08.23.10
From the Road; 8/22/10
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| Old Town – Quebec City, QC |
08.11.10
A Backpackers’ Guide to Backpacking
In just under 72 hours, I’m off to Toronto to begin my overland journey across Eastern Canada. While gearing up for the trip, I got to thinking about some of the strategies I’ve acquired over the years from past travels. Just like learning to cook, playing baseball, or saving Princess Zelda, backpacking is a skill. And it isn’t the kind you can learn overnight or in a single trip; it requires practice and experience. Below, I’ve complied some advice and suggestions, gathered from my own experience, which can hopefully make your trip both more memorable, and efficient.
Gear
It’s called “backpacking” because you use a backpack, not an over-sized mountain climbing rig with sleeping bags and tent poles sticking out from either side.* The bag I travel with is a regular sized backpack, similar to the one I used in college to tote around textbooks and beer. (I also like to pack a smaller “day bag” so I don’t need to carry my main pack everywhere I go). With careful packing, you will find a small backpack to be sufficient for your journey, and any excess weight a hassle. I like to think of my backpack as my chopper. The golden rule is: smaller and lighter is always better. Thoroughly clean your bag and remove any item unrelated to your trip. Pack no more than 3-4 days worth of undergarments (underwear, socks, t-shirts), 1-2 days worth of overgarments, (the stuff you can wear multiple times between washes i.e. sweatshirts, pants, etc). Choose your best walking shoes, and don’t bring an extra pair. Buy travel sizes for all your toiletries. If you like to read, bring MP3 audiobooks instead of book books. Pay careful attention to every item you pack. Decide if it is absolutely necessary for your trip. If the answer is “maybe,” then maybe you should just pick it up on the road as needed. Yeah, you get the idea. There is always room to downsize.
Personnel
Generally speaking, traveling in packs is not a good idea for backpackers. More people means more decisions and compromises to make, more logistical roadblocks, and more chances somebody’s alarm won’t go off at 8 in the morning. Also, the more friends you have on your trip, the less you’ll interact with the locals at your travel destinations. For these two reasons, I do the majority of my backpacking solo, with an absolute maximum group size of two. This means I go where I want, leave and arrive when I want, eat what I want, and if somebody sleeps till noon, there’s only myself to blame.
This is not to say a backpacking trip should be a solitary endeavor. I like to coordinate my sightseeing on trips with visits to friends/family/acquaintances in the respective destinations who I don’t see very often.** Meet up for coffee, sightseeing, or a night on the town, and enjoy the company of out-of-town friends. But you don’t have to take them along with you the entire trip. If you do want a travel companion, use discretion in who you choose. You and your best friend might get along perfectly in a non-mobile setting, but could be a train wreck when it comes to backpacking. Ask yourself these kinds of questions about your potential travelmate: Do you have similar travel objectives? (what you plan to see, do, eat, etc.) How do your daily travel budgets compare? Do you have similar tolerances for walking long distances, adverse weather conditions, and otherwise uncomfortable situations? Is your friend (or you) the kind of person who slams on the snooze button 7 or 8 times before finally waking up at 11:30 every morning? If the answers to these questions are similar, it might be a match. If any are significantly different, consider it a red flag.
Planning Ahead
There are two cardinal sins of backpacking: 1) planning everything before you leave; and 2) planning nothing before you leave. It is never an exact science predicting how many days are necessary to stay at a particular destination. Backpackers who preemptively plan their entire journey often find themselves with either insufficient time to explore a particular destination, or stuck pounding beers and playing uno at the youth hostel, killing time until the next movement. Additionally, one of the best ways to obtain travel info and suggestions is from other backpackers on the road. Box yourself in, and you’ll be unable to improvise and utilize this resource. Likewise, backpackers who decide to “just figure it out as they go” often end up missing out on worthwhile sites and experiences, and wasting time which could otherwise be devoted to more travel. The solution? Plan a rough outline of your trip. Pick your destinations and route in advance. Estimate the amount of time necessary for each stop. It always helps to set a starting and stopping point/date. Try to stick to your outline, but knowing that an extra day or three can always be added or truncated when warranted. On longer journeys, I like to add intermediary stopping points, be it a friend’s birthday party, a concert, or a sporting event. These provide additional direction and some element of urgency, while still allowing the necessary flexibility in between.
