway congestion, and the challenges in air travel, the time really is now to have a national dialogue on passenger rail. What’s going on here today is the face of [Amtrak’s] future: sitting down with groups of state departments of transportation and freight railroads to look for public monies perhaps totaling in the billions in certain demonstration lanes of 300 to 600 miles in length.”

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Eccentric travel writers, tourism experts, and dedicated politicians across Africa gathered at the Cross River State which boasts to visitors that it is the “cleanest state in Nigeria,” for a five-day Ecotourism symposium. The conference was organized by the African Travel Association — a tourism group created to promote travel and investment in Africa.

With the onslaught of global warming fundamentally changing the cultural environments of emerging nations, eco-tourism is vastly seen as a medium to preserve these countries’ natural elements. The eco-tourism movement seeks to create sustainable economic development through the tourist industry, and conserve the biological and cultural elements of rising nations.

Mention the word “Nigeria” to anyone and all political correctness is unfairly abandoned because of the nagging stereotype adopted by the unenlightened that some Nigerians are scammers who are constantly conducting “backdoor deals.” In developing a steady tourism market, Nigerian politicians and tourism agencies are faced with the task of successfully trying to shed the negative images some hold of Nigeria and its people.

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Located within casting distance of the South Fork of the Snake River, the Lodge at Palisades Creek, in Irwin, Idaho, adds an irresistible bit of luxury to an incomparable flyfishing experience.

Opened in 1989, the lodge offers first-class accommodations and European-style service in a beautiful, secluded setting. The 22-acre property includes nine luxuriously rustic log cabins that accommodate up to two guests each. The tenth cabin is a two-story, two-bedroom A-frame, with wraparound deck, perched right at the river’s edge. In addition, there’s an Orris tackle shop on the premises that serves as the headquarters for a staff of 16 Orvis-approved guides. You simply amble over there after breakfast to meet your guide for the day and are driven to a chosen put-in spot, drift boat and gourmet lunch in tow.

Species include brown, rainbow and Yellowstone cutthroat trout and Rocky Mountain whitefish. A good day on the river can bring 50-plus fish to the boat; the average catch rate is 15 to 30. The typical size ranges from 12 to 20 inches, though fish over 20 inches are caught throughout the year.

In the evening, guests gather around the fireplace in the main lodge for single-malts and martinis, then move to the small, comfortable dining room for gourmet dinners prepared by internationally trained chef Peter Berglund. After dinner, you can retire to the Liar’s Den, an inviting lounge with a well-stocked bar and library, a pool table and the only television on the premises.

AVAILABLE SPECIES: Brown, rainbow and Yellowstone cutthroat trout and Rocky Mountain whites.

BEST MONTHS: June through October.

ACCESS: One-hour drive from Idaho Falls airport; one and a half hours from Jackson, Wyo., airport.

COST: Cabins, $380 single/$550 double per night; A-frame, $550-$1,000 per night, depending on occupancy (rates include all meals and open bar).

OTHER AMENITIES: Whitewater rafting, hiking, horseback riding.

CONTACT: 208-483-2222; http://www.tlapc.com/

In the wake of the foiled London terrorism plot, air-travel regulations have become even more restrictive. The rules are in flux, so before leaving, check for updates from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (tsa.gov) and any country where you are making connecting flights. Meanwhile, some tips to make traveling a bit less daunting.

Fly Baggage Free

Passengers who want to avoid long waits at the luggage carousel can ship their suitcases ahead. Companies such as Virtual Bellhop, Sports Express and the Luggage Co. will pick up your bags from your home and have them waiting at your hotel. Expect to spend $50 to $150 for the convenience. Willing to wait? For a bit less, you can ship your bags via FedEx or UPS ground.

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TSA’s layered security strategy uses high-tech detectors and four-footed ones, too

Airport operators and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are turning to new technologies and old-fashioned strategies in an effort to thwart future terrorist attacks on airliners.

One strategy, begun last December by Edmund (Kip) Hawley, assistant secretary of the TSA, seeks unpredictability to keep terrorists off-balance and uncertain about whether any given airport on any given day will require travelers to remove their coats and shoes or open their laptop computers when they pass through security checkpoints.

“We do them [terrorists] a great service if we follow the same procedures everywhere, every time,” says Hawley. “If, on the other hand, we build a measure of unpredictability into our operations, terrorists cannot use our consistency to their advantage in planning an attack.”

Supplementing that effort, the TSA is testing cutting-edge technologies from “puffer” machines that detect tiny traces of explosives on travelers and their clothing to shoe scanners that could allow passengers to pass through checkpoints without having to remove their footwear.

