Foreign Travel in Your Local Backyard

Have you ever literally yearned for a trip that required a passport? I mean, just woken up and thought if I could do anything I really wanted to do today it would be to travel, to go somewhere completely foreign. Well, yesterday I did just that, and no passport was required. I admit, living in Southern California offers more opportunities to do this sort of spontaneous exploration than other cities in which I've lived such as Austin or Minneapolis, but not as much as you would think.

True, it was on my agenda to go to a social media/travel writers seminar called Jetset Extra at Union Station in downtown LA with my friend/colleague Gail Strickland, but it became much more than that.

At Gail's suggestion, we traveled by train from San Diego to LA, disembarked at Union Station and walked about two blocks to another world. Olivera Street (known as El Olivera) is a focal place of the Mexican community, with a Mexican marketplace, restaurants and an infectious "Amigo Attitude." But we didn't stop there, we continued 1/2 block to Chinatown, popped into the Mayflower Restaurant and enjoyed a meal and accompanying atmosphere I haven't experienced since I was last in Hong Kong. (Tip for finding the best ethnic restaurants: Look for one that is packed with locals and includes a short wait.) Offerings included pig's feet, salmon head, $9.99 lobster and salt-encrusted shrimp in the shells (don't gag, we selected the shrimp and asparagus with scallops, delish). When Gail asked about some of the menu items, the waitress who spoke very little English took her to other diners' tables to point to the in-question food choices - it was like a cafeteria. Very few Caucasians were there and when a birthday was celebrated, piped birthday music blasted from the speakers. But it was authentic, and it transported us to Asia. Mission accomplished.

And when we returned to Union Station, we passed a Mayan Warrior dancer in full costume walking to his car (his keys fell from his costume, destroying a bit of the illusion that his white horse was just around the corner), who posed with us for a small "donation."

Then to the Jetset Social function, with our journalist colleagues and exhibitors like the Thai Tourist Board, which was as productive as it was informative. The panel included Ashley Colburn, James Densmore, Jeff Greif, Johnny Jet, Lee Abbamonte, Stacy Dreyfus and moderator Amy Swift.

But my main point of this post is that this extraordinarily out-of-the-norm day didn't require an expensive last-minute airline ticket, intrusive airport security, a passport, a visa, three weeks notice or jet lag. It only required a train ticket, a bit of inquistiveness and an unspoken agreement to go with the flow.

Consider this post an assignment (should you choose to accept it) to do a bit of your own research about your backyard and travel it.

Following is Gail's summation of the day. A little background. We worked together as co-hosts of "The Traveling Girls" radio show, which she founded; she's coming from that perspective. "'The Traveling Girls' has always been about the journey not the destination. I was reminded of that journey yesterday when we traveled to downtown Los Angeles. Who would have thought we could travel by rail with the ocean as our backdrop, enjoy amazing Chinese food, network with 150 travel journalists and take a picture with a Mayan Warrior all in an afternoon."

Now go and find your journey!

Photos: Cynthia Dial