Pale-Blue-Dot
Have I landed on a highway?
Yesterday’s landing, deboarding, and departure from the Madeira airport were all pretty much the same as the many other airports I’ve been to in my life. But things were about to change in a surprising way.
Today, while driving a rental car, the expressway I was on went below what at first seemed to be a huge highway, supported by an uncountable number of columns. The sight was already impressive, but when I reached the other side and looked in the rearview mirror, I was astonished by what I had just noticed. I had driven below the airport runway.
But that’s not all.
The underpass had many public spaces, such as sports courts, a skate park, a spacious parking lot, restaurants and even a boatyard. Yes, boatyard. Of course, I had to come back at the end of the day to check it all out.
My photos are incapable of accurately depicting the size of the space. It is impressive. According to Wikipedia, there are 180 columns. And in one of Tom Scott’s videos, I learned that they are 50 meters tall, which is another crazy number when we remember that planes are landing and departing from the “roof” above.
His video also explains the reason for the airport’s location. In his words, Madeira is one huge mountain just sticking out of the Atlantic Ocean. And I can confirm that after spending the day going through dozens of the over 150 tunes on the island. It’s hard to imagine something like this, but you can’t drive for more than a few minutes before you come across a new tunnel.
In other words, this was the only place flat enough to build the first runway, which, by the way, was shorter. When the island began to attract more tourists and the planes became larger, it was extended with a platform over the columns, since a landfill was not feasible.
I had a lot of fun geeking out below the airport, and thinking about humankind’s ingenuity, which never fails to impress me. However, this is an amazing island with remarkable sights that humans will never be able to build. Some of them have already blown me away, but there’s still so much to discover.
Have a lovely week, Vlad.
My travel coffee kit
The AeroPress is part of a small kit 🫣 I always travel with to be able to brew my own coffee every day.
A thoughtful gift for my father.
Before smartphones, my father would always have a pen and notepad like this one in his shirt’s front pocket. Not only that, but he would use them to explain anything I asked him about, drawing and writing every single detail while talking to me.
He always said, “You should write it down if you don’t want to forget it." I guess it worked. It seems there’s no other explanation; I got into taking notes because of him.
Have you had the chance to listen to my conversation with Jon on the Triple T Productivity podcast? I am currently on the trip I mentioned, and today I came across this small notepad that I immediately bought for his birthday tomorrow. It’s not exactly like the ones he used to have, but I believe it will bring him good memories.
Evernote and other technologies I used when I was in Morocco
When we entered the boarding area, my wife realized that she had forgotten her phone. In other words, gone were all the messages the travel agency had sent her. Thankfully, Evernote saved our trip to Morocco. At that point, we were unable to go back home and return in time, so I opened my Travel notebook on Evernote to assess the situation. But before I go any further, let me provide you with some context.
Usually, I am the one who organizes our trips, but this time it was different. My wife was doing it. On my side, as I have already shown in past videos, I was saving on Evernote all that she was sending me. Also, I am not a WhatsApp user.
Back to the airport
I had our boarding passes and all instructions in offline notes, but here’s my question. Why would a travel agency send all the information to its clients using WhatsApp instead of email? Also, why would the clients trust WhatsApp with all that information? And I’m not even talking about privacy. I’m talking about access.
Without a phone, which can be lost, broken, or stolen, there is no way to access the messages. However, on a public computer, one can open and even print information using the web client of an email provider or notes saved on Evernote, Google Keep, or others.
I’m convinced that this addiction to WhatsApp has already gone too far and caused many people serious problems. A few days ago, I even saw an article suggesting that people use the note-to-self feature to take notes.
NO! Please do not do this.
If you are not interested in dealing with all that Evernote or similar Apps have to offer, use Google Keep. It’s simple, and you’ll be able to access your notes even without your phone.
Okay, that’s that.
But, since we are here, I would like to share with you the other technologies that made our trip a success, even though we did not buy a local SIM-Card.
Google Maps
You have to do this before loosing Internet connection. Go to settings, select the ‘Offline Maps’ option, choose an area and download it. From now on, even if you do not have Internet access, that map will be available. But there is a caveat: there are no turn-by-turn directions.
The GPS will still work, and you’ll see the blue dot moving on the map. If you are walking as we were, it is pretty easy to follow a route towards your destination. Nevertheless, I’m not certain how efficient this would be for driving.
Google Translate
Just like Google Maps, we can download dictionaries on Google Translate. Before the trip, open the App on your phone, select one or more languages and tap the icon with an arrow pointing down.
For this trip, I downloaded the Arabic and French dictionaries, which were quite helpful.
