The Stress of Travel and the Wonderful Part as Well

Posted on October 27, 2018 by Michael Kane

The Stress of Travel and the Wonderful Part as Well

travel, mexico, oaxacaIt’s not stress that kills us, it’s our reaction to it. ~ Hans Selye

The very first caveat for this post is that I’m writing this at 10:30PM at the end of a day and a half of travel and I’m very, very tired.  Things always look better after you get some sleep.  I set out from Albany, NY last night, flew to Charlotte, spent the night, got about 5 hours of sleep.  This morning I got a plane from Charlotte to Mexico City, had a 6 hour layover and flew to Oaxaca City, Mexico where I’m writing this from.

STRESS

So travel, particularly travel to a country for months at a time when you don’t speak the language has some built-in stress.  When that country is Mexico you get an extra dose of US media about crime in Mexico.  Then, everyone, right after you tell them you’re moving to Mexico says in concerned and hushed tones, “is it safe?”  And occasionally, “are you crazy, it’s not safe there.”  Add in tonight that the guy on the van to the hotel sat behind me and explained for 10 minutes to his client how she is almost certain to get pickpocketed tomorrow when they go to the market.

The stress of started the day before the trip, I had over estimated how much I had of one of my medications and had to have it rush filled at the pharmacy.  I’d also let my departure date sneak up on me and so was doing last-minute things right to the wall, only to realize in Mexico City, that I had not set travel notifications on my credit cards, and one Citibank, sucks because you can only do it by phone.  Happily, Bank of America let’s me do it online so I was able to rectify that situation tonight at the hotel after I checked in.

The stress on the road is always a bit my fault, I’m always a little too worried about missing planes and that gets ramped up even more when you’re overseas, when you check-in and they give you one boarding pass for a flight with three legs, when every flight is threatening to make you check your carryon that I honestly have no faith will arrive when I do in a foreign country 36 hours later.  It spikes a bit when at the airport in Mexico City where the airport has gates 1-36 and your flight says gate B.  And of course for some reason my phone refuses to get time zones correct, for your reference I’m on Dizney Time (hello John Thorne) otherwise known as Central Standard Time.

The flights didn’t help, first take off this morning was side to side in a similar way to my near death experience in Phoenix 15 years ago.  And the cream of the crop was coming in half sideways to Oaxaca when suddenly the flaps start groaning and the pilot ramps up the engines full speed and pulls a crazy hard bank to the right.  My Spanish comprehension isn’t great but I definitely caught the gist of the pilots speech after, everything is cool, perfectly normal situation, yeah right.

It all builds up over a couple of days, you get worn out and you start second guessing all of your decisions.  Like I said, sleep makes it all look better. Then of course:

The Wonderful Things

First the little things, like asking an older Mexican woman in perfect Spanish if she needs help with her bag, and this older, nervous looking woman falls all over me with gratitude and then smiles and says so you speak Spanish.  I corrected her, then in Mexico City after fumbling my first few conversations in Spanish I had a perfectly lucid conversation with a phone vendor.  I met a cool guy from Austin whose friend is getting married in Oaxaca this weekend and an immigrant from Seattle who was really fun to talk with and having the sunset above the clouds as we flew out of Mexico City be my favorite color, creamsicle blue.  Then arriving in Oaxaca to see Day of the Dead art just bloody everywhere, I’m excited for my photographic opportunities over the next week.

One of the wonderful things today was sitting down next to a mom and daughter and eventually the mom asked if I spoke English.  Her daughter has been studying for several years and she was hoping to practice as they headed for Los Angeles.  Her English was awesome, far better than my Spanish and we had a lovely conversation.  But more than that, there is something really wonderful about someone who is just so incredibly proud of where they are from.  They both created an amazing list of all the places I needed to go, all the food I needed to eat and even took my contact information and have offered to be my tour guides when they return from America.  On top of that, mom even mentioned that since I wasn’t married she had some single friends I needed to meet.  Super nice people.

So I’m here, about to crash and I’m sure I’ll be much higher energy and far more positive in the morning.  Even more so once I’m settled in my Air BnB tomorrow.  Have a happy day my friends. ~ Rev Kane

 

day of the dead, mexico

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Leavin on a Jet Plane

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Michael Kane

Leavin on a Jet Plane

How’s that title for an earworm and in case you have no idea what I mean, here’s a link to Peter, Paul and Mary.  I’m leaving again, well technically, changing locations but I’m leaving my birthplace to head for Mexico tomorrow.  I’m excited for my next temporary home in Oaxaca City, Mexico for the next several months.  My time back in New York has been very good, first of all I’ve seen a lot of people I haven’t seen in decades.  I got a chance to catch some hockey games and of course it has all corresponded with the fall colors in New York, including some great photographic opportunities in cemeteries.

