travel

Guest Post: 15 tips for a successful long distance relationship

Today’s guest post is used with permission from Monte Celia Parker – Caio, Monte! – who wrote this post for her personal blog, while studying Italian in Bologna, 4,000 miles from her boyfriend.  What she recommends for maintaining a good relationship longdistance is personal, but I thought there were enough great ideas to be worth repeating, to inspire others to personalise and adjust to the significant other in their life.  Also, I think a few of these ideas are superb for keeping in vital touch with close friends who don’t live nearby.  (That sounds a contradiction: close but far away!)

Here’s her post:

People have always told me that long distance relationships are hard–don’t do them. However, I found someone who I didn’t want to let go of even though I would be 4000 miles away, so lo and behold I would have to navigate the dreaded LDR (Long-Distance Relationship).

I’m going to say something right now that will shock you.

This long-distance relationship is incredibly EASY. That’s right, it’s not really a struggle for us.

Verona by Monte Celia Parker

Verona Photo: Monte Celia Parker

There are 2 reasons for this.

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Writing Time Travel – beginnings and endings

Opening our eyes on day one of a New Year (in the UK), we find ourselves in the oddity of having to write dates on paper differently – having to remember to write the year as 2018 instead of 2017.

But what about Time Travel?  When did it start?  A few musings on this by Nerdwriter.

Nerdwriter’s discussion is punctuated with excellent video clips – a rather good reminder of many good science fiction films which are worth seeing again.

Creative Takeaways

If you like writing science fiction, involving time travel, then this is a good reminder of some of the most powerful stories told – so far – in the genre.  It’s interesting to see that society now concentrates on dystopian (negative) visions of the future, whereas about a hundred years ago, there were so many books about a positive future, a utopia.

If you’re going to seriously write story pondering cause and effect, then a deeper look at timelines in fiction would be this one, by MinutePhysics.

 

Simon Armitage, videopoem, video, poem, travel, poetry

Making poetry from the ordinary: Travel

Proof positive that when you’re writing a powerful poem, its shape can be something as simple as a twist on an everyday voice/situation, or the banal pauses between events. And yes, it can include humour.  And it can be great in a video.

(Video by Faber & Faber to illustrate poem “Thank you for Waiting)

Creative Takeaway Prompt

Do you have a very ordinary, boring situation/conversation/speech which you hear everyday?  Take that form and write it so that you make it talk about something else, something you feel passionately about.  Increase the strength of your words at the end to the extreme.  (As Simon Armitage does, in this video).

Advanced – time how long you think it will take you to read your poem, allowing an extra 5-10 seconds. Have a friend video you on a mobile phone in that banal situation, then do a voiceover of yourself reading the poem.  Finally, have the courage to put it on Youtube and publicise it in social media (this could be as simple as your personal Facebook page or Twitter.)

More video work – look at your written poems so far – is there one whose atmosphere could be videoed in a setting which reinforces the message?

suitcase, passenger

Have luggage, will travel

Just stumbled upon this curious but engaging poem on the subject of travel by Irfan Merchant,(published in online mag for unusual poetry or photography, The Undertow Review.)

Carousel

O anxious International Arrivals

clustered around the baggage carousel,

watch hopefully the thick black rubber veils

which still reveal nothing! Another soul

 

waiting to cross the Styx, I’ll take my place.

The grumble begins. The belt shudders, drags out,

baiting the ringside crowd, a zippered case.

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Tiny House funds world travel!

How do you fund dreams such as travelling the world?  Inspired with wanderlust, Jenna Spesard built a Tiny House with her partner, they spent a year towing it throughout America together.  It’s now in a fixed location but still helps her travel internationally for 3 months of the year, as it saves her so much money.  She is pursuing her goal of visiting 5 new countries each year.

“I don’t work for my house – it works for me” she says.

“Not too long ago, I was working a job I hated, just to pay the rent. I felt stuck and miserable. Then, one day, I decided to change my life. Today I live simply, in a Tiny House, so that I can travel the world for part of the year!”

Jenna Blogs

Jenna blogs at “Tiny House, Giant Journey”.  http://tinyhousegiantjourney.com/  There, she talks about her travels (which you can follow on Instagram) and also other people who have chosen the tiny house option as a way to free up finances.  There are a range of other people who have chosen to downsize, including a single guy or even a family of 5!

Simplicity

Everywhere you look in the video and the website, there are great storage solutions and simplicity.  Inspiring to look at, even if you don’t plan on following the lifestyle completely.  And, of course, it’s horizon-widening to see people who have made uusual life choices.  Jenna is an excellent communicator.

Fulfilling her Life Goal

One of Jenna’s life goals was to travel the world.  Maybe you read yesterday’s blog post of questions to help you find what is important to you in life:whichWAY-

http://bit.ly/2uVXYGg

For a moment, it’s exciting to see where you want to aim…. until you wonder “Where will I find the money to help me reach/train for that?”  Perhaps Jenna’s way of releasing funds is helpful.  It’s certainly working for her.

And what about the world travel?  She has already visited 30 countries – including Iceland, Gautemala, Thailand, Taiwan… and is fulfilling her life’s ambition: to visit all the countries of the world.  Where do you want to go in life?

 

 

Thailand
Guatemala
Taiwan

2 minute Animation

Today, I saw the most amazing wee gem of an animation at the Edinburgh Film Festival, among a showcase of short animated films, for the Maclaren Prize.

It is animated typography.  It was joyous and positive and exciting, and completely stood out, for me.

The Director/maker adds this info:

Amy Johnson worked as a typist for a firm of solicitors before her record- breaking solo flight from Croydon to Australia in 1930. This film has been created with an Underwood 315 typewriter as a celebration of her journey.

Lizzy Hobbs is a name to watch, for future animation.

Note: the Maclaren prize is after Norman Maclaren, the great Scottish animator who made so many great works in the National Film Board of Canada.  You can see his joyful animation “Begone Dull Care”, posted on this blog, last summer here.