Photo: justsallyrye

Far from the random rocket fire of Kandahar, warriors of the United States armed force fight a different war.

This ongoing battle—fought between our own shores—is one of mistrust and misinformation that often leaves disabled veterans without the care promised to them by the Government they served.

For many, such as Jonathan Schulze, this denial of care can prove disastrous.

Tim Cleveland is an Emmy-award winning sound producer, paraplegic, and—most importantly— an avid traveler/adventurer who has set out to draw attention to the plight of these veterans through a documentary “Uniting the Divide”.

The efforts of the Uniting the Divide team seek to transcend typical rhetoric surrounding a system that has consistently refused necessary care to the soldiers who risked their lives for this nation.

The documentary plans to place the stories of wounded veterans into the context of an all-expenses-paid, mostly off-pavement motorcycle journey down the Continental Divide.

Jacob interviewed Tim for BNT, and was impressed by Cleveland’s responses that seem to transcend the tireless arguing that occurs in the halls of Congress, and seems to focus more on the power of the human spirit.

BNT: What kind of challenges—aesthetically—do you anticipate when capturing the simultaneous beauty of nature and the human spirit while on the move?

Uniting the Divide Team / Photo: UTD

TC: The challenges are many. Any type of film, whether it be a documentary or a dramatic piece, lends one very limited screen time in which to convey a story.

Our film’s focus is the story of soldiers coming together, sharing their story with us while helping each other through the challenges that they face. The amazing scenery that we will be traveling through adds a unique backdrop for their personal journey but must not overshadow the importance of their reasoning for being in the film.

There should most certainly be a balance of telling these disabled veterans stories and giving the audience the amazing perspective of traveling down the heart of America.

When did the idea for this documentary first form?

The idea first came to me about 4 years ago. At the time there wasrhetoric flying around that “if you don’t support the war, you don’t support the troops.”

I found that utter non-sense. Everyone I spoke with, whether they supported the war or not, were concerned about the soldiers who were actually there. Then I realized that “supporting the troops” really is about action, not just words. I wanted to show my support for them by helping them in any way I could.

Additionally, even though I am not a veteran I do have a disability (I’m a paraplegic) and I could relate to what some of them are experiencing upon their return. I do not claim to share the mental aspect of experiencing war, but I do share the experience of living life with a disability.

After doing some research on what the soldiers went through while deployed and when they returned home, I knew that I needed to do something. Their voices and their stories needed to be heard.

The idea then came to me that I should do something for them, to show the world that those numbers that we heard every night in the news were real people with real families. I thought the best way to do that would be through a documentary.

Why the Continental Divide, as opposed to, say, Route 66, I-90 from Seattle to Boston, 101 on the West Coast, HWY 17 on the East Coast, etc.?

The Continental Divide route is a unique trip developed by the Adventure Cycling Association. It travels from Canada to Mexico off road, or more accurately off pavement.

One of the most important reasons we chose this route is because it travels right through the middle of America. A larger number of soldiers who fight for our country come from Middle America. 80% of the route is on dirt roads through some of the most beautiful and remote regions of the United States.

Few people ever see these areas, especially people with disabilities. We want to show them that almost anything is possible for a disabled individual. We want to show these soldiers the country that they sacrificed so much for. It also is symbolic of our nation. The country has been divided over this war, but united in their vocal support for the troops.

BNT: What do you see as the biggest problem in the adequate treatment and care of veterans disabled during service to the U.S. armed forces?

Troops look on / Photo: Army.mil

Where do I begin? There are so many flaws in this system. Many government investigation committees and commissions have discussed this for almost 90 years. Solutions have been found, but rarely implemented.

To me, the biggest problem is the adversarial conduct of the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). The veteran is presumed guilty of trying to defraud the agency instead of just seeking the benefits they were guaranteed when they join the military.

Claims are routinely denied. It takes about 3 months for a claim to be considered by the DVA. If it is denied, the appeals process takes on average 4 years.

It is very sad that some of these veterans survived the horrors of war only to die when they return home while waiting for treatment. The system is grossly under funded and the staff are not only overworked, but under trained. The typical claims person for the DVA has to clear 16 cases from their desk per day.

The case backlog of pending claims is currently over 1.7 million. At the hospitals the doctor to patient ratio is 1 doctor to over 500 veterans. The files are routinely “lost”. A veteran has to prove that his injury is service related over and over. If the DVA and the Department of Defense (DoD) shared their records the veterans would not have to prove that their injuries were service related.

What kinds of prioritization are you placing on the selection of documentary candidates?

Docs have limited budgets and limited screen time once they are completed. Our process is nowhere perfect, but we are looking to get a nice cross section of individuals who represent many American archetypes. We will select wounded warriors with different disabilities and stories.

Our intention is to share more stories on our website from the other soldiers who applied for the trip, but were unfortunately are unable to go. Ultimately, no one will be left out.

Do you feel that we, as civilians, have a right to question the finer points of any veteran’s claims to service? Do you think that civilian Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) doctors are faced with a similar fear when questioning potentially fraudulent claims?

My feelings regarding veteran’s claims are my own and will not be a part of this film. That being said, I personally believe that we as civilians do not know enough of what a soldier actually goes through while at war or when they return home.

