I have said for quite a long time that if I ever make any real money, I will live in Italy. I might be talked into Spain or Portugal also, especially if its near the water. And Croatia has a deep place in my wanderlusting heart.

But I simply love everything about Italy.

It helps that when I cook, Italian food is on the menu about ninety percent of the time. Add in cheap and wonderful wine. Scenic towns and villages all over the place. Rolling mountains. Good transportation. Excellent coffee.

And coming from the American South, they seem to just have the speed of life that I appreciate. If you aren’t from the South, I am not sure you will fully understand (I didn’t for a long time), but basically… life shouldn’t be lived in a rush.

Here are some of the images I took in my last few weeks there that resonate with me:

The Roman Colosseum as seen through a passing bus. I should have gone over and given some beer money to those guys on the other side of the street that sat still while I snapped this longer exposure shot.

A view from inside the Colosseum, wide angle.

One of the many beautiful churches in Assisi, which is one of my favorite mountain-top towns in Italy, though I am certainly up for finding another couple dozen of them for proper comparison.

As you know, I love photos of people taking photos. I had to crop out the two photographers here, but I got the subjects posing. This is in front of the Arch of Constantinople, right outside the Colosseum.

Occasionally, I like to just get a little funky. This was just a random street corner in Rome.

I hope I have some good video and time lapse of this street artist at work. We’ll see, whenever I get a chance to do some mass editing.

Did I mention the food??

Have you been to Italy?

What are some of your favorite aspects of this country? Do you share my love of it?

Italy via Photography: A Small Photo Journey is a post from: Go, See, Write - Overland Travel Adventure Tales

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Andy Hayes is someone that I have be following for a while, but until I sat down and listened to him speak at TBU Innsbruck last summer, I didn’t know he would be one of my gurus.

Andy is my newsletter guru.

I had known for quite a while that I needed to set up a newsletter and just get going with it, but sitting there and listening to him talk about newsletter strategy (and the need for one) finally pushed me into doing it. Then again, few things push me quickly, it still took me about six months to finally get around to doing it, but thanks to him, I finally have a vibrant newsletter that people seem to like so far.

Andy has so many things going on — I think he rivals me for having too many irons in the fire. Website consulting, speaking, social media consulting, and traveling and blogging, of course. Somehow he seems to manage to keep it all together and moving forward a lot better than I do.

Perhaps I need to just elevate him to my overall life guru. So in the meantime as I think about that, go check out his website, follow him on Twitter and enjoy his answers to the Lucky 13:

1 — What is the superpower you most want?

How about telekinesis. (That’s the ability to move and bend objects with your mind, for those of you on your first cup of joe.)

If I had to create my own superpower, I would ask for the ability of superhuman communication – that I could make two people actually understand each other. Flawed communication is probably man kind’s greatest weakness.

2 — Fill in the blanks: If I were King for the day, I would make _________ illegal and punishable by ___________.

If I were King for a day, I would make hate and bullying illegal and punishable by lashings with wet noodles. I’m only half kidding on the last part, but seriously – there are childhood bullies, there are corporate bullies – the bullying needs to stop.

3 — What blogger, other than you and me, should everyone be reading?

The name that jumps immediately to mind is Chris Guillebeau, who has a great perspective on travel, business, and life. This post is a perfect example why.

4 — If you closed your eyes and thought about a single drink you had a single location that brings the biggest smile to your face, what was it and where was it?

When I was in New Zealand, I decided to walk one of the south island’s “epic trails” – there are lots of trails in NZ, but these are the ones that have the best amenities, the best views, the most jaw-dropping examples of Mother Nature. My first choice was the coastal walk on the Abel Tasman National Park. I started the walk in a town called Mouteka (and absent-mindedly told no one what I was doing), and it was off day so things were quiet. I didn’t see another person for like 2 days, and the first person I did see looked suspiciously like a backpacker killer.

