New Orleans - Fun Activities, Part 1

I'm going to take us on a trip via the "wayback" machine to March 2014 (not so way back, but work with me here). My wife and I, with our friend Amy, decided to take a trip to New Orleans (henceforth to be known by the acronym: NOLA). Among the activities, we had to participate in a cooking class. Oh, but taking a cooking class in NOLA is like going through the drive-thru at McDonald's, only 100x more expensive, right? Wrong.

It all depends upon what kind of experience you want to have.

I'm all about experience, and not about price--although I trend to the cheap side. Here's where my absolute thumbs up cooking school and culinary entertainment provider comes into play: Langlois. Caveat:  Because my experience is nearly three years old, the method of delivery (going to their own brick-and-mortar establishment in the Marigny district) has since changed. They now provide various entertainment offers, many of which take place at established, well-regarded restaurants in the city, or at a private home. Therefore, the charm of a small, former corner grocery located outside the bounds of tourist-thick French Quarter, is no longer an option. But like I said: EXPERIENCE, and Langlois mixes culinary know-how with storytelling like no other!

Ours was an intimate class of 7, and, while time has taken away memories of the exact dishes that we learned to prepare (chicken was involved, as were fat pasta noodles made from scratch), but we did come away with stories of how NOLA and Creole cuisine came to be. Needless to say, NOLA's culinary history is a melange of various cultures and comes together in the modern day in a bodacious taste experience! And the cooking school provided us with wonderful recipes that I use to this day (especially Cured Smoked Pompano--although I prefer to use salmon and trout for this one).

And if you don't believe me, try these reviews for size.

Give Langlois a go. If you're in the mood to call them, they can be reached at 504-934-1010, or try the contact form at this link. 

Bon appetit et laissez les bontemps roulez!!

Tips to Create a Memorable Villa Rental Experience, Part 2 - The "What"

I admit to a lack of consistency on doing Part 2 from my September entry, but if you read the entry "New Beginnings" you'll get a pretty good idea about why I haven't entered Part 2... until now.

For those who don't recall Part 1, in that post, I discussed the WHO, WHERE and HOW of this kind of venture. Now, we address the "WHAT".

What? OK, it revolves around "What kind of property do I choose?" And this is largely a function of 1) personal taste; 2) sense of adventure; 3) income and/or net worth; and 4) budget and willingness to go well over said budget.

For the Nifty 50 adventure, we thought in terms of practicality and honed in on the cheapest accommodations for maybe 15 persons. But here's the catch:  Europeans are not accustomed to something as rule-breaking as a "you fly, we buy" kind of proposition. Europeans are, to their credit, very serious about planning their holidays, and will do so well in advance of the date. So, here are my best practices:

1. Have a location or at least a region in mind. We were a bit loosey-goosey about this: anywhere in Europe as long as it's near the ocean or sea. Result? WIDE OPEN OPTIONS! If you have a drop-dead, must-have, nowhere else will do locale in mind, then stick with it. And then open up your options a bit further. If you are focused on the Côte d’Azur in France, expand your horizons:  The Italian Riviera is just as lovely; the hamlet of Menton is a stone's throw from the Italian border, and well within 60-90 minutes by train to Nice, Languedoc and Luberon are awesomely charming and have much to offer. It took us a little while to narrow in on Italy, but the key moment was when Vivian said, "I've never been to Italy before." This, and my spouse's Italian heritage made it an easy choice.

2. Search well in advance (start 12 months ahead), but the real shopping doesn't start until 7-8 months before the event. My early inquiries were met with teaser price points and nebulous descriptions, no matter what the website:  Airbnb.com, Homeaway.com, VRBO.com, etc. As we grew close to that 7 month point, we started narrowing down choices. But NEVER discount the "must have" parts of the rental property. And be prepared to bust your budget, especially if it's a once-in-a-lifetime event. More on that later. After numerous properties that were anywhere from 30-100 km from the beach, and toying with properties on freshwater lakes in the middle of Italy, I decided to do a "what the hell" search and stumbled upon this little gem (click on link). It was well outside our budget, but it was RIGHT. ON. THE. BEACH!! And in retrospect, it was the absolute perfect venue for our celebration.

3, Always maintain a sense of flexibility regarding the "must-have's." And be prepared to compromise with yourself and your partners in crime.

