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What country would you least desire traveling to in the world?

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” (George Orwell)

George Orwell’s futuristic book, “1984” predicted a state of things in modern society far worse than any we have ever known. That novel thus put me in a mood to consider a place that would be most undesirable for my future travels. It also seemed most fitting to write the following story about what’s happening now in North Korea as a way to best exemplify the answer to this blog question. Such thoughts and the photos that follow might also “ring a bell for you” as you consider the issue of maintaining democracy as a crucial component of the U.S. Presidential election this year.

Orwellian Nightmare Unveiled

Monday morning at seven am. rolled around with some uncertainty for a middle aged bus driver named Chan (means “Keen and Bright”) in Pyongyang , the capitol city of North Korea. He felt fortunate that he could survive comfortably in his government supported “flat” with his small family in a new high rise building downtown.Yet he now wondered why his wife had been pressured by local authorities to change her name to a more pleasing impression for the powerful King emperor of the country, Kim Jong Un. What did it mean now that he was being forced to address his wife now as Su Mi (means “Woman of Super Beauty”) to overdramatize her physical appearance? Was his powerful leader concocting a plan to steal his wife from him? He also noted how his sixteen year old sibling, Jeung, seemed similarly pressured to rename himself in accordance with such propagandistic dogma.Yet his child now mockingly rejected such a change and decided to call himself instead the slang name of Bong (means “Reborn Bird”). Did that mean that this new image of himself signaled that he’d that he’d decided to flee from his family forever?

Certainly the Communist resident committee assigned to his apartment building would offer no help in resolving his family’s name dilemma with their indoctrination to the official party line. So after work that start of the week, Chan would obediently attend his compulsory learning session with them tonight with his mouth kept shut. He also would reassure these loyalists then that he always put on his state approved uniform, pinned the loyalty badge to his chest and quietly went about with stern duty his orderly work routine. Moreover, he recognized that he must be prepared to report to them that he had successfully driven his assigned bus route along the clean and orderly arranged street plan of Pyongyang while pausing to honor ideologically infused squares, monuments, and public buildings to honor his King.

It seemed fortunate to Chan after such a tense meeting that Su Mi had previously obtained permission to accompany Chan on his bus. For she could help him keep his vehicle immaculately tidy as state dogma instructed and converse friendlily with passengers as desired. But on several occasions lately, she’d told Chan after these bus runs how much she worried about Bong at home, who could not find a job, acted emotionally isolated, and talked endlessly in frustration of leaving his country for a new life.

Thus coincidence struck when Su Mi happened to quietly strike up a conversation at a bus stop that Friday with a Canadian Tour guide, Ji Ah (means “Wisdom”). Sensing that they were not being observed, this “slick talking” man told Su Mi how he’d escaped from North Korea to South Korea several years ago, migrated to Toronto, Canada and easily obtained residency through the province embassy to freely qualify for his present employment position. Sensing from his experience of their family concern, Ji Ah furthermore told her that he knew of a broker who would could successfully find them a sponsor to execute their family’s smuggling escape from North Korea if so desired. When emphasized however that the plan would require hefty prepayment and a risky trek to Thailand, this first conversation seemed to end very fast. For to this parent at this latter stage of her life, such a dangerous journey offer seemed out of the question.But as result of this chance meeting, Ji Ah and Su Mi would converse again in private on this matter about their son during future bus trips in the following weeks.

With such new knowledge at hand from those clandestine bus encounters with this stranger, Su Mi and Chan came to recognize the importance of Bong needing to change his current life condition. For with his teen filled vigor, they thus felt it best that their son would jump at this defection opportunity to find his freedom whatever the price. So in future weeks, Bong would agree to ride the bus with his mother as she quietly bargained with Ji Ah during bus stop debarkations to solidify plans for her son’s escape. Know then with risked filled intention, Bong would first need to walk north over one hundred miles north traversing mountainous terrain from the capital. Upon crossing the Tumen River into Communist Chinese soil, Bong would next meet the broker paid in full by his family, who would arrange his change of clothes and tickets for several, long bus rides to the southern border of China. With less travel restrictions now entering the countries of Southeast Asia, he would finally find his way by train or foot through jungle to Thailand where his sponsor would meet him near the border to expedite his flight from Bangkok to Toronto as intended.

