“Wait, Jordan the country? What on Earth for?”

“Did they issue you a bullet-proof vest with that invite?”

“Is your life insurance paid up?”

These are some of the unnecessarily nervous reactions that I’ve been getting this week, when I tell people that I’m going to travel to Jordan in April as a guest of the Jordanian Tourism Board.

Answers:

“Because it will be amazing.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Honestly, I’m not oblivious to the current situation in Egypt and the fallout across the Middle East from the revolt in Tunisia, but the chance to visit an incredible place like Petra and a city like Amman, plus Crusader castles and the Dead Sea, is WAY too interesting to pass up.

What about the naysayers and worriers?

I offer these suggestions….

How To Travel To Interesting Places During Rather Tumultuous Times

Here are a few precautionary moves that make sense for any traveler:

1)  Keep up with the current political situation, including following country pages from various news organizations, key people on Twitter and connecting with several others who know the country well and/or live there.  My thanks to UK travel writer and MidEast expert Matthew Teller (a Twitter connection) for his suggestions and insights.

2)  Travel light. This is no time to be weighed down by too much stuff in a big suitcase. I’m taking one carry-on suitcase and one bag for a netbook computer and peripherals.  I can handle it all myself for a lot of miles, if needed.

3)  You know how you check the exits for hotels and airplanes? I will have three possible border exit points in mind for my location, at all times….by foot, by air and by land transportation.  Excessive? Oh, yes. Prudent? Hmm, most likely.

4)  Check in with the Embassy. In the very unlikely event of problems, the US Embassy will want to know that I’m in country, and will work to get me out. This is purely precautionary, but as a former military person who planned noncombatant evacuations, I know how important it can be.

Now, really, can we all just RELAX?!

Jordan is fine. I am fine. My fussbudget friends should also calm down, and know that I would not go if I didn’t feel quite safe.

Now, time to think about slapping on some Dead Sea mud to  see if its supposedly therapeutic properties improve my complexion. I’ll take all the help I can get.

Disclosure: The Jordanian Tourism Board is providing my airfare, accommodation and entry fees. They have not told me what to write about, and the itinerary is still in flux. I am not traveling as part of a group.

(If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup box is at the top of the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!)

A look behind the scenes at artisanal cheese making, at least five recipes for soda bread, chapters on ways to prepare salmon, oatmeal, and offal, as well as ones on beef, potatoes, eggs, vegetables, and sweets, an essay on what Saint Patrick’s favorite food was, and some of the most intriguing photography of Irish food and Irish landscape you’re likely to come across: all these are part of The Country Cooking of Ireland.

The heart of the book is the recipes, some sourced from older cookbooks, some from cooks, chefs and food writers in Ireland, some created by author Colman Andrews, who is, among other things, a founding editor of the magazine Saveur. The heart of Irish cooking is, as Andrews points out, high quality natural ingredients prepared so that their distinctive flavors stand out. That’s an idea he follows through his selections, resulting in recipes that may or may not be familiar but certainly are accessible, with preparations described in straightforward yet interesting style. The Very Best Shepherd’s Pie, Panhaggerty, several approaches to Colcannon, Wok Smoked Salmon, Roasted Chicken with Herbs, Boxty, Brown Bread Ice Cream, and Convent Eggs are but a few of the recipes Andrews presents.

Country cooking, as Andrews defines it for this book, is any sort of recipe or cuisine that is not from or heavily identified with the island of Ireland’s two large cities, Dublin and Belfast. Quite a few of the recipes and stories are from the most southern part of the island, from Cork and the area around it, a region which is considered to be a hot culinary capital. There’s even a short essay commenting on why that area is sometimes known as the California of Ireland. There are recipes which have their origins in many other parts of the island as well. The section on savory pies, for example, begins with recipes native to and named after Donegal, Fermanagh, and Dingle.

Short essays such as that one on southwest Ireland as California, along with the head notes going along with each recipe, give a narrative structure to the book that makes it well worth reading even if cooking is not your main interest. Through those parts of the book you’ll hear the voices of chefs and cooks in Ireland today, learn something about Irish legends including the one about the salmon of knowledge and also a bit about the classic narrative of the Ulster Cycle, the Táin Bó Cúailnge, and read about the lives of fisher folk in the past and today, among other things.