Research
While there is such a thing as over-planning, one can never over-research a trip. Before you leave, map out all the destinations (i.e. cities) you plan to visit. Create a master document listing each destination on your itinerary. Under each destination list each sub-destinations (neighborhoods, tourist attractions, restaurants, etc.) you plan to see during your stay. Be sure to include addresses, phone numbers, and any other relevant information you would need on the road. Under each destination, also list people you plan to visit, along with their contact information. This document should be a work in progress, so start on it from the minute you book your trip. Search Wikitravel, blogs, message boards, Facebook, and any other websites you can find to mine travel information for your trip. Travel guides such as Lonely Planet and Rough Guide are another excellent resource, and can be found at most public libraries. Take a notebook or a computer to the library, and do a thorough search through all the guide books pertaining to your trip. Do not buy the books! They’re both expensive and too heavy for your backpack (see point 1). Plus, when you can’t bring the books on your trip, it forces you to do your research before your trip as opposed to during it.
Logistics, Logistics, Logistics
While flying to and from your starting and stopping points is often both necessary and time efficient, the best way to backpack is over land. Ground travel is not only cheaper than flying, but it allows a backpacker to experience the points in between the primary destinations, which are often equally as worthwhile. (see Paul Theroux’s advice 2 minutes into this video) Whether you plan to travel by bus, train, boat, or motorcycle taxi, these days most travel information is available online. Organize your destinations and sub-destinations in advance (see logistics section) and figure out which form(s) of transportation you will use. Small transportation mishaps can easily add up to days of lost travel over the course of a trip. Orient yourself with local transit systems before you arrive. Which guest house is most convenient for using public transportation? How much do taxis cost? Is the express bus a time saver? Does the subway still run at 3 in the morning? Save yourself the headaches, and answer these questions before you hit the road.
Lodging
The main premise behind backpacking is that it enables travelers to experience multiple destinations, on a single trip, and at a significantly lower cost than visiting each place individually. Unless you’re independently wealthy, the higher your expenditures per day, the less backpacking you’ll be able to do. And there is no better way to blow a backpacking budget than on expensive lodging. Best case scenario is to stay with a friend, family member, or somebody you met on a previous backpacking trip. This is not only cheaper, but usually provides for a better trip, since you’ll have the advantage of already knowing a local. Then when they come visit your city, be sure to return the favor. If you don’t have anybody to stay with, youth hostels are another low-cost option. They can be found just about anywhere on the planet where there are backpackers. Even in some of the most expensive cities in the world, you can often get a bed a youth hostel for between $20 and $30 USD per night. In developing countries, youth hostels can run as low as $5 per night. In addition to being cost-effective, most youth hostels also provide basic backpacker necessities such as washing machines and wi-fi. They can also help to arrange low-cost day trips with other guests. Another lodging option (and travel resource taboot) is couchsurfing.org.
Random Tips
If you don’t have one already, buy a map first thing when you arrive at a destination. In many major cities, the free public transportation maps are often the best maps for purposes of backpacking. Maps in travel books are generally pretty limited since they often focus only on tourist attractions, and neglect large portions of the city.
When riding public transportation, consider buying daily or weekly passes instead of paying for each ride individually. This saves not only money, but the hassle of constantly loading up fare cards throughout your stay.
Bring a pocket-sized notebook wherever you go. Use it to record addresses, phone numbers, the name of your favorite dish at a restaurant, or any other tidbit picked up along the way.
Save most of your purchases, especially gifts, until the very last stop. If there is something you absolutely have to buy early in your trip, ship it home.
Bring a compass. It sounds old fashioned, but being cognizant of cardinal directions is an immeasurable advantage when navigating a new city.
Laptops, while convenient to have, are extremely heavy. If possible, use a smart phone for your electronic needs. If you absolutely must have a computer, netbooks are ideal for light packing.