Anyway, I survived and treated myself to a couple nights at the Awaroa Lodge, which you can only get to via boat/plane/foot. It’s actually a far more luxurious resort than I had known. I remember that first sip of Monteith’s, a great NZ beer – one of the best beers in the world actually. Oh, the golden nectar. After being slightly dehydrated, slightly delirious, and more than slightly un-caffeinated it was a very welcome refreshment. (Note: you can of course bring beer or whatever you want on the trails. But I wasn’t very well prepared and you have to carry everything with you, so choose wisely.)

5 — Best Bond movie?

I love Sean Connery, but I think he might have been a little before my time. So my vote has to be for Pierce Brosnan in Goldeneye.

Andy's business idol

6 — If people knew I really liked __________ (person, place, thing, musician, whatever), I think a good number of them would think I was crazy.

Lady Gaga. That b!tch is smarter than you probably realize. Total nutcase, but smart.

7 — Location of your most drunken night?

Hong Kong, for sure. And quite possibly the night after I landed in Hong Kong – yes, after a 20-ish hour trip from Amsterdam, I arrived early evening, and the welcoming festivities didn’t end until the next day. The cycle repeated until I nearly passed out on a rickety bus from Hong Kong to Stanley 3 days later.

8 — What is your family most proud of you for, so far of course?

At first it was probably the fact that I’m the most educated person in the family, but if behavior says anything, I would say they’re most proud of the fact that I always live in interesting countries/places. They like having a place to crash, let me tell you. And I don’t mind; many people would probably say my mother isn’t that “well traveled,” but I guarantee you that she will have some crazy-ass tip about something you have never heard of. She’s always spot on with her travel research.

9 — Who is the most overrated actor or actress?

Not so for Andy

I don’t have a TV and don’t watch that many Holywood films (Bond being one of a few exceptions), so it is hard for me to pick just one. I think I’d have to go with Adam Sandler. He isn’t funny. At all.

10 — Food you want everyone to try at least once?

Haggis from Scotland. It sounds worse than it is (seriously, no, don’t go look it up. Oh, shit, you went and looked didn’t you). On a cold dark night it is so good on top of a baked potato with cheddar cheese – a cheerful meal in the UK for sure. Best washed down with a dram of whisky!

11 — Dead historical figure you would most like to have met?

Perhaps Cleopatra, to get an insight on what was such an interesting and tumultuous time in history. (I’m reading a biography about her, so perhaps that’s why it comes to mind.) Also would love to have chatted with Leonardo Da Vinci about his tips on being a renaissance man.

12 — Most disrespectful thing you have ever personally witnessed?

I’m not sure if the guy in Rome who took a massive crap right in the middle of Via del Corso is most disrespectful or just downright disgusting. However, what was definitely disrespectful was the downright rude and obnoxious behaviour bb some American tourists while a Khmer Rouge genocide survivor told us his story. He was one of the witnesses in the Khmer Rouge trials, and they treated him like a pet monkey. Awful.

13 — If someone gave you $10,000 on the condition you had to spend it frivolously, selfishly and not on travel, how would you spend it?

Is it bad that the first things that come to mind are wildly expensive champagne and wine? Seriously, let me call up Gary Vaynerchuk – we’re go shopping.

Interview with Andy Hayes, a.k.a. @andrewghayes: Lucky 13 Questions is a post from: Go, See, Write - Overland Travel Adventure Tales

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An celebrity impersonation show combines nostalgia, campiness and hilarity. They are a fun sing-along and also a gentle laugh-at, all for the price of one ticket.

I am not sure I’ve ever been to a impersonation show. Wait, I take that back. I do remember stumbling into a transvestite drag show years ago in Key West with a group of friends. That was an interesting night.

So was this one.

I was in Berlin to do some social media consulting with the wonderful people at Visit Berlin with a Blogger-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless. She received a couple complementary tickets to the show at the hotel she was staying at and invited me over. As I sat in the show, I typed up my notes and showed them to her as the show progressed.

