Too bad….I love the concept of wandering with a vague quest…but my friend, Martin Hadis, has alerted me that Steinbeck got it wrong about the meaning of vacilar. Martin knows maybe nine languages, including Finnish, which he learned so he could read the original legends that inspired Tolkin. 

I don´t know how John Steinbeck deduced that “vacilar” does not mean “to vacillate”. He´s plain wrong. The word does have additional hues of meaning, but its central significance is to hesitate or to waver. Just as in English (which is not surprising given that Englishvacillate can ultimately be traced to Latin vacilare)

Following are definitions from a bilingual dictionary.

vacilar  
1. to sway, vacillate 
2. to wobble
3. to sway, stagger, wobble 
4. to flicker 
5. to hesitate, waver 
6. to tease 
7. to show off 

memoria que vacila: shaky memory  
hacer vacilar: to shake 
sin vacilar: without hesitation
—
vacilación 
1. hesitation, wavering 
2. irresolution, lack of decision
3. oscillation, swaying, vacillation 

“sin vacilaciones” without hesitation 
 
vacilante 
1. hesitating, irresolute 2. hesitant, faltering 
 

From: Travels with Charley: In Search of America
By John Steinbeck (c) 1962 

In Spanish there is a word for which I can’t find a counterword in English. It is the verb vacilar, present participle vacilando. It does not mean vacillating at all. If one is vacilando, he is going somewhere but doesn’t greatly care whether or not he gets there, although he has direction. My friend Jack Wagner has often, in Mexico, assumed this state of being. Let us say we wanted to walk in the streets of Mexico City but not at random. We would choose some article almost certain not to exist there and then diligently try to  find it. 

~~~

Yes! Vacilando. That’s what Maia and I did a couple of weekends ago in Puerto Rico on our search to experience why Puerto Rico is the second happiest country (!) in the world. That story is up-to-bat next.

Contributing writer Cathy Healy has the scoop on a new museum exhibit in Washington, D.C., that appeals to her (and, let’s be honest, all of our) lurid fascination with FBI agents and the journalists who chase after them…

Let’s confess: While the Newseum’s exhibit, “G-Men and Journalists,” appeals to the luridly curious, like me, it might not be catnip for all.

“UGH,” said one pal when I excitedly told him about seeing the mock-up of the D.C. Sniper’s car, which was used for the trial; the Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski’s actual cabin from northern Montana; and the high-backed wooden chair used to electrocute the man convicted of killing the Lindbergh baby.

Full Story

Ski slopes opened late in this year Bariloche, Argentina, and as of late June, the runs are ready for shredding. But after three spectacular snow years, Latin America’s largest ski resort has been plagued by a snow drought and an erupting volcano…

Article in National Geographic Intelligent Traveler. 

My friend Jim has explored every continent – lots of times, with lots of different kinds of luggage. But his real quest is to find the perfect suitcase.

“Have you found it yet? I’ve just bought another mistake,” I asked him glumly the other day…

Article posted in National Geographic Intelligent Traveler

I’ve heard that San Jose boasts the biggest and best Cinco de Mayo celebration in northern California, but I’ve yet to experience the two-hour parade and throbbing musical acts blasting from two stages. Last year, even though I was only 30 minutes away, I lived in a different universe, with 12 international fellows at Stanford….

Article posted in National Geographic Intelligent Travel.

Amsterdam’s first mandatory quality cab stand opened service at the city’s central train station on March 4, just in time for spring break and summer vacation.  Intelligent Travel reported earlier this year about hapless tourists who arrive on a red-eye flight from the United States, only to be refused service…

Article posted in National Geographic Intelligent Traveler

TETON VILLAGE, Wyo. – Arggggggggg! I’m a fair-weather skier and this is the fairest of days. The sky is blue and the powder is deep. My family is all over the mountain, but there is nowhere for me to ski!

Article posted in National Geographic Intelligent Travel

PALO ALTO, Calif.—On my second day here, I spot a Smart Car, the first I’d seen in the United States, and, get this–the leggy driver is checking her iPhone.  I walk by and laugh, a happy tourist observing the natives.

We’re in the swank Sharon Park Shopping Center, just off Sand Hill Road, the mother lode of venture capital investment. Across the road lies the golf course of Stanford, University (think Tiger Woods), which rolls on down Sand Hill to the elegant campus. Stanford is the intellectual center of Silicon Valley, the home of green, cool, and rich.

I’m here for my vacation, ready to be energized by genius, idealism, sunshine, wildflowers and a wondrous view of the future—much of which already exists in prototypes.

The surprise for visitors is that Stanford’s knowledge is relatively accessible. I traveled here with my fellow Reuters Digital Vision Fellows from all over the world to showcase our “humanitarian projects with a technology solution” as part of the university’s 2^nd annual Entrepreneur Week.EWeek is free and open to the public.

Seven days later, Stanford’s MediaX Lab staged its future-is-now conference ($495, including meals) in a day-and-a-half explosion of ideas at the lectern and from the audience, such as: [Read more →]

TETON VILLAGE, Wyo. – Outside the deck of our house at the base of the ski mountain, a mother moose and her calf snuggle in last night’s snow. My family—sibs, spouses, nephews, and wives—are slipping into their third layer of miracle fibers. Not me, I live in D.C. now. I need a fix of politics.

I borrow my brother’s vehicle and head into town for breakfast at Jedediah’s….

Article posted in National Geographic Intelligent Traveler