Don’t pack a towel. Most hostels have their own towels you can use, and nothing is worse than a damp towel culturing mold in your backpack. If you absolutely require your own towel, pack a small wash cloth instead, ideally one that doesn’t hold much moisture.
Keep track of the new friends you meet on the road. Backpackers bounce around the world a lot, and you never know when you’ll be in a position to hook up again.
If you’re visiting a country where you don’t speak the language, pick up a small phrasebook. In addition to phonetics, make sure each word/phrase is written in the target language (i.e. Chinese characters) so you can point to what you need in order to minimize pronunciation mistakes. An extensive section on food is a must! Then you won’t be stuck eating only at restaurants with English menus.
Most importantly…don’t be an asshole. Like it or not, wherever you travel in the world, you are an ambassador of your home country. The impression you leave on locals will often reflect their entire view of where you came from. Try to leave a positive footprint for those who will follow your steps.
Well, there you have it. Every backpacker has his own tricks of the trade, and no matter how long you’re on the road, there’s always more to learn. So, happy travels and please feel free to add your own tips in the comment section.
*Every day I see travelers like this fumbling around downtown Chicago, and often wonder what they are bringing along that couldn’t be picked up on the road. The mega-pack (it typically has flags of previous countries visited, sewed on back) is a dead giveaway of amateur backpacker status.
**This is another perk of solo backpacking. You meet more new people. The more trips you take, the more your network of international friends and acquaintances expands, and the more contacts you’ll have across the globe.
12.04.09
How to Fix the College Football Postseason
Well, it’s that time of the year again. We are near the end of the college football regular season, and it’s about to re-open the annual BCS bitchathon: how the system isn’t fair; how teams from non-BCS schools get marginalized by the process; how we should just stop all the insanity and move to a playoff. Ever since I was about 6 years old, college football has been my favorite sport of choice, the dynasties, the rivalries, the fight songs, the running quarterback; College football has all the excitement of the NFL, but also packed with the tradition that made America fall in love with baseball…which is why it is so difficult to experience the utter mess that the sport turns into every December.
All things considered, the BCS is actually going to work out pretty well this year. Barring the unexpected, the two best teams from the two best conferences (the Big 12 and SEC) are going to meet in a be all end all, national title game. Sure, TCU, Boise State, or Cincinnati could probably take 2 out 10 against Texas or Florida, but put any of those three teams in the Big 12 or SEC, and I give it 1 out of 100 odds they run the table. But I digress. More often than not, the BCS does not work out as cleanly as it will this season (assuming Texas beats Nebraska) and a system which is intended to leave us with a clear cut champion often raises more questions than it answers. With all the annual talk of reforming the college football postseason, I would like to offer two solutions to the post-season predicament, the first would be my own choice which I think will appeal to some long time fans and most purists, but not the public at large. The second will appeal to a much broader audience, and would probably be the most practical way to end the controversy once and for all. Either one would be an improvement on the system currently in place.
Solution 1
I grew up a Missouri Tigers fan in the 1980’s. Along with Kansas and Kansas State, Mizzou was a perennial bottom dweller in the old Big 8 Conference. We were usually good for a couple non-conference wins, an easy victory over K-State, and if it was an exceptionally good year, possibly beating Iowa State and Kansas. It seemed like just about every year we were 3-8. On the other end of the spectrum were Nebraska and Oklahoma. Back then, the winner of the Big 8 automatically qualified for the Orange Bowl and for the first 10 years of my life (the entire decade of the 1980’s) the Big 8 was represented in the Orange Bowl exclusively by either the Huskers or the Sooners. I have vivid memories of watching my struggling Tigers year by year play against the two perennial Big 8 powers. Usually somewhere in the middle of the third quarter when the score was 49-7, fans from the other side would begin throwing oranges out onto the field in anticipation of their looming Big 8 championship. See, back then going to the Orange Bowl actually meant something. It was the prize for making it through a grueling Big 8 season on top, and afforded the winner a chance to prove their muster against an at-large power such as Miami or Notre Dame. Sure, there was still a figurative national championship, but the Orange Bowl in and of itself was a goal any Big 8 team shot for from the first day of the season. As a kid, I remember dreaming of a Chiefs Super Bowl, a Royals repeat in the World Series, and ultimately a Missouri victory in the Orange Bowl so that I could experience the joy that fell on Oklahoma and Nebraska fans every other year.