It’s been great as well to spend time with my nieces and nephews all who are happily as nuts as I am apparently.

It’s been funny telling people I’m going to Mexico.  First, no one has any bloody idea where Oaxaca City is so here’s a little map to help.  The next country east is Guatemala.

Second, everyone asks me, “is it safe.”  The only answer I’m giving these days is one of the cultural norms from Burning Man pictured below.

safety third, burning manIt’s as safe as it can be, as safe as it will be, life is inherently dangerous friends.  I’m excited to start language school, to celebrate one of my favorite holidays, the Day of the Dead in the country of the holiday’s origin, for more photography and especially writing time, hoping to have my next poetry book published by Christmas.  It’s time to leave the northeast, my favorite time of year is transition to my least favorite time here, so it’s time to go.  I see many happy days ahead and I hope you do as well my friends. ~ Rev Kane

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A Beautiful Fall Day

Posted on October 22, 2018 by Michael Kane

A Beautiful Fall Day

fall header

Now Autumn’s fire burns slowly along the woods and day by day the dead leaves fall and melt. ~ William Allingham

Today was just a really wonderful day, the kind of day you hope to have when you’re on the road.  First, I was in Plattsburgh, NY a place I went to college.  The thing is when I toured SUNY Plattsburgh, the tour guide told me it was a really special place.  I rolled my eyes, it would be my third college and honestly a college was  a college was my  thought.  I was wrong.  My time at SUNY Plattsburgh would turn out to be three of  the best years of my life, I’ve held on to more lifelong friends from there than I have from anywhere else I’ve been.  Sure, I was lucky to be around good people, sure I was making better decisions in my life at that time, sure there were great staff and faculty at the institution but I maintain there is something really special about that college and I’m far from alone in that opinion.

So I started the morning having breakfast with a close friend from those days and one of the staff members that was really helpful to me while I was there.  It was great to catch up, the conversation was lively and deep, not just the silly chit chat you often get from folks.  I left to head for a cemetery near Montpelier, VT to do some photography.  It was a really crisp fall day, I love this time of year in the Northeast.  It was around 40 degrees, the kind of cold fall air that when you draw it in stings just a bit but the air tastes clean and clear.  It also helps that I was driving through multicolored landscapes, as if nature had decided to turn Monet loose and let him do his thing on a global scale.

I’ve been photographing the fall colors for the last week, I’ll have some cemetery posts coming out soon, but tonight, just a pile of fall color photos, enjoy and have a happy day my friends. ~ Rev Kane

 

fall 4

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Happiness is Art: Some of My Favorite Poets

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Michael Kane

Happiness is Art: Some of My Favorite Poets

01An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way.  An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. ~ Charles Bukowski

Happiness is Poetry: Bukowski

Even More Bukowski

Warsan Shire

Warsan Shire

At the end of the day, it isn’t where I came from. Maybe home is somewhere I’m going and never have been before. ~ Warsan Shire

Some of her poems

Happiness is Poetry: Warsan Shire, Again

More of her work

01“Art” without the blood and torment Mickey Mouse without the mouse turds. ~ from Illumination Information

Happiness is Poetry: Doug Draime

Six Poems

Other Poetry Posts You Might Enjoy!

Rev Kane

Pablo Neruda

Hosho McCreesh

Langston Hughes

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Photographing, Montjuic Cemetery – Part 1

Posted on October 13, 2018 by Michael Kane

Photographing, Montjuic Cemetery – Part 1

cemetery, photography, spain

Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving.  What you have captured on film is captured forever…it remembers the little things long after you have forgotten everything. ~ Aaron Siskind

I love photographing cemeteries.  I know this and recently I actually asked myself why.  I can think of a lot of factors.  My fascination/fear of death, the beautiful quiet that you often find at cemeteries, the care taken in creating the monuments, the pure aesthetic beauty of the setting and monuments.  It does seem to me to be at one level kind of morbid, but I can’t get past how really beautiful the photos come out, and how much I enjoy shooting in cemeteries.  So as you can tell I really haven’t come up with a satisfactory answer.

On the way to Barcelona I did a Google search on things to do in Barcelona.  One of the things that came up in the search was Montjuic Cemetery.  So I found an afternoon and headed off to the cemetery, although cemetery seems an insufficient definition of Montjuic.  First, it’s a mountain, literally a mountain of dead people, carefully laid out as a city of the dead.  In one section the crypt numbers are above 20,000+ which is really amazing to me and that may only have been for that section.

