Early next morning at the airport (hungover), I searched for fluids to begin the healing process. No stores were open. This only led me to Vending Machines. And so an obsession began. This was the first Japanese Vending Machine I met.

Vending Machine 1

Last year, I returned to Japan for my first real trip and I vowed to pay homage to these glowing, robot-like machines. I frequented them often. I tried almost everything I could. And completely sober, I realized I had a greater appreciation for them. So one night in Tokyo, around midnight, I ventured out to find the perfect vending machine(s) shot. And I think I found it. At the encouragement of a friend, I even wrote about it and submitted it to the New York Times.

Vending Machine Land

Now I’m back for a 3rd time, feeling like an expert on Japanese Vending Machines – eagerly submitting my shots to the Flickr Group with the same name. I confidently select any beverage – it could be tea, coffee, a cola with gel bits, juice, an energy drink. Even a beer if that’s what you fancy.

2011 Vending Machine

I still have a few days left and I’m still looking for ‘the’ vending machine to photograph. It’s like a pilgrimage at this point. I may find it on this trip, it may take several more. But along the way, I’m enjoying every minute of it – camera in hand and selecting a beverage that never fails to surprise. That’s what exploring is all about.

In the summer of 2008, I visited Singapore for a work conference (yeah, I’m not sure how this one happened either). And like many previous work trips, I decided to stay a few extra days for exploration. In a rare moment of maturity and personal evolution, I actually researched where I wanted to go, ahead of time. I decided I would travel up to Malaysia and visit Tioman Island, a beautiful location off the eastern coast.

Riding the subway in Singapore

Because I researched ahead of time, it was a pretty easy process. Take a bus from Singapore to Mersing, stop at customs and continue. From Mersing, I could hop on a boat and get to Tioman Island. Easy. Here’s a picture of some buses, to set the tone.

Malaysian and Singaporean buses

I prepaid by bus ticket in Singapore and the next day boarded at some ridiculous early morning hour. And here’s where idiocy strikes again. I had a few Singaporean dollars, no US $ and no Malaysian Ringgit’s (which sounds like Harry Potter money). So no cash. How dumb can I be sometimes? We started the journey and I’m already sweating this lack of planning. We stop for a break and buy some breakfast with my last Sing-dollars and talk to the bus guide. I explain my predicament and he assures me that when we get to Mersing, he has people that can get me to an ATM. Phew. I get back on the bus for the rest of the journey, unwrap my breakfast and dump rice and other bits of food into my lap and all over the seat and floor. Of course everyone notices. It’s always nice to reinforce the American tourist stereotype. You try picking up tiny bits of rice from a floor.

We arrive. I get off the bus. My bus buddy gets on his cell phone. Moments later, two men arrive on a moped to assist me. One of them will look after my bag. The other will take me into the main section of Mersing and to an ATM. Every part of my intuition told me this was a preposterous, risky idea. So, of course I did it. My reasoning came down to this: This situation was so ridiculous, so ass backward, so impulsive, that it had to work. I hopped on the back of the moped and took my camera.

Me and a stranger headed to an ATM

We zipped into town. I was praying my card would work in the ATM and of course it did (again, I stress here, I’m a lucky traveler). I had a good crowd watching me do all of this, but I remained calm and confident this plan was on track. Money in my pocket and we were headed back to the bus station, where we found the other man with my bag. Some awkward smiles, handshakes, $20 each and I was all set. Off to Tioman Island.

I survived the boat ride without vomiting and made it to the island, where I was greeted with such hot, sunny, beauty. It was paradise filled with locals, scuba enthusiasts from all over the world, and dumb me.

Almost like the movie, The Beach

I wandered around for a bit, and found a place to stay for $12 a night, very basic room, no air conditioning.

$12 a night, ok!

Looks pretty good from the outside

You can shower while sitting on a toilet

That’s where I stayed for the next few nights. I can’t say I slept that well and the heat was unbearable, but I really wasn’t there to lay in bed and watch cable TV. So I explored the island during the day. I swam. I ate some really good food. I reread Microserfs (one of my fave books). I took photos. I drank beer.  And I decided to hike. I felt like I was in an episode of LOST. So like Mr. Eko I headed into the jungle, minus the wooden paddle.