With little fanfare, Bong thus left excitedly one early morning to find a new life. He knew very well that obtaining the price of freedom would involve high risk of extortion, kidnapping, or arrest and deportation back to North Korea. Even more unsettling, Su Mi and Chan expected they would likely never know if their son ever reached the promised land he so desired. But their tears would flow with profuse joy in hoping he reached Canada with no power unchecked king in charge. For Bong would now find a fairer chance to choose the life he wanted.

Reference List:

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/names-11302022183301.html

https://youtu.be/TtF_NRmszQ0?si=zvdOF7JYWlhMuN_q

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pyongyang-architecture-urban-planning

https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/1984/summary/

How might online games enhance your traveling interest?

“ Blessed are the curious for they will have adventures ” (Lovell Drachman)

On the trails we wind and weave. Through mountains and valleys we climb and tumble. With each journey far from home, the world unfolds before our eyes. Who knows where lies ahead a thousand tales to enrapture our heart. So let us take the time to be curious about such places yet unknown with new life stories untold.

So for you restless wanderers, let’s consider a novel way to begin the New Year. In this regard, many of you might know about the popular online game of Wordle. It’s fun right? Actually there’s another game with similar thinking strategies that allows your traveling mind to grow. It’s a free app game called Wordle: Geography Daily Puzzle.*

Know that being given six chances to match the shape of a country with its designated name on one published try each day can be challenging to figure out. Understand as well that many of these nations might be unfamiliar to you as a traveler. But in examining this trial and error method of playing the game, I’ve gained greater awareness of global distance, time, and direction that might fuel sensible strategies for visiting such newly discovered lands.There’s also a flag version of this app that might motivate followup research to yield key cultural insights about each country’s existence. Check out the photos below. Do they interest you to explore this game more?

* There’s both a free and paid version of Geography Worldle available on the Apple Store app.

How does history express who you are best?

“Those who do not look upon themselves as a link, connecting the past with the future, do not perform their duty to the world” (Daniel Webster)

I’ve been reading the latest novel, “How To Know A Person” by New York Times journalist David Brooks in the last few weeks since I attended his presentation at the 2023 Miami Book Fair.In so doing, I’ve taken a particular interest in the chapter “How Do Your Ancestors Show Up in your life?” His main point here argues that “our lives are a summation of the other lives that preceded us.” By logical extension then, I’ve received gifts of life from my cultural inheritors in the past so that I will become an inspiration for those in line who follow me. So I offer below some brief conclusions from history’s call about who I actually am as a person.

I am an Able Unifier

On my father’s inherited ancestry, I think of those rolling hills environs in Wales whereby sheep herders accompanied by their trustworthy dogs traditionally manage to move their flocks to woolen sheering mills in the countryside. In doing so, these oftentimes skittish behaving lambs would be trained to obediently follow each other as one group to their intended destination.

I too found my inherited ability to spread unity of action beneficial by teaching my students to cooperate each semester in small groups to complete major class assignments. More recently, I noticed similar satisfaction in spreading this aura of the concept of oneness through my practice of yoga and meditation.

I am a Knight Warrior

The small country of my Welsh family line also experienced its fair share of violent unrest throughout its history as over seven hundred battlefields and four hundred and twenty castles can now be identified across the land. Such frequent skirmishes happened during the classical Roman conquest period, through feudal medieval days of Viking, Norman, and Celtic invasion and more recently a result of Welsh efforts to politically secede from British control.

So in recollection of a battlefront spirit in my Welsh family history, I notice my strength of being well prepared as ever to defend against modern enemies who threaten my family, home, privacy rights, and personal possessions. Thus, my bold use of security technology exists here as one way I defeat spamming, phishing, password theft, and social media hate communications.