The thing is, college football has always had a unique distinction among spectator sports in that multiple teams can finish each season with a win. It doesn’t always have to be all about being #1, especially when you have 120 teams in the FBS. And college bowl games were a perfect system for multiple teams to go out on top. The bottom line was that the old college system was unique. You didn’t have a clear cut “#1” each season, but you did have several champions. And to the fans and the players, those championships, be it the Orange, Sugar, Rose, Cotton, or Fiesta Bowl, meant something. Back then, even just the opportunity to play in a bowl meant something. In 1985 there were 15 bowl games. Today there are 34. Over half of all 1-A teams make it to the postseason, and any team which can finish 6-6 and at least 8th in a 12 team conference has a pretty good shot at making it in.
These days bowl games are a consolation. Does anybody even remember who won the Orange Bowl last season? I sure couldn’t without checking Wikipedia. In fact, who knows if it’s even called the Orange Bowl anymore? They’ve probably renamed it the Geiko.com-save-an-extra-15% Winter Classic. Between the elimination of conference tie–ins for major bowls, overblown corporate sponsorships, and the cornucopia of new bowl games featuring mediocre teams with losing conference records, everything which was once unique and special about the bowl system has long expired. So here’s solution 1:
-Get rid of half of the bowl games, including all of the ones with .com in their name.
-In order to make the post season, a team must post at least 7 wins against FBS teams and a .500 winning percentage in conference games.
-Speaking of which, what is the deal with this Football Bowl Championship Subdivision (FBS) nonsense? Let’s save ourselves some syllables and go back to calling it “Division 1-A.”
-Big 12 winner goes to the Orange Bowl; SEC champ to the Sugar; Rose Bowl reverts to Pac 10 vs. Big 10. -Divide the remaining bowls up with subsequent conference tie-ins, so nobody can get complained of being snubbed because they couldn’t promise to sell enough tickets.
I like this system because it brings back what was once unique about college football. True, there wouldn’t always be a clear-cut champion, but is that really all that different from the current system? Remember when Auburn went undefeated and didn’t get a crack at the title, or when LSU won it with 2 losses? If you’re going to do bowl games, at least allow them the significance they deserve…which brings me to solution 2, which involves eliminating the bowl games altogether.
Solution 2
If the goal of the college football season is to determine a national champion (something I don’t agree with, but I know many fans would) then the only fair way to end the season is through a playoff. Consensus about a playoff is pretty one-sided. Other than the corporate executives with their sponsorships of all those silly bowl games, college football fans across the country are generally in agreement that a playoff would be the ideal way to end the college football season. The question then lies, how do we structure the playoff? I believe there is an extremely simple and fair solution to this problem, and it would make postseason college football one of the most exciting and anticipated events in sports.
Before we go into the details of Solution 2, let’s take a look at the restructuring of college football which has been occurring over the past two decades, and which will be integral for this plan to work. Back in the old days, most conferences had between 8 and 10 teams. In 1991 the SEC became the first conference to expand to 12 with the addition of South Carolina and Arkansas. This expansion also allowed the SEC to become the first conference to host a postseason championship between the winners of its two divisions. While this was a marvelous idea in theory, SEC championships, like BCS bowls, are hardly memorable unless they have national championship implications. The Big 12, and then the ACC, later followed the SEC’s footsteps in expanding to 12 team conferences with a championship game to conclude their seasons. But again, these championships hold little significance when the national championship is not on the line.
In order for Solution 2 to work, this movement towards 12 team conferences will need to be continued to the point where Division 1-A (sorry, we’re not calling it FBS anymore) consists of 5 “power conferences” each with exactly 12 teams each. The good news, is we’re already half way there. The question however remains what to do with the 2 conferences which still don’t have a full house. Here are my suggestions:
-Put Notre Dame in the Big 10. The Big 10 has wanted the Irish for years, and with their present stretch of mediocrity, it wouldn’t be too surprising if at some point NBC dropped their television contract, which could hopefully necessitate Notre Dame finally joining a conference.
