In an age where social networking and blogging allows us instant communication, travel writing has now fallen on the shoulders of young explorers, armed with backpacks and digital camera’s to provide up to the minute updates on their adventures. Welcome to the new age of travel writing.

I feel travel writing has lost its personality. When I was a boy, my dreams were fueled by the stories from the mountaineers, my heroes, standing atop the windy summit of Mt. Everest. I used to take in every photograph, every film, and every dispatch about what was happening 29,000 feet above me. The stories that first inspired me told a personal and harsh reality about the place they were in. Reading the excellent Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, it didn’t romanticize the expedition. Rather, it told about what happens when things go wrong, when the objective changes, and the adventure becomes the will to survive. This is where I feel the writing has become impersonal and dull. I’m going to write about the splendid beauty of a place, like the explosion of color and aroma from a spice market in Kathmandu, or the simple design on the walls of a seldom explored church in the hillsides of Tuscany, but I’m also going to describe the troubles, the days when things turned unexpected, such as being trapped among a 2010 Maoist uprising in Nepal, or climbing a 450 foot sandstone tower in Utah in the midst of a rainstorm. I enjoy these stories because they make travel real and tangible.

My responsibility as a travel blogger is not to brag or show off where I’ve been or what I’ve done. My responsibility is to inspire others to do the same. I believe that personal experience abroad enriches the mind, and adventure forces one to realize what their body is truly capable of. I aim to make it as affordable and possible for any person my age. My recommendations are not the most luxurious or the most eye-popping, but I strive to make it simple and practical, such as urging travel on discount European airlines, or staying in simple room and board hostels. I encourage alternate forms of travel from being a simple tourist, to procuring work and volunteer opportunities for the ultimate cultural experience.

In selling travel, blogging and social media is the ultimate tool. In 2010, I was a volunteer for six months in Nepal. Through Facebook I was able to instantly share my photos, my experiences, and my personal thoughts and opinions, from the feeling of longing and homesickness, to physical ailments, joys, and defeats. It was acclaimed for being more than a travel story: it was an insight into the personal emotions of being in such an unfamiliar place. I took this into the founding of my personal travel blog, Mike Off The Map. Applying this model to my other travels, I make these rarely seen places realistic, tangible, and accessible.  This is how I believe writing should be marketed. Not through clichéd, general descriptions, but through personal experiences and opportunities. I want to know about strange foods, bizarre and uncommon customs, and I want to see the world through the eyes of the people who inhabit it.

The future of travel writing will be determined by personal and shared experiences. Stereotypes and generalizations will be broken by stories of warmth and hospitality from even the roughest areas of the world. I see a new age of exploration where young adventurers will be inspired by the instantly transmitted photos and dispatches from those travelling into the unknown, in the same way that I was first inspired. Furthermore, discovery through social networks and blogging will unite those who dream of exploring the world into a global community of storytellers and photographers. This is where the modern travelogue is headed.

Michael Restivo

 

 

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New Year, New Travels:

How To Maximize Your Adventures

In 2012!  

By: Guest Contributor, Michael Restivo

 

 

“This post is dedicated to the dreamers of the world. The ones who are ready to put aside what makes them comfortable and travel to a new land, discover a new culture, make a new friend, and eat something extraordinary.

 

When I started this site, I wanted to inspire people my age to explore the natural and cultural world around them, I wanted people to explore and fall in love with their own backyards, and I aimed to throw away all cultural biases and discover what the world truly is: A unique, diverse, and ultimately beautiful place.

 

The new year has arrived and while I rarely believe in setting resolutions, I do believe in goals. I believe in places to experience, mountains to climb, new foods to try, and cultures to explore. In the past year I’ve seen people craving adventure and escape into something strange and new. In this day and age, travel is not expensive and impossible anymore. It’s about wise management, open minds, and bringing zero expectations about the adventure ahead. My goal in 2012, is to get more people traveling and exploring, collect stories, and ultimately prove that there are no closed borders in our world. In this post I’ve come up with a list of suggestions and advice about how make 2012 your best travel year ever.”

