“… with liberty and justice (and affordable health care) for all.”

by

Finally in America, the decades-long debate over health care is coming to a head. Last night, President Barack Obama hosted a prime-time news conference at the White House, where he delivered his vision on health care and answered reporters’ questions about it.

As someone who’s extensively traveled abroad and marveled at the United States’ apparent unwillingness to make affordable access to medical care available to ALL its people, I’m amazed that so many politicians—and regular citizens—think that providing such care is somehow socialist. Subversive. And against the “American way of life.”  Well, if having to choose between buying groceries and paying for prescribed medicine is capitalism at its best, perhaps we need to re-examine our priorities.

Although nearly 46 million of us Americans are uninsured, the hardly subversive National Coalition on Health Care reports the United States spends more on health care than other industrialized nations—yet those countries manage to provide health insurance to ALL their citizens. 

I half-facetiously joke with friends that I’ll probably meet my end after being hit by a bus (as a downtown Chicago dweller, I’ve been car-free for six years and rely on public transportation to get around). But here’s the irony: if I didn’t have health insurance and wanted immediate medical care that wasn’t based on my ability to pay, I’d better hope that bus mows me down somewhere outside the United States. And THIS is the country where as a gainfully employed professional for 20 years, I’ve put hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not more) into the American tax system. And also where during several months in 2005 when I didn’t have either company- or university-provided health care, I ALSO was in a situation where I had to forgo prescription drugs for chronic ulcerative colitis since I couldn’t afford the hundreds of out-of-pocket dollars they cost me every 30 days.

Of course, as President Obama said last night, the health care debate goes FAR beyond just providing folks with access to a hospital. We need to delve into the larger realm of overall WELLNESS, of getting enough exercise and eating properly, rather than stuffing our bodies with products made from high-fructose corn syrup and Lord-only-knows what other additives are making and KEEPING us chronically sick. 

Maybe it’s coincidental, but despite frequent ulcerative colitis flare-ups here in the States, I have never suffered a SINGLE ONE when traveling or eating outside America. And that includes nearly one year of life (which was anything BUT stress-free) in Florence, Italy. I’m not a scientist or food supply expert, but I’m convinced that eating fresh fruits and vegetables grown and sold without artificial pesticides and meat grown without odd hormones helps eliminate a host of physical ailments we regularly suffer when purchasing and eating food in the States. And we shouldn’t have to shop at pricey Whole Foods to keep ourselves well.

But back to the health care issue. We Americans need to demand that our inalienable rights include affordable access to medical care REGARDLESS of our ability to pay. Until then, from this writer’s humble perch, all our bluster about "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is just talk.

Have black Americans REALLY traveled until they’ve visited Africa?

by

Over the years, I’ve visited nearly 30 countries in North America, South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Europe (where I’ve traveled so many times I’ve completely lost count).

But I’ve never been to Africa. And as an African-American, that sounds pretty pathetic.

Places on the continent are always on my mental “to-do” list, West African countries like Senegal and North African ones like Egypt and Morocco. But I haven’t made it there yet.

I started thinking about this during President Barack Obama’s recent trip to Ghana. Sure, he was there to send a message to the African world about the United States’ ongoing support—albeit with conditions that included self-responsibility—but what impressed me most about this native son’s return to his father’s home continent was the fact he took his wife Michelle, daughters Sasha and Malia, and First Mom-in-Law Marian along on the trip.

While we know the Obamas have visited Africa before—going to Kenya to meet the president’s relatives—this trip had to have especially important significance for First Lady Michelle, her mom and even the girls, as all are the descendants of both African-American slaves and white slaveowners. Visiting the “Door of No Return,” where mothers, fathers and children were violently and permanently separated from their homeland and shipped across the Atlantic as chattel, must have been mind-blowing. It’s a horribly painful part of American history, but as black folks, it’s ours. And it’s important for us to own it—and in the process, make that reconnection to the continent that often feels far away and foreign to many of us.

Which brings me back to my original point: Can we black Americans really feel well-traveled if we’ve never set foot on African soil? I’m starting to think “NO.”

While unlike President Obama, who knows his ancestral country and village, most of us don’t know specifically from where our foreparents hailed. We generally assume it was someplace in West Africa since that’s where most slaves sent to the New World lived, but can’t claim that direct connection to Senegal or Guinea or The Gambia. Still, many black folks who have traveled to these places describe a sense of feeling “at home” once they arrived, as if those centuries-old mystical links broken during the Middle Passage somehow felt restored.