4. Search in Google for more obscure rental websites. They may not pan out for you, but you may
gather ideas about a property, about which you never before thought.

5. If sticking within a budget is key, you may have to compromise on the country. But let that be part of the adventure! There are affordable and beautiful venues in Eastern Europe, and in Portugal. Not everyone has the wherewithall to plant their flag on a Mediterranean beachhead, so keep those options open!

6. Be sure to research costs that are beyond the property itself! We found it necessary to rent a car, and that is a pricey thing. So if you don't want to rent a vehicle (they are always quite pricey in Europe--and that's because fuel is much more expensive there than in the USA), then focus on locales within a comfortable walking/busing distance from the property. But this will undoubtedly narrow the choices quite a bit, unless you are open to an urban vacation. Get an idea about how much basic groceries cost in your area of focus. Again, Google will be your best friend for this.

7. Develop a preliminary budget including the cost of the property, and then tack on 20%. Believe me, that's not an exaggeration. In fact, you may want to consider 30% above the budget to be more realistic.

8. If you are not willing to be adventurous in renting from an "untested" landlord, then look exclusively for rated properties. The one we rented outside of Terracina had several reviews, which was a source of comfort.

There it is. Best practices for "The What" of renting a villa. Well there is No. 9: KEEP AN OPEN MIND. I expected our villa to be a stand-alone property. It was, in fact, shared with another family (a wall seperated us and we barely interacted, outside of the prerequisite "Buongiorno" and "Buona Sera!" In addition, the property as advertised did not disclose that the kitchen was separate from the house, but that was actually a cool perk: breakfast, lunch and dinner in the great outdoors (with a roof over our heads). This is one of the things that made this experience one-of-a-kind.

If you have questions or need clarification on best practices, please leave a comment. I promise to answer you when I can! Happy house hunting!!

Displaced: Empathy for the Homeland-less

I'm taking a departure from the joys and weirdness of travel and 50-dom, to share some reflection. About two months ago, I and a small contingent of relatives attended the funeral of my mother's cousin, Albina. This was a particularly heartbreaking episode of life, as I had accompanied my mother, Albina's only surviving relative of their generation, and observed her before, during and after the funeral.

My mother, 88 years old, with fading hearing and some fading memories, didn't have extensive contact or conversations with Albina in the last few years; dementia took those opportunities for conversation away. But I could see in her eyes and her expressions some of the memories that she held of her and her other departed family members, spanning from childhood in Lithuania, to displacement to refugee camps, to resettlement in Germany, and, finally, emigration and settlement in Chicago, before other life events took my part of the family north to Wisconsin. 

But what struck me as particularly insightful was the observation by the minister who was presiding over the funeral service. The minister, a woman who, as it turned out, was of Lithuanian heritage (and spoke it fluently), actually was born and raised in Germany. German was her native language (and, I'll say as well, she spoke with a really clear, fluent South Side Chicago accent!). She spoke to our small congregation of mourners of Albina (and, indeed, all of my Lithuanian relatives of that generation) being "displaced persons". 

Imagine, the tragedy of feeling compelled to leave behind all that you've known, the native soil that was part of the fiber of your very being--in your DNA, leaving behind worldly possessions that could not be carried away in a small sack or on your back, leaving behind your beloved pets (my mother still cries to this day, thinking about her little dog left behind to fend for itself). Being displaced is not some temporary condition. It's commitment that is foisted upon you by circumstances beyond your control. And it is the difference between life and the promise of a new prosperity, and death and the suffering of being a persona non grata in your own homeland.

The minister tied this together with something that has been very real and very discomfiting for a good portion of the Western world: the flood of refugees from the Middle East and Africa pouring into Europe. I make no judgement on those pro- or anti-refugee. Both sides have legitimized their opinions to become nearly hard as granite. And I have my own opinions formed by my parents and my experiences that have caused me to push the bounds of my own experience. We also have had an election in my home country that was influenced in part by visceral reactions to an perceived influx of unsavory displaced persons.  No matter where you are, there is one thing that seems to be overlooked: How does that person, who is giving up their home and their national identity, feel? Where are they emotionally? And what impact will that have on the generations in their families that follow?

