Bel & The City: July 2011

Friday, July 29, 2011

Travel: The things we keep (ii)

Christian Scanes offers a different version to the one I posted a few days ago... incredible how the music makes a whole different mood...

the things we keep (SD, alternate version take 2) from svanes on Vimeo.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Travel & Postcards & Refugees

"It´s one of the oldest traditions in travel, but it may also be among the most endangered...

Ah, the postcard, that brief, but picturesque travelogue that lets you tell friends and loved ones that you’re having a wonderful time and you wish they were there.

In an age of texts, tweets and Facebook updates, it seems that sending postcards is going the way of brass room keys and free meals in coach.

In the UK, for example, the luxury travel company Cox & Kings recently released a survey showing that 35 percent of respondents preferred to keep in touch with those back home via texts and uploaded photos. By comparison, just 15 percent still sent physical postcards."

Continue reading the article "Postcards to travelers: Wish you were here" by Rob Lovitt.

I´m happy to be part of that 15%! It´s become a tradition on my trips.

When I travel in my country I make sure to bring stamps with me so that I don´t have to find a post office on each city I visit.

When I travel abroad I get really anxious about finding stamps and feel very relieved when I finally get them.

I like selecting a postcard for each person I´m writing to, and what many people find curious is that I often write postcards to myself. It kind of works as a souvenir, don´t you think?

Here are only some of the postcards I sent in the past few years!

But postcards are not always to be sent while traveling...

Belandthecity3's photostream on Flickr.

My next postcard is being written at home for the project “Postcards for Libya”.

The iniciative is inviting people from all over the world to write postcards to Libyan refugees and encouraging to write them in any languages. Apparently even if they don´t understand what you are writing, they treasure the postcards anyway!

The postcards must be sent to the address below, using the name "Postcards for Libya":

Ennasr1

Code Postal: 2037

Ariana P.Box 267

Tunis, Tunisia

Politics aside, it´s a very kind thing to do... Being away from home, wounded, and far from their families, I´m sure these kids are needing warm wishes of a full recovery and maybe just a smiley face to make them smile:)

Each story is unique but they all need help. If you want to find out more about the situation in Libya, you can read the UN Humanitarian report here:

http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendocPDFViewer.html?docid=4e0201a09&query=libya

If you have any questions, you can write "Postcards For Libya" by mail or on facebook:

info@postcardsforlibya.org or www.facebook.com/PostcardsforLibya

More information available online: http://postcardsforlibya.org/sample-page/

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Travel: The things we keep

"If i could examine someone's keepsakes on display in a home, what would it be like if these objects could communicate their sentimental value to me?"

This is what Christian Scanes asks himself on this video...

"I wanted to know what it would look and feel like to walk into someone's home and discover that the objects inside are able to express themselves through the lens of an augmented reality, with a particular focus on memory and personal relationships."

And he explains that "the urge to create this was motivated by the experience of relocating from copenhagen to los angeles to san francisco to new york in a very short period of time, resulting in this visual survey of a limited number of objects that one keeps; be they gifts from friends, found objects, thrift store purchases, books, pamphlets, etc. souvenirs from a particular time and place.

The things that we keep become objects invested with extra meaning during times of transitions and frequent departures. they are the constants."