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IT—Inside Traveler
By Jessie Johnston and Emily King

January 25, 2007:

Boomerang IT

Having recently lost a camera while traveling, IT (namely Emily) is especially intrigued with BoomerangIt, a lost-and-found service that relies on a secure Internet database and numbered labels to facilitate the return of lost items to their rightful owners. The process is simple. After affixing one of BoomerangIt's "tamper-resistant" ID labels ($9.95 for the least expensive package) to a "valuable item" (defined on the website as anything from a cell phone to a chainsaw), the owner enters the item's label number as well as a description of the item into BoomerangIt's database. If and when the owner loses her, say, digital camera and if and when a Good Samaritan finds said camera, the finder can contact BoomerangIt via the toll-free number and/or Web address on the label. Since the website is readable in six different languages, if the owner loses her camera in, say, Germany, the Deutsch-speaking finder can easily report the missing item.

Beside the price of the initial investment (labels), the owner must also pay a $10 return fee, plus all shipping and handling costs, if their lost or stolen item is returned. As a reward to the finder, BoomerangIt sends them a pack of free labels. While the site doesn't offer any statistical evidence proving the success of their method, they do claim that "BoomerangIt is also a theft deterrent, as studies indicate that thieves are less likely to steal marked property due to resale difficulties." With this, IT was convinced, and has decorated a cell phone and camera with the labels we received for free (swag alert!) along with a press release.

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Greek Out: Off-Season Island Hopping

Inspired by her summer working at Traveler, Meghan VanDeventer decided she absolutely had to study abroad and see more of the world before graduating college in May. Last-minute though it was, she pulled some strings, packed her bags, and hopped a plane to London to spend the fall in search of adventure abroad. Recently, she kicked up her feet, put down her textbook (ok, her pint) and took a ten-day trip to Greece. Continuing with last week's off-season theme, we present her chronicle here (click the hyperlinks to see Meghan's photos):

"I spent the night before my trip to the Cycladic Islands brushing the dust off my sunglasses; people weren't joking about the London fog. After landing in Athens, I took the metro to Monastiraki Square. The welcoming streets of the Plaka were filled with music, candlelit tables, and people enjoying delicious-looking Greek cuisine, but few tourists.

"I met up with my Topdeck Tours group, and we began our exploration of surprisingly walkable historic Athens. Our guide, Themis, led us on foot to the ancient Agora on the way to the Parthenon with its amazing panoramic view. We continued walking to the Arch of Hadrian, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and Panathinaiko Olympic Stadium before a leisurely stroll through the National Garden. Our final Athens stop was Parliament; the guards wore traditional dress and stood still, unblinking, Buckhingham Palace-style. We spent the afternoon shopping in the bustling Monastiraki open-air market.

"Next day, we took a ferry from Athens to the island of Paros. Almost immediately, we hopped a bus out of the quaint harbor town to Golden Beach, where we were almost the only people there to enjoy the peaceful breezes and quiet waves. The next day we packed lunches and towels for a scenic hike to a nearby beach bordering the harbor.

"Next stop, Mykonos, with which I fell in love. We watched the sunset by the island's iconic windmills, and later strolled over to nearby 'Little Venice', where we dined outdoors and watched people walking along the waterfront. After waking up to fresh coffee and fruit the next morning, I had to force myself to leave my hotel's veranda overlooking Platis Gialos beach, but was soon happily following our guide along the rocky hillside to Paradise Beach. It was a bit chilly for bathing suits, but we snorkeled nonetheless.

"As our ferry arrived on Santorini, the city of Fira looked like snow on the top of a mountain. We started our exploration early the next day, taking a cable car down to the port and enjoying the spectacular views. Next, we boarded a ship to the nearby active volcanic crater. After hiking to the top, we returned to the boat, which took us to a not-so-hot spring. Last, we motored back for a donkey ride up a zig-zag path to Fira. The day ended with a golden sunset watched from coastal Oia on Santorini's northwestern tip.

"Our last night on Santorini, we stuffed our bellies with a traditional Greek meal, drank ouzo, and learned Greek folk dances. The final ferry ride back to Athens the next day took eight and a half hours, giving us time to come slowly back to reality. Yassou, Greece!"