But I’m curious what you guys think. For those of you who HAVE visited Africa—and I’m talking anywhere on the continent—how did it change you and your outlook on who you are? Did you feel like you had “come home?” And how important was it for you to make that reverse trip across the ocean?

As for me, I think I’m going to start planning that African journey now.

Want to fit in as a solo female traveler? Meet the locals

by

Do I look blissed out or what? Here I am at my favorite Villefranche-sur-Mer restaurant, Le Cosmo ... in a photo taken by my favorite waiter, one I've gotten to know during two trips to this gorgeous Mediterranean town.
Do I look blissed out or what? Here I am on the outdoor patio of my favorite Villefranche-sur-Mer restaurant, Le Cosmo ... in a photo taken by my favorite waiter, who I've gotten to know during two solo trips to this gorgeous village on the Mediterranean Sea.
Rather than just OBSERVING the scene -- such as this oneoutside the hip La Vinya del Senyor wine bar near Barcelona's famed Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar -- why not meet the locals hanging out here? Even simple conversations with a place's residents can make your overseas trip much richer.
Rather than just OBSERVING the scene -- such as this one outside the hip La Vinya del Senyor wine bar across from Barcelona's famed Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar, in the El Born district -- why not chat with the locals hanging out? Even simple conversations with a place's residents can make your overseas trip much richer.

Those of you who’ve visited UrbanTravelGirl know what a passionate ambassador I am for solo travel. So is Beth Whitman, whose Wanderlust and Lipstick Web site is a treasure trove of info for those chicas who like hitting the road, whether with girlfriends, kids and families, or on their own.

I often am asked by friends—and friends of friends—for tips on visiting foreign countries when you’re female and rolling solo. In fact, I’d planned to write a post with some suggestions… and one of those suggestions is to be open and available to meeting local residents wherever you go. But Beth beat me to the punch, and has a great recent Web site post on “Meeting the Locals: 5 Tips for Solo Travelers.” Be sure to check out her five tips on doing this with purpose—and it’s obviously worked for her, as she’s become friends with folks she’s met on her travels. I’ve done the same, having met and shared my 40th birthday dinner with a charming Irish couple on the French Riviera. I’ve become pals with Parisians I’ve interviewed for travel stories and have developed and maintained real friendships with B&B owners I first met several years ago in Rome.

Of Beth’s five tips, my favorite is her first: “Become a regular.” As she says, “If you’re staying in one location for more than a few days, you can often make local friends if you frequent the same place for coffee or meals (or milkshakes!). It should go without saying, but you’ll have a better chance of being remembered if you are warm and friendly.”

My own corollary: Women traveling solo should ALSO make friends with the waitstaff at these spots. Not only will you often receive more attentive service and great tables from male waiters and bartenders (a HUGE self-esteem boost, especially when they’re cute!), but they’ll look out for you and “protect” you from potentially annoying men who might approach a single woman dining or drinking alone. They’ll stop by your table and chat, making you feel less lonely and loaning you some “street cred” with other patrons, wondering who YOU are to merit such special attention! 

During my two trips to Villefranche-sur-Mer, for example, I’ve become friends of a sort with a gorgeous Gallic waiter (mentioned several months back in a previous post!) at Le Cosmo. I’ve struck up fun and flirty conversations with café baristas near Rome’s Piazza Barberini—one of whom became particularly friendly upon learning I was staying at nearby B&B for several days. And during my early relocation days in Florence, Italy, I made sure to visit the same nearby ristorante and got to know the friendly waiters (while being comped a glass of good Brunello di Montalcino from time to time). They took good care of me every time I stopped in.

If nothing else, you’ll have someone to say bonjour or ciao to when you walk by that restaurant, café or corner market on your way to the next sightseeing adventure… and that CERTAINLY will help you feel much more at home, no matter where you are in the world.

Michael Jackson’s lasting gift to black ‘citizens of the world’

by

As has everyone I know, I’ve been obsessively tuning into print, TV and Internet coverage of the horribly tragic, sad and untimely death of pop icon Michael Jackson. Back in the day, I was a huge Michael fan (before he morphed into someone unrecognizable). I still love his songs, and have found myself mindlessly humming and singing along with “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “The Lady in My Life,” and the telling “Black or White.”

But being a journalist who’s always searching for the sociological meaning and truth behind current events—and goodness knows this is the biggest global one since Barack Obama was elected president of the United States—I see Michael far beyond the off-the-charts performances, fantastically creative music and videos, and even the eccentricities that defined his later years.

