Wanderlust and Nowhere to Wander

We get out a lot

[nowherenowander]

Channeling Your Inner Cyborg

[nowherenowander]

https://mereham2.tumblr.com/post/178902537343/channeling-your-inner-cyborg

[love-personal]

[nuclears]

nuclears /

[goodporchesgreatporches]

The Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard, Old Patent Office Building, Washington, DC

My favorite museum space in DC so far is by far the building occupied by the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) and the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). Sorry for the acronyms, but you know how I am about acronyms around here! Technically NPG is called the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, but no one actually calls it that.

These two museums share the Old Patent Office Building which is a stellar example of Greek Revival style (someone explain to me how it isn’t just Neoclassical, I never said I was an architecture expert). It was built in 1836/1837. The two museums have been sharing the building since 1968, though there was serious renovation in the early 2000s.

In particular I’d like to focus on the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard (first picture), which is a gathering place for the public in between the two museums. The courtyard is a common meetup point in DC, especially considering the museum is free and Chinatown is a hot destination. The courtyard was designed by Foster + Partners and opened in 2008. I know what you’re thinking, “Porch Rates” this ain’t outdoor seating. To which I’d say, debatable. The space has living plants, a roof that lets in a ton of natural light, I don’t know seems close enough. Having been in the space several times it definitely feels like being outside!

All in all the space is truly stunning, even when there are many people in the courtyard it still feels very tranquil and its a welcome oasis in the middle of one of the busier areas of DC. The darker colored rectangles on the floor are unique low lying water features and the rooftop canopy is stellar at any time of day, in fact Phillip Kenicott from the Washington Post said in 2007: “It is, however, worth seeing the canopy at different times throughout the day. The glass roof is an undulating form, supported by eight slender columns. When the sun is out, it casts a lattice of shadows on the walls of the old building. When it’s cloudy, the sky seems farther away, chilly and remote. When the sun is setting, the double-glazed glass filters the light and colors into a watery, otherworldly presence.”

(Personal note: I have love hate relationship with waxing poetic about buildings like the above.)

More places need areas like this courtyard. In the built environment nature and a building can co-exist into truly public spaces (i.e they should be free to enter and use). The Smithsonian also wisely allows hosted events in the space at night and the space can be heavily transformed.

All photos have been taken from Smithsonian websites, all credit to them.

[germandailyphoto]

Sign marking the division until November 1989 of the Iron Curtain across Germany - here between Hessen in Saxony-Anhalt (East) and Roklum in Lower Saxony (West)

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Germany and Europe were divided right here until November 12, 1989, 7:58 am.

These signs are found on many roads crossing the former border between East and West Germany. The exact time and date when the road connection was reopened or GDR citizens were allowed to travel to the West for the first time after the fall of the wall is written down on each of them.

[khyghar]

Check my photography at:

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[nowherenowander]

Finding Value

Is there value in everything we do?

In Cognitive Surplus, Clay Shirky writes that personal value occurs when you are “active instead of passive, creative instead of consumptive” and when you gain something of worth from that experience. 

Personal value is different for everyone. For some travelers, it comes from how they go about the journey-maybe they flew on a plane for the first time, for example. Others find it in how far they go. who they meet, what they do during the trip. It could be a form of achievement, enjoyment, or just a cheerful acknowledgment (see above gif).

I spent two weeks in London in March and I loved every moment of it. Every street I walked, food that I tried, museum that I wandered around, I felt proud of myself for immersing myself in the culture and trying new things. I told a friend about my trip and she mentioned that I couldn’t have gotten a lot out of London if I was only there for two weeks.  Who cares? There’s no time limit on experience and what you gain from it. 

Personal value and motivation can further your journey, but outside sharing plays just as big a role. Shirky insists that because humans are social to begin with, the fact we share makes others inclined to seek their own personal value. 

When your friend shows you pictures from her trip to Japan and it makes you start planning your own trip there, both the sharer (friend) and the receiver (you) are benefiting from your respective actions. Outside of my own personal wish to visit England, I wanted to go after my dad took several business trips to London and always shared his stories with me.

There’s no specific or right way to find value in something, outside of experiencing it for yourself. You can’t pinpoint a certain place, you have to go there and see what you take from it. Value is vague since everyone experiences it differently. Go where you want, take what you can from the land and the culture. Your journey can begin anywhere, you just have to start it and find the worth. 

[nowherenowander]

Plan Accordingly

In the book, Cognitive Surplus, by Clay Shirky, he discuss’ a study that involves a day care center. Where if parents pick up their kids late from the day care center, there would then be a fine/penalty after a certain amount of times that there was a late pick up. 