 

1. Rediscover Your Own Backyard!

In 2011, I set out to discover the best of South Florida in adventures that took me from a bicycle ride among wild gators to a rehabilitation center for stranded whales. There is a time where a city that might seem so exotic and exciting to outsiders becomes mundane to those that live there year round. However, being so close to our own unique landscapes provides an escape that rediscovers clarity and balance in our everyday lives. This year the U.S. National Park Service will be offering select days of free entrance  to our national

Arches National Park – Moab, Utah

parks including National Park Week from April 21-29. It’s one of the most perfect opportunities to perfect outdoor skills and introduce a new generation to our diverse outdoor landscape. Discovery is also open to those who are not as outdoor inclined. I urge many this year to add an international flair to your weekends. Find the most uncommon international cuisine in your city, support local artists and musicians who strive for their talents to be seen and heard. In South Florida, we are fortunate to have two major cultural events each month, the Gables Gallery Night and the Wynwood Art Walk where local artists display the latest and most exciting flair in the international art scene. For the food lovers, check out Food Trucks, located now in almost every major city, for a unique and gourmet spin on fast food. By taking the ordinary out of your weekend, wether sweating it out on the trails, or being dazzled by neon colors and intricate designs, re-falling in love with your own city will guarantee a more fulfilled year.

2. Hostels Are the Way To Go

One of the biggest obstacles facing the young modern traveller is affordable accommodation. Traveling through pricey European cities can be a daunting task when considering a limited budget. This is where hostels come like a godsend. Hostels are small privately run hotels and lodges that provide little more than a

Jam Session at the Lazy Lizard

bed, a campground, or simply a roof over your head. The hostels are usually dorm style, where eight or more people could crowd into bunks in a single room but are comfortable social hotspots which are great places to meet like minded people willing to join your adventures. In May I took a week long trip to Moab, Utah, a haven for climbers, hikers, people going cross country, and young adventurers. At $9.00 a night (thats not a typo, thats nine dollars a night) I stayed at the Lazy Lizard Hostel providing a bunk with clean sheets, a shower, a communal kitchen, and a host of new friends all there for the same reason. For the international traveller, looking up sites such as Hostel International will provide you with a list of international rooms, some even with campgrounds, that will assure you affordable accommodation nearly anywhere in the world. Of course the drawback to the hostels is in some cases you will have to sacrifice certain hygienic qualities for price but if you’re one that doesn’t mind being perfectly squeaky clean all the time, then hostel travel is definitely the way to go.

3. Be Adventurous With Your Eats

Food binds the world together. It is a part of travel that everyone uniquely understands. The modern tourist in Europe will be hounded by restaurants, usually located near the most tourist heavy landmarks, that think they know what the traveller wants, and usually deliver in mass portions yet low quality. Be adventurous this year.

Spicy Momo Dumpling Soup, the hottest dish I’ve ever eaten – Kathmandu, Nepal

 Instead of flocking to where the guidebook takes you, slip into the empty streets and the alleyways until you find what your nose and your eyes tell you. One doesn’t need to speak the language to try something in a place where you’re going to find locals staring you down and snickering, yet where the food is fresh, homemade, and uniquely cooked each time.

When in Italy or France, explore the local markets, usually in the midweek or weekend, where you find local cheeses, meats, and produce. In India or East Asia, explore the nearly daily spice markets where the air explodes in scents of curry, cumin, and coriander seed. Go to the markets in the morning, buy as much as you’d allow yourself, and make your own lunches or dinners in your hotel, knowing that the family in the farmhouse down the road is possibly doing the same.

4. Do You Really Need All That Stuff?

One backpack for a week in Moab

 There are two types of travelers, the backpackers, and the flashpackers. The backpackers are those that are able to withstand at least two pairs of clothes over a multiple span of days. The flashpacker must include a multitude of options and the electronics to go with it. In the new year, make the effort to go light, you’ll find the advantage in spending less to worry or maintain it, and more space in your pack for the important things, like food and souvenirs. In the past year I found most airlines were extremely lenient when it came to well packed backpacks (of the large camping variety), and I’ve been able to fly multiple times without having to check what was immediately on me. Invest in a great quality pack that locks around your waist, and transportation, mobility, and weight become a thing of the past. Take the essentials with you, most European cities already offer a multitude of internet options, and if you were ever in need of something as important as a hairdryer, chances are somebody at the hostel already brought it.

5. Give Back

One of the best ways to see the lesser known parts of the world is to volunteer. Through organizations such as International Volunteer Headquarters, programs up to six months are offered throughout the developing world. You choose where you want to go, the type of work you want to do, and the amount of time you’d live to give with flexible program schedules. Jobs include working with children and supporting women’s rights, to AIDS education and wildlife conservation. It’s an opportunity to truly immerse yourself in another country and culture by living, eating, and experiencing everyday life through their eyes.