She insisted that she be the “Blogger-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless” as a result.

My Real Time Review of the Impersonators

First up was the Blues Brothers. They came out with Soul Man and Shake a Tail Feather. During Shake a Tail Feather, we got the first appearance of the scantily clad backup dancers, which made me imagine this conversation.

Stranger: What do what do you do for a living?

Dancer: I shake my tail feathers at a Blue Brothers impersonation show.

If you are going to choose a career path, you gotta embrace it 100%. No regrets.

At this point, the first quotable comment from the Blogger-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless:

BWSRN: I gotta admit, I am too young for the Blue Brothers to mean anything to me.

Me (looking around): Unlike 90% of the audience here who have already picked out grave sites.

I’m still surprised she didn’t want to be affiliated with this post by name.

The smirk was unintentional, but I wish I'd gotten an autograph

They didn’t introduce the singers when they took the stage. They strutted out to the music and you were left to figure out who they were. Some were instantaneously recognizable either by the song or by their appearance, Madonna and Freddy Mercury being two of those.

On the other hand, a woman came out singing Chapel of Love (“going to the chapel and we’re gunna get married”).  BWSRN turned to me and asked who it was. I said, “based only on the boobs and the short curly hair, I’m going to go with Bette Midler.”

I know my boobs.

As soon as I recognized the next song, I sat up in my chair. I turned to BWSRN nameless and said, “do you know what this song is??!!”

To set the stage a bit, the crowd at this show seemed to be about 90% German, with some scattered non-German tourists like us thrown in. And to reiterate, we were in Berlin.

The song — Boogie Woogle Buggle Boy.

I feel confident I was one of the few in the audience to appreciate the irony. In short, that was a song originally done in 1941 to get up public support in the United States for the draft and the military. We were about to go to war and eventually subdue and beat the hell out of… well, no need to beat the irony drum too loud.

I turned to BWSRN and said, “if they play Springtime for Hitler next, I am going to lead the standing ovation. Just be ready.” By the way, if you’ve never seen the Producers, do yourself a favor and enjoy this 3 minutes. Perhaps the best Mel Brooks song he ever did — and that is a tough list to top off.

Next up was Freddy Mercury, who was one of BWSRN’s favorites. He sang Radio Gaga and was quite good. I wanted to make a joke about the impersonator looking like what Freddy Mercury would have looked like, if he’d made it to middle age and added a nice pot belly, but then I just looked him up on wikipedia and it turns out that he actually lived to the age of 45. I thought he died younger than that.

On came Madonna. She sang Express Yourself and then Like a Virgin after a costume change.

Oddly, watching an impersonator made me realize how talented  the real Madonna is as a dancer and performer.

This woman actually sang almost as well as Madonna, but her performance wasn’t half of what Madonna could do.

I’m not sure until exactly that point in the show that I ever truly realized how much of a difference stage presence determines your enjoyment of a performance.

She went into the audience during Like a Virgin and gave a lap dance to an older gentleman. I looked around to make sure there were EMTs at the ready. For Living in a Material World, she patted down another guy, took his wallet, then walked away and threw it back at him. During her Vogue effort, I looked at the expressions of abject mystification on the faces in the audience and wished I spoke enough German to ask them what they were thinking.

A young Louie Armstrong was next. He did a nice job with Hello Dolly and High Society. Then came Joe Cocker. There would have simply been no way to ever recognize this person as Joe Cocker, minus the songs. BWSNR didn’t really know who Joe Cocker was and asked “doesn’t he look like the guy from Saturday Night Live? You know. The one that died?”

You need to be more specific than that.

the gang's all here!!

Joe Cocker is one of my favorite singers. Interesting trivia – he was the person first considered to be the lead singer for Led Zeppelin, before Robert Plant got the gig. He’s got at least a dozen amazing songs, including Unchain my Heart, which this guy sang, but then they screwed up and had him do Up Where we Belong (with Better Midler) and then somehow even managed to pick an even worse song, You Are So Beautiful.