-Expand the Pac 10 to the Pac 12. There is no shortage of quality programs out West, and the Pac 10 shouldn’t have trouble finding 2 schools who would fit right in. My vote would be for BYU and Boise State. BYU has been the most consistent non-BCS conference school in college football history. They have won a national championship, produced a Heisman Trophy Winner, and year after year show they can play with top tier national competition. And for Boise… since they joined the WAC in 2002, the Broncos have miraculously lost only 1 conference game. While this alone might not make them a national contender, it does render them at very least, an above average Pac 10 team. Moreover Boise’s football success is not entirely a recent phenomenon. The Broncos also pulled 4 undefeated conference seasons in the 1970’s as a member of the Big Sky. Combine that with a BCS bowl win in 2007, and you have a program certainly deserving a spot in the new Pac 12.
-Big East. The Big East is currently one of the 6 BCS conferences, but in my plan, it’s going to get left out of the “Power 5.” The Big East is a basketball conference, and it always has been. Back when Miami and Virginia Tech were members, the Big East had two consistent football powers, which is probably to this day why they still have a spot in the BCS. With the Hokies and Hurricanes gone, the Big East is now an easy ticket to the BCS for whichever above average team decides to run the table any particular season. Under Solution 2, the Big East joins as the WAC, Mountain West, Conference USA, MAC, and Sunbelt as 1-A conferences without the “power conference” distinction.
Ok, so let’s just pretend for a minute that Notre Dame is in the Big 10, Boise and BYU become members of the new Pac 12, we now have five 12 team “power conferences” in Division 1-A. We are now left with the perfect scenario for an action packed, equal-opportunity NCAA football playoff. Here’s how it works.
-Scrap the bowl games altogether. If a playoff is implemented, bowl games will lose even the small scrap of relativity they still possess. Sure, college football won’t be the same without the Meinke Car Care Bowl, but the simple fact is that bowl games and a playoff are mutually exclusive.
-With 5 power conferences, each with 12 teams and a championship game, winning the division, and the conference championship game will finally receive the attention and focus that these distinctions warrant. This is because winners of each conference championship will receive 1 of the 5 automatic bids to the 8 team NCAA College Football Playoff.
-Determining the final 3 slots will be done using the existing BCS formula. Yup, you heard right. We aren’t scrapping the BCS completely. The three teams with the highest BCS rating but which did not automatically qualify would receive “wildcard” bids to the playoff. The reason to use the BCS formula to determine the 3 wildcard spots is twofold. Firstly, it allows a team which has put together masterful regular season but lost its conference championship, the chance to make the postseason. Using this season as an example, that would likely mean both Florida and Alabama making the postseason. Secondly, it gives teams from non-power conferences a legitimate chance to make the postseason, as long as they finished the regular season undefeated. Thus, a team like TCU this year would have their shot at the title. Additionally, the BCS formula would be used to determine the seeding order of the playoff, with the three lowest seeds automatically going to the wildcards. This system works because a) automatic bids mean winning in the regular season remains crucial and b) any team can control its own destiny to the postseason. For a power conference team the goal is: win your conference championship ; for a non-power conference team: go undefeated, and under most circumstances this should earn a wildcard.
There you have it. 8 teams, 7 games, 1 undisputed champion and everybody has an fair shot at the prize.
While fixing college football is easy to do on paper, it’s going to be a long time before any new change is implemented. As much as I like to fantasize, solution 1 is never going to happen. Those who prefer a return to the old system are few and far between, and any plan which provides even more controversy over the national championship is unlikely to receive much traction. I bring it up because too often it’s easy for people to forget that at one time college football actually had a postseason which was exciting and memorable.
Solution 2 however, I believe is doable, and in effect, we are already halfway there. The movement towards 12 team conferences is already halfway complete, and with the current trends in college football economics, I wouldn’t be surprised if the other 2 conferences were to follow suit sometime in the not too distant future.