Those “finer points” have to be carefully analyzed by the experts, and when I say experts I certainly do not mean politicians. Doctors and expert therapists can only make that determination. But their decision cannot and should not be based on saving the DVA money; it should be based on real diagnosis and the real facts of each case.

I believe that when a society asks an individual to risk their lives for the “greater good” (I feel this applies to the police and firefighters as well) it must accept the cost of whatever the outcome might be. As civilians we face challenges in our lives, but nothing like what a soldier, the police and firefighters face everyday.

Yes, fraudulent claims happen, but we should not be so focused on them that we deny legitimate claims out of that concern within the bureaucracy. In our legal system we are theoretically innocent until proven guilty. This approach should most definitely apply to veterans as well.

What kind impact do you think/hope private funds can do for a problem that seems predominantly federal in nature?

The goal of “Uniting the Divide” is to put a human face on the statistics that are bantered around everyday. These are real people–sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, cousins, nieces and nephews.

The wars have shattered their lives and the lives of their families. “WE THE PEOPLE of the UNITED States of America” have the power to change these issues with our votes and help ease the pain while change is taking place. We want to help and show the rest of the USA that “supporting the troops” is really about taking action.

Whether it be raising funds for Veterans organizations and/or donating your time writing letters to Senators and Congressmen. We must stop the rhetoric and unite behind this important cause to facilitate change. We hope to give back in anyway possible to these courageous veterans that sacrificed so much and are asking for so little in return.

Our hope in sustaining the spirit of the film is to permanently setup a fund that will annually gather disabled vets and give them the opportunity to travel down the Continental Divide.

What are your thoughts on the doc and veterans care after returning home? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Who’s eavesdropping on your data? Photo doug Olson

In 2005, the New York Times reported that the Bush Administration and the National Security Agency (NSA) had been conducting warrant less wiretapping on American citizens since 2002.

The implication is that the NSA has been violating the Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans from warrant less searches and seizures.

But what is most intriguing is the private involvement in eavesdropping on your data.

A document written by Mark Klein, former technician for AT&T, documents what could be the tip of the iceberg in the case of citizens’ privacy. In 2003, Klein alleges, AT&T built a “secret room” in their San Francisco technology hub. Plans he obtained showed cables tapping into 16 trunks lines of AT&T’s domestic and international traffic.

This allows all of that information to be copied to a room “full of cabinets”. Access to the room is suspiciously granted only to those with a security clearance from the NSA.

Klein’s document is currently part of the testimony in a class-action lawsuit against AT&T, but it’s suspected that many other major carriers were involved.

The NSA wasn’t sitting in a white van outside of potential a terrorist’s home. They were–and possibly still are–monitoring everyone from the comfort of their D.C. offices.

Then And Now

Traditional phone taps could occur anywhere, from the telephone itself, to a device placed on the wiring from your home to the utility pole.

However, these had to tap into the specific line being monitored. Modern digital communications make it possible to tap into any line and filter the necessary information.

If you think that sounds paranoid, consider the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).

Enacted by congress in 1994, the law required every phone company, internet service provider (ISP) and Voice over IP companies (e.g.: Vonage) to ensure all of their facilities maintain easy access for surveillance by the FBI and other investigative bodies.

The deadline for every company to be ready and waiting for surveillance has passed–February 12, 2007.

Further legislation provides additional wiretapping capabilities for special circumstances. Long before we heard the words “sleeper cells”, the government was already considering wiretaps with regards to “foreign” entities within the U.S.

Spy versus Spy

In 1978 the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) developed a court that would oversee and issue warrants on matters of national security, while not compromising their covert nature.

AT&T in bed with the NSA / Illustration EFF doug Olson

This private court skirts the fourth amendment by ensuring secret wiretaps receive proper judicial authorization, while not revealing sensitive facts about national security.

The act created a middle ground–foreign entities could be spied upon while citizens’ rights were closely guarded. FISA establishes penalties not less than $1,000 or $100 per day for citizens who communications were unlawfully monitored.

The implication that the NSA has spied on all of us is far reaching. The magnitude of such a project is staggering.

Is it really as serious as it sounds?

Enter Terrorist Information Awareness (TIA). Formerly called “Total Information Awareness,” TIA is an experiment plucked straight from an Orwellian police state.

TIA was a project put forth to mine massive amounts of private data and sort it into “information signatures”.

This data analysis project would look for patterns and associations that signaled criminal or terrorist activity. The project and the Information Awareness Office (IAO) were shut down in 2003 in a hail of legal concerns.

These 16 trunks that were diverted to an NSA room carried everything that passed on AT&T’s networks in that region. Cell and regular phone calls; web pages visits; emails (whether your account is hosted through AT&T/ComCast or not)–everything.

Such rooms are also generally hubs for interstate and international communications.

Who’s the Patriot?

The timing of construction on these rooms corresponded suspiciously to the bidding of various TIA contracts. The office of the Inspector General wrote off implications of wiretapping in these secret rooms, saying the purpose was “research” using “artificial synthetic data”.

The implications are staggering \ Photo Vaguely Artistic

But the class-action lawsuit, filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation against AT&T for violating FISA, was put on hold following an invocation of the “executive state secrets privilege.”