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By Stacy Mantle

Today the most difficult decision I have to make is whether I should sit on the alabaster beach and watch the tide crash over a colony of corral reef that I discovered on an earlier dive, or join a group of rowdy tourists on a short boat ride out to the middle of the ocean for the sole purpose of jumping into lukewarm water with hundreds of wild stingrays.  I sip my coffee, thinking about my choices until Malik, my resident waiter for the morning, makes an appearance to take my order.  His broad shoulders block the morning sun from my eyes.  Tall and muscular, he moves with an easy grace, handling the small coffee pot and cup as if they were an extension of his large hands.   I ask his thoughts on my conundrum. 

“You are in Cayman, Mon.” He replies in a soft Jamaican accent, although Britain was still the ruling empire of the island.  “In Cayman we do what we want.  You go see stingrays or watch the tide come in, it’s all ‘da same.  They both be here tomorrow.”  I have to smile at his carefree attitude, the “live and die by the clock” mentality of the states now becoming a distant memory.  He leans towards me conspiratorially, “But Malik recommends the stingrays, Mon. It ‘tis an adventure!” He smiles, his teeth bright against his dark skin, and then disappears into the tall palm trees. 

And how could it not be an adventure?  A person could be here for a year, and although the island can be driven across in less than two hours, never really see everything.  Cayman is a cacophony of sounds and a collection of cultures that is rarely seen in one place.

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In the footsteps of the last Roman emperor

Ravenna grew out of the Adriatic marshes, as Venice one day would, built on pilings and tufts of land. It eventually became a major port, and a base for the Roman Empire’s fleet. Julius Caesar gathered his forces at Ravenna as he prepared to cross the Rubicon. Because the city — surrounded by swamps — was so easy to defend, the capital of the Western Empire was moved there from Rome by the emperor Honorius early in the fifth century.

Ravenna was thus the scene of the Roman Empire’s final act, or at least its final act in the West. The man regarded as the last in the long imperial line, Romulus Augustus, spent the few months of his reign, in A.D. 475-476, in Ravenna. He was, in fact, not a man but a boy of thirteen or fourteen. Because he was so young, people gave the name Augustus a diminutive twist — Augustutus, the emperor was called: “little Augustus.” And because he was a usurper, installed by his father, a general named Orestes, people gave the name Romulus a pejorative cast — Momyllus, they said: “little disgrace.” There was time enough in his reign to mint money — barely — but his name was so long it was hard to fit it onto coins. (Zeno, the emperor of the East at the time, did not have this problem.) But then Orestes fell afoul of barbarian mercenaries in his army and was killed. Romulus lost his throne, and a barbarian named Odoacer made himself king of Italy.

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BEST DAMN WEEKEND EVER

IF BACKPACKING WERE A VIDEO GAME, you’d need a cheat code to get to a level this exciting. You’ll slosh through miles of marshland and tramp across rocky beaches and tidal zones teeming with sea life. Then you’ll cross swollen rivers on shoulder-straining cable cars and “boonie-bash” (localese for bushwhack) through miles of undergrowth. This new 36-mile trek in Cape Scott Provincial Park hugs Vancouver Island’s rugged northern shore and seems engineered to test your mettle and delight your senses. The epic (and fun as hell) gauntlet of challenges also rewards you with some of the island’s finest beach camping.

For years, up-island hiking paled in comparison to the West Coast Trail, that famous 45-mile stretch of boardwalk in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Now, however, after 2 years of development, Cape Scott has its own fledgling backcountry prize: a 4-day trek through wildlife-packed coastal boreal forests with camping on pocket beaches, each more beautiful than the last. The trail officially opens this month, even though some sections are a tad behind schedule. Fortunately, instead of delaying the entire route, BC park officials have simply issued warnings to watch your ass through the dicey sections. God love the Canadians.

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By David Arthur Walters

California has represented the bright future of This Great Nation of Ours ever since young men were told, “Go West, young man.” Pure Land Buddhists in China also say El Dorado is in the West; they take a short cut and go East to get to California. Now it appears that a Chinese navigator arrived in California long before a Caucasian barbarian set foot there, and he did not say “Eureka!”

Go West, young man, indeed! Today pundits say, “As California goes, so goes the nation.” The Golden State of course goes for the gold, as we can see in its golden state mineral, golden gate bridge, golden poppy, golden trout, and golden-orange garibaldi. Fortunately, by way of contrast, the Golden State has the California redwood, gray whale, and brown grizzly.

The prospect of going West for the gold alone is not so alluring to those who prize their integrity during the great American pursuit of happiness - all that glitters in the moral sphere is not golden. To begin with, the Golden State is a stolen state.  To make a long story short, it is the most bizarre state in the union.

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