You’ll also learn a good deal from the photographs, which are by Christopher Hirsheimer. Spot on shots of many of the dishes, of course, but also a number of quite evocative and also spot shots of the landscape, and several fine portraits of cheese makers, bakers, and others at work and at rest, form an integral part of the story of the book on their own, as strongly as do the words.

Although my elementary schools are long past, back when I was a mere lass, there was something that I  always liked about the way each month brought a new focus to the curriculum: in February, African American history, in March, women’s history, etc. etc.

I know that there’s been some controversy around establishing these fill-in-the-blank months  — i.e. does it suggest that a  group’s history is separate from history as a whole? I see that point, but since it’s impossible to focus on all of history at once, I think it makes sense to designate a month of the year to focus on a particular subject of importance that ought not be forgotten.

So with that in mind, I just went browsing through the Perceptive Travel archives, to see what we’ve got here for travelers who are interested in African American history this February. It turns out, we’ve got quite a little collection going, with a particular focus on the Civil Rights era:

• Remembering Freedom Summer: How music connected people during the summer of 1964.
• The Negro Motorist’s Green Guide: A historic guidebook for African American travelers in the segregated south.
• A Mighty Stream in Montgomery: Visit the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.

As well, here are a couple of pieces that examine different aspects of the African American experience, past and present:

• George Washington, Slave Owner?: A look at Philadelphia’s new monument, The President’s House
• Uniquely African American: Gullah and Geechee Culture:  Tour this heritage corridor.

For still more, don’t miss the New York Public Library’s remarkable collection of digital images relating to African American history, of which the photo above is a part.

They might not have the glamor or the glitz of the Golden Globes or the Academy Awards, but for bloggers, being a Weblog Awards finalist is just as big a deal.

The Weblog Awards or ‘bloggies’ as they are more commonly known as, have been running since  2001.  Featuring numerous categories, covering everything from politics to food and everything in between,  the ‘bloggies’ are chance for the blogging comunity to recognize their peers.

But it’s only in the last few years that travel blogs have had their own category.

This year’s finalist are…

Everything Everywhere

The Vacation Gals  (Expert advice on family travel, girlfriend getaways, and romantic escapes)

Hole in the Donut (Discovering the World, One Culture at a Time)

Camels & Chocolate (Tales from a Travel Addict)

My Itchy Travel Feet (A Baby Boomer’s Guide to Travel)

Check them out and then vote on the one that you feel should receive the 2011 Travel Blog Bloggie.

But don’t stop there. Check out all the other interesting categories. I guarantee you’ll discover not only some old favorite blogs but also some new ones to enjoy.

In particular, check out the Music category where you’ll find the personal blog of one of the Perceptive Travel blog team. 

Called Music Road, this blog by Kerry Dexter focuses on Irish, Scottish, folk, and country music from many different neighbourhoods.

So what are you waiting for? Go Vote!

.It stands to reason that when Robin and Linda Williams got around to the idea of making a retrospective album, they’d find an unusual way to tackle it. The couple has been making music which crosses country, folk, Americana, and bluegrass boundaries for more than three decades. The landscape around their home in the mountains of Virginia often inspire their work

They’ve traveled from their home in the Shenandoah across the world with their music, though, and one of the places they have visited often is the American Public Media radio show A Prairie Home Companion.. A favorite of host Garrison Keillor and his listeners for both their music and their humor, the pair frequently adds to the widely loved show. So for a retrospective, of sorts, they decided to choose songs from across their range of music history which they have done live on the program. The result is Radio Songs.

This means among other things that they enjoy the contributions of several well known guests, including Mike Seeger and the members of Mountain Heart. The focus, however, is quite naturally held by Robin and Linda and especially their fine harmonies and outstanding duets. There are gospel songs including Feed My Sheep and bluegrass music including Blue Ridge Cabin Home. There’s also 50,000 Names, a haunting song about the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington, which they had not released on record before.

There is music from their own back catalogue, such as Hesitation Blues, and Restless One, which they first recorded in 1977. The disc closes with with two very different but equally engaging medleys. The first, Home Sweet Hone Medley, comprises five songs on that theme, while the second, Down Home Diva — well, if you’ve ever wondered how Ole Sole Mio or the Toreador Song would sound done in straight ahead bluegrass style, here’s your chance.

keep up with the adventures, musical and otherwise, here at Perceptive Travel by subscribing through rss or e mail. look over there in the sidebar…