Stupa or Tibetan prayer tower – Tengboche, Nepal

6. Leave Your Comfort Zone and Get Off The Map!

This year, there is no excuse not to explore, travel, or find adventure. I urge anybody to truly have a one of kind experience this year. There are many ways to see the world cheaply and efficiency. In 2012, discover what your body is truly capable of. Take in a place not as a tourist but as a resident. Discover for yourself what makes the world truly extraordinary. Travel requires a dream, an ambition, and careful planning. It is not impossible or inaccessible to anybody. Over the next year I will continue to share my experiences, suggestions, and stories as well as passing along my passion for travel and adventure to inspire a new generation to see the world for themselves.

Happy Travels,

Michael

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We are but a dot in the vastness that is our world …. We … Our Planet … Our Lives.  Carl Sagan writes:

“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.” – Carl Sagan

Guest Contributor to MiamiRealEstateCafe.com  … Michael Restivo  … Mike Off The Map  writes:

On December 24, 1968, the crew of Apollo 8, the first men to orbit the moon, took an iconic of our fragile planet. It was the culmination of a difficult year, assassinations, war, unrest, and destruction had belittled our world. Yet when you truly look at this photo, all our imaginary borders, our preconceived notions, our prejudices, our beliefs, and our differences disappear. We are but men, unified in our common biological lineage, we all have aspirations, hopes, dreams, joys, and pains.

Why do I write this? I am nothing but a man who writes about the world, this beautiful land that we all share together. I do not wield the power to make change, but it does not mean I am powerless. I write this because as we celebrate this holiday of joy, love, and family, we are still not a world unified. Our country is divided by animosity, prejudice, and dare I say hate. Differences that were once revered and celebrated are now feared and under attack. We are a planet at war, not between nations, not between beliefs, but between man. Over the past year I have watched “tolerance” become such an obscure word, as people are conditioned to believe that love and hope is reserved for a select few.

But for my generation this is not the case. We can be the generation that restores a sense of humanity in this world. There will always be conflict, it is a trait among human beings. But how we treat each other, and how we look at those different from us will influence the moment that we turn the tide. I hope, that our generation will be the one that uses the minds of those who make weapons of war, and turns them into weapons against disease. I hope that it’ll be our generation who bridges the gaps across culture, and learn from each other instead of fearing each other. I hope it’ll be our generation, that creates a gentler discourse between each other, and finds commons in our differences.

Tonight there are those of us are putting that finishing touch on our Christmas tree, lighting a Menorah, or turning and kneeling to Mecca. But there is one thing we are all doing. We are dreaming. We are looking towards a common future where we stand as a single world. My message and my hope to you on this holiday, is that you are at home, that you have found love within your family and friends, and that you are safe.

A very happy holiday to you and your family, and happy travels,

Michael

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Everglades Campgrounds MIAMI…  part 4 of a 4 part series by guest contributor, Michael Restivo,  to the  MiamiRealEstateCafe.com Blog.

Farther past Shark Valley is the heart of the swamplands. The Everglades.

 Although explored in the comfort of an airboat, car, or organized trails, those looking for a wild experience can explore the many backcountry sites far removed from civilization. The canoe trails in the everglades are dotted with chickee hut platforms,

ground sites and beach sites, many accessible only by the constricted waterways. Many of these sites lack campground amenities such as showers or running water and a basic understanding of camp construction is a must.

However these sites offer a true wilderness experience as they are isolated from the organized campgrounds and it is possible to only see a couple or less tents at a time. Backcountry camping requires obtaining a permit the day before or the day of the start of the trip and basic navigational skills are a must, however it provides an authentic experience in the midst of the swamps.

The range of adventure in South Florida is vast, and the small sample of outdoor experiences isn’t even a mere tip of what the land has to offer.

 What makes South Florida so unique is it’s accessibility. Trails, paths, and waterways are clearly marked, and pristine waters offer a glimpse of a diverse ecosystem that is uniquely ours. Of course it requires the same level of protection and anybody enjoying our lands should treat it with dignity and respect.

A true adventure requires a leap into the daring and unknown, but it also requires a sense of preservation and thoughtfulness. Keep our lands clean, and explore on!

Michael

Link back to the first blog post on Hike, Bike, Kayak Wild Miami     ….   For all your Miami Real Estate Needs …  Local Real Estate Experts Vicki and Alexandra Restivo would love to make your next move a great move … 305 793-1365 or contact us at restivo.v@ewm.com

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Shark Valley …  Hike, Bike, Kayak Wild Miami …   (part 3 of a 4 part series)

By guest contributor, Michael Restivo …     MiamiRealEstateCafe.com blogsite:  MIAMI & MIAMI REAL ESTATE

A mere thirty minute drive from the Florida International University campus is the lush paved trail known as Shark Valley. Shark Valley is a 15 mile loop along the tip of the Everglades where alligators roam free along the waterways and nature is as up close and personal as ever.

