Old school

We’re spending a few days in Northern California, where I’m speaking at a social media conference. Since almost everything is closed today, we decided to head over to my alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley.

It was c-c-c-old compared with sunny Orlando, and the boys didn’t much feel like exercising their right to free speech. Sproul Plaza, the de-facto stage for the Free Speech Movement in the 1960s, was all but abandoned on New Year’s Day. During class, this place is buzzing with activity.

Gee, I don’t remember the squirrels being this big 20 years ago. What did they feed them, growth hormones?

This is as close as we got to North Gate Hall, the site of the Graduate School of Journalism. Though I love my alma mater dearly and do my best to support it, I didn’t want to have to explain to my professors that I’d become — gasp! — a travel writer. Not in front of the kids.

(I’ll be back just as soon as I’ve won that Pulitzer.)

Stay tuned. We’ll have more from Oakland tomorrow on this blog and on National Geographic Traveler’s Intelligent Travel blog.

  • Kris

    Brings back some wonderful memories. And I’m sure your professors are proud that you’re using your education to give voice to travelers in difficulty. Go Bears!

  • Cynthia

    What? You’re not going to go to the Stanford v. Cal women’s basketball game at Haas tomorrow?

    I wish I could . . . I would be rooting for The Cardinal tho’ . . . but you could cheer Cal on.

  • Richard Trilling

    Chris,

    “Though I love my alma mater dearly and do my best to support it, I didn’t want to have to explain to my professors that I’d become — gasp! — a travel writer. Not in front of the kids.”

    1. You’re more then a travel writer, you negotiate solutions to problems. & you have to deal with people. That takes other skills.

    2. I too spent some time in Berkeley, back in the 60s, up at the RAD lab doing research on an advanced degree in physics. I too used to blog as a travel writer on the old CompuServe forums for Africa and Europe where I lived & live. I’ve also published over 100 articles in computer journals. If any of of my old professors thought it was undignified, to hell with them. All of the ones I’m in contact with prefer to use my knowledge on travel and computer storage by asking me questions.

    3. Berkeley has changed since, despite the squirrels being bigger, most of the good bookstores have disappeared.

    4. You do a good job as a negotiator. I think that is much harder then being a simple blogger. Especially in this day and age where you have to be a lawyer in order to purchase a simple airplane ticket. Something that wasn’t true back in the 60s & and where it’s not quite true in Europe where we have better consumer protection laws.

  • Tom

    Looks like you are teaching your boys to walk with a Sather gait.

  • Les

    Welcome (back) to Berkeley. I’d be happy to buy you all a hot drink or something else suitable but we’re (what else) about to go traveling.

    Hope you all enjoy your stay.

  • Christopher Elliott

    Thanks, Les. Sadly, we were only in town for a day and have moved on. We’ll catch you next time!

  • http://nmdfreelance.com Nancy

    Uh, I’m a travel writer and love every minute of it. What’s wrong with being a travel writer.

    In addition, travel writing is real journalism, even if the snobs at UC-Berkeley don’t think so. A paying gig is a paying gig, in spite of what others think.

  • y_p_w

    I do recall the mention in your bio of a Masters in Journalism from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Jounalism. I thought about maybe mentioning that in a comment, but an opportunity to do so that would make sense never came up until now.

    I think I attended a few undergrad English Lit lectures originally scheduled at North Gate Hall in Spring 1991 before that class moved locations. I wonder if I ever bumped into you during this time. Probably not.

    You must have taken the kids down Telegraph. Even though class wasn’t in session, the street vendors are usually out in almost full force.

    Heck – I would probably have offered to buy you and your family a small meal too. I’m on a tight budget now, so it probably would had to have been at Top Dog. ;)

    And Go Bears!

  • Jeff

    Or a slice at Blondies!

  • y_p_w

    I’ve always been partial to Fat Slice. Still – if he spent a lot of time on the Northside, the usual suspects would be Top Dog on Hearst, LaVals on Euclid (still there even though the Lavals on Durant closed), or Bongo Burger.

    Not sure what places would have been open on New Years Day. It’s changed a lot since I went to school.