Over the past few days, I’ve heard it stated by everyone from the Rev. Al Sharpton to former “CBS Evening News” anchor Dan Rather that Michael Jackson’s most lasting legacy to the world won’t be the impressive fact that he “desegregated” MTV back in the early 1980s. Not that he revolutionized the music video medium as we knew it. But the fact that he was the first African-American artist to achieve true global superstardom without constantly reminding folks he was black. These social critics—and I concur—changed the world by paving the way for global audiences to embrace and accept Chicago Bulls basketball phenom Michael Jordan. Multimedia mogul Oprah Winfrey, another black star who found her fame in my hometown Windy City. Golf genius Tiger Woods, who while still early in his career has permanently redefined his sport. And the third member of the Chicago trifecta, President Obama, who has ignited the world’s imagination in a way unlike any politician in my 40-year-old lifetime.

Now you say, what does this have to do with international travel? I say it has EVERYTHING to do with it.

Those of us who live in America often forget that what this country exports better than anything is its popular culture. Folks from Dublin to Dubai, from Buenos Aires to Beijing, form their impressions of America—and most certainly of AFRICAN-AMERICANS—from the musicians, actors, and more recently politicians we set upon pedestals. So when those of us African-Americans who DO travel go abroad, much of how we’re greeted has been shaped by the cultural forces that came before us. As I’ve written before in this blog, foreign nationals on cruise ships, regular folks in France, Italy, Turkey and Greece seem to feel an affinity for us (and perhaps these days for Americans of all colors) because of President Obama, a black American man of whom we can all be proud.

And long before any of us had ever heard Obama’s name, there was a performing sensation named Michael Jackson who made it “cool” to be black in countries where they’d probably never seen an African-American up close-and-personal. So beyond the music and the Moonwalk, those of us who consider ourselves citizens of the world can thank MJ for breaking down barriers long before we and our passports made it overseas.

Would the world be different if more of us had traveled to Iran?

by

You know what struck me watching the post-election events unfold in Iran this week? How something as seemingly simple as the act of traveling can make SUCH a difference when it comes to intercultural understanding. Thank goodness we in the United States now have a president who’s thoughtful and respectful of other folks in the world… but there are still some who still see the world as “us” versus “them.” I just wonder what our country’s – and the world’s – relationships would be like if more of us traveled to “their” nation, saw how “they” lived, understood how “they” thought.

And that reminded me of a thought-provoking and in hindsight, truly prescient new book I just picked up from acclaimed travel writer (and of course, PBS television star) Rick Steves. In Travel as a Political Act, Steves explains that there’s far more travel than “good-value hotels, great art and tasty cuisine.” While he writes about travels throughout Europe (the main focus of his travel business), El Salvador, and Morocco, it’s his “Mission: Understand Iran” chapter that speaks most to me now. Last spring, Steves and his crew traveled to Iran for filming, a real rarity for Western  and especially American crews. And his latest book incorporates this trip, as well as many other fascinating ones over the years.

I got a chance to hear Steves live last November at one of his weekend Travel Festivals in scenic Edmonds, Wash. He spoke to a more-than-packed house that clung to his every word as he showed the hour-long film, then thoughtfully answered questions about his 12-day filming trip. The timing was extra-powerful, as the conference fell soon after the historic election of now-President Barack Obama. For those of us who believe in giving peace a chance, Steves’ mission in Iran sounded in lockstep with our new Commander in Chief’s philosophy of approaching folks with open minds and respect rather than tired old stereotypes and automatic distrust. If you haven’t seen “Rick Steves’ Iran: Yesterday and Today,” it’s SO worth checking out—especially in light of what’s happening in Iran right now. And not surprisingly, media outlets like PRI’s The World radio show have been seeking him out lately, hungry for perspective on what life’s REALLY like in Iran these days. It makes for fascinating listening. His life’s a testament to what he writes: “thoughtful travel comes with powerful lessons.”

I love what he writes in the Iran chapter: “I’m convinced that people-to-people travel experiences can be a powerful force for peace. People traveling to the Soviet Union helped us get through the Cold War without things turning hot. Travel to Vietnam has helped heal wounds left in the aftermath of that war. And, as the USA and Iran continue their dangerous flirtation with an avoidable war, travel there can help build understanding between our nations.”

On the back cover of Travel as a Political Act, Steves says, “We can’t understand our world without experiencing it.” Amen to that.

I’m curious, though. How has traveling abroad rearranged your OWN “cultural furniture,” as Steves calls it? How do those experiences make you rethink assumptions you held about other people, other countries? I’d love to know, and I’ll bet the rest of you would, too.