The loop is accessible in three ways. By bicycle, by tram, or by foot. Any bicycle is welcomed and bike rentals run at $8.00 an hour.  Halfway up the loop is a watchtower that when climbed provides an awe inspiring vista across the vast swamps. At the edge of the watchtower are several hiking trails that go to the border of the wild everglades.

Animals are in abundance here. The seven mile ride to the watchtower runs parallel to a natural canal where gators are ever-present. The alligators are generally docile and there have been no reported attacks in the valley, yet, they are continuously crossing the road, and the bikes are generally whisking by a mere three feet or less from a ten foot animal.

Other than the gator, great blue herons, egrets, falcons, and storks line and nest in the trees.

One of the pleasures of Shark Valley is riding out in the early morning before the large crowds arrive and having an empty road while watching the daily movement of life in a part of South Florida that is so close and yet so removed from anything else.

If you missed the previous post Hike, Bike, Kayak Wild Miami by Mike Off the Map for our real estate blog MiamiRealEstateCafe.com,  you can link to it here.

Happy Travels,

Michael

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Oleta River State Park   …  (part 2 …  of a 4 part series …  by guest contributor Michael Restivo)

Located in the heart of Biscayne Bay, Oleta River State Park offers miles of fine and challenging mountain biking and kayak trails that run alongside the pristine shoreline through thick mangroves. Herons, Pelicans, and Egrets nest in the thick vines while manatees and the occasional dolphin swim through the roots. My kayaking trip took me

through the mangrove trails, and into the open waters of Biscayne Bay where the oncoming winds prove a formidable challenge as we slid across the sandbar and onto the beaches of one of the small mangrove islands.

The islands are small forests in themselves and offer small trails inland that can make someone forget they are still in fact in the heart of the city.

Beyond the waters, Oleta offers miles of challenging mountain bike routes that go deep into the forests while others can opt for paved novice routes that run parallel to the waters.

For those who have little or no experience in the outdoor skills, Oleta offers safe protected log cabins and campsites, some accessible by canoe that offer a safe place for a first experience before launching a larger expedition down south.

If you missed the earlier blog  by Michael Restivo on MiamiRealEstateCafe.com you can link to it here    … hike, bike, kayak wild Miami.

 We invite you to stay tuned for more …  and … Enjoy your travels,

 Michael

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More and more research is coming out showing that it makes great financial sense to purchase a home today .

Whether it be rent vs. buy ratios, income-to-price ratios or income-to-mortgage payment ratios, purchasing a home right now is a bargain compared to historic norms. 

There is a distinct difference between COST of a home today compared to pre-peak prices.  Link here to the entire article, as it appears in the KCM Blog.

The most recent S&P Case Shiller price index indicates that  residential real estate values have returned to 2003 1Q PRICEs.   Then factor in mortgage rates,  and the case for buying a home today becomes even more compelling.

Whether you’re looking to buy, sell, or lease - it’s important to rely on a knowledgeable, local,  real estate expert.  

The Restivo Team at EWM Realtors International looks forward to working with you and making your next move a really good move.  Our direct lines are  305 793-1365 for Vicki  or 305 632-0164  for Alexandra  and  you can reach us here or by email at restivo.v@ewm.com as well…  for real estate in South Florida …  as well as referal assistance internationally.  

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The top two destinations for foreign buyers this year … in Florida… are:   

1) Miami and  Miami Beach … as well as 

2) Fort Lauderdale

Ranked TOP 2  in 2011,  we expect them to be TOP 2 again  in 2012.     

Each are resort destinations …  home to jet-setting, bikini-clad sun-worshippers  …   with 1 BIG PLUS:  Both offer easy access  internationally  (to and from the Miami  and Fort Lauderdale airports) …  with the obligatory dining,  nightlife… shopping … glistening waters and sandy beaches . Read the rest of this entry »

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“It’s a dash.  It’s what they put on your gravestone.  Represents the time we have between our 1st and last day.  What are you gonna do with your  -  ? “     

Not my words ….  but it’s thought-provoking and beautiful.  

It’s a quote from  Brennan Carroll …   It touches nearly every corner of life …    ( … and it certainly touches real estate!). 

The Restivo Team … EWM Realtors …  We would love to help you the next time you are ready to buy or sell property anywhere in Miami or elsewhere -  305 793-1365  restivo.v@ewm.com

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