Based on last month’s post of Vladivostok, Russia, I have decided to create a new series based on my earlier world travels. Since 2014, I have traveled every summer around the world, ranging in time from 60-80 days. They were glorious events, going in either direction eastward or westwards in one direction from San Francisco and back.

You can read the summaries of each year’s trips in the header tabs above. But for this curated series, I plan to repost selected travels following the Old Silk Road. These travels were not necessarily taken within one year or in successive order. For instance, trips to Iran and Uzbekistan were taken separately, but I will piece the links together for you in a logical travel path.

Here’s a preview video of the first post on Mongolia (theoretically an extension of the traditional Silk Road). Refer to the second map below.

I am hoping that you will savor and enjoy the seldom-traveled UNESCO World Heritage spots that I pursued independently. Some trips were arranged through a travel company but were always personalized with no other participants. My husband and I traveled together, or sometimes I traveled alone. All trips were more than safe, fascinating and laden with a lifetime of memories and educational value.

For those new to my blog, I focus on architecture, planning, interior design professionally, and culturally on anthropology, art history, and a healthy dose (sometimes obsessively when available) on opera and music. Europe and Asia have been my primary destinations, but the areas that glue these two continents together have been the anchors for my recent travels.

I hope you will enjoy the revisits and hopefully they will feel as immediate as the original posts. Please let me know your thoughts, and I hope the reposts will be fresh and inspiring for your future travels–whether real time or or in your imagination!

Look for future posts on Mongolia, China, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Turkey, with a few side trips to the Caucasus, Morocco, and Germany!! I plan to post every week or two by early Sunday, PST (Pacific Standard Time). Below are a selection of Silk Road Maps from various points in time for dreaming, the start of any trip….

—John Howard Griffin, from Black Like Me

It’s been a dark and unsettling couple of weeks. I wanted to express my feelings but needed some time to think more about the events generated by the murder of George Floyd and the widespread protests about racism throughout the world.

Talking about Race

Today, the National Museum of African American History provided me with guidance and support. In its web portal, “Talking about Race”, it gives a helpful suggestion: start by reflecting on what race means to you. I thought back to what I read in high school, and a book that shook me into awareness. Black Like Me by John Griffin was a powerful account of a journalist who posed as an African American and wrote about his experience.

Nevertheless, I am more encouraged by the worldwide movement. From middle America to London, Paris and Hamburg, major anti-racist protests taken place. It has helped me to validate what I have experienced in traveling throughout the world.

“Talking about Race” on the NMAAHC website is below:

https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race#

It’s important to share thoughts about recent events with friends and family in a safe and trusting environment. Like politics, racism is a deep and complicated topic, and there are no-fly zones with those who clearly do not share the same views. Here are a couple of other timely pieces forwarded from my daughters: a long article by James Baldwin in the New Yorker (Note: you may need a subscription to the New Yorker to access the article):

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1962/11/17/letter-from-a-region-in-my-mind

and a long conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates on why he is hopeful below:

https://www.vox.com/2020/6/5/21279530/ta-nehisi-coates-ezra-klein-show-george-floyd-police-brutality-trump-biden

While these sources may only provide limited views, they helped me to understand how Black lives Matter. Kaepernick was one of my heros since he took his knee nearly four years ago against police brutality. Since then, he has been busy training Black students at Know your Rights camps and committed to raising awareness. You can see the press release below of that eventful day:

https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/06/04/why-did-colin-kaepernick-take-a-knee-the-lasting-legacy-of-protest/

I was heartened by the world response to raising racial issues to help make the world more accountable and responsive. Let’s hope we can solve both our social problems successfully in conjunction with the COVID epidemic.

Eighty Days around the House

Instead of eighty days around the world, it looks like eighty days around the house this year! Have you noticed that the light quality coming through each window is different during various times of the day? If not, you must not have windows that face each cardinal direction. Take a moment and look out each window.

Everyone seems to be posting retrospectives and looking back in time during the pandemic. It’s motivating me to go through the many past trips that I could share. Even if they aren’t real time, you might find them interesting. I guess I will have to change my tag line from “real time” to “virtual”.

Look for videos and posts from Uzbekistan (2014); Northwest China (2014); Macchu Picchu (2017); Easter Island (2017); Iran (2018), and the Caucasus (2019). And by all means, let me know if you have any requests.