I am a Hopeful Innovator

I’ve always been bewildered about the human atrocities that have happened over several centuries to the country of Hungary on my mother’s ancestral side. I discovered for instance that at the conclusion of World War I, Hungarians lost more than two thirds of their country’s farmland. While in the aftermath of World War II to 1989, peasant farmers forcibly gave up ownership of their private lands and associated crop earnings to a Russian Communist state. Yet in spite of such Totalitarian aggression against the country people of Hungary, I also noticed that their daily life retained a spirit of hopefulness in their culture through creative expressions of Hungarian music, art, dance, folklore, and culinary pleasure.

In times of life stress, I similarly turn to the Hungarian spirit of creative indulgence to feel better about myself as I might play chess, plan a new travel itinerary or compose an original poem.

I am a Restless Wanderer

My grandparents on my mother’s side emigrated to the Cleveland, Ohio region with their family in the1920s during a time when thousands of Hungarians sought a better life of new economic opportunities in America to escape post war political upheaval. Although many of these immigrants were educated, offered skills and came from the middle class, they often dealt with rejection of their “Old World” cultural ways in moving around to places where available jobs were at. In the case of my grandfather, he arduously took jobs to selling household goods door by door to support his family then in this Northeast Ohio region.

In accordance with the primary focus of my Word Press blog to express views about the present moment of travel for the last five years, I too possess a Hungarian based spirit of being the restless wanderer. No doubt, I’m somewhat better off financially than my grandparents and am deeply thankful that I’m free to choose without fear where and when I wish to go.

I am a Rugged Individualist

I grew up as a child in the industrial hub of Akron. Ohio, Home to three powerful rubber factories of Firestone, Goodyear, and Goodrich throughout the twentieth century, this product acquired a particular importance for military tire production during the second World War. Yet in spite of the high demand for these jobs, the main culture of these factories dictated “blood, sweat, and tears” effort daily as each worker breathed rubber dust particles of toxic air conditions. Because tire workers also received little pay and benefits received their dangerous efforts, they were forced to strike in pursuit of desperate unionized efforts. In doing so, they risked losing their jobs.

I’ve faced racism “head on”as an inner city school teacher. I’ve hand washed acid soaked bottles and jugs on an assembly line at a local soft drink bottling company. I’ve loaded by forklift heavy grocery pallets on awaiting semi trucks at food delivery warehouses. I’ve managed the role of District Newspaper Manager for home delivery at odd, late night hours to pay for my tuition in college. This job history thus demonstrates a cultural influence in Ohio of pursuing hard work my way in tough conditions.

How do you typically give notice to the behavior of birds?

“To see birds, it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” (Robert Lynd)

Let’s face it. When I’m on a mega cruise ship containing thousands of tourists roaming around aimlessly, the thought often crosses my mind about where and how to seclude myself in silence whenever I can. But how might Ruth and I best go about doing this on this present Caribbean vacation? Of course getting an early start each day before the masses arrive at mealtimes and lounging decks made good sense for sure. But more creatively, what about more selectively booking excursions off the boat imaging a free flight of birds migrating to a quiet place of refuge?

This attitude of soaring in avian-like fashion best exemplified why I agreed to dutifully arose at 6:00 am. on day five of this adventure time to experience a half day outing at the National Colombian Aviary outside Cartagena, Venezuela. For there we could we likely savor those avian species accustomed to the low lying coastal shoreline who feed in these heavily flooded areas of mangrove swamps largely absent of people.

How liberating it felt then amid the silence of jungle to hear only the randomness of bird calling to pass the time. Getting close up to each tropical creature in this federally protected environment further enhanced the sensory solitude of this experience as I more insightfully imagined what their various chirping , cawings, and screechings might actually mean.

So anytime of day, it certainly makes sense for me to take more time at home to just gaze out the windows to take my mind off the incessant urban noise and just listen quietly to the birds. Enjoy my next set of cruise photos.