It's kind of like LOST, right?

I’m not going to lie. There was a big climb. I almost fainted. I almost turned back. But my thought process was similar to the ATM arrangement. I’d be fine. Even if I did collapse, someone would find me. I drank a liter of water within 10 minutes. I’m telling you, it was hot. I wandered through this lush jungle for some time, seeing big lizards, crazy birds and boisterous monkeys. Welcome to the jungle. As I descended down through uneven paths, I discovered a private beach. Completely empty. I jumped in (because at this point I was dripping with sweat) and soaked in the experience of swimming in the South China Sea, it was slightly hard to believe.

Talk about lucky. I trekked back up into the jungle with new energy and a better understanding of the natural life. I stopped an hung out with a lizard as monkeys watched from above. You can still hear the ocean in the background.

It was a quiet, beautiful island with delicious, fresh food. I learned to relax and enjoy the simple things. I appreciated shade. A slight breeze. The changing location of the sun. And I realized monkeys are nothing but trouble. I settled into a routine and I ended every single day, laying in this hammock, reading, taking photos, drinking a beer, listening to music, and enough cash in my pocket to get me back to Singapore.

Everyone should have a hammock

So, the first of this series focuses on the blog Stuck at the Airport by Harriet Baskas.  I’m a travel junkie and absolutely adore airports. I wasn’t lucky enough to travel through JFK and see the Eero Saarinen TWA terminal during its heyday, but I would have truly appreciated it. To provide a little background, I’ve been fortunate to travel frequently. My favorite airport is Singapore’s Changi and as an Indianapolis resident, I started the the IND Flickr group. Through my work at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, I convinced Patrick Smith, author of Ask the Pilot, to write a beautiful, compelling blog post, The Jetliner as Art. I love airports, traveling and planes.

The beautiful sterile Changi

But enough about me.

I stumbled upon Harriet’s work in the first half of 2009 through some general research about airports and travel. I immediately became a fan of her blog and the many travel, airport and airline related articles she crafts. As it often happens in the online world, we exchanged e-mails, blog comments, and tweets. I remember thinking how cool it was that I could easily connect with someone that I respected. Harriet is a wonderful commentator on the state of modern travel, specifically the culture of airports, airline industry, quirky happenings and the latest in TSA occurrences. Beyond that, Harriet is a pretty big fan of museums, a talented and award winning radio producer, contributor to USA Today & MSNBC, author and much more.  It’s not often I meet someone who shares my passions – travel, airports, airlines, museums and so on. And she’s an expert!

Stuck at the Airport

After some communication, Harriet featured me in one her blog posts – Airport fans: yes, there are some – which made me feel pretty chuffed. Harriet and Stuck at the Airport made this series, because she’s an example of intelligent internet publishing. Harriet is not only active on her blog, online publications and other sites, but synthesizes her content through Twitter (@hbaskas) in a way that is engaging and interesting. Her multiple online methods of communication are fully integrated and connected to reveal her content, her stories. So many people fail at this.

Travel is one of the most rewarding things we can do in life. It’s inspiring, challenging, sometimes life-changing and hard work. Travel helps us understand this world and the beauty of cultural diversity. Harriet has created the perfect job.  So the next time you are planning a trip, in the midst of traveling or stuck at the airport, check out Harriet’s work. She’s totally worth it.

Stuck at the Airport

Her column on USA Today

Her column on MSNBC

And, as part of this “May I present to you…” series, I plan on always asking a series of questions. So here goes -

What drives you? Personally, generally?  General curiosity, mostly.  Oh.. and coffee. That’s what led me to traveling around to visit unusual and offbeat museums for a long running series of radio stories and for books. And that’s what got me stuck at the airport that one day when I decided there needed to be a guide to all the other things (besides waiting) to do at airports.

….Thank you to Harriet for participating in the very first, May I present to you…., series. Stay tuned for the next installment, and if you have someone you think I need to feature, please let me know.