As for the postseason itself, as fair and logical as I believe Solution 2 is, it’s going to take a lot more than fairness and public opinion to bring about a playoff. College football bowl games are big-time operations which in effect are their own entities separate from any amalgamated system. Convincing executives and investors to scrap the bowl hubbub and big name corporate sponsorships in favor of a playoff system which likely will bear them little benefit is not going to be an easy sell. What’s needed is an entire system overhaul which will likely require decades to implement, prepare for, and to allow time for contracts to expire. If implementing a playoff were that simple, it would have already happened years ago. So for now, all we can do is sit back, dream, and make our picks for the upcoming San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. I wonder what it’s like to win one of those.
06.12.09
Obama’s House
Two weekends ago, my old friend Jiang Yueting from Fuqing came to visit me in Chicago. I first met Yueting in 2004 in Fuqing’s only McDonalds. I didn’t speak much Chinese at the time, and seeing as I was having trouble ordering a Spicy Chicken Combo (I had been subsisting entirely on Chinese university cafeteria food until that point), Yueting promptly offered his assistance and helped me order. Afterwords, we exchanged phone numbers, and he went on to become my first non-colleague friend in China.
Thesedays, Yueting is finishing up his law degree at Temple University in Philadelphia (you can visit his Chinese blog about the US here), and two weekends ago, he and his friend Michelle came to visit me in Chicago. Along with our itinerary which included stops downtown, and through many of Chicago’s diverse ethnic neighborhoods, we decided to check out the residence of Chicago’s current most famous resident, Barack Obama.
Obama’s residence is in Kenwood, one of the more upscale neighborhoods on the South Side. Before I went to see it, I had 2 major misconceptions about the president’s humble abode. 1) that it would indeed be humble and 2) that I would actually be able to see it from any close vantage point.
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| Instead, this is the first thing one sees when they visit the Obama residence at 5046 S. Greenwood. Traffic (pedestrian and automobile) is blocked off to anybody who does not live on the street, or who has been given specific permission (i.e. workmen, Chinese take out delivery drivers, etc.) |
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| This was about as close to the Obama residence as we could get. It’s difficult to see from this shot, but let’s just say it’s one of the larger single family units I have ever seen in the city. |
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| Here’s a view from the other side. |
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| Ironically, the oldest synagogue in Chicago is right across from the president’s residence. I tried telling the police officers that we had come for Shabbat afternoon services, but seeing as I was with 2 Asians, and all of us were carrying cameras, I wasn’t surprised they laughed off my request. According to the cop, all congregants of the synagogue are required to present a special pass to get through the road block. |
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| Along with our old Fuzhou buddy Jon Zalman, we snooped around the scene and chatted with the Chicago police officer on guard for about five minutes before he politely told us we had to leave. According to the officer, the vicinity was loaded with plain clothes officers and CIA agents, and that when the master of the house returns to Chicago, the blockade is extended out nearly through the entire neighborhood. I couldn’t help but wonder how much of an inconvenience it has to be living in the same neighborhood as the President of the United States. I asked another police officer if the security regulations would be in place for the next 4 years, and he immediately quipped back, “You mean the next 8 years.” |
Well after our little jaunt, I must say the president does have good taste in housing and neighborhoods. Kenwood is certainly one of the more aesthetically pleasing upscale urban neighborhoods I have visited in Chicago. It’s also nice to know our president has chosen to live within the city as opposed to the suburban sprawl where most affluent Americans reside thesedays.
In a completely unrelated note, Obama’s neighbors in Kenwood include Muhammad Ali as well as Louis Farrakhan whose house we accidentally discovered. In fornt reads a large plaque “Residence of Muhammad, Messenger of Allah.” In addition to the Obama house and the Farrakhan house, we also stumbled upon the Chabad House in Hyde Park about a half mile south of Kenwood, where we randomly encountered a native Chinese speaking Jew (mom was from NY, dad was from Beijing). Yes, Chicago is quite the mecca of diversity. Just ask our half-Kenyan half-Kansan Indonesian-speaking president.