Think about it from this perspective: Albina told the tale of when she cut her knee and there was some soil that never was washed out of the wound. She proudly stated that she had Lithuanian soil in her and took it with her when the wound healed. Proud. But the only soil of her homeland that she touched as an adult, was the soil within her healed wound. She never went back to her homeland. The same goes for my mother: she never went back, and with 100% surety, she never will.

So what's the moral? Step outside of yourselves for a moment. Give a friendly smile to someone with a strange accent and, perhaps, a different skin tone than yourselves. As a matter of fact, try talking and having a conversation without an agenda or a response in mind. More understanding and commonality has been discovered when we move to be more extemporaneous in our interactions. In a highly divided society made moreso in the last few weeks, we desperately need to set aside our own agendas and our own silos of existence, and we need to open ourselves up to new people, experiences, places and things. We need to return to a more humane and more social existence. 

If we don't, the displacement may well be visited upon us before too long. Thank you for your indulgence with my introspection.

*****

Be well and be at peace during this season of holy days for various faiths. If this has moved you, please let me know (in the comments), and pass it on. Post this in Facebook or Twitter or any other social media method you use to share.

New Beginnings

I haven't posted on this blog for several weeks, and the primary reason has been due to some added pressure being placed on me at my day-job, or, more appropriately, what is now my FORMER day-job.

So it is a new beginning, as of 1 December. And I'd like to use this as my processing point because it is difficult to process the feeling of freedom and the feeling of feeling absolutely lost. As is the purpose of this blog, it is about life and how to live it (and sometimes how not to live it), so if this resonates with you, please comment and tell me.

I won't go into detail. Ultimately, being set free is a good thing. What matters is that I no longer have a structure set upon me vs. developed by me for my optimal purpose.

So here are the circumstances: no steady income stream; my insurance runs out at the end of the month (Merry Christmas!); my wife left her job at the end of September and we are both living an unstructured existence, and at times, we are at each others' throats. 

So, what to do? First, EVERYONE needs structure in their lives. Its what get things done. I've developed a duration-based schedule for now, to ensure I'm doing things that need to be done each day (e.g. Work on the blog for 2 hours each day, housekeeping for 2 hours each day, working out for 1 hour each day, etc.), which gives flexibility to fudge blocks of time to deduct from one day and apply it to another day. That has helped. But now I am deciding that I need more structure (and imagine that! I HATED being structured and yearned for a non-structured existence. But the reality is that I hated having a structure foisted on me without my full cooperation and participation). 

I've decided to make my apparent unemployment my job, complete with time to get up, shower, drink tea or coffee, etc. There is a comfort in knowing that neither my subconscious nor my wife have to ask me "what's your plan for the day?" I have it all in hand, and I will share a sample daily plan in a later entry.

There is the obligatory search for work--to seek out de minimis a part-time, benefits-laden gig to help me gain more traction in making this blog work monetarily and in a self-actualizing way. My career is that of a writer, and very few have a comfortable life relying solely on their craft. But I'm not too proud to work a "menial" job if the benefits are there. In my humble opinion, the front-line, the laborers, the line cooks, the gardeners, the ditch diggers, all who make the final product or do the actual service are the most honorable of anyone in business. They should be compensated accordingly, but that is an issue best addressed by the masses. Once the unemployment funds run out, then its time to scramble for more disposable income (of course Uber and Lyft come to mind for that, for flexibility and quick earnings).

And there is time to dedicate to blogging--to learn, to grow, to network. So I have my work cut out for me for now. It's been 2 weeks since I "left the business" (as my former employer so liked to position departures). But before I end this entry, here are the things I reflect on to keep me motivated: 1. My former direct-report team so loved and respected me that they didn't pull any punches with the leaders who announced my departure, and they pooled their resources to give me a really sweet, heart-warming gift that told me that everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) that I did as their leader was the right thing and the good thing; 2. Sleep is really, really good. And having 8 hours of sleep each day makes me feel truly ready to conquer the coming day; 3. Catching up on reading that doesn't involve the latest flavor of management self-help--right now I'm re-reading the Autobiography of Henry VIII. It's really as good as it was when I first read it 20 years ago; 4. No excuses to NOT work out and /get some sweat going. After all, my calendar is pretty clear.

More to come, everyone. This is an evolving existence midway through my life.