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From January 23, 2007:

I Need a VocationVacation

We here at IT love our jobs, but are vaguely aware that not all people feel the same way about their places of employment. Three years ago, Brian Kurth founded a company to help those in nightmare jobs (or even just not-exactly-fantasy jobs) try out the careers of their dreams. VocationVacations allows customers to spend their vacation shadowing a "mentor" in their dream field, combining travel with a little grown-up dress-up. And a contest this month will allow one person to try out the service for free.

VocationVacations can be as short as a day (the norm seems to be two or three), and cost upward of $349. The list of 100-plus current offerings starts with actor, alpaca farmer and animal therapist, moves through bootmaker, clock restorer, and meteorologist to finish up with wine sommelier and yoga studio owner. As yet it is not possible to shadow a zookeeper, but the company says this opportunity will be coming soon. Current destinations range across 33 states and a peek at the website's "Dream Job Search Finder" suggests the U.K. will soon be an option (at the moment no mentors come up when you run a U.K. search).

The contest, launched ten days ago, is sponsored by Weekend Today and More magazine. Entrants must submit a 250-word essay or 60-second video explaining why they deserve a VocationVacation. One winner will receive said vacation, up to a value of $2,000 (the cost of trying out the life of a pit crew member or a wedding coordinator). Theoretically you can apply by mail or online, but it's not exactly clear how to send in essays electronically.

One more thing: If you think someone you know ought to take a VocationVacation, and you don't think they'd be likely to shell out or win the contest, you can always buy them a gift certificate for that three-day stint as an auctioneer. Starbucks Cards are so 2001.

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Unvanquished Mississippi

Before she left to visit her family in Oxford, Mississippi, IT asked Katie Howell to apply the Traveler eye to her own hometown and write a blog entry for us about literary Mississippi (try saying that five times fast):

"Oxford has always been rich in literary tradition and the adopted home to aspiring writers, so I decided to forgo the Civil War and Civil Rights attractions around town and limit my sightseeing to literary landmarks. Our most famous son, William Faulkner, was born about 35 miles (56 kilometers) away in New Albany, Mississippi, but spent the majority of his adult life in Oxford. So I began my literary tour at his home, Rowan Oak, located just off the University of Mississippi's campus and the town's square. There, I wandered the grounds and walked up the cedar-lined front pathway, remembering a ghost story I'd been told as a child about a girl who'd flung herself from the second-story balcony because of an ill-fated love affair with a Union soldier. Her ghost is said to roam the estate. Inside the recently restored house, which the Unvanquished author bought in 1930 and lived in off and on until his death in 1962, I saw Faulkner's boots, his typewriter and, most unusual, the outline of his Pulitzer Prize-winning A Fable penciled on the wall of the study in the back corner of the house.

"After that, I walked through Bailey Woods along a trail that leads from Rowan Oak to the Ole Miss campus, where I stopped by the J.D. Williams Library to view Faulkner's 1949 Nobel Prize. I headed up toward the square in hopes of catching the latest live broadcast of the Thacker Mountain Radio show—a Prairie Home Companion-esque music and literature hour with a Southern twist. Unfortunately, the show was on hiatus, and not scheduled to start up again until February. So I placated myself by dropping by Square Books, an independent bookstore owned by the town's mayor, to peruse books by my favorite Mississippi author and former Oxford resident, Willie Morris.

"After a quick drive past John Grisham's farmhouse on the outskirts of town, I headed out to the community of Taylor for dinner at Taylor Grocery (4 County Rd 338; +1 662 236 1716), home of quite possibly the best catfish in the world, lively musical entertainment, and walls plastered with signatures of locals, celebrities, and (surprise!) writers. I think I spotted Barry Hannah's John Hancock on a wall near the front. I made one final stop on my tour before heading home: William Faulkner's grave to swig bourbon in his honor, a local tradition. Of course, I left the bottle for Mr. Bill."

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Now that they have a new year's worth of annual leave to schedule, Traveler's assistant to the editor Emily King is fantasizing about following a camel train through the Mauritanian desert, while researcher Jessie Johnston has her sights set on Kobe, Japan.

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