Regular readers of my column, “Tina’s Tantalizing Travel Tips,” know that I am always looking out for you,
my valued readership. Your tenacious advisor not only tackles all kinds of situations on your behalf, but also reads insatiably what other self-described travel experts have to say in their effort to be “helpful.” This month I have decided to educate the readership by alerting you to a little-discussed truism of travel writing, and it is this: coverage is influenced by each writer’s own perspective. Trust me; this is often very subtle, accomplished in the subterfuge of “expertise.”
Recently- in the name of relentless research- I perused a copy of An Explorer’s Guide: Maine (2006 edition), by Christina Tree and Nancy English. Readers, allow me to amplify my thesis by examining some examples from the book’s chapter, “Midcoast Islands,” covering Monhegan, Vinalhaven, North Haven and Matinicus.
Since your intrepid advisor knows Vinalhaven best, let me focus there. For a day trip, the authors suggest taking the ferry from Rockland without a car. After disembarking at Vinalhaven’s terminal, they advise, “Don’t be discouraged by the walk into Carver’s Harbor, along the island’s least attractive half mile.” Readers, may I add more context? Yes, this area is Vinalhaven’s version of strip development. Many commercial businesses are clustered here. This is the one place on the island where folks can buy gasoline or lobsters sold fresh from the co-op, and milk and other groceries at a convenience store (the locally owned Fishermen’s Friend) open when nothing else is. This stretch also features some of the most important underpinnings of safety and health on the island, like the new water treatment plant and the expanded firehouse. None of this is especially aesthetic. But the implication it is not scenic may indicate wistful thinking on the part of those writers, as if Vinalhaven should exist in some Disney World format, less a place for residents and more for sightseers.
Another example is their caveat that Vinalhaven is “not an island resort” and “there is no yacht club or golf course.” It is also, as they say, “home to Maine’s largest lobster fleet.” That phrasing could sound like a lament, perhaps indicating the authors don’t appreciate what that combination adds up to. How many places, dear reader, have you been where a harbor is chock full of fishing boats, with nary a yacht to be seen? Imagine, then, how it presents these opportunities. To watch the harbor as dawn breaks is to see all those boats steam out to open water, one following the other. At night, tied to their moorings, the boats rest — dark and quiet — all pointed in the same direction. That, to the mind of your reflective advisor, seems to offer the chance for a transcendent experience, a moment when the entire universe feels similarly harmoniously ordered. And how many places do you know with that kind of opportunity?
The final point I’ll make is with their recommendation for “when to come.” The book suggests July and August, and adds “June and September, however, can be as beautiful.” May your climate-conscious advisor bring some clarification to the possible gloss here of some island weather? June is, generally speaking, not a beautiful time to visit the island. The month is marked by swarms of insects. There are the no see ‘ums, black flies, horse flies, house flies, green-headed flies, mosquitoes, and ticks. There is still mud. There are still cold, raw, damp days. There is often fog. And these things don’t necessarily disappear with “summer.”
In conclusion, dear reader, be wary of “help” from the travel advisor. Remember, their own values and experience guide them. What they advise may or may not be right for you. Always question not only their veracity, but their point of view. And that’s it for now.
>Tina Cohen writes about travel and other topics from her base on Vinalhaven.