The following are some true tales about the trips I've taken and the pictures and text I have posted to my web site about those trips. Some of these stories are a bit humorous, while others are just a bit interesting. I hope you enjoy reading these short stories.
Click on any title in the following list to link to that story. Click on the article title, again, to return to the story menu.
On my trip to the Baltics, it came to happen that two people traveling
with me had their cameras become defective. You can imagine their
disappointment, having traveled a long distance to enjoy visiting
several foreign countries and expecting to take home pictures of what
they saw and did.
Both men looked into getting their cameras repaired somewhere local to the country we were visiting and couldn't find, first someone who could repair their camera, and second, do it quickly before our group moved on to another country. They considered buying new cameras or the disposable kind of cameras, but they weren't attracted to the idea.
At the start of the trip, as I do at the beginning of all my international trips, I told others on the trip that after the trip I would mail a CD (compact disc) containing all the pictures I took on the trip, if they would give me their name and address. I reminded the two men with the broken cameras of this, and it gave them, and their wives, a feeling of relief, knowing that they would at least have some record of thier trip, albeit not with pictures they took.
After the trip and my mailing out CDs with my pictures, one of the men with the broken camera, sent me a note asking where and when I would be taking my next trip. I thought that an odd question, so he explained. He said "you take better pictures than I do" and unlike pictures he takes, where he is not in any of them, he was in in quite a few of the pictures I took. He and his wife were definitely pleased to receive a copy of all my pictures, enabling them to view them or have them printed. I took pleasure in all this, sort of my "reward" for doing my good deed.
A Russian woman asks about a hotel room
I send and receive a lot of email, some regarding professional
interests, personal mail, and unsolicited mail - some junk mail and
some very interesting. On one occasion, I received a note from a
woman in Russia, first telling me how much she enjoyed finding my
web site and reading about the various trips I have taken and documented.
But the real point of her note was to thank me for including pictures and text about the little hotel I stayed in at Dubrovnik, Croatia. She has many concerns about the quality of hotels throughout Europe and she was particularly concerned about the hotel she would be staying at during an upcoming trip to Croatia.
Well, my web site answered her concerns about her trip and her hotel reservation. My web site contained multiple pictures of the hotel and my hotel room, shown as examples of where I stayed. Once she saw that the hotel in question looked quite acceptable, she just had to send me a note and offer her thanks, for the information, and the comfort it brought her. Another "good deed" on my part, rewarded with feedback from a fellow traveler.
A Yukon woman does a search for "buffalo" and finds my web site
The Internet has its good points and its bad points. Overall, I love
it, but you have to be prepared for almost anything.
A woman in the Yukon wrote to thank me for my web site and the many
travel pictures and narrative that it contains. She's not a traveler,
as such, but she found enjoyment in viewing my web site.
She related to me just how it was that she found my web site. She was doing research on the buffalo, and while doing a search for information about the animal, she found my web site. My web site??? Well, yes! During one of my trips across the Big Sky country, I had my pictures taken in front of a large buffalo statue, hence her getting a "hit" on my web site because it satisfied her search for buffalo information.
As typical with most people who accidentally find my web site, they initially think they have found one web page with information they were looking for, only next to discover there are thousands of similar travel pictures and narrative. I can only imagine the many hours people have spent viewing my web site. Ah, but then sharing information is what I like to do.
Visitors see more than the locals
I have run into this comment more than once during my life's travels.
Either through conversation, or documentation such as my web site
travel pages, I have discovered that often I know things about a given
location, more than someone who actually lives there.
With my many visits to England, this has certainly been the case. During my 80+ visits to the country, I almost always do some sight seeing during my stay, resulting in my having seen and/or experienced much of the country, more than some of its citizens.
With regard to my more recent travels, I spent an enjoyable week in Vienna, Austria, sight seeing just about every day and posting my pictures and narrative on my return. It wasn't long before I received an unsolicited email from a Vienna resident, complimenting me on the content of my web site and commenting that I had seen more of the city than he had, and he was a lifelong resident. Interesting........
I document my travels for several reasons. Much like labeling one's
photographs immediately after having them processed/printed, I
purposely got into the habit years ago to label my photos quickly
rather than risk forgetting to do so and then later not remembering
what the photo was about (time, date, place, etc).
So, my motivation for documenting my travels is initially a selfish one. I want to record as much as I can at the conclusion of a trip, while the trip is fresh in my mind. Once I do that recording, the sharing of photos and narrative becomes the easy part. With just a bit more work, I put selected pictures and narrative on my web site so as to help interested parties learn something about the subject travel site(s).