The conclusion to this as Shirky states, “One might impose a fine significant enough to deter lateness, but the study showed that market transactions are not merely additive to other human motives; they alter them by their mere presence.” 

What does this have to do with traveling?

I know from a personal view, I fall into this category as well. The category of, making sure I’m on time only because if not, I am going to have to pay for it later in some way shape or form. Honestly, in most cases if there wasn’t some sort of fine I would take my sweet time and have my own agenda when traveling, but that just isn’t how the world operates. It operates on time and money. Then, you also have to think about the opposite side of yourself, the transportation system and the people who have those jobs of transporting other people are simply trying to do their job, and they have to put some kind of “penalty” tact onto your bill. If not, everyone would make everyone late.  

It is a good lesson to not be late and to keep in the back of your mind that there could be minor consequences. 

When traveling anywhere you should make your best effort to not be late. Because more than likely there will be some type of fine tact onto any transportation you take. This isn’t to say that you should be scared when traveling and uptight, but be cautious about the amount of time you have and plan ahead accordingly. 

[unexplained-events]

Reported Bigfoot Sightings

[summersweeet]

via weheartit

[destroymylife]

[autumncozy]

By kjp

[myautumnmood-blog]

i love it🍁

[againbeholdthestars-deactivated]

[wild-cabins]

Jacob Witzling

[nowherenowander]

Playlist for the States

With fall break and long weekends ahead, queue up these playlists for wherever the road takes you:

East Coast:

Beastie Boys- An Open Letter to NYC

Foxing-Grand Paradise 

fun. with Janelle Monae-We Are Young

Luke Christopher-Roses

TroyBoi feat. Diplo and Nina Sky-Afterhours

Duck Sauce-Barbra Streisand

Lana Del Rey-Born to Die, Video Games, 

The Bee Gees-Stayin Alive

Audrey Hepburn and Henry Mancini-Moon River

Lorde-Green Light

Midwest:

Barns Courtney-Glitter and Gold, Kicks, Fire

Hozier-Angel of Small Death and The Codeine Scene, Cherry Wine, Someone New, Arsonist’s Lullaby (Yes, there is a lot of Hozier)

Jack White-Love is Blindness, I’m Shakin, 

Young the Giant-Something to Believe In

Lord Huron-The Night We Met, Love Like Ghosts

Tom Petty-You Don’t Know How It Feels

Long Live-Devan DuBois

Annie Lennox-Into the West (from LOTR: Return of the King)

Nothing But Thieves-Trip Switch

Judah and the Lion-Take It All Back (original and 2.0)

Caught a Ghost-No Sugar in My Coffee

West Coast:

Max Frost-Good Morning

St. Vincent-Los Ageless

Arcade Fire-Everything Now

Death Cab for Cutie-Gold Rush, Black Sun

Beck-Colors

The Neighbourhood-Sweater Weather

Washed Out-Feel It All Around

Weezer-Feels Like Summer

Portugal. The Man-Tidal Wave

Twenty One Pilots-Tear in My Heart, Nico and the Niners,

Santigold-Run the Road

[nowherenowander]

Make the Most of Every Opportunity

What is the essential component needed in order to travel? Opportunity. Fortunately, opportunities surround us. In his book Cognitive Surplus, Clay Shirky says that “by treating one another well, we can create environments where the group can do more then the individuals can do on their own.” He believes that we are surrounded by so many opportunities because of the way we interact with each other through the internet. 

The internet provides us all with a wealth of information, connections, and opportunities at our fingertips. It is how we use this resource that determines what opportunities become available to us. 

The most interesting example that Shirky gave to inspire the creation of opportunities through communal living was the Ultimatum Game. This was an experiment ran by economists to understand behavioral economics. One person was granted $10, but must offer a portion of it and to another person. If the person accepted the offer both participants kept however the $10 was split. If the offer was rejected neither person kept any money. 

Economists theorized that the proposer would offer $1 and the responder would accept on the bases that people naturally act out of self-interest and this offer would leave both parties better off.

They were wrong.

The less money the proposer offered, the more likely the responder was to reject the offer. However, the more generous the proposer was, the more likely the responder was to accept. 

Live generously. By living generously you provide others (and yourself) with more and greater opportunities. Ironically, living selflessly improves your life more than selfishly trying to figure out how to improve your life. 

Generosity creates opportunity. So go out and live every day being generous to others and it will expand the opportunities provided to you and the world you live in.