The testimony in the lawsuit could “cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the United States,” according to Direction of National Intelligence John Negroponte.

Plans for this room labeled it “#3″, suggesting it was the third of its kind. Other “secret rooms” were suspected to have been installed in AT&T’s other major switching facilities throughout the U.S.

Was AT&T simply performing their patriotic duty?

Under FISA, AT&T’s participation in this act makes them liable to at least everyone in their 70 million subscriber base. At $100 a day per subscriber for over four years, AT&T is liable for two and a half trillion dollars; an amount that can sink even the mightiest corporate giant.

The Bush administration has argued that telecommunication companies should not be punished for cooperating with the government in good faith. To this, retroactive immunity for all companies was included in a bill that would amend the 2008 “Protect America Act”.

This amendment was subsequently shot down by the House of Representatives.

A Sinister Setback

On March 14th, the U.S. House of Representatives did approve a bittersweet amendment to FISA. The amendment legalizes domestic surveillance without a warrant, provided no single person is “targeted”.

The bill does not provide retroactive immunity to telecoms. The Bush administration has promised to veto any amendment that does not provide this immunity.

What does it take to protect America, or any other nation, for that matter? While we cannot deny the need for law enforcement to foresee trouble, how can a project such as TIA provide a guarantee that it will not later serve a more sinister purpose?

When the fourth amendment was drawn up, the U.S. didn’t have telephones, much less the concepts of Internet Relay Chat (IRC). When Thomas Jefferson tried to mitigate the Barbary threat, he didn’t have to worry about agents of Tripoli being supplanted within the populace.

Benedict Arnold fought numerous successful campaigns for the United States’ revolution, yet he is forever known for his attempt to hand the fort at West Point over to the British.

We have marred traitors before and sent them peaceably on their way. Is AT&T that different?

If we say that it’s ok to perform these kind of data-mining experiments, are we leaving the door open for another system similar to TIA?

The ongoing democratic experiment continues to drive across uncharted territory, producing–like forks in the road–a plethora of questions that need to be answered.

The turns we take here–whether or not to forgive AT&T, Verizon, MCI, etc., and to what degree we hold the NSA and the office of the President responsible–will affect the way our privacy is handled for generations.

What do you think of the wiretapping fiasco? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Jonathan Schulze – a solider who committed suicide.

Jonathan Schulze was a proud Marine who loved his daughter, Kayley, and was described as willing to help “…anyone in need.”

During a tour in Iraq in May 2004, he wrote his parents that “I bet I easily pray over a dozen times a day…Our vehicle elements and Marines on patrols are getting hit hard by these bombs the Iraqis plant all over…”

His death in 2005 was not attributed to any foreign insurgency. Despite dying in his own apartment, hanging from an electrical cord, it’s hard not to blame the Iraq conflict for his death.

The United States Army classifies a casualty as “Any person who is lost to the organization by reasons of having been declared dead, missing, captured, interned, wounded, injured, or seriously ill.”

By this definition, the Pentagon has concluded that the Iraq war has produced over 34,000 casualties, 4,100 of which were fatalities.

A Blurry Line

With over 100,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans being granted disability by the Veterans Affairs (VA), men like Mark Benjamin, writer for Salon.Com, have begun to question how the pentagon classifies a casualty.

Benjamin says that these disability claims may indicate a much larger casualty count, and are the basis for AntiWar.org’s estimate of 100,000 casualties.

But veterans’ benefit awards do not provide a clear picture of which veterans are directly affected by the conflict. While the Pentagon may overlook a finger when reporting casualties, the VA may award benefits for non-combat related hearing loss, or a back injury sustained in the gym.

The only prerequisite is that the injury occurred or was exacerbated during military service.

While one could believe that there are 70,000 unsung casualties, scraping to get by, one could just as easily surmise that 70,000 are considered partially disabled due to a botched bench press. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not make individual case details readily available.

Collateral Damage

The dead and wounded aren’t only from bullets and bombs. Soldiers such as Captain Gussie M. Jones, a medic who volunteered in 2004, die from non-combat causes. Though still under investigation, Gussie is believed to have succumbed to a heart attack. She was 41.

Broken soldier / Photo Hagit Berkovich

To date, over 700 of Iraq’s fatalities have been listed as non-hostile. Non-hostile, non-fatal wounds are not tracked by the government.

The most ideal setting in any urban conflict is to limit casualties only to those carrying guns. Unfortunately, history has never shown this to be the case.

In the Iraq conflict, civilians have continuously suffered losses at the hands of insurgents and coalition troops alike.

The question of how many civilians casualties inflicted can elicit fuzzier answers than troop casualties. There is no reliable way to track the number of civilians that have died due to the conflict. This has given rise to a variety of numbers that are easily bent in either direction to feed political means.

The Lancet published a study by John Hopkins University and Al-Mustansiriya University in 2006 that placed the Iraqi civilian death toll between 426,369 and 793,663 since the start of the war.

Many have attacked the study on two separate occasions for lacking the hallmarks of good research. This study does not differentiate security forces and police death from their numbers.

Counting The Dead

On the other end of the spectrum, some organizations try to use only news reports to derive an accurate estimate.

The Associated Press currently 31,245 dead and 35,436 wounded between April of 2005 and March of 2008.

