Plane Kit

There are the pretty things, and there are the useful things.
Today, I'm going to talk about something which is not pretty, but is extremely useful.
I'm very sensitive to the air conditioning, it dries up my throat, my lips, my eyes, my nose...
On my first long plane trip, in 2008, I suffered as never before on those 22 hours of air travel to my destination. To every hour I suffered I thought: - Why haven't I brought some eye-drops? or - Why did I check my cocoa butter in?!
On the very first trip after that, I created the Plane Kit, which remains almost unaltered since 2009.
On my most recent trip, I added an item I have only heard about recently, thermal water.
So now I think my kit is good enough to be shared with you all.

So here is the list:

1. Inflatable travel pillow - I prefer the inflatable type of travel pillow simply for size purposes. This type, when deflated, takes up much less room in your carry-on if compared to the "fluffy" types;

2. Moisturizing cream - It will be useful for your hands and your nose;

3. Thermal water - I have just recently become familiar with thermal water and its refreshing, moisturizing, and even healing properties. On my most recent trip, I used it not only as a moisturizer but also to "wake up" before breakfast;

4. Moisturizing nasal spray - If you have a sensitive nose, the kind that bleeds in dry places, you'll need one of these;

5. Eye-drops - Essential for people with sensitive eyes which easily dry up;

6. Cocoa butter - Let's be honest, who can do without such heavenly gift from the cocoa fruit?;

7. Plastic zipper bag - Anyone who has ever flown knows it: to carry liquids with less than 100ml in your carry-on bag they need to be properly packed in a transparent bag with a zipper. You'll need one to carry all the items from this list. Mine was a gift from TAM airlines;

8. Foam ear plugs - Essential for a good nap on the plane, they block not only noise from the turbine, but also from other passengers;

9. Fluffy socks - Some airlines offer these socks so the passengers can take their shoes off in long trips. It's good to have some at hand in case the plane you're in do not have them;

10. Eye mask - If your eyes are sensitive to light, or if  you can't sleep with the lights on, this item belongs to your basic needs list;

11. Refreshing towels: Some air companies remember to hand these in before every meal, but as some don't, I always carry some extra ones with me. The ones from the picture were gifts from TAP.

This Plane Kit makes my travels less uncomfortable. I hope it works for you as well.

...

For the Portuguese version, please go to Diario Lirico de Viagem

7 THINGS I LEARNED (traveling)

Brazilian blogs Escriba Encapuzado and Vida de Escritor asked writers to write about 7 things they learned with the writing and publishing process. As I don't have much experience in publishing, I decided to write about 7 things I learned in life, and when I was done, I observed those were all things I had learned while traveling:

1. "Truth" or "reality" are mere points of view that, even plural, can be true and real. Therefore, my truth does not invalidate yours;

2. Keep on walking is neither a privilege, nor an option;

3. No language in the world is complete and can express everything one feels. Thus, the more languages I know, the more feelings I can express. However, neither the languages nor the feelings are easy;

4. In every trip I take, the discomfort will be proportional to the delight;

5. Distance is immeasurable. It doesn't matter if 215 or 11.000 kilometers separate us, if we can't touch each other, one meter is way too far;

6. As awful as an alcohol hangover is, it is never worse than a moral hangover;

7. Learning is not optional.

...

My contribution: 7 Coisas que Aprendi, Ana Raspini

For the Portuguese version, go to Diario Lirico de Viagem

I THINK ABOUT DEATH ALL THE TIME, AND THAT IS A GOOD THING!

Every time a long trip approaches, I start to think about death.

Actually, I think about death all the time. I find it hilarious when someone says “if I die…”, like that, using “if”, as if there were an alternative. It seems like people believe that if they say “when I die…” death will get closer to them, simply because they admitted that they are mortal. Simply for thinking they can die. As if death depended on us.

I think about death a lot, but that doesn’t mean I’m melancholic, or depressed. Death is a deadline and I want to be sure I did my homework before the deadline arrives. We are all going to die eventually, and we must be sure that “when” it comes there won’t be too many regrets to make things even worse.

However, as I said in the beginning, when a long trip approaches and, especially, if it involves air travel, I intensify my thoughts on death. I’m afraid of flying, yet it is not stronger than the desire I have of traveling. That’s why I keep traveling. But I am afraid of plane crashes and the possibility of being in one of them.

In this time of the year, in the weeks that precede a trip, I start to mentally say goodbye to people, to places, things… I think that that could be the last time I drink some Mate tea under the sun on the couch in my living room, that could be the last time I pat my cat while he squeezes his eyes, that could be the last time I hug my mother.

But, as the title says, thinking about death so intensely can be a good thing. The mental farewell before traveling only makes the return happier and more intense. It is so good to hug my mother after a trip, with so much to tell her. Having a Mate tea in the living room after unpacking is one of the best sensations in the world! Patting my cat, that is exceptionally affectionate with me because he missed me is so comforting…

Writer Margaret Atwood once said: “I no longer feel I'll be dead by thirty; now it's sixty. I suppose these deadlines we set for ourselves are really a way of saying we appreciate time, and want to use all of it”.

