In addition to my last post...

I'm currently reading The Best American Travel Writing 2006, edited by Tim Cahill. It's really quite a good read. There are so many diverse, eclectic stories about so many different things, not just places. I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in learning about foreign cultures, locations, and about the heart and soul of travel. Some of my favorite stories include one about a giant in Russia, one detailing the crossing of the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan, and one about an old river guide in the Grand Canyon. There are so many more too, each offering a different perspective and insight into travel. But more than travel, it's about the people, which I've always felt is the main reason for traveling. A common link in each essay is an account of the locals, the indigenous, both good and bad. It blows my mind to think about how some people live in developing nations, and even in some developed ones, as compared to the way I live. I'm so used to being a young woman who lives in New York, such a techologically advanced city, that I almost feel entitled to certain things. But you read about women in other countries and they don't even bat an eyelash at atrocities and disadvantages they experience. It's fascinating to me how I got so lucky while so many others...well, I don't want to say they're unlucky per se, because that would be incredibly ethnocentric, right? It's just...different. Anyway, enough pontificating. It's a good read regardless of where you come from.