My point is, I do what I do more as a post trip documentation effort, describing my completed trip, rather than an intent to offer an overview of some part of the world for anyone considering a similar trip. Ah, but it has become quite evident to me that many people do some research for a trip they're planning and as part of that effort they may come upon my web site.
Such was the case of my trip to Central European countries (Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary). A woman who was planning a trip almost identical to mine, sent me a note thanking me for all the information I had provided because it gave her an excellent preview for her trip. After her trip, she sent me still another note to comment on just how similar her trip was to mine and how much more enjoyable her trip was because of the preview my web site offered her.
Ah, another bit of feedback to warm my heart. Sharing is what I like to do.
I worked for IBM for forty years before retiring at the end of 1996.
Granted IBM is a big company, even these days after the so-called
"downsizing". When I travel on business, I probably would take my
laptop computer along, just to stay in touch with the busisness world.
But when I travel for pleasure, the last thing I want to worry about is
the business world, so I leave my laptop at home, and I don't use the
so-called "Internet Cafes" which are popping up all over the world.
So, a holiday is a holiday and other than introductions to other people, where I'm asked or volunteer that I did work for IBM, the subject of IBM usually doesn't enter my casual conversations. Ah, but one way of the other, not only does the subject of IBM come up, but on a number of my international trips, there have been either active or retired IBM people on the same trip as well.
On my trip to Antarctica there were two retired IBM people. The National Geographic program leader for my trip to Morocco was a one time IBM employee. During one of my visits to Denmark, while walking from a suburban community center to a nearby train station, I stumbled upon the Danish IBM Headquarters building.
On one of my trips to Greece, not only was there another retired IBM person traveling with the group, but I used to work with him in the mid-1960s. It's a small world.
I may as well tell a travel story about my youngest son. When he got married, he and his new bride had planned a honeymoon at Tahiti. They made their arrangements through Club Med, which is a one price covers all kind of accommodation. And as is the practice with Club Med, they offer a social hour on the first evening such that new arrivees can introduce themselves to others and likewise make an initial acquaintance with fellow guests.
When my son introduced himself, as Joe Yelavich, another guest immediately spoke up, asking if he was related to Bob Yelavich. My new daughter-in-law couldn't believe it. Here they were, thousands of miles away from home and someone recognizes her new surname? Well, it turns out that the person had attended one of my computer seminars that I held in Australia, and with the name being not-so-common, he thought Joe must be a relation. Joe responded "He's my dad!".
I'll stop with those stories, although there are more like them. I do enjoy meeting other IBM people and comparing notes regarding who, what, where and when kinds of interest items.
I have traveled to England over eighty times and I so much enjoy the
country that I'm ready for still more trips. My (now deceased wife)
was not much of a traveler. She worked at a hospital gift shop and
staff members would frequently ask why she didn't accompany me on one
or more of my trips. Her concern was that I would be busy with work
related matters, leaving her to fend for herself, and that was not to
her liking.
But it came to pass that on one occasion I was invited by IBM to come to England and also that I should bring my wife, with IBM paying her expenses as well. IBM assured me that I would not be busy on the trip except for two one hour meetings. When my wife heard that, she finally agreed to make the trip with me.
Since 1981, I have accummulated about four million miles with American Airlines and their AAdvantage frequent flyer program. When you check in with an airline, they know a great deal about who you are and if you have flown their airline before.
For the trip in question, November 1983, I booked business class tickets with American Airlines, and as was my good fortune, they were having a 'companion flies free' promotion. My wife, basically, got to fly free. But when I checked in for the flight to England, the ticket agent looked at her screen and said "Why Mr. Yelavich, I see that you're traveling with your wife this time", and proceeded to upgrade both of us to first class (her on a free ticket, to begin with).
After a thoroughly enjoyable week in England, we checked in at London's Gatwick Airport for the trip home, and the ticket agent there almost repeated the conversation held a week earlier - "Mr. Yelavich, I see that you're traveling with your wife this time", and like her Dallas counterpart, proceeded to upgrade us to first class.
So, my wife who had never been out of the country before, got to fly first class, round trip, and what began as a free ticket. She had lots of stories to tell at the hospital gift shop - "Now, that's the way to fly". When hospital staff asked when she would again accompany me to England, her response was "Why? I've already been there".
Who says loyalty programs don't work?
To return to the trips main menu click here.