The Iraq Coalition Casualty Count (ICCC) estimates 42,563 based on news reports in the same time frame, but differentiate security forces from regular civilians.

Perhaps the most chilling number about Iraqi casualties doesn’t come from the Pentagon, but rather our accounting offices. In instances of accidental death by American forces, the Foreign Claims Act allows for a token payment to the surviving family, usually not in excess of $2,500.

As of early 2007, over 32 million dollars in such payments were made, not including condolence payments made at the discretion of unit commanders. In a best-case scenario, that’s 12,800 “Oop’s,” that cost a life; war does not typically operate in best-case scenarios.

Only The Dead See The End Of War

There are other numbers to consider, particularly with relation to our history of warfare.

In World War Two, for example, the pentagon reported as total of 405,399 deaths and 671,846 “not mortal” wounds. Though the number is large compared to the current conflict, the ratio is most intriguing.

Funeral for a Soldier / Photo Scott Spitzer

By the end of that war the ratio was little more than one wounded for every one that came home in a body bag (or not at all). In the Iraq conflict over 7 come home wounded.

Does this cheapen the cost of war? Or does it create a larger base for dissent?

Plato said, “Only the dead have seen the end of war”, but the wounded might get recycled once they recover. Can we justify further conflict simply because fewer have died now than in similar scenarios?

The only consistent facet of casualties seems to be their ability to support a cause.

Anti-war activists will find no shortage of flag-draped coffin pictures and disgruntled vet quotes to support a pullout. Pro-war advocates will dismiss casualty numbers, finding pictures of smiling Iraqi children posing with American soldiers as proof that freedom is taking hold.

Some-such as Gerard Alexander, associate professor of Political Science at the University of Virginia-will even argue that more people have been saved by the ousting of Saddam Hussein than have been collectively killed.

The Power Of One

At the end of the day, though, our views on war, death, pain and suffering are shaped by a single number.

The friend, the colleague, the schoolmate, the battle buddy, the spouse, the parent or-perhaps the worst-the child that has suffered from this conflict will haunt our views for generations. Ten thousands stories are never as horrifying as the one we experience for ourselves.

Thomas McDonough of Minnesota earned one of these gold stars when his son, was killed in action. He now campaigns in support of the war as a member of Vets for Freedom.

Cindy Sheehan also bears the weight of a gold star. The death of her son, Casey Sheehan, prompted numerous peace protests, ranging from campouts in a ditch outside of President’s Crawford, Texas ranch, to her chaining herself to the fence of the White House.

Today, she seeks to replace Nancy Pelosi as the congressional representative for California’s 8th district, citing Pelosi’s inability to successfully impeach President Bush.

It seems that tallies, semantic arguments and statistics are designed entirely for politicians, think-tanks, strategists and advocacy groups. No one probably thinks of Jonathan Schulze’s daughter, Kayley, when they weigh 4,100, 40,000 or even 400,000 casualties.

For those personally affected, the tally will never really get higher than that one, nor will it ever have to.

How do you define a casualty of the Iraq war? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Illustration by Jacob Bielanski

Take a look at this website. The text, the picture above, the pictures below, the logo – all of them represent a separate request by your computer to a server hosted somewhere else on the planet.

With each request, a packet was generated that had to find a path through a myriad of trails. It is very likely that each one of these requests took a different path. And it will be a whole new set of paths and destinations when you click away from here.

In a way, technology embodies the spirit of adaptation so prevalent in travelers.

Throughout history, technology has found a home only when it can be taken for granted.

What seems like a simple act today (reading the seemingly benign musings of a short, unshaven, American writer) represents the culmination of over 60 years of communications theory, practice, business, revision and exploitation.

Millions of minds, with millions of hours of training devoting millions of hours of sweat, have developed a multi-homed, self-rectifying infrastructure that can link editors, photographers, writers, and readers who may as well all be 10,000 miles from each other.

We can book our plane, hotel, car, hostel, hotel, itinerary, museum, tour guide, bus and restaurant reservation before we even take those first tentative steps out of our comfort zone.

A plethora of sites offering pictures, reviews and personal testimonies ensure that we know exactly what’s going to happen long before we even attempt to do it.

Yet, in the cataclysmic-yet-searchable flood of information that has become known as “the Internet” do we lose the sense of adventure that comes from discovering a destination?

Any Trip, At A Price

I have a confession to make: I’ve watched “Legends of the Fall” approximately five times.

I’m always enamored with Brad Pitt’s character, Tristan, and his mysterious travels. Riding off into the sunset on a horse, he somehow finds himself on a ship at sea. The scenes flash between those anxiously awaiting his return, and his exploits as a hunter/fisherman in exotic island nations.

Googling “Pacific rim sailing boar hunting” shows me that I can have Tristan’s adventures, sans Frontier-style heartbreak, for only $3,170.

Wherever there is a desire to “do something”, there is a business waiting to capitalize on that desire. (And they always seem to have a website).

Reservations At An Instant

A chance encounter between an IBM salesman and the (then) CEO of American Airlines C. R. Smith in 1953 led to a technological framework that would become the core of all airline reservations.

The Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment (SABRE) made it easier for Airlines to manage reservations internally. It used punch cards.