It was an Andrew Lloyd Weber moment for me.

He then played Leave Your Hat On. I had a flashback to watching “9 1/2 Weeks” with my college girlfriend. No, you can’t hear the rest of that story.

Madonna came back on and sang La isla Bonita with a guy playing the classical guitar on stage. I had a brief flashback to all the idiots I have seen carrying their guitars around on their back to play and hostels in an effort to get laid.

See, there is a future for both American Idol participants and those guys.

The Blues Brothers came back on stage for Sweet Home Chicago and Shout.

Me: if these people get up and dance to this, I am going to dance with them.

BWSNR: Look! See. They are dancing. In their chairs. Well, two of them at least.

They finished with Viva las Vegas, but Elvis had the night off. Then Twist and Shout, as everyone stood and clapped.

All jokes aside, everyone seemed to have a great time. That includes me, but perhaps less so for BWSNR, since she was (and likely is) mortified with my twisted view of the world, though I love her still.

Berlin remains one of my favorite cities in the world, particularly because it is the kind of place where you can have nights like this. The variety of this town is something I look forward to every trip back there. I’ve had an unexpectedly emotional day at a music festival there, enjoyed the typical tourist sites, and gotten drunk and had a night of music and memory.

Its a city I will go back to again and again in my lifetime.

Bette, Freddy, Madonna, Louie, Joe… a Show of a Lifetime is a post from: Go, See, Write - Overland Travel Adventure Tales

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Jerusalem simultaneously confounds and amazes. In the list of “Cities Unlike Any Place Else,” it has to be right up near the top.

It has been a few months since I was there and I still really don’t know what to think. I spent two weeks there in Feburary and can only feel confident enough at this point to say that if it had been two months or two years, I’m not sure I’d understand it any more completely.

Though I was sick the whole time and didn’t get around as much as I wanted to, especially to the East Jerusalem side of things I was, and am still, intrigued by this place (and the food… the food!)

The obvious reason that Jerusalem is basically impossible to understand for those of us that don’t live there is the layers and layers of history, religion, culture, violence, hatred, reconciliation and more that have built up over literally thousands of years. As I sit here and write this, I am wondering just this:

Is Jerusalem the most historical city in the world?

If not here, what is?

Here are some free-form thoughts about Jerusalem:

• According to Wikipedia (so it has to be true), During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. That actually sounds about right.
• The city was originally settled sometime in the 4th millennium B.C. That is old. Really old. Bronze Age old.
• It is the holiest city in Judaism, the holiest city in Christianity and the third holiest city in Islam. Those are the three great monotheistic religions in the world — and Jerusalem is full-on, smack dab in the core of each of them.
• Entire kingdoms thousands of miles away rose and fell, based on the success or failure of conquering this one city.

Take just one of the many historical buildings/sites in Jerusalem for an example, Temple Mount.

Temple Mount is the single holiest place in Judaism. It was here that God gathered the dust to make Adam, the location of Abraham’s binding of Issac, the site of the first two Jewish temples, and the site where the Third Temple will be built with the coming of the Messiah.

Temple Mount is simultaneously the third holiest place in Islam. Muslims used to pray in this direction instead of towards Mecca. Muhammad rose to heaven from this location.

Combine those vitally important religion traditions with current political realities and the layers that fall over Jerusalem become even more complex. During the 1967 Six Day War, Israel routed the armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria and occupied the West Bank, including all of Jerusalem. You would think, this being the holiest site in Judaism and the Jewish state of Israel in firm control over the area, that there would be Jewish control over the site.

You’d be wrong.

A few days after the end of the Six Day War, the Israeli government returned administrative control of Temple Mount back to the Muslim community of Jerusalem and their waqf. Access to the site is limited for all non-Muslims to certain hours on certain days. Also prohibited are all forms of non-Muslim worship in this area: you can’t wear a cross here, carry a Bible, or even pray, unless you are Muslim.

