How surprising this Sultanate of Oman is (page 5 of 8)

Hi there,

Oh no! I totally missed out on this country! Don’t hold it against me—I’m only just discovering your posts now... You already surprised me with your trip to that island in the Gulf of Guinea, a place I’d planned to visit but never made it to... Yeah, I’m getting a bit more cautious these days and hesitate to travel to countries where the veil is worn... Anyway, it won’t be easy to convince my wife! Oh well, she can stay home then😛 I’ll probably hit you up for some more "practical" info later😉

... I’m still waiting for you on my Omani travel journal. It’s not great literature...

True, the invitation wasn’t meant for me, but I was on the doorstep... 🙂

“To those who write as they speak, I recommend keeping quiet.” (I won’t name this writer, who already suffers from having barely more readers than a popular travel journal on VoyageForum.) Until then, I mostly agreed with him.

And then I read you. You don’t write like you speak because, in reality, you don’t speak like that in full sentences. You’ve invented a style, and I’ll admit—blushing—that I find it delightful. 😮 Not to mention it lets you write outrageous things that wouldn’t fly under a self-serious pen. 😇

Hoping I’ve respected your wish: "Outside of MY travel journals, I’d like to keep a consistently positive and kind spirit." And that you won’t see this as an attempt at trouble-making, now reportable 😕 (post 32 in the link).

Hoping I’ve respected your wish:

If even writers who studied literature make spelling mistakes!...[;]

I'm trying to get into the Omani vibe...😉 (I'm wondering if I shouldn't report you for trying to stir up trouble 😏)

Even writers with a literature degree make spelling mistakes!...😉

And yours—was that mistake on purpose? 😛[;]

Yeah, but I'm forgivable—I learned French late in life. 😛

Poor Christelle is still on the plane and things are getting wild on her travel journal 🤪😄

For the spelling, I thunk mercy shud be granted, since we’re not texting here. 🏴‍☠️

Oh Bruno, this is exactly how I love my travel journals—lively and sometimes a bit messy! 😄

So glad to catch up with you, Jean Michel! 😄 Really take the time to read everything—they were super tolerant with the tourist that I am. The only place you need to cover up is when visiting mosques, and I swam in a bikini everywhere with locals in the distance who never came over to throw stones at me 😂. But it’s true that the culture is very different from ours, and you’ve got to leave your feminism at home if you want to enjoy it.

Hello Christelle, What beautiful views—it reinforces what I already thought about the appeal of visiting Oman. But after reading your travel journal, I’m a lot less enthusiastic than you are about the Omanis—not sure if we should even call them that. But I’ll leave you to your illusions… While reading, I spotted a ghost that sneaked into your journal… But I think I’m the only one who noticed. Maybe I’m psychic, or maybe I’m just paranoid.😉 Still, I’m too good a psychologist to doubt what I saw…

Yes, Jean-Marie, I’ll admit I enjoy living in a Care Bears world 😊. Except for rare exceptions, I only see the best in people, and I nurture that side of me as long as I can. I know it’s a very naïve way of seeing the world, but I fight every day to keep it 😌. And as long as the ghost doesn’t stir up trouble, I don’t mind it 👻.

Hoping I respected your wish: "Apart from MY travel journals, I’d really like to keep a consistently positive and kind vibe." and that you won’t see my comment as an attempt at trouble—now reportable, by the way :/

Come on, Jean Luc, you’re kidding me—I’m so flattered by your words. Having a unique style is the dream! 😊 I’ve got zero literary pretensions, I overuse emojis, but I have a blast writing my "silly" travel stories. And yeah, I admit it’s kinda fun to "say outrageous things" that slip by like a letter in the mail 😂

Louis-Ferdinand Céline is never vulgar at any point. Nor is Jack Thieuloy in his book "The India of the Highways," despite all the horrors he recounts there. Vulgarity isn’t about using coarse words, but rather about the overall style of the writing.

Thanks for the literature lesson, but there’s a misunderstanding: the word 'vulgarity' didn’t come from me—it’s nowhere in what I said. When I talk about writing horrors with impunity, I’m thinking of the social and societal issues Christelle brings up so uninhibitedly, even though we know she’s ultra-sensitive to these topics. (As for Thieuloy, the man himself is a real horror.)

Jean Luc and Bruno, I love you guys 🤗. But seriously, all this is really interesting and I enjoy the debate now that my travel journal is finished. It’s when I get this kind of feedback between two posts that it bothers me—I find it harder to keep going after 😢. But I’m fundamentally convinced that the "workers" in the Middle East would rather have a laugh with two tourists who tip generously than deal with miserabilists who look at them with pity in their eyes 😄

Jean Luc and Bruno, I love you guys 🤗.

But we love you too!

But seriously, all this is really interesting and I’m enjoying the debate now that my travel journal is finished.

It’s when I get this kind of feedback between two posts that it bothers me—I find it harder to keep going after that 😢.

That’s why I had the tact to bring it up in a PM 😊

But I’m fundamentally convinced that the “slaves” of the Middle East would rather have fun with two tourists who tip generously than deal with miserabilists who look at them with tears in their eyes 😄

And even without generous tips, they’ll have had what makes travel so special: the exchange!

Michel, I love you too 😗😘 And yes Bruno, exchange is the spice of our travels. Here’s the live proof after 2 hours on Kenyan roads 🚗💨

This image brings back some happy memories. Would this be at Kiambethu Tea Farm, between Nairobi and Naivasha?

Have a great trip in Kenya! 🙂

Not far, Michel, but right by the road with a tea picker that I loved 😂. Otherwise, there are a bunch of messages that disappeared—did you report the mean one or what 😂? (Not me 😢)

Otherwise, there are tons of messages that disappeared—did you report the meanie or what 😄? (Not me, though 😢)

I think we lost a friend 😄 And I think VF doesn’t want to go back to the way things were before… But I had nothing to do with it either. If anything, it was just getting a bit heavy…

Otherwise, there are a lot of messages that disappeared

I had nothing to do with it either, but it's better this way.

Rule #1 for travel journals: you write what you want and how you want. It's YOUR trip, it's YOUR feelings, it's YOUR journal. 😉

Couldn’t agree more. And that’s exactly what sets it apart from a tourist guidebook. And nobody’s forcing anyone to read travel journals either.