In 1976, a similar system developed by United Airlines was first offered directly to travel agents, in order to extend the grasp of efficient airline reservations. It wasn’t until the mid-nineties that reservations would leave the ticketing agents and fall into the hands of the common Joe.

Thank you, “Internet.”

Why does this break down an economic barrier? Prior to Computerized Reservation Systems (CRS), Airline reservations were taken care of using a series of cards and 8 people.

The “shopping” process of locating and securing a reservation on a flight took-at best-90 minutes. Even after the advent of reservation systems, a traveler wasn’t home free. If you weren’t at the mercy of an apathetic Airline employee, you were still leaving your itinerary in the hands of a travel agent’s competency.

One was either ridiculously dedicated to travel or saved a ridiculous amount of money to cover the travel agent’s surcharge.

When I was a small lad, a ticket from Houston to Chicago cost almost $300. In 2005 my wife put together a flight to Germany. By sliding dates around and checking with multiple travel sites, we came to an excellent itinerary. Chicago to Dublin, Dublin to Frankfurt. It was less than $400 a person.

The economic impact of traveling to Texas a few years ago is almost equivalent to that of crossing the Atlantic today.

Been There, Done That

What I hate most about planning any trip is the ultimate deflation that occurs upon ‘Googling’.

Having pointed at a map and said “That’s where we’re going!” I get a rush, a feeling like I’ll be stepping into uncharted territory – until I type it into Google and discover that tours run there daily, between 10 and 5 in the summer.

Apparently a lot of people–and developers–have been to Ocracoke since Blackbeard’s death in 1718.

This doesn’t mean that people didn’t go to these places prior to the Internet age, but it does make the process of reading about it much simpler.

While thousands of travelogues published daily help 9-to-5 prisoners transcend their bounds and become mentally transported to exotic locales, they also serve to destroy the nomad’s private fantasy of trailblazing.

That’s Going On The Blog

The watering of the over-consumed, all-inclusive travel liquor doesn’t end once the flight takes off.

In the bygone era of a pre-imperialist United States (Canada and the War of 1812 doesn’t count, sorry), American author Mark Twain documented a journey on the first Trans-Atlantic pleasure cruise in the book “The Innocents Abroad“.

The book was based on letters dispatched to his sponsors. Hand-carved lithographs (I made some in high school Art…they’re not easy) provided a crude, grainy representations of the sites that Twain–in his infinite literary abilities–could only begin to describe.

It took two years from the time the letters were written, to the book’s publication in 1869.

Perhaps it’s unfair to place a Travelpod user’s recollection of a dingy cafe in Mexico City side-by-side to a classic work of American non-fiction. Yet the reality remains that a drunken night in Sydney can be recollected, edited, and posted to a “universal” audience faster than it takes to fully recover from the hangover.

A well-meaning writer’s analysis of a culture can be misguided at best, or downright inaccurate at worst. We’ve all felt the sting of misinformation that that breeds rapidly in a democratic pool of blogs.

Information must now be tagged, indexed and amalgamated by sites such as the venerable Brave New Traveler if it is to hold any merit. The market value of travel information has dropped significantly.

A Long Story Short

The first noble truth on Buddha’s path to enlightenment is that suffering is a part of life.

While technology hastens the dispersal of information, it does not improve its ability to be processed by the end user. Travel has entirely to do with what we bring with us; our wits, our hopes, our preconceptions and–most importantly–our failings.

Here is an example of the marvelous power of modern techno-travel:

I booked an itinerary from Barcelona, Spain to Krakow, Poland while camping along the Mediterranean Sea. The reservation was made for me vicariously via an email to a relative.

I also arranged for a money transfer to greet me upon arrival. All I had to do was make it to the Barcelona-Girona Airport at the right time and money would be waiting for me in Krakow.

Barcelona has two airports. There will be no prize for guessing which one we were at, penniless, an hour before takeoff.

The experience following is a long story, but involved cheating a cab with a bad credit card (and failing), almost having luggage confiscated by an angry non-English speaking cab driver, a mad race through Barcelona, some well deserved beers at a nearby bar, and a night sleeping outside of the train station.

It changed me forever. It was the time of my life. Funny enough, the actual experience had little to do with the technology that set the wheels in motion.

Capturing The Dimensions

My technology peers and I used to giggle at people’s claims that computers “did things” by themselves. Technology only does what we request of it.

A web server cannot coerce you into reconsidering your destination. A MySQL database cannot catalog how we feel during a given experience nor capture the extent to which it changes our life. Even YouTube can’t capture the smell of a crowded market if its viewer lacks the frame of reference.

As a result, technology is a reflection of only what we’ve put into it. It’s an organic system, so complex-and yet so robust-that it has begun to evolve alongside us.

Don’t believe me? Since you’re sitting at a computer, try this (Windows users only, sorry)

• 1. Go to Start->run
• 2. Type “cmd” (no quotes) in the box that appears
• 3. Press enter
• 4. Type “tracert www.google.com” (no quotes) into the box that appears
• 5. Press “enter”
• 6. Watch as the request tells you the path it took to get to Google
• 7. Wait a minute, then repeat

Think of each of those entries as a “turn” in a list of directions. Watch as the request to Google finds a new path, determined by speed, reliability and congestion.