Montjuic was a really amazing place and by far my favorite monument is the one below.  A monument depicting a man with his foot on the throat of a turtle while holding a double-sided axe.  I have no idea how this imagery related to the deceased and I love it because it is by far the most bizarre monument I have ever encountered.

cemetery, photography, spain

I shot for over four hours on Mountjuic and honestly I hope to return some day and shoot for two full days because I covered such a small part of the mountain.  Below are a bunch of images from the cemetery, enjoy. ~ Rev Kane

 

 

 

 

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Learning to Relax Again

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Michael Kane

Learning to Relax Again

I’ve always been active – outdoors, on the beach, playing – and so to go home, and have to sit on my couch to relax…it’s frustrating.  Sometimes you really just have to shut yourself down. ~ Landon Donovan

About six months ago someone who doesn’t know me very well told me they didn’t think I was someone who could ever just relax.  She meant it as a compliment, inferring that I was someone who is productive and gets things done.  I replied that I was one of the laziest humans she could imagine.  What I’m coming to realize is that both impressions seem to becoming the truth about me.  First, I am lazy, seriously, I have the potential to watch hours of football and movies and eat, everything all day, for days.  One of the reasons I don’t own a video game system, or have any games on my computers or phones is that I can spend hours playing games without even noticing the time go by.  On the flip-side, lying around today just watching an episode of Babylon 5 on Amazon I felt like I was wasting time.

This is the dichotomy that lives in my brain.  It’s the ability to completely tune out in battle with the thought that I have one life and I need to use my time effectively, achieve something, create something to live by the Ben Franklin motto I’ve adopted for my life.

life, living, quote

My motto in life

The one thing that splits the difference is reading, funny how that holds this special place in my life.  As long as I’m reading a book, even for pure pleasure, I never see that as wasting time.

I’m trying to get back to being more accepting of just relaxing.  Taking time to stare at the clouds, watch snow flakes fall, stare at the stars or just lay down and listen to music.  Relaxation has so many benefits in life, decreasing blood pressure and stress, reduces chronic pain, etc… so working it regularly into your routine is a really beneficial thing.  So, I guess I’ll take my own advice, publish this and go watch a little Babylon 5 and try not to feel bad about it, besides, technically I’m on vacation.  ~ Rev Kane

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Posted on October 10, 2018 by Michael Kane

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

starry night selfie

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily lives off our souls. ~ Pablo Picasso

bryant park, nyc, new york

So after coming stateside I spent a really wonderful day hanging out with my brother’s family in Brooklyn.  My little 3 year-old nephew has every construction site, including the color of any excavator involved memorized.  It’s really cute, he also has an extreme fascination with one particular crane.  My other nephew I fully believe thinks I’m a moron.  Anytime I joke or are sarcastic he very directly and very seriously explains to me the situation.  He’s quite smart and incredibly sweet and I hope someday he starts to think I’m smarter.

moma rose

From there I jumped over to Manhattan for a couple of days, to see friends and have dinner in Bryant Park as well as spend a day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, home of my favorite painting, Van Gogh’s, Starry Night.

moma starry night

For tonight’s post, simply just a collection of some of my favorite pieces from the museum.  I honestly have a love/hate relationship with modern art.  Love some, Jackson Pollack’s work, really love some Picasso and not so impressed with some of the standards like Monet.  And I absolutely consider some of the famous square paintings, and the blank canvases as a total farce.  But to each their own I guess.  Here are the pieces I liked, enjoy and have a happy day. ~ Rev Kane

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Come out, come out wherever you are?

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Michael Kane

Come out, come out wherever you are?

quote, happinessA friend is someone who give your permission to be yourself. ~ Jim Morrison

I’m back in my hometown for a couple of weeks before I head off to Mexico.  Yesterday I had the opportunity to have coffee with a friend I haven’t seen in probably ten years.  She’d been one of the readers for my last book of poetry, Otherness.  She wanted to tell me that she felt the book, my poetry, had played some small piece in her healing process, that it reminded her she was not alone.  I was honored to have helped in any way, excited and flattered to know that the book had done, even in some small way, to do exactly what I hoped it would.  It’s what I wrote in the forward to the book.

otherness, book, writing

Otherness

The reason I’m writing about this today is because this meeting with my friend is a reminder that we all need to tell our own story, to offer positivity because you never know when speaking your truth might help someone on their own journey.  So come out, come out wherever you are and tell  your story.  Be yourself and proud of who you are and have a happy day my friend. ~ Rev Kane

 

You can find Otherness and my other book Appalachian Trail Happiness, about my time on the Appalachian Trail, on Amazon.com.

