My storage unit. I was on the road 90
percent of the time, so renting in
California did not make
financial sense. So I moved all my stuff into storage (furniture,
memories, clothes, my life - all packed tightly into the end of the
storage unit), and then I drove my little car in too. The routine
is to land at the airport and then cab it to the storage unit. When
I roll up that creaky door, there is no place like it. The stuff
that defined and, who knows, maybe still defines, who I am, waiting
for me. … I start my car and remember the freedom that having a car
can give. As I open the sunroof and crank the tunes, I am free, and
the six weeks out of town just seem to melt away. No feeling like
it.
- Carol Skerrett, Oceanside, California
Atlanta's Coke Museum. There's a section in
the museum that has fountain drinks of all the different types of
Coke products across the world. You try one from
India and wonder
why they even have this drink, and then you try one from
Italy and
wonder why it's not in the
United States. Overall, it's a nice
place to relax and be surrounded by … fun people high on sugar from
the drinks. It's like traveling the world through taste. - Phil
Sheen,
Chicago, Illinois
Mali, West Africa. Mali may sound a bit
exotic. Most people don't even know where it is. "You mean Bali?"
they ask. "Malawi?" No,
Mali. I tell them
it's where Tombouctou (Timbuktu) is located. This is usually the
start of a long conversation. Most don't even know Tombouctou is a
real city. Telling anyone I lived there for almost two years sparks
a string of questions. Mali is
Africa in its purest form and not
for the weak-hearted. It is not the Africa of safaris or the
beautiful coasts of
South Africa. It is harsh, pungent,
uncomfortable, fatiguing … but it is real, magical, lively, never
boring, and a place like no other. Mali is 2,000 years in the past,
clashing with the present. It is real, vibrant - a virtual museum
of West African life. It is centuries of culture laid out before
you. For me, there is no place like Mali, because this country
taught me not only lessons in traveling but lessons in life. Mali
taught me about different means of transportation: that four people
could fit on a moped, that a donkey cart was often the most
reliable means of transportation, and that pickup trucks with
wooden benches in the back could easily hold 25 people and several
goats, plus the driver and his apprentice. … Mali is one of the
poorest countries in the world, and the people are easily the most
friendly and warm-hearted. Does the World Bank or the United
Nations ever measure those statistics? Although Mali is a place
where children barely get enough to eat, a family in a village
there would not hesitate to slaughter their last chicken or goat to
be able to serve you, a perfect stranger, a meal fit for a king.
Such generosity, respect for others, and undying joyfulness even in
the face of the most bleak circumstances is a lesson I will never
forget. - Charles Villalobos, Manassas, Virginia