Canon App
I love the way Google Photos plots all pictures on a map, and there is also a practical use. I often forget a restaurant or another place location, and finding the address is as simple as opening the photo and selecting ‘Open in Google Maps’.
For this trip, a brought my Canon, that doesn’t have a GPS. To fix this, I installed the Canon Camera Connect App, which connects to my phone via Bluetooth and uses its GPS to obtain the location of the pictures I was taking.
Garmin Instinct 2
This one was just for fun. I used my Garmin Instinct 2 to track all our walks, and at the end of each day, I saved the map in Evernote with some statistics, and a picture of the watch showing how much battery was left.
Each day, we walked more than 10 km, and I’m now even more impressed with the battery of this watch. You can learn more about my decision to buy it by clicking here.
Although I wasn’t expecting to need this, I added the hotel’s location to my watch, so I could navigate back there. Google Maps worked great, and we ended up memorizing our way back, but I had to try it. One day I did use the watch to go back to the hotel. It worked like a charm, and the geek in me loved it.
It’s better to be disconnected
My wife and I love to travel, but since the end of the lockdown, we’ve been only traveling within the EU. With the single currency, no border checks, and free roaming, things are too easy. There is no need to prepare thoroughly.
It’s great that we can just pack and go, but ultimately, you feel like you never really visited another country.
Morocco was, however, a different story. I went back to being prepared-for-anything mode, read a lot about it and watched some documentaries. Furthermore, without a local SIM-Card, we were disconnected from home most of the time, and we felt really immersed in an entirely different culture.
Getting away from the problem for a while often leads to new insights
Taking a break is as important as getting into the flow
It’s my belief most people come here for the free Wi-Fi. Not me. I have an office, that is also my studio, and even a comfortable home office. But I do my best to come to this Starbucks at least once a week to edit a video.
Why?
I call it my Coffee Office Day. And last Friday was a special one. The city streets are not empty anymore. On contrary, everything is getting back to normal. I’m hearing people speaking English, French, Spanish and some other languages I have no idea what they are.
Welcome back, Porto!
Randomness
Have you read The Click Moment, from Frans Johansson? One thing I’m looking for when I come here is getting away from my comfort zone.
You need to take time, even schedule time, to explore things that are not directly related to your immediate goal. You need to take your eyes off the ball in order to see and connect with the possibilities around you. —Frans Johansson
The Flow State
There’s more. When I’m here, I seldom ask for the Wi-Fi password, or connect my phone to the computer. My goal is to avoid online distractions, and, at the same time, enjoy people speaking a multitude of languages. I love to edit here. As soon as I sit down and open my computer, I enter the Flow State. It’s magical.
Flow is great, but one has to escape from it once in a while to avoid exhaustion and to break the blind alleys’ paralysis. At my office I have a different strategy, but here I do it by raising my head and looking around for a while. It never fails. In essence, this is how the Pomodoro Technique works.
During that moment, I try to guess what a person is doing. Is he working? Is she messaging a friend? Where are they from? I’ve seen it all. From job interviews to friends from different countries meeting accidentally.
It takes no more than a couple of minutes. Suddenly everything becomes background noise again, and I’m back to the computer.
Something tells me I developed this ability when I lived in Boston, back in 2015. But this is a story for another day.
Have a nice week!
Spring 2022
As in so many other countries, the first of May is Labor Day in Portugal. However, there’s also an old tradition linked to this date. It’s known as “Dia das Maias” (Maias' Day). In fact, it all starts on the 30th of April, when people put yellow genisteae bushes outside windows and front doors.
There are several theories that explain the origins of this tradition, most of them connected to religion. As an amateur gardener, what resonates with me the most is the symbolism of the end of the winter.
🌱 I love the way plants respond to spring. It feels so magic
Unfortunately, we don’t have giestas amarelas (yellow genisteae) bushes, but my wife picked-up some yellow flowers early today when she was walking our dog.
It feels like driving on a highway not wearing a seat belt.
When I arrived at the checkout counter, all the other cashiers were teasing him. I only understood all that buzz when I looked up. He wasn’t wearing a mask.
I was aware that the government was discussing new measures that day, but my brain took a while to assimilate that a store employee, that person right in front of me, wasn’t wearing a mask. He had this wonderful happiness face, replying to his friends:
—No, I’m not going to wear it anymore
That was a great smile. Made my day.
Starting on the last last 21st, masks in Portugal are only mandatory on public transportation and health related situations, like hospitals, home care, etc.
It’s remarkable how we humans get used to new habits. It’s a week after the new rules, and it still feels like something is not quite right when I enter a store without my mask.
😯 Feels like driving on a highway, not wearing a seat belt.