a Geographer's Place

I've told this story many times over the years and to many different people. But I've never actually taken the time to write it down. Well...now's that time! So first some backstory... Where I went to elementary and secondary school, everyone knew that if you took three years of Spanish in middle and/or high school, you would be eligible to participate in "The Mexico Trip" (what I would today call a "Short-term Travel Study"). It was basically 10 or 12 days in Mexico, starting in Mexico City, having a short homestay in Guadalajara, and then a few final days in Mazatlán. This was a program that had been set up and run since the 1970s and into the late 1990s. And it was always run by the Spanish teacher(s) -- not an EF Tour or other tour guide-led type of program. The Spanish teacher was  the tour leader. I had two (?) older siblings that took advantage of the opportunity in the mid-1970s and, although I was very young when they did, their stories were hou...

If you would have told me a decade ago I would be living in the Caribbean (again), but this time for long-term, I would have said, "Cool". But then moved on to something else, and not given it another thought. But now, nearly a decade later, here we are. Living --thriving! -- full-time on a beautiful slice of the Lesser Antilles. Looking out the window, I see the tropical flowers -- the red hibiscus, the yellow trumpets, the purple sea sage, the orange verbena -- and, beyond our back fence, a couple hundred yards of seaside grass with the occasional sea grape tree. And then that characteristic Caribbean blue water with small white caps showing where the offshore reefs are. You can hear the waves crash into the cliff. At night, when it's still, you can  feel  the waves hit the cliffside, their reverberation traveling through the atmosphere and lithosphere. That pounding sound was scary at first -- our neighborhood is uncannily quiet, and at night all you hear are the waves...

When you start a PhD program in the sciences, there are generally two options advisors suggest (or push towards): becoming a professor like them, or working in private industry like a laboratory. Some knowledgeable professors might suggest looking into the government as well, but it's basically be a professor or work in a lab of some kind. This represents dominant thought in Academia for decades. And, on a psychological level, it makes sense: "...this is what I did, and therefore what I know, so you must do it too..." Just for the record, however, there are plenty of jobs outside of Academia and government for a PhD. In fact, only about 10% of PhDs work in Academia, and only about another 20% or so work in government. That said, it's tradition in Academia that, once you get a tenure-track gig, you stay at that location because...well...you need to earn tenure. And I don't use the term "earn" lightly. It takes a LOT, and I've blogged about it previous...

Traveling without a credit card nowadays is not advised. It's also almost impossible. Even if you only use cash, you still need at least  a debit card to withdraw cash from an ATM. The days of Traveler's Checks and exchanging cash are basically over and done (though for some reason the almighty US Dollar seems to be accepted everywhere still). So, if you're still doing those things. Stop. Now. It's the 21st century! Back in the mid-1990s, I went on a trip with a professor couple. Long story short, they said if I purchased my own airfare, I could tag along on their month-long trek through England and Scotland and sleep in the rental car (or outside, as weather permitted). I jumped at the chance and soon found myself in London, in front of a bank, so we could exchange money. While my well-traveled professor went into the bank to exchange Traveler's Checks and US currency, I went to the ATM machine, put in my card, entered my PIN, and withdrew a cash advance. After a h...

Geez. Almost a year since my last post. Crazy how life just continues to happen, regardless of what you do. But I wanted to blog about something that's been going on since last fall... We bought a Playstation 5 last summer while we were in the States, and I dutifully packed it in my carryon to bring it home to Barbados. We bought it to replace the aging MacAir that we had been using for VPN access at home so we can watch US-based streaming services. Side note: have you tried accessing Netflix when you are outside of the US? Very interesting and an entirely different line-up of shows and movies depending on where you are. But I digress... So, a neat feature about the Playstation 5 , is it has its own VPN. And it works most of the time. So that's great. The first game we bought was Harry Potter . We each had our own character and if one of us had progressed further than the other, we would help the other with the puzzles and stuff. It was fun. But then Baulder's Gate 3 drop...

As you may know from my previous blog posts , I’m usually Oneworld-loyal. In fact, I’d guess 98% of my flights since the year 2000 have been on Oneworld airlines (OW). So, I’ve always striven for elite status, mainly because the higher statuses confer international lounge access regardless of service class (e.g., economy or business). And I just like airline lounges. Holding Oneworld Sapphire status grants you access to all OW Business Lounges. The top-tier Emerald status allows you access to all OW Business and First Class Lounges. As an American Airlines frequent flyer, Platinum status is equivalent to OW Sapphire, and Platinum Pro &  Executive Platinum are equivalent to OW Emerald. In short, if you have OW Sapphire or Emerald (irrespective of Oneworld airline), you have access to the lounges.  One caveat: if you are an American Airlines elite member traveling domestically in North America (AA sees the US, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean as "North America"), yo...