All this on the holiest site in Judaism, in a city that is completely and totally controlled by Israel. In fact, when you go through the security checkpoints to enter the site, the people enforcing these restrictions, in order to keep the site limited to Muslim worship, are Israeli soldiers and security personal — who can’t pray on the site themselves.

Look, I hope the comments on this post really don’t devolve into a back and forth about Israel and Palestine and which side is “right” or “wrong” on the sides of angels or history… all I am saying is…

This is one amazingly odd, interesting and strange place.

I want to go back again and again, just to try to absorb more of it. As a history buff, there might be no better place in the world for me to wander around again and again.

While I was there, I was very graciously hosted for my entire two week stay by the wonderfully helpful and knowledgeable people at Abraham Hostel. Given the fact that I was under the weather for the entire time I was there, the hospitality they showed me was something I will never forget.

In addition to recommending them about as highly as I could — I thought I’d take some of my time lapse and video that I shot in Jerusalem and do up a quick video about the city and the hostel. This is my first rough effort at doing full-blown video and time lapse, so I hope you like it.

But I also want your feedback. I am in the midst of doing a reader survey still via my $100 Amazon giveaway — if you haven’t done the survey or entered the giveaway — click through here and enter away.

And if you have already entered that and answered my reader survey — THANK YOU — and feel free to give me your blunt and honest feedback of the video down here in the comments. Its nice to get complements always, but some constructive feedback is also helpful. Thanks everyone. I have the best readers in the world and the response to my reader survey and giveaway just proves that even more to me.

Jerusalem, the Most Historical City in the World? is a post from: Go, See, Write - Overland Travel Adventure Tales

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I could use a little help — and will hopefully not only make it easy for you to do so, but also give you a nice incentive to do so.

ok, maybe not this much money

Its time for me to do another giveaway. I did one when I started my newsletter. It is time for another one…

I am giving away an Amazon Kindle.

Well, I am giving away a $100 Amazon gift certificate, so you can buy the $99 Kindle Touch or… anything else you want. Buy a Kindle or buy some great travel books.

Do you see this big box right under here… you just need to log in to that thing and then there are a number of things you can do to enter this contest. So…. get to it, so I can give away some money.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So, this giveaway is going to be organized a little better than my last one, where I did it myself. Basically, you can enter to win by doing a variety of things.

These are all doable by that big RaffleCopter application you just scrolled over — do all these in there, in order to enter:

• You can like my Facebook Fan Page
• You can follow me on Twitter
• You can like this post on Facebook
• You can tweet about this post
• You can subscribe to my newsletter and
• You can answer a quick survey for me — which I am really hoping a lot of people do.

Here’s why — the reader survey is just 10 questions, mostly multiple choice, so it shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes of your time. It will help give me feedback on how to improve this website and also my newsletter. I want to make both more responsible to my reader’s wants and needs.

Secondly, I ask you a couple questions about your travel habits. This will again help me better sort out what sort of content I need to provide here, but it will also assist me in my pitches to various companies for sponsorships. If I can get a few more sponsorships, I will be able to hopefully do a little more fun and adventurous travel going forward… and write all about it.

Click here to take survey

But if you click through the RaffleCopter application up in the middle of this post, you will also be entered to win the giveaway for the $100 Amazon certificate.

So, many thanks to you. Your reading this site and my newsletter makes all of my work totally worthwhile. If you get a chance, I’d love you to enter this contest, so I can give just a little bit back… at least to one of you.

So, get out there and get traveling, whether you spend your certificate on a guidebook or just wing it on your own. What will you do if you win the $100?

Asking for a Little Help from You, My Loyal Readers is a post from: Go, See, Write - Overland Travel Adventure Tales

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I have fallen down the rabbit hole that Pinterest has partly created for me. Most of us are visual people and I am full-on in that category. The interface for posting photos is simple (basically download an extension/add-on to your browser and right click on images you want to pin to one of your boards).