Though it is not impossible for two packets to take the same path, they have been designed to react in the same way as humans. Just as in the real world, the two journeys to the same destination don’t necessarily take the same route.

The line between what the Internet can and cannot do for us can seem fuzzy. There are many skeptics in the realm of technology-I should know, I’m one of them.

It’s hard to remember that in this forest of bits and electrons, two roads can still diverge. The road less traveled is still there, reminding us that the universe continues to operate with or without our consent.

Do we allow the Internet to take us down that road that many have traveled or do we, like the data, follow the best opportunities?

Technology won’t cheapen our travel experience. Only we will.

What do you think about the Internet’s impact on travel? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Jacob Bielanski is a Technical College dropout from the boonies who drinks too much. His one-eyed cat “Spudnick”, travel-sized dog “Norm” and sexy photographer wife do most of the work. You can find his ramblings on his blog and his “real” writing at any place that ponies up the dough.

The single greatest piece of advice I heard prior to my first vagabonding excursion was to pack my bag, then remove half the stuff and leave it behind.

As with all good advice, I only admired the lesson after I had failed to heed it. Lugging a heavy pack through border crossings and train stations, only then did I ask myself two questions:

How do you pack for a trip that has no fixed itinerary? How do you hit the perfect combination of lightweight, versatile and practical?

In 2005 I began an undertaking to find the ultimate bag. I required the bag to replace four lacking alternatives:

• A laptop attaché for a 19″ wide screen Dell Inspirion 1900
• A giant, backpacker’s rucksack
• A stylish-yet-rugged messenger bag
• A Camelbak

I had carried each of these packs in previous years, with varying degrees of success.

The giant backpack held a lot, but was unwieldy when retrieving specific items. The messenger bag made me look like less of a dork and gave me rapid access to all its contents, but its single strap made it uncomfortable and it couldn’t carry an over-sized laptop-besides, my friends felt that “messenger bag” was just a fancy way to say “man-purse”.

Then there was the laptop case, which was downright worthless, lacking pockets that could fit anything useful, including my laptop.

In Search Of Perfection

I wanted to simplify my lifestyle by traveling with one perfect rucksack, so I put forth some simple requirements for my dream pack:

• It should not be a ridiculous color or bear any logos that make it a target
• It needs to be modular–when a pouch isn’t needed, I want to be able to remove it in order to lighten my load
• It must be small enough to carry on airplanes
• It needs wide, comfortable straps at both sternum and waist
• It must be able to accommodate a hydration bladder
• It should be rugged
• It needs to have a frame of some kind, preferably a removable one
• It should be cheap

I didn’t think I was asking for too much; a cheap, tough bag that could take me from the client downtown to the mountaintop in a single weekend. My wife thought I was high–who the hell brings a CamelBak to a business meeting? Or a laptop to the back trail?

Ignoring such pessimists, I set out to learn something about the perfect pack.

Cheap, Tough, Practical

Color alone excluded most “civilian” backpacks. There seems to be some unwritten rule that says bright colors are cheap. None of the brand names seemed to carry a “black” bag and, if they did, it was their “mountain trekker elite IV”, which retails for only $572; straps sold separately.

My search began to focus on the “government” market.

The kinds of business meetings and hikes that I need my pack for have different goals than those of, say, a U.S. Army Ranger on patrol in Afghanistan.

While it’s great to think that I can easily accommodate a SINCGARS radio, a cell phone pocket would do just fine. Jump riggings would sooner choke me than enable my safe, airborne assault on corporate America. Despite those extraneous features, however, I found the liberal use of 1050 denier “ballistic” nylon, quiet chain zippers, and subdued (when not militant) colors to be consistent and practical. It seemed I was on the right track.

After an exhaustive search (mostly at the expense of my employer), I was down to two bags. With little else to guide me, I turned to an age-old tool: the spreadsheet. I analyzed cubic space against price and came to a definitive conclusion.

Perfection Found?

The Blackhawk Three-Day Assault Pack is the perfect backpack (unfortunately, neither myself nor BNT is getting ad revenue for this…shucks). The Assault Pack is cheap, tough, and can fit in carry-on. With a cinch sack, accessory packs, hydration bladders and internal frame, I can adapt it to any use. Best of all, it is a single, simple shade of flat black.

That’s the end of it. You’re welcome. Go out, buy your assault pack–or similar–and be done with this question in your vagabonding life.

If you want further proof that soft corners, kidney and sternum straps, durable fabrics and wide shoulder strap are the tops, I recommend doing you own research on a plethora of sites, such as www.backpacker.com.

Wait! There’s More!

That’s not really the end of it, is it?

In light of this search, and the euphoric, bag-toting years that have followed, I’ve begun to stare at other peoples’ bags. The laptop cases with wheels going to conventions, faux “Alice packs”-purchased from Old Navy–climbing mountains, frayed messenger bags on the way to the library, and even saddle bags on an aging motorcycle. All these rucksacks tell me a story. I wonder if the people who own them obsessed the way I did.

Was the pack a gift? Have they had it long? Is it comfortable? What’s in it and why does it go there?

I begin to find that people’s bags–and the way they carry them-are like a signature, a unique thumb print of where we’ve been, where we’re going, and how we plan on getting there. I wondered if anyone noticed my bag and wondered the same.

