Salon Wanderlust | Table Talk: Readers Tips Post of the Week

Because Tennessee is a "border" state, most of its larger metropolitan areas devote an inordinate amount of time to trying to appear progressive and, alas, pretty homogenous with the rest of middle America. I live in and love Nashville, I really do, but I have never seen a place try so hard and sink so much money into trying to look like someplace else.

Memphis is physically distanced from and politically prickly towards its sibling cities. Its physical geography is more compacted and inclusive. The neighborhoods blend far more easily into each other, culturally, politically and physically. Its ethnic makeup is more diverse. Its arts and letters scene is lively and vital and spans generations, economic groups and educational/professional strata in a way that most city arts councils can only dream about.

Despite its being the younger of the state's big cities, Memphis has managed to keep an older, funkier feel about it. There is no want for pomp and polish and yet there is a subversive humour that permeates everything. The very existence of Mud Island, a pryamid not far from crosswalks bearing hieroglyphs and a bridge in the shape of an "M" that spans the Mississippi river are testaments to the splendid DaDa spirit which must be patiently seen and experienced with the spirit in which they were intended to be understood.

Kristin Lambert | God's Country: Where Is It?
10:19am Apr 2, 1997 PST (#28 of 35)

i obviously take a lot for granted, reading this conversation. I have been feeling sorry for myself because snow is falling today, and the wind is gusting it around. But I am watching a moose browse in my yard as I write this, I can see no neighbors from my property, and at night the sky is blanketed with stars. I step out on the balcony overlooking the lake where there are no houses except mine, from my bedroom where a fire is burning in the fireplace, and see Hale-Bopp blazing in the sky. It is the brightest of all the bright stars. The tail is six times longer than the comet itself. It is like magic! Not only am I really living in God's country, but I'm grouching at it. It was warm and sunny on Easter, so this cold, snowy wind is a shock. Although it's dark here in the wintertime, when I go away traveling, it is the silvery moonlight shining through the long nights that I miss. We get enough sun (and energy) in the summer to make up for it.

I have lived nearly all my life in Alaska, but left it for a couple of years to see the "real" world. I went on a long sailing trip south along the Pacific Coast, from San Francisco to Manzanillo and back up the Sea of Cortez. Certainly life at sea is God's country. I lived in the beautiful, quaint Victorian city of Port Townsend in Washington, and learned to love the spectacular scenery of Puget Sound, which must be God's country. I've travelled in Canada through British Columbia and Alberta, and surely Jasper must be in God's country. But I find myself drawn back to Alaska with gratitude, knowing that I belong here. Still, those of us touched by wanderlust feel the need to go see the other side of the world, and I am curious to visit your "rat race," if only so I can sigh with relief when I return to my wilderness home and regain my perspective on life.

Tristan Naramore | Romancing the Road
triste - 04:45pm Mar 27, 1997 PST (#2 of 3)

“i t's better to regret something you have done than to regret something you haven't done."

But I've a feeling that you will someday again encounter her or someone very like her. I believe in "large circles," people whose influence on your life extends broader than perhaps one lifetime.

Anyhow, I got excited when I found this discussion group and I'd like to relate a travel-erotica story of my own.

A couple summers ago, I went to Santa Cruz, California, to pick up my sister. I had rented a Buick Skylark to take on a road trip to So. Dakota for a family reunion. A Thai woman happened to be visiting my sister at the time, and she was invited to join us. At the last minute, after vacillating, she agreed. At this point I didn't feel any attraction for her; in fact, I thought she was rather grumpy.

But that all changed pretty quick.

Our first night on the road, we stopped to camp at a lake in Southern Utah. Bup (that's the Thai woman) got out of the car and stretched. The way she arched her back, with her arms stretched over her head, that got my attention. Something in me went, "Hmmm..."

Later that night, my sister was on the opposite side of the car with her new boyfriend, and Bup and I were in our sleeping bags, next to each other. I offered her a massage. The rest is probably best left to your imagination :)

The next week and a half on the road, through the Southwest up to Boulder then Faulkton, Montana, Nevada and finally the Bay Area was magical and erotic, to say the least.

Bup had no specific plans, so I asked her to stay with me in Sausalito, on the old ferry boat where I live. She ended up staying until her visa ran out in May. A very satisfying, if singular, relationship developed gradually between us. When she had to go back to Bangkok, to resume her life as a school teacher, I was quite sad.

So I went to her, last Fall, to Thailand for two glorious months traveling and exploring her home country. Then another painful good bye.

Now, we talk to each other at least once a week and email a lot. She plans to visit this summer. Talk about a "distance relationship." It's difficult. I really don't know what to expect of the future. Will we continue these brief visits until we can't stand saying goodbye anymore? Will we get married???

Anybody have experience with international affairs of the heart they wish to share?

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