If you want to follow along with me on Pinterest, as I post up the various cool posters (some vintage travel posters, some from movies) that I find on the internet, you can click through to my profile here and follow along.

How much do I want to ride in that sports car? Ummmm…. even if it was in Monaco, sign me up! Hell, speaking of something I want to go see, an F1 race in Monaco just jumped to the top of my mind looking at these shots.

Ocean travel can be mind numbingly boring, at least the way I have done it, which is on cargo freighters. But I’ve always wanted to sail around the Med and that particular vintage travel poster gets my mind to wandering. Something to add to my to-do list.

Oddly, I have never been to Paris. And Russia is not one of my favorite countries. But that being said, I love these vintage travel posters and their simplicity. 

My New Love of Great Vintage Travel Posters is a post from: Go, See, Write - Overland Travel Adventure Tales

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Geraldine is a Twitter friend. By Twitter friend I mean this: we’ve never met, we’ve never spoken on Skype or a regular phone, and until we exchanged emails for this interview, I don’t think we’ve really even emailed each other, at least not in any long, substantive form. Our friendship (so far) exists in 140 character exchanges on Twitter.

She is wonderously funny and pithy in 140 characters, so a Twitter friendship is a pretty good thing, though I would love to hang out with her and her husband, chat, perhaps hoist a few pints, and eat something she has just baked at some point in the not too distant future.

She also has a fabulous blog, The Everywhereist, that is part-travel, part-ranting, part-life musing, and just so damn good that Time magazine picked her as one of the top 25 blogs of 2011. It was an well deserved — she has a point of view and expressive way of writing that is unlike anyone else I know.

So go check out her website, follow her on Twitter and become a fellow Twitter friend, and enjoy her wonderful answers to the Lucky 13:

1 — You have won the lottery, now tell us where you want to live.

I know it’s probably not terribly exciting, but I’ve always dreamed of having a place in New York. And one in Italy. Hopping between the two would be a great way of passing the time.

2 — Person whose tweets make you smile the most?

When it comes to celebs, Steve Martin and George Takei‘s tweets crack me up. For the people I know personally, I love reading my husband Rand’s tweets (since it’s one of the few ways I can keep up with him) as well as my pal and fellow blogger Deanna’s tweets (sample tweet: “It’s never not funny when I have to select “wide shaft” as a search parameter for knee-high boots. Hi, I’m 12.”)

3 — Most romantic thing your very cool husband has done for you?

His proposal. Definitely.

4 — Worst pick-up line you have ever heard… hopefully in your long-ago single life?

Honestly, some of the bad ones aren’t really repeatable. But can I share one of the better ones? I was in college, and dressed up to meet a friend downtown. I was taking an escalator up to where she worked, and a young high schooler was taking the escalator down. As we passed, he shouted, “Hey … Hey! What’s your name? Because I keep asking you in my dreams, but I wake up too soon.” I positively lost it. It was wonderful.

Rumor has it that Geradine has had some wild hair in her past, this is as close as I could find.

5 — Who plays you in the movie about your life?

Natalie Portman in a challenging role where she not only gains 30 pounds, but also dons a prosthetic nose.

6 — You are stranded on a desert island, with supplies and your ever-charged iPod. You can only have five bands/performers on it. Who are your five?

This is way harder than it should be, because I am the queen of the compilation album. Obviously I need to throw in a few classics – like the Beatles and Bob Dylan. And I don’t think I could deal with the loneliness of a desert island without the moaning of Morrissey. Toss in some Decemberists and Magnetic Fields, and I’d probably be okay for a few years. But I will insist on hearing some Regina Spektor the second I’m rescued.

7 — Your dream car is?

My dream car would have to be my first car: a 1976 Ford Pacer. But this time around, it would have better brakes and a stereo that worked.