Fellow Seekers, Deeper Questions

I found that I was not the only one obsessed with the perfect pack. Another gentleman, more traveled than myself, has begun to work with a Filipino bag maker to concoct the ultimate backpack.

His name is “Andy” of Hobotraveler.com. Perhaps he can put the formula to work and give us the perfect backpack.

Then there are the other, countless questions that arose during my quest. Can a backpack make us move faster, love travel more, and even help us remember not to leave our contact lens case on the hostel sink?

Is it possible to make Kevlar fabrics and solar panels “fashionable”? Do we decide what to put into the bag or does the bag demand to be filled?

My bag recently took me up the Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala. What was expected to be a light jaunt through a National Park, turned out to be a grueling hike through a jagged, unprotected landscape.

Our guide moved at a calf-taxing pace with little effort. As the day wore on, I found myself ill prepared for the terrain and ensuing precipitation. Feigning toughness, I acted as if I just loved the rain.

Our guide danced across volcanic rock and up steep slopes with the deftness of a mountain goat and finally came to rest at my side. I couldn’t understand his Spanish, but understood his message–here, moron, take this rain jacket.

As he turned I saw the bag from which this gift had come-a small, vinyl, Winnie the Pooh backpack. I was using my bag to carry cheese sandwiches and photography equipment.

One Life, One Love, One Bag

A gentleman by the name of Doug Dyment has been running an ad-free page called www.onebag.com (previously “The Compleat Carry-on Traveler”) for years.

His simple and effective compendium of bag-carrying knowledge corresponded to the qualities of the bag I had purchased. His recommendations for soft corners, subdued appearance and a list of other tips could’ve been plucked straight from my own skull.

It seems the perfect bag truly is a well-balanced formula. In spite of all this knowledge, I found the most wisdom in a line under the heading Choosing a Bag:

“Traveling light is not about figuring out how big a bag you can take, or even what kind of bag provides the most storage; rather it’s about determining the minimum amount of stuff you truly need to cart around with you, and finding the smallest bag that will comfortably hold it.”

Jacob Bielanski is a Technical College dropout from the boonies who drinks too much. His one-eyed cat “Spudnick”, travel-sized dog “Norm” and sexy photographer wife do most of the work. You can find his ramblings on his blog and his “real” writing at any place that ponies up the dough.

He recently flew back from Guatemala and looks forward to a bit of a rest before his next journey. Right now, he is sniffing a cat’s butt.

The first question many people ask about Norm is how we manage to travel with him. Certainly his size assists in this process, but many people are curious as to how to prepare to take a pet on the road. There seems to be a self-defeatist attitude about traveling with pets, whether it is the cost of care or the bureaucracy involved with crossing borders.

On the road, I’ve found people seemed more eager to share stories of the furry “baby” they left behind, then of their children or grandchildren. Deep down, I think this proves that the average person would rather take their dog traveling than their kids.

Here are some tips, facts, and myths about getting from point ‘A’, to point ‘B’ with your pet.

Befriend Your Veterinarian

Everything you do with regard to travel and your pet will begin with a licensed veterinarian. Your life will be much easier if you know this person and they know your pet. Get them a Christmas card and include a picture of your animal. The better they know your pet, the faster they’ll be able to find the records.

Trains, Planes or Automobiles

Within the U.S., personal automobile is your best bet. Amtrak and Greyhound have a zero-tolerance policy on non-service animals. New York public transportation – in quite a break from their oft draconian bylaws – allows animals to ride, provided they are muzzled or riding in a carrier. Norm rode the Staten Island Ferry with no problem. Dogfriendly.com has an excellent list of U.S. public transportation systems that are pet-friendly.

Airlines often accept pets, but vary as to how much they charge and what regulations govern their accommodations. Norm rides in the cabin because he weighs 7 lbs (soaking wet, with his carrier). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) leaves it up to the airlines as to whether or not to allow pets.

If the airline does allow pets, standard FAA carry-on baggage policies apply. Delta recently upped their pet fee to $75, per itinerary ($150 round trip). United Airlines charges $100. TACA charges nothing, provided the animal is your only carry-on. Spirit Air charges $75 and only allows pets in carry-on. Check with your carrier for price and – if you make your reservation online – call to reserve a slot for your pet.

Health Forms

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Form 7001 is a 30-day, USDA-approved, sextuplicated certificate of health and is the cornerstone of any international and interstate travel for your pet. The form itself costs the vet $15, so keep an eye on how much overhead the vet is adding. It should be accompanied by an actual checkup and certifies that your pet is free of major diseases.

Rabies and/or Vaccination Record

This is something the vet should be maintaining anyway. There is no direct charge for this, but the USDA needs to corroborate this with the Health Certificate. This document is longer lasting, so as long as your pet’s vaccinations are up to date, you don’t need anything more than the original copy.

Microchips

As a computer technician and sci-fi fan, I delight at the thought of turning Norm into a cyborg. Unfortunately, “micro chipping” is not nearly so grand, and is merely a common-sense way of tracking your dog via a chip implanted between their shoulder blades. It does not, in any way, enhance their crime-fighting abilities.