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A nice fall day

Posted on October 6, 2018 by Michael Kane

A Nice Fall Day

fall, autumn, photography

There is something incredibly nostalgic and significant about the annual cascade of Autumn leaves.  ~ Joe L. Wheeler

Today was a really great fall day.  Although it was grey and gloomy, the temperature was good and you could really feel fall sinking into your bones.  I spent the day taking a walk through my old hometown.  I also spent some time in the Pittsfield Cemetery doing a little photography.  I hope to do a bit more fall shooting in the next week or so, but for tonight, some images to help you have a happy day my friends. ~ Rev Kane

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A Little Rest for the Weary

Posted on October 3, 2018 by Michael Kane

A Little Rest for the Weary

bryant park, nyc, new york

I like the pause that tea allows. ~ Waris Ahluwalia

I’m writing this post while taking a cup of tea on the deck of my sister’s place.  Also typing this on an actual keyboard instead of with my thumbs which is more exciting for me than you can imagine, I really hate posting from my phone and typing with my thumbs drives me nuts.  I’ve linked into individual posts or links to more information about each of the places throughout the piece where possible, enjoy.

It was a wild two months and it was both long and went by too fast like every other trip.  Tonight, just to get back into the groove a little recap, some minor highlights from the trip.  Although while on the road I got out some good reports and some photos, I have a lot more photos and a lot more to say about my time abroad.  I’m taking comfort in the familiar at the moment, the little things I posted about.  The biggest is that after three days stateside I’ve finally stopped thinking about which language to speak in before I speak and just using English.  The last five weeks or so I’ve been in non-English speaking countries with wide varieties of English availability which was both awesome and challenging.  I have to admit it is nice right now to just talk, but it’s a brief respite as I move to Oaxaca, Mexico in three weeks.

Hiking

The trip I was on had a really good balance.  I spent the first two weeks hiking the West Highland and Great Glen Ways in Scotland.  Followed up by a short taste of hiking the Camino de Santiago.  Scotland was fantastic but I set a rigid schedule that was a bit faster than I should have, an additional day on both trails would have made both experiences even more enjoyable.  I was blessed with both pretty good weather and minor amounts of midges on both trails, something that doesn’t always happen hiking in Scotland in the summer.

My  experience on the Camino de Santiago (Primitivo) wasn’t as pleasant.  The trail is a bit too suburban for my liking.  Too much road walking and too much proximity to people’s houses and their dogs, three of which took extreme exception to my presence.  I think a lot of people do their first long-distance hiking experience on a Camino and come to the hike with more of a spiritual focus.  This is not me at this point in my life and so I think it’s easier for others to have a better experience on the trail.  I think that’s great that the trail can work for them in this way, it just didn’t for me.

Spain – Part 1

Before and after the Camino my landing pad was Oviedo.  A really nice city in Northern Spain.  I grew to have quite a bit of affection for the town.  It’s compact, walkable, loaded with restaurants, cultural sites and cathedrals.  The people were welcoming and there was just a really comfortable vibe there.  After abandoning the Camino I decided to go to the beach in Spain.  I went up to a town named Gijon and spent five days relaxing and enjoying the waves, walking on the beach and the trails along the coast.  It was a really nice place to wind down after my hikes.  I finished my first swing through Spain by spending a few days in the city that is the endpoint for all Camino hikes, Santiago de Compostela. Santiago was an interesting place, the central cathedral is supposed to contain the remains of the Apostle Paul.  It’s a heavy tourist destination between hikers and religious tourists with a lot of places to see and lot’s of good photo opportunities.  I finished this leg with a couple of days in Fisterra on the coast, the end of the Primitivo hike.

b1 oviedo

Oviedo

Portugal

I visited three different cities in Portugal.  Porto, the second largest city in the Northwest of the country near the Spanish border, then to a little place called Aveiro and finally down to Lisbon.  Each was different, Lisbon was very much a big city, Porto had a complex landscape of big city, tourist town with a healthy dose of poverty.  Aveiro was very much the picturesque little tourist town.

Morocco

I landed in Marrakesh and what a frantic and amazing place it was.  The medina, the souks and the main square are everything you’ve ever heard they were and more.  I liked Marrakesh but it also wore me out.  I left there by train through Casablanca to Tangier where I spoiled myself for two days in a five star hotel with a rooftop pool.  I would leave Africa by ferry to Barcelona.

Barcelona

I really can’t believe I haven’t written about Barcelona yet, but posts are coming I promise, it was a really amazing place, for now just some photos.

Back in America

So I’m back in NY visiting family and planning on visiting some friends and doing some writing and photography as I prep for my move to Mexico.  Lot’s more coming in the next couple of weeks my friends, I hope you have a happy day. ~ Rev Kane

 

 

 

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