Traveler Profile: Mei-Ling McNamara | Matador

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Screen name:

Mei-Ling McNamara

Age:

32

Gender:

Female

Travel status:

Traveling soon

Hometown:

SF Bay Area

Currently in:

San Francisco

Expert Madagascar

I lived in Southern Madagascar for over three years (2003-2006), working primarlly in radio development work and travel guidebook writing. My guidebook writing work has appeared in the 8th edition of the Bradt Guide to Madagascar, and I am currently researching a new travel guide to Senegal. Any queries relating to travel or volunteer work in Madagascar can be answered as best as possible!

Matador Travel Writer: Articles (2)

Writer Bio: View Articles (2)

Mei-Ling is a writer, advocacy journalist, and international development worker, she is currently authoring a new travel guidebook to Senegal with Bradt Travel Guides. Her articles have been featured in various publications including Travelers’ Tales, Matador Travel, IRIN, Written Road, AlertNet, and IndyMedia. Her upcoming projects include co-hosting a new travel/conservation documentary film project in Asia in October 2007 and pursuing a M.A. in International Journalism in the UK in 2008.

Traveling Next:

UK

Favorite places I've been:

The Sahara, Merzouga, Morocco; Under a Coconut Palm, Fiji; Camden Market, summer evening, London, England; Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park; Ifotaka, Madagascar; Catacombs, Aswan, Egypt; Amato, Old Compton Street, London; Dolores Park, eve, San Francisco; Fort Dauphin, Madagascar; Casamance, Senegal

Places I want to go to:

Everywhere. My only requirements are a cup of a coffee, a change of clothes, my notebook and a camera.

About me:

The last time I bought a bed was in 1997. My father gave it away in 2000. I have kept a journal since I was five years old. I hate airplanes, love airplane food. I am only superstitious in Africa, and have several stories and a few talismans to prove it. My Chinese mother and Irish father are the opposing, complementary forces that harmonize my life. I believe that every experience, and how you react to it, changes and creates who you are, bringing a distinct energy to the world.

Profile URL:

http://matadortravel.com/travel-community/meilinginmada

Read more about Mei-Ling McNamara

I'm fired up on:

Local projects that empower communities; writing that snares an elusive, fleeting moment; waking to the desert at dawn; watching the Sahara at dusk; seeing the faces of my family and friends after a long journey; arriving in a new place with no plans and a wide, open mind.

Tunes I rock out to:

Jackie Greene, Babyshambles, Death Cab for Cutie, Just Jack, Bright Eyes, The Martinis, Marta Gomez, Modest Mouse, Chet Baker, Old 97s, Ray LaMontagne, Otis Redding, Remy Zero, Royksopp, Ryan Adams, Serge Gainsbourg, Shins, Sigur Ros, Tegan and Sara, Thievery Corporation, This Mortail Coil, Tindersticks, Tito Beltran, Tom Waits, Tosca, Vincent Gallo, Whiskeytown, Wilco, Williams Traffic, Yo La Tengo, etc., etc.

Travel style:

I love to travel with no set itinerary, a few decent maps, and some divine luck.

Quote:

"It is not length of life, but depth of life."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

Sports I do:

running away from tourist traps

Favorite artist(s):

Photographer: Sebastiao Selgado, Writer: John Pilger

Favorite books:

The Zanzibar Chest, Aidan Hartley; The Alexandria Quartet, Lawrence Durrell; Freedom from the Known, Krishnamurti; La Vita Nova, Louise Gluck; The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin

Who I'd like to meet on my travels:

Open, frank and engaging people

I want to make a difference by:

opening minds.

Languages spoken, other than English:

French, a smattering of others for survival

I felt the most immersed in a foreign culture when:

I rode on a bush taxi with eighty people (and lots of fowl) across Madagascar for 72 hours non-stop. No sleep, no real food, and a lot of Celine Dion blasting out of two broken speakers. Our truck overturned into a ravine once, and we had to crawl out of the window. After arrival, I spent one day in the capital and got on another bush taxi for the return journey for 75 hours. I made lots of friends and nearly got myself killed. I felt pretty immersed by then.

Why I travel:

To push the limits of my own ideas of security, knowledge, understanding and awareness. To avoid the constraints of conditioning and to learn through doing. To live in this world and to make it my responsibility to expose myself to all of it: the joyful, tragic, shocking and sublime.

Ideal place to watch the sunrise:

1. Black Rock City, 2. Over the Indian Ocean in Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, 3. Merzouga, Morocco

Ideal place to watch the sunset:

Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

Before I die I'd like to:

Visit the Mongolian Steppe and my grandmother's village in China, write a novel, laugh a lot, return to Morocco to visit my friends in the souk in Marrakech, inspire people to be passionate about the world, and ultimately, to have my beliefs mirror every action I do.

Let's collaborate:

I'm a writer looking to work with fellow travelers, travel publications and travel producers.

My links:

http://www.culturalfilmfund.com
http://www.bradtguides.com
http://www.travelchannel.com
http://www.lanternbooks.com

Post New Comment

by Tim Patterson | 2008/01/18

can't wait to see video / read blogs about panya , pun pun and you sabai - say hi to everyone for me -

Tim

by Ross | 2007/08/14

check it...
http://matadortravel.com/organizations/the-advocacy-project

by Ben | 2007/08/09

Nice to meet you last night. Look forward to working together.

by Stu | 2007/04/09

congrats on the ipod & hoodie! and, of course, the donation. Hope all is well down in Senegal!

Another Bridge to San Francisco

By Mei-Ling McN... | Location: United States | 03/25/08 | Pics: 1

When I travel, and people ask where I am from, San Francisco can sound pretty exotic – depending on where you’re standing. In Madagascar, the average person has no idea where to find it on a map, primarily because their only exposure to America is usually thrice-copied DVDs of Arnold Schwarzenegger...

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Notes on a Park Bench

By Mei-Ling McN... | Location: United States | 02/15/08 | Pics: 1

The sky was a cerulean blue, the clouds barely visible between the high rises that rose like waves over the hills of San Francisco. I was sitting in Portsmouth Square in the heart of Chinatown, watching the old men play chess and the wispy-haired ladies practicing tai chi. Watching the women move in...

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Love in the Time of Hallmark

By Mei-Ling McN... | Location: United States | 02/14/08 | Pics: 1

As much as I have always been utterly resistant to the notion that people should declare their love for others on one particular day, Valentine’s Day refuses to go away. Don’t get me wrong: I am not a cynic to the point of spoiling it for other people, but I just don’t understand how so...

3 comments | Send to Friend |

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