Travel Invasion - From radio waves to real waves
So my old
column Destroy Radio has been destroyed by myself. Why may you ask? Because Internet
radio is hibernating, pleading financial mercy from the government. In the
mean time I have turned my energy and attention elsewhere. From broadcasting
to the world, to actually going out and seeing the world.
Realizing
that the future of Net radio wasn’t looking very bright, I decided to prepare
for the worst. I had been thinking about building a travel website for about
a year and finally decided to construct a blueprint in my mind. A week on
my favorite island St. John in the Virgin Islands, would provide the much needed
inspiration. After spending a week exploring the island by day and residing in
a castle overlooking the sea by night, the plan was beginning to take shape.
Travel Invasion was born. Another nine months went by and still nothing much to
show.
One more trip I thought! The plan was set to head farther down
into the Caribbean to the sparsely populated island of Nevis. About a
month before I was to leave, disaster struck at home. September 11th forever changed
the way our world functions. Should I travel at such a risky time, or should
I waste a plane ticket and remain safe and secure? After 16 hours and four
eerily empty flights, I had finally made it to Nevis.
This was the adventure
that opened my eyes to much more than beautiful scenery and sandy beaches.
People were still in shock, tourism was at a stand still. The tourist areas
looked like ghost towns and the vendors looked fearful of not being able
to survive. The tourist dollar had dried up. I remember watching a gaunt looking
man standing silently on a corner trying to sell a split open papaya which
was covered in flies. Obviously there would be no takers on this hot and humid
day.
From Nevis I headed on to St Martin where I watched CNN helplessly
as the Anthrax story broke. Would I ever be able to return home I wondered?
All I could do was make the best of it.
A few days later my batteries
were charged. Riding a Wave Runner, I was like a rocket pounding the surf
fronting the famed nudie strip of sand called Orient Beach on the eastern
side of the island. The only problem was that it was actually cold that day, so
the only nudity to be seen was from a 70+ year old man walking by. Uugh!
Back
in the U.S. I knew it was time to get to work. What has emerged since
is a massively time consuming hobby which has grown to over 6,000 links to travel
ideas worldwide. Travel Invasion is now much more than a hobby. It is something
I want to be a part of for as long as possible, or until the government
as usual figures out a way to f*ck it up.
Travel Invasion’s main
goal is to help show people that there can be so much more to traveling than
spending 5 nights puking and shitting inside the cramped quarters of a
bacteria laden cruise ship. Screw the opportunity to sit at the Captain’s table!
Go out and be your own Captain. Plan your own journey.
See the world for
what it really is. That means non All-Inclusive of course.
There is
nothing wrong with living in Bakersfield. The lower cost of living allows many
of our fine citizens to go places that people living in high rent cities could
never dream of. I love hearing when someone from our town tells me about an exotic
island or whirlwind tour through Europe they have recently been on.
Hopefully
this will become Bakersfield’s first and only local travel column
in print. In coming issues I hope to share travel bargains, warnings, adventures
and possibly advice.
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