Finally, A Travel Pillow That Promotes Sleep

Its the seventh hour of your 14 hour international flight, your coach seat is not treating your 6 ft. 2 in. body frame very well. Exhausted, you contort your body into several positions just hoping that one of them will let you catch a few winks before your have to give a presentation to the company's international management team. For several minutes, you try resting your head on your propped up arm, then you flip down the food tray to try your luck. No Dice. With resolve, you determine that you have to get some sleep so you become one of those people you detest that lean their seat back all the way, but with dismay, this puts a terrible strain on your neck neck. Searching for relief you remember, "I have an Ostrich". Soon your are off to La La land getting much needed rest before your important meeting.

This travel pillow is like none I have seen before. Not only does it give you perfect cushion on all sides of your cranium, but it blocks out sound and light as well. While covering these three key elements to travel snoozing, it's also not bulky like most around-the-neck travel pillows thus letting you sleep comfortably without space concerns in your pack or on the plane.

Finally someone designed a travel pillow with the traveler in mind. Here is a link to this pillow below so you can see that I'm not just making this up. Can't wait to get one for my next adventure. +Gizmag .

http://www.gizmag.com/ostrich-pillow-light/29390/
and on kickstarter here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ostrich-pillow/ostrich-pillow-light/

Learning to "Grok : Take 5 Steps

Robert A. Heinlein wrote in his 1961 novel "Stranger in a Strange Land",  "We must grok in fullness". What does it mean to grok in fullness, or rather what does grok even mean? The dictionary defines grok as to understand something intuitively or through empathy, or becoming one with someone/something through empathy. Well how do we gain empathy then? The answer is simple, we put ourselves in the shoes of others.

This is one of the most fundamental principles of travel. We travel to see new places, experience new things, and put ourselves in the shoes of people who presently live in those destinations or situations as well as the people who have lived in years past in those destinations and situations. Through their eyes, we began to become empathetic and truly understand cultures, history, and day-to-day life of people around the world. Thus we truly can "grok" destinations and truly experience what it means to travel.

To be more specific, I would like you to consider taking these 5 simple steps in order that you may learn to "grok" your next travel experience. The prescription is simple. It involves conscientiously using your five senses on a daily basis while you travel. Ready, set, grok:

   1. Look to See: This is a given, every day try to see something new that you have never seen before.  
       Try to look for things other than what you thought you came to that place to see.

   2. Listen to Hear: Every day,take  
       a few minutes, find a relaxing  
       place while at your destination,
       close your eyes, and listen to the
       sounds around you. Strive to
       listen for things you wouldn't
       normally pick up on. For me, i
       loved to do this in Europe. I
       loved to hear the conversations
       in an outdoor cafe, listen to the
       symphony of cowbells in a
       Swiss pasture, and listening to
       water gushing through mountain
       streams.

   3. Touch to Feel:  Every day,
       touch something new that you never have before whether its the wet nose of St. Bernard, wooden
       texture of a 500 year old bridge, or the precisely crafted stone work of a centuries old cathedral.

  4. Sniff to Smell: Every day, strive to smell something new. These smells will stamp this experience
      in your memory so that if that scent comes wafting past your nose again in your life, you will be
      transported back to the time and place where you first smelled that scent.

   5. Lick to Taste: This is my favorite, search out something to taste/eat that you never have before.
       Not only will this help stamp out your hunger, but it will help you to experience and appreciate the
       culture of the destination that you are visiting.

Learning to "Grok" is an essential practice while traveling. While it is true that we travel for some much needed R&R, we must strive to "grok" the experience so that we can cement memories with those with whom we travel and be a able to gain a better appreciation and knowledge of the world in which we live.

Becoming a Culinary Explorer

As a lover of sweet pastries, savory meats, and spicy entrees, I would like to express my thanks to every immigrant that has ever picked up there lives and moved to another country. It is because of these people that I get to enjoy such a delicious variety of cuisine almost on a daily basis. Throughout history, people have taken their cultures and brought them with them wherever they have dwelt. When these people arrived in their new destination, they cooked the only thing they new how, which lucky for us, were their cultural culinary staples. Over time people began to integrate these recipes into our every day culture and now days we can become culinary explorers.

A few years back, I was living in Arizona trying to survive the heat. Arizona is home to a vast Hispanic population and it is reflected in their cuisine and urban areas. Throughout the Phoenix valley, the landscape seems to be dotted with Mexican restaurants, taco stands, and bicycle vendors. During my first week living there I was invited by a wonderful Mexican family to celebrate a birthday of one of the family members. When it came time to eat, the tables were piled high with all the Mexican staples, beef tongue (lengua), beef cheek (cabeza), all kinds of pork, tamales, carne asada, and mountains of rice and beans. Being my first week there and having never tried these things, i strapped on my culinary exploring napkin and went to work. Low and behold, lengua and cabeza were amazing. I couldn't get enough of it. After living in AZ for a few years, i became so accustomed to spicy Mexican food, that it was hard to eat anything else. Thanks to people like this wonderful family, gringos like myself can enjoy this type of food just about wherever i go.

If one looks around our country and the world, you can truly see how the food is reflected in the culture. Centuries ago, people did the best with what they had and the food keeps evolving to become more and more delicious. By traveling around, one can best learn of a county's culture by trying the food. One of the main reasons for traveling, especially outside the country, is to learn and experience another culture. While traveling do me a favor, be brave and try the food. Trust me you will be surprised how awesome the food and culture really are. Please don't go to a McDonald's unless it is the last option. Being a culinary explorer will help to enhance your view of the world and help you to fall in love with a culture and its food.