(Interviewer’s note — bonus find from me – the 1975 Official Salesman’s Guide for the Pacer — this is such funny reading.)

this makes me so happy

8 — Fill in the blank: My Mom and Dad are never going to read this, so I can now admit _____________.

I lied to them in a huge way about how much candy I consumed during elementary school and, come to think of it, all the way up to now. I’m eating a roll of Spree as I type this.

9 — I have no idea how ________________ got rich and famous, considering they have no talent at all.

Any Kardashian sister.

10 — Give us a good, embarrassing pet peeve of yours.

On flights, I get absolutely buggy every time I see someone storing luggage in the overhead compartment above a row where they aren’t seated. The way I figure it, I paid a ridiculous amount for my seat, and that includes my overhead bin. I know it doesn’t matter. I KNOW IT DOESN’T. But man, does it peeve me off.

11 — Question most likely to make you smile or cry, if you were interviewed on live national TV?

“What makes your husband wonderful?” Cue waterworks and streaky mascara while I scream in reply, “EVERYTHING.”

12 — For the next year, you can only drink ___________ and you’d be happy.

water and milk…

Let me explain myself! I live off of baked goods: cakes, cookies, pies, crumbles, pastries, danishes … my food pyramid is in the shape of a lumpy doughnut. I can live without booze, but not without sweets. And nothing pairs better with a huge, doughy, crumbly chocolate chip cookie than a huge glass of milk.

13 — Your single most treasured personal possession.

A choker that belonged to my grandmother – she gave it to me just before she died. I wore it on my wedding day. It was almost like she was there with me. Almost.

Interview with Geraldine DeRuiter, a.k.a. @everywhereist: Lucky 13 Questions is a post from: Go, See, Write - Overland Travel Adventure Tales

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That idiot would be me, of course.

Earlier this year, I was in Amman for about a month to prepare for and then conduct a social media training seminar for a group of people in the travel industry in Jordan. It was a great chance to work with two of my favorite bloggers and social media experts, Jodi of Legal Nomads and Angie of Angie Away.

Plus, you know how much I love Jordan and especially love working with Reine and the great and talented folks at Jordan Tourism Board. Amman might not be my favorite town in Jordan, but it was still a great month, though it was damn cold. Plus, I got to end up taking a plane ride to London from the region and see a marriage proposal on a discount airline. Who could ask for more?

Well, it turns out that wasn’t the only fortuitous thing that happened to me in the Middle East.

I dropped my camera out of the window of a three-story building.

Yes, I am an idiot.

The brief backstory is this. Although I was working hard everyday on the stuff ya’ll don’t want to hear about (websites, social media presentations, and… well, work stuff), I wanted to get out and shoot some time lapse in Amman. This building overlooked a nice area of town where the light would gradually change as the sun set and the lights in the valley would come on. I thought it would be a nice sequence.

So, I went up to the restaurant on the top floor, opened the window so I wasn’t shooting through dirty glass, and set up my camera on the tripod on top of a table, near the open window. Then I turned around to get something out of my backpack and nudged the table accidentally.

I immediately turned around and watched as my camera and the tripod went headfirst out the window.

I almost involuntarily jumped out after it.

So, I’d imagine the question you are asking is…. how the heck did the camera survive? And was it damaged at all?

First, I assume the only reason it survived was that the aluminum roof it fell on gave a little bit on impact. If it would have fallen on concrete, the thing would have shattered.

Secondly, the camera body appears to be totally and completely fine. There isn’t even a scratch. I have taken about 20,000 photos with it (and you guys might have seen some of my rough cuts of the time lapse I took in Jerusalem after this) and it seems totally fine. The lens that was on it might be damaged a slight bit. There appears to be an auto-focus problem in certain circumstances, but the lens itself also seems fine.

Amazing, heh? Told you I was about the luckiest person on the planet.

Knock on wood.

The Short Tale of an Idiot is a post from: Go, See, Write - Overland Travel Adventure Tales

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