About

Ahoy!

Conceptualized as part travel blog, part foodie blog, and part blog about the observations of the world from the sidewalks, alleyways, trails, unbeaten paths, and the like, Toterly // Eat. Drink. Snooze. Travel. Blog  is as much as experimentation in organization and writing as it is in creative ways of experiencing the world through travel.

While there are many fantastic blogs dedicated to credit card churning to collect tens of thousands of miles or points, this blog won’t spend too much time on that topic.  Truth be told, there are probably more people like me – thirty-something, working class, student loans-ridden – that won’t be able to qualify for the great point/miles credit card promotionals anyway.  Now this is not to say that I, myself, don’t participate in collecting miles and points – I do and you should too.  I just think there are other ways to accumulate miles and points (online shopping, anyone), much like there are other savvy ways to experience the world on a dime (roadtrips, I’m there) and creative ways to make travel as exciting and as memorable as possible.   This past year I’ve discovered that it is in fact possible to earn elite airline and hotel status without credit churning or stretching my bank account to its limits.  If I can do it, then you can too.

I see myself as a flâneur of sorts.  Baudelaire said it best when he defined a flâneur as “a botanist of the sidewalk.”  I might be more of an obsessive  flâneur.  I am constantly intrigued by new places and people.  Beautiful views get my knees weak.  And I’ve discovered how delightful new gadgets are to the documentation of everything around me (I am currently obsessed with Instagram and Tripit).  I must admit, I am also a miles/points addict as well, even though my miles/points come in at a bit slower pace than other die-hard junkies out there.

So how’s an academic nomad – yes, I’m a teacher by day stricken with a bad case of wanderlust – going to write a travel / foodie / culture blog?  Challenging, I agree.  Impossible, I don’t think so.  Travel need not be defined by tens of thousands of frequent flier miles amassed – though I certainly think that’s very exciting – or eating or drinking  at frou-frou restaurants or overpriced bars, of which I’ve experienced my fair share.  Travel might simply be defined by a movement from Point A to a Point B whatever the distance (1  to 10,000 miles); drinking cold beers at the local dive bar (porters or stouts, please); or having conveyor belt sushi (kaiten-zushi … one of the joys in my life) or street food (often and always).

The bottom line is: I am obsessed with travel (highbrow, lowbrow, queerbrow) and have been exceedingly fortunate and sometimes  very lucky to have found ways to get my travel fix.  I often joke to my partner that if this teaching thing doesn’t pan out for me, I’d be a damn good travel agent or a personal concierge.  But for now  I hope to blog about my travel experiences and observations on Toterly, and I hope you come along for the ride.

Comments are encouraged.  I also welcome travel recommendations and tips.  Enjoy!

Jan
Chicago, IL
jan [at] toterly.com
November 2011

* Blog banner image: “Avenue of the Giants in Northern California” (2011).