Atwood knows what it is to live with mental deadlines. It is not scary, or a symptom of a pathology, it is a sensible way of acknowledging your own mortality and knowing exactly what you want to do before it comes. For, my dear friend, it will come.

Atwood is 75 and is still writing. Recently, I turned 30 and I’m going to visit another country on my bucket list…

Let the next deadlines come!

...

For the Portuguese version, go to Diario Lirico de Viagem

SONGS FOR TRAVELING

A collections of songs to inspire your trip, before leaving for the trip or while on the plane/train/bus/car/bike:

Engenheiros do Hawaii - Infinita Highway

Lyrics: http://letras.mus.br/engenheiros-do-hawaii/12889/

Kleiton & Kledir - Vira Virou

Lyrics: http://letras.mus.br/kleiton-e-kledir/219077/

My Morning Jacket - One Big Holiday

Lyrics: http://letras.mus.br/my-morning-jacket/448065/

Sara Bareilles - Chasing the Sun

Lyrics: http://letras.mus.br/sara-bareilles/chasing-the-sun/

Mumford & Sons - The Cave

Lyrics: http://letras.mus.br/mumford-sons/1590711/

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - The Zephyr Song

Lyrics: http://letras.mus.br/red-hot-chili-peppers/63396/

Angus and Julia Stone - Bella

Lyrics: http://letras.mus.br/angus-and-julia-stone/1130384/

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As you may already know, the blog is originally written in Portuguese. So, if you want to follow us on Facebook, this is the blog's Brazilian page! There, posts are both in English and Portuguese! Check it out!

WHY DO WE TRAVEL?

From time to time, I feel like my body, my brain, my moral were asking me to wander.

About four times a year my limbic system screams for never-ending roads, unexpected glances, unintentional beauties, intimate strangers.

Why do we travel?

The bug bites you, or the addictions starts in the first long trip, in the first path taken with your own feet, in the first personal and unique decision you make between turning left or right, in a foreign country, in a street whose name you cannot pronounce.

But what really triggers the addiction are the epiphanies. The constant, multiple epiphanies about the human condition.

To glimpse at the lack of importance of the everyday matters which corrode us, such as professional success, material purchases, personal image… When we travel, all those things lose their very sense of existence, they lose their importance, they lose the capacity to burn us up. The question about if they really mattered one day makes us restless, and then soothes us… No, they never really mattered.

Another epiphany is the notion of your own culture in a way you never experienced before. The conscious and reflection on your own culture is much more intense when you compare it to others. It is outside Brazil that I feel, irreversibly, Brazilian.

But the most important epiphany there is, the one that makes me spend all my money and free time in a way my family disapproves of is the realization of my own smallness.

Traveling, learning new languages, knowing new cultures, meeting new people and the way they face life, death, troubles, that’s what makes us feel so small.

I feel truly useless and unnecessary in the world when I travel the world. I understand that the world functions without me and, at times, better without me. I remember Fernando Pessoa saying “The reality does not need me”… In fact, it doesn't.

I see people so much more content than me, or not. More artistic than me, or not. So much more human than me, or not…

I feel unimportant. It reminds me that I will never do anything truly timeless, I will never be able to change the Earth’s rotating shaft, because the world is infinitely bigger than me, more important than me… And that is liberating!

The peace that comes from having no pretensions, of not claiming anything, and still having the privilege of wandering this Earth and witnessing its crudity, its beauty, its imperfection… That is why I travel.

RIO DE JANEIRO

Landing at Santos Dumont Airport is an adventure, but also a delight. Be it for the fear or for the beauty, there will be shivers down the spine. To see, from up there, such unique geography promised by the television is memorable.

Seeing how such natural beauty walks side by side with such urban occupation is impressive. More impressive still, is observing the banality with which cariocas treat such beauty.

We, outsiders, think that there can’t possibly be sadness in a place like this, that a long face would be a true sin when you look outside the window and see the Sugar Loaf. However, cariocas allow themselves long faces and bad moods, especially if they need to serve others. Cariocas were not born to serve, not a piece of bread, not even lobster.

Nature is, without a doubt, the city’s protagonist, but the carioca also thinks s/he is worthy of an Oscar. The mountains are astonishing, and they are always there, like a frame, being the beach the center of the masterpiece. There will always be someone exercising by the shore in this artistic performance which is the carioca and his/her landscape.

The beaches have their own personality. Every attitude of the tide, of the sand, of the breeze, brings a different type of visitor. However, every local knows where their friends meet. And they meet there every day. “Weekday” is just a term, right?

A boteco, cold beer or a caipirinha make every bohemian happy. Add something deep fried to that mixture and you get a tourist who doesn’t want the night to end.

The sun sets on the mountain this time, not on the ocean. Earth’s rotational dance makes every sunset unique. The lights of the houses at the favela turn up and shed a light on Ipanema. Or is it Ipanema that sheds a light on the favela?

Rio is like a Bossa Nova song: a careless joy, because it is really unnecessary to complicate life.