Many countries and states, in fact, require proof that the animal is micro-chipped. Make the one time investment of $35-60 (it varies depending on the vet, chip type, and organization) to avoid any complications.

Crossing Borders

As of 1994, all 7001 forms have to be approved by Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), a division of the USDA. It costs $24 and at least one office is available in every state, but don’t waste your time checking with the USDA to find them. Instead, go straight to the APHIS website to locate the nearest office. Some consulates require their own stamp as well – the Guatemalan Consulate did, and charged $10.

One would think the people at the arrival point would be more interested in your (potentially) diseased pet than your country of origin. The reality on Norm’s trip proved quite to the contrary; USDA and the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) demanded the above forms for him to leave, while the Guatemala City Airport didn’t even look at him.

One heavily-armed Guatemalan police officer even peeked in his cage, smiled, and wished us a good day as we awaited the arrival of our baggage. When we crossed into Canada, neither the American nor Canadian authorities gave Norm a second look.

Does this mean that these forms are complete bollocks? Not so fast. A nice old American woman told me an anecdote about her dog requiring more analysis to get into Canada than their whole family. Even within the United States, Norm’s flights have had varied results.

Sometimes, the airline itself is more concerned than either country. In the end, simply having a valid health certificate, rabies vaccination record, and the after-hours emergency number for your vet should be enough to get you across any border.

Worst-Case Scenario

Under the worst of circumstances, your pet will be quarantined. This is a particularly serious issue on smaller islands such as Hawaii and Guam, where minimum five-day quarantine is mandatory. When traveling to such locations, its best to check with the consulate or tourism board prior to the trip in order to avoid complications that arise from incomplete information.

The United States Military provides a great checklist for the most extreme circumstances–Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders. I stumbled across this checklist. Each country will have certain concerns – identify those concerns and talk to your vet about how best to address them.

Be sure you have up-to-date information. It is important to note that quarantine is rapidly becoming an antiquated thing, with changes made to the system regularly.

Is My Pet Ready for Travel?

As I write this, Norm is sitting 15 feet away from me. We intermittently feed him beef jerky and cat food, but he’s partial to bread and Doritos. He knows his name, but only views calls of “Norm! Come!” as a general suggestion. Despite our cries, he still enjoys chasing the chickens around the yard. In short, Norm is not exactly a world-class show dog in training.

Traveling with a pet, you will have to address a few things. Lodging will be restricted to only those places that allow pets (a bigger problem in the U.S. than abroad). If you want to occasionally “step out” without said quadruped, you’ll want to mitigate any risk of separation anxiety. Being housebroken is essential, as some instances – such as long bus rides in a cargo hold – will put the pet in positions where their bodily functions may be compromised.

Of course, one of the most valuable things we did to aid Norm’s travels was to crate train him. If your pet is small, like Norm, look for an FAA carry-on approved crate. Contrary to its popular usage, Norm has come to find his crate a safe place – he goes there when he’s scared.

Final Thoughts

There was only one restaurant in Guatemala that refused us entry because of Norm: McDonald’s. At every other restaurant and bar, our polite questions about Norm’s attendance were met with a matter-of-fact attitude. It would seem fitting that the only institutions to reject him would be United States based.

Why are we so afraid, as Americans, to have dogs around us? In my search for the answer, I have found no argument that could not be made the same for children under five. They’re filthy and if not trained properly, can wreak havoc on other patrons and even lose control of key bodily functions.

In fact, children have one extra strike against them–communicable diseases. While dogs could potentially carry bacteria and other pathogens (just the same as children) their viruses do not often translate to our physiologies. In my humble opinion, restaurant’s who ban pets for “Health Reasons” should ban children for the same.

The United States is not going to change any time soon. Its formative years have been spent in a world that knew the realities of penicillin and germs and has been raised–generally speaking–on the belief that we can stave off all illness and other gross miscellany through antibacterial soap. There is, however, a growing underground.

In New Orleans, bars such as Fahy’s Irish Pub embrace the presence of Canines-a typical Friday night will feature as many dogs as patrons. Restaurants like A.W. Schuck’s in Charleston, SC go out of their way to provide pet-friendly outdoor seating. Search hard and you’ll find the modern day rebels in the States, taking a stand against an anti-Dog and -Cat America.

The old western world, meanwhile, has been raised in the generation of existentialism; whatever will be, will be. Bringing your dog or cat into other countries-particularly in Western Europe-can be a rewarding and eye opening experience, one that will have you wondering why “Man’s Best Friend” is a social pariah in his own hometown.

Be careful to check the regulations in India and other eastern lands-while dogs may not be restricted, culture may view them in a way that makes it best to leave your dog, cat, or ferret behind.

In the end, planning your trip with your pet in mind is the key to a smooth journey. If the animal is an afterthought, you’ll run into trouble with document deadlines and airline policies. Be cognizant of who you’re booking tickets with, know the animal policies where you’re going, and keep up with your pets inoculations.

Working your pet into an itinerary will always be harder than developing an itinerary with your pet in mind.

Jacob Bielanski is a Technical College dropout from the boonies who drinks too much. His one-eyed cat “Spudnick”, travel-sized dog “Norm” and sexy photographer wife do most of the work. You can find his ramblings on his blog and his “real” writing at any place that ponies up the dough.